Tag: Highlights

Critter Catchall

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Travis always seems to have dozens of tiny knickknacks lying around: favors from birthday parties, tokens from restaurants or museums we’ve been too, and various other miscellany. We needed a catchall to corral all these items, and this cute critter version from Highlights was perfect. Plus it’s a great way to upcycle an empty yogurt container.

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We wanted to make a fox, which meant orange paint, but realized we didn’t have any. Thinking quickly, the project turned into a color lesson, with Travis stirring up red and yellow until we had a nice orange.

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Paint the yogurt cups inside and out, and let dry.

I cut pieces of felt for him to make all our fox parts – faces, tails, eyes, noses, and paws. Older kids can do this themselves, but the shapes were too complicated forr Travis.

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If you use tacky glue, kids can attach everything on; however, I like to use hot glue to ensure that felt projects stay put, so Travis loved watching!

Once the glue dried, it was time to fill the little fox. Travis spread out all his treasures.

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He loved finding the littlest ones that fit best in the fox!

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Now everything is in one place, and it looks cute on his shelf to boot.

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Penny-Eating Monster

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Roar! This terrifying monster craft is a blast to put together, and then the game you can play with it is great for hand/eye coordination.

First, we needed a tissue box. Ours had a few tissues left in it, but I let Travis go to town ripping them out (and making them part of a super hero game), so already the craft was a hit.

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Next, he decided what color our monster should be.

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Travis dabbled in silvers and yellows, before declaring it was a wood monster. So mostly brown it was! Let dry.

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Then it was time to put his scissor skills to the test. He helped cut out triangles for the teeth, while I made shapes for spikes and eyes.

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Glue on all your monster’s decorations.

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Now gather some pennies, and stand back! Because this monster wants to gobble them up.

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The goal is to work as a team, and toss in as many pennies as you can from a few feet back.

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If more pennies land inside the mouth than outside, you all win!

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Travis loved the game, and we had to fill the monster’s belly and empty it over and over. It was also great for counting practice, since he made sure he and I started with the same number of pennies each time.

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All in all, frightfully good fun.

 

Coin Conundrums

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Here’s a neat brain teaser that helps your preschooler learn on multiple levels. You can use it to teach about coin denominations, counting, and shape recognition and formation, plus there’s a puzzle to solve! Travis was a bit frustrated at first, but so proud when he cracked the code for the final teaser.

For each of these three teasers, all you need is pennies (or any other coin). Travis counted out six pennies for the first one.

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I set the pennies up in a triangle, with the point away from Travis. Could we move only two pennies so the point was facing toward him instead?

At first he just randomly dragged two pennies.

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I prompted him to try moving the bottom two pennies up, and voila, our triangle was reversed. Now he was intrigued!

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Next we counted out four pennies and put them in a line. Could we make it so each penny was touching all the others? Squares didn’t work, or diamond shapes, or lines.

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Turns out you can’t think in one dimension for this one! The key is to build up, with one penny poised atop the other (touching) three.

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Finally, we counted out nine pennies, and I arranged them in a large triangle. Could Travis figure out how to turn this into a square, moving only two pennies?

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We identified that the shape toward the middle was nearly square already.

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Carefully, he tried moving one of the bottom pennies up. Now he could see the square forming, and complete the final move without any help.

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Voila!

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We got these ideas from Highlights; can you think of other penny brain teasers? Please share in the comments.

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Photo Time Capsule

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First, I have some proud-mama news: Travis has graduated from High Five magazine (which we’ve subscribed to since he was two years old) to Highlights magazine! I noticed he’d grown bored of High Five’s crafts and recipes, and sensed it was time for a change. When his Welcome issue arrived, he had to dive in right away, and we couldn’t wait to read the comics, puzzles, and stories. The magazine is billed for ages 6 to 12, so we’re starting young, but Travis is so proud to be reading the “big boy” version.

One project we needed to try right away: a photo time capsule.

I set Travis up with the instant camera, as well as cute photo frames to slot the prints into, and challenged him to find things he loved around the house that represent this time period.

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Some ideas include favorite books, favorite games, and favorite foods.

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Here his superhero figures pose for a pic!

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Highlights also suggested capturing family meals, pets, or school tests in a picture, although we skipped those. Some of his choices were not what I would have spent ten instant photos on, but it’s his capsule, and turned out adorable. When I questioned why he snapped the bread loaf from his toy food set, he said, “Because I like to eat bread in restaurants!”

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And of course we captured bigger things, like baby sister Veronika, and his bedroom at this age.

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Make sure to label the photos, then seal in an envelope. Travis wanted to decorate the envelope all yellow so it was “happy”.

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We taped it shut, and wrote this directive: “Do not open until 2029!” We’ll see you in 10 years, time capsule!

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