Graduation Time!

June is not only the month for honoring Dads and Granddads, it's also the time for celebrating the graduate!
On Sunday we attended a graduation party for my nephew who will be attending Boston University in the fall. We put together a College Survival Kit as our gift to him.
We included
*a sponge - to help him soak up all the knowledge floating his way
*a big puff of cotton - to help cushion his seat during those long hours of study at his desk
*a package of craft foam hand stickers - to remind him that he has many helping hands sticking by him while he's at school
*a roll of lifesavers - we don't want him to drown in all the information
*a small jigsaw puzzle in a box - to give him a place to keep all the pieces together and to remind him that he is an essential part of the puzzle
*a bag of marbles - to replace the few he's bound to lose during his freshman year
*a battery - to keep him going and going and going
*a safety pin - to remind him to be sharp and stay safe
*a toothpick - to prop his eyes open during a boring lecture (this is not to be used during lectures from his parents. During those, he must remain alert and attentive!)
*a guidebook to the city of Boston - so he can find where he's going
and
*a pre-paid transit card to get him there.

We had a lot of fun putting this kit together for Michael and he enjoyed receiving it. A survival kit can be created for any occasion - to see a page of more kits to make along with a long list of creative (but not expensive!) gift giving ideas, please visit my website for my page of Creative Gift Ideas.

Countdown to Father's Day

There's a little time left to craft a nice last minute gift for Dad -
or maybe you'll find something you'd like to make for next year!

Father's Day at Kindercrafts

Father's Day

Tomorrow Maya's daddy is coming to celebrate an early Father's Day with Maya.
Today we made a picture of "Maya's Garden" as a gift for him.
We used:
*construction paper - blue, green and white
*foam flower stickers (we happened to have some, we could have just as easily cut flowers from more construction paper)
*glue
*scissors

First we made the butterfly by tracing around each of Maya's feet on the white paper. We made the leaves by tracing around her hands on the green paper. I got busy cutting out the hand/leaves while Maya began to color her butterfly. (We left the footprints uncut on the white paper for easier coloring) When she was done, we cut out each of the footprint/butterfly wings. We drew a caterpillar with back marker on the blue paper and glued the footprint/wings on either side. Then we glued the handprint/leaves onto the paper too. Maya peeled the paper from the foam flower shapes with tremendous determination (and if I was still teaching I would say she was honing her fine motor skills - blah,blah...blah,blah) She showed the same meticulous concern in placing each flower and each circle on the butterfly "just so".

We had fun doing this project. Maya is proud of her work and eager to show Daddy when he comes in the morning. I think her Daddy will treasure the garden of hands, heart and soles of his little girl.

Father's Day Crafts

It's time to get going on those Father's Day gifts!
This page of Father's Day craft ideas from Michael's has everything you need -
from preschool crafts to adult creations.

Giving

Thursday is Great Grandmother's birthday. "What kind of cake do you think Great Grammy would like?"
Maya's answer was quick and sure "a Sponge Bob cake!"
Maya is obsessed with Sponge Bob. She calls everyone Sponge Bob. We have to call her Sponge Bob. If we call her Maya, she corrects us. She is Sponge Bob.
We don't know why or where this passion for Sponge Bob developed. She's never seen the TV show. Leaving aside the question of quality children's programming, she's never seen it because she's too young, it's not appropriate for a two year old.
She's in love with the Sponge Bob image.

Our project for today - a Sponge Bob cake for Great Grandmother's birthday.
We walked to the corner store in a misting rain, looking for puddles and rocks to bring home along the way. We chose a cake mix and frosting and some candies that I hoped would somehow transform themselves into Sponge Bob facial features.
We baked the cake. Measuring and mixing and stirring and spilling - the cake was in the oven.
Waiting...
waiting...
waiting...
then waiting some more while the baked cake cooled.

It was time to create Sponge Bob. We tinted the frosting just the right shade of yellow and argued a bit about not picking fingers full of cake from the dish.
The frosting was on and we pronounced it good.
Next came candy eyes and more frosting tinting for the blue centers (Sponge Bob has blue eyes and Maya has an eye for detail) Licorice was bent in the fashion of a Sponge Bob nose and mouth.

I stepped back and watched for Maya's response. We could have gone to the supermarket and bought a Sponge Bob perfectly portrayed in cake. Was that what we should have done? Is she happy with her cake?

"We did it! We made Sponge Bob! We need a candle to blow."
Tired and proud, Maya helped to cover the cake with plastic wrap and watched me put it into the cupboard to bring to Great Grammy tomorrow.
She did not ask for a piece of cake.
Her cake is a gift for Great Grammy.
She will bring it to her house tomorrow.
Then we will eat the cake.