I've gotta admit, they are pretty cute. When I asked my mom where she got the idea to do a penguin craft, she replied simply, "Because it was winter." Well, I really can't argue with that. I mean, it makes sense. She did offer a bit more in terms of where the idea for footprint penguins originated. As a fan of 'Pi-nin-terest' (don't worry, we've worked that pronunciation out), she simply typed in 'penguin' and received results like these:
She then mixed together a few of these ideas for her own take on footprint penguins, one that was feasible for her classroom. She had her students come back individually during seatwork time (which comes after reading groups, in case you were wondering about the timeline here) to make their footprints - they painted one foot black and placed it on paper, which was simultaneously cold (the paint) and hilarious (they had their feet on the READING TABLE!). Later, they painted their little white bellies, dotted and connected their earmuffs (gotta love the bingo marker!), and attached paper beaks, wings, and eyes. They were a huge hallway hit - after Mom removed them in preparation for another display, a parent walked by and commented, "Aw, you took down the penguins!" That's high praise in the education profession, let me tell you. ;)
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| Some Footprint Penguin Exemplars |
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| For Illustrative Purposes Only |
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| Spoon Guy! |
Combining the spoons with items she already had on hand (except for a bag of Valentine M&Ms, which she purchased for the craft), she was able to create a bunch of these little cuties (at right). She melted some almond bark chocolate in the microwave and drizzled it on each of the spoons, pressing in M&M noses and candy eyeballs (from Hobby Lobby! and now Walmart, since we were running low) before the chocolate hardened. Then she just used lollipop bags (yup, that's their technical term) and ribbon to fix them up for distribution! Her kids' reaction? Laughter, followed by immediate consumption.
The week following these gifts of chocolate spoonfuls was Dental Health Week. Nice, right? According to my mom, "Kids are always told to brush their teeth, brush their teeth, brush their teeth, so I decided to zero in on flossing this time." Typing "dental health" into Pinterest returned this board, and one of the crafts fit perfectly with the whole flossing angle. And it gave Mom a use for the leftover marshmallows from December's gingerbread houses. Always frugal, my mother. The steps were simple - students were given folded pieces of pink paper and told to draw a curve like a rainbow to cut along. Apparently, several of them equate rainbows to triangles and ended up with what my mom termed "an alligator mouth." The alligator mouths did not make it into the photo at left - we restricted photography to mouths that resembled those of humans (despite the marshmallow teeth). Oh, and the most important part - after gluing in their teeth, students strung floss and secured it between teeth with glue drops. Another activity for Dental Health Week was a brushing chart that students took home and recorded five days' worth of morning and night teeth-brushing sessions - if they turned it in, completed, at the end of the week they got a "good for your teeth treat." Ah, positive reinforcement, I miss you. I would love bags of Skittles for my grad work right now. But, that's besides the point. My mom originally found these apple mouths on Pinterest:
Ok, so that last one wasn't originally on the list. I just saw it and
thought it was so cute! And counterproductive to dental health. But,
whatever. Anyway, the first two are legit. However, they were immediate
no-gos for my mom, since she has a student who is allergic to peanuts
(the teeth in the left pic are peanuts and PB holds the marshmallows in
place in the center one). We're talking
can't-sit-at-same-lunch-table-as-students-with-PBandJ-sandwiches
allergic. So, my mom improvised and used her candy eyes and some fruit roll-ups
(remember those?) to make these little guys:
She was pretty pleased with her little apple mouths and their fruity tongues, whereas my first reaction was somewhere along the lines of "ew, bloody mouths!" Then I wondered if tongues could really be factored into the DENTAL health equation... I mean, they aren't like gums, which are dental by association (Listerine gingivitis commercials anyone?). But, the kids had neither reaction and gobbled these fellas right up! Come to think of it, I probably would too. ;)And now you can see how my mother and I are living proof that the craft gene is indeed passed down from mother to daughter, it just mutates in the process - one may sew and make cards (my mom) whereas the other is incredibly beautiful and talented. Whoops, that's not necessarily crafty. But I'll let it stand. :P