Geometric Origami Project -- Origami Bunny Balloon Tutorial with Geometry Terms

 

In geometry class we have been talking about the special segments in triangles. It is the perfect time to introduce my origami project. To start I shared a tutorial with them making an origami bunny balloon. I use terms from our lessons like median, midsegment, angle bisector and more throughout the tutorial. The kids make one with me in class. Then I give them my assignment. The kids enjoyed spending the class trying different origami projects. You can watch my tutorial here. I love that I am making an origami bunny balloon when lunar new year is going on and it is the year of the rabbit in Chinese Horoscope. 

Cottontail Rabbits -- Who's In the Backyard? Series

I haven't done a Who's In The Backyard? Post in awhile. I had planned on doing my rabbits weeks ago but was having internet issues as well as a busy life. So here it finally is!! In our backyard we have cottontails. They are probably Eastern Cottontails, but there is a slight chance they could be New England Cottontails. So my focus is going to be on both species and the differences. 

Fairy Animals of Misty Wood

Disclosure: Macmillan Publishing sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you have a new reader who wants more than picture books but is not ready for a big novel? I have the perfect books for kids ready to start the chapter books. These books are sweet stories with fairy animals that help spring happen and learn lessons in the stories. They are the Fairy Animals of Misty Wood Series by Lily Small. I was sent three of the books (one of which has three stories in it) to introduce myself and you to this fun series. The first one we read was Bailey the Bunny. 

Kid's Bunny Diorama -- a Crafty Weekends Post & Link Party

This week our craft is actually one Hazel made. She made it at a workshop at Paper Source this week. I happened to be the teacher of the workshop though. She picked to make a bunny themed diorama. We used the small vanilla (white) shirt box for the diorama. For the person and her clothes came from the Paper Doll Kit.  The bunny ears and bunnies were cut on a Cameo Silhouette. The flowers and leaves were from punches.

Spring and Easter Crafts, Ideas & More with Products from Oriental Trading -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Can you believe Easter is only two weeks away? I love spring and Easter and love making various crafts for this time of year. I also am always looking for some non-candy ideas for the Easter eggs and basket. I turned to my friends at Oriental Trading for some of all of these. I cannot wait to share with you what we have been making and what surprises Hazel will have on Easter morning. We will start with ideas for the Easter eggs and basket and our new Easter flag.

Rainbows and Spring Hares/Bunnies

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.  Some of the links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

Last week Punxsutawney Phil and Massachusetts official groundhog, Ms. G, saw their shadows so apparently there are six more weeks of winter and if today is any sign they will not be nice weeks of winter. We have snow with blizzard warnings and requests to stay off the roads. This makes me want to think about spring (and somehow this time of year always gets me thinking about spring no matter what the winter weather has been). Today I am going to share with you two new books perfect for thinking about early spring and nice weather. The first is My Color Is Rainbow by Agnes Hsu an Yuliya Gwilym.

Simple Spring Needle Felted Projects

Today I have a quick post for you. I made these crafts about a month ago and was inspired by the beautiful needle felted bunnies shared at Sharing Saturday by ZingZing Tree: Needle Felt Easter Bunny (Cookie Cutter). But before I get into my crafts a few quick May Announcements!! First Happy Belated May Day!!

Virtual Book Club for Kids

The author for Virtual Book Club for Kids this month is Mem Fox!! Join us starting May 12th for posts about her books!

Around the World in 12 Dishes

This month we are stopping in Croatia. Join us starting May 19th for exploring Croatia and the fun dishes we all make.

Now for my needle felting. I used some Easter cookie cutters to make these shapes. I did not have as cute of a bunny cookie cutter as ZingZing Tree, but I did have a tulip and a jumping bunny.

The bunny is very easy. You put your roving into the cookie cutter and then felt it trying to make sure the entire shape is filled in. You also will want to flip your shape (and cutter) to felt both sides. I am thinking of adding an eye, but haven't done it yet.

The tulip I made three dimensional. I needle felted two tulips from our cookie cutter and then cut one in half and needle felted it to the middle line of the first one. Then I added a green stem. I used a pipe cleaner in the stem to make it more steady, but it still bends. Of course many tulip stems bend too, so I like it.

Today feels like the first day of spring. It is actually suppose to finally warm up a bit. Hopefully the warm will stay this time!! I am not liking this cold spring. Everything around here is behind as a result. Happy May!!

For some more flower crafts and spring crafts check out:

• Spring Fairies 
• Tulip and Daffodil Peg Dolls 
•  Daffodil Fairy and Other Flower Fairies 
•  Flower Fairies and Love Bugs
• Sister Spring and Crocus Fairy (with other flower fairies) 
• Paper Lillies and Daffodils 
• Decorated Spring Buckets 
• Ava's Poppy with Paper Poppy Craft 
• Flower and Water Play and Science 
• Spring Flower Match Game
• Sunflower Picture Frame Magnets with Personalized Poem/Song You Are My Sunshine
• Spring Pinterest Board
  

Why I Love Weeds...

This year the weeds in our yard are abundant. There are times when I hate weeding the garden. In fact this year, Steve put some garden edging/fencing in hopes to keep the weeds at bay a bit more. However, there are also some reasons to keep those weeds. Here are a few I love.

Wildlife Visitors!

Hazel loves having the rabbits in the yard. One morning we actually had three. Our back yard has a few large clover patches and the rabbits love it. They have also discovered my baby lettuce plants and have eaten one almost completely, but luckily they seem to be leaving the others alone and going for the clover.

Child Picked Flower Bouquets!

We almost always have a vase or a cup of wild flowers on our kitchen table this time of year. Hazel knows she can pick the violets and dandelions to her heart's content. She is also allowed to pick her pansies since she planted them, so those have been added in here. An interesting thing we have discovered: if you leave dandelions in water long enough they will turn to seeds so you can blow on them. In the beginning of the spring I was telling her to leave some unpicked so she could blow on them, but now she doesn't have to.

Weed Flower Crafts!

Whether it is using the flowers to paint or smashing them with a rolling pin (or hammer) to make art, I do not care when she is using dandelions, violets and buttercups. It gives her the freedom to use them however she wants and to truly explore nature. They also make good additions to mud pies and sand cakes. We decorate with them all the time when we are playing in her garden or sandbox. 

Do You Love Butter? Test

Source

Do you remember having fun as a child, holding buttercups under friends' chins to see if they love butter? I do and I want Hazel to find the same joy in simple nature. Of course if you want a science lesson on the buttercup game check out the science behind it here.

Another simple joy in nature is whistling with grass. Did you do that as a child? If you do not know what I am talking about, you can check out this tutorial.

There are other benefits to weeds. Some are edible like the dandelion and violet. Many also have healing benefits. I know my mother is very into holistic medicine and often discusses the herbs that many people consider weeds as hard to find because people do not want weeds. Plus there are benefits to your soil for keeping some weeds. The weeds will grow in poor soil, but will often replace the nutrients into the soil for a better balance. For more information on the soil benefit read here. Finally I read recently (and cannot remember where) that some animals are having issues because people are not growing the native plants for their areas. The insects and other animals are losing their food, habitats and more. 

So these are some of the reasons why I love weeds and have not minded the large number we have growing in our yard. I see each one as a toy/learning tool for Hazel. She is discovering the world with them and also enjoying some flowers of her own.  Of course the bigger problem right now for us in our yard is the grub infestation in the front yard, but our landscaper is going to deal with that problem for us.

What fun activities do you have for your weeds?