CACTUS ART You will need one empty toilet tissue tube and some cardboard
for this activity.
Cut two slits down 2" from the top on each side of
a toilet tissue tube.
Cut out a large fat "U" shape from your cardboard.
Slide the cardboard down through the slits creating a stand
up cactus shape.
Your child can decorate his cactus by coloring it green,
adding a face if he wants, gluing on ends of tooth picks
for spikes or a dried flower on top.
EXTENSION: You can make a cute puppet from the cactus by cutting
out a circle in the front of the cactus below the cardboard
arms. The circle then becomes a bird's nest. Your child can
now use the cactus as a puppet, by sticking her hand up the
tube and wiggling a finger out the hole to represent a baby
bird in the cactus nest.
HAPPY CACTUS
You will need 12” x 18” sheets of beige construction paper, green paint and brushes, plus black marking pens.
Invite your children to join you one at a time.
Help each child paint one hand and part of their arm with green tempera paint.
Have children hold their middle three fingers straight and touching each other, with the thumb and little finger stretched out.
Then have them make a green arm and hand print on their papers.
Set out a dishpan filled with warm soapy water and some sponges to help the children clean their arms and hands.
When the paint is dry, have each child draw a happy face on his or her cactus.
3-D CACTUS
You will need green play dough and some flat toothpicks for this project.
Give your children some green playdough.
Show them pictures of Saguaro Cactus and let them roll a large chunk of dough into a body, then roll out two small arms to stick on.
Let them break off the tips of six toothpicks and stick them into the dough to create spines.
ADDITIONAL CACTUS ART IDEAS
Go to the Pattern station and look under “Cactus Activities”.
