Created Resources & my hobby!

I Love my new cricut - a die cutting machine, that is not only a time saver but great for inspiring more and more ideas. I have created bulletin boards  - which were great fun - and a few personal cards to family. Now I am setting forth to create some story board characters for circle time in my classroom. I only wish there were more hours in the day to create all that I want to have in my 'stash'!

This is a felt board story I put together with cricut die cut pieces & pictures (heads) from off of a preschool site ( I now cannot recall which one - if you know let me know so I can give credit)

Shakers

My tots LOVE shakers - musical shakers.

When the tunes go on, they love to shake it to the beat. The problem is the shakers belong to our music teacher, who only comes once a week for 1/2 hour, and they don't always get to use the shakers. So I decided to make some of my own, for use any time we feel the urge! The shakers I am talking about are egg shaped and small enough for the tots to hold comfortably in their hand.

When I saw these eggs in the dollar store for Easter time - I knew they had to be our new shakers. They don't look like the typical Easter eggs that are sweet and flowery. I thought they would make music time more fun!

I simply filled them with a bit of rice and glued them shut

with a thick tacky glue! Ready for shaking!



I am turning April into - Sensory Month!

I have started by putting out a few sensory bottles!

This is a good way to entice the children into a new theme!

 I made a couple of sink and float bottles - 2 magnetic bottles

and 1 with gross lizards and bugs!

These provide loads of exploration in such a small bottle!

Sensory bottles seem more fun on a light table!

Note: Always hot glue your bottles shut for safety and making them mess free!

Wooden Mallets

DIY - Wooden Mallets

I don't know if you have ever priced wooden mallets for your musical instrument collection - but they can run anywhere from $20 to $30 for a small set - which can be used on things like xylophones - cymbals or small drums.
Well I am a very frugal teacher and most of my instruments have come from garage sales and thrift stores - the mallets usually missing. So on my time off this week I have been getting caught up on making and preparing resources for my classroom. Mallets have been on my to do list for a very long time. They got made today!

Dollar store dowels and garage sale find beads - $1.25

Beads hot glued onto the dowels.

Stop the dowel just before they come out the other side of the bead.

I varnished the dowels after - just because I was painting another DIY project.

A pringles tin = new mallet holder - covered in scrap booking paper.

When I find some ribbon it will go around the top. :)

Ready to use!

Steel Drum

Continuing our Music and Drama month!

Today we made a steel drum! It was very loud in our school as we hammered the tin to a concave shape! It was fun though! :)

I must note that I ended up putting a towel over the tin so it would not be so loud hammering it!

We used a wooden spoon to strike it!

It sounded OK and everyone wanted a turn to play it!

It may not look quite like a real steel drum but the concept was there and we had fun!

Drummin' and a Little Wind!

On the second day of our music and drama month it was all about drums - with a little wind in there as well!

First we tried out the African drum.

Great beats!

Then on to bongos!

Then we added in the African hand drum.

Jammin'!

Then we needed a wind instrument!

Time for the straw whistles - HERE is a good tutorial.

 Fun to play!

Now for finger drums!

Use any small container - a balloon - masking tape - scissors - paint and brush optional!

Cut the end off the balloon - stretch the balloon over the container - tape around edges a couple of times.Note the little bump - it's OK - it's the bottom part of the balloon. You will want this to play the drum - details below.

Paint if you wish.

Wait let's use those balloon bits!

Add more wind!

Make straw the same as the whistles.

Now use those extra balloon pieces and tape them on the uncut end.

These make a different whistle sound.

It's a funny sound - fun to play!

Back to our drum.

You don't tap the drum - you pluck it!

This is where that bump comes in - it makes it easier to grab hold and pluck.

Our finger drum quartet!

Who wants to Jam?

Thanks pal!

IT WAS A FUN DAY!

Oh yeah.....

.....we also played the shakers we made yesterday.....

...and belted out a tune!

Canadian idols!

Music and Drama Month

We have started a music and drama month in our classroom - which may actually turn into 2 months because we have so much to do!
Yesterday we started off playing didgeridoos and making our own instruments - which we will make many of over the month.

The didgeridoo is very difficult to play - but my little buddy here was the first to get a good sound from this fun instrument.

The teachers had to try as well!

Then we made some shaker instruments with our recyclables - coloured rice and some stickers to decorate!

We used Valentines stickers because it's that time of year! :)

They were pretty as well - and fun to put on.

Shaking ....

... even drumming!

Lots of fun!

Puppet Theatre for under $5

This is my weekend project - a puppet theatre which I created for for under $5!

I found this at the Reuse Centre for $3

I am not sure if it was actually a puppet theatre once upon a time - or a dart board frame. 

I think it's a puppet theatre - 'cause that's where my mind went.

See $3 - yippy!

It needed curtains, so I got a pillow case from the dollar store.

I made 2 curtain panels out of one pillow case.

I didn't want to sew so I hemmed it with Fabric Glue!

Worked great nice and neat!

To hang the curtains I used picture wire and an eye hook.

Inside view.

Front view.

I made a sign on my cricut machine.

I also added some tickets.

So what do you think? I am more than certain the tots will love it!

Next month we are focusing on Music and Drama - this should come in handy!