Earth Day Collaboration for Your ENTIRE ECE Classroom! FREEBIES, too!

EARTH DAY ON THE HORIZON!

What better way can you celebrate Earth Day than to UBBER 'recycle' in honor of going green? Today's whole article is the ultimate 'recycle' as I am going to reshare one of my favorite Author-Illustrator ECE school visits!!! I'd LUV LUV LUV for this idea to get some additional viewership and some cloning and replication from this extra exposure. It is the ultimate of happy and inexpensive experiences for your Early Childhood classroom: truly OPEN-ENDED/PROCESS Art! 

It all started with my whole-school sing-a-long at a VPK (that's: Voluntary PreKindergarden) down here in Florida. {We are right now in real time, in the midst of preparing for our Snowbird departure to our northern haven along Green Bay, hence the 'other' motivation to recycle.} 

I launched our time together a couple of years ago by sharing our 'Earth' a.k.a. the pool noodle that was the basis for our singing on that special morning. 

After the whole group experience that included sharing my song, "Care of the Earth" I got to lead a genuine 'Artist in the Classroom' extravaganza. They supplied the scissors, glue sticks and a big slice of white 'table paper' for the base of our collaboration. I supplied the tissue paper and had the camera ready to document all of the fun! Let the artists begin! GO!!!

This was a classroom of mature four year old children with a couple of early fives at the fringe. You can see that I gave each child a mixture of both the blue and green tissue paper. They worked diligently to create the snippets for our 'map' that would become our collaborative globe sculpture, within the pool noodle. 

As I wandered through the room, I noticed as always, that there was quite a continuum of capability for the skill at hand: SCISSORS manipulation. As you will see, there were children who were able to cut right through the tissue as though it were warm butter while others ended up with a combo of tearing/wrenching of the tissue with their scissors. Truly for this collaboration ALL manner of tissue paper bits were equally welcome in the final 'product' and gave everyone an opportunity to hone their cutting skills. 

***Note-to-DIYers. I 'secured' the pool noodle into it's happy-permanent-circle shape with a discarded, UPcycled golf club grip from hubby and some super glue. I bet a dowel rod would work? Get creative.

After all of that hard work with the scissors, it was truly time for the *FUN* of the gluing. All hands on deck! Look at all of that fine motor control! Tripod, three finger scrunching and maneuvering. Such a natural way to prepare fingers for the future fine motor skill of writing. 

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<DRUMROLL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

BEHOLD THE FINAL COLLABORATION

Seeing all of those happy hands at work called for a 'posed' shot. 

Talk about giggles galore! 

That was some of the best fun of the whole morning: 

Me up on a chair for the bird's eye view, posing 'hands' and capturing our incredible sculpture in one snap! 

While you're out this spring, gather some earth 'goodies' and they can become an Earth Day shadow box. These boxes were on display during my field trip and presentations in Reggio Emilia, Italy. THE professional opportunity of a lifetime. YES! REGGIO! Dial back in time to see those articles. 

Another idea for your celebration would be to make a natural 'mandala' from gathered Earth bits. 

Here's an example of one I made following a fall walk.

Yes. The backdrop is my yoga mat. 

Ephemeral.  

Building rock cairns is another of my favorite outdoor activities. These are ones we built on the Mediterranean while on the Italian portion of my tour to four of our US Army bases. We built these right outside Camp Darby, very near Pisa Italy. Finding the right 'quote' is one of my happy past-times for my photos. I'm getting ready to debut a slideshare of some of my favorite quotes that have been here on the blog. I hope to have that ready for Easter morning! We shall see. 

Here's another earlier article I had here, focused on Art Projects from UPcycled pieces and parts. 

***If you're looking for the ULTIMATE of UPcycled projects to honor the Earth, you'll need to return to this INCREDIBLE professional mural of bits and pieces on display at an Ohio Elementary School. 

As with the majority of my pinboard collections, they are based on my original songs for children. 

Yes. I have a whole collection for "Care of the Earth." 

Click the pic to go to that specific collection. 

Click picture for my pinboard, "Care of the Earth" with 592 Resources already on file

Speaking of INCREDIBLE RESOURCES for Earth Day...... there have been a couple of recent articles at our collaborative blog, "PreK+K Sharing" that you really must go see. Terri has absolutely breath-taking photographs of the release of their kindergarten butterflies into the world. Her article is entitled, "Last Child in the Woods." 

Click the picture to go to Terri's article at the collaborative and see what these Kinders are up to! 

As fantastic as Terri's article is, let me give you a head's up that you'll want to allow sufficient time to see the collection of resources that Carolyn has gathered in her article. One of her amazing contributions is a 'PREZI" of resources to use at your fingertips. Talk about the perfect combination of technology and teacher expertise plus enthusiasm! Look no further! It's FREEEEEEE! She has gathered all kinds of FREEBIES for Earth Day! 

Click the pic to go to an AMAZING set of FREEBIE Resources for Earth Day gathered by Carolyn at "PreK+K Sharing" 

For one full year, I had an on-going series of articles here for Fine Motor Friday. 
Here is the golden anniversary article that walks you back through all 50 installations. 



I know. I know. If you're new here, I'm a little hard to figure out. 
I LUV LUV LUV all things 'Children's Art' but I am a music lady first. 
I have an entire album of songs, commissioned by Zaner-Bloser on Fine Motor Motivation. 

It is available for purchase at my website or Teachers Pay Teachers!

Yes! I LUV LUV LUV to pin. 

I think it is probably one of my biggest contributions to ECE. 

I am nearing my 150,000th follower there! 

Would you be today's helper and pin from this article? 

It's how many find me in cyber-town! 

I am soooooooooooo grateful for every pin! 

Thanks! 

Handprint Angel from Paper Plate

HANDPRINTS, GLITTER and ANGELS! 

What could be better? Holidays call for traditions. Today I stopped in on the premiere preschool here along the coastline to capture some holiday cheer in the making. I learned that this angel 'beauty' is a tradition that dates back TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! Yes. I said 25 years. 

For the last twenty five years, the teachers have been directing their young charges to create family keepsakes from paper plates and glitter. Here you get to see the tree topper under development. That's my grasp holding the angel wings and placing them into position. The angel craft is created in two parts: angel body (from paper plate) and angel wings from separate piece of paper. As you can see the wings are the child's two handprints captured by covering the glue handprint in glitter!! GLITTER, I tell you! I realize that glitter is not for everyone over the age of 13, but we all know how much the littles love it! 

Take a look on the classroom countertop. Here's a parade of angels, complete with pipe cleaner halos, prior to their happy faces being applied photogenically. They're marching past the candy canes! {Stay tuned for the paper plate pattern!} 

VOILA! 

Drying together on top of the media table is the 

first flock of Christmas choristers,

complete and ready for Christmas gift giving.

What is the shelf life on glitter? 

Anybody know? 

How about those first angels from 25 years ago? 

Any glitter left at this point in time? 

You know that these are keepsakes for eternity.  

OK. Here as promised is the traditional pattern. 

One paper plate. 

Cut away to create angel arms. 

Even if your children are years apart...... 

every child will make their own angel as they proceed thru this premiere preschool program. 

Your whole family of angels will collect as each of your children matriculate thru preschool! 

Here's the image for you to pin! So you'll remember the outcome and have the pattern, too -- all in one handy image. Be a dear, be of good cheer, would you please pin from here? Your pin is an act of kindness that sends ripples out into the cyber world -- to introduce my travels to the wider world and I thank you! 

My thanks to my new friends for their warm welcome!

I'm so happy to share your tradition with the wider world. 

I had a paper plate Christmas tree in my earlier article this week. 

It, too is a classic!

I'll get the paper plate wreath/ornament photos downloaded and share them later this weekend. 

Did you see my RoundUP of Christmas bulletin boards?

I'll be adding to that this weekend, too!  

Are you following me on Pinterest? 

I'm nearing 140,000 followers. 

Come join the party! 

Turkeys from Paper Cups: Cute Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Create a Thanksgiving Centerpiece!

How cute is this holiday keepsake? Materials are pretty simple. Oui? Keep your eyes out for some brown 'paper' cups and get out your collection of construction paper and some fun eyes. Googlie? Always a favorite, but as you can see not absolutely critical. 

This weekend could be subtitled: have CAMERA will travel. 

With the conclusion of NAEYC, we had the best possible weekend together with our youngest -- who lives just outside the metro DC complex. 

She's the professional musician in the family. 

Her instrument is the oboe. 

She quilts together a myriad of gigs and miscellaneous pieces to make her living in the big world. 

We LUV LUV LUV to hear her play whenever we have the opportunity.

This weekend her reed trio had a recital, premiering in a brand new recital space. 

What a thrill to hear their collection of French pieces. 

Turns out that the recital was in a Universalist Unitarian church that is also host to a flourishing preschool program. 

You know what that means? 

Me scouting about the shelves and bulletin boards to share some goodies! 

How clever are these little Thanksgiving centerpieces? 

Time is short, but here's a classic. 

Handprint. 

Beans. 

Plenty-of-glue. 

VOILA! 

Turkey Cornucopia. 

Here's the picture of the two of us that hubby Allen took prior to the recital. 

This is in the kid's home. 

Our antique "Hoosier" cabinet has found a great second home in their dining room. 

Here's the "Capital Reeds" posing for a snap! 

After we all regrouped back at home, 

I gathered up some of their earlier photos into a collage for their PR. 

We followed up our classical music recital, 

with a day together at the Smithsonian's National Gallery. 

That's hubby 'going fishing' and me easily entertained. 

Did I mention that it was FREEZING cold during our time together? 

Windy. 

FREEZING COLD!

There was work at every turn that left me breathless.

This was my first visit to the National Gallery. 

What has taken me so long? 

Noelle knew all the shortcuts and most efficient paths to see our absolute favorites. We made some serious good-time to see the highlights. 

The blessing of the holidays is to have the opportunity to spend time with family. 

We have been blessed indeed! 

Here are a couple of earlier articles that I thought you might enjoy. 

{click picture} 

Now? Now we get to start planning for a blogger meet-up in Atlanta! 

I'm one of the 'Rock Stars' on the SDE agenda in Atlanta. 

Are you in the area? 

Plan now to come and hang out on Sunday! 

UPcycled Turkey Centerpiece: How Do They Do That? Blogging Secrets Revealed!

BLOGGING SECRETS REVEALED! 

At L-O-N-G Last..... You've found the source for answers to your gnawing questions!

• Are you considering starting a blog because you've been reading a brilliant one where the author never ceases to amaze you, all while making everything look so incredibly clever and easy-peasy lemon squeezy, where she turns cornhusks into must-have designer handbags, while baking gluten-free organic bread for her brood of bright eyed children wearing handknit sweaters she lovingly creates from the neighbor's plastic bags?
• Are you a teacher about to launch your own blog because you've been reading that one where your peer has spray painted the book bins to match her pencil holders that she snazzed up from last summer's garage sale with the ribbons coordinated to her bulletin board borders, because their test scores are over-the-moon and all the teachers on her team synchronize and color-code their lesson plans while the supportive principal literally does cartwheels celebrating their every innovation and it seems just like your classroom -- only you have better craftivities you could share? And sell?  
• Have you heard the  rumor,   urban myth,  fairy tale,  NEWS that there is actual, foldable money to be made in blogging? 
• Are you starting a blog because you've seen several hundred ebooks proclaiming to offer insight into fortune-building through blogging? 
• Do you have an original idea to bring to the world and you're convinced blogging is the way to go?
• Have you been blogging for weeks, months, years and you can't figure out 'HOW THEY DO THAT?'  

YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE! 

I am about to pull aside the heavy curtain in OZ and take you behind the scenes.
WELCOME! Consider this my tell-all. All names have been changed to protect the innocent. A few disclaimers: Your mileage may vary. Call before midnight. Limit one coupon per customer. Just do it. There are no guarantees implied or inferred from my limited yet ubber sweet experience. Rinse and repeat. 

***If you want some seriously funny disclaimers from around the web, go to this one first and this one next and if you are seriously procrastinating on your real life lesson plans or laundry or NAEYC handout and you're more of a visual person then check this one for further giggles.  

Let me start right off by confessing that I am a blogger without a clear-cut niche. {BTW:This is NOT a good thing. Do NOT follow in my footsteps down this slippery slope.} As a picture book author/illustrator I'm sharing my process, my travels, my joy. That kinda covers the waterfront. I am also technologically challenged. 

Defining your niche from the word 'go' is without-a-doubt your first soul searching mission. Are you an educational blogger? A kid blogger? A lifestyle type? Wrestle that down first. You want to have your people *find* you and if YOU'RE not certain who that might be, it is exceedingly more difficult for everyone involved. 

I'm a creative-type with a camera, some original ideas, a tribe of seven grandchildren sprinkled across the US and a burning desire to have people {{{FIND}}} me! For Pete's sake there are folks with a series of videos on 'How Animals Eat' that go viral... where people imitate lizards as they eat. And whales. And flamingos. Just sayin'.  Yes, there is room on this planet for the likes of both the Pet Rock and even the Chia Pet, but should it be so blan%kity-blan*k difficult to get actual worthwhile ideas out to people who would appreciate finding them? I digress.

Thus begins the legitimate blogger's quest for an audience. 

UPcycle/Repurpose/Reuse! These bottles started my brainstorm!

First of all you have to have an idea. The gist of blogging is to continue to create original content over time, to build up an audience -- to share your glib humor and insight, wittily bantering ideas and images in the hopes of generating additional followers and interest through a unique blend of originality, sincerity and cyberpower. 

First step: 'paint' the inside of the clean & dry salad dressing container.

Case Study. The entire crux of this particular article arose from a set of salad dressing bottles from my Floridian stainless steel fridge coupled with my time invested at.... you guessed it: Pinterest of course, the bloggers playground. I had seen a pin where plastic bottles were UPcycled by painting them and repurposing them as Young Sumo Wrestling Bowling Pins! {MUST click to see..... since I didn't ask permission for use of the image, I'm just sharing the link. Worth your time. Promise.}

A big part of blogging is the timeliness of your article. You have to be just enough ahead of the calendar that your readers can implement your novel concept in their real life. So I rinsed my salad dressing bottles and awaited my next interaction with my WonderPeeps. You see. I am at a genuine disadvantage when it comes to having immediate access to 'model-children' to use as photographic 'props.' 

I have heard of real-life bloggers going to the lengths of opening their own school to have access to children-to-interact. I have eavesdropped on child-bloggers considering the 'need' of having another baby in order to continue their early childhood blogging process. I on the other hand await patiently my seasonal visits to our progeny, with doo-dads in hand. And so it was that I flew into central Ohio with empty salad dressing containers {that passed airport security screening} coupled with my loosey-goosey notion of turning them into a pair of turkey centerpieces. Let the fun begin! Start gathering up all the flotsam and jetsam to create something original upon arrival . 

***ATTENTION AFFILIATE LINK SHOUTOUTS!***

As you can see by "Little Red's" expression, she totally has my genetic predilection for polka dots! Her mama-bear is so clever to have their own set of "Do-A-Dot" markers on location, so I didn't need to tote those up north. Who can pass up the opportunity to make a parade of circles with IMMEDIATE shazam?   Do A Dot Art Marker Rainbow 6-pack


You'll see in the photos below that our turkey feathers were created from what I will call 'stiff felt.' That's kinda like a technical term. First time I'd used it with the Peeps. Tricky for them to cut independently, even though they are now five. They were SUPER psyched to be allowed to use the BIG scissors! We learned it was easier to cut around the whole traced outline first and then cut out the specific feathered pieces. We did indeed use the 12 by 18" size. If you're going to replicate this concept with a whole classroom of kiddos, you'll want to have some extra adults on hand. Unless you have have more patience than Job. Not easy for them, but they enjoyed the challenge.
CPE EZ Stiffened Felt - 12 x 18 inches - Pack of 25 - Assorted Colors

{Yup, that's one way of making pennies at a time while blogging! Insert an affiliate link to a product directly into your article. Hope that the reader clicks through and purchases a snowblower while shopping on your affiliate link. Go ahead! Pick up your Do-A-Dots and Stiff Felt.... It could start snowing at any minute! Don't ya need a snowblower? Or a new camera? Truth-in-Advertising: The way I blog, this is NOT a get rich quick scheme. I have YET to get enough pennies coralled to get paid the first penny. Apparently there's a threshold for checks. LOL. Maybe with snowblower season just around the corner? Still learning.} 

Blogging by its very nature is a visual medium and certainly tapping into the muscle of Pinterest is dependent on visual reference material that can be shared (Pinned, tweeted, G-plused). Having a 'good' camera is important. Taking a GAZILLION photos is imperative. Photos can be cropped and edited and doctored and given new points of reference when assembled into collages. We used my daughter's GREAT camera for these shots. She took many of the action shots, as my hands were involved in the supervision of the scissors.

Mr. Eyelashes had a BALL with the craft tape. Do you have an ever growing collection of Washi Tapes? So much fun! They give such an instant shot of pizzazz to a project. Especially exciting if your participant is not of the extreme craft mentality. Here's a set with polka-dots! 

Japanese Washi Tape: Polka-dot 8 Pack 

After my wonders completed their painting-of-the container, the cutting and then adorning of their tail feathers it was time for them to catch the afternoon bus to kindergarten. [Is Ohio the only place on earth still offering half-day kindergarten? Seems so retro. Especially to attend in the afternoon-only.] So 'finishing' the turkeys fell to me. BTW: at this point we have at least an hour invested in the crafting process. 

So happy to report that my daughter Sarah was getting into the nonsense. She dove into the recycle bucket to locate 'hat' bases for our gobblers. While looking around she also found some bits and pieces for extra adornment. It was ALL HER idea to cut up the flyswatter for the turkey girl's apron. She also gets extra credit for the concept of using the 'bendie-straws' to secure the turkey limbs in place! {So it would seem that part of the success in blogging lies in having a 'team' of brains, hands and materials available to jump in at a moment's notice.} 

We have NO idea what those 'cores' are that we used for turkey arms and legs. They were perfect and just sitting in her project pile of 'good' trash. Neither of us remembers gathering them up. Can't tell you where to get something similar. Sometimes magic happens. They were skinny in overall width and yet the cores were 'thick.' All around JUST what Martha Stewart would suggest..... if only we knew what they were? We left them long for the legs and cut them in half for the arms. We then added silk leaves for feet. And the piece de resistance? The little balloons for turkey 'gobblers!' Sarah also supplied the mantle for the photo shoot! 

Well folks, there ya have it! At least that's the beginning. Have a good idea. Take a gazillion pictures more than you think you'll ever need. Crop up the photos. Make some collages. I use a combo of the collage function in Picassa, immediately after I download pictures and of course I have the premium version of Picmonkey -- where the heavy lifting gets done. Made this image there/Picmonkey this morning to share from my FB page. I'll give away a file there tonight, to someone(s) that shares their fave 'teacher-quote.'

Once you have your craft created and your article written and yes that is likely to take at least a couple of hours, then its time to begin the WORK of blogging: getting the article CIRCULATING. You've got to invest time in the social network circles. I've made a handy little checklist of my process for your edification. 

The truth about my making progress in the blogger world? Making friends with other bloggers! There are behind the scenes groups on Facebook and Google+ and no doubt Twitter as well. Bloggers are amazing at helping one another sort out the nuances and tech developments. My other suggestions? Perhaps you could shop for a spouse with a dual degree in html coding and marketing. That would be the berries! In the meantime, I have begun to get checks from Google for my banner ads, which just flabbergasts me.... and I intend to learn more about that over the coming year. So I have indeed made my first foldable money from the enterprise of blogging itself!! YEAH! Progress. 

Really, though? I lured you here under the pretense of telling you about my picture books. I travel the country sharing my songs that are their text. Teaching the sign language to support them and singing and dancing with the small crowd as well as those that LUV them, is the highlight of my career! All of my picture books are available at TpT, our Early Education Emporium and directly from my website. Tell your friends! 

My newest adventure is designing SKYPE visits to places far and wide, that are beyond the scope of my physical travel. Last week I was in Omaha, Nebraska with a class of Kinder-kids! And yes. I have as much fun as the kiddos! I have oodles of time available this winter to make that cyber connection with your class. Start thinking of the possibilities. 

*Last year right about now I wrote up this tongue-in-cheek article based on the differences between their turkeys through the eyes of a research scientist. I've had a regular reader tell me that its her favorite article of all time. Of course she teaches kindergarten, so she "get's it." 

We leave later this afternoon for NAEYC!!! 

So much excitement at national conventions! 

Our presentation is Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. 

We understand that we have a room that holds 155.... we'd LUV to meet you!