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!

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Weekend - a little lovely, Craft Envy, Under the Table and Dreaming, Be Different Act Normal, A Vision to Remember, 504 Main - Tickled Pink, Funky Junk Interiors, Tatertots and Jello, I heart naptime

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 Women,  It's So Very Cheri, Skip to My Lou, Sew Can DO

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Wednesday - It's So Very Cheri, Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Trendy Treehouse, Tea Rose Home, Someday 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