Every once in a while a company reaches out to me to host a giveaway and I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. This is one of those moments! I have such a fabulous giveaway for you today, courtesy of Ellison Education. In true Kinder-Craze style, I have some ADORABLE project inspiration for you as well. More on that later. First, let me tell you about the amazing AllStar SuperStar Machine!
Ooops! I already got a tiny bit ahead of myself. Allow me to back up a bit. You are probably already familiar with Ellison Education. They are a standard name in schools across the country because of the die-cutting machines they manufacture. Teachers would be lost without all of those adorable cutouts of animals, flowers, and alphabets and snowflakes we use all year long. They instantly make any paper craft a breeze. We have two Ellison cutters at my school and dozens of dies, which are used every single day in my building.
The Ellison AllStar SuperStar Cutting Machine
I thought I knew everything there was to know about Ellison dies and cutters, but I was WRONG. I had no idea about their secret little UBER-amazing personal cutter: the AllStar SuperStar cutting machine. What makes this machine so amazing? Well, it's lightweight (yes, I said lightweight), portable, durable, and the perfect size for your home office or classroom. Did I mention that it's lightweight??!
The AllStar SuperStar Machine is compatible with AllStar dies. I selected a set of Skeleton Part set of 3 dies for my project.
The dies themselves are not very tall. They are fed though the machine foam-side-up and sandwiched between two clear acrylic sheets.
The die-cut sandwich (as I call it) is placed on the machine and a few turns of the hand crank draws the die through the cutter.
When the die emerges from the back, you can see that it has cut a distinct shape into the paper. This is the ribcage for my skeleton project.
This isn't exactly a feature of the machine that they advertise, but I thought it was really cool that the cutter left an impression in the sheet of acrylic as well.
After several cuts, the plastic looked like this.
Ellison DieCut X-Ray Craftivity Fun
Once I had cut enough materials, I was ready to begin my project.
Just to clarify: this was NOT a scary skeleton project.
It was an ALPHABET project.
A letter Xx project.
Actually, it was an X-RAY project.
Two of my favorite little friends came to visit me and help me out with this project. One is in Kindergarten, the other girl is a First Grader so we did two variations of this activity to double your inspiration and see how it could work for multiple grade levels.
I began by assembling the skeleton parts as a model for my kindergarten helper. The arm and leg bones can be a bit confusing so I showed her exactly how they went together.
Once a model was created, my kindergarten helper was ready to create! She glued each skeleton piece onto a 12x18" sheet of black construction paper.
We gave the skeleton a heart to add a little pop of color.
This was a fun way to reinforce the sound of Xx and is a perfect, inexpensive project for a preschool or kindergarten classroom.
Realistic X-Ray Craft
To extend the skeleton craft, I used the same skeleton die cuts to create authentic looking x-rays with clear contact paper. (If you're new to the world of Kinder-Craze, you should know that I am obsessed with clear contact paper and I use it ALL the time for craft projects).
To complete this project, I cut a sheet of contact paper that was approximately 9x18" long, peeled the glossy paper, and placed it sticky-side-up on the table.
My first grade friend assembled the skeleton directly onto the contact paper (no glue required!)
The bones alone would be enough to complete the project but I wanted it to be used as a literacy extension activity. We got a little silly and used our x-ray in conjunction with the book There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. In this case, we decided to connect it with the moment she swallowed a dog (you know… to catch the cat). I used my school equipment to cut a black dog silhouette, which we added to the stomach of the skeleton.
I printed a line of text front the story and my helper cut the words out.
This was added to the sticky bottom of our x-ray craft.
A fresh sheet of contact paper was placed sticky-side-down onto the project to seal all of the pieces and keep the sticky stuff contained.
Then we held the x-ray up to the window to examine the evidence.
Looks like she swallowed a dog!
My Ellison All Star Super Star cutting machine and Skeleton Parts dies made these classroom projects a breeze!
The Giveaway
Now that you know all about the AllStar SuperStar, are you ready for the giveaway? Ellison Education is generously giving one lucky Kinder-Craze winner an AllStar SuperStar cutting machine and a few AllStar dies to get you started. This is a prize package valued over $200! Use the Rafflecopter below for your chance to enter. The giveaway will run now thru Sunday, January 19 at 10:00pm ET.a Rafflecopter giveaway