Apple & Worm Magnet

Perfect Fall craft!

Here's a simple, yet cute Fall craft to do with preschool aged kids.  Here in Hilton, NY we have an annual Apple Fest at the beginning of October.  It's a kind of a big deal.  I like to do apple stories right around that time because the kids are all geared up for the Apple Fest.  

Here's what you need:

• Apple cut outs
• Red and white card stock 
• Small worms (I used a clip art worm)
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Glue
• Pencil
• Crayons
• Magnets

To prep this craft you will need to carefully draw a bite mark out of the side of the red apple.  Cut that out and use your now bitten apple as a stencil for the rest of the apples.  That way your bite will be in the same spot and line up with the white apple when all is said and done.  To make the bite mark on the white apple, use the red cut apple and slide it to the left a little bit so you are cutting a little less out of the white apple.  Line up your apples and make sure it looks alright with the white peeking out a bit.  Go to town stenciling and cutting the rest of the apples. 

Punch a hole in the red apples near the center.  

Cut out small worms that can slide easily into the hole.

Now your project is ready for the kids.

I let the kids color their apples.  Some will color just the stem and leaf, others will make beautiful rainbow colored apples!

Once the kids are done coloring, use a glue stick and dab just a little bit of glue on the back side of the red apple near the hole.  Have the kids slip their worm into the apple and press the worm against the back.

Next, glue the white apple behind the red apple, be sure to try and line up your apples as best as you can.  Add a small magnet strip to the back and your done.

Enjoy!

DIY Magnets

I mentioned in an earlier post about Chic Tags and how they post free tags on Fridays.  I decided to take some of their cute tags and turn them into magnets to add to my chalkboard that is painted on the end of one of our shelving units.

Last week I purchased a sticker/magnet maker (Xyron Creative Station)  using an oh-so-handy 50% off coupon.  Love those things!  I wanted to test out the magnets and this is what I came up with.  It was quick and easy, but I would like to use kid's and teen's art work for an actual program.  Of course, these little magnets add a bit of character to my normally plain board.  

First I cut out my tags.

Ran them through the Creative Station machine,

Cut them out of the magnet leaving an edge so that the laminate would not peel off around the edge of the tag.

And then stuck them on my announcement board! 

(Sorry for the poor quality picture.  Library lighting in this area is not the greatest for pictures)