Very Hungry Caterpillars

This is a lesson that I like to do with my Kindergartners. I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. After reading the book, the students are given pieces of tissue paper that are cut into ovals, and a piece of 12x18 paper. I have the student use a crayon to write their name and draw a slightly wavy line in the middle of their paper. Then they use liquid starch to collage their tissue paper ovals on the line, making sure that they overlap the ovals. After the papers dry, the students use crayons to add features to the caterpillar (including feet) and a grass line to the ground. These look great going up and down the halls!

Tissue paper sun catchers

My second graders are getting ready to start this new project. It is a sun catcher that is created with tissue paper collage, and a black construction paper silhouette. We start by taking blue and purple tissue paper and ripping it up into small pieces. The tissue paper is glued onto a transparency sheet using liquid starch that I added Crayola Glitter It! to (it gives it a little sparkle that the kids love!) While the tissue paper dries, the students take a piece of black construction paper that is the same size as the transparency and draw a one inch border on it, then draw a tree without leaves that touches all four sides of the border, and then cut it out. Finally, the students glue the trees to their tissue paper. These are a great display on the windows in our school lobby. We also made them last year and displayed them at the local mall.

Help for wishing4one

I have been asked for some inexpensive, fun projects for kindergartners by wishing4one. I hope you come back and see this blog. I have a lot of ideas.....for example...I like to read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle and then give the children tissue paper ovals that they can overlap to create their own caterpillar. Then there is a story quilt. I read them an appropriate story, and the class splits the story up into sections, one per student, which they draw on 6" square papers. Then the pieces are "stitched" together by punching holes in the corners and tying the squares together with yarn. You can also get cardboard and have the students take glue and draw a picture on the cardboard with the glue. After the glue is dry, you can brush paint over the glue and print the cardboard on other paper. I also like to take paper and fold it in half, then open the paper and drip a couple paint colors on the paper, fold the paper in half again, then open it and let it dry. After it is dry, the students can add legs and eyes and cut it out to create a cool looking bug.

These are just a few lessons that I do with my Kindergartners, but stay tuned for more, including the calico cats that will be posted this week. Wishing4one...I hope this helps you, if not, let me know and I will try some other things.