ARTS & CRAFTS: Pine Cone Owl

It’s the first day of autumn! Celebrate the commencement of this new season by decorating your home with a few of these adorable pine cone owls! Spend time with your child as you take them outside to gather materials for this quick and fun craft!

Materials:

Acorn Cups

Leaves

Hot Glue

Googly Eyes

Orange Craft Foam

Pine Cone

Cardstock

Instructions:

1. For a base, measure and cut a circle in a sheet of cardstock to fit the base of the pine cone.
2. Cut a beak and feet from the orange craft foam.
3. Glue the feet to the flat base of the pine cone.
4. Glue the base of the pine cone to the cardstock circle, ensuring that the pine cone will stand upright once dry.
5. For eyes, glue one googly eye into each acorn cup, then glue the cups near the top of the pine cone. In order for the eyes to sit into the pine cone, you may need to remove one or two of the pine cone spines.
6. For wings, glue one leaf to each side of the pine cone.
7. Glue the beak to the pine cone just below the center of the eyes.

For more great craft ideas, visit Fairmont’s Arts & Crafts Pinterest board!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Craft Instructions & Image by Broogly

ARTS & CRAFTS: STEM Crafts

With the increase of STEM (science, technology, education, mathematics) curriculum in the classroom, students are being encouraged to pursue STEM-related careers and paths of higher education. STEM concepts and projects promote collaboration, investigation, and critical thinking. Here are some great STEM crafts and home experiments for your budding scientist or engineer!

Pyramid Catapult courtesy of Instructables

Gyroscopic Whirligigs courtesy of Instructables

 Solar Oven courtesy of Totally Tots

Engineer a Bridge courtesy of Scholastic

 LEGO Balloon Car courtesy of Homegrown Learners

Other great STEM resources include Code Studio, Master’s in Data Science, Childhood 101, Instructables, and Raising Lifelong Learners! Not sure what exactly STEM is? Visit Chalk Talk: Decoding STEM for a clearer picture of STEM’s implications on the field of education.

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Images and Activities by Homegrown Learners, Scholastic, Totally Tots, & Instructables 

ARTS + CRAFTS: “jurassic world” inspired amber fossil slime

In the spirit of the latest Jurassic Park movie, here is a fossil slime recipe sure to thrill your budding scientist!

Ingredients:

• 2 Teaspoons Borax Detergent Booster
• 1 ½ Cups Water
• Tangerine Essential Oil (optional)
• 1 Bottle Elmer’s Clear School Glue
• Red and Yellow Food Coloring
• 2 Mixing Bowls
• Mixing Spoons
• Plastic Insect Toys

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of Borax. Stir well, then set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, mix the remaining ½ cup of water with the entire bottle of glue. Mix well.
3. Add 1 drop of red food coloring and 3 drops of yellow food coloring into the water/glue mixture. Mix well.
4. Add 2-3 drops of Tangerine Essential Oil. While this step is optional, it gives the slime a nice smell.
5. Pour your water and Borax mixture into the colored glue mixture. You will see the slime start to form immediately.
6. Use a spoon to mix the ingredients, then remove the slime from the bowl. You will notice some water left over. Pour out the extra water and place the slime back into the bowl. 
   
7. Push plastic toy insects into the slime until covered. Remember that the idea behind this slime is to have fossilized insects like in the original Jurassic Park movie.
8. Allow the slime to set for a few minutes before using.
9. When the kids are done, store in an airtight container, such as Tupperware, for future use.

To view the original recipe, visit TotallyTheBomb.Com: Jurassic World Inspired Amber Fossil Slime!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Recipe and images contributed by Jamie Harrington of TotallyTheBomb.Com 

ARTS + CRAFTS halloween paper lanterns

Halloween decorations can be a fun craft project for kids. Try making these Halloween paper lanterns to string up around your house for Halloween.

What you need:

• sheets of orange paper or card
• scraps of black paper or card
• scissors
• stapler
• glue
• pencil 

You can make big lanterns out of a whole A4 sheet, or cut the A4 sheet in half to make smaller ones.  A combination of big and small looks good.

Fold your sheet of orange paper in half lengthways.

Now, with the fold edge facing you, cut 1cm slits all along the length of the folded piece of paper. (Don't cut right to the edges, just make the slits sit about 4cm from each edge.)Open the piece of paper out.

Now roll it into a lantern shape - secure each short edge together with a stapler to form a cylinder.

Use your scraps of black paper to glue eyes, nose and a mouth onto your spooky lantern.

When you have at least four lanterns, you can use a hole punch to make holes in the tops and then string them together to hang up outside your house for Halloween.

Have a Happy & Safe Halloween! 


Contributed by Neha, Fairmont Private Schools
Image credit & Source: www.kidspot.com.au