Try “Magic Books” to Get Kids Interested in Writing

This is a cool idea that I haven’t seen before. Tried & True Teaching Tools has a great tutorial and explanation for making “magic” books, which really do look a little magical.

They’re made by folding, cutting and weaving two pieces of paper together (check her post for all the details), which makes a book that is sort of two books in one, so it’s great for writing about a before and after or cause and effect kind of situation. You could also use it for a problem and a solution, looking at how someone or something changes from the beginning of a story to its end, or any number of other things.

I love that there’s a crafty component, too, so it becomes an art project and a language arts/writing project. And depending on the subject of the book it could be a social studies, history or science project, too!

My daughter loves making her own books so this is something we’re going to have to try soon.

Do you have any favorite book-making methods? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo via Tried & True Teaching Tools.]

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Weaving Projects to Make With Kids

Whether you have snow where you live or are on the wrong side of the world for that, these snow glob crafts for kids are a lot of fun to put together at home or in the classroom.

If you want to keep it super basic, you can download some snow globe coloring pages from Monday Mandala and have kids drawn in their own images (or color in what is there for the ones that are already filled). This could be a fun way to play with different media, having kids paint in one, draw in another, or use crayons in one, colored pencils in another, etc.

Or you can add your kid (or a classroom full of kids) to snowglobes with this craft from Twitchetts. It’s easy to make and fun for kids to help with, too.

You can also make snow globes with paper plates pretty easily, and there are lots of different options out there that should give you some ideas. This one from In the Playroom uses blue glittery pompoms as the snow and has a snowman in the background (though you can use whatever you want).

Mas and Pas uses a clear plate on top of a regular plate to make its snow globe, and Daydream into Reality just uses a paper plate to make the snow globe shape but there’s no snow involved. Their template includes different images you can put in the snow globe, or draw your own.

If you want to make a snow globe without the watery (so potentially less mess) you can make a waterless snow globe out of a plastic cup with this tutorial from The Pragmatic Parent. It uses tiny foam balls as the snow. Tidy Mom’s version uses a real glass jar and fake snow to flurry around.

And if you’re OK with using liquids in your snow globe, which will allow the snow to flutter like in a real snow globe, check out this version from 123 Homeschool 4 Me, which uses water and baby oil.

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