Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – A Moon of My Own Paper Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Any Age, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – A Moon of My Own Paper Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: A Moon of My Own. Then gather your supplies to make a beautiful nighttime scene!

Supplies:

  • Black, Blue, and White Construction paper
  • Glue stick
  • Black Crayon
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to work.
  2. Use your black crayon to draw a moon shape. What phase is your moon in? Is it a full moon, half moon, or crescent moon? Can you draw some craters?
  3. Glue your moon onto your blue construction paper.
  4. Cut out a nighttime scene with the black construction paper! Can you think of a time you played outside at night? What did you see? Buildings, trees, mountains? What will your nighttime scene be?
  5. Share your creations with us on social media using  #dailydiscovery or tagging us! We can’t wait to see the moon you made!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Going Around the Sun Solar System Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Earth & Space Science

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Going Around the Sun Solar System Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Going Around the Sun: Some Planetary Fun. Then gather your supplies to make your very own solar system art!

Supplies:

  • Construction paper in a variety of colors
  • Glue stick
  • Glitter Glue
  • Scissors
  • Stickers, Pom Poms, Sequins, crayons, or other craft supplies

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to work.
  2. Start with a dark piece of construction paper. Outer space is very dark, so we used black paper.
  3. Cut out some circles in various colors for planets! Can you remember how many planets there are? (8)
  4. What color is the sun? Cut out the sun from yellow or orange (or be creative with other colors)!
  5. Glue the planets in orbit around the sun!
  6. Try using glitter glue to decorate your planets, make moons, rings, or sparkly stars, or glue other fun decorations to your solar system. Be creative!
  7. Share your creations with us on Instagram or Facebook! Use #dailydiscovery or tag us to share!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: “Milky” – Way Nebulas

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Ages 6-8, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Earth & Space Science

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: “Milky” – Way Nebulas

NASA, with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, capture the colorful and mysterious formations of nebulas. They are created from the gas and dust from supernovas or become star nurseries where new stars will be formed. With chemistry and experimentation create your own nebula, but they won’t take billions of years to form!

Supplies:

  • Paper plate or glass dish
  • 3 colors of food coloring
  • 1 cup of milk (preferably higher fat content)
  • 1 Tablespoon Dish soap
  • Q-tips

Instructions:

  1. Pour the milk into your plate or dish.
  2. Add as many droplets of food coloring as you want into each plate. Observe how the droplets don’t disperse and remain as individual droplets. The fat content in the milk creates a denser environment making it difficult for the color to move.
  3. Dip one end of the Q-tip into the dish soap and then into the center of the plate.
  4. Watch as your nebula begins to take form. Milk and dish soap cause a chemical reaction when they come together. The food coloring allows us to see this reaction more clearly! The molecules of in the dish soap and the fat molecules in the milk are attracted to each other and work hard to join together. The dish soap also breaks the surface tension allowing the food coloring to move freely.
  5. Use the Q-tip to swirl the colors to create beautiful, mesmerizing patterns. Expand by mixing different
    colors together. What happens if you use different dairy products all with different fat contents, will it produce different nebulas?
  6. Learn more cool facts and check out more nebulas from NASA.

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Over in the Grasslands Zebra Puppet Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Visual Arts

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Over in the Grasslands Zebra Puppet Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Over in the Grasslands– On an African Savanna. Then gather your supplies to make a zebra puppet from a paper bag!

Supplies:

  • White paper lunch bag
  • Black construction paper
  • White craft paper
  • Black crayon
  • White crayon
  • Glue stick
  • Scissors
  • Googly eyes (or use paper to cut out eyes)

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to work.
  2. Put the paper bag on the table with the bottom of the bag facing up (see the picture). You will want to be able to put your hand inside and move the bottom of the bag like a “mouth”.
  3. Cut out an oval shape from the black construction paper and glue it to the folded edge of the bottom of the lunch bag to make the zebra snout. Use a white crayon to draw a mouth and nostrils.
  4. Draw two triangles on the white craft paper with a black crayon. Use the scissors to cut them out and then glue them to the bag where the zebra’s ears will go.
  5. Cut out a rectangle shape from the black construction paper and cut fringe on one side for the zebra’s mane. Glue it between the ears.
  6. Tear strips of black construction paper and glue them to the bag to make stripes.
  7. Then glue the googly eyes above the snout where the eyes should go.
  8. Put your hand in your zebra puppet and imagine you are on the African Savanna!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: “On One Flower” Paper Flower Craft/Descubrimiento en casa: “Sobre Una Flor:” Flor de papel

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Descubrimiento en casa, Discovery at Home, Español, Life Science

Post written by Sierra Tamkun, Learning Experiences Manager.

Daily Discovery: On One Flower Paper Flower Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: On One Flower. Then, make your very own paper flower garden!

Supplies:

• Paper cupcake liners
• Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
• Blue and green construction paper
• Glue
• Assorted craft supplies:

  • Beads
  • Chenille stems
  • Bits of colored paper

Instructions:

1. Choose 3-4 cupcake liners to be your flowers. Color the liners to make your flowers brighter!

2. Using scissors, cut lines along the edges of your cupcake liners to make flower petals.

3. Glue your flowers onto the blue construction paper.

4. Cut stems and leaves out of the green construction paper and glue them to your blue paper sheet. If you don’t have green paper, you can draw your flower stems and leaves!

5. Decorate the center of your flower with different beads, chenille stems, or pieces of paper.

6. Draw some bugs and butterflies around your paper flower garden!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Image credit: onelittleproject.com

Traducido por Károl de Rueda y Laura Vilaret-Tuma.

Descubrimiento en casa: Sobre Una Flor – Flor de papel

Sigue nuestro programa de transmisión en vivo “Cuentos en Casa” (Storytime in the Home) a través de las redes sociales. En esta ocasión te presentamos la historia llamada “Sobre una Flor” (versión en inglés). Después, ¡construye tu propio jardín de flores!

Artículos necesarios:

  • Marcadores, crayones o lápices de colores
  • Papel de colores incluyendo verde
  • Pegamento
  • Tijeras
  • Materiales para decorar: abalorios, brillantina, retazos de papel, etc.

Instrucciones:

  1. Para formar los pétalos de la flor, usa papel de colores y con las tijeras corta unas formas como la fotografía de arriba.
  2. Une tus pétalos con pegamento.
  3. Usando el papel verde, corta tallos y hojas para tus flores y pégalos debajo de la flor. Si no tienes papel verde, dibújalos y coloréalos.
  4. Decora el centro de las flores con abalorios, brillantina, retazos de papel o lo que quieras.
  5. Dibuja algunos insectos o mariposas para tu jardín.
  6. ¡Llena tu casa de alegría decorándola con tus flores coloridas!

¿Te gustaría descargar esta actividad? Haz clic aquí para obtener un archivo PDF.

Para encontrar actividades, ideas y mucho más descubrimiento en casa, ¡síguenos!

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: “Three Lost Seeds” Seed Pod Stamps Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Three Lost Seeds Seed Pod Stamps Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Three Lost Seeds. Then gather your supplies to make your very own nature inspired seed pod stamps!

Supplies:

• Colored paper
• Modelling Clay
• A pencil
• A plastic knife
• White paint
• A paper plate
• Optional: Paint brush

Instructions:

1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to work.

2. Cut a small piece of clay off with a knife. Using your fingers, pinch part of the clay into a small handle and then press the clay flat on a surface to make the flat stamp end.

3. Images of seed pods can help inspire your seed pod stamp design.

4. Using a pencil or knife, shape the stamp to look like your seed pod.

5. Dip the stamper in the paint and press it on a piece of paper. Tip: Too much paint will look globby. Try brushing the paint on with a paint brush if you want a smoother stamp.

6. Use your stamp to make beautiful seed pod art! You can also make other nature inspired stamps with your clay. Have fun and be creative!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Image credit: redtedart.com

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Over in a River Greeting Card Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Poudre River Fest Daily Discovery, Visual Arts

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Over in a River Greeting Card Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Over in a River – Flowing Out to the Sea. Then gather your supplies to make a lovely river scene greeting card to send to friends or family!

Supplies:

  • Construction paper in a variety of colors
  • Glue stick
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to work.
  2. Fold a piece of paper in half hamburger style to create a folded card.
  3. Choose a colored sheet of construction paper to be your sky. Tear a strip of paper and glue it down to the top of the card (the folded edge).
  4. Choose a new color paper and tear a wavy strip to create a mountain scene. Glue this one layered on top of the sky.
  5. Choose a new color paper for the river and tear a wavy strip. Glue this one layered on top of the mountains and down to the bottom edge of the card.
  6. Cut out some simple fish shapes and glue them down in the river. Are they salmon swimming upstream to lay their eggs?
  7. Cut a sun or moon for your sky if you want to. There are plenty of ways to be creative with this card!
  8. Write a kind note to a friend or family member and send it to them. Cards are a wonderful way to show how much you care.
  9. Share your creations with us using #dailydiscovery on social media! We love to see what you are making!

BONUS: Here are some counting cards that relate to Over in a River.

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – What’s This Tail Saying? Peacock Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – What’s This Tail Saying? Peacock Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: What’s this Tail Saying? Then create your very own beautiful peacock with a stunning tail of feathers.

Supplies:

  • 2 sheets of green construction paper
  • 1 sheet of blue construction paper
  • 1 small triangle of orange construction paper
  • Glue (glue stick and craft glue will be helpful)
  • Tape
  • Googly eyes or some black craft paper to cut out eyes
  • A small cardboard tube
  • Crayons
  • Optional: pencil, 1 blue pipe cleaner.

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Glue together the short ends of the two sheets of green construction paper making a longer piece of green paper and then decorate with crayons! Peacocks generally have green, blue, orange, teal, and yellow in their feathers. But you can be creative!
  3. Fold the entire long green paper accordion style (along the short end). Then tape the bottom together creating a point. It should look like a fan when you are done.
  4. Measure the size of the paper towel tube on the blue paper making sure the paper will wrap all the way around it. Use a pencil to trace it if that helps you. Then add a little bump around the middle top of the tube to make your peacocks head and cut the whole thing out.
  5. Wrap the tube in the blue paper and glue it down.
  6. Glue the small orange triangle beak and eyes onto your peacock’s head.
  7. Cut the optional pipe cleaner head feathers, curl them to create a feather shape, and then tape them to the inside of the cardboard tube.
  8. Glue the tube with the head facing out to the center of your accordion folded feathers.

BONUS: Here are some activities including a mix & match that relate to What’s This Tail Saying? Here are some coloring pages!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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Daily Discovery: “If You Love Honey” Bee Headband Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Animal Encounters, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – If You Love Honey  Bee Headband Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: If You Love Honey: Nature’s Connections. Then gather all your supplies to create this adorable honeybee headband. Buzz Buzz!

Supplies:

  • Yellow and Black craft paper
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Glue
  • Tape
  • Scissors
  • Yarn
  • Hole punch

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Cut a long strip of yellow craft paper.
  3. Cut a second strip of black craft paper and cut that into small bee stripes.
  4. Glue the black bee stripes to the yellow strip of craft paper leaving some yellow bits in between.
  5. Punch a hole in the ends of the strip and thread the yarn through to use as a tie.
  6. Curl one end of each pipe cleaner to make a small ball.
  7. Tape the pipe cleaners to the inside of the headband where you want each antenna to go.
  8. Tie your headband on and do a honeybee dance! BUZZZZZzzzz!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – The Prairie That Nature Built Black-Footed Ferret Puppet

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Animal Encounters, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – The Prairie That Nature Built Black-Footed Ferret Puppet

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: The Prairie That Nature Built. Then work together with an adult to make this Black-Footed Ferret puppet! Black-Footed Ferrets (BFFs) are an endangered species and an important part of the prairie ecosystem. You can learn more about them here!

Supplies:

  • A popsicle stick
  • Black or green beads
  • Glue
  • Craft paper (White, Black, Pink, Green)
  • Pencil
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Ask an adult to help you find some pictures of BFFs on the internet for inspiration!
  3. Use a pencil to draw the shape of your BFFs head and ears on the white paper then cut it out. (This one is about 2 ½ inches from ear to ear and 1 ¾ inches from top of ears to chin.)
  4. Cut out a mask (an upside down U shape) and a nose (a rounded triangle shape with the point down) from the black paper and glue them down.
  5. Use the pink paper to cut out ears (half circles) and a small pointy mouth (a very small flat triangle) and glue them down.
  6. Use black or green beads for eyes. A BFF’s eyes appear green at nighttime.
  7. Glue your BFF to the popsicle stick.
  8. Cut out a round burrow for your BFF to live in! Make a small slit in the burrow to let your puppet pop in and out. Decorate your burrow with grass or other prairie features. Have fun!

BONUS: Here are some activities from Dawn Publishing that relate to The Prairie that Nature Built. Here is a coloring page! Build your own bird feeder!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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