Let the Sun Shine In!

I teach 2 year olds at church. After years of teaching elementary aged children, its not easy for me to come up with activities that can be appropriate for a toddler. 
Our lesson was on "God made the sun, moon, and stars." Simple, right? 
Well, nothing is really simple when it comes to 2 year olds......

.... but we gave it a good try. We let the children color on the back of the pillow and then we quickly stuffed them and sewed the small opening closed. Judging from how they held on to their little sun pillows when finished, I think it was successful. You might want to try this with your little ones.

 1. Trace off a circle onto the wrong side of a piece of canvas or muslin. Let your pencil lines show and use these as a sewing guide. Trim about 1/4" outside the line.

         
2. Pin loops of ribbon (I cut mine 4" long) around the edges on the right side of the canvas. Sew around the edge to secure them. Remove the pins.

3. Place right sides together down on a print fabric that you have chosen to be the back of your pillow. Sew around the pillow on your pencil line but leave about 2" open for turning.

4. Turn right side out and press. I made 6 of these in about an hour and had them ready for class. (I took an iron, some stuffing, and a needle and thread. I have two helpers, so we all pitched in!)

 Let the children scribble on the canvas side. Encourage them to put a LOT of color on it.
Be sure your crayons are the regular type and not the washable ones. Heat set with an iron before stuffing. (Put a paper towel between the iron and the fabric!

This was such a simple project, you might want to try it too!
Older children could make one for a new baby in the family. They could use fabric markers instead of crayons for a brighter color. 
How about using flower colors and calling it a flower instead of a sun? That would work! 
Have fun!
.....until next time......