ST. PATTY'S DAY TODDLER ART

With St. Patty's Day coming up and rainbows being one of the common images of the holiday, I figured this would be a great chance to work with my son on his colors.  Building a rainbow picture is good way to go over the different colors and also to teach him to follow directions. I love doing activities together that keep him busy and not just sitting on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And the best part about doing these activities, is that he has fun and learns new things every day!

 

In order for Colton to make the rainbow, I had to draw an arc on the paper first so he had an idea of where to glue the pieces of paper to.  He's only two and a half so I was pretty impressed that he knew without much instruction that I wanted him to glue the pieces of paper on top of the line. I placed some glue on the drawn line so he would just have to attach the paper.



 We started with red and proceeded through the rest of the rainbow.  I just took different colored construction paper and ripped small pieces for him to glue. (I know there is no purple but he ran out of room) When he finished a color, I would draw another arc under the previous color and he would glue the next row.  He picked up on this very quickly, at times he would try to stick the paper in other spots on the paper too, but because there was no glue there he quickly realized where the paper pieces were supposed to go. He's my little smarty pants!

 

 

After he was finished making his rainbow, he wanted to draw something with his markers. So I gave him a piece of construction paper and some green markers.

 

He colored mommy another pretty picture and so I added a green shamrock to his drawing and laminated it to hang on the refrigerator. I love my little guy's art!



GOOD "LUCK" END TABLE SIGN

St. Patrick's Day is quickly approaching and I am trying to not get lost in the craziness of day-to-day life once again and end up with no decorations up until the week of the 17th. That's why I have made a vow to set aside some time each day to get my decorating done. And what better way to start than with this cute little sign that I hope brings some good "luck" and fun to our house. 

What You Need:

*Wooden plaque (I got mine from Michael's that was already painted)
*St. Patrick's Day themed scrapbook paper
*Mod Podge
*Sponge Brush
*Hot glue
*Letters (I cut mine out of thin craft foam with my Cricut, but you could use pre-cut letters out of paper, wood, foam, etc.)
*Shamrock decorative accents

 

What You Do:

 

I started by tracing the shape of the wooden plaque onto the back of the scrapbook paper.  I was only applying scrapbook paper to the center section of the plaque so that's where I traced.  Once I had the scrapbook paper cut out, I made sure it was a perfect fit for the plaque before moving on.  I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to the plaque surface and attached the scrapbook paper. Making sure to smooth out any ripples in the paper.  To make sure the paper stays attached to the plaque, I ran the brush along all side edges of the paper.  *Do not dip the brush in the Mod Podge before doing this. You just want to run the brush along the sides of the paper, the Mod Podge that is remaining on the brush after applying it to the plaque should be enough to do this. 

 

 

Next, using my Cricut machine, I cut out the letters to spell "LUCK" from a black sheet of thin craft foam.  I wanted to use craft foam because it gave the sign some depth.  I carefully arranged the letters on the plaque and then glued them down with hot glue.  And as a finishing touch, I added a glitter shamrock decorative accent to the sign.  How simple and cute is that.  Now we just have to wait for a Lil' Wee Irishman to appear with his pot of gold! 



COFFEE FILTER SHAMROCKS

For Valentine's Day, my son absolutely LOVED making the coffee filter hearts. (You can see the post here. ) So, I figured I would let him make shamrocks the same way for St. Patrick's Day! Colton loves any excuse to play with markers and I love any excuse to get him to sit still. Not to mention that these shamrocks turned out super cute!

 

 

What You Need:

 

*Coffee filters

*Washable markers (in different shades of green and yellow)

*Dropper or medicine syringe
*Water

*Cookie sheet (I kept an old one just to use for crafting)

*Towel

 

What You Do:

 

First, I gathered up all the materials for the craft so that once Colton was busy working I wouldn't have to run and grab anything. I placed a towel down to protect my table and placed the cookie sheet on top, then I got Colton into his "Big Boy Paint Shirt" as we call it.  I gave him some markers and a coffee filter and he began to color it (and himself). 

 

 



 

 

Once he got several coffee filters colored, I gave him a bowl of water and a dropper.  He immediately remembered what to do from the Valentine's hearts.  He dripped water on the filters and loved watching the colors run together.  He was having so much fun that I didn't want to tell him we were finished. I placed all the filters on paper towels to dry completely.

 

 

 

 

Once, the filters were completely dry, I used a shamrock shape cookie cutter (I found mine at Michael's) to trace the shape onto the filters and cut them out.

 



 

I really think these shamrocks came out cute.  I will use them in a decoration (I will make a separate post soon) and also in St. Patty's Day cards for the family since they love handmade ones from Colton!  And the best part about this activity is that he had fun making them!