No Roses for Harry Recycled Yarn Craft, Book based Snacks, Printables

Are your kids going winter stir-crazy? You need a craft afternoon. I learned as a teacher/homeschool mom to make lesson plans hands-on. My craft parties include an interactive story and snack and lots of free printable book-based activities. 

One of my husband's favorite children's literature characters is Harry the Dirty Dog, created by Gene Zion and drawn by Margaret Bloy Graham. There are several books featuring Harry the Dog. My mom described a yarn bush she made for the birds and it reminded me of Harry. Here are activities based on "No Roses for Harry."

 

Story Party Book Activity: Read "No Roses for Harry" in ebook online at Open Library. You can hear an audio reading on Youtube. Pause the story at various points and encourage children predict what will happen next. Let children color these free printable Harry the Dirty Dog coloring pages, make a booklet and retell the story. Here's are printable No Roses for Harry coloring pages. 

Story Party Science Activity: Make a yarn bush. Gather up recycled bits of string and yarn. Place them in trees and bushes for the birds to use in nest building, like the bird did in "No Roses for Harry." Look for your yarn in bird's nests. My mother says her yarn has been disappearing, so she knows the birds are nesting. You might get a bird guide and ID the birds you see in the yard. 

Story Party Recycle Bin Craft: Teach kids divide by 2 by braiding yarn. Wind yarn braid into a concentric circle Sew a few stitches to hold it together and you have a recycled craft pot holder. These are great for preschool crafts. If you are crafty like Grama in "No Roses for Harry" teach children simple finger knitting or use large blunt needles. Let them knit a washcloth. 

Story Party Math Craft. Use this free printable rose pattern to make paper roses. Teach about spiral patterns. 

Story Party Snack: Make "roses" by spreading cream cheese on a scallion, pickle spear, carrot or celery stick. Wrap a slice of ham or other lunchmeat around it. Cut radish or tomato roses. Make open face jam sandwiches cut in flower shapes. Make flower shaped pancakes. 

Story Party Math Craft Snack: Make flower cookies. Roll sugar cookie dough in little balls. Arrange four in a square or five in a circle. Bake and frost. Decorate with candy sprinkles and an M&M in the center. Decorating cookies is a great preschool craft snack!  

Warm up after snow day play with cocoa cookies and more Harry stories! Or cool down after summer play with lemonade and Harry the Dirty Dog, Harry and the Lady Next Door or Harry By the Sea. 

Recycle Bin Crafts for Bored Kids: Homemade Hats for Learning Centers

So this Covid 19 quarantine is getting long, huh? A lot of you parents got thrust into the role of teacher unexpectedly. If you're homeschooling children, maybe you need my teacher mama first aid kit, with quick, easy CHEAP ideas to perk up the school day. 

Just in time for earth Earth Day on April 22, how about recycle bin trash craft? Homeschoolers and teachers, your recycle bin in your best craft supply resource. Let kids repurpose, recycle and reuse household stuff in science projects and eco-friendly crafts.  

Today's recycled trash crafts feature homemade hats for kids! The prototype was developed by our oldest daughter at 20 months old. We kept her toys sorted in recycled 5 pound peanut butter pails. One day, Little Miss emptied one, plopped it on her head, tucked handle under chin and voila—an instant helmet. Then she proceeded to saddle up and ride baby brother like her noble steed! I removed the bucket handle for her safety and her from brother for his. 

But I realized what really cool homemade hats for kids can be made with a little repurpose and reuse. Let kids sort through your recycle bin for plastic ice cream buckets, butter tubs and coffee canisters. Organize by size.  This is a great way to teach preschool sorting, measurement math and Earth Day environmental science. 

Make helmets for hands-on social studies crafts. Repurpose and reuse recycle bin milk jugs as knight's helmets. Remove handle, cut a flap to use as a helmet visor. Cut a piece of plastic and attach with brads to make a visor flap. Wrap in aluminum foil for an armored helmet. Explore the history of helmets and armor with these free printable coat of arms activities from Pinterest. 

Teach STEM lesson plans making homemade hats for robots, soldiers, aliens, animals, astronauts. Make homemade crowns for kings and queens and princesses (cut both ends out to make cylinder shape and decorate. Here are free printable paper crown patterns too. 

Make cone-shaped medieval lady hats for kids by rolling a square of paper in a funnel shape. Trim edge even. Staple recycled crepe paper streamers to hat. Cut decorations from recycle bin stuff. Repurpose and reuse old headgear in cute homemade hats for kids costumes. Repurpose and reuse silk flowers, fabric scraps, ribbons, yarn, buttons, appliques, and faux gems as decorations for your recycled trash crafts. 

Free printable lesson plans on Global Awareness and Activism Activities

In industrialized 'first world' countries, we live in consumer-driven, insular communities. We have little exposure to and less contact with those living in poverty. Global issues don't impact us. We consume grotesque quantities of natural resources. We use goods wantonly, we burn vast amounts of fossil fuel every second. We let good clean water run down the drain endlessly. We turn fertile land in landfills which we cram with  waste plastic, paper, yard waste, glass, metal. 

Here are links to websites that are all about raising awareness, student and adult alike. These online resources have free printable lesson plans on empathy, volunteering, reducing carbon footprint, activism. Ironically, school paper waste is a huge part of pollution. So lets reduce this by printing responsibly and using online resources.  

The Hunger Site and partner sites provide free printable global awareness resources for teachers and homeschoolers. Get free printable ecology and environment lesson plans to teach students about the dangers of global warming, rainforest exploitation, expansionism, imperialism, urban sprawl, pollution, deforestation, water shortage, poverty and hunger.

Here are more free printable ecology and environment lesson plans help students explore world hunger, poverty, disease and famine from a social justice perspective. Smithsonian Education offers free printable conservation, ecology and environment activities on pollution, world poverty, famine and disease. Why Hunger has free activities on natural resources, world hunger, distribution of wealth and poverty.

Feeding Minds helps teachers and students explore world hunger and poverty inside out and provides many free printable educational resources. Rain-tree has free printable rainforest, ecology and environment activities. Students learn about deforestation, wildlife preservation, pollution, depletion of natural resources and more. Eduweb offers students online games and free printable resources to explore the Amazon rainforest and the environment.