Star Wars Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

Chewbacca Star Wars Shape Craft

November 2, 2015 By Deirdre

A few weeks ago I shared with you a Chewbacca puppet. I recently came across a super cool Yoda shape craft on Toddler Approved. It got me thinking. Why not try to make a Chewbacca Star Wars Chewbacca craft with you! This craft focuses on using a variety of shapes to build Chewbacca.

Kids will be familiar with the square, rectangle, and triangle shapes used in this Star Wars craft. I am guessing that the trapezoid and hexagon will be new to them. Yes, the hexagon is elongated and even kids that know that shape might not recognize it. I didn’t want to pass up the chance to have to lesser-known shapes appear in this craft.

If I were having a group of children or was working one on one to craft Chewbacca together, I would take a moment to go over each of the shapes. I would have them help me figure out how many of each shape was being used in the craft. We might even graph the number of shapes used. That would make this a math and craft activity.

If I were placing this in a craft center, I would have a copy of the finished craft on display. I would probably have blocks in the shapes used in the craft out for kids to explore too.

I like to build crafts step by step with kids. It gives JDaniel and/ or my students the opportunity to talk about the building materials, shapes, and the process.

It also gives us the opportunity to talk about positional words like above and below. I am not talking about long discourses. I am just taking a few seconds or minutes to work on vocabulary and listening skills.

I have found that it helps build a moment of learning and not just a craft. There is nothing wrong with placing this craft in a center or a craft table and just building it. I just wanted to share how I have done it.

Bonus: I have created a free printable version of this Star Wars Themed Shape Printable Craft craft you can use with your children.

Here are some other Star Wars Activities we have done:

Wookie Cookie

Star Wars Breakfast for Lunch

Yoda Star Wars Puppet

Star Wars Snack- Wookie Cookie

October 9, 2015 By Deirdre

A few weeks back I shared with you a Chewbacca paper bag puppet and some fun Chewbacca sounds the puppet could make. Today I want to share with you another version of Chewbacca. I am calling this Star Wars snack a Wookie Cookie. It was created using the same fork painting technique the puppet did.

Let me walk you through the steps that were used to create this fun Star Wars snack. Then you can make a Wookie Cookie of your own.

Ingredients:

Graham crackers
Hazelnut spread
Chocolate sandwich cookies
Raisins: black and golden
Prunes

Steps for Making the Star Wars Wookie Cookie

The first thing you need to do is spread the hazelnut spread on the graham crackers with a knife. Then create vertical lines in the spread with a fork. (Just like the fork painting you would need to do to make the Chewbacca puppet.)

The second step is created the Wookie’s mouth. I needed to carefully cut a chocolate sandwich cookie in half. The serrated edge of a bread knife helped me cut through the cookie without cracking it. A paring knife was used to cut the teeth out of the white sandwich filling. I carved out the teeth while it was still attached to the cookie. When the teeth were just the way I wanted them, I pried the filling off the cookie. Then the hazel nut spread was spread onto the inside of the cookie half. (It was much smoother than the outside of the cookie was.) The teeth were placed on the graham cracker. Then the cookie half was placed on top with the round edge facing up.

The next step was much easier. Two raisins eyes of about the same size were place above the cookie . Half a prune nose was placed on the cookie half.

The finally step was to add the Wookie’s sash. The step was really easy too. Brown and golden raisins were cut into thirds vertically. The rounded outside pieces from the brown raisin each had a golden raisin section place between them to create a striped row. The opposite was done with the golden raisins. Each striped row was used to create a diagonal sash for the Star Wars Wookie Cookie.

Here are some more wonderful Star Wars ideas:

Star Wars ABC Game

Star Wars Breakfast

Crayon Resist Death Star – Fun-A-Day!

Star Wars Moon Dough – In The Playroom

Light Up May the Fourth Be With You Cards – Left Brain Craft Brain

Star Wars Day Perler Bead Pattern R2-D2 Brain Power Boy

Star Wars Craft- Chewbacca Puppet

September 18, 2015 By Deirdre

After making an owl puppet last week that featured fork painting, we decided to create another. We used the same brown paper bag and brown paint to create a Star Wars craft. This time we pained vertical strokes to make Chewbacca’s fur.

While the paint was drying, Chewbacca’s sash was created with black and white construction paper. The real Chewbacca’s sash has white vertical lines on the sash. It also has black lines on the white rectangles on the sash. We drew the lines onto our sash with crayon. To make finer lines we could have used colored pencils. I think the crayon lines came out well though.

The facial features on this Star Wars craft were also worked on while the paint was drying. Chewbacca’s eyes, nose and teeth were cut out of construction paper. We had a hard time trying to decide just what his teeth should look like. (I have seen a wide variety of teeth on other Star Wars craft idea featuring Chewbacca. Our Chewbacca ended up with a row of teeth that are all about the same size.

When our Chewbacca was finished, we practiced the sounds Chewbacca makes. I found a bunch of the communication sounds Chewbacca is supposed to make in a Yahoo forum. I am not sure he shares his feeling with these exact sounds, but it was fun to try to make our Chewbacca puppet say them.

Chewbacca Sounds

Angry = grrrwaaaaaarggggh
Laughing = brrwhhhaargh
Dissatisfied = wawoohrgh
Indifferent = br
Sceptical = mmmrwwaghgh
Frustrated = sputamureaghrh

After practicing to make sounds, your Chewbacca might like to read the following Star Wars books to your children:

If you create Chewbacca puppets, please share a picture with me on Facebook

Awesome Star Wars ABC Games with Free Printables

May 4, 2015 By Deirdre

Both Star Wars and LEGO are popular with kids. I decided created some awesome Star Wars ABC Games that feature light sabers made of LEGO. Pictures were taken of the light saber LEGO creations so that could be used build alphabet letters. You will want to printout these LEGO light sabers to play the games with your children.

The LEGO light saber printout contains a set large light sabers and a set of small light sabers that can be used for building letters. Some letters may need a combination of larger and small light sabers.

Here are some of the ABC Games You Can Play

Call It and Build It

Two players can take turns calling out a letter and building it. You will need to decide at the beginning of the game as to whether you will be building uppercase or lowercase letters. Actually, you could have players build both if you like. It is just a good idea to decide ahead of time what kinds of letters you will be building. The goal of this game is create the correct formation for each letter.

Alphabetical Order

Rather than randomly calling out letters. Players could have to build the letters in alphabetical order. They can alternate as to who is building a letter. If they need to sing the ABC song to remember what letter comes next, that would fine. Singing the alphabet is a great way to work on letters.

Build the Letters in Your Name

Children can work on building uppercase and lowercase letters as they spell their names. They can work on spelling one letter at a time and then clearing the workspace. If they have short name, they can try building their whole name on the workspace.

Build the Next Letter

This is one of those ABC games that needs two players. One player calls out a letter and the other player has to build the next letter in the alphabet. If your children are just learning the letters of the alphabet, you may want to have an alphabet chart out that they can refer to if they need to.

See what other awesome ideas are being featured for Star Wars Day!

Star Wars Tatooine Desert Sensory Bin– Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Star Wars Family Fun for May 4th – Mama Smiles

Star Wars kids’ embroidery: Yoda quote – Hodge Podge Craft

Star Wars R2-D2 Craft for Kids – Mom-Inspired Life

Light Saber Fine Motor Activity – Something 2 Offer

Make Your Own Star Wars Landscape – Planet Smarty Pants

Yoda Puppet Star Wars Craft – Coffee Cups and Crayons

Awesome Star Wars ABC Games with Printable- JDaniel4’s Mom

Free Play Dough Printable Set for Pretend Play – Life Over C’s

Star Wars Children’s Books – Kelly’s Classroom

Make a Toilet Paper Roll Yoda ‎ – Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Crayon Resist Death Star – Fun-A-Day!

Star Wars Moon Dough – In The Playroom

Light Up May the Fourth Be With You Cards – Left Brain Craft Brain

Star Wars Day Perler Bead Pattern R2-D2 Brain Power Boy

Here are some other LEGO-themed learning activities:

Over in the Meadow LEGO Creations and Book

How long will your boat float?

LEGO Fraction Games

Geometry Riddles Solved with LEGO

Valentine Ideas – Graphing with Candy Hearts and LEGO

If you try these ABC games, please leave me a comment below telling me about how your experiments went or share a picture of it on my Facebook page. If you are looking for more early-learning games, you will find a number of them on my Early Learning Pinterest board.

Please Save My Star Wars Pajamas For My Children

March 7, 2012 By Deirdre

For Christmas JDaniel received a pair of Star Wars pajamas from my sister Kate. He absolutely loves them. There have been a few nights that he has insisted that they be taken out of the wash pile so that he can wear them. They stayed in the wash pile and we had to find a pair that was almost as nice due to the fact that they had breakfast from that morning spread down the front of them. JDaniel really wasn’t happy about it but, he was willing to compromise after some calming conversation with me. I was the one calmly chatting.

This pair of pajamas has to be packed if we go away for the weekend and are his preferred clothing for the daytime too. He has only worn them all day if they are stayed clean at breakfast and he was too sick to leave the house up to this point.

They are only three months old and they are covered with pilly bumps and are starting to grow too short due to constant washing and drying.

Last week as we drove around town gathering things for his birthday parties he asked if I would save them for his children.

Here is how the conversation went:

JDaniel: Mom, will you save my Star Wars pajamas for my children to wear when the get big enough.

Me: Sure, we can save them.

JDaniel: I really think they will like them.

Me: How many children are you going to have?

JDaniel: As many as God decides to give me.

I know I was talking to you about pajamas but, I couldn’t have been more excited by his answer. We have been talking about handing things over to God and letting him send us His answer. I love that JDaniel is growing in His understanding of God.

I will keep my promise and set aside his Star Wars pajamas in a special box that already holds the outfit he wore home for the hospital and few other baby clothes that I would love to pass on to grandchildren someday.

I don’t know that JDaniel’s future wife and children will think about these pieces of memorabilia. I hope that they will appreciate that they were important to JDaniel or me. The Star Wars pajamas will probably be the most loved and most worn out thing the box. I have a feeling they won’t be the only pair of Star Wars pajamas in there. tTis pair will need to be replaced soon and JDaniel may want every pair he ever has saved.

Do you have a box of special things you are storing or have stored for your grandchildren?

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday. It is P week.

If you can and are interested in doing so, I would love for you to visit The Creative Moms List on Circle of Moms and vote for me. ( You can vote daily.)

Muffin Tin Monday- Star Wars Birthday Lunch

March 5, 2012 By Deirdre

JDaniel adores Star Wars. He has sticker books, action figures, and even a light saber . Today is JDaniel’s 4^th birthday. How could I not give him a Star Wars breakfast in a Muffin Tin!

R2-D2 and C-3PO are his favorites but, I could figure out how to do all the details R2-D2’s has on his case. I chose to do C-3PO, Yoda and Chewbacca instead.

C-3PO looks like he has been through a battle and lost part of his face. I confess I had a hard time cutting through the waffle. I kept trimming and trimming to smooth out jagged edges and finally decided enough was enough.

Yoda was fun to make with his green tortilla ears and lime yogurt face. At first I had him smiling and he just didn’t look right. Yoda always seemed to have a stern look on his face. I had to try several grape smiles to get it right. His raisin eyes had to be adjusted several times too. Yoda had piercing eyes it was hard to capture them in raisins on grapes on apples without having everything fall into the yogurt.

Chewbacca was so easy to put together. He just needed raisin eyes, a prune nose, a prune moth and apple bite teeth. Chewbacca’s fur really need to be darker but, I was afraid he would get overcooked in the toaster oven.

JDaniel loved this meal. The best part was dipping Chewbacca and C-3PO into syrup! Syrup isn’t mentioned in Star Wars as far as I know but, JDaniel sure loves it.

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday.

Valentine’s Day Crafts: R2D2 Valentine’s Day Card Box

February 12, 2012 By Deirdre

JDaniel loves Star Wars! I thought I would surprise him by crafting him a Valentine’s Day card box that looked like R2D2.

I’ll have to admit a felt a little like I was doing a uncover project. I worked on it during his “quiet time” and when he was playing with a friend. When he walked by as I was working on the pictures for this post, he commented that it looked like someone has a cool R2D2 online somewhere. I have to suppress a giggle knowing that it really is his.

How did I make it?

Supplies:

Paper lunch bag

White card stock

White crayon

Blue paint

Sponge

Small oatmeal container

Glue

Directions:

1. Find an outline of R2D2 online and print it out on white card stock.

2. Color every area of the card stock with a white crayon that you don’t want blue.

3. Sponge paint the cardstock with blue paint.

4. Cut out the outline of R2D in two pieces.

5. Lift up the flap of the paper bag to cut off the top half of the area under the flap.

6. Glue the top portion of R2D2 on the flap and the button on the body of the bag.

7. Slip onto a small oatmeal container.

8. Place a few notes of love into R2D2 for JDaniel to find when I put out his Valentine’s Day card box.

Exploring Greenville- Stars Wars Event at the Roper Mountain Science Center

October 15, 2011 By Deirdre

Last weekend we told JDaniel we need to go run so errands. He really wanted to stay home and play in the yard, but after convincing him that he would get to eat Chick Fil-A for lunch ,he got a little more excited about running errands.

The first stop lead us to a road JDaniel knows will take us to church. He pointed out that it wasn’t even Sunday yet. As we traveled a little ways down the road he noticed that we were turning left instead of right at the light.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Wait and see!” I told him.

When we pulled into the parking lot of the Roper Mountain Science Center, Jdaniel noticed other children walking from their cars. They had on Star Wars costumes. It was wonderful to watch the light bulb go off in his head.

“We are here to see Star Wars things!” he announced. He has been so into Star Wars since the cereal boxes displaying images of Star Wars characters arrived a few weeks ago for me to review for a giveaway.

There were so much to see and do.

We looked at all the displays.

The costumed Star Wars characters were admired from a far. Princess Leia was the only “nice” character that JDaniel recognized.

There was documentary on how the characters were developed and the robot costumes made. JDaniel loved this.

After looking at all the Star Wars exhibits, we headed to the animal exhibits in a different building. He loved getting to see and touch a variety of animals including a snake.

He has been asking to go back to the center. It really is a wonderful place to visit. One of the best things is that some of the Star Wars exhibits are permanent and we can visit them over and over again.