Past Bulletin Boards

I have been meaning to share a few of my previous bulletin boards from this school year and have just been putting it off to too long....so finally, it's here! =) I have a serious obsession to creating bulletin boards and really enjoy the creativity that goes into piecing together the children's creations. 

At the private school I teach at there are specific themes outlined for each month and the bulletin boards that become the most exciting are the Science bulletin board in my classroom and a seasonal bulletin board in the hallway outside my room.We also have a Fine Arts board in our class where we display the work that the children create that have been inspired by a master artist but those aren't nearly as fun since its just a display rather that a scene. 

For last month (March), our Science theme was Land Habitats and my co-teacher and I decided to create a jungle/rainforest to display parrots, monkeys and snakes the children made during art. You may notice that their art is very similar - our school incorporates 'directed art' into the art curriculum 3 days a week. Directed Art helps the children with their listening skills and ability to follow simple directions and sequences to create an art piece as close to the display as possible. I have taught an after school class that follows a similar structure so was well prepared for this style of teaching art. It's amazing how well the children can draw and paint in this format and even more remarkable, is how unique each piece is when the children are all listening to the same exact directions. So fun!

Sorry I don't have any close ups of this one, I wised up later on though. =) 

Also for March, I created a Dr. Seuss themed bulletin board in the hallway to honor one of my favorite children's authors and illustrators during his birthday month. The children created their own Thing 1 and Thing 2 for directed art, which I then cut out and labeled with their individual numbers (the reason for Thing 17 below). I also took a picture of each of my students with Lorax eyebrows and a mustache to create the other project. With the photos ready, I had the children watercolor one of two different versions of the Lorax that I drew. 

My truffula tree tops were made out of large butcher paper that I cut to size and then gave them a fun and messy layer of shaving cream paint. The children had a blast with this part, of course! I love letting them mess around with shaving cream but it was a MESS to move around the classroom as the large truffula tuft dried! It was still worth it though. 

For those of you unfamiliar with shaving cream paint, it's roughly 1C shaving cream to 2-4 tablespoons white glue. I've read a lot of other sites that it's a 1:1 but thats way too much glue. You basically just need to glue to be added until the mixture is similar to cake batter. It'll glob and slop around but holds together well and is thick enough to spread a generous layer. 

 The last bulletin board I'm sharing today is currently displayed in my classroom and I LOVE it!! 

I've never had a bulletin board quite like this before and I'm really happy with how it turned out. For  April, our Science themes were Plants, Sunlight and Moonlight and being the perfectionist I am, I wanted to do something that I figure others WOULDN'T do. So I chose the 'less likely to be chosen bulletin board theme' of the month, moonlight. 

 We planned this whole week around the bulletin board by learning about the different moon phases and created art last week that would fill up the night sky.

 The bats were done for directed art. 

 I jazzed up some Dollar Store letters with blue glitter and Mod Podge to add some sparkle to our night sky. I also added some glitter to stars on the border - maybe about 5 glittery ones on each strip. It really added a subtle detail to tie the whole wall together. 

The fireflies were inspired by Eric Carle's The Very Lonely Firefly. I prepared the separate pieces and then each child glued it together and then added details for the body, legs and face using oil pastels. 

I used the shaving cream paint to create the large crescent moon and sprinkled some irredescent glitter right away. Also, here's a close up of 2 of my favorite little bats - I love those eyes! So cute!

I also had a few children create the moon phases with yellow chalk (I penciled in the line for the phases in advance) and then gave them a quick blast with Glitter Spray. 

More colorful and fun boards to come once they're created! Next month's theme is Dinosaurs...

let the brainstorming begin....

My First Clipart Creation!

After venturing into the Teachers Pay Teachers world of teacher created lessons and resources, I have been obsessing about clipart! I'm a very visual thinker and love to incorporate colorful and fun images onto anything I create for my classroom. When I recently encountered a block in my TPT creativity, I started doing some research about how to create my own clipart. After scoring the internet and reading and watching all kinds of random attempts to help teach others how to create clipart, I FINALLY came across a single YouTube video that had a perfectly simple demonstration. With my new knowledge, I set out to create a simple image for my first clipart set and after what felt like HOURS....I DID IT!

I created these simple little owls using Powerpoint (surprised? I was too!) and posted them as a FREEBIE onto TPT. I hope you enjoy them!

Colorful Owl Clipart FREEBIE

Craft Room Sign

Here's a simple freebie I created to add some more detail to my craft room. 

I wanted to add some kind of framed artwork but since I chose such unique colors for the space, I had a challenging time finding something that worked. 

Yay Photoshop Elements! I have very little experience using the program but I'm so glad I spent a little extra time fiddling with it today! Enjoy! 

Download Here

Simple Pegboard Upgrade

With my craft room remodel in full force, one area that I hadn't given much consideration to was all the little bits and pieces that I would need storage for. I really want to keep the table top free of clutter. All of the big elements came naturally but staying organized is a lifelong battle for me so I'm determined to start off in the right direction. 

The more I plan the better organized I can be...hopefully. 

So the crafty light bulb went on when I was browsing my local Freecycle site and saw a FREE pegboard was posted. Free and a pegboard?! My problems were resolving themselves! So I picked up the pegboard, which ended up being HUGE and requiring hubby and I to snap it in half to fit it in our dinky Focus. However, the two pieces I was left with were still about 4'x4', more than enough for what I had I mind and extra for hubby to use in his 

man cave/garage :) 

Now everything that goes into my craft room has to charming and beautiful, of course, so I set out to find a pretty and inexpensive way to jazz up the simple board. I thought about framing it with crown molding but the thought of purchasing it, cutting it and painting it seemed like too much work so thankfully my hubby came up with a brilliant substitute!

The previous owners of my house left behind all kinds of random home decor items, which included this frame. 

I cut open the back and pulled away the staples which allowed me to remove all of the layers of paper and the glass. I then used a piece of the removed paper to measure the exact size to cut the pegboard. After the board was cut, I used some extra paint from my wall doodle to prime the board and then add some sparkle. 

Finally, with the board dried, I slipped the freshly painted board into the old frame, repositioned the original staples. Just like that, an amazing pegboard that cost me NOTHING to make!! I did spend about $5 on more pegboard supplies but FREE is just so much more exactly so I'm sticking to that. :)

I hope you can find some inspiration to help you with your space! And if you aren't plugged into your community's Freecycle page, I highly recommend it as a great way to find some great FREE resources for repurposing and to help us keep good items out of our landfills. 

http://www.freecycle.org/

My Craft Room Accent Wall!

I can finally unveil my finished accent wall in the craft room!

Since my husband and I are on a tight budget, I've turned to paint as a way to add personality and decor all in one. With my craft room remodel, I had to add some creativity to one of the walls. To add my personal touch, I decided to doodle on the wall a simple design that I tend to draw all the time. =) 

Here's where I started:

For my paint, I just went with an off white color. Valspar Delicate White

I also bought the Valspar Paint Crystals after reading about it on Pinterest, of course. I mixed about 1 pint to roughly 1-2 tablespoons of the paint crystals. As the directions suggest, mix the crystals in gradually so they don't clump in the paint. 

Then, I used chalk to draw out my design.

Then I painted...

               and painted...

                               and painted.

It really wasn't that bad... but I am a perfectionist and question just about every line before I add it. 

I also painted 2 coats to make sure the purple didn't come through and 

to guarantee that I'd get enough sparkle. Once the paint dries, the chalk can simply be wiped with a damp towel. 

Here's the final product!

I know its a bit dramatic but it's perfect and I love it.
The room is now truly my personal sanctuary and crafting headquarters! 

Teachers Pay Teachers Beginnings!

I'm not exactly sure what the catalyst was exactly but over the last week I've been inspired to create some new products for my Phonics and Math circles with my little Pre-Kinders. Most of them have their foundations from some activities that I've used in the past but have needed some rejuvenation to keep my kiddos interested. I would love to hear your feedback and to get any requests for new resources for Pre-K and Kindergarteners. Please follow me and rate my new products!

"I Have, Who Has" Domino Addition Game 

Greater Then & Less Than 'Skunked' Game 

Sight Word Tic Tac Toe Game

Numbers 1-30 Egg Match

Craft Room: Phase 1

With the new house, I've been creating quite a list of DIY projects and creating a terrifying mess in my spare bedroom. Note the chaos below...

Obviously, nothing constructive was coming out of this mess so before I tackled any new projects, I decided to put all my energy into turning this room around and getting my craft room underway. 

After moving out all the crafting madness, I painted! Yay for more painting...ugh. Note the sarcasm. I went with Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint in Pristine Petal. I only had them include 75% of the pigment though so it wasn't so dark.

Color Scheme Thoughts:

It looks a bit darker in these pictures but I love it and find it so dramatic!

I'm planning to free paint some kind of design on one wall in the lighter tan color (Smoked Oyster). I'm having some hesitation starting the next step so I moved onto the craft table. More to follow!! 

Valentine's Day Math Freebie

I'm always looking for new and inexpensive math ideas to help with my small group activities and with Valentine's Day coming up, the holiday became an obvious theme. My kiddos especially enjoyed a Roll and Color activity that I used last month so I started hunting Pinterest and the internet for a freebie combining these 2 topics. However, after some digging, I came up empty handed. 

Of course now I was determined to just create one myself that was suitable for my students and all of you can enjoy it as well!

Since my group is progressing very well, I made this one a bit harder than some that I have seen to keep them engaged and challenged. I hope my group and all of you enjoy this simple freebie!

Download at TPT

Eric Carle Inspired Caterpillar

I started this blog to also include some ideas from my classroom. I am currently teaching Pre-Kindergarten at an amazing private school and bring a lot of my ideas and creativity to my lessons. Some of my crazy ideas turn out great while others become learning opportunities for me as well... =) All I hope is that some of the ideas and lessons that I share on here can inspired creativity within your homes or classroom to encourage fun and unique learning opportunities for young children. 

Being an artsy and very visual person, I cannot help but fixate on illustrations on children's books before even reading them. A book can have the most amazing plot but it can be a complete disappointment without illustrations to appropriately convey the story's magic. A story is only as good as the illustrations that accompany the words. 

Eric Carle has always been one of my all time favorite children's book authors and it's his unique and colorful illustrations that make his books come to life. With my class learning about animal and insect life cycles, I wanted to use Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar as inspiration for our butterfly life cycle bulletin board display. I haven't hung the finished products yet as its Winter Break right now but I will be sure to post the final display once its complete. 

This art lesson was a two day project to create a caterpillar that resembled The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Unlike Eric Carle, I chose to use art paper instead of tissue paper. I teach 4 year olds and let's be realistic, they would destroy tissue paper if I told them to paint on it. 

As a substitute to tissue paper, I prepped for the project by painting our art paper in various colors to serve as a the background for the caterpillars. I have 22 children my class so that took some time to paint each sheet but this way the children could decorate their own paper.

Day 1:

To begin the lessons, I introduced the art of Eric Carle and explained how he used such a unique technique to create the collages for his books. For the first part of the lesson, I had the children customize their own papers by decorating them with different designs. I instructed the children to first choose a color and draw some kind of line (squiggly, zig zag, or straight) pattern across the whole paper. After completing their lines, they had to choose another color to draw dots all over the paper. Our art time is in the morning so I was able to prepare for the next day in the afternoon. 

I didn't take pictures of this but once the papers were dried, I traced 6 circles on the back. I just traced the inside of a packing tape roll since that size worked well. I also prepared the other elements for the collage elements for the head and body of the caterpillar. 

You can download a simple template that I created for the pieces needed to create the caterpillar's body here:
Backing for Body
Small Details


Day 2:
In my classroom, we highlight each child's name on their paper to allow them additional practice writing their names. This also serves as a way for me to strategically place the children so some of my boys are sitting at different tables. So as I was passing out the supplies, I made sure to give each child a circle piece from their original painting. It was an additional challenge to do this but I really wanted them to have part of their work in the finished product. I then passed out all the other pieces of the collage in preparation for the children to construct their caterpillar. 

I demonstrated the sequence of steps before having the children start and, as always, reminded to 'dot, dot, NOT a lot' when using the glue. =)

I had the children glue down 6 circles down onto the backing piece first. The backing helps to make sure that the whole class created a caterpillar that is similar in size and also helped me display them later without having to cut them out. The circles will need to be overlapped a bit. The circles are followed by the red head and then the collage is finished with the other elements being glued on (2 ovals for the eyes, 2 antennae and 6 little legs). I took the colors from the book but of course, they can be done in anyway you would want. 

The class did a fantastic job following directions and they really loved having circle pieces from some of their classmates. I wish I had more pictures of them putting the caterpillars together but my camera conveniently died shortly after this one picture was taken. Bummer...

Here are a few pictures of their finished caterpillars!

I love how the antennae on these 2 look like eyebrows. =) Makes them look confused or angry haha

  

I'll be sure to post a follow up of how the Butterfly Life Cycle Bulletin Board turns out. I can't wait to see these adorable little guys displayed. It requires some extra steps with the cutting but it's so worth it when you see the final product. Hope you try it out!