Wheel Painting

I am still focusing on lots of fun songs with Hailey and then planning fun activities based on her favorite songs. Right now one of her favorite songs is The Wheels on the Bus. Here are the lyrics if you need them:

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town.

Continue using phrases like:
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish…
The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep…
The Driver on the bus says “Move on back”…
The baby on the bus says “Wah, wah, wah”…
The mommy on the bus says “Shhh, shhh, shhh”…

Click here to watch the song on YouTube if you need the tune.

So, since Hailey loves this song right now we did a painting using wheels.

Here’s what you’ll need: a couple of cars (with moving wheels), a couple of paint colors, 2 paper plates and a piece of paper.

Spread some paint on the plate- spread it out very thin or you’ll end up with blobs of paint rather than tire tracks.

Since Hailey had never done this before I had to show her how to roll the car in the paint and then put it on the paper.  Once she saw how it worked she took right over.

Add another color, if you want- it is certainly not necessary.

The final picture.

The Little Green Frog

Have I mentioned my new favorite blog lately?  I have?  Well, I’m mentioning it again.  No Time For Flashcards has tons of fabulous ideas and I used another one with Hailey.

Hailey absolutely loves the song Little Green Frog- here are the lyrics if you don’t know the song:

Mmm mmm went the little green frog one day
Mmm mmm went the little green frog
Mmm mmm went the little green frog one day
And they all went mmm mmm ahhh!!

But we all know frogs go ladedadeda
ladedadeda ladedadeda
We all know frogs go ladedadeda
ladedadeda ladedadeda
They don’t go mmm mmm ahh.

If I was brave like Allison over at No Time for Flashcards I’d sing it for you so you would know the tune.  But I am not that brave, so instead I’ll give you a link to her post.  If you need the tune you can get it here.

So, here is our frog that we made to go along with the song:

Here’s what you’ll need: construction paper- red, white and black, paper bag, green paint, paint brush, scissors and glue.

Cut one long strip of red paper and roll it up.  Then cut 2 medium sized black circles and 2 small white circles.

Paint the paper bag green.

Open the bag up and stand it up to dry.

Glue on the eyes and tongue after the paint is dry.

Hailey loved playing with the frog.  We used it as a puppet for singing Little Green Frog.  And then Hailey used it to carry her (play) cell phone around in for the rest of the day.  Oh well, she had fun with it.

Open Ended Painting

For toddlers painting (or any “art” activity) is all about the process.  Toddlers don’t care much about what they are making, so long as they are having fun making it.

Finger painting is a great activity to do with toddlers.  Most of them love getting messy (although some do not like it and that is perfectly normal too).  And they are curious about how it feels.  It’s great for talking about colors and for mixing primary colors together to see what happens. 

This activity for finger painting is perfect for toddlers- or anyone really.

What you’ll need:

Finger paint
Table/highchair
Paper

Put some finger paint on the highchair or table and let your toddler paint the table. 

 Hailey loved painting her tray.

When she was done I took a piece of paper and and pressed it onto her painting- a way to save the painting she had done. 

The finished pictures, hanging to dry.

Tags: finger painting with toddlers

Father's Day Picture Frame

Now I know that Father’s Day is over, but I couldn’t post this before Father’s Day or Rich would have seen what Hailey made for him.  (She also made this for her grandfathers and has not given it to them yet, but I don’t think either of them read this blog.)

Anyhoo, this is a cute picture frame that can be used for Father’s Day.  Or, it can be used for a cute gift for anything.

What you’ll need:

Craft Sticks
Paint
Hot Glue Gun
Regular Glue
Puzzle Pieces
“I love you to pieces” on construction paper
Adorable picture of your child

Hailey works on painting her craft sticks.

I used a hot glue gun to glue the pieces to create a frame.

Hailey glued puzzle pieces onto three sides of the frame.

The frame with “I love you to pieces!” glued onto the fourth side.
(get it? I love you to ‘pieces’- for puzzle ‘pieces’)

Add an adorable picture of your child.

Depending on how you want the recipient to be able to display the picture- you can add a piece of cardboard to the back of the picture so that it will stand up.  Or, add a magnet to the back so that it can be put on the refrigerator.

Tags: Father's Day picture frame, gift from toddler, Toddler and Preschool Activities