Tag Archives: easy

This Little Light

Posted on by

this little lightThis sweet and simple lantern was created at our Let it Shine story time. A younger sibling, upon seeing her brother’s fabulous painted lantern, tearfully asked if she could have a little lantern too. I whipped this one together in seconds, mostly using leftover program supplies. She was very, very happy (and, her mom reports, still using it)!

You’ll need:

Drop the LED votive candle in the cup (this provides some ballast when you are attaching the pipe cleaner and the ribbon). Tape the ends of the pipe cleaner to the cup, then knot some shimmer ribbon on either side of the pipe cleaner. Decorate the cup with foil star stickers.

sample lanternAt the original story time, we turned off the lights and decorated our lanterns with their LED lights twinkling and lullaby music playing. You can do this during the star sticker attaching phase of the project. Or, you can gather together with your lanterns and sing “This Little Light” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

If you’re looking for a all-together different sort of lantern, check out our Spooky Old Classic story time.

Hip Hat

Posted on by

hip hatsThe task…to make a hat that you NEVER want to take off. The resulting hats? Totally hip!

We read What a Hat! by Holly Keller (Greenwillow Books, 2003). Cousin Newton is visiting Henry and Wizzie. Newton doesn’t talk much, and when he does, he just says “No hat.” Newton simply refuses to take off his fuzzy knitted hat. He wears it at the dinner table, in the bathtub, and when he goes to bed! Henry tries to make Newton remove his hat, but it’s not happening. But when Wizzie falls prey to a local bully, Newton gives her his precious hat in order to make her feel better. And, like magic, it works!

You’ll need:

This is an incredibly simple story time project. Basically, give each kid a hat…

top hatThen decorate!

side of decorated top hatIf you want a big, floppy hat brim (and lots of kids did), begin by rounding the ends of a 14″ x 22″ piece of poster board.

hat steps 1 and 2Flip the hat upside down and place it in the center of the poster board. Use a pencil to trace the top of the hat onto the poster board.

hat step 3 Cut the traced circle out. Turn the hat right side up, and slide the poster board brim onto the hat. You might have to enlarge the circle a little to get it to slide all the way down to the base of the hat.

hat step 5Use a little hot glue to secure the poster board brim to the plastic hat, then decorate!

hat with wide brimQuick tip – if the hat is too big for your head, stuff the interior with extra tissue paper.

Come On Get Snappy

Posted on by

get snappySnapdragon anyone? I’ve offered this simple project at a number of programs in the past, and it’s always well-received. “Snappy” has decorated the edges of a swamp at a Halloween party, hid in an Alice in Wonderland garden, and grown out of pots at a “Primordial Plants” event table!

event tableYou’ll need:

  • 1 paper cup
  • 1 small rectangle of green construction paper for head (approximately 1.5″ x 3″)
  • A sliver of red construction paper for tongue
  • 1 green pipe cleaner
  • Hole punch
  • Tape
  • Markers
  • Extra green construction paper for leaves

First, fold the green construction paper rectangle in half to form Snappy’s mouth. Tab the ends of the mouth, then cut out teeth.

mouth stepsMake sure to leave a gap in the lower teeth (this is where the tongue will rest later).

gapNext, punch a hole in the back of Snappy’s head…

punched holeThen thread a green pipe cleaner through the hole. Twist the pipe cleaner around and thread it through the hole once again. Pull gently to tighten, then curl the end.

stem steps Cut the sliver of red construction paper to look like a forked tongue and tape (or glue) it into the mouth.

tongueUse markers to draw eyes. I added my eyes at the very end, but younger kids might have an easier time drawing the eyes earlier, such as before they attach the head to the pipe cleaner stem.

close up of faceTape the pipe cleaner stem inside the paper cup. Use extra green construction paper to add foliage. Done! Perhaps you can test out your new Snappy skills with this garden story time?