Peeps to the Rescue

This morning, as we do every Tuesday, Little Crafter and I prepared to go to Story Pals at the library.  Each week, there's a different theme and the librarian, Miss June, reads books and leads the kids in songs and games that go along with it.  And there's always a craft...which I think is the major reason why LC loves it so much.  But unbeknownst to us, there was a special Kindergarten program going on today that superceded storytime.  LC was crushed and I was left with the job of making it up to him.  What's One Artsy Mama to do?  Make our own storytime, of course! 

First, we needed a theme.  Noah has been fascinated with birds, particularly robins, lately and he'd also pointed out a nest craft in the newest Family Fun magazine, saying, "I want to make dat."  So, we decided our theme for the day would be Birds and Nests.  A storytime has to have books, so we found a few of his stories that incorporated our theme.

The Berenstein Bears and the Real Easter Eggs by Stan & Jan Berenstein - Sister finds a robin's nest and the cubs watch the baby birds hatch.  Noah is obsessed with the B. Bears right now!

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman - A baby bird hatches in his nest and goes to search for his mama.

D.W.'s Color Book by Marc Brown - D.W. finds robin eggs and a hatching duck while on an egg hunt.

Then, it was craft time!  We talked about the things birds use to make their nests...twigs, yarn, dried grass, and pretty much anything they can find.  I told Noah we were going to make a nest of our own (he said, "just like a birdie") using the same things.  Here's how we did it:

PAPER BAG NEST

Materials:

- 1 paper lunch bag

- twigs, dried grass

- glue

- paper plate

- nest stuffers: plastic eggs, hardboiled eggs, Peeps, or any other egg/bird you choose

STEP 1: Gather the twigs.  Little Crafter loved this part. 

STEP 2: Open the paper bag and scrunch down the sides to form nest base.

STEP 3: Put a puddle of glue on a paper plate.  Dip twig pieces in glue, then stick them all over the bag.  Noah was a pro at this!  It's big-time messy, but fun!

STEP 4: Wait until glue is completely dry, then fill nest with your choice of eggs, birds, etc.  We put eggs in, talked about how they hatch to reveal baby birds, then replaced the eggs with Peeps.

Here's how it looks with a real egg: the au natural look!

Here's the plastic egg alternative:

And LC's favorite: the Peeps! (which are on a super sale at Safeway!)

Post-Crafting Reflection: I give this craft an A+!  It, unlike the lion, was totally easy enough for a 2-yr old to do "all by hisself" since he's a pro at dipping things in glue and sticking them somewhere.  The only thing I did was help a little with the bag scrunching and stick on a few stray twigs.  He felt very independent, which is his primary goal in life at the moment, and I liked that it  encouraged him to get out in nature and to search for something specific.  And the bonus factor is that the Peeps came in a package of five, which obviously wouldn't all fit in the nest.  What to do, what to do...

By the time we accomplished all that, it was naptime for Little Crafter (and possibly for Mama too).  When he wakes up, we're going to show off our creation to Daddy and then dance to Rockin' Robin.  What started out as a disappointing day turned into a fun adventure after all.  Whew...thank you Family Fun and marshmallow Peeps!