Thursday, November 30, 2017

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Christmas STEAM: Kid-Made Ornaments & Book

I am delighted to join the Kid-Made Christmas today with a Christmas STEAM activity and book for you!


One of our favorite Christmas books is the Polar Express, and we always make at least one bell-themed ornament each year to go with it. (Image below is an Amazon affiliate link):


This year, we have some very young preschoolers/toddlers and I wanted a project that they could make that the older kiddos would still enjoy and appreciate. That's the beauty of STEM and STEAM activities--they meet kids right at their level, and they work for even very young children! They also give the kids lots of room to experiment, try new ideas, and create whatever they like. And a bonus for moms and teachers: they require very little instructions or oversight!

Here are the simple supplies for these ornaments:

* clear ornament balls
* jingle bells that fit into the ornament balls
* fuzzy sticks/pipecleaners
* any tools the kids want: we used scissors and pencils

Easy How To:

1- Read the book. Seriously, I love this book! It's magical. If you're not a fan, though, you can skip this step. :)


2- Lay out the supplies and tell the kids they can make their own goals for these ornaments. Here are a few ideas:

* Make an ornament that jingles beautifully, loudly, or softly.
* Make a colorful ornament.
* Make an ornament that's all one color.
* Make an ornament that includes all the colors available.

3- Let the kids get to work! Be available if they need any help!


They were super creative with the fuzzy sticks! Some twisted them together, some cut them up, and some bent them into little shapes!



We learned a lot about what fits in a container! My toddler was determined to get more bells in her ornament, but eventually she just had to declare it done and make a new one! These kinds of size relationships are an early math skill!


This was also awesome fine motor exercise!




I did not anticipate any decorations on top of the balls, but several of the kids were very fancy with their ornament tops!


In the end, we had loads of amazing ringing ornaments! The kids hung them up...and took them down, shook them, and hung them back over and over! We even made a set to give away to some of the kids "adopted" grandparents!





Do you love making ornaments with your kiddos? Would you like to try some more? If so, please join us in the Kid-Made Ornaments fun this year!! There are DOZENS of ideas all gathering at the Mama Miss blog--just click here! This year there's even a new cateogry of kid-made gifts too!


Today, ornaments are going live at these blogs:

Preschool Powol Packets (right here!!)

Feel free to stop by them and see what awesome ornaments + books they've been working on!

As always,

Happy Educating,
Carla


I may share at any of these parties!




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2 comments:

Jennifer Dawn said...

These are fantastic! And I love that you turned ornament making into a STEM activity! So cool!

Melissa @ Mama Miss said...

Love the idea of giving them a strategy to create - brilliant!