So, what happened with our field trip this week is that I had injured my leg running and was busy going back and forth to the chiropractor/acupuncturist/sports therapy people and deciding whether or not to sell my half-marathon registration, and practicing running a little. The field tip planning was neglected, woefully so. On top of that, it was Cinco de Mayo. I thought that would save me, so I got up early and searched and searched for a kid-friendly fun Cinco de Mayo activity, but to no avail. THAT really disappointed me. The few things I *did* find weren't until Saturday, when I will be in the race I've been scurrying to pull it together for.
Finally, I decided to do what's usually very last on my list. Crafts.To be honest, most of the time crafts don't even make it to my list. Toddler crafts are usually way too challenging for me. (please replace what ever word you think is more realistic than "challenging" in that sentence.) We decided on making sombreros and maracas. I found online a couple of sombrero crafts requiring plastic pots to make the crown of the hat, with paper brims. Perfect.
We located a couple of pots in the garage, grabbed a drop cloth and a can of spray paint and headed outside.
The natives do a happy dance.
The can of spray paint was clogged, so we moved to plan B. William puts away the drop cloth.
We cover the table with paper, I pour out some paint, and they paint the pots by hand. They think this is fun, and Aldous painted the stapler, too.
Sitting outside in the sun to dry.
While they're drying we make maracas out of toilet paper tubes and dry pinto beans, then paint them.
We set those outside, then brought the painted pots back in and begin working on the brims. This whole craft was a lot of work for me, not so much for them. They got a little antsy waiting for the next step. Had I planned this ahead of time, these would have been ready to got when they sat down! Better luck next time!
William's hat constructed and ready to paint. This part took forever. To keep the painting festive, I played the Frida soundtrack, thus ensuring a maddening number of requests for El Conejo and La Bruja from William.
Aldous got paint everywhere, in his hair....
On my arm....
Here are the painted hats. They actually look a bit sad here. Outside to dry!
Here are the maracas, all dry!!
While everything's drying, we decided to clean up and have lunch.
The boys color a few themed sheets while I make their sandwiches.
Of course, 2 minutes in they get into a fight.
Finally lunch! William shared his with Woody!
MMMM ,mmm! Yes, that's store bought bread.
This is sort of Little Bo Peep-ish.
Very nice with the fringe, tho, I think. for a paper and flower pot sombrero.
Another silly pic. This is actually William's sombrero, but wearing it kept Aldous from complaining.
The fringe took forever. It turns out that my cheapy office stapler isn't as awesome as my school teacher swingline.
eek!
I stapled on ties, to make it easier to keep the ginormous hat on.
Heading out side for some dancing and maraca shaking!
they're really getting down now! I was singing La Cucaracha. I know virtually no songs in Spanish by heart, save Y Andale, but I wasn't sure that was appropriate. At least La Cucaracha is funny.
giving it one last good shake!
And, now, because I mentioned this song, I can't get it out of my head, so I'm going to share it with you, so you too can sing it to yourself all day. ha ha
Enjoy!
And, happy Cinco de Mayo, belatedly. Pass me a Tecate, please.
3 comments:
Toddler crafts make me want to drink COPIOUS amounts of alcohol.
Seriously, I had dinner on the table when Doug walked in. We scarfed it down, and I went upstairs to lie down while they went to the park. It was like one of those early teaching days when I showed up w/ no lesson plan. You would think I would know better. NEVER AGAIN!! I vow to always be ready!
El Niño Y Tu Pilin
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