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Fun with Music: Brass Instruments

July 16, 2013 by Mama Carmody 12 Comments

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments


This post, “Fun with Music: Brass Instruments”, is written in collaboration with Shannon Wijnker, who used to blog on Mamamusing. Shannon is a music teacher and mother of four.

Every instrument is important in a band or orchestra setting but, I must admit, my personal favorites are the brass instruments. I love the showy high notes of the screaming trumpet, the s-l-i-d-e of the trombone and the oompa, oompa of the big tuba. I could listen to brass music all day. I rented the 1957 movie, The Music Man, just so I could watch the performance of Seventy-six Trombones, as I was preparing for these posts. In preparing your child for this activity read Brass (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn. There is more information about this book below in the Story Time section.

Content:

Playtime
Crafts:
Trumpet from Toilet Paper Roll
D.I.Y. Bugle
Musical Outings
Story Time
Related Posts

I have been blessed with a family of brass players. Both of my daughters played trumpet while in school. My husband’s primary instrument is the tuba but he can play all the brass instruments quite well. I have been able to experience many different settings with brass instruments. Both of the girls participated in marching band and my husband plays in a symphony, a concert band, a couple of big bands and a quintet. Oh, how I love music.

When my girls were babies I wouldn’t let them blow raspberries. You know…when you stick your tongue out and blow air through your lips to make that vibrating sound? I didn’t allow them because, although it might be cute when they are babies, when they get older and blow a raspberry in someone’s face, it is no longer cute or funny. I didn’t see any reason for confusing them by approving of raspberries when they were babies just to turn around and reprimand them when they got older. What I did let them do was to buzz their lips…the way you make a motorboat sound; similar to a raspberry but no tongue. The reason I let them do this was because it would build the muscles they would need to blow through a brass instrument. Knowing how to buzz your lips is essential in learning to play any brass instruments. I didn’t know if they would grow up to be brass players but I wanted to help them develop the skills they might need in the future.


Playtime

Encourage your child to make motorboat sounds. Have them practice them in the pool or the bathtub. Have your child try tightening their lips and making a motorboat sound, then loosening their lips and trying again. Do they hear the difference in the sounds?

If your child doesn’t all ready have a toy trumpet or some sort of horn, make one from the craft section below. Then let them march around and pretend to play their brass instrument.

Shannon  from Mamamusing suggests that you use YouTube to view the different  instruments. Then you and your child can see and hear them.

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Crafts

Trumpet from Toilet Paper Roll

Brass Instruments: Materials needed for Trumpet Craft

Materials Needed:

Toilet paper roll
Yellow or gold cardstock or cardboard
Trumpet template
Wax paper
Rubber band
Scotch tape
Yellow duct tape
Buttons
Glue
Scissors

Instructions:

1) Take a piece of wax paper and place it over one end of the toilet paper roll.

2) Tape the wax paper to the outside of the toilet paper roll. You might want to use a rubber band to hold the wax paper in place while you tape it. Then remove the rubber band.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Trumpet Kazoo Craft

3) Print 2 copies of the Trumpet template and cut them out or print one copy and use it as a pattern to cut 2 copies from your yellow cardboard or cardstock.

4) Spread glue on the straight (not flared) part of the yellow paper. I alternated stripes of glue stick and white glue. The glue stick helps hold it still but the white glue gives a stronger hold once it dries.

Gluing Trumpet Kazoo Craft

5) Glue the 2 trumpet templates to the toilet paper roll with the bell (the flared part) towards the end that has the wax paper on on. Use rubber bands to hold in place until completely dry. (I glued one piece on and let it dry some before I tried adding the second piece.)

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Trumpet Kazoo Craft

6) Use scotch tape or duct tape to tape the two sides of the bell together. I made a slight fold along the edge of the bell and then taped that over the other section of bell. I thought it helped give the bell a little bit rounder shape.

7) Wrap a piece of duct tape around the narrow end (mouthpiece) of the trumpet. This will help keep the cardboard from getting soggy if your child puts the mouthpiece inside their mouth.

8) This trumpet is simply a fun toy. It works like a kazoo; your child hums into the mouthpiece to produce their music.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Trumpet Kazoo Craft Completed

The idea for this craft was adapted from the blog, “Bible Story Hour”.

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D.I.Y. Bugle

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Materials Needed for D.I.Y. Bugle

 

Materials Needed:

Empty 2 liter soda bottle
Single serve soda bottle with same size mouth as the 2 liter bottle
45 inch length of 1 inch diameter, flexible clear plastic tubing ( I purchased mine at Lowes)
2 Large wooden craft sticks (tongue depressor size)
yellow duct tape
Scissors

 

Instructions:

1. Cut off the top third of the 2 liter bottle. This will be the bell of the bugle.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Top Third of 2 liter

2. From the single serve soda bottle, cut off the mouthpiece. This will serve as the mouthpiece to your bugle.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Top of Single Serve Soda Bottle to be Used for Mouthpiece

3. Insert the mouthpiece of the 2 liter bottle into the end of the tubing to form the bell.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Bell of Bugle

4. On the other end of the tubing insert the part of the single serve bottle that you cut off into the tubing. This leaves the mouthpiece of the single serve soda bottle to be used as the mouthpiece of your bugle.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Mouthpiece

5. Cut the two wooden craft sticks in half. These are going to be used to brace the top of the bugle loop.

6. Loop the tubing around and use a piece of tape to secure it. Then place 2 halves of the tongue depressor on top of the loop (laying across both pieces of tubing). Tape around the the top of the loop and the tongue depressor. Repeat with the other two pieces of tongue depressor on the underneath side of the loops. This will hold the loop together and give you a nice sturdy place to put your hand.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – brace

7. To get a sound out of your bugle you will have to use the skills that any brass player uses. You will need to buzz your lips as you blow through the mouthpiece. You should not be puffing out your cheeks because the air does not come from your cheeks, it comes from your lungs and diaphragm.

8. Have fun with your new bugle!

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – D.I.Y. Bugle

The idea for this craft was adapted from the blog, “Preschool Crafts for Kids” and the book, Brass (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn.

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Musical Outings

Take your children to any place that live music is being played. In Indianapolis, you can find many places that give free outdoor concerts during the summer. Maybe you have the same opportunities in your area. Outdoor concerts are a great way to introduce your children to live music because they can sit in their own lawn chair, on a blanket or even get up and dance around a little. Maybe you have older children or neighbors that participate in a school band. Take your children to see them. Expose your children to many types of music. Take the time to talk about what they are hearing, how it makes them feel and the different instruments they are seeing and hearing.

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Story Time


Ben’s Trumpet by Rachel Isadora
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
Ben lives near the Zig Zag Jazz Club. He sits on his fire escape at night and listens to the music. He plays his trumpet right along with them. During the day, he goes over to the jazz club and watches the musicians practice. He constantly plays his horn for everyone in the family. One day some neighbor kids started making fun of Ben because Ben’s trumpet was pretend. The trumpeter from the Zig Zag Jazz Club happens to notice that Ben has stopped playing his trumpet. When he asks Ben why he isn’t playing his trumpet, Ben tells him that he doesn’t have a trumpet. Take time to pick this book up and find out how the trumpeter from the Zig Zag Jazz Club helps Ben out.


Brass (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
This book makes a great introduction into brass instruments. The text is simply a sentence or two on each page. The illustrations are actual pictures of brass instruments and people playing them. Your child will get to see the many different sizes and shapes of brass instruments. They will also learn that some brass instruments aren’t made out of brass at all but made out of wood. Since you have to buzz your lips to play the wooden horns, just like the brass horns they get included with the brass instruments. As an added bonus, there is an illustration of how to make your own horn. Have fun learning about brass instruments.


Listen to My Trumpet! by Mo Willems
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
Piggie gets a trumpet and wants to show his friend Elephant what he can do on his trumpet. He blows and blows and all kinds of sounds come out of the horn, but is it music? Find out what Elephant has to say about Piggie’s playing and how Piggie responds.


Tubby the Tuba by Paul Tripp
Reading Level: Ages 4 and up
Tubby the Tuba is part of the orchestra and he wants to play more than just oompah, oompah. He believes he could play a beautiful melody too but none of the other instruments believe him. Follow Tubby through his disappointments and how meeting a certain bullfrog turned his musical achievements around. The copy of the book that I borrowed from the library had a CD with it. Although I would encourage reading the book to your child a couple of times before using the CD, I strongly recommend having your child listen to the CD as well. The CD is the story with an orchestra playing along, so your child can hear a tuba, trumpet, violin and many other instruments. This story holds a special place in my heart because my husband is a tuba player and he agrees with Tubby that tubas can play more than oompah, oompah. He enjoys playing flute solos on his tuba. A lesson to be learned: Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it can’t. If you believe in something, give it a try. You might give yourself and the people around you a whole new wonderful experience.

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Related Posts

Music at an Early Age by Shannon at Mamamusing
Fun with Music – Overview
Fun with Music – Percussion Instruments
Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments
Fun with Music: Voices
Fun with Music: String Instruments
Fun with Music: Keyboards

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Filed Under: Music Tagged With: brass instruments, bugle, children and music, educational activities, fun learning, fun with music, kids and music, laugh, learn, learning, learning fun, learning opportunities, lessons, love, love to laugh, love to laugh and learn, love to learn, making learning fun, music, preschool, preschool lessons, trumpet

Learning Activities for the Color Orange

June 13, 2012 by Mama Carmody 7 Comments

Learning Activities for the Color Orange





I usually taught the color orange in the fall so we would do pumpkin or jack-o-lantern crafts. But it’s summer time as I am writing this post so I had to come up with some other more “summery” learning activities for the color orange. If it happens to be the fall when you are reading this post or you will be waiting to teach or review the color orange in the fall be sure to check out my post Pumpkins Are Orange and Other Learning Concepts for more ideas.

Content:

Clothing
Toys
Craft:
Carrot
Snacks
Finger Play
Story Time
Music
Related Posts


Clothing

Go through you closets and drawers and see what kinds of orange clothing you have to put on today. Orange is a great summer color; so bright and cheery. Get dressed in your orange and have a blast today.

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Toys

What kinds of orange toys can you find to play with? Like I said before, as I am writing this post it is early in the summer so look at some of your outside summer toys and see if they are orange or have orange on them. Do you have an orange ball or a beach ball with orange on it? How about an orange water gun? You could get a package of water balloons and only fill the orange ones then have a great orange water balloon fight!

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Craft

Have fun learning about the color orange with this carrot craft.

Carrot Craft

This is a good craft for a little one. It’s very simple and they can practice using their fine motor skills while tearing pieces of paper.

Materials Needed for Orange Carrot Craft
Materials Needed for Orange Carrot Craft

 

Materials:
Disposable icing bags
Orange construction
Green ribbon or rickrack
Scissors for cutting ribbon

 

 

1) Have your child tear the orange construction paper into little pieces. I used 3 pieces to fill the icing bag.

Learning Activities for the Color Orange: Orange Carrot Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Orange: Orange Carrot Craft

2) Have them put the pieces of construction paper into a disposable icing bag.

Learning Activities for the Color Orange: Orange Carrot Craft
Learning Activities for the Color Orange: Orange Carrot Craft

3) Tie the bag off with the ribbon.
4) Now you have an orange carrot.

Have fun learning about the color orange with this carrot craft.

* I have seen something similar to this done for snacks or party favors; substituting the paper with orange jellybeans or goldfish crackers (mine is filled with Cheez-Its).

Learning Activities for the Color Orange: Snack Filled Carrot

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Foods for snack or meal time

oranges, orange juice, carrots, sweet potato fries, goldfish crackers, orange pepper

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Finger Play

Alley Cats

One orange alley cat wondering what to do
(hold up 1 finger then hold up both hands in a questioning manner)
Along came another cat, And now there are two
(hold up 2 fingers)
Two orange alley cats scamper up a tree
(act like climbing a tree)
Along came another cat, And now there are three
(hold up 3 fingers)
Three orange alley cats, Running through the door
(act like you are running)
Look here comes another cat! And now there are four
(hold up 4 fingers)
Four orange alley cats, Playing in our drive
(act like cats playing, batting at yarn, etc)
Out pounces another cat, And now there are five
(hold up 5 fingers)
Five orange alley cats, Hear a scary sound
(freeze in place, looked scared)
Oh no it’s a dog!
Run, cats, run so we can’t be found!
(act like you are running away)
– Author Unknown
Adapted from http://rhymes.yakaberry.com/cats.html

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Story Time

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater
Reading Level: 4 yrs and up
“Mr. Plumbean lived on a street where all the houses were just the same.”…UNTIL?!?!…read this book to find out what happens to Mr. Plumbean’s house and how he “fixes” the problem. What would you do if this happened to your house? How would you fix the problem?

The Enormous Carrot by Vladimir Vagin
Reading Level: Ages 3 and up
Daisy and Floyd planted a beautiful garden. Everything grew exactly as they planned except for one enormous exception. Right in the middle of their garden grew an extra large carrot. Read this cute little story to find out how they were able to harvest this huge surprise.

Orange: Seeing Orange All Around Us (A+ Books) by Sarah L. Schuette
Reading Level: 5 yrs old and up
Here is another great color book from an author that has quickly become one of my favorites. I love her color themed books. Like her other color books, the primary theme of the book is written in rhyme. After you have read through the book you can go back and get more information about the orange item on each page. You can learn interesting facts about carrots, butterflies and tigers, as well as several other objects. There is also an informational section in the back with more opportunities for learning and fun activities for the color orange. I believe that it is given such a high reading level because of the extra information on each page. Personally, I would read this to a child that was under the age of 1 year old. I believe the rhythm of the rhyme and the bright pictures would keep them interested.

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Music

Here is a song I enjoyed about the color orange. It even helps your child learn to spell. Because of copyright laws I won’t attach a link to it but you can do a search on the internet and either find the CD or a YouTube version.

Orange Song by Frog Street Press

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Related Posts

The Lessons – Overview
Colors – Overview
A is for Apple: You Can Learn More Than Your ABC’s from Apples
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts
Learning Activities for the Color Red
Learning Activities for the Color Blue
Learning Activities for the Color Yellow
Learning Activities for the Color Green
Learning Activities for the Color Purple

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Filed Under: Colors, Learning Activities Tagged With: color, colors, educational activities, fun learning, learn, learning, learning activities for orange, learning activities for the color orange, learning colors, learning concepts, learning fun, learning opportunities, lessons, love to laugh, love to laugh and learn, love to learn, making learning fun, orange, preschool, preschool lessons

Learning Activities for the Color Purple

June 4, 2012 by Mama Carmody 14 Comments

Learning Activities for the Color Purple




So are you ready for some fun learning activities for the color purple? I have a couple of fun crafts. One is making a butterfly and the other one is making a picture of grapes using a toilet paper roll. My favorite grapes, when I was growing up, were the purple concord grapes that grew in our backyard. They were a little sour and really sweet at the same time. My mom made some of the greatest jelly out of them. You should try some concord grapes sometime. They are really delicious.

Now head to your closet and dresser and find some purple clothes to put on and start having some fun with the color purple.

Content:

Clothing
Toys
Crafts:
Butterfly
Purple Grapes
Snacks
Finger Play
Poem
Story Time
Related Posts


Clothing

What kind of purple clothing do you have to wear today? Do you have a favorite purple t-shirt? How about a purple pair of shorts? It’s getting warm here. I wonder if I have a pair of purple flip flops somewhere. Whatever you have, put it on and enjoy learning about and having fun with the color purple.

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Toys

Bring out any special purple toys that you can find to play with today. Do you have a purple toy car or truck? How about a purple tutu? My children and I loved Barney the Dinosaur (we are kind of silly people). How about some play food: purple grapes, plums, eggplant

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Have fun learning about the color purple with this Beautiful Purple Butterfly craft.

Craft

Butterfly

Materials needed for Purple Butterfly craft

Materials:
Purple tissue paper
Clothespin
Purple paint
Paint brush or foam applicator
Pipe cleaner
Black permanent marker
Flat magnet strip (optional)

1) Paint the clothes pin purple then set it aside to dry
2) Cut a piece of tissue paper: 5 inches by 7 inches

Cut pieces for Purple Butterfly craft

3) Gather the tissue paper in the center.
4) Put a little dot of glue up near the spring through the “handles” of the clothes pin.

Dot of glue between “handles” for Purple Butterfly craft

5) Push the tissue paper up through the “handles”.
6) Place a dot of glue in the open part of the “clippie” end of the clothes pin. If you want to
use this as a memo clip only put the glue on the top part of the “hole”.

“Hole” on “clippie” end of clothes pin for Purple Butterfly craft.

7) Cut the pipe cleaner to approximately 6 inches. Place pipe cleaner through the “hole” and
bend the ends so they look like antennas.
8) Draw some eyes on the “head” and there you have it…a beautiful butterfly.  If you want to use this as a memo clip add a magnet to the back of the clothes pin.

Have fun learning about the color purple with this Beautiful Purple Butterfly craft.

Grapes

Have fun learning about the color purple with this Purple Grape craft.

This is a wonderfully simple craft. Even a very young child will enjoy this one.

Materials for Purple Grape Picture

Materials:
Toilet paper roll
Purple Paint
Plate
White construction or cardstock paper
Green marker, paint or construction paper (to create stem)

 

1) Pour some purple paint onto a plate. Spread it out in a thin layer because you will be using it like a stamp pad.
2) Dip end of toilet paper roll into paint and “stamp” onto piece of paper. Repeat until you have a nice bunch of grapes.

Learning Activities for the Color Purple: Stamping grapes with toilet paper roll.

3) Draw, paint or glue a green stem to the top of your grapes.

Have fun learning about the color purple with this Purple Grape craft.

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Foods for snack or meal time

Purple grapes, grape juice, purple cabbage, purple plums, purple potatoes (yes there is such a thing)

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Finger Play

Purple Violets
Found on Toddler Storytime

One purple violet in our garden grew.
(raise up one finger)
Up popped another, and that made two.
(hold up second finger)
Two purple violets were all that I could see;
But _____(insert child’s name)_____found another and that made three.
(hold up third finger)
Three purple violets if _____(insert child’s name)_____could find one more,
We’d give them to mother – we’d have four.
(hold up fourth finger)
Four purple violets – sure as you’re alive!
Why, here is another! And now there are five!
(hold up all five fingers)

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Poem

This is a poem that I grew up with and absolutely loved. As I was searching the web (to make sure I quoted it correctly and find who the author is) I found this website: PoetryArchive I really like it because it included information about the date the poem was published and the publication that it was printed in.

The Purple Cow

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.
– Gelett Burgess

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Story Time

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Reading Level: ages 3 to 7
This is a classic that many of us have grown up with. It is still worth picking up and sharing with your little ones. Harold has quite the imagination as he travels along in his make-believe adventures with his purple crayon. He finds that his purple crayon helps him to get out of trouble more than once. Share this story with your little ones and discuss what kind of adventures the two of you could have with a purple crayon.

I See Purple by Trudy Micco
Reading Level: Ages 2 and up
This is a great book for introducing the color purple to young children. It would also be a good early reader. There are lots of purple things to look at and talk about with your child.

Ollie the Purple Elephant by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Reading Level: Ages 4 and up
Be careful what you promise your children. The McLaughlin’s promised their children that if they ever found a purple elephant that they could have him (thinking they would never find one). Guess what, they found a lonely lost elephant in the park. They asked him if he would like to come live with them. He was thrilled. He was a good house guest but the McLaughlin’s cat and the downstairs neighbor were not thrilled with him. Find out what happens when the downstairs neighbor and the cat plot together to get rid of Ollie, the Purple Elephant.

Purple Little Bird by Greg Foley
Reading Level: Ages 3 and up
Purple Little Bird loves the color purple so much that everything in his house is purple. He works really hard to make his house just right and yet there is something wrong that he just can’t put his finger on. He heads out to see if he can find the perfect place. He visits many friends, such as brown bear, yellow camel and blue frog. Purchase this book or borrow it from a library to find out who helps Purple Little Bird find the perfect place and where the perfect place is.

Sally and the Purple Socks by Lisze Bechtold
Reading Level: Ages 3 to 7
Sally gets some new purple socks in the mail. When she takes them out of the box, they are way too small. But there is a note in the box that says, “Once removed from the box, these socks will grow to the size ordered.” But Sally doesn’t remember if she told them what size she needed. Pick up this book to find out all of the amazing things you can do with a pair of socks that just won’t quit getting larger.

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Music

I absolutely love using music when teaching children. Some children catch on to difficult subjects when put to music. Because of copyright laws I am not going to paste song files here but I will give you names of songs that I like to use. You can either find a CD with the song or listen to it on YouTube. Just turn up the music, get moving and have some fun.

Purple People Eater – written and performed by Sheb Wooley
Peanut, Peanut Butter and Jelly – We always loved Barney the Dinosaur’s version

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Related Posts

The Lessons – Overview
Colors – Overview
A is for Apple: You Can Learn More Than Your ABC’s from Apples
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts
Learning Activities for the Color Red
Learning Activities for the Color Blue
Learning Activities for the Color Yellow
Learning Activities for the Color Green
Learning Activities for the Color Orange

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Filed Under: Colors, Learning Activities Tagged With: color, colors, educational activities, fun learning, laugh, learn, learning, learning colors, learning concepts, learning fun, learning opportunities, lessons, love to laugh and learn, love to learn, making learning fun, preschool, preschool lessons, purple

Learning Activities for the Color Green

March 11, 2012 by Mama Carmody 12 Comments

Learning Activities for the Color Green
with free printable




Spring is almost here and Saint Patrick’s Day is just around the corner so it’s time to pull out the green clothing. What a great time for learning activities with the color green.

Content:

Clothing
Toys
Crafts:
Shimmery Shamrock
Caterpillar
Snacks
Story Time
Related Posts


Clothing

What green clothing do you and your child have? Do you have any shirts with shamrocks or clover on them? Does your child have some bright green socks? Pull them out and put them on today.

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Toys

What kind of green toys can your child find? Do they have any green stuffed toys, like a frog or a dinosaur? Have your child dig into the bottom of their toy box for any little green toys or cars that might be hiding down there. Get out some green play dough and make some snakes and bushes. I’m not very artistic so that’s about all I can create with play dough. (Oh yes, I can make pancakes and pizza too!)

You can make your own color sorter with mini M&M containers. I made these and used them with my children and in my preschool classes. Collect several different color containers.

Color Sorting Buttons

Gather any loose buttons you have around the house. I was able to purchase a big tub of buttons at Wal-Mart several years ago, when they had a better craft section. You may still be able to find something like that at a craft and hobby store. Remove the label and glue a button that is the same color as the container to the lid. Let your child sort through the buttons and put them in the appropriate container. Just be sure to use this sorter with children that are old enough that they won’t be putting the buttons in their mouths.

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Craft

Have fun learning about the color green with this Shimmery Shamrock craft.

Shimmery Shamrocks

These shimmery shamrocks are a great craft for Saint Patrick’s Day as well as a learning activity for the color green. It is also a good activity for discussing shapes because the shamrock is made up of a rectangle and four hearts. This craft works well for children as young as 2 years old as well as for older children. For younger children, you can cut out the shapes and simply let them spread glue and sprinkle glitter. Older children will be able to cut the shapes out themselves. You could also vary this craft by letting your child color or paint the craft sheet rather than using it as a template to cut the shapes from construction paper.

Materials Needed:
Shamrock craft sheet
Green construction paper
Glue
Foam applicator
Plate for glue
Green glitter

Materials Needed for Shamrock Craft

1) Print off the Shamrock craft sheet

Learning Activities for the Color Green: Shamrock Craft Sheet

2) Cut hearts and rectangle stem out of green construction paper.
3) Pour glue out onto a plate.
4) Use a sponge applicator to spread the glue on the heart shapes.
5) Sprinkle green glitter all over the heart shapes.
6) Glue the tips of the hearts together and let dry.
7) Glue stem to back of hearts.
8) Now you have a beautiful shimmery shamrock to decorate with.

Have fun learning about the color green with this Shimmery Shamrock craft.

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Have fun learning about the color green with this adorable little caterpillar.

Caterpillar

Here is a green craft, just in case you are working on the color green and it’s not Saint Patrick’s Day. This would be a great springtime craft or when learning about caterpillars and butterflies. A big plus to this craft is that it is very easy. Even a very young child will be able to create this cute caterpillar.

Materials Needed for Green Caterpillar Craft

Materials Needed:

Green pompoms – two sizes (I used a 1 inch pom for the head and four .75 inch
poms for the body)
Wiggly eyes
Green pipe cleaner
Glue
Optional: magnet or spring-type wooden clothespin

1) Glue the small pompoms together.

Learning Activities for the Color Green: Gluing together Green Caterpillar

2) Cut the pipe cleaner in half then bend it into a U shape. Put glue on both sides of the bottom of the U.
3) Add glue to the larger pompom and press the head onto the caterpillar’s body securing the antennas between the head and the body. Let the caterpillar set for at least an hour to let the glue dry.
4) Then add wiggly eyes and there you have it, an adorable caterpillar.

Have fun learning about the color green with this adorable little caterpillar.

Here I added the caterpillar to the Daffodil craft from Learning Activities for the Color Yellow:

Green Caterpillar used with yellow daffodil craft activity.

Here I added a spring-loaded clothes pin and a magnet to make a memo holder for the refrigerator:

Green Caterpillar as a memo holder.

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Green Foods for snack or meal time

Green apples, kiwi, broccoli, green grapes, lettuce, guacamole, green beans, celery, peas, green peppers

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Story Time

“Good Luck!: A St. Patrick’s Day Story (Ant Hill)“ by Joan Holub
Reading Level: Ages 2 to 7
This is an adorable little book for a young child or an early reader. There are a lot of rhyming words which are fun to listen to and easier for beginning readers: bike – Mike, hat – Matt, ant – Grant It’s a story of a town of ants that are trying to catch the green ant for good luck. A fun adventure and a special prize at the end of the rainbow.

“The Big Green Pocketbook” by Candice Ransom
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8
A wonderful story about a little girl, her big green pocketbook and a good deed. A little girl takes her empty pocketbook with her on a trip to town with her mother. She collects all kinds of interesting things along the way. She puts her treasures in her big green pocketbook but what happens when she forgets and leaves it on the bus. Read this adorable book and find out.

“The Yippy, Yappy Yorkie in the Green Doggy Sweater (Blossom Street Kids)” by Debbie Macomber &
Mary Lou Carney
Reading Level: Ages 4 and up
The story of a young girl, named Ellen, and her Yorkie puppy. Her family has to move to a new town. Ellen doesn’t think she is going to like this move but her mother assures her that it will be fine. Follow Ellen as she and her mother walk through their new town in search of her yippy yappy yorkie that escaped through a hole in the fence. She finds that the new town isn’t as different from her home town as she thought. She also makes a new friend in the process.

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Filed Under: Colors, Learning Activities Tagged With: color, coloring page, coloring pages, coloring pages for kids, colors, educational activities, fun learning, green, holiday, holidays, learn, learning, learning colors, learning concepts, learning fun, learning opportunities, lessons, love to laugh and learn, making learning fun, preschool, preschool lessons, Saint Patrick's Day, shamrock, shamrocks, St. Patrick's Day, St. Patty's Day

Learning Activities for the Color Blue

January 23, 2012 by Mama Carmody 9 Comments

 Learning Activities for the Color Blue
with free printable






Let’s laugh and learn about the color blue today. There are so many wonderful blue things around us; the sky, blueberries, your comfy pair of blue sweatpants or blue jeans. Here are some fun learning activities for the color blue.

Content:

Clothing
Toys
Craft:
Blueberry Pie
Snacks
Story Time
Related Posts

Clothing

Dress you child in something blue; a blue shirt (I have a Thomas the Tank Engine Shirt…remember, I taught preschool), a pair of blue jeans etc. Be sure to join your child and wear something blue too.

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Toys

Go through your child’s toys and pick out the blue ones to play with; Thomas the Train, Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, blue legos or duplos, blue wooden blocks etc. Use these toys for playtime today.

I used sensory bags in my classroom, which the children enjoyed a lot. Take gallon sized ziplock bags and fill each one with something different. Put blue jello or jelly in one bag. There used to be a version of oatmeal that turned blue when you mixed it up; I would use that in one of the bags. If the blue oatmeal isn’t available you could add blue food coloring to regular oatmeal.

Material Used for Oatmeal Sensory Bags

I would run a bead of glue along the “zipper” and let it dry before I let the children play with the bags to help discourage them from opening the bags and making a mess. They can then squish the bags in their hands or lay them on the table and use a finger to “write” and draw; kind of like finger painting without the mess.

B is for Blue and Bowl

Another addition to the sensory experience would be to let them play with the oatmeal bags while the oatmeal was still warm. Discuss the differences between the feel of the bag with the oatmeal and the bag with the Jello.

Blue Oatmeal Sensory Bag

Put the bags in the refrigerator when you are done so you can bring them out and play with them again another day. They should last a week or more before you need to toss them. Please share any other ideas, that you might have, of things to put in your sensory bags.

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Craft

Blueberry Pie Craft

Supplies for Blueberry Pie Craft
Supplies for Blueberry Pie Craft

Materials Needed:

Piece of Pie Coloring Page
Blue paint
Pencil with eraser or Q-tip
Small paper plate

1) Print Piece of Pie Coloring Page
2) Put a small amount of blue paint on the paper plate.
3) Use the Q-tip like a stamp. Dip it in the paint and make “blueberry” dots on your piece of pie.

 

Blueberry Pie Craft with Q-tip: Learning Activities for the Color Blue

I used one of those really large pencils with a big eraser for the next piece of pie. I found the pencil at a Dollar Tree Store. You could also use a regular sized pencil.

Blueberry Pie with Large Eraser: Learning Activities for the Color Blue

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Blue Foods for snack or meal time

Blueberries, blue Jello, blue tortilla chips

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Story Time

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Reading Level: Ages 5 and up
This is a cute story that I always read to my preschool classes when we were learning the color blue. The story is about a little girl and a little bear cub that follow their mothers to the blueberry patch. Read this adorable book with your child to find out about the funny mix-up that happens at the patch.

Blue’s Clues books by several different authors
I love Blue’s Clues because it gives your child opportunities to think and reason. There are several wonderful titles to choose from.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Reading Level: Ages 4 and up
I love Dr. Seuss rhyming books. This book works for the colors blue and red as well as numbers.

Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
Reading Level: Birth to 4 yrs old
This is a simple little book but so much fun. It covers several colors and has a very silly turkey that will make your child giggle. You can also encourage observation skills as you discuss with your child the problems that the turkey is having.

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Reading Level: 3 yrs old and up
Ok, I am a sucker for a rhyming book but this one is doubly cute because not only does it rhyme but you get to make a lot of fun sounds while reading it to your child. You will also find out how it pays to be nice to your friends. You may need their help some day.

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Related Posts:

The Lessons – Overview
Colors – Overview
A is for Apple: You Can Learn More Than Your ABC’s from Apples
Pumpkins are Orange; and Other Learning Concepts
Learning Activities for the Color Red
Learning Activities for the Color Yellow
Learning Activities for the Color Green
Learning Activities for the Color Purple
Learning Activities for the Color Orange

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Filed Under: Colors, Learning Activities Tagged With: color, colors, educational activities, fun learning, learn, learning, learning colors, learning concepts, learning fun, learning opportunities, lessons, love to laugh and learn, making learning fun, preschool, preschool lessons

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