School-age

How to Make a Paper Airplane

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Have you ever made a paper airplane? Did you learn how to make it from a book? Or maybe it was from the kid you shared a desk with in the third grade? I fall into the second camp, learning from my friends in school. And for all of the hundreds of airplanes we made, [...]

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Inspired by Nature: Four Easy Steps to Follow a Child’s Interests

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Do you have bees, birds, squirrels, deer, possum, or other creatures milling around your neighborhood? It’s been wild animal week here at Casa Tinkerlab. We had two big discoveries at our house: a wasp nest in the eaves by our back door and a bird nest tucked into a hole along the siding of our [...]

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Creative Table: A Sticker Composition with Frames

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Setting up Creative Invitations like this is one of my very favorite ways to encourage children to explore new ideas and develop a visual language. Here’s the basic premise: Clear the table of anything that won’t be used in the invitation Artfully arrange the materials to provoke ideas Limit the choice of materials to just a [...]

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Snow Cream

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Snow Cream! Have you heard of it? My friend Jen at Paint Cut Paste has been talking my ear off about her favorite wintery dessert, a combination of snow and sweetened condensed milk, and I’ve been eager to try it for ages. And then there’s this gorgeous children’s book, Maple Syrup Season, that has made eating [...]

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Marbled Paper Suminagashi

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Are you looking for a last-minute hands-on gift, or maybe an idea to bookmark for a cold winter day? I’ve been saving this Suminagashi kit for a quiet morning and it was a true winner with both my 2-year old and 4-year old. The process of marbleizing paper encourages creative thinking, open-ended exploration with ink [...]

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DIY Fabric Ornament With Kids

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This post is sponsored by Gymboree. Bring a friend to a Gymboree store and sign up for Gymboree Rewards together and you’ll both SAVE 25% off an in-store purchase.  Kids Crafts Ideas: DIY Fabric Ornaments These sweet fabric ornaments teach children hand sewing techniques while building fine motor skills, and they don’t demand that parents have a lot of fancy sewing skills [...]

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Winter Craft Collage Invitation

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How do you feel about holiday activities? I love it all…the tree trimming, wreath making, cookie decorating, Santa sighting, and latke cooking. Yes, it’s only December 7, and we’ve already done it all! But I’ve learned that I can only take it in small doses before I need to bury my head in a pillow. [...]

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Snowflake Collage Activity for Kids

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Are you looking for a meaningful process-oriented art project to do with the kids this winter? I have an answer for you with this snowflake collage activity for kids. Have you made snowflakes with your child? Once you get started, making snowflakes can be completely addicting. Last year, when my older daughter was three, we made PILES of snowflakes [...]

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Art Games: Draw with Art Dice

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I’m always happy to land on fun art games that entertain my children and help their brains develop. I originally blogged about these handmade art dice last Spring, and thought you might like to see how this popular tool is getting used by 2-year old daughter #2. I started with a set of blank wooden blocks. [...]

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