Thursday, January 5, 2012

D is for Dirt in my Dump Truck

Notice the date? 1-3-11. Yeah, we haven't quite got a hang on the 2012 thing yet. ;)

I came up with this idea last year and it is one of my favorite craft projects of the year.  I got my dump truck picture from Crayola's website. Click the link <<<<< and it will take you right to the printable!

 I popped a movie in the selected a movie from ON DEMAND! (yay for instant movies!) And cut out 27 dump trucks! It was actually really relaxing. We preglued the trucks on half sheets of colored construction paper. We had a busy day, and having the trucks pre-glued saved us precious class time.

During Circle Time, I allowed the kids to guess what the "dirt" that we were going glue onto our dump trucks actually was. I store it in a clear baby food jar, but I took the lid off and had them smell what was inside. Can you guess what it is? COFFEE! yay for coffee! We had a short lesson on how the coffee was a bean, got ground up, which is why it resembles dirt! Then we could put in our coffee maker, run hot water over it and it turns the water into coffee!  ( Take advantage of those 1 minute lessons. I promise some of those students will remember!)  The kiddos colored their dump trucks first. Then they covered the back of the dump truck with glue, sprinkled coffee grounds over it and we helped them shake off the excess! A craft becomes a sensory experience!

Wanna know the best part??? I have a Keurig. I love it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It was a wedding shower/wedding gift from my aunt and uncle. Best. Gift. Ever.  But if I have a Keurig, then I don't have coffee grounds. I have k-cups instead. Well, if you have not noticed, coffee is freaking expensive lately! ARGH!!!  So I am not going out to buy a can of coffee that will last me a billion years of craft projects. BUT, I have all these little complimentary hotel room coffees that my MIL takes every time we stay somewhere. But we don't use them, because we have a Keurig. So, FREE hotel room coffee=Free craft supply! YAY for free hotel room coffee!!!! Do it. Take the coffee. They want you too. ;)


9 comments:

  1. So cute! We did a dump truck activity this week too! Found you on the TGIF link party.

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  2. Awesome idea! Think my little boy would enjoy doing something like this too.

    Definitely not in my groove for 2012 yet either.

    Stopped by from TGIF.

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  3. love it ! def. n my list of to do sooon thanks for sharing it.

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  4. Very cute!! What a fun idea =-) It usually takes me 1/2 a year to start writing the right date=-) Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Have a great weekend,
    Beth =-)

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  5. Cute!! My kids would love this activity. I know my kids remember little things their teachers say all the time, so keep on teaching them the minute lessons:) So glad you shared at AfterSchool.

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  6. What a cute activity - did the kids think it was funny they were using coffee for dirt? I love seeing their different coloring styles!

    Thanks for sharing at the Afterschool Blog Hop!

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  7. They loved it! They thought it looked real! :)

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  8. This is a cute craft. Thanks for sharing it with Afterschool!

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