Alex Alien Valentine Mailbox

I got the idea for this craft from the February 2010 issue of Pack-O-Fun magazine. I left the sample on my desk, and when I came in the next morning, someone had put a dollar in it. Score!

Supplies:
Empty 2 liter soda bottle (remove the cap)
Styrofoam ball
Red foam
Black felt scraps
Glue
Hot glue
Scissors
Pencil

Cut out a small circle of black foam and glue it to the ball. Push the ball down on the top of the bottle. This will be your alien's eye.

Cut a mouth in the middle of the bottle. I had to use a razor to make a small slit in each bottle, but the kids could cut the rest.

Draw teeth, tentacles, hearts, polka dots, or whatever you imagine on the red foam, cut it out and glue it on to your alien. Small pieces will stay on with regular glue, but larger pieces need hot glue.

Put it out and let it fill up with valentines.

The Incredible Edible Snowman

This craft is based on something I did with my librarian when I went to story time. That was 20 years ago, so it certainly left an impact on me. It was a big hit with the pre-k and kindergarten story time groups, and even some of the older siblings got in on it. Some of the snowmen made them out of the library; some were not so lucky. The one pictured here tragically lost his life when one of our teenage pages got hungry.

Supplies:
Marshmallows
Pretzel sticks, broken in half
Fruit roll-ups, cut into strips
Graham crackers
Tube of white cake decorating gel
Round sprinkles

Stick half a pretzel into the top of a marshmallow. Press another marshmallow into the top of the pretzel. Repeat so you have three marshmallows stacked on top of one another. Break another pretzel in half and stick them into your middle marshmallow to make arms. Wrap the fruit roll-up strip around the snowman’s neck to make his scarf. Use the decorating gel and sprinkles to give him a happy face; add buttons of you want. Finally, squeeze gel onto the bottom of your snowman and stick him to the graham cracker base.

Admire. Devour.

What we read:
Cat and Mouse in the Snow by Tomek Bogacki
Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee
First Snow by Bernette Ford