Do your preschoolers use a ton of chapstick?  Mine do!  And I needed an alternative to help their cracking lips (gotta love winter weather) and something that I felt safe with them ingesting.  I was inspired after reading about a friend who mixed shortening and a juice mix to create a yummy edible lip balm.  We adapted it slightly.  We like a “harder” solution – here’s what we made, and my kids love it!
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What you will need make your own edible lip balm:

1/2 a cup of vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon of …

Do you remember Cootie Catchers from when you were a kid?  I loved them!  Here is a cootie catcher perfect for the learning to read kiddo in your life!  For our paper we used one of the sheets of Shaving Cream Painted works from yesterday.  I was inspired by Jimmie and her daughter Sprite (love their blog).  They created cootie catchers for learning history and math facts at Heart of the Matter Homeschoolers.   If they can make one for the Civil War, I bet I can make one about “Short …

This is my preschoolers favorite way to paint!  Basically, it is what it sounds like; shaving cream mixed with paint.  We usually mix the shaving cream with tempera paint as it has the smoothest consistency and is the cheapest!  We have three tubs of primary colored paint: red, blue and yellow that we mix to get a whole host of colors.  When mixed with the cream, the colors look more neon and bright.

Joelle of Homeschool Blogger worked with her kids during their Body Unit, creating some model arms from houshold items.   Thanks for sharing your instructions and photos with us!
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Preschoolers Learn About Arms
Supplies to make your Model Arms:

Ping Pong balls
Cardboard Tubes (centers of paper towel rolls)
Glue
Paper Clips
Tape
Rubber Bands

Joelle found the instructions for her first model arms here.  Basically, her family glued one half of the ping pong ball into the tube.  Then opened up the paper clip and made a hook for the rubber band.  They used tape to secure the paper …

This is a great activity to teach our kids color, what bugs need to eat (nectar) as well as the important roll of bugs as pollinators.  All while having fun with a craft project!
Materials Needed:
-coffee filters or paper towel cut into circles
- watery tempera paint or food coloring and water
- Pipe cleaners
To do:  Dip different parts of the coffee filter into various bowls of paint so that each filter becomes multi colored. When dry use pipe cleaners to turn the filters into beautiful, colorful butterflies and flowers.
Learning Opportunities:
-notice how …

This week we are studying birds.  We used birdseed in a tactile or blind, “I Spy” as well as practiced gross motor skills by pouring bird seed from cup to cup.
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Materials needed:

Bucket
Birdseed
items and small trinkets

What we did:
The kids love feeling birdseed sifting through their fingers!  They picked three objects from their pile and would hide them in the bucket, then pass the bucket to the other child who would proceed to find whatever items were requested.  This gave the kids chances to work on giving and following instructions as well …

Chalkboard paint is great.  You can use it to transform any blank surface into a creative masterpiece (or at least a place for notes).  Kristen had a terrific idea!  She painted the side of her refrigerator with chalkboard paint to use it as a note or list making area.  She inspired me and we painted the side of our refrigerator and have made it into a little art niche.
She gives instructions for the project here.  But basically, we needed to clean the surface and apply several coats of the paint.  …

As part of our plant themed activities for the week my daughter and I “dissected” silk flowers. There is no better way to reassemble them than on a barrette. These are my daughter’s favorite accessories (well, after dangly necklaces).
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What you will need:

Hot glue and gun
Ribbon
Beads
Silk flowers
Scissors
Assortment of hairclips. We purchased a variety of aligator clips, french barrettes and other clips at our local craft store.

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Instructions:
You will want to cover your french and alligator clips with ribbon.  Be sure to start at one …

This is an adorable and free pattern sent to me by Jeanette.  She knew I was looking for some leggings for the kids this fall.  They are adorable and look so warm!   Perfect for your infant or toddler.  Erika of Inspired Mama Musings made them to begin after the knee, but I am going to see if I can adapt them to be thigh high… pictures of my adaptation of her pattern will be available when the frost sets in.
Things needed to make these leggings:

worsted weight yarn
Size 7 – Double …