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Capturing Parenthood

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum

in Activities, Toddler Zone on August 21, 2018

If you have little ones and you live in (or are planning a visit to) the beautiful state of Colorado, then a trip to the Colorado Railroad Museum is a must! It’s located on 15-acres of land, adjacent to Clear Creek, in scenic Golden, Colorado. The museum houses over 100 narrow and standard-gauge steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars, and cabooses. Your kiddos will jump for joy at the opportunity to hop aboard a passenger car and take a ride behind a historic steam engine. Toot! Toot! The model trains in the miniature rail yard are another huge draw, for kids young and old. A day at the Colorado Railroad Museum is a day full of adventure, exploration, education, and fun!

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

The museum was opened in 1959 byΒ Robert W. Richardson and Cornelius W. Hauck. Their mission (then and now) is to preserveΒ and convey the rich history of railroading in the Rocky Mountain Region for future generations. The railroad played an important role in the growth and development of the State of Colorado, and it will always hold a very special place in my heart.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

As I was growing up, my father worked for the Rio Grande and Union Pacific Railroads…as a conductor running coal trains out of the tiny town of Phippsburg, Colorado. His railroad career spanned from 1958 to 2004 and spawned many lifelong friendships. Needless to say, I became familiar with trains at a very young age. And I will never forget the time that I got to ride in the engine with my dad and the entire crew!

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

I lost my dad to cancer in 2006, and I still think of him every single day. Every time I’m driving down the road and a train engine rumbles by, it puts a smile on my face. It’s like my dad is just popping by to say a quick hello. I will always think of my dad when I see a train…the railroad was such a big part of his life.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

It saddens me that his life (and our time together) was cut short. He missed my college graduation, my wedding day, and the birth of his granddaughter. He was an excellent grandfather and I’m heartbroken that my little nugget will never get the chance to actually meet him.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

Visiting the Colorado Railroad Museum with my daughter was bittersweet. Walking by the old Rio Grande engines in the rail yard really made me miss my dad. But I was so grateful for the opportunity to share such a big piece of his life with my daughter. I could just picture him there, telling her a myriad of details about each and every train engine, car, and caboose…until she became bored and ran off to explore. πŸ™‚ And boy, is there a lot to explore!


Colorado Railroad Museum

Locomotives

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

The Colorado Railroad Museum houses numerous steam and diesel locomotives that were used to pull (or even push) trains along their tracks.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

My little nugget’s favorite engine was the Denver & Rio Grande Western Diesel Engine No. 5771 – or “Big Yellow” as she called it. This particular engine powered a passenger train that ran from Denver to Salt Lake City, from 1971 to 1983. During it’s last year in operation (1984) it powered the infamous Ski Train from Denver to Winter Park.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

I, on the other hand, fell in love with the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Engine No. 1. This adorable little 4-cylinder engine was built in 1893, for the sole purpose of transporting visitors to the summit of Pikes Peak. It was specially designed to climb steep mountain slopes and was retired from service in 1941.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

Snowplows

Winter in the Rocky Mountains posed many threats to the year-round operation of the railroad. Snow removal was a challenge, so snowplows were often utilized to clear snow drifts from the tracks.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

While smaller wedge plows were capable of clearing most snow drifts, deeper snow and more severe conditions required the use of a large rotary snowplow (as seen above). The rotary plow’s circular blades would chop the snow up and throw it to either side of the tracks. Power to spin the blades was generated by a steam engine located within the plow itself. Although, the snowplows were not capable of moving on their own…they had to be pushed by a locomotive. This particular Colorado & Southern Rotary Snowplow (No. 99201) cleared numerous mountain tracks from 1899 to 1965.

Passenger, Business & Freight Cars

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

Passenger cars have certainly come a long way. Many of the passenger cars housed in the rail yard feature individual, upright velvet seats…there were no cabins or sleeping quarters like the ones you see in cross-country trains today. The Colorado Midland Observation Car No. 111 (pictured above) was most frequently used for “wildflower excursions” near Pikes Peak. During the height of wildflower season, the train would stop to allow passengers to disembark and gather a bouquet.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

Back in the day, mail traversed the country by train. The Colorado & Southern Railway had five steel postal cars, including Car No. 254. This particular car was in operation from 1922 to 1967, and transported mail between Billings, Montana and Fort Worth, Texas (via Denver).

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

With the Coors Brewing Company right on the other side of Clear Creek, it’s not at all surprising to stumble upon this bright red Coors engine and Coors Refrigerator Car (No. 5400).

The Roundhouse & Turntable

Railroad roundhouses are mechanic shops for trains. The roundhouse at the Colorado Railroad Museum was constructed in 2000. It contains five different stalls, and is still utilized to restore and repair all of the museum’s operational equipment.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

The turntable in front of the roundhouse was built in 1900, by the American Bridge Company of Chicago. It was originally in operation at a rail yard in Kansas. Turntables are rotating bridges that are used to either turn rail cars around, or move them from one set of tracks to another. They were designed to be operated by as few as two people. Just two people rotating giant train engines…that’s crazy!

Cabooses

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

Exploring the interiors of the various cabooses in the rail yard was one of our favorite activities. Our little nugget loved climbing into the upper vantage points, that were typically utilized by the conductor and brakemen.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

We discovered cabooses that contained office space (small desks), bunk beds, and even kitchens (with extremely small stoves and sinks). Each caboose exuded its own unique character, and I loved each and every one of them…but perhaps that’s because the caboose has always been my favorite train car. πŸ™‚

Garden Railroad Display (Model Trains)

The miniature railroad at the Colorado Railroad Museum is owned and operated by the Denver Garden Railroad Society. There are a handful of trains that run on a few different tracks – including a train pulled by Thomas the Tank Engine, as well as a Rio Grande coal train…just like the ones my dad used to run.

Our little nugget loved sitting down for a snack alongside the mini railroad and watching the trains roll by. Members of the DGRS are welcome to bring and run their very own model trains along the tracks at the museum.


We had an incredible day at the Colorado Railroad Museum! We rode a real train, explored the entire rail yard (inside and out), and enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch with my mom. My amazing mother even surprised us with an edible train, made out of fruit! My daughter was thrilled! And that extra special touch made the day that much more memorable.

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

I’m so glad that my little nugget was able to learn more about her Grandpa that day. It was a day that I will never forget!

A Day at the Colorado Railroad Museum Β© Capturing Parenthood

If you have a train-obsessed kiddo, they will absolutely love the Colorado Railroad Museum. And you might even get lucky enough to visit during one of their special events. On a handful of select dates in September, visitors will be treated to a Day Out With Thomas – everyone’s favorite tank engine (and the museum’s most popular annual event). Guests have the opportunity to ride aboard a train led by Thomas himself, and have their photo taken with Sir Topham Hatt! Other entertaining annual events include a Trick-or-Treat Train in October, and the Polar Express in November and December.

For more information about the museum, please visit:Β http://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/.

Note: This is not a sponsored post…we just really loved our day at the museum!

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« Giant Painting & Coloring (2-in-1 Activity)
Color, Cut & Glue – Shapes »

Hello! Nice to meet you!

Welcome to the Capturing Parenthood blog! I'm Stacey...wife and first-time parent, former full-time working mom, turned stay-at-home mom. Join me as I capture and share my thoughts and experiences on this crazy adventure we call parenthood! Click here to learn more about me!

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Ok...@artwithmrs.e Haunted House project is hands- Ok...@artwithmrs.e Haunted House project is hands-down the best Halloween-themed art project out there! πŸ™ŒπŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ
We had a blast creating haunted houses for homeschool art this month! 🧑
...
We followed Kaitlyn's extremely helpful Haunted House Drawing Guide (you can find it over on her Teachers Pay Teachers account) and completed the project over the course of 3 lessons.
...
During our first lesson, we sketched our houses in pencil, and added some eerie exterior landscaping. πŸͺ¦πŸ¦‡
We popped in a few spooky characters (ghosts, spiders, pumpkins, and a vampire). πŸ‘»πŸ•·πŸŽƒπŸ§›
And then we traced over our pencil lines with black Sharpie.
...
During our next lesson, we used a coloring technique that we learned from Kristian @friendsartlab ❀️ We colored our pictures with oil pastels...and then painted over the top of the oil pastels with baby oil...it causes the oil pastels to bleed and blend together! 🀩
...
During our final lesson...we added more spooky characters to the inside of our house...that can peek out behind the doors and windows. πŸ’€πŸ§™β€β™€οΈπŸ‘»
To do this...I used an X-acto knife and carefully cut around the outside edges of the doors/windows (leaving the hinge sides intact so that they could fold open and closed).
We placed yellow construction paper in the background...and added witches, ghosts, skeletons, a mummy, and a Frankenstein! 😍
This step made our haunted houses really come to life...and we just can't thank Kaitlyn @artwithmrs.e enough for sharing this awesome lesson and drawing guide! THE ABSOLUTE BEST! ❀️❀️❀️
...
It was very evident how much our daughter loved this project...as we worked through each step...but the thing that solidified just how much she enjoyed it was - one weekend morning I walked downstairs to find her and her dad sitting at the table - and she was very excitedly teaching him how to draw his own haunted house - while she drew a few more herself (scroll to the last picture in the carousel)! πŸ₯°
...
#hauntedhouse #hauntedhouses #hauntedhousedrawing #directeddrawing #spookyart #halloween #happyhalloween #halloweenart #halloweenfun #elementaryart #homeschoolart #homeschool #homeschoolfun #capturingparenthood
I decided that these six little pumpkins needed a I decided that these six little pumpkins needed a permanent place on our feed...because WE GREW THEM OURSELVES!!! πŸŽƒ
That's right...first-time pumpkin-growers over here...and it was all actually a bit of a surprise. πŸ˜ƒ
...
You see, when we went to prep our garden beds this spring, we noticed a plant that had already started growing. We assumed it was a cucumber plant, since it was in the same place we had cucumbers last year.
We left it alone and planted a couple of other cucumber plants nearby. πŸ₯’
At first, the leaves on our mystery plant looked very similar to the leaves on our other cucumber plants.
But a couple of weeks later the plant had grown A LOT bigger. It was now obvious that it was not a cucumber plant. But what was it? πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
...
And that's when it suddenly dawned on these exhausted parents, that our daughter had spontaneously tossed seeds from her pumpkin (last Halloween), into the garden bed. πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ The mystery was finally solved...and by the looks of the large golden flowers that were emerging all over the vines...we figured we might have a few pumpkins come fall! πŸ™ŒπŸŽƒπŸ™Œ
...
It was so much fun to watch the pumpkin plant grow! 🀩 We had to cut down the wire on one side of our garden bed to let the vines out...and they ended up growing 6-10 feet long in both directions! 😳 It was crazy!
They put out the most gorgeous flowers...that the bees absolutely loved! 🧑 And soon enough, we spotted a few round gourds growing at the base of some of the flowers. They grew quickly...and then turned a beautiful shade of orange! 😍
...
Needless to say, we are now officially pumpkin-growing people! πŸ˜‚ My husband can't wait to plant more next year...and he's already looking in to different varieties - hoping to grow some larger jack-o-lantern style ones next season! πŸŽƒ
…
#pumpkins #growingpumpkins #ourpumpkinpatch #homegrownpumpkins #homegrown #homegarden #pumpkingrowing #gardening #fallharvest #happyhalloween #timetocarvesomepumpkins #gardensurprises #gardenfun #capturingparenthood
Free the Frankensteins from the Frozen Rainbow Bra Free the Frankensteins from the Frozen Rainbow Brain! 😬🌈🧠
…
Yesterday, we shared how we made this colorful, frozen rainbow brain - full of Frankenstein mini erasers…and today we wanted to show you what became of our beautiful brain! πŸ˜ƒ
…
We popped it out onto a tray, grabbed a shaker of salt, a bottle of warm water (colored red for added effect), and some tongs.
And then it was time to Free the Frankensteins (our daughter coined the phrase)! πŸ˜‰
…
This spooky activity provides chilly sensory play, motor skills practice, and scientific exploration (salt and warm water speed-up the melting process)! πŸ™ŒπŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ
As an added bonus…you also get some color-mixing! And the addition of the salt makes it extra sparkly too! 😍🀩😍
…
Eventually, all you’re left with is some mini erasers floating in a pool of colorful water…and a happy kid! ❀️❀️❀️
…
#frozenbrain #rainbowbrain #frozenrainbowbrain #brains #freethefrankensteins #halloween #happyhalloween #halloweenactivities #halloweenactivitiesforkids #halloweensensoryplay #sensoryplay #sensoryexploration #motorskills #motorskillsdevelopment #scienceforkids #kidscience #funactivities #funactivitiesforkids #halloweenfun #capturingparenthood
We are definitely getting into the fall and Hallow We are definitely getting into the fall and Halloween spirit...so during a recent homeschool art session, we decided to make some air-dry clay pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns! πŸŽƒπŸŽƒπŸŽƒ
...
Back in 2019, Lauralee @2art.chambers shared several colorful, air-dry clay pumpkins that her students made...and after rediscovering the saved post, I decided that it would be a perfect October art lesson for us too! 🧑
...
We used various colors of air-dry clay, and rolled each color into whatever pumpkin shape we wanted...and then we added our lines/indentations using the side of a credit card. πŸ’³ The stems are just small, broken pieces of old crayons (another genius idea from Lauralee). πŸ– And we topped our stems with pieces of pipe cleaner, to create the little curly cues. 😍
...
Once we had our pumpkins...we decided to change things up a bit, and grabbed our stash of googly eyes. πŸ‘€ (Most of) our fall pumpkins then transformed into Halloween jack-o-lanterns! πŸŽƒ
We pressed the googly eyes into the clay, and we used a few small tools (that came with our box of air-dry clay) to add their mouths. πŸ˜ƒ
...
And now we have a cute and colorful crew of clay pumpkins adorning our mantle! πŸŽƒπŸ§‘πŸŽƒ
...
#pumpkins #jackolanterns #claypumpkins #airdryclay #airdryclaycreation #airdryclayart #airdryclaypumpkins #elementaryart #fallartprojects #fallartprojectsforkids #halloweenart #halloweenartprojects #halloweenartprojectsforkids #homeschool #homeschoolart #homeschoolfun #halloween #happyhalloween #capturingparenthood
Andrew from @elementaryarts shared a patterned, bl Andrew from @elementaryarts shared a patterned, block letter name project a couple of weeks ago (I'll share the post in stories today), and I immediately added it to our list of art projects to do this year! 😍
But we decided to switch things up a little bit! Instead of using our names, we each picked a color that we like...wrote the name of the color in block letters on our paper...and created our color patterns using at least two different shades of our chosen color. πŸ–
...
This colorful project ended up being a lot of fun, and also very relaxing...as we all quietly focused, and zoned in on adding the color patterns around all of our letters. It was actually a bit hypnotizing! 🀩
...
Needless to say, we are really happy with the way our block letter color project turned out! πŸ™Œ We even had a special guest who wanted to join in on this art project! ❀️
...
P.S. We also used Andrew’s free TPT handout on how to make block letters! The bundle includes bubble letters, cursive letters, graffiti letters, and more! πŸ‘
…
#blockletters #blocklettering #colors #color #colorful #artproject #artforkids #kidart #elementaryart #artactivity #artactivities #artactivitiesforkids #colorfun #homeschool #homeschoolart #homeschoolfun #capturingparenthood
We created self-portraits for our first art projec We created self-portraits for our first art project of our homeschool year...and we are pretty obsessed with them! 🀩✏️🀩
...
I love the idea of doing a self-portrait project at the beginning of the year, and then again at the end of the year...so that we can see how much we've grown and changed.
...
We used Kaitlyn's @artwithmrs.e Simple Self-Portrait Drawing Guide and it was so incredibly helpful (especially for this new homeschool teacher who wouldn't necessarily list drawing as one of her stronger suits). πŸ˜‰
We actually purchased her entire Guided Drawing Bundle (over on Teachers Pay Teachers) and we highly recommend it! πŸ™ŒπŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ
...
We looked through the self-portrait drawing guide to get different ideas for our eyes, nose, mouth, and hair. πŸ‘€πŸ‘ƒπŸ‘„
...
Now...if you caught our stories earlier this week, you know that our daughter recently made a pretty big change to her hair (that included a partial side-shave and bob-length cut - she also dyed it blue). πŸ’‡β€β™€οΈ
She was used to drawing pictures of herself with her long, blonde locks...and her new hairstyle proved rather difficult. But she persevered, and ended up with a self-portrait that she was truly proud of! πŸ₯°
...
When we were finished drawing our likenesses, we decided to cut them out and create a special background to glue them onto. I went with random black and white designs...and our nugget decided to draw various things that she loves (her family, winter, candy, books, dolphins...and more)! ❀️
...
It was such a fun project...and I can't wait to see what our self-portraits look like at the end of our school year! πŸ˜ƒ
...
#selfportrait #selfportraits #homeschool #homeschoolart #elementaryart #artactivities #artactivitiesforkids #artforkids #kidart #homeschoolfun #capturingparenthood
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Ok...@artwithmrs.e Haunted House project is hands- Ok...@artwithmrs.e Haunted House project is hands-down the best Halloween-themed art project out there! πŸ™ŒπŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ
We had a blast creating haunted houses for homeschool art this month! 🧑
...
We followed Kaitlyn's extremely helpful Haunted House Drawing Guide (you can find it over on her Teachers Pay Teachers account) and completed the project over the course of 3 lessons.
...
During our first lesson, we sketched our houses in pencil, and added some eerie exterior landscaping. πŸͺ¦πŸ¦‡
We popped in a few spooky characters (ghosts, spiders, pumpkins, and a vampire). πŸ‘»πŸ•·πŸŽƒπŸ§›
And then we traced over our pencil lines with black Sharpie.
...
During our next lesson, we used a coloring technique that we learned from Kristian @friendsartlab ❀️ We colored our pictures with oil pastels...and then painted over the top of the oil pastels with baby oil...it causes the oil pastels to bleed and blend together! 🀩
...
During our final lesson...we added more spooky characters to the inside of our house...that can peek out behind the doors and windows. πŸ’€πŸ§™β€β™€οΈπŸ‘»
To do this...I used an X-acto knife and carefully cut around the outside edges of the doors/windows (leaving the hinge sides intact so that they could fold open and closed).
We placed yellow construction paper in the background...and added witches, ghosts, skeletons, a mummy, and a Frankenstein! 😍
This step made our haunted houses really come to life...and we just can't thank Kaitlyn @artwithmrs.e enough for sharing this awesome lesson and drawing guide! THE ABSOLUTE BEST! ❀️❀️❀️
...
It was very evident how much our daughter loved this project...as we worked through each step...but the thing that solidified just how much she enjoyed it was - one weekend morning I walked downstairs to find her and her dad sitting at the table - and she was very excitedly teaching him how to draw his own haunted house - while she drew a few more herself (scroll to the last picture in the carousel)! πŸ₯°
...
#hauntedhouse #hauntedhouses #hauntedhousedrawing #directeddrawing #spookyart #halloween #happyhalloween #halloweenart #halloweenfun #elementaryart #homeschoolart #homeschool #homeschoolfun #capturingparenthood
I decided that these six little pumpkins needed a I decided that these six little pumpkins needed a permanent place on our feed...because WE GREW THEM OURSELVES!!! πŸŽƒ
That's right...first-time pumpkin-growers over here...and it was all actually a bit of a surprise. πŸ˜ƒ
...
You see, when we went to prep our garden beds this spring, we noticed a plant that had already started growing. We assumed it was a cucumber plant, since it was in the same place we had cucumbers last year.
We left it alone and planted a couple of other cucumber plants nearby. πŸ₯’
At first, the leaves on our mystery plant looked very similar to the leaves on our other cucumber plants.
But a couple of weeks later the plant had grown A LOT bigger. It was now obvious that it was not a cucumber plant. But what was it? πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
...
And that's when it suddenly dawned on these exhausted parents, that our daughter had spontaneously tossed seeds from her pumpkin (last Halloween), into the garden bed. πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ The mystery was finally solved...and by the looks of the large golden flowers that were emerging all over the vines...we figured we might have a few pumpkins come fall! πŸ™ŒπŸŽƒπŸ™Œ
...
It was so much fun to watch the pumpkin plant grow! 🀩 We had to cut down the wire on one side of our garden bed to let the vines out...and they ended up growing 6-10 feet long in both directions! 😳 It was crazy!
They put out the most gorgeous flowers...that the bees absolutely loved! 🧑 And soon enough, we spotted a few round gourds growing at the base of some of the flowers. They grew quickly...and then turned a beautiful shade of orange! 😍
...
Needless to say, we are now officially pumpkin-growing people! πŸ˜‚ My husband can't wait to plant more next year...and he's already looking in to different varieties - hoping to grow some larger jack-o-lantern style ones next season! πŸŽƒ
…
#pumpkins #growingpumpkins #ourpumpkinpatch #homegrownpumpkins #homegrown #homegarden #pumpkingrowing #gardening #fallharvest #happyhalloween #timetocarvesomepumpkins #gardensurprises #gardenfun #capturingparenthood
Free the Frankensteins from the Frozen Rainbow Bra Free the Frankensteins from the Frozen Rainbow Brain! 😬🌈🧠
…
Yesterday, we shared how we made this colorful, frozen rainbow brain - full of Frankenstein mini erasers…and today we wanted to show you what became of our beautiful brain! πŸ˜ƒ
…
We popped it out onto a tray, grabbed a shaker of salt, a bottle of warm water (colored red for added effect), and some tongs.
And then it was time to Free the Frankensteins (our daughter coined the phrase)! πŸ˜‰
…
This spooky activity provides chilly sensory play, motor skills practice, and scientific exploration (salt and warm water speed-up the melting process)! πŸ™ŒπŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ
As an added bonus…you also get some color-mixing! And the addition of the salt makes it extra sparkly too! 😍🀩😍
…
Eventually, all you’re left with is some mini erasers floating in a pool of colorful water…and a happy kid! ❀️❀️❀️
…
#frozenbrain #rainbowbrain #frozenrainbowbrain #brains #freethefrankensteins #halloween #happyhalloween #halloweenactivities #halloweenactivitiesforkids #halloweensensoryplay #sensoryplay #sensoryexploration #motorskills #motorskillsdevelopment #scienceforkids #kidscience #funactivities #funactivitiesforkids #halloweenfun #capturingparenthood
We are definitely getting into the fall and Hallow We are definitely getting into the fall and Halloween spirit...so during a recent homeschool art session, we decided to make some air-dry clay pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns! πŸŽƒπŸŽƒπŸŽƒ
...
Back in 2019, Lauralee @2art.chambers shared several colorful, air-dry clay pumpkins that her students made...and after rediscovering the saved post, I decided that it would be a perfect October art lesson for us too! 🧑
...
We used various colors of air-dry clay, and rolled each color into whatever pumpkin shape we wanted...and then we added our lines/indentations using the side of a credit card. πŸ’³ The stems are just small, broken pieces of old crayons (another genius idea from Lauralee). πŸ– And we topped our stems with pieces of pipe cleaner, to create the little curly cues. 😍
...
Once we had our pumpkins...we decided to change things up a bit, and grabbed our stash of googly eyes. πŸ‘€ (Most of) our fall pumpkins then transformed into Halloween jack-o-lanterns! πŸŽƒ
We pressed the googly eyes into the clay, and we used a few small tools (that came with our box of air-dry clay) to add their mouths. πŸ˜ƒ
...
And now we have a cute and colorful crew of clay pumpkins adorning our mantle! πŸŽƒπŸ§‘πŸŽƒ
...
#pumpkins #jackolanterns #claypumpkins #airdryclay #airdryclaycreation #airdryclayart #airdryclaypumpkins #elementaryart #fallartprojects #fallartprojectsforkids #halloweenart #halloweenartprojects #halloweenartprojectsforkids #homeschool #homeschoolart #homeschoolfun #halloween #happyhalloween #capturingparenthood
Andrew from @elementaryarts shared a patterned, bl Andrew from @elementaryarts shared a patterned, block letter name project a couple of weeks ago (I'll share the post in stories today), and I immediately added it to our list of art projects to do this year! 😍
But we decided to switch things up a little bit! Instead of using our names, we each picked a color that we like...wrote the name of the color in block letters on our paper...and created our color patterns using at least two different shades of our chosen color. πŸ–
...
This colorful project ended up being a lot of fun, and also very relaxing...as we all quietly focused, and zoned in on adding the color patterns around all of our letters. It was actually a bit hypnotizing! 🀩
...
Needless to say, we are really happy with the way our block letter color project turned out! πŸ™Œ We even had a special guest who wanted to join in on this art project! ❀️
...
P.S. We also used Andrew’s free TPT handout on how to make block letters! The bundle includes bubble letters, cursive letters, graffiti letters, and more! πŸ‘
…
#blockletters #blocklettering #colors #color #colorful #artproject #artforkids #kidart #elementaryart #artactivity #artactivities #artactivitiesforkids #colorfun #homeschool #homeschoolart #homeschoolfun #capturingparenthood
We created self-portraits for our first art projec We created self-portraits for our first art project of our homeschool year...and we are pretty obsessed with them! 🀩✏️🀩
...
I love the idea of doing a self-portrait project at the beginning of the year, and then again at the end of the year...so that we can see how much we've grown and changed.
...
We used Kaitlyn's @artwithmrs.e Simple Self-Portrait Drawing Guide and it was so incredibly helpful (especially for this new homeschool teacher who wouldn't necessarily list drawing as one of her stronger suits). πŸ˜‰
We actually purchased her entire Guided Drawing Bundle (over on Teachers Pay Teachers) and we highly recommend it! πŸ™ŒπŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ
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We looked through the self-portrait drawing guide to get different ideas for our eyes, nose, mouth, and hair. πŸ‘€πŸ‘ƒπŸ‘„
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Now...if you caught our stories earlier this week, you know that our daughter recently made a pretty big change to her hair (that included a partial side-shave and bob-length cut - she also dyed it blue). πŸ’‡β€β™€οΈ
She was used to drawing pictures of herself with her long, blonde locks...and her new hairstyle proved rather difficult. But she persevered, and ended up with a self-portrait that she was truly proud of! πŸ₯°
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When we were finished drawing our likenesses, we decided to cut them out and create a special background to glue them onto. I went with random black and white designs...and our nugget decided to draw various things that she loves (her family, winter, candy, books, dolphins...and more)! ❀️
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It was such a fun project...and I can't wait to see what our self-portraits look like at the end of our school year! πŸ˜ƒ
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#selfportrait #selfportraits #homeschool #homeschoolart #elementaryart #artactivities #artactivitiesforkids #artforkids #kidart #homeschoolfun #capturingparenthood
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