Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Baby on Board Sloth Craft

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

Post written by Harlie Jo Rachel, Education Intern.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Baby on Board Sloth Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Baby on Board. Then sit down with your family and make a sweet Mother’s Day gift, or just a great card to give to someone very special.

Supplies:

  • Brown and Green Construction Paper or any white paper
  • Glue stick
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Crayons
  • Optional: Printer to print the sloth face coloring sheet

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Fold a piece of brown construction paper in half hamburger style. Tip: use any paper you have and color it!
  3. Put your hand with your palm on the creased side of the paper and trace it with a pencil.
  4. Using the scissors, cut out the handprint. You should have two hands joining at the crease!
  5. Color the handprint to look like a sloth.
  6. Print, color and cut out the sloth face! (Or you can draw your own sloth face)
  7. Glue the sloth face to the thumb on the front of your folded handprint card.
  8. Cut out a branch and leaves from the paper. Glue the leaves onto the branch.
  9. Glue the leafy branch to the sloth’s arms so it has a tree to hang from. Be sure you only glue it to one side your handprint so the card can open!
  10. Write a message on the inside of the card and give it to someone you love!

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: Wild Ones Engineering Challenge

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

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Wild Ones Engineering Challenge

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Wild Ones: Observing City Critters. Then take a walk in your  neighborhood. Use your observation skills to keep an eye out for signs of wild animals in your area. Think about how animals must adapt to living in our city. Can you design and build a safe way for animals to cross busy streets? Try this engineering challenge with items you have at home!

Supplies:

  • Building supplies (Try anything you have at home like blocks, LEGO, popsicle sticks, playdoh, cardboard,
    etc! The possibilities are endless!)
  • Piece of paper
  • Something to write and draw with

Instructions:

  1. Identify your user. This is the animal who will benefit from your design. It can be any animal you want. Maybe it is a dog like Scooter from the book! Or maybe it is a squirrel or a deer! The animal’s goal is to cross a busy street safely. Think about what this animal needs. How do they move? What do they like and dislike? What are some of the obstacles they face in meeting their goals?
  2. Sketch out your design on paper. Identify 3 ways your design will help the animal cross the street.
  3. Place all your building supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  4. Draw a busy road on a piece of paper.
  5. Try to build your design with the materials you chose. Can your design help your animal cross the road safely? How might you change the design to make it better?
  6. Share your project with us on social media using #dailydiscovery
  7. Check out all the other amazing activities you can download that go with the Wild Ones book, like making dog bones at home!

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: Pitter and Patter Rain Cloud Craft

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

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Pitter and Patter Rain Cloud Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Pitter and Patter. Then gather your supplies to make your very own cloud! Think about what we learned from the story about the water cycle and how far a drop of rain can travel!

Supplies:

  • A paper plate
  • Scissors
  • Watercolor paint or other coloring supplies
  • String or yarn
  • Tape

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Cut your paper plate in half. Tip: Cut some bumps on top of one half to make a cloud shape and paint it
    if you want!
  3. Paint or color the other half of the paper plate blue or whatever color you would like your raindrops to be. You can be creative! Then, let the wet paint dry.
  4. Cut raindrops out of the painted plate.
  5. Hang the raindrops from string and tape them to the cloud.
  6. Hang up your cloud for everyone to enjoy!

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: Over on a Mountain Diorama Craft/Descubrimiento en casa: Sobre una Montaña: maqueta de montañas

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

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Over on a Mountain Diorama Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Over on a Mountain. Then take a walk in your neighborhood to see if you can find a good view of our very own Rocky Mountains. Look around for twigs, small stones, leaves, and dry grass for your Mountain Diorama.

Supplies:

  • A paper plate OR a piece of cardboard
  • Craft glue
  • Scissors
  • Craft paint OR scraps of colored paper
  • Egg carton
  • Natural materials such as twigs, stones, leaves, or dry grass
  • A mountain animal Tip: if you can’t print out one of animals to cut out, try cutting one out a magazine or drawing one yourself!

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Cut out a mountain range from the egg carton bottom. Try using the pointy parts in the middle for tall peaks, or the round parts that hold the egg.
  3. Use a piece of cardboard or a paper plate to build your scene. Glue the egg carton mountains down.
  4. Use paint or little scraps of craft paper to decorate the scene. Green makes lovely plants, blue can make a nice river, and even white can make some stunning snowcapped peaks!
  5. Glue in your natural materials wherever you want them to be.
  6. Cut out your mountain animal and glue it into your scene! Tada!

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: Dawn Publishing

 

Traducido por Károl de Rueda y Laura Vilaret-Tuma.

Descubrimiento en casa: Sobre una Montaña- maqueta de montañas

¿Sabías que en el museo contamos con programas de transmisión en vivo presentados en nuestras cuentas de redes sociales? Uno de ellos es Cuentos en Casa (Storytime in the Home), y en esta ocasión, te presentamos “Sobre una montaña” (Over on a Mountain). Inspirándonos en el libro y en las bellas Montañas Rocallosas, busca palitos, piedritas, hojas y hierba seca en tu patio o en algún otro lugar para crear una maqueta de montañas.

Artículos necesarios:

  • Plato desechable de papel o un cartón
  • Pegamento
  • Tijeras
  • Pinturas o retazos de papel colorido
  • Materiales naturales como ramitas, palitos, hojas, o hierba seca
  • Cartón de huevos vacío
  • Juguetes de animales que vivan en las montañas (también podrías imprimir los dibujos de más abajo, recortar animales de una revista, ¡o dibujarlos!

Instrucciones:

  1. Usando la mitad inferior del cartón de huevos, construye un rango de montañas. Para formar cimas variadas, corta las partes puntiagudas del cartón o las partes redondas que sostienen el huevo.
  2. Ensambla y pega el rango de montañas sobre el plato desechable o cartón.
  3. Decora tu escena natural con pintura o retacitos de papeles de varios colores. El color verde sirve muy bien para la vegetación, azul para un río, y si quieres las cimas de tus montañas cubiertas de nieve, usa blanco.
  4. Sigue pegando los materiales naturales a tu gusto.
  5. Recorta los animales de tu preferencia y sitúalos en tu maqueta. ¡Listo! Aprende mientras te diviertes.

¿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: Gobble Gobble Pinecone Craft

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

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Gobble Gobble Pinecone Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Gobble Gobble. Then take a walk in your neighborhood. Use your naturalist skills to keep an eye out for animal  tracks! You might even find a pinecone on the ground. If you pick it up and bring it home, turn it into this awesome turkey craft.

Supplies:

  • A pinecone
  • Glue (hot glue or craft glue)
  • Feathers or craft paper
  • Googly eyes or craft paper
  • Felt or craft paper
  • No pinecone? No problem! Cut the whole turkey out of paper!

Instructions:

  1. If you picked a pinecone from outside, be sure to have an adult help you file down or cut off the sharp bits. Tip: If you bake the pinecone at 150 to 200 degrees for 90 min you will bake off any bugs, mold, or mildew that could make your pinecone yucky!
  2. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  3. If you don’t have feathers on hand, make your own! You can cut them out of colored paper or even paint white paper bright colors and then cut them out! You can also make eyes and a beak out of paper if you want!
  4. Glue your turkey eyes and beak to the flattest end of the pinecone to make the turkey head.
  5. Glue the feathers or paper feathers into the other end of the pinecone to make the turkey tail.
  6. Print out the animal tracks activity sheets to keep the discovery going – here and here!

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: simplybeingmommy.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: Walking Rainbows

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Ages 6-8, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Physical Science, Visual Arts

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Walking Rainbows

Put your lab coat on; we’re getting scientific! With this experiment, discover how colors interact to form rainbows and observe the natural process of capillary motion in action!

Supplies:

  • Time
  • 6 full sheets of paper towels
  • 6 mason jars (clear if possible). If you don’t have jars use cups or bowls
  • Red, blue, and yellow food coloring

Instructions:

Before you get started, review the color wheel on page two and remember the colors you need to form a rainbow. Feel free to experiment to see how mixing certain colors will create different colors. Together, determine how you will create a rainbow using only red, blue and yellow.

  1. Fill three jars full of water. Add red food coloring to one, blue
    to another and yellow to another, 4-6 drops each.
  2. To form a circle place the empty jars between the red, yellow
    and blue jars.
  3. Roll each sheet of paper towel into tubes. Drape one side into
    a full jar and the other into an empty jar until each jar is
    connected with paper towels.
  4. Start your timer to see how long it takes for the colored water
    to move from one jar to the next. Water will begin absorbing
    right away, but the whole process will take around 48 hours,
    so check back every few hours to see how it has changed.

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: Messy Little Monster

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Daily Discovery: Over on the Farm Finger Puppets

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: Over on the Farm Finger Puppets

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Over on the Farm. Then grab your craft supplies and create some adorable farm finger puppets! Keep practicing your counting at home with the lovely flashcards featuring illustrations from the book.

Supplies:

  • Printed finger puppet activity sheet
  • Scissors
  • Crayons or markers
  • Glue (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Color the finger puppet activity sheet.
  2. Cut out the finger puppets.
  3. Cut a small slot to connect the paper ring that goes around your finger or use glue to close the ring.
  4. Have a farm animal finger puppet show! Tip: Try doing a video chat puppet show for your friends and family while you practice social distancing!
  5. Print out the additional coloring page and the farm animal flash cards to keep the discovery going!

Tip: Don’t have a printer? Try drawing and cutting out your own finger puppets from paper! Here is a tutorial!

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: Arty Crafty Kids

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: Black-Footed Ferret Masks!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Ages 6-8, Animal Encounters, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Black-Footed Ferret Masks!

Stay connected to BFFs Stevie Nicks and Patty Ann while at home! Head over to our ferret cams to see what they’re up to throughout the day, and night. During your virtual visit, get creative and create your own ferret mask!

Supplies:

  • BFF mask template
  • Crayons, markers or colored pencils
  • Scissors
  • String or yarn

Instructions:

  1. Print out the BFF mask template or design your own template.
  2. Color and decorate your mask.
  3. Cut out two side holes to attach your sting, and don’t forget to cut out the eyes!

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: Make Your Own Harmonica!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Ages 6-8, Ages 9-12, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Music

Post written by Eisen Tamkun, Music Education Lead.

Daily Discovery: Make Your Own Harmonica!

Is it a Harmonica or a Kazoo? Who knows but it sure is fun to play!

Supplies:

  • Tongue depressors/ jumbo craft sticks
  • Tape – duct or scotch tape
  • Wide rubber band
  • Scissors
  • Stiff paper – cardstock or flashcard

Instructions:

  1. Once you have all the supplies, cut two strips of paper half an
    inch thick and two inches long.
  2. Place both craft sticks together and wrap both strips of paper
    around them. Tape the paper strips closed around the sticks
    creating sleeves (do not tape them to the sticks). Slide both
    sleeves off the craft sticks.
  3. Next, place the rubber band lengthwise on one of the craft
    sticks.
  4. Replace the sticks together and slide the sleeves back one.
  5. Finally, duct tape each end of the harmonica.
  6. Congratulations you have your own harmonica!

Place your lips on the harmonica and blow until the rubber band starts to vibrate creating noise. Try moving the sleeves closer or farther apart. How does this change the sound?

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: TUK Crafts

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Bohemian.

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Daily Discovery: Tall Tall Tree Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Ages 6-8, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science, Visual Arts

Post written by Lea Mikkelsen, Early Childhood Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Tall Tall Tree Craft

Did you ever wish you could live in a tree? Many different animals live in and around trees. Can you look out your window and spot them? How many can you name?

Some of the most amazing trees are called Redwoods. They can grow to incredible heights; one is taller than the Statue of Liberty! Here is a wonderful video of a redwood forest so you can see these trees from home.

Here is a fun craft to make your very own tall tree at home!

Supplies:

  • A stick with skinny “branches”
  • A paper plat (or piece of cardboard)
  • Clay
  • Glue
  • Decorations: beads, yarn, pom poms, glitter glue, paint, leaves, or whatever you find in your home!

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Mold the clay around the base of your stick to hold your “tree” upright on the plate.
  3. Decorate with all your craft materials. Be creative!
  4. Share your creation with us on social media using #dailydiscovery

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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