The Creative Campus The Place For Learning Activities for all ages!

Everyone loves fireworks (even those of us who don't like the noise). I have some noise less ways for you and your friends to enjoy them together.  Make your own "fireworks" show. Fill a shallow container with shaving cream assist kids in dripping water colors into the shaving cream. Use Combs or sticks to draw in the shaving cream (slightly mixing the colors). Gently lay  a paper on the top and peel back. wipe off the excess. Another activity I  like to do is to give each child a coffee filter and glue it to a colored square sheet of paper (as a background). Then you can be creative use tissue paper and glue to the filter. Or you can paint the filter. These are also very pretty. Last but defiantly not least fun. fill water balloons with paint. Let the kids either throw them at a wall that is covered in paper Or if you have a deck or porch, lay the paper on the ground and let the kids throw the balloons at the paper. (don't use a lot of water mostly paint). Jus...

Hello Again! I have a wonderful Science oriented color mixing activity for you.  line a container with tin foil, cover with shaving cream, drip food coloring or I Used Liquid water color (worked great) into shaving cream. You can use holiday oriented colors depending on when you use this activity. Provide the child with a stick or brush. ( I use popsicle sticks). Either let the kids make their own designs    OR encourage then to write their names  in the shaving cream which will spread and mix the colors. I encouraged my friends to make shapes as well. gently press white paper on top after your art is done, peel paper back. (if it sits too long the paper gets wet so be quick). Scrape off excess and Enjoy Your Art! I hope you have as much fun with this as we did! I would love to hear your comments! http://thecreativecampus.weebly.com/

Language development is a skill that can be encouraged through all forms of play. today I want to give you a few activities that will enforce Language using Sensory play and experiences. I like to play games that turn learning into fun. some of my favorites are Chica Chica Boom Boom which is a game taken from the book. It can be played as a group or one on one. This game enforces eye hand coordination and letter recognition. (for more details on this game search my blog for Chica Chica Boom Boom). This is another wonderful game that can be played with kids who are learning to use and expand language. I like to offer a sensory station that has Shaving Cream or Sand Or Noodles and in this station I try to find small interesting objects that the children will be interested in investigating. I gather the children by saying " I spy With My Little Eye...  Something blue, Something that starts with the Letter "T" so on and so forth. this gets there attention and interest. th...

Welcome Back!  I have something for you that I think your really going to enjoy! I know I am very excited to use it in class with my friends!  I call it "Scrap Art". As you see it IS exactly what it sounds like! What I love about this is that the possibilities are ENDLESS. you can create anything with it that your mind can think up. The best thing is, it can be stretched or simplified for ANY age! you can make larger more abstract objects with older children using smaller objects. for younger children (as we did above) you can provide pre cut "Parts" to the art and allow then to decorate with the provided art supplies. I love to use confetti, Tissue Paper, Dry Pasta, Straws. I could go on and on! In this version, we allowed the older children to create whatever they wanted. We provided them with contact paper, Wiggle Eyes and Recycled Art Work. Then the children cut them into whatever shapes they wanted. This is a fantastic art activity that works on all s...

Topic: Art and Creative Teaching Methods   Advice One ( Using art to teach skills )   I believe that there is a place in the Early Child world for both Process and Product art I believe that when children are able to express themselves and use different skills they learn better I use art to teach everything from Letters, Numbers, Colors, shapes even science. A great example of this, is “Splat Painting”. This is a fun activity that allows the children to use their Small Motor skills while creating fun art. You can combing process and product using this method OR you can simply let the children enjoy the Process simply provide the children with a piece of paper and make piles of paint. Cover with wax paper (I even put the paint in between two pieces of Contact Paper) and let the children Pound or roll on top of the paint. Smearing and mixing till they are happy. —   Creating products i...

Hello Everyone!    Valentines Day is right around the corner. I hope your having a lot of fun getting ready for the special day. I wanted to share with you a fun theme I have been working on with my little friends!  I recently held a class on the theme of Aliens and Robots.   This is a fun activity for both boys and girls. All children can use their creativity and create their own creatures. I love these themes because you can incorporate Colors, Shapes and Number learning into the activities. These themes are also great for practicing Eye/ Hand Coordination and Small Motor Skills.   You can also create aliens using the same materials. you can introduce Paint, Glitter, Different Stickers you can make it as simple or detailed as your friends are interested in. If you are interested in learning more about the activities that I have used for this theme I would love for you to join me at my up coming event : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-a_cb6...

Hello Again Everyone! I have something for you that you might find helpful. Manipulatives are a great toy for introducing Math and Reading Skills. These toys encourage children to recognize Color, Size and Patterns. Manipulatives encourage children to engage in creative play without limits. When they do this, they naturally start to recognize that some look similar and then begin to group them. What are some of your favorite Manipulatives to use? I have used many over the years. Play dough is a fun one to use, which offers many different opportunities for Learning, Play and Development. I like to have the children make a simple play dough, which teaches them to follow directions and engages math skills. Then I offer the children an opportunity to play with their play dough which engages motor skills and eye hand coordination. Often I will give the children learning activities to do with the play dough such as Letter Copying, Shape Copying,  and even Number and Counting Pract...

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a Wonderful Thanksgiving! I wanted to share some fun ideas with you that you can use to teach your young ones . Paper Plate turkeys. This was so easy and only used products that everyone has at home in one form or another. I cut the middle out of a paper plate creating a ring. I gave my friends different colors of tissue paper (you can use any paper you have wrapping paper, Tissue paper or even construction). then they covered the outer edge as desired and glued a brown circle to the back for the eyes and beak. These are super cute and I cant wait to do them again! Hope You Enjoy!

Hi Everyone!  I am so sorry I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted for you! I want to write a little about some fun stuff we did during October. We made Ghosts, Witches , Spiders and all kids of Sensory Fun.     This is one of my favorite ways to use art. Tissue paper is a wonderful learning experience for young friends. They love the sticky, soft sensory experience of the paper and the glue together. I thought these friendly witches turned out super cute . We also made Spiders and Webs. This was a great way for our friends to use their small motor skills. We started out spreading black string and pipe cleaners. We overlapped them to make spider web lines. Then We used Black paint and made hand print spiders with google eyes.   Once cut out these are adorable Halloween Décor and wonderful keepsakes. We Ended all this wonderful fun with Jello Sensory.   We added bugs and eye balls before the jello was solid for extra...

Hi Everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful summer. I wanted to share something with you and get your thoughts in return. I know a lot of parents are interested in the concept of Homeschooling and creating an active interest in learning while at home. I wanted to share with you some thoughts on the topic. I believe that Play not only is how children learn best and most naturally, Play also promotes and creates creativity. When children are allowed and encouraged to be creative you build a passion for learning. A passion for learning is the key to getting children engaged in learning which leads to them being able to take in all the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed as they grow through life into adult hood. Childhood is a time for learning and experiencing the environment around them. Play allows children to build confidence in their skills and knowledge at their own pace. That is why when I introduce a new topic or activity, I always test the idea first. By this ...

Hello Everyone! I hope you are as excited about the 4th Of July as I am! the fireworks are always fun to see and there are lots of fun things going on this time of year. I wanted to share with you real fast, something I came up with as an extension of our theme this week. We used two different sized coffee filters, gluing them on top of one another. Then we used thinned out paint and decorated our fireworks. I would suggest letting the children color with crayons first to create background color. the children really had a lot of fun with this and I can't wait to use it again. The Children enjoyed making their own fireworks so much, that I decided to turn it into a sensory experience.  I put shaving cream into the science table, and gave each child a different color paint. I told them to smear the paint and shaving cream using hair combs. This created our own fireworks display.   I hope you enjoy this activity at home, and have a Wonderful...

Hello Everyone! I hope you are as excited for summer as I am! a few weeks ago I started a Multi Step art Project with my friends. I wanted to share with you the details about the pictures that I have been posting on FB as well! I first gave the children a Blank Piece of Large Paper and encouraged them the paint it all blue. Then we tried to add "Sand" you can use actual sand or Yellow Salt but ask you see here, the Salt Didn't Stick Well. Then I encouraged the Children to tear tissue paper and create Seaweed.                                   Finally, For our last step I had my friends use their hand prints to create fish and finish their project! They had as much fun with this as I did watching them. You can make this as details or Simple as you or your friends wish.  I hope you enjoy!!

This week we made Robots!!  this is by far one of my favorite themes to teach. You can do so much with these and stretch the fun to include sooo many ages. you can count parts you can sort parts by shape . The fun with this is endless. With my friends however, I kept the fun to art and Sensory/ Science. Here is a little peek at what we did. One of my friends decided to use different items to start building a Robot. Combining Paint, Paper Shapes and Straws. This Friend decided to make a puppet. This one has lots of eyes and some cool antenna and Arms. This Robot is very complicated and has lots of buttons! We also decided to build some robots away from the art table. This is what we came up with!  We had a lot of fun with this subject, and I hope you have just as much fun making your own creations!

Its May Friends! This means summer is almost here! I love this time of year, because there are so many things going on around us that the opportunities to learn are endless. Flowers are growing, Trees are budding, Gardens are being planted and Animals and Bugs are Coming out to Play! These are all things that children are fascinated by and want to learn more about. I recently did some fun activities that used a lot of these experiences (even if they were pretend versions). I recently made some "Grass" for my friends to play in. In our grass we had "Bugs" which my friends squished and dug for in our grass. We had lots of things to find in our grass: Spiders, Ants, Snails and so many more! can you see  all the different things? This kept my friends busy for a very long time which was exciting to watch. After they were with this we wanted to turn some of the things we saw in the grass, into art.   so some of my friends made "Flowers" w...

Hello Everyone! Today I want to share some fun dinosaur activities with you. I recently did this theme with a group of boys and they loved it! One of the activities that we did was Dino Skeletons! this was very simple and they were really into it. I gave them Popsicle sticks and bendy straws, and I let them glue them on a piece of paper. they then added eyes and to finish it all off they painted over it to give the Dino's skin! they came out really neat looking! this was totally their own creation from start to finish which made it fun to watch! Then I gave me Dino's in goop! I couldn't believe what a big hit this nasty concoction was!  shaving cream and liquid glue. Let it sit before playing and it becomes slime that wont stick to your fingers!! (I had more fun with it after the kids left hehe). they loved stomping in it and making tracks. Lastly we made volcano's. I think this one looks really cool even though it was very simply done.  I let the children fre...

Welcome Back Friends, I wanted to share another idea with you that I think is a lot of fun. this is something that can be used Indoors, Outdoors and even while you are out doing other tasks. "Scavenger Hunts". This is a great activity for Home and School! This is an activity that practices many skills such as Critical Thinking, Vocabulary Building, Attention Span and many other things. If your in the store and you want to keep your child engaged while you are accomplishing other tasks! you can give them a pictured list (depending on their age) and you can tell them OK we need to find the things on this list before I finish my shopping or whatever task it is you have your child along for. this gives your child a sence of importance and independence that they have a "Job" to do. https://www.facebook.com/thecreativecampuspreschool  like us and leave a comment saying you read my blog, and I will send you my newsletters and many other free goodies. you will also have a...

Hello Everyone! It has been a crazy day around here! Snow, then sleet, Then Ice and now Thunder Storms as a Sit here Writing this! I am not going to be with my little friends today, but I wanted to share a fun idea with you anyway. This one is a "clean" art idea that is totally process. I want you to give your children contact paper if you have it. If not regular paper will work but it will just be normal art. give them squares of colored tissue paper and tell them they are going to make a flower, that if its on tissue paper will double as a sun catcher! they will probably need a little help with the first few pieces, I suggest you show them how to play the pieces flat so they stick. Then just let the kids have a good time sticking pieces on their contact paper till their done. now you can either give them a piece of green construction paper for a stem or you can let them make their own with the tissue as well! up to you. I really like this one and I am going to do this wit...

Hi Everyone! We are suffering from yet another snow storm! I will be so happy when spring finally gets here. I love the snow don't get me wrong, its a wonderful opportunity to play for our little friends.  That being said, today I want to share with you  Robots. This is a fun topic for both boys and girls. This can also be shared with a wide range of ages, because you can break it down for your youngest friends and you can make it more detailed and difficult for your older ones. Sponges, boxes, Paper, Glue, Pipe Cleaners! Paint OH MY! put the supplies out and let your children/ students get creative. I would love to see what creations you and your children come up with! This activity will engage your child's creativity, Small Motor Skills as they paint or glue pieces to their creation. Recognition of their colors and shapes will also be exercised as they choose the materials and pieces that they want . Instead of posting my own pictures of the activity like usually do, ...

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I love this time of year. The Shopping/Gift Giving, The Cooking and The Crafting! This is a wonderful time of year to work with your little ones to create art that makes wonderful Gifts and Keep Sakes. I as an adult make my own Christmas Cards every year, and Its a wonderful time for letting our little friends join in. I still have many of the wonderful holiday decorations that I made as a child! I am going to share with you two special activities my friends have recently done. The first is Circle Christmas Trees. the kids had soo much fun stamping these. You can use TP rolls or plastic cups of different sizes (super cute with different sizes).  Then I gave the children shapes but you can use any art supplies you have around the house or classroom. These are what the children used to "decorate" their tree. I think they are adorable and I hope you do as well. Since It snowed over the weekend, my friends w...

Happy Friday! Today I had such a wonderful time with my friends. In the spirit of Mother's Day all our activities were things we had mom do With us. We made mother's day flowers which turned out very cute. We went for minimal mess ( at least with our art work  )  today and the children had a blast. I believe in letting our friends use their own creative judgment , even if they are only 2. Some of our friends didn't want to add leaves ( their hand prints) to their flowers. I still think they turned out very cute. we just used old art work that was cut into squares. Tissue paper works great as well.   some of our friends chose to   press their paper out flat to make a different look. I think they all came out very cute.   Meanwhile over in our sensory area my friends were tired of playing with blocks and asked for bugs. so I decided to be a little gutsy and gave them all paint smocks that are water proof and let th...