Dino Hats (and Frog Gifts)

For our last dinosaur craft, we made Stegosaurus hats.

It's very simple. I started by drawing a Stegosaurus on a big piece of white construction paper. (I drew my template freehand, so it's very basic.) Then I cut it out with another piece of paper under it, so I had two dinosaurs. I stapled them together, one staple near the head and one near the tail.

The kids used markers and crayons to decorate both sides.

Then you just open it up by pulling the two pieces of paper apart, and put it on your head! It might need another staple if it's too big.

The kids loved them. They wrote their names on the plates of the Stegosaurus, one letter per plate. So cute!
Today was my last day with many of my kids. So sad! A few days ago I received a frog cookie cutter from one of my sweeties. So I decided to make frog rice krispie treats for their last day.

I added green food coloring to the marshmallows. For the eyes, I used cinnamon discs to make them red-eyed tree frogs, my favorite. M&Ms would probably be better, but I didn't have any. I used some chocolate frosting I had leftover in the fridge to "glue" the eyes on.

Doesn't look very appetizing, does it? But they tasted great! The same girl also gave me a frog mood ring.

I wore it the rest of the week and the kids were always interested in what color it was. Black means stressed, so whenever the kids got a little out of control I would say, "Uh-oh, my frog is turning black!" And it worked! The kids would settle down right away! (The purple color you see above means romantic. I had a heck of a time explaining that one to the kids!) Another little girl got me this cute frog notebook.

I can't wait to write notes in it! And yet another girl got me this frog made out of forks and spoons.

How cool is that? Do you think I talk to my class about my obsession with frogs too much? :o)