Mmm … pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite treats this time of year.  Why not make a yummy-smelling version out of paper?

 

All you need is some orange paper, a paper plate, some pumpkin pie spice, and a cotton ball or bit of fiberfill stuffing.

1. Glue an orange circle to the paper plate.  The plate is your pie crust, and the orange circle is the pumpkin filling.
2. Spread a thin layer of glue on top of the orange circle.  Sprinkle a bit of the pumpkin pie spice on top of that.  (It smells delicious!)
3. What’s pumpkin pie without whipped cream?  Glue a bit of cotton to the center of your newly created pie.

Depending on how much spice you use, the pie will continue to smell lovely for quite a while.  Enjoy!

 

Crafts Around the World

To wrap up the end of our summer reading program, we  explored crafts and games from around the world.  Each Thursday afternoon in August, a new continent visited our craft room for an hour–and here are some of the results.  (Whenever you see a link, click on it to see instructions for making that craft.)

The first week, we looked at South America.  We made big tissue paper flowers, and then we got wrapped up with Ojo de Dios:

Ojo de Dios ("God's Eye") is a craft that comes from Central and South America.

The next week, we stopped in Asia for a chopsticks challenge (how quickly can you pick up popcorn with chopsticks?), Samurai origami, and kimono dolls.

Two small popsicle sticks, glued side-by-side onto decorative paper. Use large rectangles for the dress, small rectangles for the sleeves, and a skinny rectangle for the sash. Circles for the head and hair ... and voila! Color the bottoms of the popsicle sticks to make shoes. Glue everything together then let it dry.

The third week, we went to Africa to play mancala, make cave paintings, then draw a safari.

Sandpaper is a great way to design cave paintings. Use regular crayons and draw something that's important for your life!

Today, for the last day of our tour around the world, we explored Australia.  We talked about the animals you might find in Australia.  We marveled that it’s winter in Australia when it’s summer in America.  Then, we got down to serious crafting.  First we made didgeridoos.  (Listen to one here!)

We painted paper towel tubes brown to look like wood. Then we used dots, wavy lines, and nature shapes to look like Australian Aboriginal art.

Although Australia is best known for its fabulous marsupials like kangaroos and koalas, there are plenty of farm animals, too.  We made adorable sheep to represent Australia’s agriculture.

Pompom sheep! The legs are made from tiny pieces of pipe cleaners. My poor sheep looks very sad.

Now, our summertime travels are over.  It’s almost time to start school–but I hope that you had a wonderful time exploring the world at the library!

Explore the world … and find your way home again!

Today, we learned a lot about explorers.  We learned that it’s important to bring plenty of food with you, that you should carefully chose your mode of transportation (after all, a ship won’t help you across land), and that your clothing should reflect the climate that you’re exploring.  We also learned that it’s really easy to make a compass.

Here’s what you do:

1. Get a cork.
2. Get a nail or a t-pin.  Nails are easy to find at hardware stores–you want one that’s about 2 inches long.  We used panel nails made from iron.  (How can you tell?  Look for warnings about rust.)  T-pins are also easy to find if you go to a craft or fabric store.  Look by the sewing needles.
3. Get a magnet that has both poles marked on it.  You might find one that looks like a bar, a wand, or a U.  Any of those should be just fine.
4. Drag the head of the nail or pin in one direction along one of the magnet’s poles.  That would be one end of a bar magnet, one side of a wand, or one foot of a U.  Drag the nail or pin many many times.  It’s more fun to go quickly.
5. Push the sharp end of the nail or pin into the end of the cork.
6. Fill a shallow bowl with water.
7. Float the cork on top, then let it sit.  Don’t touch!  The nail or pin will spin the cork around so that it naturally points to the north.  It might take 5 or 10  seconds before it stops swinging back and forth.

Ta da!  You’ve made a compass.  The nail or pin will point to the north, and you can find east, south, and west from there.  Every once in a while, you’ll need to re-magnetize your compass.  Just drag it along the magnet again.

What a crafty week at the library!

We’ve had a ton of fun crafts at the library this week.  It all started on Saturday, when we had a wonderful Wizard of Oz party …

We made funnel hats, just like the Tinman has.

Cone-shaped hats are easy to make!  Cut a circle out of paper, then cut away 1/4 of the circle.  It should look like Pacman–you can see actual instructions here.  Decorate, roll into a cone, and tape the ends together.

We also made magic wands, just like Glinda has!

These are also easy to make, but they’re easily adapted for more complicated crafts.  I bought colorful popsicle sticks, glitter foam stars with sticky backs, and skinny ribbon.  Cut a few pieces of ribbon, stick them to the gluey part of the foam star, then press the star onto one end of the popsicle stick.  If you want to get really snazzy, sandwich the popsicle stick and ribbons between two stars.  Want to make something more complicated?  Try braiding the ribbons or wrapping them around the popsicle stick in different designs.

During Preschool Story Time, we made fabulous sail boats.

This is another super-simple craft.  We took small paper plates and cut them in half.  Then we cut one side into half again, just like a pizza.  Recycle one of the pizza slices and keep the other.  Glue a popsicle stick to the half plate (also known as your new boat), and then glue it to the pizza slice (which has now become your sail).  Ta da!  That’s a beautiful boat!