Have You Filled a Bucket Today? {Storytime Craft Activity}
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Ever since we discovered the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today, we’ve been reading it nonstop and it has made a world of change in how our little ones look at their actions and the actions of others. While they were certainly aware of their actions and how they impacted others before reading this book, this has given them a more tangible way to understand just how what they say and do can impact others, and how the words and actions of others can impact them as well. In case you haven’t read this book, it talks about everyone’s invisible bucket and how it can be emptied or filled by good or negative behavior or words. If you don’t own a copy, we highly recommend it! So, naturally, since we loved the book so much, we had to create a craft and activity to incorporate it.
What You’ll Need
- Have you Filled a Bucket Today? Purchase from Amazon
- Mini bucket
- Wood stars
- Wood hearts or clay to make hearts
- Paint
- Glitter (optional)
- Paintbrush
- Foam paint brush
- Mod Podge
- Googly eyes
- School glue
What to Do
Gather your supplies and book. We decided to make clay hearts, so we started by making those.
You may also want to check out these 100 Acts of Kindness for Kids from a fellow blogger.
We sculpted our hearts by hand and made them in varying sizes, just for added variety.
Once our hearts were shaped, we baked them in the oven according to the directions indicated on the packaging. Once cooled, we painted them in a variety of colors.
After painting the clay hearts, we then pulled out a few wooden stars and selected the colors we wanted to paint those.
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Once the stars were painted, we glittered them right away (while the paint was still wet) with ultra fine white glitter to add a little sparkle. Once the paint was dry, we coated them in Mod Podge to seal all that glitter in.
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Check out our finished hearts and stars!
Once the hearts and stars were painted, we got to work painting our bucket!
We found the cutest little buckets and painted them in a gray chalkboard paint with a foam brush.
Once the paint was dry, we sealed it with a coat of Mod Podge.
Once the Mod Podge was dry on the bucket, we added a couple of googly eyes to each side of the bucket with some school glue.
We then added a happy face to one side of the bucket and a sad face to the other side. Just as in the book, the bucket could either be sad or happy, depending on how full it was. We used chalkboard markers to draw on our faces but acrylic paint would likely work just as well.
Once you’ve added your faces to your bucket and everything has dried, you are ready to start using it! Enjoy reading the book with your child while they play with the bucket. You could make a bucket for each family member and use them as a visible reminder of each person’s invisible bucket and give them a heart or star (or more!) to fill their bucket.
How full is YOUR bucket?
Have you seen any positive changes in your child since reading this book and completing this activity? Share it with us, tag #theartkit on social media.
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Want more? Be sure to check out some of our other fun activities:
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