project 11 | tabletop puppet theater

Puppets have become a source of fascination with all of our recent library trips (weekly puppet shows) so a project of this sort has been rolling around in my head for awhile. There a wealth of ideas on how to make your own puppet theater but I really wanted to recycle something we already had on hand. Ours is still a work-in-progress but I thought I’d show you the beginnings. The box we had on hand was 10 x 8 x 2…and perfect. I removed the tape to loosen all of the flaps and opened up the box completely.

With the box laying on one of its 10″ sides, I folded the two long flaps inward until they touched (forming a triangle) and used the hot glue gun to secure them to one another.

Next, I repeated the previous step with the two opposite long flaps, only this time, I folded them outward, and glued them to one another, forming another triangle on top.

The remaining four short flaps, I left alone because they provided a stable base.

Then we painted it together with non-toxic acrylic. Yes, it was a bit messy but oh so much fun, and it was off to the scrap basket in search of the perfect material for curtains. I just quickly hemmed the bottom of each panel on the sewing machine, used the hot glue gun to fasten each one securely at the top, and tied them back with a few inches of red yarn.

I have a feeling there will be a lot of puppet-making and storytelling in the coming days…perfect for cold dreary days that drive us indoors.

memory maker 2 | the storytime diary

She fingers the bright bindings piled in rows in the brimful basket at our feet and plucks a few, plunking them down on the couch before swinging one leg up, and then the other. Curling into me, her tiny frame fits snugly against mine in the afternoon sunlight.  And we sink into pillows and my eyes chase letters and her ears chase cadence and we drift deeper into wonder with each turn of the page. And sometimes she interrupts and sometimes she yawns and sometimes she shouts, “Again!” when the last word is uttered. And on and on we romp through the magic hour that now feels natural as breathing and I watch her dark eyes dart – captivated. And I whisper gratitude and fall in love again with this and motherhood and her. And later, when the house falls silent, and all the doing is done, I pull out the book…her book.

The small one with the bumblebee and the reaching flowers and the lined pages of list upon list – beloved books and authors scrawled in her momma’s hand – a record of what one small girl saw and heard and loved, again and again. And I remember and write and smile. And imagine, years from now, a young woman with dancing dark eyes, whispering between the library shelves, clutching a chubby dimpled hand on one side, and this book on the other. And when the small one in her shadow asks (loudly, of course), “What book are we gonna get, Momma?”, she’ll whisper back, “Well, when I was three, I loved…”

project 10 | thank you cards

Watercolor thank you cards…because anything made by tiny hands is special.

project 9 | wee wooden folk

Wooden peg dolls are so simple to make, but oh so much fun to bring to “life”. All you need are some wooden peggies (likely on the aisle with the unfinished wood at your local craft store), a set of non-toxic enamel paints (I love these because they dry so shiny with a hard finish in two quick-drying coats), and a little imagination. But don’t say I didn’t warn you…it’s addictive. These are part of Wren’s third birthday preparations. I have a few more to finish and I’m going to have to make myself put them away. There’s still much to be done!

 

 

project 6 | alphabet album

This is one of those activities that we return to many times each week. I regularly peruse old magazines for pictures of recognizable items beginning with each letter of the alphabet and pass them to Wren, five or six at a time, to add to her abc album: a soft cover photo album I got for $1. Each page has a colored dot sticker with a letter of the alphabet written on it. Our album actually has a handy pocket inside the back cover to store the new pictures until she sorts them into their appropriate pages. We love.

Hop over to Preschool Corner for more inspiration.

project 5 | slinky snake

Chances are that somewhere along the way, you made a slinky paper plate snake when you were growing up. One of our favorite counting books will give you an excuse to make another. Making Learning Fun also has this free printable Mouse Count Game to go along.

project 4 | moveable alphabet + cards

This is our homemade version of the moveable alphabet and we are enjoying it immensely!

materials:
wooden craft discs
Sharpie marker
clear contact paper
paper

instructions:
I created the word cards using Microsoft Word (four to a page). I just searched clip art to find the images and added 1.65″ circles beside each word for the letters (sized for the wooden craft discs). I intentionally left my document templates blank (didn’t insert the letters in the circles) so that I can reprint them without the letters as she learns to spell. The letters were added to the cards and wooden discs (blue consonants and red vowels) with a permanent marker. The cards are laminated.