When I was working at Mimosa, I became familliar with many unique, quality toys and books for children.  One of the books that I bought and have given as gifts is The Super Duper Art & Craft Activity Book by Lynn Gordon.  It is a collection of indoor and outdoor hands-on activities for kids. 

Divided into four sections:

• Sunny Day Fun
• Rainy Day Fun
• Recycle it
• Party & Gift Activities

It is easy to find an activity that can be done with little preparation and despite unfavorable weather outside.

As I pulled the book down, the dancer happily exclaimed, “Ooo my present!”  Yes, a Christmas gift we had not used yet.  Shame on this momma.  🙂  We decided to make the “Zoo Reliefs.”

Materials needed:

• cardboard
• scissors
• pencil
• foil

First, the kiddos chose the animals we would use: elephant, lizard, bear, gorilla, and snake.  After drawing some rudimentary animals on the cardboard, they were cut out.  The kiddos enjoyed playing with their cardboard animals as I finished cutting out the figures.

We covered one of their animals with foil and they rubbed away until the relief began to appear.  They thought it was magic of course, and were very pleased. 

When they were done with their reliefs, they began making things out of their foil…balls, swords…whatever they could think of.

Should you choose to display your reliefs before they become sculptures, wrap the foil around another piece of cardbard, staple the back, and display it where they choose.

It was fun watching how differently they go about their projects.  The builder loved playing with the cardboard animals (maybe we will paint them tomorrow).  He is so ready to see results and was the first to create the sculptures.  The dancer is very talented with her hands.  She watched me for a moment and got right in there, rubbing away like a pro.  She has a longer attention span for detail. 🙂