Kreative Resources: January 2012

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Here it Is! Official opening of 'the heart project'!

the heart project

e-book & print version is now open for donations/purchase

The e-book is a gift for a $5 donation - US $5

The PRINTED VERSION US $20

US $20.00

Order the Printed Version

You may also Donate without buying e-book - your support is appreciated:

Our progress!

Sponsorship information:

Craftprojectideas.com is contributing $1 for every e-book sold this month! That means in addition to your $5 donation by purchasing the The Heart e-book, Craftprojectideas.com will donate another $1 on your behalf (up to $500!)!

Hop over the Craftprojectideas.com Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Craftprojectideas) and tell them a BIG THANK YOU for being so generous!

Giveaways are going to be happening every day from now until the 14th! There's more than one some days, so be sure to check them all out! These giveaways are from The Heart Project Bloggers who are very generously donating their projects (from The Heart Book!), or something related to their heart project.

There are also a couple special giveaways from Melissa & Doug, Fudoo Boards and CraftProjectIdeas.com! Be sure to check back each day to enter that day's giveaways!

Melissa & Doug:
Run from 2/1-2/10

Fudoo Boards:
Run from 2/1-2/10

This has been an awesome experience and I am blessed to be part of it! I hope you all love the multitude of great ideas! Thanks so much for your support!

Monday, 30 January 2012

A Special Gift - Pay It Forward!

To day I got an amazing package from Karen Green over at Flights of Whimsy as a part of "Pay it Forward".

I was so excited to get the package in the mail - and when I opened it I was so thrilled! The kids will LOVE this kind gesture!

What a great selection of gifts! I can't wait to take it in to school tomorrow to share with my tots!

The topper was this adorable Roo with her flag!

My doggie fell in love with it - I have to keep it out of her reach! LOL

This idea was initiated by Sherry and Donna from Irresistible Play-Based Ideas !

Such a wonderful way to share aspects of different cultures with our children.

Now it’s Kreative Resources turn to Pay It Forward.

So if you would like to play AND are willing to pay it forward from your own blog, then here is what you do.

Leave a comment on this post stating that you want to play, and I will randomly choose three players.
You can be from anywhere in the world!!
The rules are:
• To the three participants I will send a fun package representing my beautiful city, Burlington Ontario Canada but you must be willing to Pay it Forward to three more people.
• Comments will remain open until February 14th 2012.• If you are chosen you will need to send me your postal address so that I know where to send your parcel.
• After you receive the package you will need to Pay it Forward in the same manner on your blog.

We now have our friends to play! Thanks so much for joining! I hope many more people will benefit from your participation!

Saturday, 28 January 2012

Instant Snow

It's so fun when we get something new in the classroom that will amaze and astound us.

This week we had such a thing to play with.

Instant Snow!

Described as:
"Insta-Snow is an amazing powder that turns ordinary water into a fluffy substance that looks like real snow."

"This faux snow is so realistic that it is now being used in indoor snowboarding parks throughout the world. Insta-Snow will not melt or ice up. It comes in an 8 oz. jar. It is safe, non-toxic and can be used for parties, holiday displays, decorations, movie sets, or in a school science lab."

"Note: Do not eat this product. Keep container stored in a dark, cool and dry location. Sweep or vacuum all spills.

We got out a big bowl because we didn't know what to expect - and water to add to the Instant Snow.

We shook the powder into the bowl! Not too much at first.

Added some water and then observed.

This is what we got - more like slush. So we decided we didn't add enough powder - or we added too much water.

The children described this as slush - wet and cold!

Everyone wanted a feel and described it similarly.

However we added more powder and voila! Snow!

It was still wet feeling - it could be squeezed and manipulated without losing it snow appearance. After we investigated it for awhile we decided to leave it out to see how long it takes to turn back into it's powder form - because this can be used over and over again! We will see if this is true for us!

We did get it everywhere so vacuuming was required - but it was worth the efforts - because it did look and feel 'cool'!

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Peanut Balls and Scooter Boards

Peanut Balls and Scooter Boards Oh my! We had such great fun today - if I had kept these out all day we would NOT have gotten bored. In fact we had them out most of the morning and then later in the afternoon and the smiles and shrieks of laughter consumed the room. I would have to say this was a very good choice to include in my toddler program.

Find this great equipment here!

Fun to share!

How does this work?

Oh we get it!

Each and every one of the toddlers could manipulate and enjoy this equipment to the fullest!

I am sure the more we use this, there will be more skill building - muscle strengthening and joy!

Peanut Balls & Scooter Boards

Monday, 23 January 2012

Snowy Hearts

There has been a recipe going around to make a baking soda and cornstarch dough. I like the snowy white look, so today we made heart pendants out of it - to give as gifts at Valentines Day.

Mix 1 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup cornstarch in a saucepan
- then add 2/3 cup warm water - bring to a boil and stir until smooth
- Remove from pan and kneed - we then added some blue glitter at this point - It made them look 'icy'.

For our project we then rolled the dough out into a 1/4 inch thick sheet and cut out our shapes with heart shaped cookie cutters.Then we poked a hole in each one - while they were wet - to string a ribbon in it later to wear as a pendant or hang as an ornament. We laid them out to dry.

We had some extra dough so we made some little ones as well.

We are going to try and glue them on top of the larger ones - or save them for another project.

We can give these with this poem:

Out of a snow cloud, cold and gray,
Something dropped on St. Valentine's Day,
Whirling and twirling and soft and light,
A wee little heart all dainty and white,
And I guess the sky children were sending down,
This Valentine straight to the Moms and Dads in town.

or this one :

Happy Valentine’s Day to My Mom & Dad

Mom & Dad, I’ve got some friends
Of each and every kind,
But a better friend than my Mother & Father
I’ll never, ever find!

I’m so happy you’re my Mom & Dad!
I love you.

Pretty aren't they

This post will be a part of "the heart project"

Purchase the e-book or print copy HERE!

Snowman - Paste and colour

The tots were given 2 circles to paste along with some crayons.

Then they got creative!

Nice job!

We all had to have a smile and eyes! :)

We had been talking about snowmen, and reading books about snow, so creating snowmen from the materials supplied seemed like the obvious choice to create with the white circles.

Sometimes simple is just the ticket to fit the creative bill! Not to mention it's a great transition creative. It takes little time and breaks the time between high level activity and a quiet activity.