Snufkin, the vagabond and philosopher, arrives each spring to Moominvalley to set up camp, fish, and comfort the small creatures of Moominvalley. He is always wearing a green hat, sometimes decorated with flowers and sometimes with feathers. If you would like to make your own Snufkin hat, you can use this Pilgrim's hat template, using green paper instead of black. Then decorate. Instead of gluing the headband, we cut notches like this. More after the jump.
Read More
The pineapple bird
Ooh, ok, I think this is a pretty good one. We found a video on youtube called Jim Henson on Making Muppets, 1969, from Iowa Public Television. Jim Henson shows children how to make puppets from household objects like socks, potatoes, spoons and tennis balls. It is great ! Above is our potato puppet — named "The Pineapple Bird" by the designer, aged 3.
Read More
Sunny's shoebox guitar
Here's a version of the shoebox guitar activity (instructions at this link) from our second book, Sunny. We used a sturdy little giftbox and some paper straws.
Read More
Match Box Advent Calendar
As there's less than a week before the start of Advent, we thought we'd quickly offer a classic project that your kids can enjoy all the way until Christmas. Here are our directions for an advent calendar made of matchboxes, including a PDF, if you'd like extra help.
Read MoreBlow, Drip and Rorschach Paintings
Well, we set out the other morning to make some blow paintings. What could be more fun. Put a blob of runny-ish water-based paint on a piece of paper. Give your kids a straw. (Explain clearly the difference between blowing and sucking, if your kids are little, or it could be a much too exciting morning). The kids blow through the straw and off goes the paint into beautiful unpredictable forms. Of course, your paint consistency has to be just so. Ours was too runny at first, and the kids mostly sprayed each other.
Then our paint was not runny enough, but perfect for drip painting — Put a blob of paint at one end of your paper. Tilt the paper so the paint drips down, then turn the paper left or right as the paint guides itself around the page.
Then, of course, one of my kids accidentally sat on her drip painting, luckily folding it in the process, and made a Rorschach painting. We all thought it looked like a butterfly. So many options on an early Fall day!
Windy's Boat
A paper boat for Windy, from the book Foggy.
