Valentine's Day Project

In the spirit of loving, my children and I crafted a fun project. 

We call it our "prayer chain", but you can call it whatever you would like to.

We wrote down names of people we know on strips of paper and linked them together.  Each evening at bedtime the kids tear off the end link of their chain and pray for that person.  As they get older, I would like to have them send an encouraging note or thoughtful gift to each person...maybe next year.   :)

For this project, you will need:
- strips of scrap paper - any color you choose.
- glue or tape
- pen, pencil or marker to write with

First, cut your paper into strips of similar length and width [no need to be precise for this activity].  I used blue for my son and pink for my daughter.

Then have your child[ren] write out names of people they know on the strips, such as family, friends, classmates or teammates, etc.  If you have younger children, you can write out the names for them or enlist your older children to help their younger siblings by writing them down.  Each strip should have only one name written on it.

Begin creating your chain by bending one strip of paper so that the two ends meet together.  Glue or tape the paper together at the ends, forming a circle.  You will continue to form "links" with each piece of paper, by looping the paper through the end link before forming and gluing your paper circle.  Once all your paper strips have been chained together, find a fun place to hang your chain. My children have a white board in their room where they can display all their art projects...so this was a perfect place for us to hang our chains.

Spend some time with your kids remembering to love the people who have been placed in your lives.

A Garden in January

At any given moment, my daughter views life in one of two seasons. It is either a "grass time" or "snow time".  Although it is still January, there is not much snow on the ground right now...just patches of accumulated drifts or plow piles here and there that have all but dwindled entirely. 

With melting snow comes excitement and anticipation of the looming springtime.  [Or "grass time", as my sweet girl would say...] And my children have begun preparing for warmer weather. 

This is our paper garden:

Our paper garden, from left to right they planted: apples, watermelon, cauliflower, cantaloupe, bananas, and broccoli.

Complete with a variety of fruits and vegetables, this little plot has yielded many a crop to my imaginative little ones.  Occasionally I am offered a half a watermelon, or maybe a head of cauliflower.  A tiny hand extends to me what would appear to be nothing, but is indeed a very thoughtful gift, and I bend down and nibble the invisible food "Mmmm"-ing and "Ahhhhh"-ing until those innocent faces are beaming with pride.  I can hardly wait to see their excitement when we plant our real seeds this "grass time"! 

My son used a ruler to draw rows to plant his harvest in.  He chose which plants to sow and cut out his own shapes from construction paper, and then glued his plants in the rows. 

After each row was "planted", he created a dimensional label for that row, marking what food had been planted there. 

So, if you need a project to keep your little ones busy while they are cooped up in "snow time"...maybe try planting a paper garden and have some fun pretending its "grass time".

Free Printable Chart System for Kids - Part2

In an effort to help keep myself and my kids focused and productive throughout the day, I designed an activity chart for each of my older children. My daughter chose a butterfly theme and my son asked for a firefighter theme. I'm happy to share these resources with you. Today I will post the fire engine chart pages.  Click the link to find the butterfly chart pages in my previous post.

[Some of the information in this post has been copied from the previous post and will be repetitious if you have already read part 1.  Just skim through.]

Part of the fun of this project is involving the kids as much as possible. Children [and adults too] tend to take more of an interest and ownership when they are involved in the process. Whether you're introducing a new food, welcoming a new family member, or learning a new schedule, try to find ways to include them. My kids may not like to eat zucchini...but when they planted, watered, harvested and cleaned their own zucchini, it became exciting and they had fun eating it - even though it's not their favorite vegetable.

My kids love coloring. I asked my kids to color in the pictures on a few pages and to help me think of activities we could list for them to accomplish. [I already had my own list in mind, but allowing them to talk about it with me and agree on our list was engaging for them, gave them an opportunity to analyze and negotiate their activities and enabled them to take ownership of our selection.] For older children [or if you're not a hopeless perfectionist like I tend to be] you could let them cut out their shapes too...and write out their objectives.

The objective we agreed on were: "get dressed", "make my bed", "exercise", "Bible time", "school time", "pick up toys", "help Mom & Dad" and "be kind and obey".

Use the chart for whatever projects you would like to. I've left them blank for you to add your own chores, daily activities, or school subjects - whatever you want.

To download the charts, simply click on each page and then right click the image. Select "Save Picture As..." and determine a destination and name for each file. Then save the file to your computer.

Print each page on cardstock paper. I chose two tones of a single color [red] for the fire trucks and the firetruck background pages and then I printed the remaining pages on white cardstock, with the exception of the calendar [or chart page, depending on your preference], which I printed on plain white paper.

Once the pages are printed, I suggest letting your children color first, then cutting out the shapes.  My son colored in his large fire engine and the fireman seals & badges as well as the small fire department seals.

In the banner on the first page, write in your child's name or a title for your chart [or have your child write it]. And cut out the small fire department seals along the bold lines, leaving you with 50 1-inch squares. Cut out the large fire engine along the outer edge of the shape.

Cut out the small bold fire trucks along the outer edge of each shape. Attach magnetic tape to the BACK of each bold fire truck.

Cut out the small faded fire engines along the outer edge of each shape and write out your objectives on the FRONT of your fire engines; one objective one each. Attach magnetic tape to the BACK side of each faded fire engine - being careful to align the magnets so that the polar attraction of all magnets line up with your bold fire engines' magnets, with both fire engines placed face up - bold on top of the faded.

I formatted the badges and seals so you can choose which to use as the pad to place your fire trucks on.  You could use just one type or any combination of 8 per set of fire trucks. Have your child color each badge or seal you have chosen to use. [You could write in your family name or your child's name in the blank space on the Fire Chief badges...or have your child do this.] Then cut along the outer edge of each shape. Attach magnetic tape to the BACK side of each badge [or seal]; as you do this, consider how you would like your fire engines to be positioned and align your magnets accordingly, with your bold fire engines face up on top of your badges/seals [also face-up].

Determine what type of grid you would like to use for your chart. I have provided several options; a January 2011 calendar [You can download more styles and other months from my Printable Calendars page.], a blank calendar, or a plain blank grid. You could trim these if you'd like to, or simply use them as they are.

I used double-stick tape to adhere my chart pieces to the inner door of our "school armoire". You could use a magnetic board, poster board, wall, inner closet door...or even place your chart on the fridge - use your imagination! Here is a picture of how I have mine set up, but you could certainly place yours differently. My placement was not very well thought through. [I kinda got excited and just started taping.]

Tape or glue all your faded fire engines and the large [not the small squares from page 1] fire department seals/badges face up to your chosen surface. Leave the bold fire engines unattached, but place one on top of each seal/badge.

As your child accomplishes each task [or at the end of the day - whatever routine you choose] let him remove a bold fire truck from a seal/badge and place it on the task he has successfully completed. At the end of the day or week [depending on your chart] if he has achieved whatever goal you set [i.e., completing all objectives or completing a specific number of objectives etc.] award him with a tiny fire department seal square to be placed on the appropriate box on his grid.

In advance you should determine if you would like to give your child a goal to work toward. My husband and I decided that for every 30 fire fighter seals [or butterflies for the butterfly chart] our children earn, they will be give a set amount of money to spend and be taken out for a special day with Mom or Dad. You can set your own award system for your family; maybe the kids earn collective "points" to get to plan a family activity, like a game night, pizza party, movie night etc. Rewards make it fun for the kids and give them something to work towards...it keeps them engaged which encourages their interest and consequently their participation. Plus, if you throw in a chore or two as objectives on their charts, their involvement in the program could end up being a load off of your shoulders too! :)

I hope you enjoy these activity charts and find them helpful in your own family, school or daycare! If you think of a fun & creative way to use them, would you let me know about it? I'd love to hear your ideas. You can leave a comment on this post or email me at homeeducationjournal@hotmail.com. Thanks so much!

credits:

fire engine image; banner image; fire department seal image; volunteer firefighter badge image; fire chief badge image; fireman image; AlexandriaFLF, by Casady & Greene; 101! Block LetterZ, by Nght's Place also: Fire & Rescue Decals

Free Printable 2011 Calendars

I hunted the internet for free printable calendars for my kids, and found a few...but none I liked.  Sooooo...

...I made my own..and am happy to share them with you too. 

You can download other months from my Printable Calendar page. I will continue to post each month as I finish it. 
Happy 2011! 

[To download the calendars, click on the image. Right click and select "Save Picture As...". Choose a destination and name for the file, then save to your computer.]

 

[Update:] Here is link to some free printable 12 month calendars I just found!  Love these, by Lula Louise - she has two styles; one with blank space for your kids [or yourself] to color in their own pictures for each month.

  The second syle features patterns that can be colored in. 

I think the "Sketch it Yourself" calendar would be a great way to document and archive the year.  Make notes of special days or events on the calendar and keep a precious art-piece by your child for each month.

Calendar 1 - Broadsheet LDO, by Luke Owens & Baskerville Old Face

Calendar 2 - Scartan Floaben, by P. J. Cassel

Calendar 3 - 101! Block LetterZ, by Nght's Place

Calendar 4 - Extra Ornamental, by House of Lime

Multiple Calendars - AlexandriaFLF, by Casady & Greene & Lobster, by Pablo Impallari

And, if you're wondering why I made calendars for my kids [who are all 5 and under], I will be sharing our fun project soon!  [Well, hopefully soon...with 3 kids under 5, "soon" could mean a few weeks. Ha!]

Teeny Tiny Tree Trimming

My Mother-in-law gave the kids a tiny little tabletop tree to decorate...and I had no tiny decorations...soooooo

We made some. 

I had a book the kids were uninterested in reading anymore and wanted to get rid of...

I loved the colors in the book, so I did the unthinkable and let them...*gasp*

...cut it up.

[I cringe a little even as I say it]

We used 2 different sized circle shaped paper punches and cut out various sizes and colors from the pages.  Once we had a big pile of them, 

we glued our paper circles to some thread using this method [just scroll down to the circle garland].

This would make a great ribbon for tying gifts too! 

So our tree went from ho-hum...

To so fun!

Yay!

Yesterday...

...my 3 year old [and I] completed this 100 pc Melissa & Doug ballerina puzzle, called "Ballet Recital". 

[It took awhile.]

...we sorted colors using our recycled curriculum cut-outs.

...my five year old completed lots of homework pages.  His favorite subject right now seems to be math.  Yesterday we practiced adding 2-digit numbers.

...we also learned about fire trucks.

...and admired the snowman my kids made with Dad a few days ago.

[Isn't he a funny snowman?  I love his pine-tree snow mustache...he resembles someone I know...hmmmmmm....]

What fun things did you do?



How to Make a Paper Snowflake Garland...

This has been the scene outside lately...

And THIS has been the scene around our dining table...

'Tis the season to make paper snowflakes!

I had a box of old feeder printer paper that my husband found for the kids to color on - it was perfect for this project!

Both J. and I had forgotten how to fold the paper to cut snowflakes...so we googled it...and found these pages.

This is how to make our paper snowflakes:

First fold one corner over to form a square.

Cut off the extra rectangle...but save it...we used them for another snowflake project, I'll show you further down.

Fold your remaining triangle in half to form a smaller triangle.

[I turned the page around to better show how to fold.]

Fold one end to form a new triangle in the center of the page.

Fold the opposite end over similarly, covering the previously folded side.

You will end up with this.

Then cut along the straight edge, removing the small triangles on top.

Cut along both sides...but not through [except the tip if you want, or the top to make a smaller flake].

You will end up with something like this.

Then unfold your paper - ta da - pretty paper snowflake!

Finally, we set then in a large, heavy book to smooth out the creases.

We got creative and used paper punches & shaped scissors too.

We threaded the paper snowflakes along a string of yarn and hung then as garland along our windows...so pretty.

This was lots of fun for my 5 year old, but too hard for my 3 year old, so we came up with another "snowflake" project for her.

Remember that extra rectangle?  We cut circles out of the scrap papers and made a simpler garland for her.

Here is how to make a "simple" paper snowflake garland:

I used a circle cutting system I purchased from Creative Memories years ago.  You can use any system...or trace a circular object [jar lids...cups, ect.] and cut them out using scissors.

I used 3 different size circles and cut 2 circles for each flake.

Next, I spead glue on one side of a circle.

Then I placed the circle, glue side up under the string.

I had my daughter find the matching size and line the second circle up with the first.  This is great practice for size differentiation and coordination - plus fun for her!

We repeated this until we had the length of garland we desired for each doorway.

And that's it for how to make a simple paper "snowflake" garland.

Festive, educational & fun...a perfect preschool project!

Happy Thanksgiving! - hope you get to do some fun things with your families this weekend!