Flower Pounding: celebrate springtime with a bang!

My preschooler was thrilled that today is the first day of spring!  The weather was actually more summer-like, but we’re not complaining!  My guy has been picking me “wild flowers” out of the lawn a lot during the past week.  When I suggested that we make a card to cheer up a friend he thought we should pick flowers and attach them to the card.  I explained that the flowers probably wouldn’t hold up well in the mail, but it reminded me of the perfect spring art project!

Flower pounding is the process of layering colorful petals and leaves on paper and then pounding them to release their pigments onto the paper.  We started by exploring our yard for blooms.  We picked some flowers, clover, and blades of grass (being careful to pick plants that are not poisonous).  Then we found a sturdy surface to work on.  Next, we placed some single blooms or petals onto a sheet of heavy paper like cardstock or watercolor paper and covered them with a sheet of paper towel or waxed paper.  (The paper towel or waxed paper  keeps the petals from sticking to your hammer or mallet.)  Carefully, we pounded the flowers to release their color onto the paper.  Watch those fingers!  If the waxed paper slides around a lot you can secure it with scotch tape (or painters tape which would be easier to peel off).  After filling the paper with pigment I gave him a pen and some butterfly stamps that he used to embellish his picture.  When he wants to stamp with multiple colors we use this trick: quickly color the rubber stamp with washable marker and then stamp immediately before it has a chance to dry.  You can get colorful images without turning all your stamp pads into mud!

Flower Pounding was a huge success at our house.  My son loved the process!  I hope you give it a try with your little creative hearts as a way to celebrate the beginning of this new season! 

Truffula Tree Pencils

This week my son’s preschool is celebrating Dr. Suess’ Birthday.  My husband and I are big fans of Dr. Suess so I pulled a bunch of our books off the shelf and read them to our boys.  Many of these tales are familiar to them.  The Lorax, while a favorite of my husband, was not one that we had read to the boys much… yet.  Our oldest really liked it.  In fact, we’ve read it at least twice every day since it came down off the shelf last week!   A friend of mine made truffula tree pencils for her students and I immediately asked how she made them.  Some of hers were made with wool roving which I happened to have on hand from when my son and I made felted bead earrings for teachers at his school around Christmas time.  I was a little leery of gluing loose pieces of roving onto a pencil that I was handing to my preschooler so I took a few minutes to do a little wet felting of the wool first.  It’s relatively quick and easy, two requirements for doing crafts with preschoolers!  I was pleased with the outcome and my son loves tickling his cheek with the soft truffula tuft.  Hopefully when my son practices writing with his Truffula Tree Pencil he will be reminded of the tale of the Lorax and conserve paper!

Supplies:

Wool roving dyed in bright colors
Old Towel
Bubble wrap
Spray bottle with warm soapy water (a little soap goes a long way)
Waxed paper
Rolling pin
Glue or a hot glue gun
Yellow #2 Pencils
Black Fine Point Permanent Marker

Directions:1. Spread an old towel on your work surface. Place the bubble wrap with the bubbles facing up on top of the towel.  Separate the fibers of wool roving and fluff them.  If you are not familiar with working with wool roving, grab the piece of wool with your hands a few inches apart.  If you pull and the fibers don’t easily pull apart, your hands are too close together.  Lay the wool fibers directly on the bubble wrap. Layer the fibers until you have a nice thick layer that is about 6 inches long on the side where the ends of the fibers are lined up.  You can put a few fibers along the edge running them perpendicular to the other fibers to make your felted portion stronger.

2. Place a piece of waxed paper over the fibers leaving only the ends exposed (an inch or less).

3. Spray the exposed fibers until they are just damp.  Gently fold the bubble wrap over the wool fibers and wax paper.  Roll over the ends of the fibers with the rolling pin for about 30 seconds, rolling in different directions.  The bubbles in the bubble wrap act as little fingers massaging the wool fibers.  The warm water and friction from the bubble wrap make microscopic barbs on the wool fibers link together and tangle to create felt.

4. Peel back the bubble wrap the fibers should not look fluffy anymore.  

5. Fold the hairy ends over onto the rest of the wool and pat them, spraying if necessary so they stick.  Put the bubble wrap back over the fibers and roll the same as before for 30 seconds.  Peel back the bubble wrap.  Remove the wax paper flip the wool fibers over.  Cover the dry section with the waxed paper.  Spray the felted edge if needed, place the bubble wrap over the fibers and roll with rolling pin for 30 seconds. 

6. Allow the wool to dry (overnight) or use a hair dryer to speed this step along.  Separate the fibers into sections and twist them (similar to twirling your hair).

7. Glue the pencil to the wet felted edge of the wool.  I chose to glue these for my son using a hot glue gun (after he was tucked into bed for the night).  Roll the pencil along that edge adding more glue as necessary.  If using white craft glue I probably would clip a clothes pin while it dried to keep it tightly in place.

8.  Allow to cool or dry.

9.  Sculpt your truffula tuft by spinning the pencil between your fingers and swirling the ends to achieve a shape and texture like the illustrations in Dr. Suess’ book. 

10. Using the permanent marker, sketch zig zag stripes around the pencil to simulate the bark in the drawings and allow the marker to dry.

Preschool Craft Time = STRESS! 10 Tips and Tricks for Crafting Success

a "works in progress box"
filled with kid friendly washable art supplies

When I do a craft with my kids we really get into it.  However, we like to be crafty and I have art teaching experience.  After hearing groans from other moms who were frustrated with the task of making valentines with their little ones I thought of some tips that might be helpful.

10 Tips & Tricks

to ease your stress when making cards with your kids (or any craft for that matter!)

1.       Lean into your child’s strengths and interests.  For example, if they love to cut things out let them go at it, if not pre-cut the hearts for them and let them glue the hearts onto their valentines.  If stamping is their thing, go for it and skip the cutting and gluing altogether!

2.       Lean into your strengths and interests.  If getting messy with art supplies makes your heart beat a little faster because of stress rather than excitement, opt for supplies that you are comfortable with.  There are lots of options available that are less messy.  For example, stickers and crayons.  If your child has their heart set on glitter and paint look for tubes of glitter glue rather than loose glitter that you’ll be vacuuming up for months, and paint brushes with liquid watercolors in the handle.

3.       Be sure it’s washable!  Unless it says it’s washable on the package it may not be.  Opt for the tried and true brands and be sure you pick up the products clearly marked as “washable”!

4.       Keep it simple. If your child gets bored making every card the same set out their favorite art materials and jump in.  But if that would overwhelm your child (and you for that matter!),  design a card that has clear easy steps for completing. 

5.       Set limits ahead of time for example say, “Here are some stickers.  Choose three for each card.”  This will prevent your sicker budget from going through the roof and keep your child’s cards from weighing five pounds when you are done.  Plus they get to practice their counting skills!

6.       Don’t make all the cards at once.  Pay attention to your child’s mood and when they get antsy it’s time to put the project up for a while.

7.       Keep a box on hand for easy clean up, then when you and your child are in the mood all your materials are ready to go!

8.       Use technology to help.  If making cards by hand is not your thing, try scanning your child’s favorite painting or drawing into your computer and print the cards.  Then all they have to do is sign them!

9.       You are the facilitator.  Yes, teach them how much glue is appropriate and remind them to keep the markers on the paper, but when they place a sticker or heart crookedly resist the urge to fix it!  Your job is to keep paint off your carpet and marker off your kitchen table.  It is their card after all, not yours.

10.   Remember to breathe!  If you are stressed your child will feel it.  Try to stay upbeat and help them have a positive experience.  Save your war stories of preschool crafting for your spouse or phone a sympathetic friend after bedtime.

You probably already practice some of these strategies in your house.  Maybe you have a few tricks of your own that you can share.  What do you do to keep crafting time with your preschooler successful?  I’d love to hear from you!  Don’t despair; keep crafting with your little creative hearts!