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.

Following a Recipe

I admit...I am a terrible recipe follower. 

Not because I can't.  I just don't. I always "have" to add just a little something...or cut an ingredient, or tweak a step just a bit. I don't leave well enough alone very often. 

My son has been practicing sequencing lately as part of his reading comprehension.  His last few projects involved reading a recipe and labeling the placement of each step within that recipe.  So his page looked something like this:

Directions for making Peanut Butter Cracker Cookies:

Get out your crackers and peanut butter. Put peanut butter on half of the crackers and then cover with the other half. Melt chocolate. Dip the cracker sandwiches into chocolate with a fork or spoon. Let the chocolate drip from the cracker into the bowl. Cool cookies on wax paper.  Eat the cookies! 

Fill in the blanks with a number to tell the order of each step in the recipe.

______ Dip the crackers in chocolate.

______ Put peanut butter on the crackers.

______ Eat the cookies!

______ Get our your peanut butter.

______ Melt the chocolate.

______ Cool the cookies.


I thought it would be fun to actually MAKE some cookies as part of his assignment...so we did! 

+

=

[Yum!]

And we had lots of fun making them.  He was so excited!  Afterward, he told me it was [and I quote]: "Waaaaay too much fun, Mom.  I forgot I even had a Wii!" [Hahahahaha!  That just cracks me up.]

Of course, I HAD to modify the recipe...but in the spirit of learning to follow directions, we did follow all the steps.  I just added sprinkles on top at the end. :)

Once we had coated all of our cookies, we had some chocolate leftover, so we found a bag of pretzels and dipped them in too!  Yum! 

Here is a link to a recipe for similar cookies.*  You could simplify just about any recipe and do this exercise with your kids...they might even have so much fun they forget all about that Wii, or _________ [you fill in the blank with whatever they love to play with].


*[Since Ritz and most peanut butters contain hydrogenated oils, we found similar "healthier" crackers and peanut butter in the natural food section of our grocery store...and they tasted just as great!]

April is here!

[Well...in printable calendar form, anyway.]

Interviewing Children

It has not quite been a year since I last interviewed my children, but since I'd like to make it a yearly event, I thought planning to interview in January would be a fun way to start each new year.  Now that January is nealy over, I'm already behind schedule...but when am I EVER not?!  Ha!

Here is a list of questions to get you started in interviewing your own children. Modify the list according to your own child's age level and if you come up with any fun questions I didn't think of, I'd love to hear them! 

I am looking forward to hearing my childrens responses...hopefully I'll be posting some of their answers soon.

Enjoy learning about your kids!

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".

Rod & Staff Preschool Workbooks

Have you seen these Rod & Staff workbooks for preschoolers yet?

These are great for little ones.  [The company suggests 4&5, but I've found them more appropriate for my 3 year old.]

I love that they are black and white, because after finishing their assignment, my kids enjoy coloring in each page.

They cover a multitude of basic skills; color and shape recognition, practicing drawing straight and curvy lines, following directions, matching associated objects, counting, deciphering patterns, writing letters and numbers...and more.  Each book consists of 64 pages and they are reasonably priced.  You can view more samples here by clicking on a book you'd like to preview.

I've found many preschool workbooks to be lots of colorful pictures, with very little activity.  While I think at this age children are constantly learning...and so I don't view these books as useless, I DO want my preschoolers to begin preparing for higher grade education.  I want them to learn to sit down and listen to instructions and follow directions.  I want my daughter to know how to carefully trace or copy a letter or image.  I want her to learn basic skills while still developing her creativity and I think these workbooks are excellent tools to help me teach her these things. 

Even if you are not teaching with a Christian background, these workbooks might be worth looking at. They are written with a Biblical worldview, although most of these books contain very little or no specific Biblical reference.  It's just good basic skills material.

Note: I do not work for Rod & Staff or Milestone Ministries - and am not "officially" reviewing their product, nor did I receive any product, services or other compensation for this post.  I simply like the product and am happy to tell you about it.  :)

Free 2011 Printable Calendars + Chart Calendars

I'm consolidating all the 2011 calendars onto one page...

Please visit my Printable Calendars page to download your choice of 6 styles.  I will continue to update as I finish each month...enjoy! [currently available: January, February & March]