Ladybirds

[Verona]

This is me being really lazy......

For Monday I need some ideas for creative activities please. I've got pictures, info, The Bad Tempered Ladybird story, etc - I would like to do something creative. In the past the children have made 2D ladybirds on leaves and counted how many spots, that kind of thing but I was hoping to do a week on them and haven't done anything yet. I've known about this week for ages but just haven't got round to it ..... been really busy.

 

Please....any ideas?

 

Sue J

[Gezabel]

Hi

We bought an inexpensive bag of 'pebbles' that were quite large and various shapes.

 

The children turned them into ladybirds by painting and putting their own chosen number of dots on. When they were dry they varnished them and they were given to parents as a present (paperweight I think!)

 

Children loved it, and we had some great looking ladybirds, wonky spots and all sorts

[Jackie H]

Hi,

This week we have been making mini beasts using balloons and paper mache, The balloons were blown up to fist size which is an easy size to handle, the children were given a choice of paper , tissue , toilet and newspaper and two types of glue. I could not believe how long they spent at the messy table adding layer after layer. They dried on the radiator quite quickly after popping the balloons they cut them along a black line that I drew and then had two lady bird, Spider bumble bee shape ect to paint and decorate.

We also had a go with mod rock great fun very messy but a lot more adult supervision was needed. I will post finished pictures next week.

 

We also gave the children red icing rich tea bisc and choc drops to make ladybird bisc for snack.

[Verona]

Geraldine

I live about 2 minutes from the beach so there are lots of pebbles there ....although apparently it's against the law to take quantitites of pebbles from the beach. I will either have to go down there quite a few times and take a couple at a time or go at night incognito......

What sort of paint do you use on them?

 

and Jackie....how long will the paper mache take to dry? We have done hot air balloons using blown up balloons as the base and they took weeks to dry (probably put too much on the balloon...but we all had a wonderful messy time)

 

Thanks

 

Sue J

[Gezabel]

hi

 

Just the red mixed straight from the bottle.

 

It was a while ago and I think we thinned the varnish. That part required a bit more supervision as it had to be applied quite lightly and quickly but once the children grapsed the idea they were Ok.

 

If you use thick varnish and press hard it just smudges if that makes sense!

 

Good luck with the beach patrol!!

[Gezabel]

Ooops that should have said 'ready mixed' ( but then we did use red too!)

[Guest]

You can hatch your own live ladybirds from insectlore - use this link

 

http://www.insectlore-europe.com/adboxlivlade.html

 

I've had great sucess with butterflies from this company - ants and ladybirds are our next 2 projects

[Jackie H]

Hi Sue,

the children worked on the balloons for two days , we have a hot air blower in nursery and kept putting them under that. Day three they painted and decorated. The mod rock ladybirds dried instantly and could be painted the same day, they were too hard for the children to cut in half themselves tho.

 

 

Geraldine great idea using large stones, I will have to go and rade my large pebble water feature !!

[Helen]

Nice to see you back, Nicola

[Inge]

we did the stones and used PVA after painting rather than varnsh... worked well, cheaper too.

 

Inge

[Verona]

Thanks for the replies. Definitely going to paint stones and make ladybird biscuits. Probably being a bit dense but what is mod rock and where would I get it?

 

Sue J

[Jackie H]

Mod rock is alittle bit like the stuff used for mending broken bones. It comes in rolls the same size as toilet paper. Its quite dry and crumbly and you can cut it into small pieces, when you put it into water it becomes soft and malleabl1e . It dries very quickly.

I havent used it in nursery before , it just happened that the year 6 teacher came to see if I could give him some glue he saw we were working with paper mache so did us a swap!! You can buy it from YPO I think its quite expensive.

[Verona]

Thanks Jackie

 

Mod rock sounds ok, I like to try something different

 

I don't think I know who/what YPO are though......

 

Sue J

[Jackie H]

Hi Sue,

YPO is the UK's leading Public Sector supplies organisation dealing with Schools, Local Government, Registered Charities and certain Voluntary Organisations.

[Verona]

Thanks Jackie

Is it also for private nurseries? Do you have a contact number please?

 

Sue J

[Guest]

Hi Sue

YPO do not supply to private nurseries or to individuals I'm afraid. But I discovered TTS last week and their prices are quite reasonable. In fact I managed to find some things in their catalogue that were cheaper than YPO. Here is their website.

Linda

[Verona]

Thanks Linda,

 

I, too found TTS a week or two ago and sent for the catalogues. Yesterday I received a bulky package with lots of catalogues for different areas of learning. I flicked through them and thought they looked very good - and different ....going to definitely look as these when I have time (hopefully tomorrow). ...or even later tonight...if I ever get on with what I'm supposed to be doing!!

 

Thanks

 

Sue J

[Guest]

Here's another ladybird idea for you - a ladybird hand puppet

 

You need two paper plates for each child, about their hand size. Then decorate one of them black and the other red with spots, then sandwich them together, with legs in between them, leaving a space for the child's hand. Then watch as they 'fly' around the garden.

 

Karen