Sunday, April 28, 2013

Mother's Day Flower Craft

Can you believe that Mother's Day is just two weeks away?  Many teachers have their students make a gift to honor mothers for this special day.  The gifts made are often derived from a craft activity the children create in class.  The more the child completes of the gift on his/her own, the more meaningful it is for both parent and child.  Some moms even save the gift and admire it years later.  As with any craft activity done with children, avoid using objects that have the potential to become a choking hazard.   

Here's a super simple craft activity that will have many mothers smiling on Mother's Day.  There's a flower pattern at the end of this post you can download for the craft.  There "May" also be a few other goodies for you!  Hint, hint . . .
This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
These flowers will bring a smile to any mother's face!
 Materials needed:

1.  Flower pattern - one per child  (Use poster board or heavy card-stock.)
2.  Glue
3.  magic markers
4.  Large, decorative paper cupcake liners - one per child  (Michael's Crafts and Walmart have these.)
5.  Small objects which will represent the "seeds".  (I used sequins in the photo shown in this post but pompoms, paper confetti, or a photo of the child will also work well.)
6.  9 x 12 inch green construction paper - two sheets per child
7.  stapler
8.  adhesive dots (optional)

Directions:

1.  Give each child one flower pattern.  Have children decorate with markers.
2.  Give each child one cupcake liner.  Have children squeeze glue into the cupcake liner.
3.  Have children "sprinkle" the "seeds" inside the cupcake liners where the glue was placed.  Allow the glued "seeds" to dry overnight.  Shake the cupcake liners out over the trash container the next day to remove any "seeds" which did not adhere to the inside of the liners.
4.  Give each child one green piece of construction paper.  Model drawing leaves on the board.  Have the children draw leaves on their paper using a pencil.
5.  Have the children draw the veins on the leaves with a pencil. 
6.  Have children outline their leaf drawings with a dark marker.
7.  Have children cut out their leaves.
8.  Using another sheet of green construction paper, fold over 4 or 5 times.  This becomes the "stem".
9.  Staple the stem to the flower.
10.  Staple the leaves to the stem.
11.  Glue or use adhesive dots to attach the cupcake liner to the center of the flower.

This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
Children decorate the flower pattern with magic markers.

This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
Sequins are glued inside the cupcake liners to represent the flowers' seeds.

This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
The cupcake liners stick to the flower pattern with adhesive dots.

This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
This photo shows a sheet of adhesive dots. They stick on both sides. These can be purchased at craft stores.


This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
Fold the green construction paper over 4-5 times. Staple the flower and leaves to the stem. The picture above shows the back of the flower.    
     https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-I90irRe2FHVFdWOXR4bE1GWEU/edit?usp=sharing

Click the picture above to get the tropical flower pattern.

This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
This flower craft is easy to make and is sure to bring a smile to the face of any mother on Mother's Day!  Click the image of the black-line tropical flower to get the free pattern! Then trace it on poster board.  Allow the children to decorate the flowers with magic markers making each flower unique.  Glue or fasten cupcake liners inside the centers of the flowers.  The "seeds" are sequins that are glued inside the cupcake liners.  The stem and leaves are made from green construction paper.
The flowers can also be used as a bulletin board display.  Perfect for the month of May!
    The freebies below are based on the May 2013 calendar. 

Click on the words "May calendar numbered" for the one shown above.
Need a quick calendar skills review?  Click on the words, "Calendar Language" to get the printable shown above.
Click on the words, "May calendar" for the one shown above.

Oh but this is not enough!  I am celebrating May with other bloggers and joining their linky parties!  Go visit and enjoy more spring freebies because . . . it's the "Merry, Merry Month of May"!



Lessons by Molly © 2013  All rights reserved.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Earth Day Primary Free Teaching Resource

It's almost "Earth Day"!  Are you ready to celebrate with your class?  Classroom "Earth Day" activities teach children how to become good stewards of our planet.  Science and Social Studies standards can be taught while celebrating "Earth Day".  In Virginia, "Earth Day" activities connect with the first grade Science standard 1.8 which is to discover the Earth's resources.

April is a busy time of year for most teachers and it's hard to find time to plan one more seasonal lesson.  Here are a few (preschool through first grade) "Earth Day" ideas that won't take much time.  There's also a link to a freebie at the end of this post. 

1.  Use blue and green streamers to represent the water and land.  Cut enough so each child has one blue and one green streamer.  The children wave the streamers in the air (one streamer in each hand) while you sing and listen to Earth themes songs such as "Big Beautiful Planet" which can be found on Raffi's Rise and Shine album.  

Reduce, reuse, and recycle!  This free printable booklet teaches children essential concepts necessary for becoming planet Earth's caretakers.  A cute little owl tells the children how it loves the planet.  The key concepts are: keep the environment clean, recycle, conservation of energy and water, collect rain water, use plants to improve air quality, and reduce the amount of goods consumed.

Below are links to where you can get the song.


 2.  Wear "Nature-Pleasing" clothing on "Earth Day" or any day.  Shirts with trees, flowers, or animals will work nicely.  Send a note home with your students at least one day before having them dress up for nature.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle!  This free printable booklet teaches children essential concepts necessary for becoming planet Earth's caretakers.  A cute little owl tells the children how it loves the planet.  The key concepts are: keep the environment clean, recycle, conservation of energy and water, collect rain water, use plants to improve air quality, and reduce the amount of goods consumed.

 3.  View nature-loving websites!  National Geographic Kids is a great way to motivate children to love and appreciate animals.  Their website has tons of videos for kids to watch about mammals, fish, birds, and insects.

4.  Make an interactive model of the Earth.  You'll need green and blue acrylic paint, a Styrofoam ball and a few other things for this.  See the tutorial HERE.  

5.  Read books that promote the "Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle" concept.  Click the image below to download the printable booklet that discusses this concept.  
Reduce, reuse, and recycle!  This free printable booklet teaches children essential concepts necessary for becoming planet Earth's caretakers.  A cute little owl tells the children how it loves the planet.  The key concepts are: keep the environment clean, recycle, conservation of energy and water, collect rain water, use plants to improve air quality, and reduce the amount of goods consumed.

 Here are some directions for assembling the reading booklet:

1.  Print the pages.  Copy single sides.
2.  Fold all the pages including the cover page.
3.  Insert the folded pages into the cover page using the proper numeric sequence.  (The folded sides face outward with the exception of the cover page.  The cover page acts as a folder for the other pages to slip inside.)

If you'd like, view the video tutorial.  Hover over the bottom right corner and click to view in full screen mode.  Press your escape (esc) key when finished.



 

© 2013 Lessons by Molly, All rights reserved.





Saturday, April 6, 2013

Free Teaching Resources!

I discovered this a great find for free teaching resources. There are goodies for grades pre-k through sixth grade.  Thought I'd share.
Teaching Blog Addict - Ultimate Freebie

Monday, April 1, 2013

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. Together we support each other as we push forward in our efforts to improve the lives of those touched with autism. Autism Speaks Light It Up Blue - Join Today