Fireflies: June Masterpiece Response: Baseball Memories Collage

Memories are precious gifts from God. Memories made with our children, even more endearing. Engaging your little one's skills with cutting and coloring, you can also save his/her hand print and their "signature" as well with this sweet memory-making project.

In my last post we looked at the watercolor masterpiece of my 16-year-old daughter, Amber, who loves baseball and balancing spoons on her nose. Now you will meet my son in the photo above. Seven years ago, he played baseball, and his toothless smile and tough-as-nails stance in the photo above still melt my heart. Since we're traveling down memory lane and talking about baseball, I decided it's time for a fun collage that's great for engaging students and building memories.

You will need for each child: a copy of the coloring page baseball mitt template (emailed FREE to you upon request), a SOLO cup to trace the proper circle size for the baseball, a plastic grocery bag to stuff the ball and glove if desired, scissors, stapler, markers, plain white paper, a sheet of colored paper, and a squirt of washable tempera on a paper plate.

First, have your child/student color the mitt in whatever colors they wish! Next the student will cut out the mitt. It is an easy shape for little ones to practice on. (If you wish to stuff your mitt to make it dimensional, like a real mitt, cut out two at a time.) Staple the two mitts together around the perimeter and leave an opening to stuff the mitt with a plastic grocery bag cut up into pieces and then staple shut. Trace a SOLO cup on a piece of white paper and, again, cut out two at a time. Again using the SOLO cup, trace half circles on each side of the ball in red marker to create the red stitching. Now the student can write their "John Hancock" on the ball and staple around the perimeter so it can be stuffed if you wish. Finally it's time for the hand print! If you have a photo, that, too, may be added to your collage.

My neighbor Naomi wanted to get in on the fun so she colored her mitt with pink and purple picked out purple paint. She also added a fingerprint on the ball. I'd say she's officially made her mark on this project!