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Terri Thompson

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary Mural

January 5, 2012 By Terri Thompson

Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bell,
And cockleshells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Today we decided to make Mary’s garden using leftover cardboard from Christmas.

I wanted a craft that was bigger in scale than what we usually do and we had a large cardboard box that was just waiting for the perfect craft project.

The girls were thrilled to see the big piece of cardboard laying on the ground and couldn’t wait to see what else I set out.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

The materials you use for this project can be as open-ended as you want.

I happened to have some celery, so I cut off the bottom to use as a stamp.

I also cut off two pieces from an empty egg carton. I left the pieces in groups of two to help us make some flower-like shapes.

I also set out a few colors of paint and a brush for each color.

I put a couple of old t-shirts on the girls and they went to work.

They stamped for quite awhile, trying out all the different options and colors.

Then while AJ kept stamping (and so did I), Lizzie got to work with the paint brushes.

She decided there needed to be a sky and in true little-kid form, she created a blue strip across the top of cardboard.

Then she added a sun. I love the look of the orange circle painted directly on the wet blue paint.

Finally, after a lot of painting, stamping, and reciting of Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, it was time to let our paint dry.

After the paint was dry, we came back with some green markers and drew the stems and leaves.

I wrote out the nursery rhyme off to the side to complete the project.

The girls are very proud of their painting and so am I! Mary, Mary Quite Contrary has a very beautiful garden!

Tomorrow, we’re going to attempt to put our own spin on the Itsy-Bitsy Spider. Stay tuned!

Preschool Jack Be Nimble Craft

January 3, 2012 By Terri Thompson

Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Jack jump over the candlestick

In order to get us back into the swing of things after the holidays, I decided it would be fun for us to do a nursery rhyme theme this week.

The goal is to do 4 to 5 craft projects based around nursery rhymes.

Today we tackled Jack Be Nimble and made our own candlesticks to jump over.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Cardboard tube
Orange construction paper
Markers or crayons
Scissors

How to make your preschool Jack Be Nimble craft

I drew a flame shape on the orange construction paper for the girls to cut out.

After cutting, it was time to decorate the cardboard tubes.

I got out the markers because the girls love coloring with markers. I also wanted something that would show up well on the cardboard.

If you don’t want to use markers, you could use crayons or paint to decorate your tubes.

When they were done decorating, I cut two small slits in the top of each tube.

We then inserted the flames into the slits.

This was a simple craft, which was exactly what we needed to ease into this post-holiday week.

But, the craft itself wasn’t our favorite part.

Nope, the most eagerly awaited step was jumping over the candlestick! We jumped and we jumped and we jumped and got all our energy out.

It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon!

What is your favorite nursery rhyme? Maybe we’ll tackle it next!

My Favorite Post of 2011

January 2, 2012 By Terri Thompson

So here it is! My favorite post of 2011!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

#1 Go Outside

I chose this post because it was a pivotal moment for the girls and I. This is the simple idea that got us outside more and sparked our creativity while outside. We rediscovered classic games like hopscotch and enjoyed the simple pleasures that can be found outside.

Now that you’ve seen my favorite, check out all these other wonderful posts from 2011!

Top 11 Favorite Posts of 2011

December 30, 2011 By Terri Thompson

Yesterday, I gave my top 10 most popular posts according to page views.

Today, I want to share my favorite posts that did not make it into the top 10. Some are from the early days of my blog and others are more recent.

While putting together this post, I realized I’ve only been blogging in this space since June – wow! It’s been so much fun and I can’t wait for the year to come!

I love all the projects we’ve done and just couldn’t narrow it down to 10, So here they are, my top 11 favorite posts of 2011.

11. We spent a day observing, playing with and doing simple science experiments with ice. They’re all here in this post: ice play.

10. I set out all the parts to make a mask and let the girls come up with their own creations. I love this post because it was child-led and I loved to see the creations the girls came up with. Check it out here: making masks.

9. We had a lot of fun learning about Japan and one of the crafts we did at that time were these recycled kokeshi dolls.

8. We played outside a lot and one of the fun things we did was this driveway obstacle course made only with sidewalk chalk.

7. I love books and so do my girls. I’ve been having a lot of fun coming up with craft projects to go along with some of the books we read. Here is one based on one of my favorite books for my childhood: The Little House Book and Craft.

6. We love pretend play and the girls absolutely loved this pretend snack bar we set up!

5. I stepped outside my comfort zone and let my 4-year-old use a glue gun while crafting. Check out a girl and a glue gun to see our creations!

4. After seeing so many inspiring pictures of story stones, I decided to make a set for the girl. They were simple stones made with only rocks and a Sharpie. Here are our story stones.

3. A pivotal point for me was participating in the Creative Christmas Countdown along with a group of talented and inspiring kid bloggers. Here is my post about giving back and helping others.

2. I love a good scavenger hunt and we had a great time with our backyard scavenger hunt!

1. Well, it’s time for my favorite post and I’m not telling you yet! Come back on January 2nd and I’ll reveal my favorite post.

Top 10 Most Popular Posts

December 30, 2011 By Terri Thompson

Now that 2011 is coming to an end, I thought I’d do a round-up of my top 10 most popular posts according to page views.

Looking back, we’ve had a lot of fun and have been very crafty! Hopefully 2012 brings us even more fun!

10. We had a lot of fun making princess wands and a lot of fun eating them.

9. I found a lot of fun crafts and activities to do with acorns. Here’s my acorn craft round up.

8. We learned a new twist on hopscotch: shape hopscotch!

7. Here’s another fun craft round up! Thanksgiving craft round up.

6. We did a bit of recycling and came up with some pretty artwork when we did our cardboard roll stamping.

5. We made our Christmas tree even more beautiful with our stained glass window ornaments.

4. We recycled even more of our cardboard rolls and made fun googly-eyed monsters!

3. Our magazine collage owls was one of my favorite crafts that we did.

2. We learned about India and did our own version of a popular form of Indian artwork: Indian Art – Rangoli Designs.

1. And the number 1 most popular post was my owl craft round up of some of my favorite owl crafts found on some of my favorite blogs!

So there you have it, my top 10 most popular posts!

Come back tomorrow and I’ll count down my 10 favorite posts that did not make the top 10 (only 2 though 9).

And then on January 2nd, I among with other talented kid bloggers will reveal my favorite post of 2011.

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