Penguins

This is a hard time of year for crafts. Christmas is over and the oodles of Christmasy stuff has been put away, you've already done 2 months worth of wintery crafts and it's starting to get boring. So last week I busted out some penguin facts and we made penguin mosaics out of torn paper. Pretty easy for older kids and younger ones will still enjoy it with a little help.

What you need:

• Glue stick
• Blue Construction paper for background
• White construction paper, torn into little squares
• Black construction paper, torn into little squares
• googley eyes
• small bit of orange paper

WHat to do:
Draw your penguin outline on the blue paper - an oval with a flat bottom and then feet sticking out. Put a smaller oval in the middle for it's belly. Have your child glue little pieces of paper onto the outline. You rip out an orange triangle for it's beak and even a pink or red bow for it's hair or a bowtie.

Penguin Facts (for little dudes who don't really care a whole lot)

• Penguins eat seafood - mostly fish, squid and krill
• Penguins are birds, but they don't fly in the air - they swim so fast though, that it looks like they are flying under the water
• A large group of penguins is called a "Waddle"
• They like to use their bellies like a toboggan
• Baby penguins are called chicks.
• As soon as a chick hatches it "sings" loudly for it's parent so they will recognize it's unique voice.
• When it's really cold penguins will all huddle together and 'cuddle' to stay warm

GOOP!

Have you heard of GOOP? It acts like a solid when under pressure or moving, but like a liquid when at rest. Super neat, super easy and LOTS of entertainment!
What you need:
1c Cornstarch
1/2c water (I used a splash more)
**Optional: food colouring

Mix the cornstarch and water and PLAY! You can add drops of random food colouring to teach colour mixing or just for fun (it's kind of messy, but nothing some soap and warm water can't fix).