Fall Crafts: Owl Puppet

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During the fall our son and I made an Owl Puppet together. With a few changes this puppet could easily be turned into a variety of different birds to fit the season you are currently in.

Materials

• Paper bag
• Paper plate
• Construction paper (for eyes, beak, and 'feathers')
• Bottle caps (for eyes) 
• Paper fasteners (to attach wings) 
• Paint 
• Paintbrushes 

Other materials you could use: 

• Feathers 
• Googly eyes 

Steps 

1. Our son painted the paper plate and bag with Grandmom helping him. 

2. We use a pom-pom and a clothespin to create the sponge effect.  (You can see the white one in the above photo and the purple one in the bottom photo.) 

3. We needed to let the owl dry before we could glue on 'feathers' and cut the wings in half. 

4. Almost completed.  Just gluing on 'feathers.' We used different shaped construction paper instead of real feathers. 

The project took about an hour to complete over the course of two days to allow for the paint to dry. 

Here are some sample materials to help you get started.

Here are a few owl related books that we enjoy.

   

Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

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Our adventurous son turned three in June. As he developed a love for Mickey Mouse over the course of this year, we decided that this would be a fantastic theme for his third birthday party.

Here is a link to my Pinterest board: Mickey Mouse Party Ideas.

 

Food 

Cupcakes 

I made Mickey Mouse themed cupcakes with Oreo cookies and white chocolate chips. I got the idea from I'm Quite Crafty. I think the hardest part for me was getting the red icing just the right color. I used Mickey Mouse cupcake holders from the store.

  

And we had Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie Treats.

Our snack table...with his sister's Daniel Tiger themed birthday items as well. 

We found popcorn holders and straws at the Dollar Store.  Other supplies were picked up, like napkins and plates, as we saw them. 

Games 

My modified version of the popular punch board game.  I originally got the idea from this pin: Minnie Mouse Pick a Mouse Board as well as my sister-in-law's Halloween party for my niece.

I painted one side of the stroller box white, cut out circles, and with my husbands help with attached cups to the back. We then filled the cups with candy and taped a layer of tissue paper onto the front of the board. 

I decorated the holes with Mickey Mouse cut outs to give the kids direction as to where to punch.  

If I had to make it all over again, I would make the hole smaller so that the cups fit more tightly and just attach the tissue paper to each cup individually.  

 

With his cousin - getting lots of candy!

Coloring 

We set up a coloring table for the kids but unfortunately we ran out of time but my son had fun coloring the pages for thank yous for the guests. 

Crafts: A is for Alligator

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During the month of July, I started focusing on 'teaching' my 3 year old.  We focused on the letters A, B, and C as well as the numbers 0, and 1 along with some other topics.

One of the crafts we completed together was an alligator in the shape of the letter A.

Materials 

• googly eyes
• construction paper
• glue 
• crayons 
• scissors 

I pre-cut the letter A out of green construction paper and while he was coloring, I cut out teeth and scales for him to glue onto his creation.

I think his favorite part of the whole project was attaching all the pieces.  He just loves working with glue. 

Do your children have favorite way to learn the letters of the alphabet? Or perhaps a favorite type of reptile? We love alligators and crocodiles in this house!

Resources 

Some alligator toys and books for your little ones.  We personally do not have the Schleich Alligator or VTech Go! Go! Smart Alligator but we have many other items from both companies and love them.

And I LOVE An Extraordinary Egg.  It is one of my favorite books for preschool-kindergarten age children.

        

I linked up with the following blog(s):

Parenting: Sharing

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Sharing is a word that is a double-edged sword.  It can bring tears of happiness to a parent's eyes or tears of anguish to the eyes of children.

With such a small age difference between my two littlest children (my son turned 3 in June, my daughter was 1 in April), most of the toys are interesting to both of them.  For example, both children love playing with stacking rings.  My daughter first starting using them when she was crawling.  She would put one in each hand as she would slide across the floor.  My son uses them to enact the television show "Color Crew" (Baby First's Color Crew).  Both enjoy stacking them but sometimes sharing doesn't work out so well.  Sometimes they both want them and other times my son wants my daughter to play with them with her but she is too busy on her own.

Another toy of contention in our house are Lego bricks. They have a total of three sets of the Duplo. My daughter is fascinated with pulling them apart - working on those fine motor skills.  My son likes to build laser guns and light swords based upon a popular sci-fi video game as well as build cakes. He first built a cake for me and said "Happy Mother's Day."  A little late, but very meaningful to this emotional mommy.  Of course, when his sister wants to take apart his creations, he has shed a lot of tears himself.

As they learn to play with each other, I see them wanting to play more and more together.  For example, my son has been building tracks for his Go Go Smart cars and my daughter has been using the cars on those tracks.  And when he colors, she has to have paper and crayons, too.  I think I am in for a lifetime of them sharing with each other and their older brother.

      

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Birthday Party

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Both of my children love Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  We watch it regularly and sing the songs to help teach lessons to my toddlers all the time.

We were fortunate enough to win a deluxe prize pack from the television show through a contest on their Facebook page so the plan was set in motion to hold a Daniel Tiger themed first birthday party for my little gal.

We had a Daniel Tiger themed first birthday party for my son in 2014 as this was his favorite show at the time. (Now he is a huge fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).  Fortunately, we already have the figures and tree from the TV show that we used for decoration.

Over the past several months I have been working on her birthday party (as well as her brother's that was in June). I find I need to plan things, write lists, and check off the items I listed.  And then I write even more lists as I remember more things that needed to be completed or accomplished.

I have scoured Pinterest and the Internet for ideas for a Daniel Tiger themed party.  Looking for everything from dessert ideas to crafts that the children invited can make during the party.

Photo Opportunities 

Trolley in various stages

 

 

 (inside of the box where I cut out a door)

I used a box from plastic bins that I received for Christmas from my in-laws for my quiet box/busy time activities.

Welcome Sign 

I used the cardboard box from the double stroller we received for Christmas for our two littles.  Half of the box is being used for K's party and the other half will be used for her brother's party.

Food

Brownies

Chocolate covered pretzels

  

Meatball Sandwiches, Veggie straws

Tiger Themed Cake 

(before the icing)

 

Decorations and Party Supplies

Dining Room 

Silhouette Game 

I printed out the coloring pages from PBS of the different characters and then cut them out with construction paper.  After laminating them, I put them on our closet door so we could play a matching game.  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to play but my daughter loved walking by and touching each character.

 Inspiration (Daniel Tiger Silhouette Matching Game)

Crafts - Tiger Faces

I prepared all the materials beforehand. I put all the materials in a party bag decorated with pictures of Daniel Tiger and friends. We didn't actually have enough time to complete any crafts.


Materials

• paper plates
• black construction paper strips
• large googly eyes 
• black construction paper mouth cut outs
• ear cut outs
• orange crayons
• glue and glue sticks

Coloring Pages

PBS' website has lots of resources for each of their programs.  There are online and printable coloring sheets for Daniel Tiger (Daniel Tiger Coloring Page).

    

I linked up with the following blog(s):