X-rated Gingerbread Boy

As I said in a previous post, the kids made paper gingerbread likenesses. I have a few specimens to share that I thought you might enjoy. The first was created in pure innocence. My class friend wanted to make a candy cane on his boy for decoration but he had already started putting paper buttons down the front of the gingerbread boy. Rather than have to start over, he just added the hook and made is cane upside down. He then added the Puff paint to accent the shape. He stepped back proudly admiring his work. "So now you can really tell, right?" I said, "Oh, Yeah! Mom and Dad are gonna love it!" I gave him the freedom to create his artwork. I will let his 9 year old brother enlighten him about his creation. I am sure it will take big brother about 2 seconds to see what the 4 year old in his creative frenzy did not. Good times in preschool!!!

(Insert off-color Joke here)

They were creating all kinds of fashion. The one above on the left made his have bones. Good thinking, I told him. He said bones were so he would not fall down. The one on the right got a belt and below it a belly button (added with a snicker). I love to hear all the reasoning.

My job is good. I am so blessed to be working in a place where I have can work every day, be totally worn out at the end, and still want to go again the next day because it feel like I am doing what I am called to do right now. I am grateful for the friendship I have in co-workers, for freedom and encouragement to be creative, and for wonderful kids whose early learning I am privileged to influence. How wonderful to think that children come to my class excited to learn and thinking that school is fun! I hope they keep the joy of learning and discovering always. Maybe they will not remember me specifically, but hopefully they will leave my class with a desire to learn and a desire to be a friend to others. That's my goal.

Wow! I was not intending to be philosophical, but I am grateful. God had given me a wonderful opportunity to touch the lives of children and families. I have a ministry here. I was feeling a bit jolly and joyful because of Christmas and my heart is thankful for the gift of a job that pays my bills and gives me a ministry too. Am I anxious to get out of school for a break? YES!!! But I also want to keep on teaching while it is my time to do so. Only 2 days this week!! Come on Christmas...

If Gretal had a day job...

Gretal's escaped the wicked witch and got a job teaching preschool. I made 30 cracker houses for our gingerbread week at school. I told myself I would not do it anymore. Too much work. But the rewards came the next day when I helped the kids make their houses. OK, I'm in for next year. I will just have to get more done in advance so I am not crunched for time. What a jolly project it was!

This is a picture of Lylah and some of her classmates with their houses. See the joy? I love these cuties!


This past week at school we made gingerbread houses. I made them f graham crackers. Super easy! ( took a chunk of time for the mass quantity, though). Each house takes about 5 crackers. I used royal icing to "glue" the houses together and then I mixed a little cream of tartar into canned icing to allow the kids to glue the candies on their houses. I read somewhere that the cream of tartar helps the icing to harden and, therefore, hold the candies on the houses. The project was a hit and all the kids really enjoyed decorating their houses.

It was funny to see the difference between the age groups and their thought processes. My morning group had several shades of decorating philosophies. They are 2. My younger ones mostly just saw piles of candy as the most awesome buffet ever and later caught onto the concept of putting the candies on the houses. The older 2's wanted to make houses pretty "for Mommy". I love this sweet stage where everything they do is for Mommy or Daddy to enjoy (I , being Mommy appreciate her creations and enthusiasm.) My 4 and 5 year olds had a few different philosophies too. There were some who wanted to make houses that looked great and so they added chimneys, and widows, and door knobs, and Christmas lights. These houses would go home and be proudly displayed. Then there were others who wanted to pile as much candy on their houses as possible so that they could take them home and eat them. Their houses were about 10 lbs and not a speck of the crackers underneath were visible. But they were all proud of the houses and super excited to show parents at pick up time.


Lylah had a mixture of philosophies going on too. Being 2, she was way into eating the candy rather than decorating the house at first. I took several pictures of her and her cheeks look as though she has either had her wisdom teeth extracted or has turned into a chipmunk. But really, she was a candy glutton...I guess I should let her have a piece now and then and maybe she would not feel the need to stuff her face because she will never see the stuff again. Anywho, after filling her mouth full of candy, she began to be willing to put a few pieces on the house and ended with a cute finished product. She really loved holding it on the way to the car and into the house so she could steal little licks from the peppermints that adorn the roof. It now sits safely on a shelf beyond her reach. She proudly showed Daddy her house first thing when he got home (and took a little sneak-lick).


Cheeks packed to the hilt. One for the house and sneak 3 for me...

Proud of her work! "Can I have just one more lick, Mommy, and then that's it? No more after that. OK? " Seems like she might have heard those words before. My negotiator.

"Gingerman Lylah"

Here is a fun project that we did on Friday. I have said before that one of my favorite things to do with kids is let them paint with Puff paint made from shaving cream and glue. You use equal parts of both ( pretty much--I use more shaving cream most of the time). It is an amazing puff paint because it is fluffy and soft and feels so neat when it dries. Every time I do an art experience with my class I have parents and passers by in the hallway asking what the art is made of. All that to say, you should try it out. You will love it too. It is messy because the kids really get into it ( and it's 1/2 glue), but it washes out of clothes well if you just use glue and shaving cream. If you want color you will have to use food coloring. If you try to use paint you will end up with a form of a not useful, almost silly putty. Here goes... The Gingerbread Kid project. Lylah calls hers Gingerman Lylah. She always leaves out the "bread" part in the middle.

Supplies:
Bowl to mix puff paint and spoon to stir
Shaving Cream
School Glue
Roll of Brown craft paper big enough to trace your child and make clothes if you wish
Scissors
Paint and paint brush
Plastic Pastry bag or a sturdy Zip Top bag to use for piping "icing"


Finished Product!! By the real Gingerman Lylah in her favorite unicorn jammies.
First step: Trace around your willing assistant. I used brown craft paper so that I would have a ready made gingerbread color to start with. I Then used the cut out body to make a pattern for a dress and boots and mittens and hat just like a paper doll.


Step Two: Enlist the help of the willing assistant. Paint the clothing pieces. She wanted to use pink. I love the look it made. It ended up looking like the frosting on those yummy iced animal cookies. I think you could get the same look with any paint as long as you added white to it to make it more icing-ish. Let it dry.

Step four, five, and six: I guess are the most important and I did not take pictures of them. Oops!! Sorry. I am not used to taking the pictures all along the way. I will explain them instead.
4. Glue the pieces of clothing to the body for a permanent paper doll effect.
5. Mix equal parts of shaving cream and glue in a bowl until completely incorporated and then transfer the mixture into a plastic pastry bag without a decorative tip. Snip a tiny snip of the tip of the bag so that you have a small opening that the paint will be piped from.
6. Pipe the paint mixture onto the paper gingerbread kid in a decorative gingerbread fashion. I outlined the whole body and made details for the face and clothing. Let this all dry for several hours and then display! Ta da!! A paper gingerbread kid.
p.s. You can make this project in a variety of ways. I did them with both of my preschool classes this week too. Theirs look a lot more 'kid made' because they are. For the class I made the paint mixture and put it in the piping bags and put a twist tie on the end so the paint wouldn't ooze out. I did NOT trace extra clothes out of paper and have them paint the clothes. All of their decorations were made with glue and construction paper, raisins, and puff paint. You could also use candy (real or stickers) for clothing decoration. Here is a link to the classroom designs. This is a project my two year old class loved as well as my five year old class. My 5's had some pretty fun and funky designs and were really into it. I hope you will try it. Let me know if you do. I would love to see some more ideas for the gingerbread kids and pictures of the fun. Happy Crafting!