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Craft Spotlight: Straws and Connectors

Looking for a last-minute kids’ Christmas gift? Stimulate your children’s cognitive abilities with this perfect building kit. In this post, we’ll show you some ideas to make from Straws and Connectors!

The Straws and Connectors come in 4 intriguing packages:

• R60901 Straws and Connectors™ Creative Building Set (390 Straws, 315 Connectors)

• R60990 Straws and Connectors™ Structure Pack (100 Straws, 84 Connectors, 1 Big Blue Veil)

• R6085 Straws and Connectors® (230/pkg)

• R6090 Straws and Connectors® (705/pkg)

You can even order replacement straws (R6084 Replacement Straws) to replenish your classroom supply!

Straws and Connectors come in a brilliant array of colors, so you can use them for sorting projects! Ask children to sort by color and by type–such as separating Straws from Connectors.

You can even introduce angles with the Straws and Connectors! Even though it seems like a tough subject to teach, using actual concrete objects helps to reinforce certain concepts in children’s minds, especially if they can manipulate the object into different possibilities. Attach one of the Straws to a Connector and describe the Connector as the vertex of an angle. Attach another Straw to the opposite side of the Connector to make a 180 degree angle.

Next, align two Straws with the Connector at a 90 degree angle. Once you have made a 90 degree angle, demonstrate how to make a 45 degree angle by placing another Straw directly in the middle of the L.

These concepts will help children grasp how to make simple shapes with combinations of Straws and Connectors. Make squares, rectangles and triangles! You can even make circular objects!

Here, our Art Campers worked together to make their very own sculpture with bends and curves!

In another group, the Art Campers constructed a rectangular structure from the Straws and Connectors. They used dried painted Color Diffusing Paper that they had made previously with pipettes and watercolor paint to decorate the interior and exterior of the sculpture.

They consulted with each other how they would cover their sculpture with the Color Diffusing art and worked out a system of ‘waving’ the art through the Straws.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow04SYfL5_E]

Watch the video above to see just why YOU need a box of these versatile construction materials!

Thanks for sticking around! We love to hear your feedback. If you’ve ever used Straws and Connectors and have photos of your structures, send us your pictures to get published in an upcoming post. Send to subscriber@roylco.ca!

Posted on December 10, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Two Big Two Little Uses our First Look Light Table Kit!

Our R59260 First Look Light Table Kit gives you all the materials you need to explore light and color changing properties and add a new dimension to learning in virtually all educational subjects! Two Big Two Little posted up their experiences using our kit on their very own homemade light table!

This post was made on May 15, 2012 and is entitled, “DIY Light Table.” Click on the title to visit the Two Big Two Little blog!

In the post, Tricia shows you how to make your very own homemade light table and presents some interesting points on why a light table is the IT item in your learning classroom.

For starters, kids love color. When you overlap colorful translucent materials on a lighted surface, the colors ‘mix’ to create a new color, just as they would when mixing paint colors together… except you don’t have any major clean up afterwards!

Check out some of the materials that Tricia’s children used on their homemade light table. Everything from beads (R2183 Fancy Stringing Rings) and See Through Buttons (featured in our First Look Light Table Kit).

Images and original post © Two Big Two Little.

This post was not sponsored for a review. At LittleFingersBigArt, our mission is to present to our readers and viewers the newest and most creative craft ideas that fans of Roylco have made on their own. Our goal is to allow you and other educators and parents to reuse our products in fun ways so that children always get the best educational experience from them!

We’d love to see more ideas like this one! If you’ve got a brilliant craft idea or have made a version of one of our crafts that you would like to share with us, send an email to subscriber@roylco.ca with photos, descriptions or a link to your work. We will create a feature post and link back to you with full credit. We’d love to hear from you!

Posted on December 6, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Christmas Tree Flourish Ornaments

Add a fancy touch to your Christmas tree or include it in your holiday classroom decorations. The glitter can be a bit messy to work with, but in this craft, your students won’t have to get their hands in it! Super simple and stunning–that’s what we like!

Age: 5+

Duration: 15-20 minutes

You’ll Need:

• R15305 Renaissance Era Paper

• Glitter

• Scissors

• Glue

• Paper plates

• Ruler

You can use any one of our decorative papers to customize your own flourish ornament. When you’re done making the ornaments, send us a picture of how they look like on your Christmas tree!

Paper plates will come in handy when adding glitter to your flourish ornament!

First, fold your paper lengthwise in half, then fold once again. Unfold your paper, to reveal three fold lines in total. Cut along the fold lines to separate the paper into four equal strips.

To make the curls on your flourish ornament, fold one strip of paper in half. Press the edge of a ruler to the underside (unprinted part) of one half of the paper strip. Stabilize the top of the paper with your thumb and pull the ruler with your thumb over the remaining length of the paper strip. This will curl the paper inwards.

Repeat for the opposite side of the paper strip.

Do the same for the remainder of the paper strips.

Next, glue the edges of your paper curls together. Join the edges together and fan the curls outwards from the center.

Fill the bottom of one paper plate with glue. Fill the bottom of a second paper plate with glitter. Dip one side of the flourish ornament in the glue. Lift, then dip the same side down into the glitter. Remove and set aside to dry.

Thread a length of string through the top of the flourish ornament and tie a knot at the opposite end. Now it’s ready to hang!

Thanks for checking out our Christmas countdown posts for this week! Stay tuned next week for more crafty holiday projects! Email us your projects to subscriber@roylco.ca. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Posted on December 5, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Christmas Paper Chains

Everyone can add to this beautiful decorative chain! This post is a part of our special week series of Christmas/Winter crafts that you can use in the classroom. Stay tuned for more posts upcoming this week and the next!

Age: 5+

Duration: 15 minutes

You’ll Need:

• 15351 Cut & Fold Circles

• Scissors

• Glue

This craft is very similar to yesterday’s craft: you’ll need to fold the paper and make several cuts with scissors. The final step requires you to glue all the pieces together to make a decorative paper chain.

The Cut & Fold Circles pack comes in a variety of colors. Alternate colors or use all the colors of the rainbow!

Fold a Cut & Fold Circle in half 3 times.

You should be left with a pie-slice shape. Cut three lines from the fold line. Cut up to just below the edge on the other side of the pie-slice.

Repeat the same from the opposite fold line. Cut these three lines in between the first three lines, so you make a zig-zag lightning shape with the lines. Remember not to cut all the way through the pie-slice!

Unfold the pie-slice back into a circle. This is what your line cuts should look like.

To glue the circles together, first lay a circle with the colorful side facing down. Carefully dab the glue onto 4 points of the circle. Next, place a second circle, with the colorful side facing up on top of the first circle. Align the edges together so that the cuts exactly overlap each other. Put a bit of glue in the center of the colored circle and press the next circle (color side facing down) onto the previous circle.

Repeat these steps with all of the remaining circles.

Wait for the glue to dry!

Grab both ends of the paper chain and gently spread apart.

Now you can hang up the paper chain wherever you like! Time to decorate your classroom for the winter holidays.

Send us photos of your paper chains to subscriber@roylco.ca! We’d love to see your classroom decorations!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

Posted on December 4, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Christmas Twist Stars

A whimsical star design hung in your classroom is sure to turn heads! Use our R15350 Cut & Fold Squares for brilliant color.

Age: 6+

Duration: 20-30 minutes

You’ll Need:

• R15350 Cut & Fold Squares

• Tape

• Scissors

• Hole punch

The great thing about this craft is that it looks complicated, but is actually super-easy to make! All you require is square-cut paper, a simple folding technique and a few snips with scissors. I’ll walk you through the process step-by-step, but I’ve also made a few detailed animations to help you through each step.

Choose your selection of colors. A rainbow-colored star will stand out just as nicely as a red and green arrangement!

The Christmas Star is divided into several parts. Each part can be made simply with one Cut & Fold Square and a few cuts with scissors. First fold your square into a triangle.

From the fold line, close to the edge of the triangle, cut 1 long line towards the point of the triangle. Do not cut all the way across the triangle, but stop about 1/2″ below the edge. Make another cut just beside the first. Stop the cut about 1/2″ below the first cut. Make a third cut beside the second cut. Stop the cut about 1/2″ below the second cut. Mirror the same cuts on the other side of the triangle.

Unfold the triangle back into a square. Turn the square so that it makes a diamond shape. You’ll notice that the cuts make little triangle strips on either side of the diamond shape. Start with the uncolored side facing up. Join the corners of the center together. Use tape to secure.

Next, flip the shape over and join the next two corners together with tape. Flip the shape over again to the uncolored side and join the next two corners. Continue flipping the shape over and joining the next set of corners until you get something like a spiral, which you can see in the last image in the animation.

In order to make a Christmas Twist Star, you will need 6 of the colorful spirals. Alternate the colors of the spirals (such as red, green, red, green, etc) or make one of each color available in the Cut & Fold Squares pack.

To join the spirals, glue the sides together. You should have all 6 spirals glued side by side in a row. Wait for the glue to dry before bending the whole line of spirals into a circle. Glue the sides of the last two spirals together. The spirals will all angle out from the center to look like a large star!

Punch a hole through the top of one of the spiral points.

Tie a length of string from the hole to hang the star!

Show us your beautiful Christmas Twist Stars! Send us photos of your students’ work to subscriber@roylco.ca. Wishing you a wonderful winter vacation!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

Posted on December 3, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Craft Spotlight: Color Diffusing Snowflakes

The winter season is fast approaching but you can do your decorating now! Our easy-to-use Color Diffusing Snowflakes give children the opportunity to explore their painting skills while experimenting with a few neat effects!

The Color Diffusing Snowflakes are cut into a variety of different snowflake shapes. Since every student will color their snowflakes differently, you can talk about how no two snowflakes are alike, even within art!
We worked on our snowflakes in the sun and it helped to speed up the drying process while we painted! So no matter where you live, this will be a great activity for your students to try.

Notice that we provided pipettes at each of the bowls for each color of watercolor paint. This helped to make sure that students placed the pipette back to its original bowl before using another color. In addition, we placed paint trays beneath the Color Diffusing Snowflakes to help keep paint off the workstations.

Place the pipette above the Color Diffusing Snowflake and gently release some of the paint. Our crafters enjoyed watching the colors spread throughout the paper; it showed the entire shape of the snowflake against the white of the plastic paint tray.

Our crafters combined some of the colors to make some of the coolest-looking snowflakes around!

To really add interest to the project, spread a pinch of Epsom salts or regular table salt over the drying snowflakes. As the snowflakes dry, the salt will stick to the paper and appear sparkly like real snowflakes!

Thanks for hanging out with us today! Have you tried this project? Send us photos of your work if you have! We’d love to feature your work in our next post! Send all emails to subscriber@roylco.ca!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

Posted on December 2, 2013March 18, 2020 by Raman

Tot School uses our Rubbing Plates!

Tot School made an assortment of rubbing plate prints using our R5804 Flowers Rubbing Plates! Check out Sweet Pea’s review on how well the prints turned out!

The post, called “Rubbing Plates” was published on July 23rd 2010 and can be viewed at this link.

Sweet Pea’s technique for using the rubbing plates is a great start for early learners with developing fine motor muscles. Using the non-dominant hand to hold the rubbing plate and paper in place, rub crayon across the surface of the paper with the dominant hand. This helps to reinforce muscle control and encourages patience and timing while making rubbing plate prints.

And the flowers turned out lovely! Sweet Pea found that using block crayons helps to create an even image all throughout. If you are using regular crayons, be sure to use the side of the crayon rather than the point. The point will spread too much of the crayon over the paper and will blend the rubbing plate image in with the rest of the color.

Another important tip that Shannon wrote was that the images themselves could be used for botanical lessons: Use the provided identification sheet to connect the images to real existing flowers. Learn about flowers by name and match them to the rubbing plate images!

Thanks to Shannon for this post!

Posted on November 29, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Craft Spotlight: Winter Classroom Mobile

Need a festive decoration for your classroom? How about a decoration that every student can partake in making? Try the wonderful R51301 Winter Classroom Mobile! Divide your classroom into groups to each decorate their own mobile–then hang it above their desks!

The Winter Mobile features 36 winter-themed ornaments that can be hung from the frame. Use crayons, paint, markers or collage materials to decorate the shapes! There are enough ornaments in the Winter Mobile pack for each student to decorate at least one!
First make the mobile frame. We’ve included a detailed guide with pictures to help you construct the mobile frame. Use the provided Straws and Connectors to assemble the frame. Watch the video below for details!

Decorate the frosted-look ornaments and thread some string through the holes in the top to hang them from the mobile.

R51301

Building a mobile opens up plenty of opportunities to learn some interesting lessons. Talk about the science of air movement (how air particles bounce off the ornaments to always keep them in motion). Encourage teamwork and individual development through decorating and assembling the mobile. You can even incorporate a lesson on learning about multicultural winter celebrations.

Note: The ornaments included in the mobile kit are meant to be universal for all winter celebrations. If children would like to add their own ornaments to the mobile, encourage them to do so!

Thanks for checking out this Monday post! If you’d like to be featured in one of our posts, send us photos of your students’ work to subscriber@roylco.ca! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Posted on November 25, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Mrs. Knight uses our Retro Pop Paper!

Mrs. Knight shows us her beautiful classroom with her detailed photo gallery! One of the photographs shows Mrs. Knight’s take on table numbers!

Mrs. Knight published “Inspiration to Fruition… Thank you!” on August 9, 2013 where she talks about her various inspirations for her classroom.

The table numbers she made were made from our R15303 Retro Pop Paper. Cover a metal table clamp with a folded sheet of Retro Pop Paper! Tape the edges of the paper together to secure. Decorate the front and back of the Retro Pop Paper with black marker–write a letter or a number to organize your students into groups!

Thanks to Mrs. Knight for her post!

Posted on November 22, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman