Just Plain Crabby

Not  me.

 The artwork.

Yet another catch-up post.

This one is from the beginning of the Summer. 

School started today in the Atlanta area even though it's just the beginning of August.
 Some see the start of school as the end of Summer. Not me.
I will hold on to Summer until the bitter end.
So this beachy, crabby project fits the bill.

This was a guided project in that we all did our outline work together 

and then we got creative and gave our crabby guy some serious personality.

This is the best kind of project.

 After the basic shapes are down the artists get busy adding color and texture.

 We talk about color and tools and they get so into the painting process. 

They just paint and chat and it is so fun to be in a room full of creative children. 

Aren't they awesome and fun?? 

Love the polka dot water.

And this guy?? He cracks me up.

 I can just see him shifting his eyes from side to side before he takes off down the beach.

Actually, it's hard to be crabby when you are laughing at these fun paintings!!

Money, Suction and Spies...

I was a journalism major at UGA for a while and they told us to make sure the title was catchy enough to get the readers attention. Did it work??
This post is actually about some more little projects from one of the preschool trainings I did this year. One component was  "The Deep Blue Sea."
So the money part is a... sand dollar!
This is a simple and fun project. It can be done on any size paper plate ( this is done on a cardboard cake round because someone gave me a stack of them- I also have about 100 Chinese Food take out boxes!! Another project, another time.) Paint the plate tan and then we spatter painted them with a darker tan before we sponge painted the teardrop shapes in the center. I have a real sand dollar that I use to tell "The Legend of the Sand Dollar." So, that's the money part.

 Next, Suction. That's got you wondering...
I made a starfish for the water table. I wanted it to "suction" onto the bottom of the water table just like a real starfish so I cut it out of a rubber bath mat :) I made it about 12 inches across. You could vary the size but the bumpy suction cups make it hard to cut much smaller. It is so much fun to stick that starfish down and then pull those suction cups up!

And, Spies. Actually, it's I Spy!! I make I Spy bottles for all of the units. I use a discarded tennis ball canister. A few years back the tennis ball producers quit printing on the plastic canister and started putting a paper insert inside. Simply pull that out and you have an awesome clear tube with a lid. I use these for everything, especially I Spy bottles. One of the teachers brings them in by the bagful. Her Dad is a pro at a big tennis center and tennis is  big deal in Atlanta. I have an almost endless supply! And they are free and not ending up in the dump!

I fill them according to theme. For The Deep Blue Sea I colored rice blue and green. I added coarse rock salt and some Easter grass "seaweed."

I found some blue and green plastic shellsthat were for party table decor and added those. I put real shells in along with those little glass blobs in irridescent blues and greens. The only things Ipurchased were the little plastic sea animals. I got those at Party City-49 cents each. They had everything from Dolphins and Sea Turtles to Sting Rays and all kinds of fish. I put a little hot glue inside the lid to keep little hands from dumping it all out. These are cool, fun, and can be free depending on your theme and what you have on hand. Ever bought an I Spy bottle?? They can be as much as $20.00 - yep.

PS. I know there are typos but Blogger is going to be the end of me today!!