Sunday, September 5, 2010

sunday kids' craft: buttons of fun!

What is small, round, colorful and has the ability to occupy a child's attention for at least an hour?  A button . . . well, actually lots and lots of buttons.  If you haven't invested in one of those $4.00 bucket of buttons from your local craft supply store, then you are missing out.  Hundreds of buttons equals loads of entertainment and education.

Here are some of our favorite button activities.  (Remember buttons are small, so this activity is not appropriate for very young children.  And if you have children of any age who have a tendency to put things in their mouths or up their noses - I'm guessing at least one person reading this has been to the emergency room for a nose extraction ;), very close supervision is necessary.) 

1)  Counting and sorting - Practice counting and sorting by grouping buttons by number in color.  See how high your little ones can count.

2)  Biggest and smallest - Practice size recognition and early math skills by finding the biggest buttons in the bunch and then the smallest buttons in the bunch. 

3)  Count the color - Pick one color and count all the buttons of that color.  We have 42 black buttons in our bucket of buttons, and my five year old was so proud when she counted all of them.

4) Color identification - Perfect for two and three year olds who are learning their colors, but my five year old still likes this as well when I use more complex color names like salmon rather than pink.   

5) Button pictures - Create button art using the variety of colors and button shapes.  The best part?  The buttons can all go back in the bucket to be reused. 

Simple, easy, educational and cheap . . . can't get much better than that.

Craft on!

I may link to some of these great parties.  Go check them out by clicking on the blog name below or visiting my "I like to party" page.

Monday - Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, The Girl Creative, The Trendy Treehouse, CRAFT, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Between Naps on the Porch, Tools Are For WomenIt's So Very Cheri, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can DO

Tuesday - All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee, New Nostalgia, Creative Itch, Lucky Star Lane, Hope Studios, These Creative Juices, My Delicious Ambiguity, Today's Creative Blog-Get Your Craft On!

Wednesday - It's So Very Cheri, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket DesignTrendy Treehouse, Tea Rose HomeSomeday Crafts, My Backyard Eden, Sew Much Ado, Night Owl Crafting

Thursday -  Fireflies and Jellybeans, Life As Lori, House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, Seven Thirty Three, The Train to Crazy, PonyTails and FishScales, Black Kat's Design

Friday - The Sabby Nest, A Little Knick Knack, Fingerprints on the Fridge, It's Fun to Craft!, It's a Hodgepodge Life, Kojo Designs, Amy Lou Who, A Few of My Favorite Things, Simply Sweet Home, Frou Frou Decor, Remodelaholic

24 comments:

Kristin said...

Where did you find a cheap bucket of buttons? I always seem to like expensive buttons and thus have very few!

Beverly {Flamingo Toes} said...

ok. Super cute!! I love all the ways you use them. Great idea!!
And it would cut down on your buttons to reuse - but it would be so cute to take a photo of one of their button pictures and then recreate it on a pillow for them.

Unknown said...

Hey, that's a really great idea! Love the little button smily face at the end. Too cute!

Love, Laura

Debra Hawkins said...

Wow! You have a lot of buttons! I want to come play next time you get them out! Too bad my little one is still in the put everything in her mouth stage!

Jocelyn Christensen said...

Oh how I love buttons! Thanks for sharing your parties with us!

Jill said...

Lots of great button ideas there! Can't find them that cheap here I'm afraid, $4 for a bucket sounds great!!

Kaysi @ Keeping it Simple said...

That is so fun!!! I love it!

Anonymous said...

What a fun activity! I can never seem to find a good deal on buttons. Following from Make the world cuter. Would love to have you join my party on Friday!
mommaskindacrafty.blogspot.com

Ashley said...

Hi there! Im your newest follower! I just love our blog! Can't wait to read more!

Ashley
Sewmuchmoreinlife.blogspot.com

Aimee @ Explore, Learn, Have Fun! said...

Thanks for sharing these great ideas!! My mom has a button jar for the grandkids to play with - kids are fascinated by buttons!!

Aimee @ Justkiddingaroundatlanta

Stacy Risenmay said...

We have a huge jars of buttons at our house and my boys LOVE to play and craft with them. Cute blog :)

Unknown said...

I love buttons! I will keep my eyes peeled (even though that is a rather disgusting phrase...) for a bucket of buttons now that I know they exist. :)

Teri said...

Visiting from Skip To My Lou...and just wanted to say what an AWESOME idea for a blog! I love it! :)

Marie {Make and Takes} said...

What a great way to get your buttons organized, turning it into a game!!

Melissa said...

Buttons are a great learning tool, aren't they? My girls love them.

L Simonson said...

What a fun idea! I like playing with buttons too! :)

~Lori @ Paisley Passions

Join myThursday Linky Party
Come enter myGiveaway!

RedTedArt said...

What a fun post! Love all the colour sorting and counting as well as making a pretty craft!

Would love for you to link up with Kids Get Crafty over at Red Ted Art. The link is every Wednesday and here is this week's http://www.redtedart.com/2010/09/08/kids-get-crafty-eric-carle-homemade-puzzles/

Hopefully see you there?!

Thanks!

Maggy

Veronica said...

I love the idea, I recently bought like 200 buttons for $1.50... I was sad, ´cause most of them were ugly :( but now I know how to use them,and make crafty work with my girls thaks

Sassy Sites! said...

I would love to have you join me tomorrow over at our Sassy Sites blog party! It's our Feature YOU Friday! Come by and check it out! xoxo

Marni
@ Sassy Sites!

Katie said...

Great idea! I love getting kids involved in crafting and inspiring their creativity too! Would love you to join me at A Crafty Soiree, every Thursday.

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

My preschoolers love playing with buttons--they can be money, eyes, cookies. Thanks for linking up to the Under $100 Linky Party!

Amy at Ameroonie Designs said...

what great ideas for kids. sometimes we overcomplicate learning when it's all around us!

Lorie said...

I know my kids would love it! And I am jealous of your button stash!

Thanks for linking up to Show and Tell Saturday!!

PS - I love that you have the message about adding your email to your profile! I think I am going to start an annual add your email day! I know who to look to for backup when I do!! ;D

Sadie said...

I love buttons!

Sadie @ randomosityblog.com

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