Toddler Art Class: Scrape Paintings

Library cards get you access to lots of fun things, but did you know you could PAINT with them?

Art Project: Scrape Paintings (in black and white)
Supplies:
library cards (or other plastic cards--gift cards, those fake credit cards that come in junk mail...)
paint
paper
paper plates (to hold the paint)

Book:  
Black meets white / Fontes, Justine

Toddler Art Class: Sculpture

Textures galore and easy construction opportunities make these two materials ideal for toddler play.

Art Project: Styrofoam + Chenille Sculptures
Supplies:
--Styrofoam (Someone donated half-spheres to me, but you could use almost any chunky pieces of styrofoam.  I recommend cutting down one of those big chunky pieces that come with electronics or other large items shipped in boxes.  Or raid your local appliance store's dumpster...)

--Chenille stems or pipe cleaners (this is an excellent opportunity to use up any pieces that have been cut into awkwardly short lengths or twisted up and used so many times that they're hard to jam back into the bag.)


Book:  
A porcupine named Fluffy / Lester, Helen

The Supper Club presents: Monster Apps!

App-makers just loooooove monsters!

The Supper Club: Monster edition

One of my morning storytime themes this month was "Monsters" and when I went searching for a good app to use during that storytime, I realized that there were so many great options that I was going to have difficulty choosing only one.  Hooray for The Supper Club where I can talk about all of them!  This month's apps included:

Toddler Art Class: Yarn Wrapping (or not...)

In which I learn how complex this seemingly simple activity can be...

Art Project: Yarn Wrapping
Supplies:
die cut animal shapes from cereal boxes
yarn
tape

Book:
   Extra yarn / Barnett, Mac
This book is really too complex for toddlers.  The third class got a quick summary of each page and the part about the evil archduke was quite edited.

Toddler Art Class: Crayon Resist (or Yippee! Tape!)

Wait--you mean I can use ALL THE TAPE I WANT??

Art Project: Crayon Resist (or Yippee!  Tape!)
Supplies:
cardstock
painter's tape
crayons

Book:  
Monsters love colors / Austin, Mike
This is a great book for this project because it talks about crayons, but also because it glorifies scribbling, which (as we all know) is an excellent early literacy activity as kids refine control over their fine motor skills!

WonderWorks: Short Path Games

Playing board games teaches so many math skills!  Try this simple variety to introduce the concepts of taking turns, moving your marker along a path and counting.

Today's Topic: Short Path Games
Supplies:
large size construction paper
stickers
markers
game pieces (I provided pom-poms, small blocks and buttons, but pennies or even just shapes cut from heavy paper would work fine)
blank wooden cubes (to make a die)

Book:  
Mini racer / Dempsey, Kristy

(I love how the endpapers in the book could be a short path game all by themselves!)

WonderWorks: Mazes, trails, pathways and roads

How do we get from here to there?

Today's Topic: Mazes, pathways, trails and roads
Supplies:
painter's tape or masking tape
toy cars
LEGO bricks and plates
large pieces of styrofoam (leftover from packaging works great!)
pipe cleaners
beads with large holes
marbles

Book: 
Thump, quack, moo : a whacky adventure / Cronin, Doreen