Noah's Tribal Masks!

Noah has come to love making tribal masks. He learned about them in art class.  He was coloring pictures of them and decided he wanted to make his own tribal masks out of paper.  He has done a great job.  He glues them to paper because they are smaller than normal masks you wear. I decided I am going to frame them and hang them on the wall.  He is really cute when he makes them because he makes idea banks and picks out different eyes and noses and mouths he likes before he chooses which one he wants to use. He’s so great it! He has also started making real masks that he can wear. I need to remember to buy some string for him to put them on.  He carefully cuts out the shapes. He is able to cut out eyes without cutting in the paper on the sides. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me. He is such a great artist.  We wanted to share a couple masks Noah made. I helped with the cutting because some of the pieces were really small. They were all drawn out for this left handed mama, who can’t cut very well. I am so proud of all he has learned in art this year. He loves to draw and create things out of clay. He also loves to paint. He has moved on from using crayons which is definitely bittersweet for me. He loves colored pencils though. I have a hard time keeping them all together no matter how hard I try.  He received Citizen of the Month for April and it was so cool they gave him colored pencils as one of his prizes.  I hope you enjoy the masks as much as I do. He worked really hard on them.

Noah's Tribal Giraffe Mask

The Importance of using Cartons

I have been teaching Noah about the environment. I think that it is important for him to know about how we have to protect our planet.  He has learned this at a young age. When he was five, he saw the palm trees being trimmed. He was very concerned. He decided to march around yelling “Save our Trees, Save our Trees.” He wasn’t accustomed to the fact that palm trees have to be trimmed for not only esthetic reasons, but for safety reasons.  I explained that they aren’t cutting them down; they are just helping them be safe.  I think when I read The Lorax to him; he really listened, even if he thought they were monkeys.  Recently, we were talking about rules, and he said, “You don’t have rules.” I explained that I do, I can’t litter. He told me I didn’t need a rule for that.  He knew that’s common sense.  I think I am doing a great job teaching him about saving the earth. We went to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve for Earth Day, and I know that the older adults were impressed to see a six year old know the answers to all their questions and could identify what trash items could confuse animals.  Noah is such a fantastic child.  We are an eco-aware family.

Noah loves to drink milk and juice. I have decided to switch from milk jugs to milk cartons, because not only does it keep the milk fresher, it also is better for the environment.  Milk jugs use a lot of plastic, and since cartons are cardboard they are easier to recycle.  Cartons are recyclable for more than 49 million U.S. households. Recycled cartons are used to make other paper products, including tissue, office paper and building materials. I prefer juices that come from cartons vs. concentrate.   I think there are better flavor options. When I use chicken broth I always buy the cartons because it’s more convenient and you don’t need a can opener.  You can also make really cute crafts out of milk cartons. I remember when I was in Brownies making a bird feeder out of a milk carton.  I would love to make all kinds of crafts out of milk cartons. I think that Noah would reuse anything he could.  Noah loves to plant things too.  We could use milk or juice cartons as planters.  I am sure that my adorable son would find a way to make something Star Wars out of a carton or maybe that he calls a Minecraft Craft.  Making this change will be awesome for the planet and an excuse to get out the craft supplies, not that we need one.

Do you drink milk and juice from cartons?

Kids Shell Collection Craft

Most kids love shells. I know Noah thinks they are the coolest thing ever. He loves going on mud walks with my mom and finding shells anywhere he can.  We have a million of them.  My mom has been collecting them for years and years.  We went to the Saint Petersburg Shell Show today, it was a lot of fun and they had an absolutely brilliant craft idea that I had to share with you guys.   Most kids don’t really know the difference between the different shells. There are hundreds maybe thousands of different types of shells.  Instead of gluing shell bits on paper, or whatever easy craft they could have provided for kids, they decided to do something different.  They obviously put a lot of time and work in to the craft provided. They also offered a couple coloring sheets for those who weren’t interested in the main craft, but Noah was thrilled. He was so excited, it was so cool to see how shell smart he is.

This craft would be perfect for kids that just got home from the beach with a bunch of shells.

Kid’s Shell Collection

Supplies:

Shells you found at the beach- Different types

A clean egg carton

6 cotton balls

Two pieces of construction paper

School Glue

Thin Labels

Shell identifying book or the internet

Directions:

Cut out two shapes that will fit the outside and inside lid of the egg carton, make sure you cut a hole for the ridge of the inside of the egg carton lid. On the piece of paper with the hole draw 12 boxes.

Glue the pieces of construction paper to the top of the lid and the inside of the lid.

Take the 6 cotton balls and rip them in half so you have 12 cotton ball pieces

Put a small dab of glue in each egg spot and press in a cotton ball

Choose your shells and identify them

Write the name of the shell on the label and put it in the corresponding hole.  Place the label on the inside lid of the egg carton and Voila you have your very own shell collection.

How cool is that? Noah loved it.  I am sure if you have a shell you can’t identify you can email me and Noah and I can figure it out for you.

A special thanks to the St. Pete Shell Club for sharing this craft idea with us, and of course making my son’s week for loving shells as much as he does.