Today we started getting ready for our Valentine’s day party which we will have next week on Valentine’s Day! It seems like we have been out of school for every major holiday there has been so far this year so it is nice to finally get to celebrate at least one holiday on the actual day of the holiday…

I thought for our Valentine bags, we would try the popular paper tube heart printing. I didn’t try this ahead of time so when Miss Abby and I sat down at the very last minute to make our tubes, we had a few of them looking a little lopsided…

Basically, what you do is take the end of a paper tube and fold it in to make the heart.  I can’t really explain it but if you look at this photo shared by one of my readers over at Teach Preschool on Facebook, you will see she did a great job making her heart shaped paper tubes…

Photo contributed by Mandy B. Leech

Mandy said that she folded the tubes then added a piece of tape to keep the fold in place better and to keep the kids from squishing the fold out! Wish I had thought of that…

Photo contributed by Mandy B. Leech

But ours still turned out pretty cute and the kids enjoyed painting with the tubes. Anytime we get to use a new tool for painting, my kids enjoy it…

Most of our kids stamped with the tubes to make hearts and then we had a few that preferred to rub the tubes all around their bags – so they have a more of a painted mural for their valentine bags….

I don’t think it will make any difference in the end whether the children had cute valentine printed bags or beautiful shades of pink and red murals – they will still all hold the same amount of cards and treats which, I assure you, will be all that matters come Valentine’s day…

The Kid Blogger Network presents…

Valentine Ideas Blog Hop!!

This post is part of a crazy cool blog hop that you do not want to miss out on!  Just check the linky below for some terrific ideas for Valentine’s day! I was blown away by all the really cool ideas this year. Well done blogging friends!!

Mama Pea Pod, Let Kids Create, My Creative Family, Hands on: as we grow, La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life,  AngeliqueFelix.com, The Golden Gleam, Teach Preschool, Critters and Crayons, Living at the Whitehead Zoo, The Iowa Farmer’s Wife, Nurturestore, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, The Chocolate Muffin Tree, Jamie’s Jumble, The Outlaw Mom Blog, Mama Smiles, The Mommies Made Me Do It, Dinosaurs and Octopuses, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, Toddler Approved, Messy Kids, Rainy Day Mum, JDaniel4sMom, Glittering Muffins, Red Ted Art, Mommy and Me Book Club, Putti Prapancha, Dilly-Dali Art, Creative Connections for Kids, Mommy Labs, De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire, Imagination Soup.net, Rockabye Butterfly, Classified: Mom, Kids Creative Chaos, A Mom with A Lesson Plan, PlayDrMom, RainbowsWithinReach, Living Montessori Now, Curly Birds, Growing A Jeweled Rose, The Home Teacher, A Little Learning For Two, Sun Hats and Wellie Boots, The Imagination Tree, Mummy Mummy Mum, Critters and Crayons, La-La’s Home Daycare, Come Together Kids, Tinkerlab, Dirt and Boogers, Multiple Mummy

 Looking for even more Valentine ideas?

Check out my Valentine’s Day Pins on Pinterest!

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Copyright 2011 © Deborah J. Stewart

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Contact Deborah for permission to sell, post, publish, or distribute all or any part of this article!

Last summer I made a whole set of small table top easels from cardboard and today, we used them for tabletop easel painting…

I also made paint palettes from cut up strips of empty apple cartons. I filled the cups of the ‘disposable’ paint palettes with different colors of paint and gave each child their own paint palette to work with…

As the children painted, they freely mixed the colors in their own paint palette. Although the children really didn’t need water for this, the children asked for a cup of water anyway to rinse off their paint brushes. It somehow made the children feel like they had the complete artist package just by adding the cup of water…

The children asked for more paper and paint as they continued to explore the painting process. I just kept adding paint on top of the old paint and we didn’t worry about whether the colors were getting mixed up a bit on the palettes. Painting is all about mixing colors….

Some of the children held their paint palettes while painting and others kept them on the table to work with. After lots of use, the paint palettes get a little flimsy so the children only used them on the table. I let them figure that out as we went along…

And some of our children enjoyed exploring the difference water made when painting. They discovered the texture and the color was quite different if you added water to the paint or paint brush…

We used terms and sentences like paint canvas, paint palette, thinning the paint, mixing the colors, stroking with the paint brush, and so on….

We also used a variety of different types of paint brushes. There wasn’t much thought that went into which brushes we used, I just handed them out randomly…

In time, our painting space started looking – well – very artistic!

I wish everyone of you could have been there to see this experience because I honestly don’t know how to give it justice. It wasn’t that the children walked away thinking, “I just made a beautiful painting,” although I think they were all quite beautiful, it was that this was a beautiful experience…

My students kept telling one another – “I am making this painting for you!” and “Come and look at what I painted for you!” and “Don’t you love it?”  They all made me smile at their generosity towards each other…

My students have grown as artists throughout this school year and this was an amazing experience of art expression, dramatic play, color mixing, independence, generosity, and creativity. One of my students’ said, “We are like real artists!”  And I must say, they truly were…

This post is linked to Red Ted Art’s Blog: Kids Crafts Linky Party

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Copyright 2011 © Deborah J. Stewart

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When I was asked to donate a few ideas for the “heart book project”, I went to my preschool to try and find some inspiration on what I could share. I looked around the room and decided to see what I could do with a roll of paper towels I had sitting on my shelf.  In the end, I came up with this pretty paper towel heart activity…

To make this, I cut out heart shapes from a roll of paper towels then placed them on a large sheet of white paper and painted over them…

The paper towel hearts have a “doily-like” design on them that shows through once you press the paper towel hearts on your paper. But first, you paint over the entire heart shape(s) on a piece of heavy white paper…

Next, place another sheet of white paper over the painted hearts and firmly rub the paper all over then peel off your top layer of paper and set aside.  Next place your canvas on top of the the painted paper with the hearts, then flip it completely over and firmly rub the paper again…

Finally, peel the paper off the canvas (hearts and all) and you have now transferred your painting to the canvas. By painting on paper first, you can almost see the final results before transferring the paint onto the canvas…

After you paint the hearts and transfer the painting to the canvas, you will end up with a set of colorful paper towel hearts too. If set aside to dry, the paper towel hearts become stiff and dry and can be used in other activities or artwork…

So the above instructions is how I made my own paper towel heart art on canvas but when I shared the idea with my students, their heart art turned out a little bit different…

I should have taped the paper towels to the paper because the children had a hard time keeping the paper towels in one spot on the paper while they painted…

Also, my students realized that red, white, and blue all mixed together will make purple so they spent most of their time making purple paint and painting all purple hearts…

And the children didn’t quite understand that the goal was to create a painting using the entire paper. They just thought they were to paint the paper towel hearts so we ended up with lots and lots of purple painted paper towel hearts and the purple blobs on black or white paper…

About half way through this process, I didn’t even worry about trying to make a pretty heart canvas with the children. I just let the children have fun painting purple on their paper towel hearts.  Perhaps if I do this again, we will walk through the process a little more carefully, and I will hide the blue paint…

Bit in any case, the children enjoyed the color mixing and their collection of purple hearts. I hung my own pretty paper towel heart canvas on my wall in my office as a reminder that not every process will turn out quite as planned but it is the process that matters the most to the children…

This project is part of the heart project. Be sure to check it out and get your own copy of the heart book today…

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www.teachpreschool.org

Copyright 2011 © Deborah J. Stewart

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Valentine’s day is right around the corner and our Pre-K class got a jump start on it by exploring hearts. We began by reading the simple children’s book titled, “The Day it Rained Hearts” by Felicia Bond.

After reading the book, the children then got busy making these fun 3D paper heart collages…

To make these hearts, the children started by folding a strip of paper in half to make the point of the heart first…

Then the children opened the folded strip of paper and rolled each end of the paper towards the folded line in the middle…

Once the ends of the strips were curled inward, the children loosened up the curls a bit and then glued the sides of the hearts down on a black sheet of construction paper….

Some of the children explored the 3D process a bit by gluing strips of paper in a variety of ways on their black sheet of construction paper…

The curling of the paper strips took some practice for the children but once they tried a few, they got the hang of it…

This isn’t the kind of project you just throw out there and expect the children to understand what to do. I had to walk the children through the steps the first time but once they saw the process, they were then able to complete the process in their own way…

The bright colored hearts on the black construction paper looked lovely in our classroom. Once the children got the hang of things, they really enjoyed the process and took their time creating some beautiful 3D heart collages..

Have you read about the heart project yet?  In case you haven’t be sure to check out this wonderful ebook and an opportunity to make a difference on behalf of the American Heart Association….

Click this box to learn more about the heart project!

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Copyright 2011 © Deborah J. Stewart

All Rights Reserved!

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This is an amazing project put together by Jamie over at Hands on: as we grow and I am very pleased to be included along with all the other 70+ bloggers who have contributed over 100 heart ideas and activities for this very special ebook. Be sure to read this entire post so you can find out how to get your own copy of the heart book and join in on the many different give-aways and auctions going on between now and February 14th!

This ebook was started as a way for my blogging friend and colleague, Jamie, to do a little something special for little Ellie Jo (age 4) who has hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HSLS).

I hope you will join us in raising funds for the American Heart Association. Together, we can make a difference…

Here is just a small sample of photos you will find inside the heart project….

Make a donation of $5.oo and you will receive your very own copy of the heart ebook.  Click the button below to donate and get your copy of the ebook today. Remember, all proceeds will go to the American Heart Association….

Hard copy of the heart book

A soft-bound hard-copy (or printed version) of the heart book is also available for $20.oo. Just click the link below if you would like to purchase a printed version of the heart book.  Five dollars from every purchase of the printed version book will go to the American Heart Association.

Donation

If you would like to simply make a donation to the American Heart Association then you can donate by clicking the button below…

 Give-Aways

Giveaways are going to be happening every day from now until February 14th! There are more than one on some of the days, so be sure to check them all out! Each of the following giveaways are being hosted by the individual Heart Book Project Bloggers who have selected something to go with the heart book theme to give away. See the updated give-away list here or check the linky below!

Fundraiser Auctions:

Melissa & Doug -  4 Trunki with Teddy Bear Auctions!

1. Trunki with Teddy Bear, ends Feb 10
2. Trunki with Teddy Bear, ends Feb 10
3. Trunki with Teddy Bear, ends Feb 10
4. Trunki with Teddy Bear, ends Feb 10

Fudoo Boards - 3 Fudoo Board Kits for Auction!

1. Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
2. Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10
3. Fudoo Board Kit, ends Feb 10

Sponsors

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

Hop over the Craftprojectideas.com Facebook page and tell them a BIG THANK YOU for being so generous!
 

Fundraising Goal

Amount Donated will be updated daily:

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www.teachpreschool.org

Copyright 2011 © Deborah J. Stewart

All Rights Reserved!

Contact Deborah for permission to sell, post, publish, or distribute all or any part of this article!