Buchempfehlung 2

                                                      

Zu Weihnachten haben mein Sohn und ich abends immer im Feuerwehrmann Sam Adventskalender-Buch gelesen. Jeden Tag gab es entweder eine Geschichte, ein Spiel, oder eine Bastelanleitung. Eines der ersten Spiele war ein Labyrinth. Das hat ihm so viel Spaß gemacht, dass wir es jeden Abend wieder machen mussten. Daher habe ich ihm jetzt 2 Blöcke mit vielen verschiedenen Labyrinthen besorgt. Eigentlich sind sie ab 5 und teilweise sind sie ganz schön schwer, um sie mit einem Stift zu verfolgen. Als Vorübung lasse ich ihn die Wege einfach mit dem Finger abfahren, das klappt super und er ist ganz schön schnell.

Fürs Alter angemessener ist dagegen der Kindergartenblock. Hier wird die Feinmotorik, Geduld und Konzentration geübt, aber auch das genaue Hinsehen, Farben, Zahlen, etc. in immer wieder anderen und doch ähnlichen Übungen. Auch die machen total Spaß und bereiten schon mal auf die Vorschulzeit vor. Ich kann die Bücher nur empfehlen, wenn man zwischen dem Spielen, Toben und Basteln auch noch ein bisschen was fürs Köpfchen tun möchte.

Wer nicht auf dem Bildungs- und Erziehungsbereich kommt, wird sicherlich langsam merken, welche Leistungen ErzieherInnen und LehrerInnen täglich leisten, wenn sie sich nicht nur um ein oder zwei, sondern um ca. 20 Kinder kümmern müssen. 😉

                    

Buchempfehlung - book recommendation 1

Disney Ideen Buch - Disney Ideas Book

Yes, you see correctly, I ordered the book twice. Amazon had 2 different delivery dates for them, both roughly in 2-3 weeks, so I ordered both to see which one got here faster. Guess what, they both showed up at the same time 3 days after I had ordered them. The English version is 5€ cheapter, so if you don't care about the language, buy that one, they're both absolutely identical! 😉 I'm either going to return my duplicate, or I'll put on in my private crafting library, and one in my school material library.

I flipped through the book and I have to say, I really like it! It has two table of contents, one is sorted by topic, like "costumes", the other one is sorted by Disney characters. I love that it is not only a craft book but it also offers games, physical activities, and experiments.
Some crafts take a lot of materials or skills, so I'd say the book aim at ages 8-14. For sewing projects you definitely need to have an adult help you. And you need to be able to use scissors well, there is a lot of cutting required in most projects. Only a few ones looked like I can do them with my 4yo without having to do most of the work myself. But I'm excited to give them a try! I love the narrating stones! So we'll spend some time painting stones and tell each other stories. I'll let you know how that goes!

Free things to enjoy during the pandemic

Many companies and websites have risen to the occasion and offer free things to teach and educate, to entertain, or to workout at home. The ones I personally like, I will share here. I'll keep adding to the list when I find new things. Some offers will be limited to certain countries, unfortunately, so most links will be available in Europe and I hope my American readers will have access to them as well.

1) Wash your lyrics
https://washyourlyrics.com/
Tired of singing happy birthday to get your 20 seconds of hand washing done? Enter song title and singer here and get your personal hand washing poster for your favorite song!

2) Schlosspark Theater Berlin - Schmetterlinge sind frei
https://www.facebook.com/SchlosspaarkTheaterBerlin/
The Schlosspark Theater is streaming their performance of Butterflies are free every evening at 8 on their facebook page for free since their theatre had to close

3) Scholastic teaching material from Pre-9k
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html?promo_code=6294&eml=CM/smd/20200312//txtl/sm/ed&linkId=84269747&fbclid=IwAR1Xr6B76nEXeukvjev2EWgDkNam9ruRgFGH9SNvrqLvYXALd-gRJqqRKwA

4) Audible - free audio books
https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21103929011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dbb_0-0

5) Makerist

Kostenlose online Kurse bis 25.3.

https://www.makerist.de/topics/gratis-online-kurse

6) Bügelperlen
https://www.buegelperlenvorlagen.com/
I don't know if you all know what ironing beads are: they're little plastic beads you place on a board, then cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil, place a dish towel on it, and then use an iron to melt the plastic so they melt together. I used to do those as a kid myself and loved it. This website will give you loads of free patterns to make with your kids.

7) Colouring Books

- Salamanders

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-7h-GsB_Mhdyhrb_U5ebqRiGDI9CmBCM/view

- Kokadi Babywearing 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kokadi/files/

8) Easter Activities for kindergarten/daycare kids
https://www.kigaportal.com/ng/ng6/de/ideen/eltern

9) Rezeptbuch gegen Langeweile
https://www.gwrs-fichtenberg.de/archiv/schuljahr-2019-2020/rezeptb%C3%BCchlein-gegen-langeweile/
PDF Download - Aktivitäten im Alltag, Experimente, Sachen zum Bauen und mehr

10) Nähen/Sewing
- Kuscheltiere /plushies
https://cholyknight.com/ lots of free patterns for toys

11) Papier schöpfen - how to make your own paper (German)
https://m.geo.de/geolino/basteln/4346-rtkl-bastelanleitung-papier-selber-machen?fbclid=IwAR2kOHhbqmzKNbW8hkTNFD0qxuNAU0E37kaNlkT2NRC3bF1qbe_WuC92DZU

12) Wochenpläne U3 und 3+
https://www.prokita-portal.de/wochenplan/
weekly things to do with kids under 3 and 3+

Trains and canvas

This post is in German, as the stores I get my craft supplies from only exist in Germany (except for Amazon), but I’m sure you have Dollar Stores, Hobby Lobby or Joanne’s, that have great deals on canvases and acrylic paints.

Mein Sohn liiiiiebt es, mit Acrylfarbe zu malen, weil die Farben einfach kräftiger sind als Wasserfarben und man auch bei Mischexperimenten eine Farbveränderung sofort deutlich sieht.

Ein Glück, dass es bei Action flache A4 Leinwände im 3er Pack für rund 1,50€ gibt. Gerade die flachen Leinwände sind super, um ein Kunstwerk auch mal an die Großeltern per Großbrief zu senden. Ansonsten findet man tolle günstige Leinwände auch bei TEDI und KiK. Ansonsten bleibt im Moment, da alle Geschäfte bis auf die für den täglichen Bedarf geschlossen sind, nur das Bestellen bei Amazon. Da zahlt man zwar mehr, aber bei mindestens 5 Wochen Kinderbetreuung zu Hause ist diese Investition Gold wert. Mit Leinwänden lässt sich nämlich noch so viel mehr machen, dazu werde ich dann aber auch einen separaten Post erstellen.

Meine Acrylfarben beziehe ich ebenfalls über diese 4 Kanäle.

Es lohnt sich aber auch bei Aldi die Augen offen zu halten. Besonders vor Weihnachten und zum Jahreszeitenwechsel gibt es saisonales Bastelmaterial und auch Leinwände und Acrylfarbe. Wasserfarben und Fingerfarben  findet man vor allem im Sommer bei den Schulmaterialien für das neue Schuljahr. Wer den Platz hat, kann hier schon mal ein bisschen auf Vorrat kaufen.

Mein Sohnemann ist völlig verrückt nach Autos und Zügen. Neben seinen gefühlt hunderttausend Hot Wheels Autos und seinem Lego Duplo Zug, haben es ihm vor allem Thomas die kleine Lokomotive und Chuggington angetan. Dampflokomotiven haben es ihm angetan. Riesen highlight war letzten Sommer eine Fahrt mit einer echten Dampflok. Sein Kinderzimmer ähnelt oft einem Zentralbahnhof, wenn alle 3 Spielesets aufgebaut sind und über- und untereinander her fahren. 
Wenn ich ihn dann frage, was er malen möchte, kommt immer „Ein Thomas-Zug, Mama!“
Also habe ich mit Edding freihand eine Dampflok für ihn aufgezeichnet. Wenn ihr jetzt denkt "Oh Gott, sowas kann ich nicht", dann keine Sorge! Es gibt genug kostenlose einfache Ausmalbilder, deren Umrisse man abzeichnen kann. Aber ganz ehrlich, kleinen Kindern ist das ganz egal ob die Linien etwas krum sind, Acrylfarbe deckt das ab (und viel ist von dem Zug hinterher eh nicht mehr zu sehen 😂).
Am besten gewöhnt ihr die Kinder jetzt schon daran immer einen Kittel zu tragen, das erleichtert es den Lehrern später in der Grundschule im Kunstunterricht! (Ich weiß wovon ich rede! 😉)

Spring time water colour

It's almost spring! We're spending time outside in the garden when we can to get my 4yo some fresh air and exercise. As art activity, I did a butterfly stamping picture with my students last year.

You need:

- white paper / weißes Papier

- water colours, brushes, water / Wasserfarben, Pinsel, Wasser

- wine cork / Weinkorken

- butterfly image / Schmetterlingsbild 

(- printer/Drucker)

The butterfly image I found for free in google image search. Of course you can choose any other animal or image your kid likes: How about a giraffe on a green background? Or a race car on a grey street?

Stamping takes a long time. I needed about 90 minutes to cover a sheet of A3 paper in colour. Using the cork from a sparkling wine bottle will safe you a little bit of time and is also more suitable for younger children. 

Use a brush to apply paint to the cork. Instead of water colours you can also use acrylic paint, that way your child can press the cork down into the paint to stamp. The younger your child is, the more help it will need. 

For 3yo-5yo I'd recommend a picture made just from stamping. You can make caterpillars, a flower field, or even a butterfly just by stamping the shapes in the colours you like.

Older kids can then fill the printed animal in the colours they like. The smaller the shapes are, the more they'll have to concentrate and train their fine motor skills and patience.

Here are some examples that my second-graders did.

DIY Knetseife - play dough soap

Washing your hands regularly and thoroughly is important, now more than ever.
This 5-minute craft is great for kids any age and only needs 3 ingredients that you probably have at home anyway! It was shared in one of my many WhatsApp Mom groups and came originally from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/182958803599369397/

You need:
- body wash / Duschgel
- corn starch / Speisestärke
- vegetable oil / Pflanzenöl, z.B. Rapsöl
- bowl, spoon / Schüssel, Löffel
- air tight container for storage / Luftdichtes Gefäß zur Aufbewahrung
If you want to make your soap in different fun colours, you'll also need oil based food colouring / fettlösliche Lebensmittelfarbe.

I don't have any measurements to give to you, this recipe is more of a "keep an eye on it" kind of thing.

You start with a good squirt of your favorite body wash and keep adding corn starch while stirring. We had to add corn starch several times. You should get a crumbly consistency without having any corn starch left in the bowl.

    

Add a dash of oil to make it nice and creamy and you're done! 

                                             

Now your kids can have fun washing their hands or playing with it in the bathtub! You can tear pieces off and seal the rest in a container. But don't worry should your soap get dry. A little bit of warm water will soften it up again.

                                                       

 

                              WASH YOUR HANDS! :)

Fresh start thanks to a new career ... and Covid-19

I haven’t looked at this blog in FOREVER! Anyone who has left sweet comments under my jewelry and steampunk stuff: I’m so sorry I never responded to you!!!

Lots has happened since I last blogged in 2013 (OMG it’s been that long!): we bought a house, renovated and moved, my beloved dog and companion of 11 years died of very aggressive cancer, we had two children and got a new puppy.

For financial and other reasons I left my old job and went back to school to become an elementary school teacher. Awesome side effect other than more money than my old job paid and better work hours? I get to teach ART and MUSIC and DRAMA! Dream come true! So over the last 2-3 years I’ve done lots of crafting with kids for various projects and always took pictures so that I can do them again in other classes.

Now, at the beginning of 2020, Corona happened. Last week I was celebrating my 37th birthday, 2 days later all of Germany’s schools, kindergarten and daycare institutions are shut down, people are hoarding toilet paper, hospitals are running out of face masks and sanitizer, areas in China and all of Italy and Spain are in lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Germany was on lockdown by the end of the week, too. All those measurements are to stop the virus from spreading quickly so that our healthcare system and hospitals can cope treating the serious cases and doctors won’t have to make choices like currently in Italy, which is who are they putting on ventilators to help the sick breathe, and who has to sit in the hospital corridors and eventually die.

Sounds scary? Believe me, it is. It’s giving me sleepless nights and restless days...

BUT, this blog is not supposed to be said and full of fears and worry!

Many people are now stuck at home with their kids. While school children got at least some work to do for school (thanks to awesome teachers who spent their weekend in school whipping up plans, projects, worksheets for the students to be handed out Monday or be mailed out regularly), the younger ones want to be entertained. So I’m going to share things I’m doing with my 4-year-old, things I have done with him when he was younger, and things I’ve done in elementary school with my students.

Some posts will be in German, some in English, but I’ll try to at least do the list of materials in both languages so you can easily follow the pictures.

Ideas I got from Pinterest will be linked. My craft materials I usually get from German stores like Tedi, kik, Action and Aldi as well as Amazon.

I like to upcycle, so I collect things like empty jam jars, tins, toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls, shoe boxes, egg containers and cardboard (thanks Amazon for your generous wrapping skills). Those are perfect to craft with kids, they’re free, you usually have some in the house,  and you can use them for so many different things! Since I have to feed my baby with formula, I currently also have a giant stash of empty metal tins with lids that are fantastic to repurpose!

So, time to revitalize this blog! Watch this space! My kid is home from Kindergarten for at least 5 weeks, there will be LOTS of crafting at our house!

I’m going to start sharing some crafts tomorrow!

(Almost midnight, so good night and happy crafting!)