Milk Carton Bird Feeders

Two Saturdays ago I was privileged to be a part of a special reading event thrown by our Reading Specialist. "Winters Critter" welcomed 50 students and their families to our elementary school to to enjoy two hours of exploring wildlife through reading, playing, and crafting. There cozy bears den to curl up and read a story, a fun photo station, games to make and explore animal habits and tracks, and of course A CRAFT!

That's where I come in... We decided it would be fun for students to make something they could take home and continue their exploration and that whatever we make should be made from repurposed and natural materials. 

In preparation, I collected milk cartons during lunch duty, cleaned them out (do it quick or they really stink!), stapled the tops, and cut an opening. 

Interesting fact... From an entire garbage can of milk cartons I only found 1white milk, 2 strawberry milks, and 4 vanilla milks (blow my mind VANILLA MILK?). It is safe to say that Chocolate milk is the overwhelming favorite among elementary students at Greenwood. 

The day of the event I set up a large table with all sorts of supplies. I wanted it to be easy for parents and their children to come in, get their materials, and know what to do. 

Here are some things I put out.

• beads
• scrap paper
• wood shavings
• short dowel rods
• craft sticks
• cardboard packing material
• corrugated cardboard 
• string
• lollipop sticks
• straws
• puzzle pieces
• noodles
• branches
• pinecones
• evergreens
• straw
• mosaic squares
• Sharpies
• buttons

I was lucky to have 3 wonderful parent volunteers who helped run hot glue stations and with punching holes for string. (Maybe the holes could have been punched before, but I think they kids would have covered them with their crafty roofs.)

I wrote all sorts of directions on the board so all I needed to do was direct students where to get their carton and how to start. 

My students were excited to be in the art room on a Saturday and to show their parents where they get basic supplies like tape, scissors, and glue.

I also printed and hung a few pictures of milk carton bird feeders that I found on line. This was a good place to point students to when they were stuck getting ideas.

Overall I was completely amazed with what these kids did with 30 minutes and a table of supplies. I could tell they enjoyed the freedom to create and loved what they were making. 

Much to my surprise, EVERYONE CLEANED UP! Without any instruction to do so, I was amazed at the respect the students had for the classroom and how they jumped in and took responsibility to help clean up before moving to their next station. 

I loved how these turned out so much; I think I may need to consider fitting this project into my curriculum. 

Christmas In Millerstown

We were asked by the Millerstown Fire Company to decorate 12 small trees that would line the streets for an annual holiday festival called A Christmas Day in Millerstown.  We came up with the idea to make it a mini fundraiser and opportunity for students to give back to their community.  We were gifted with an anonymous donation to help purchase supplies like glitter, wood glue, white spray paint, and spray polyurethane.  I chose Let it Snow! As the theme and OH MY DID IT EVER SNOW, but we’ll get to that later…

Kindergarten though Sixth grade students spent 2 class periods making ornaments in an assembly line fashion. They were very excited about this project and opportunity.

Here’s a closer look at our snowflakes…

Kindergarten & 6th Grade made ceramic snowflakes. First they rolled out slabs, cut out snowflake shapes with a cookie cutter, and then they pressed in random found objects. They were glazed in the next class.

This may seem strange that I had two very different age groups do the same flake but it worked perfectly and just as I had planned. In Kindergarten I work though the Elements of Design and this was a perfect introduction to creating texture. As a bonus I had a small group of 5th graders come to help them with the making process. As for 6th Grade… I only started at Greenwood last March and since then my students have been dying to work with clay. At the beginning of the year my 6th Grade students told me they haven’t used clay since 1st Grade! This was a great opportunity for them to feel the clay and practice some simple techniques before getting to a larger ceramic project.

1st & 2nd Grade made simple craft stick flakes by crisscrossing 3 sticks and gluing on objects like buttons, beads, and wagon wheel noodles. Later we painted them white and sprinkled them with glitter.

3rd & 4th Grade made more complicate snowflake designs with craft sticks and toothpicks. The timing of this was what made it. 3rd grade had just finished up a lesson where they had been thinking about symmetry and 4th grade was about to start one.

These ornaments may seem a bit big for an ordinary Christmas tree by they sure popped from the street!

5th Grade students worked on the toppers for the trees. This was a fun break from our intense observational drawing project.  In the end I liked these so much I thought I may have to do this every year. I put out my huge boxes of found objects and gave them a few ideas for creating points and centers and then let them go. Some groups chose to draw their plan and others just played with the materials until they came to an idea.

On the Friday before Christmas in Millerstown the classes walked into town to place the ornaments on the trees.

Our plan was to sell the ornaments off the trees and have a small stand outside at the festival to collect donations for the ornaments. However it snowed & snowed & SNOWED! The brutal cold forced our stand in side and covered the trees with inches of real snow and canceled many of the days events. We set up inside the fire company and invited guests to pluck ornaments from the trees and take along with them to decorate their homes for the holidays. Fortunately we had extras and were able to set u a tree inside as well.

In the end we made $160.00! (I didn’t think that was too bad considering the snowy weather)

We are donating half back to the Millerstown Fire Company & using the other half to purchase something for our art class room. After the break students will vote on what they would like to purchase for our classroom.

I already have ideas for next year and can’t wait to see how this community collaboration could grow.

Snowflake People

1st grade learned to cut a paper snowflake and then used their special snow crystals to create their own snow people, animals, and more.

Thought I would share a few on this beautiful SNOW DAY!!!

Literary connection: Snowflake Bentley

Fun link to cut & make paper flakes online:

http://snowdays.me/

S - investigate snowflakes, weather conditions for snow, & look for ways to capture snowflakes

T - photograph snowflakes

E - learn to fold and cut snowflakes

A - use imagination & creativity to make a snow person, animal, or something else

M - identify patterns of symmetry in snowflakes & problem solving