I've recently been looking into making more Chinese New Year crafts together as a way to celebrate the upcoming holiday. With my current infatuation with watercolor crafts, we recently made these watercolor painted paper fans together. Watercolor Painted Paper Fans This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! Our Favorite Chinese New Year Books Prior to making the craft, we had already been reading books explaining the holiday. Here are some of our favorites! The Runaway Wok Bringing In the New Year My First Chinese New Year Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year Celebrating Chinese New Year Is it just me or are watercolor crafts like the best? The colors are always so vibrant and it's easy to make lovely, colorful art (and it doesn't require much clean up or prep too- score!) We've recently been going through some transitions over here when I gave birth to my second son. He's been such a gift to our family, but navigating transitions (even good ones) have never been my strong point. Luckily, painting and crafting make me feel happy... so I really enjoyed making these beautiful fans! Materials Needed: Ok, all you need for this craft are: Paper (We use drawing paper for the watercolors, but you can just use plain old computer paper too if you decide to go another route.) Other drawing tools (Markers, Crayons, these cool twistable crayons, Sharpies) Stapler Tape Let's Make Some Watercolor Painted Paper Fans You could go 3 routes when making these fans. Option 1: You could just draw/paint whatever comes to mind.... I made this design by drawing a bunch of dots randomly on the page with Sharpie marker and then connecting them with lines to make triangles. I find geometric shapes to be quite modern and aesthetically pleasing, don't you? Then, I just painted all the shapes in. Option 2: Plan a specific Design- Think in halves! Or, you could try to make a specific design on the fan. We'll be folding these fans in half, so imagine the paper divided in half and draw two different designs on each half. I also wanted to make a dragon fan for Chinese New year, so I drew this pattern out. (You can download it over here Chinese New Year Dragon Printable Fan ). When it's folded it makes a completed dragon fan. My son really liked this one, so he spent most of the time coloring it in... and then telling me that he didn't want to turn it into a fan. Oh well! Once you've finished your design, accordion fold it. Then, fold it in half. Staple yourself a handle and tape the two sides together. Spread your fan out and admire your completed design! Oh! Here's what the stripey design looked like folded. I went a bit crazy with painting and made several. Aren't they pretty? Option 3: Fold first, then paint! And... if you want to, you could also just fold up a bunch of these first and then paint them. That's another option too! (The stripey fan on the lower right corner was painted that way.) Another cute fan craft: Now if you liked making this paper fan craft, you should also check out my folding popsicle stick fans. They're a bit more work, but they also are a bit cooler because you can open and close them! Hope you have a fun time making these with your kiddos. Let's Keep in Contact! You can always find more fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram accounts! Happy making!

Therapeutic art activities are an excellent tool for school counselors to integrate into group counseling and individual counseling. It allows students to express thoughts and feelings in a different way that is less intimidating and more engaging. How can you integrate art therapy?

Writing your name in binary code on a bracelet or necklace makes great STEM fun for kids! Plus more fun STEM learning activities for kids.

Here are 50 sensory spelling activities for kids. A great way for students to interact with their spelling words using their senses.

60+ amazing paper crafts for kids (and adults) to make! From paper mache to printables, we've collected awesome ideas for crafts to make with paper!

This post covers several ways to integrate kinesthetic learning in art and contains 12 artworks from art history that can be explored with movement.

We love Arts and Crafts for Kids and Salt Painting does not disappoint. Salt Art is so pretty and kids will love glue painting. It's inexpensive and so fun!

Get creative with all of those boxes you are receiving! Here are 20 ways that you can use cardboard for kid-friendly activities.

This Language Arts Interactive Notebook is filled with over 30 pages of hands-on grammar activities for grades 4-8. Activities including everything from diagramming to figurative language.

Keep your kids busy and having fun inside on rainy winter days with this selection of 50 fantastic indoor activities for kids. Easy crafts + games.

Is it just me or do second graders can not write sentences? These activities are the perfect way to teach your students how to write better sentences!

Hi! The winner of the Createures game is Karen Riehle. Congrats! I love GIVEAWAYS. Another one will be coming soon in the next couple of weeks! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you.) Candlewick Press sent me a review copy of the book Birds by Carme Lemniscates, along with a few free activity downloads to share with you. See the bottom of this blog post for the bird activity printable downloads. Birds is a thoughtful, poetic homage … Read more... →

Five engineering challenges for kids – with wooden clothespins, binder clips, and craft sticks! It’s a simple STEM activity that kids of all ages will love. Move over, expensive building sets! These simple materials were a huge hit with my boys. The first time we got them out, Owen (almost 7) spent well over an […]

Make your own cloud viewer with this easy Cloud Spotting Learning Tool! A wonderful weather craft for preschoolers and elementary kids.

How can sound be waves? It is a hard concept for kids. Try these 7 science experiments for kids to SEE sound. Learn the 5 senses with STEM activities.

**Be sure to enter the Giveaway for a fabric key chain here!Need to keep the troops busy a bit longer before school starts? Have them design their own three dimensional buildings and designs using only mini marshmallow and toothpicks. My boys were entertained for over two hours seeing how many different designs they could come

drama activities and games for elementary students

No study of architecture and engineering would be complete without talking about the Great Pyramids. Egyptian architecture is as mesmerizing in the 21st century as it must have been mystifying when they were constructed. And thanks to Bubble Guppies, a subject of great fascination to my preschool and toddler too! Egyptian Architecture…

I LOVE saving figurative language until June - it's such a fun language unit ... and perfect for our "dreaming of summer brains". We finished up our EQAO testing mid week, and this onomatopoeia activity was the perfect break from testing. How fun is that??? Students chose two contrasting colours - one for the background and one for the word and border "bursting out of the page". They also needed newspaper (cut just a fraction smaller that the "bursting out of the page border" and glued the newspaper on top. They glued their word on top of that (we had brainstormed a lot of onomatopoeia words, but for some reason most of them chose SPLAT for their word). I also had them do a little shading under their letters for that little extra POP (see, I know some onomatopoeia words, too). ;) I had seen this awesome idea on Pinterest and followed it back to Artisan des Arts. Her examples are FANTASTIC!! We also wrote simile poems this week. I found a little template HERE for the students to use for their rough copies. When students were finished their templates, I had them write out their good copies, and illustrate a few lines with a small image. I hung these up, too ... LOVING our bulletin board switch up ... even this late in the school year!!! (I have two of these "smART class" bulletin boards side by side in the classroom. 15 more school days left ... I think I can ... I think I can ... Happy Friday!!!

This is a really easy way to learn about making paper with kids. And we made our paper glittery, too! First: Get Your Supplies! Next: Get to Work! 'Mommy, how do you make paper?' My five year old asked me this question a few weeks ago. I tried explaining it to him, and he wasn't convinced. I showed him a video of how you can make it at home using a mesh screen and paper pulp, and he was obsessed! I wondered about making a screen so that we could try this at home, but then I noticed a Paper

Read Acts 5:1-4verses 1-11 if you deem appropriate for your child's age.) Pinocchio Revisited: (Printable version now available at the end of the post!) Geppetto, a lonely carpenter with no children, decided that he wanted a boy. He carefully carved

20 fantastic storytelling activities for kids. These activities allow your child to explore their storytelling creativity.

As it would turn out, making giant paper cup pyramids is difficult for preschoolers, but what a great STEM activity to supplement our Around the World theme!

Make this super soft, no cook, cloud dough recipe! Only 2 ingredients - cornstarch and lotion. This homemade dough is really easy to make!

Simple DIY water xylophone takes a couple minutes to make and is a great sound activity, experiment, and music activity for kids too!

My 5 Senses - Activities and Printables - Touch, taste, smell, sight, sound... so many fun kids activities!

Learn how to make a kaleidoscope in this fun STEM/science activity and craft for kids. It’s such a fun way to explore light, reflections, and symmetry! Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board! *This post was originally published 2/2/16 and has since been updated. Last week I made these super fun kaleidoscopes with my …

Create this woven bowl using only a free printable template, a paper plate, and yarn. This craft is great for elementary or middle school art lessons to introduce weaving and for making useful items for the home. What is cool about weaving is that it can be done in one short sitting and it is a good way to get the basics of weaving skills down. This do-it-yourself woven bowl makes for great and useful decorations in your home. Your kids can custom color coat the bowl to fit their favorite color or fit the style of their room.

Need some fun pantomime ideas and games? Look no further. Here you will find a list of pantomime activities. Building a sense of safety and trust when introducing Drama activities into your program is essential. The following pantomime games and exercises are ideal in establishing that trust between the players

Set up a wizard's or witch's potion lab with a super simple Halloween chemistry experiment. Explore a fun exothermic chemical reaction.

Easy DIY toilet paper roll knitting activity your kids will love! So easy your kids will want to do it for hours. Perfect to keep hands quiet while you read

Teaching elaboration might seem impossible sometimes, but I recommend this engaging and authentic activity to better help students understand what it means.

Here’s how to make a rainstick using a cardboard tube and some crafting materials. The kids loved making this homemade instrument and using it to explore sound! Follow our Crafts for Kids Pinterest board! Homemade rainsticks make a great craft for kids and a fun science activity too. The kids love the creative freedom of …

Teach kids empathy and compassion through mindful, fun lessons, discussions, and activities that build social awareness and community.

Build marshmallow and spaghetti towers to learn about strong shapes and stable structures. A wonderfully sticky STEM challenge

Hands-on learning isn't just for younger students! These hands-on activities for middle and high schoolers will help older students enjoy learning and stay actively engaged in the process.

Science projects for kids can be fun and exciting. Make hands-on science crafts at home with these easy at home science crafts.

It is helpful for your client to have an art therapy supplies kit that they can use when seeking coping strategies through art therapy activities.

K-1 POETRY UNIT I love teaching poetry to kindergarten and first grade students! Even though I have this labeled as Unit 8 in my Writing Series , I actually teach poetry throughout the entire year. We follow the same routine and students look forward to our poetry week every month.

Kids Ancient China Activity | How To Make a Simple Ming Dynasty Craft. Make your own Ming Dynasty plate for a fun and educational ancient China activity. Also, look at my post Quick and Easy Ancient Chinese Paper making for Kids.

Check out these France crafts for kids on the occasion of France's France Fete de la Federation. Make sure to learn some French along the way!

This fun chemistry activity for kids is a colourful, bubbly, streaming reaction that reminds me of mini explosions and so I've named it Fireworks in a Jar!

This water whistle experiment is good to do if you have 5-10 minutes spare. EC and I had a go making between finishing homework and a music lesson.

This is a perfect craft for big kids or older children - cardboard monster jaws. Made from cereal boxes, this is a fun, easy craft activity for summer.

I made these "light houses" from used milk boxes. The little secret is that you have to make many little openings so the plastic inside will not be burned.