Sorting Sea Shells

We just got back from our beach vacation and we collected bunches of shells.  They are such treasures and I loved collecting them as much as my daughter.  We've looked at our shells over and over. Then we decided to sort them and it was fun to invent all the different categories.  It was a great learning experience too.

Here are our categories:

Spiral Shells.

Black Long Shells. (Mussels)

Clam Shells 

Oyster type shells and a few scallops.

Scallop Shells.

Pieces of shells that were worn down.

Slipper shells.

Tiny Scallop and Clam shells (below the big one).

Lastly, 

An invented creature by C made of crab parts and pieces of shells.

I'm sure we'll doing more with sea shells. 

What fun things have you done with sea shells?

Outdoor Nature Collages

This was my daughter's idea.  I gave her some scrap matte board and white glue and she went to town! Busy for about 1/2 hour.  Lately it has been difficult to get C into making things and this definitely sparked her interest. If it is "her idea" she is more likely to create...maybe it is just those 5 1/2 year olds? Be sure to check out all the beautiful nature collages below.

C easily gathered lots of nature around our yard to get her started.  The great thing about making a making an outdoor nature collage is that the supplies are endless...

C hard at work...

Here are all the lovely collages:

A dandelion sun and a leaf for a cloud.

This one is mine.

So simplistic, but Lovely.

Trees with green leaf clouds.

The outdoor show.

I love how simple the collages are.  We even attempted a stick sculpture in the lower left corner.  I loved making these too and I'm sure your children will love it because as you can see we had a blast!

What have you been creating with your kids outdoors?

Need More Flower Ideas?

Check out other Flower Inspired ideas below for Tinkerlab's Challenge.

This post is shared with: It's Playtime

Colorful Bird Nest Creation

We created a bird nest last week with mud, sticks, flower petals, pine needles, grass, leaves, and water.
Our bird nest creation was a real hit so we decided to create a nest in a different way. This time we made a more colorful artsy bird nest as pictured below.

To create our colorful artsy bird nest we gathered:

shredded colorful paper

feathers

yarn

tissue paper

glitter

poly-fil stuffing

white glue

I made up a mixture of 2 parts white glue and 1 part water and put all the materials above into it. The materials should be covered.

Then I covered the bottom of a plastic bowl with plastic wrap and set it on a plate so any glue dripping would land there.

Then we just started spreading the mixture over the plastic wrap covered bowl.  Cover the bowl the best you can and press down and shape the materials around the bowl.

Once covered we let it all dry out in the sun or somewhere warm (like near a heater). It took a couple days  to dry.  You may want to put plastic wrap over the plate so that the nest won't stick to the paper plate!

Finished empty nest.  I love the glitter added in for  a sparkly touch!

Nest from the bottom.

I think it turned out fantastic. We are very happy with our Artsy Colorful Bird Nest!

What would you put in our Bird Nest?

Other bird nest posts that we have done:

Our Bird Nest Creation

Lots of Birds in a Nest  collage and painting

We Love Dandelions

"To some the dandelion is a weed;  but not to me, unless it takes its share of space,  for I always miss these little earth stars when they are absent.  They intensify the sunshine shimmering on the lawn, making one smile involuntarily when seeing them.  Moreover, they awaken pleasant memories,  for a child in which dandelions had no part is a defective experience." ~Excerpted from "The Home Acre," by E.P. Roe


We love dandelions here.  C has been picking me little dandelion bouquets each day and marveling at these "earth stars"! The quote above is great..couldn't imagine a childhood without them.  We even made a Dandelion Heart as part of our Land Art collection.

Now most of our dandelions are going to seed, but still they are so exciting to a child. Now we have dandelion "puff ball" bouquets!

What have you been creating with dandelions?

Picture of C last year enjoying the dandelions!

Our Bird Nest Creation

We made a bird nest.  I have no idea where this came from....but it seemed like a good one.  Even the neighborhood kids wanted to make one too. Really.

To create our bird nest we gathered:

dirt

pine needles

leaves

grass 

flower petals

sticks

We also added:

yarn

poly fill stuffing

water

Then I thought we better add some plastic wrap (or use a bag) underneath everything so we could get the nest out when it dries.

We mixed up all the things and tried to mold them together a bit (truly experimental). Adding more water or dirt as needed.

Fortunately, we had some fairly warm days so we left the nest to dry and harden for a few days and this is our finished nest. What do you think?

What have you and your children made with natural materials?

Spider Web Drawings

We've been creating spider web drawings! Cassie loves making them and it is actually quite simple and gratifying!  This may not be how a spider actually weaves a web, but the way we have been drawing them makes it super easy for a child!  Having been an art teacher,  my experience has been that all kids love to draw spider webs and spiders!  I know I do too!!! Here is one of many webs with spiders C has drawn.  She has become a little obsessed!

To create a web,  first begin with a small circle in the middle and draw a larger circle around each successive one.  It should look like a target.

Then add lines from the middle circle to the edge of the paper or as close as you can come to it!  C never really wanted to draw the lines to the edge.

Here is C with her finished orange web and now she started to draw spiders.  Make sure to have 8 legs!!

She wanted to draw lots of spiders and insects caught in the web!!!!

Here is just some of the spider webs C has drawn!  She is very proud of all her webs and spiders. This is a great activity for Halloween or when learning about Spiders and their webs.  Kids are always fascinated with spiders webs!  Be sure to check out some cool links about spiders and webs below! 

Stay tuned because we'll be having more posts about spiders and spider webs!!!

Cool Links About Spiders:

50 Facts About Spiders

Facts About Spider Webs and Different Kinds of Webs

More Spider Facts

Spider Books

This post is linked to: It's Playtime

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Rock Tower Bakery

Rocks have been our chosen art medium for the past few weeks.  In one of our last posts titled  Coffee Table Rock Art  we created with rocks and we've done some rock creations in our Land Art  post too!  I predict even more "rock" themed posts in the future!  We actually have a whole bin of rocks that we have collected that have been placed right next to our blocks and other building toys!  This time Cassie has been been creating Rock Towers! They remind me of the towers you would find when you are on a hike. These smooth flat rocks found in our nearby lake make the perfect building materials!  If you like neat and clean projects... these can be done right in your living room without any mess! Our coffee table was our place to build once again!

Having fun building!  These are all "ice cream cakes" according to Cassie! 

She really had a lot of fun! When she saw the pictures of her work it inspired her to build some more!

Here is a sampling of all the different cakes C created! I sure LOVE these!  Vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate brownie cakes with frosting!  I love this girl's imagination! Hooray for Imagination!  Where would we be without our Imaginations????

I'm sure we will be revisiting this again and again!!!

What have you been making with Rocks?

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