Getting Messy With Ms. Jessi

Owls...a different take on an old favorite

2012-02-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

One of my all time favorite books is Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. Owls are just my favorite. I wore my owl belt, necklace, earrings..just to give the kids a clue as to what we were going to do that day. They thought it was awesome! After we read Owl Moon we talked about the colors in the book, the trees (without leaves) and of course what the owl was doing. There is a really neat process to make the trees in the story. I did this project two years ago and thought I would do it again, but a bit differently.

Here is the first one (2 years ago): You can see how we made this one here.

And here is what we did this time:

1. Start with watered down paint, fill it in a syringe, paper and a box
2. Holding paper downright in the box slowly squirt the paint moving the syringe back and forth.
3. After you have emptied the syringe, shake the paper side ways to get the drips to extend out to form branches.

4. The children added moons and owls. Some were flying, some were perched and some had friends. :)

Whoot! Whoot!

Marvelous Monsters!

2012-02-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Monsters are such a big part of a preschoolers imagination. From pretending to be one to being afraid of them. We talked about all aspects. I carefully paid attention to make sure none of the children showed any signs of fear,even though all our monsters were very friendly. :)

This idea was inspired by Jamie over @ hands on: as we grow. Yarn Monsters!

A cup of (slightly) watered down glue with "dump" of glitter (HEY! no mess glitter!)

Smoosh the yarn into the cup so it gets covered, pull it out and "squeegy" the glue off.

Place the pile of yarn into a muffin tin so it gets a nice shape. Let it dry over a few days.

After they were completely dried, we added googly eyes and another piece of yarn to make necklaces!

Another messy monster project we did was Squash Monsters!

This idea comes from the typical paint drizzles on paper, fold over and squish type of art. Fun, magical and a{contained}mess!

1. drizzle paint on one side of a folded piece of paper

2. SQUASH, SQUISH, STOMP, STAMP, etc. etc.

3. Open and Admire your handy work!

4. We used {PASTE!}to glue on some large "googly" eyes. Using this type of glue is awesome for working on small motor skills. (I think I might use it more often...it was fun!)

For more monster ideas check here!

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Weekly Pinterest Favorites: Lovely Valentines

2012-02-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

It's just around the corner and I don't know about you, but I've got to get a move on all the Valentine projects I've got on my list!

**Please be kind to pin back to the original source, not from my blog. You can always go to my pinterest account to repin, or simply go the original source to pin on your board.**

You Make My Heart "Bounce"

Source: thecraftingchicks.com via Jessi on Pinterest

I've had my eye on you

Source: dandee-designs.com via Jessi on Pinterest

I Love You THIS Much

Source: tiffkeetch.blogspot.com via Jessi on Pinterest

Love Bug

Source: dandee-designs.com via Jessi on Pinterest

I Dig You

Source: thefryfamilyblog.blogspot.com via Jessi on Pinterest

Disguises

Source: skiptomylou.org via Jessi on Pinterest

Ribbon Dancing

2012-01-31T08:05:00.000-08:00

I had been cleaning out my craft cabinet and noticed I had a lot of ribbon. A lot meaning about 20 rolls. I hadn't used much of it in the past year, so I decided to make something out of ALL of it!

I cut, organized and gathered into coordinating colors.
Fold over a "baby" link. You can sew if you like, or like me, hot glue!
The children can easily hold onto a link and dance around!

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Letter Canvas & Craft Fail

2012-01-30T20:03:00.000-08:00

This is a quick craft we did last week. It's all over Pinterest and many have done this craft, including myself. But, with new kids in the classroom it's new to them!

And here is an activity that looked fun, but didn't work out so well....stamping with wooden blocks:

Maybe it was my ink pads or the blocks I used were old. Oh, well!

Weekly Pinterest Favorites: Messy Art

2012-01-29T10:35:00.000-08:00

We haven't gotten too messy in the classroom as of late. I'm getting the itch! Here are some great messy projects that I would like to try in the next few weeks:

Squishy Sun

Source: mrskarensclass.blogspot.com via Jessi on Pinterest

Fabric Mache

Source: redtedart.com via Jessi on Pinterest

Plastic Card Art

Source: housingaforest.com via Jessi on Pinterest

Monster Straw Blowing

Source: raisingsparks.com via Jessi on Pinterest

Go here to find more messy art I've pinned!

Happy Sunday~