DIY Snow Globes

What a fun craft this ended up being!  I would recommend it only for ages 12 and above.  Just having teenagers and myself doing the craft, our programming rooms still looks like a unicorn exploded in the sink.  Other than a little mess and a little practice, (and a little hot glue burn on my thumb), this craft was very simple.  We googled "how to make your own snowglobe", and purchased miniature glass jars (my colleague found a box of 20 for $20 in the wedding aisle of our local craft store!), a small bottle of glycerin, and lots and lots of glitter.  

I also decided to buy my own personal larger mason jar and merman figurine, because I wanted a merman snow globe.  Legit, right?  The snow globes themselves were assembled in a few easy steps:

Materials:

• Small jars with lids
• Figurines, photos, or magazines
• Hot glue gun 
• Glitter and/or sequins
• Glycerin
• Water
• Felt and yarn, optional

Directions:

• Glue your figurine (Harry Potter Lego guy, if you have it) with hot glue to the lid of the jar OR
• Cut a picture (of Taylor Swift) out and laminate it with packing tape; glue to the back of the jar
• Add glitter and/or sequins
• Add one drop of glycerin 
• Add water to top of jar
• Screw on lid! As tightly as you can!
• Shake it, shake it off
• For upside down snow globes (where the lid is on the bottom), seal the lid with hot glue so that the water doesn't leak out.  
• Optional: Rubber band a piece of felt around the lid of your jar, trim sides, and tie a piece of yarn around the base, as pictured in the merman snow globe.

My large merman snow globe ended up having to go without water because I couldn't seal it off without leaking.  Probably because I bought one of those mason jars with the two part lid! Oh, well. He will still be proudly displayed on my desk in all his glory.  Along with Taylor Swift and Harry Potter!

Early Literacy Skill Set 2: Print Awareness

Researchers say that there are six skills that are important for children to learn before they are ready to read: Print Motivation, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Vocabulary, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness (Source: Every Child Ready to Read via Saroj Ghoting).  These are known as early literacy skills, sometimes referred to as emergent literacy skills.

What is Print Awareness? Just like it sounds, print awareness is noticing or recognizing the simple fact that printed letters and words have meaning.  Furthermore, print awareness involves getting to know how a book works: that text flows from left to right and top to bottom, how to hold a book the correct way, and that a book has different parts such as its pages, cover, back cover, and spine.


What are some things that you can do to raise print awareness?

Run your finger underneath the text as you read together, pointing out each word you read.

Point out the difference between the author and the illustrator of a book.

Let your child hold the book and turn its pages.

Read the title, author, and illustrator on the spine label of the book.

Print awareness is not limited to books!  We are surrounded by print. Point out signs, labels, posters, even your grocery list!

Books that have just a few words on each page can be helpful in the early stages of print awareness. Try The Everything Book by Denise Fleming.  Its bright illustrations are labeled with words, somewhat like a visual dictionary. Bonus if you can get it in the board book format... then little fingers can turn the pages without ripping them out!

Choose books that have large, bold font sizes.  An easy reader like Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel is a great choice not only for its bold, simple text, but it also introduces the idea of chapters to little ones!

Stories that mention the pages of a book and the book itself as a part of the story like Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett are a great choice.

Finally, books with repeated phrases like Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina make it easy for young readers to jump in, participate, and gain confidence.

A silly way to encourage print awareness that is sure to get some giggles is to start reading upside down or backwards.  If the little one is quite ready to catch on, simply point out your "mistake"!

Early literacy skills (the skills children acquire before they are ready to read and write) are important in developing the confidence of early readers.  When children develop print awareness, they get more comfortable with books.  When they are comfortable with books, they will be ready to read!