Cre8ive Kids Corner: Truffula Tree Tutorial

Happy Birthday Dr Suess!!!

I just love Dr. Seuss, who doesn’t? 

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an outside the box thinker with his writings and his artwork. Many people don’t know that he also drew over 400 political cartoons in a 2 year period for The New York City daily newspaper.

When I asked the girls what kind of project they wanted to make in honor of his birthday, they both said Truffula Trees. The Lorax has always been one of my favorites because of the artwork and the powerful message of taking care of our environment. I like this project because it incorporates recycled materials, keeping with the core message of the story. The rest can be found at the dollar store!

Here are the materials you need:

-Toilet paper tubes or paper towel

-Square of cardboard

- Paint

-Different color tissue papers

-Glue

-Pom Poms (optional, I got mine at the dollar store)

Here is the video of the girls making theirs and below I will post a short step by step!

1- Paint your cardboard base green (or any color- it is Dr.
 Seuss and we can think outside the box!!!)

2- Set aside base to dry and paint your paper towel tubes any 
color

3- Take approximately 6 6x6 colored sheets of tissue paper
and fold them accordian style, like you are making a fan.
Staple near the bottom.

4- Once everything is dry, glue your tree trunk onto your
base.

5- Glue pom poms around the base of your trunk. (This is
optional! The girls really wanted to because they look like
little bushes!)

6. Open up your tissue paper, fan it out and crinkle it a little
until it is how you want it to look.

7. Pop it in the trunk and bada bing- you got yourself a
truffula tree and happy kids!

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We can't wait to see all the cre8ive things you come up with!

Cre8ive Kids Corner: Love Tree Tutorial by Kelly Corso

New and exciting to have Kelly Corso heading up our "Cre8ive Kid's Corner" with fun projects for children (or kids of any age!).

Valentines Day is sneaking up on us and I wanted to do a cute, quick, cheap and  easy project with my girls. They had off school on MLK Day and I drummed up this idea of a Love Tree. This is one you may enjoy doing with your children.

I picked all these materials up at the dollar store, how can you beat that? So, for approximately $5 we made these and have left over materials! This is what you will need:

-Red construction paper

-Plain white paper (any type will do)

-Glue stick

-Markers

-Foam heart stickers

-Glitter glue(totally optional but if your kids are like mine they are all about the glitter!!!)

All you have to do is:
- Cut a circle out of the white paper for the top of the tree.
   (I used the top of a pot to trace the circle)
-Glue the circle on the top of your red construction paper
-Draw a tree trunk- any style, anything goes!
- Start putting the hearts wherever you want them to go
Bada Bing! You got yourself a love tree!

I decided to be adventurous and do something I had never done before- film this adventure for you all to see! While I have a lot to learn, I'm pretty proud of our first little tutorial and you guys will get to watch us grow along the way. My girls had a great time as well!

One of the great things about making art with your children is that it creates a safe, relaxed environment to have a conversation with them. You begin creating these bonds early, talking about their feelings and thoughts on the world around them hopefully making a clear and open path for them to always come to you if they have something on their mind.

Hope you enjoyed our first video!

Now go out, make love trees with your kids and ask them what is on their minds- they just might surprise you!

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Etsy Shop

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Cre8ive Kid Corner: Kitty Head Magnets

Today we venture into our Cre8ive Kids Corner!

Kitty Head Magnets by Kelly, Wren, and Willow Corso

In our family we are animal obsessed, especially when it comes to cats! 

We have 3, all of them all rescues. Some days my daughter Wren prefers to go by the name Miss Kitty.

This is a great project for all ages (even you moms and dads!). Younger kids may need a bit of assistance.  It is super fun and very tactile. 

Here are the materials you need: 

• Crayola Model Magic- an air dry clay in any colors you choose
• small magnets
• glue- I like to use Loctite super glue because it dries really fast (shown above)

First you are going to roll several different size balls. 

I usually make the head ball approximately 1” and the rest of the balls in proportion with the head ball. (As seen below) You can make them bigger if you like!  

1 head ball, 2 cheek balls, 1 nose ball, 2 ear triangles and a little tongue ball if you choose. Then stick them all on the head ball in their proper places. 

Once they have air dried for about 24 hours you can glue them onto your magnets. I really like the Loctite glue because it dries in about 30 seconds. 

Once you start to assemble it's a good time to talk with the younger ones and ask them questions. 

Where do cats' ears go? 

Where are their little cheeks? 

I encourage my girls to experiment with different colors or different shaped ears--to just go wild!. 

You will get super happy kids and lots of smiles if you encourage imagination. Tell them you love that blue cat, that you love those crazy ears and the added embellishments. 

Try not to limit them to the norm and realistic interpretations.

Now you have cool magnets for the refrigerator or little gifts your kids can give to their friends.  They'll feel so proud to have made them themselves! These are the kitties my daughters made.  Some of them are quite unusual and perhaps not that kitty-like, but how stinking cute are they? 

The time you spend with them and the smiles you get- priceless!!

Thank you girls!

Stay tuned for more from Kelly in the near future! In the meantime check out her other links.

Website: www.birdinatreecreations.com
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