More Whales

After yesterday's fun whale-puppet-making, Will was hooked on crafting whales. (He's so into art projects and crafts lately! Which is fun . . . when I have the energy for them ;)) We happened to buy some Do a Dot Art Markers while we were at Lakeshore Learning Store, and so immediately once we got home, Will went to work designing some more whales with his new markers.

Now, let me give you a little background before I get into our next whale project. My husband is half Japanese and, so, my son is a quarter Japanese. That being said, maybe it's in their blood, but the two of them love origami. I think my husband only really likes it because it gives him something to do to entertain Will during church . . . Anyway, because my husband has become an origami master and frequently makes different origami creations upon request, William has begun to ask me to "make" him different shapes and animals. Until this project, I had yet to give in and do so (aside from paper airplanes, which, if I must say so myself, I've gotten pretty good at!). So, anyway, since Peter wasn't home when Will requested that I make him a whale, I gave in.

Introduce: Origami-Instructions.com. Super easy to follow, even for an origami novice like myself. So, I found instructions to make a whale and got to work. I think it turned out pretty cute :)

So, don't be afraid! Check out origami-instructions.com and surprise your kids with your own origami masterpiece!

Puppets for Will

Today was a puppet day. And it was just perfect. We started out by going to the Lakeshore Learning Store for their free craft activity. Have you ever been to a Lakeshore Learning Store? We love them. They're kind of dangerous though . . . we rarely leave without purchasing something that we don't really need. We just justify our purchases by saying that they're completely educational . . . Anyway, all summer long they offer free crafts on Saturdays, so we decided to head over today for their Big Mouth Whale Puppet. Will has a recent love for any and all puppets, so I knew that he would get a kick out of making a whale puppet.

The puppets could easily be recreated for an easy craft at home. The whale body was cut out of a paper plate, with two small fins and a mouth also cut out of the plate. He painted them and we glued the pieces onto the body, along with a bent pipe cleaner for the water shooting out, a pair of googly eyes, and a popsicle stick. Super easy and quick--just the kinds of crafts I prefer to do with my kids!

After we left Lakeshore, we headed straight over to our local library where they were putting on a puppet show from the book Green Eggs and Ham adapted to be between a pig and an elephant. It was so cute! I was seriously impressed. Mostly because that book gets pretty repetitive and tricky just reading it, so watching it done as a small puppet show was really impressive and so cute. Afterwards, the kids got to decorate their own green colored sugar cookies.

Overall, a fun day. Especially considering it was 97 degrees outside and the fact that I wasn't too amped about doing any outdoorsy activities. Make sure to check out the crafts at Lakeshore Learning Store this summer, as well as any fun activities your local library may be putting on!

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