Spring Crafts and Activities for Kids {The Sunday Showcase 3/16/14}

Spring is coming! While we've had glorious warm weather here in FL for awhile, I know many of you are excited for the end of all the snow and cold weather you've had this winter. 

It's the perfect time to start crafting and learning with flowers, rainbows and all things related to spring. 

Click any of the links below for the full post and how-to's 

on these fabulous Spring Themed ideas shared on last week's linky.

Spring Flower Butterfly Craft
(Fantastic Fun & Learning)

Flower Garden Play Dough

(Fantastic Fun & Learning)

Alphabet Flower Garden

(Buggy and Buddy)

Such great Activities for Spring!

We have lots more ideas in our archives.  

Here are a few of our popular Spring Themed posts:

Easy Spring Pinwheels

Faux Tie Dye Coffee Filter Flower Craft

Flower Experiment: 

How Does Water Move Through the Stem?

Looking for more ideas?

Don't forget to peruse our 

Princess, Fairies & All Things Girly Pinterest Board.

I love pinning awesome ideas from around the web for my girls to try.

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Now it's your turn to share!

Do you have fun children's activities to share? 

Please share them with me in the linky, 

by commenting below or by visiting our Facebook page. 

Be sure to link up your child centered ideas while you're here.

I love to see what everyone is doing.

If you have been featured, grab a button you deserve it!

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The Sunday Showcase is hosted on FOUR blogs!

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Here Come the Girls

Inspiration Laboratories

Learn Play Imagine

Each blog showcases their own features so be sure to check them all out!

If you are here for the first time please read this informational post for the full details.  Anything kid friendly and/or child centered is welcome!  You are welcome to share more than one post,  but we don't accept links for giveaways,  shops, or downloads for purchase, etc.  They will be deleted.

If you're linking up we encourage you to visit other links 
& our Pinterest board!  

*Important* 

Please note that by linking up you are giving us permission to use a photo (with proper link to you!) in our featured section and on our Pinterest board!  

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Link up and share your child centered ideas with us!

Bern

An InLinkz Link-up

Small Hands Creating Hope: Handprint Sun Catcher Butterflies

When Maryanne of Mama Smiles blog shared her vision (& very personal reason) for the Small Hands Creating Hope project, I knew I had to be part of it. I LOVE that it is a celebration of life, gives us an opportunity to talk to our children about people who are affected by cancer and offers the chance to do something on their level for others. 

What exactly is Small Hands Creating Hope?

A wonderful and diverse group of bloggers have come together to put together a book of crafts made by little hands with the intention of bringing HOPE to cancer patients and raising money for cancer research via The American Cancer Society.

The book is filled with many lovely projects but today I will share our contribution with you.

Handprint Sun Catcher Butterfly

This was super simple to make:

1. I took each girls handprints and made a butterfly shape -

using the thumbs on the two top prints for the antennas

2. After it dried, we added pom poms to make the body.

3. WFold in half and cut out symmetrical some shapes.

4. Add colored tissue paper to cover the holes.

Easy Peasy Handprint Butterfly Suncatcher!

Want a peek at a few more of the projects featured in the book?

Fabulous, right?

Once you make a $15.00 donation you will receive the download for the ebook (you can also purchase a hard copy at cost). If you do not receive a link or have any trouble at all please contact smallhandsproject at gmail dot com. To donate just click the button below.

A heartfelt thank you to all the participating bloggers. Together we are working to raise money for a good cause. Won't you help us?

14 May Mama Smiles
15 May Artsy Craftsy Mom
            Rainbows Within Reach
16 May B. Inspired, Mama!
17 May Rainy Day Mum
            Imagination Soup
18 May Inspiration Laboratories
19 May Experimenting Mom
20 May Mama Mia’s Heart2Heart 
21 May NurtureStore   
            Mama Smiles
22 May Living Montessori Now
23 May Mess for Less
24 May Having Fun at Home and CraftoArt
25 May Outlaw Mom
26 May Angelique Felix and Sense of Wonder
27 May Sun Hats and Wellie Boots
28 May Duck Duck Octopus
29 May Smiling like Sunshine
30 May Mommy with Selective Memory
31 May One Perfect Day
1 June The Educators’ Spin On It
2 June Kids Stuff World
3 June Rainy Day Mum
4 June Teach Preschool
5 June Dirt and Boogers
6 June Creative Connections for Kids and The Golden Gleam
7 June Montessori Tidbits
8 June Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
9 June The Iowa Farmer’s Wife
10 June Scribble Doodle and Draw
11 June Learn with Play
12 June Kitchen Counter Chronicles
13 June CRAYON Freckles
14 June Glittering Muffins
15 June Wise Owl Factory
16 June Crafty Maa
18 June Lessons Learnt Journal
20 June Growing a Jeweled Rose
21 June Growing Play
23 June JDaniel4′s Mom

Bern

Science Fun: From Caterpillar to Butterfly - Observing the Butterfly Life Cycle

A few weeks ago we got our caterpillars from Insect Lore.

We raised caterpillars last year and the Lil Divas loved it,

so I was excited to do it again with them this year.

Our caterpillars arrived larger than usual

& I think it's because delivery took awhile

and they were happily eating in transit.

Day 1 (after arrival)

Day 3 - they were getting bigger fast

Day 5 - we woke up to 2 chrysalis!

Day 7 - the girls got to observe the j shape before the chrysalis

Day 9 - We had all 5 caterpillars make their chrysalis

One had fallen so I just lay it down 

in the pavilion & hoped for the best.

In less than a week our first 2 butterflies emerged.

The Lil Divas were so excited to see them.

The Painted Lady Butterflies were beautiful.

The wings look so unassuming,

until they fully open.

Over the course of the next few days,

all 5 of our butterflies successfully emerged.

We fed them orange slices and sugar water.

It was wonderful to observe them.

The Lil Divas watched them eat, walk and eventually fly.

Once they were strong enough & their wings were dry,

we had a releasing ceremony outside.

We were sad to see them go but also proud of our little friends.

It was truly a fabulous learning experience for the Lil Divas

to be able to observe the life cycle of a butterfly firsthand.

Books We Read:

Have you raised caterpillars?
What was your experience like?

Bern

Wordless Wednesday: Springtime Fun - Butterflies, Flowers & Swings

I LOVE our local butterfly sanctuary (Butterfly World),

especially in the spring when the butterflies are plentiful 

and the flowers are in bloom!

I could visit everyday and just get lost there -

it's so peaceful, colorful and full of life.

An amazing spring day!

Bern

Butterfly B's & 123's

Wow, I had a bunch of stuff that I did not post yet! I am trying to get it all in so I can share the rest of my Insect Themed Activties w/you! We have been up to some fun stuff around here!

Butterfly B Craft

B is a review letter for us (we did B is for Bear) but I am going over the letters for each insect as we talk about them during our Insect theme. The Lil Divas know how to write the ltter but I thought it would be fun to make a Butterfly B. So I drew and cut out a large B and then I traced it onto white paper to form butterfly wings. I added a body in the middle and the LIl Divas had a cute Letter B Butterfly sheet to design/color.

Butterfly Number Writing Review from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Butterfly Counting Mat (The Littlest Diva) from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Counting mats are too easy for my Oldest Diva at this point so I wanted to do some simple addition with her. She used little butterfly erasers I had found a while back at Target $1 Spot - I love those bins! We worked on simple addition problems but I did not get pictures this time because I was too busy working with her. 

I had her work on a white board and  we wrote out the problems together. I wrote __ +__ = for her and she would fill in the numbers based on cards she would flip over from her pile (I only had her use numbers 0-5 this time) and then she would count the butterfly to add them up and write the answer.

She liked this activity and caught on quickly so we will be doing it again and adding in larger numbers as we move along. I will also begin doing basic subtraction with her.

Butterfly Counting Books - The Oldest Diva is still hvaing trouble identifying numbers 12, 13, and 15 so I sneak in review how I can without boring her with easy counting. She can count them & knows the order - but she has trouble identifying the written numbers since those do not sound like what they are - like fourteen, sixteen, etc....

We worked on these butterlfy couting books where I had written the numbers and number words and the Lil Divas had to count the correct number of butterfly stickers and add them to the page. Since it used stickers - she was all for doing it!

I cut out butterfly shapes from foam and paper, hole punched them and used a pipe cleaner to make a ring (I did not have binder rings).

We think Ttey came out cute! :)

Next we will share our Bee activities with you! Insects are all the rage around here right now!

Bern

Linking to STart, Childhood 101 - We Play!, Sharing Time,  Get Crafty,  Read, Explore, Learn , For the Kids Friday,  Preschool Corner, Feed Me Books Friday  , Fun for Kids Friday , It's Playtime , Made by Little Hands Monday and Creative Juice Thursday

Sight Word Fun & Learning to Read Week #2 - Butterfly Theme

Last week we focused on: sight words: it, me, can, you, like and the -ut word family (for butterfly)

Sight Word Activities:

Game: Slap it!

How To Play: I wrote out the week's sight word on butterfly cards and placed them on the table along with last weeks target sight words. I would call out a word and the Lil Divas had to slap their caterpillar down on the correct word! :) This game always produces lots of laughs and they beg me to play it throughout the week! I included last week's words (written on caterpillar cards) along with this week's words for some review as well.

Forming Sight Words w/Letter Tiles - I wrote the weeks words on large butterfly cutout and provided the Lil Divas with letter tiles. They got busy reading the words and then using the tiles to write the words.

Sight Words Song - while working with the letter tiles we sang a simple sight word song for each word to help the lil Divas with the spelling/recognition of each word. The Oldest Diva really liked this & was singing the song with different sight words all week on her own! I love when an idea just takes off! :)

What We Sang: The Sight Word Song (sung to to the tune of B-I-N-G-O)

There was a sight word I wanted to spell and CAN was my sight word.
C-A-N (clap with each letter) spells can,
C-A-N (clap with each letter) spells can,
C-A-N (clap with each letter) spells can
and can was my sight word!

We followed the above tune/format for each of our sight words!

We continue to use Sight Word Printables from MissChapple.com. They include writing the word, recognizing and finidng the words in a chart/table as well as within sentences. The girls have really gotten the hang of these - even the Littlest Diva.

Sight Word Puzzles from 1+1+1=1 - both the Lil Divas enjoy these. We also reviewed last week's words again.

Play Dough Sight Word Cards (also from 1+1+1=1) Last week we used our Wikki Stix but this week we used play-doh. It was a bit more challenging - to work the dough into the right thickness, etc.  This was great fine motor practice for the Lil Divas & they had fun making the words this way.

I also made a mini sight word book for each of the Lil Divas. It is basically an index card spiral notebook in assorted colors. I wrote each of their sight words in the book and they flip through the book and read the words. I leave this within easy reach so they can do it whenever they like. The Oldest Diva likes to read them on her own. The Littlest Diva isn't as interested and I don't push it but it's there for her too.

-ut Word Family Activties:

We used a fun Word Slide to review and sound out different -ut words like but, hut, cut & nut. I laminated and cut it out (it is really easy to make and use). The Lil Divas enjoy using it and reading all the words independently.

We are currently reading Bob Books (Set 1) - Beginning Readers,  Scholastic Sight Word Readers, and Starfall Books as well as Starfall.com.

Plus, I use mini-readers that fit into our word family focus when I find some on the internet that are appropriate.

Do you have any fun ways to review sight words? I'd love for you to share your ideas with me!

Bern
Linking to  Read, Explore, Learn , For the Kids Friday,  Preschool Corner, Feed Me Books Friday  , Fun for Kids Friday , and Creative Juice Thursday