Cookie Recipe with Activity for Your Ankle Biters

I saw this really cute idea (and what looks to be a good cookie recipe) on Craftaholics Anonymous and just had to share.  Blog sharing is the easy road for me right now with Ankle Biter Art because I just don't have time to make projects right now.  We hired the movers today and move in 38 days!!!  CRAZY.

If you have children or work with them, then surely you know the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.  Below you'll find a recipe for you and your Ankle Biters to make together....kids LOVE to help cook and bake...at least that's what I've always found.  This might be tricky if you're in a school setting, but with a little creative thinking, I'm sure you could find a way to involve the children in the baking process.  Below the recipe, you'll find fun activities that link the baking and book together!  :-)

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

(or you can substitute your favorite tried & true recipe)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix shortening and butter. Add both sugars and baking soda. Beat together. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour. Place on greased cookie sheet and back for 8 minutes at 375 degrees.

"While the cookies bake, read the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and do some of the activities that the mouse does in the book, for example we:

• swept the kitchen floor {yay for a clean floor!}
• drew a mouse picture with crayons and don’t forget to sign their name!
• hang the mouse picture on the refrigerator {for bonus points, use scotch tape like the book }
• get a cold glass of milk
• and then…… enjoy a warm cookie from the oven with that cold glass of milk!"

Thank you Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous, for helping me have content on my little neglected blog by sharing your clever and cute idea.

Have fun & get messy!

Miss Jenna

:-)

Don't forget about Self Portraits!

Hi Friends!
My apologies for not posting more regularly.  I just want to take this moment to say thank you for sticking with me even through the Ankle Biter dry spells.  Life is busy and is only gonna get busier in the next month or two, where I can guarantee Ankle Biter posts will be few and far between, but I promise not to stay away for too long and I hope you stay with me!  My husband and I will be moving to the other side of the country at the end of June, so that's gonna be eating up a ton of my Ankle Biter blogging time.  Also, I'm currently busy with several projects...one of which being a new blog that I've started to begin to help promote my new art business that will be launching in the next few months.  It's a slightly more personal blog where I share random tid-bits of my life and art studio as well as crafty DIY projects (more for grown-ups than ankle biters).  :-)  If your interested in learning some arts & craft projects for yourself while the kids are napping or just want to discover some of the artists and artsy loves that I share, subscribe to http://diaryofafeatherhead.blogspot.com/. 

Today, I'm going to share a quick and easy project...since that's all I have time for tonight.  :-)  It's a perfect "go to" suggestion  for a drawing or painting project that can be easily forgotten, but if you're ever stuck for an idea to keep the small ones busy, bust out a mirror and have them make a self portrait.  Kids love looking at themselves, so of course they'd love drawing what they see!  You'd be surprised at the difference between a self portrait done with and without a mirror.  Also keep in mind that artistic license still takes control every now and then and they might just want to draw their eyes purple when they're really hazel and give themselves black hair when it's really blond....and that is beautiful too.

This self portrait was done by Noah, a boy that I nannied.
He was 3 & 1/2 years old when he made this.

Until next time...have fun & get messy!

XO, Miss Jenna

Summer Activity: Tree Washing!

Hi Friends!
To my great disappointment, Florida has kind of decided to skip Spring this year and get right to summer.  Luckily for me, this is my last summer complaining about it because I'm moving across the country in two months where the weather is a different kind of animal entirely.  It has already gotten into the 90's here in Central Florida, so I've been reminiscing on the things we use to do at my old pre-school to keep the little ankle biters cool-ish.  The most popular outdoor summer activity, was by far, Tree Painting (a.k.a Tree Washing).  Stay with me here.

The rules were simple...  

1. NO painting any of the playground climbing equipment...for slippery safety reasons.  
2. NO painting yourself or any of your friends...so the parents didn't have to pick up muddy & wet children.

All you need is...

• A few large buckets with water (light enough for them to carry around) and if you're REALLY nice, you could add a bunch of ice cubes
• An assortment of large brushes and paint rollers that fit inside the buckets
• (optional) Smocks - only if you insist on keep them as dry & dirt free as possible 

Paint/wash the tree trunks and any branches or leaves they can reach and that's all she wrote!  I'm not quite sure why this was SO MUCH FUN for them, but it was, AND it kept them from having pint sized heat strokes in the awful Florida summers.

Have fun & get messy!

:-)  Miss Jenna

Binoculars & Telescopes

Take your Ankle Biters on an adventure!
Hi Friends!  Long time no blog....been super busy lately, but I'm back with this new tutorial in which I'll show you two different ways to construct fun binoculars and telescopes.  Both methods can be used for either.  The binocular tutorial is the way I'd do this project with a pre-school class.  Because project time may be limited and you may have a large class, I'd put together the base binoculars during my prep-time and let the children decorate them.  If you have an assistant or lots of project time, the children could absolutely do the construction themselves with a bit of help...they would look wonky and awesome.  The telescopes are less involved than the binoculars.  This method leaves the construction after the decoration, but both are easy.  In addition to the supply list and instructions, I'll provide some fun activities to go along with this craft project.  Here we go!

SUPPLIES:

• Paper towel & toilet paper rolls
• Plain white drawing paper
• Glue - rubber cement (if you are putting them together) or glue sticks
• Drawing utensils - crayons, colored pencils or markers
• Stickers (optional)
• Stapler
• Hole punch
• Ribbon or string

BINOCULARS 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) Use two toilet paper rolls or cut a paper towel roll in half.

2.) Cut two lengths of paper long enough to cover the circumference of the of the rolls and wide enough that there is at least an inch extra on each side (you'll be tucking these in later)

3. & 4.) If using rubber cement, cover the rolls with the rubber cement and the whole page with a thin layer and let dry before putting them together (this is the trick).  It holds better and if you mess up, just pull the paper up and you'll be able to re-adhere without needing to re-apply more glue.  A glue stick woll totally work, I just happen to love rubber cement...it's one of my favorite things.

5.) Add the rolls to the center of the paper.

6.) Roll the tubes attaching them to the paper and trim any excess.

7.) Tuck in the paper on the sides.

8.) Add a line of glue to one of the tubes (optional...this is just for better hold)

9.) Press them together

10.) Staple the two tubes together where they meet in the center.

11.) Punch a hole on the outside of each tube (not too close to the end to avoid ripping).

12.) Tie the ends of the ribbon or string (measured to the appropriate length of the child, allowing them to easily put on over their head and take off) in the punched holes.

13.) Decorate. The end.

TELESCOPE

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) If you are using legal sized white paper, you probably won't have to cut the paper towel roll down, but I just had regular sized printing paper, so I did.  Cut about an inch or inch and a half off the tip of the roll.  You'll want to have the extra paper on the sides (for tucking) just like the binoculars.

2.) Trim the paper lengthwise leaving enough to cover the circumference of the roll without having too much overlap (because you'll end up covering up some of the drawing).

3.) Have the children decorate the trimmed piece of paper.  Love my excellent drawing skills?  Yeah, me too.  I've somehow forgotten how to draw since college, but it was never really my strong suite to begin with.  Anyway, back to telescopes!

4.) Add some glue along the bottom of the backside of the drawing and attach the tube to the center of the paper (leaving extra paper on the sides to tuck in later).

5.) Add glue to the surface of the tube and roll it up adding more glue as you need it.

6.) Glue the bit of overlap and finish rolling the tube up in the paper.

Tuck in the edges of the paper and you are done.

ACTIVITY IDEAS! 

All of these can be used as fun educational games or just plan ole pass the time games.  Use your imagination and have fun!

• Play Eye Spy!
• Hide a "treasure," make an X marks the spot map and be Pirates on a treasure hunt!
• Place toy animals all over and go on Safari!
• "Going on a Bear Hunt" - interactive song!  I use to do this with my pre-school classes and they LOVED IT.  Learn this song....it's easy and repetitive and leaves room for ad-libbing.  Copy him or make it your own.  Commit to the hand gestures and body movement...sure it's great for their gross motor skills, but they'll think you are the most fun thing since bubbles and Elmo.  This is the original video below, but there are lots of version on YouTube for you to choose from.

                    

Have fun & get messy!

:-)

Miss Jenna

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Hello Friends!

I came across this amazingly delish looking rainbow fruit platter on Gluesticks and simply had to share it.  It's a great activity for you to do with your ankle biters for a St. Patty's day party (or just to enjoy at home).  What kid wouldn't want to help make this?  I want to make this!  Check out the other projects that Brandy (of Gluesticks) has on that link as well.  Rainbow painting, pots of gold and leprechauns are a must for St. Patrick's Day crafts.  I dropped the ball on getting together some crafty ideas in time for this luck-filled holiday, so I'm resorting to sharing Brandy's with you instead.  There is a lot going on in my world right now...busy busy...  Enjoy!

Have fun & get messy!
:-)
Miss Jenna

Kid Talk

Do you need to laugh today, giggle or at least crack a smile?  Well my friends, do I have a treat for you! Today, I was looking through my huge scrapbook from my pre-school teaching days and I found the book (yes...book) that my Director (Miss Janet) printed out for me of all the wonderfully silly kid quotes that she and I collected and compiled throughout the years.  If you've ever been around pre-school aged children, you know that they can be funnier than the best professional comedians.  I mean...seriously...the way they butcher the English language is genius!  Whenever one of my little lovelies spouted a linguistic gem, I would write it down immediately...and I mean verbatim...specifically writing out the mis-spellings and marking inflection.  My little bits of paper gold would be placed in their special place on Janet's desk and a day or two later I'd hear her howl with laughter as she read through them all.  This was absolutely one of my favorite things about that job.  So without further ado, allow me to present the first batch of Kid Talk...

REPORTING INFORMATION:

"I have a tadoo!" (tattoo)

"May name broke down."

"I cut it with sidders."

"I saw a apple-puss!" (octopus)

"Siesta is how you say New York in French." (huh?)

"Jimbo's are elephants!" (Dumbo's...I think)

"This is Farari Week." (safari week)

"Thank you very welcome!" (gotta love good maners!)

"He called me a BIG FAT!!!"

"A critter is a jumphopper."

"Turkeys go 'boggle-boggle'." (or...gobble-gobble?)

"I've been learning about Overhand Lincoln."

"Guys, your noise is giving me a fever!" (I feel your pain little one)

"I LOVE to do arting!" (art table)

"I stabbed my toe!"

"It's NOT a concept!" (contest)

"I can whistle backwards!"

"A bull shark even has HORNS!"

"Eskimos live in an Egg-Loo."

"A critter is a bug that crits around and crawls on legs."

"Do you know what color hair I have?  I'm blind!" (blonde)

"Oh, did I say I love you when it's Valence Day?"

"Lizards are echos."

"I've got my hand-shoes on!" (gloves on hands in the "shoe store" dramatic play area)

(talking about milking cows) "They squeeze the gutters!"

"I have pretty good taste bugs." (or buds)

"There was a REALLY mean wiggard!" (wizard)

"It was a big hungry nap...you know...REALLY big and hungry!" (???)

"Can I be the Pazoose?" (caboose)

(in a sing-song to eeny, meeny, miney, mo) "Catch a tiger by the mo."

"You be the monkey, okay?  Then you can be the monkey's uncle!" (yes, really. They were playing in the "pet hospital" dramatic play area)

"Chickens are very instershing...they go back and forth to find food...and when they come back with the food sometimes the make a friend! Sometimes it's a duck, they're not like chickens anymore!"

....aaand, your welcome.  :-)  I hope you all have a beautiful day and don't forget to have fun and get messy!

~ Miss Jenna ~

Recycled Bottle Cap Glue Project

In my first blog post for Ankle Biter Art, I wrote about Process vs. Product in children's art.  To try to make it short and sweet, the process a child goes through in working with their hands and creating a piece of art (for example: getting tactilely involved with the supplies, experimenting and getting messy, working independently from start to finish) is SO much more important than the visual outcome of the artwork or 'product'.  It may not be a magnificent "fridge worthy" masterpiece or be anything recognizable to us adults with expectations.  It might be a downright glue puddle mess or have a hole worn through from too much paint....but these things don't matter, because in this creative freedom, a lot of learning happens.

So, Process vs. Product....and this project absolutely falls under 'process'.  It's not a "pretty" art project, but it's still a good one for several reasons.  One of them being that bottle caps are actually surprisingly difficult to recycle.  I had heard that before, so I did some quick research and found this helpful article that explains why.  I also incorporated sorting as part of the steps in accomplishing this project.  Simple sorting is an important component of early childhood science and math and a lot of pre-schools incorporate sorting activities into their curriculum.  "Simple sorting and classification are fundamental concepts that help children to organize their thinking about the real world."

SUPPLIES:

• A variety of bottle caps in different sizes - I collected my caps for a month or two and stashed them in the closet until I had enough.
• Full strength white glue
• Glue brushes
• A really sturdy base - I used the stiff cardboard backing from a pad of Bristol board that I had, but you could also save your Styrofoam produce or meat trays (washed & dried).  They work really well and you get to do some more recycling!
• Glitter (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) Have the children sort the bottle caps by size

2.) Glue the caps to the base.  {TIP} The bottle caps adhere best if they are glued with the flat side down.  I recommend showing the children an example of this, otherwise you'll end up with bottle caps popping off very easily.  Whether or not they they follow the example is another story and if not, no biggie.  This is one of those freedom ("open ended" as we called it when I taught pre-school) projects.  Remember...PROCESS!  :-)

Sam did some nesting and built up while Molly kept her caps flat and singular.  I love to observe the difference in process between these two...age and personality play a big part, but I find it interesting.

3.) Glitter (optional) and let dry.  This project can sometimes take a LONG time to dry depending on how much love your ankle biter had for glue puddles, so keep them out of reach until they are completely dry, otherwise you might have a sad friend when it all falls apart. 

....and there you have it!  Have fun & get messy!

:-)

Miss Jenna