Christmas crafts and Activities

We intentionally begin our school year 3-4 weeks earlier than most in the fall so that we can take off pretty much the whole month of December and enjoy the Christmas season together. 

#1 - Service countdown

One of the first things we do is to fill up our Service Countdown with ideas. This year we had 4 weeks in December in which to share the Christmas spirit. We had never really scheduled acts of kindness before, so we started off slow. We got 4 small envelopes, 12 small cards of paper (that fit into the envelopes) and a piece of ribbon to hang them on. My girls and I sat down and came up with 4 activities that we could do together that would build up our family, 4 ideas to fix up or improve things around our house and 4 ideas for serving others in the community. By no means do we limit our acts of kindness to just those 4 community activities, but it was a place to start and brought our minds to serving others. We put 1 idea from each category into each envelope, labeled the envelopes with the weekly breakdowns for weeks 1-4 and hung them up in the living room. Each Sunday afternoon in December we open an envelope with our Advent reading and decide when to do each of the activities in the envelope during the upcoming week. 

Some ideas to get you thinking:

For the family:

Game night

Spa time (manicures, pedicures, facials - serving each other or just doing it together)

Movie night with popcorn and snacks

Formal dinner night

Picnic in the living room

Family drive or walk around the park

For the house/home:

Clean up the yard

Paint a room

Shampoo some carpet

Clean the windows

Clean out the fireplace

Clean out old toys/clothes and donate ones that can still be used by others

For the community:

Donate to a Salvation Army red kettle bell ringer (or pick a few and spread the love)

Bless a bell ringer with a Starbucks or McDonald's gift card so they can warm up

Leave an extra big tip when you go out to eat

Leave goodies in your mailbox for your mail carrier or by your trash cans for the truck drivers

Take goodies to the local fire department or police station

#2 Crafts

We are a crafting family and enjoy spending time making things together. Here are a few of the things we have created this year.

Apple Cinnamon Ornaments

Equal parts applesauce and ground cinnamon (we get both at the dollar store).

Mix them until they form a ball. Roll it out and use cookie cutters to cut shapes.

Lay the ornaments on wax paper and poke a hole with a toothpick for the string to go through.

Each morning for the next week or so, turn the ornaments over so they dry completely.

When dry, use white fabric paint (in a little bottle with fine tip spout) to put on the "frosting" and string with a piece of ribbon or paper clip. The scent will last for years.

Advent calendar (countdown to Christmas)

Metal pizza pan

12x12 piece of patterned paper

23 bottle caps (or other "ornaments" for the tree)

Tree shape on green paper with numbers 24-1 printed on it (1 at the top)

24 images or pictures for the "ornaments"

24 magnets for the "ornaments"

2-3' of ribbon for hanging

Way to punch holes around the edge (optional - I used a Cropodile)

Cut the patterned paper to fit inside the pizza pan. Use adhesive to secure.

Cut out the green paper tree to go in the center of the pan. Use adhesive to secure.

Punch holes around the edge of the pizza pan for the ribbon to weave in and out. Tie both ends at the top in a bow leaving 4-7" of space above the pan for hanging.

Cut images to fit inside the bottlecaps and secure each image into a cap.

Glue magnets to the back of each bottlecap.

Beaded candy canes

Red and white beads

Red or white pipe cleaner (chenille stem)

Put on one bead and bend the end of the pipe cleaner up to keep the bead from falling off. Let children alternate red and white beads until they reach the other end of the pipe cleaner. Bend the end to keep the beads from falling off and bend the whole thing into a candy cane.

Melted Snowman Ornament

Glass or plastic ornaments (must be able to remove the hanging part at the top)

Salt

5 peppercorns

Orange polymer clay

Optional - tag with string

Make small orange cones from polymer clay (make sure they are small enough to fit inside the ornament opening). Bake to harden.

Remove the top of the ornament ball. 

Using a funnel if you have one, fill ornament 1/4 - 1/3 full of salt.

Drop in one nose and 5 peppercorns.

Replace the top and add tag if you'd like.

Santa-tizer (hand sanitizer)

Bottle of hand sanitizer

Red paper (as tall as the bottle and long enough to wrap all the way around)

White paper 1" wide and long enough to wrap all the way around the bottle)

Black paper 1" wide and long enough to wrap all the way around the bottle)

Silver or gray paper 2" square (for the belt buckle)

Tag: white and black paper, pen for writing, and string for attaching (I used a black pony-tail holder)

Paper punch with decorate edge for bottom trim of coat

Paper punch for buckle - slot punch and corner rounder

Paper glue (we used Zip Dry)

Use border punch to punch scallop or other edging on white strip of paper. 

Attach white strip to the back of the red piece cut to fit around the bottle.

Cut out buckle with 2 slots and rounded corners; trim to size you want.

Thread the black strip through the slots and attach the belt and buckle to the red coat.

Wrap the completed coat around the bottle and secure in place with strong paper glue (we tried several adhesives and even red line tape did not hold. Secure in place with tight rubber bands until dry)

White that is drying, you can cut a tag shape from white paper, back with black if you'd like, write "Santa-tizer" on the tag and attach to the bottle with ribbon, string, or a pony-tail holder. 

Kids eating healthy

Every parent knows kids need good nutrition to properly grow their bodies as well as their minds. Good foods help them do better at home and at school. But if you have children like mine, getting those healthy foods in to the kids is not as easy as it sounds. Given the choice, my kids will take the store bought (high sugar and low nutrition) cookies over something that looks like one of mom's healthy "treats."

So figuring out how to get more nutrition in to them has become a new hobby. We are by no means a "totally health conscious family" - but we are trying to make some changes for the better.  Here are some tips and ideas that I have recently discovered that are helping us make better choices:

1. Don't buy the junk food in the first place. If it's not in the house, it's not an option. Kids (or parents) cannot be tempted to eat what isn't there. (I am a coupon shopper, this may be more difficult for those looking to save money on "cheap" snacks - just keep in mind, those highly processed foods that have coupons save you money on the purchase price, but your kids may be getting exactly the nutrition that you pay for and that could cost you more long term)

2. Portion size. Most Americans do not realize what a "serving" should be. Just because it is in a single container, doesn't  mean we need to eat the whole package. Look at the label. Teach your kids to look at the label.  My kids were shocked to find out that the nutrition information (fat, sugar, carbs, calories...) were all based on a set amount. Those calories come from 15 potato chips, not the entire bag. There may be 2 servings in that can of soda or juice. When they ask for a snack they now understand they get "one serving" of whatever food it is they are asking for.

3. Have healthy snack options easily available. Make it just as easy to grab a healthy snack as it was to grab a bag of chips or candy.
        -Have individual portion size snacks available in the pantry and the fridge.
        -Pre-cut apple slices and put them in small containers covered with pineapple juice and water. They
          will not turn brown and they stay crisp for up to a week (we found straight pineapple juice affected
          the taste too much).
        -Make your own muffins and breads (with healthy ingredients) instead of buying donuts or high
          fat/sugar muffins. You can individually package them just as easy. And freeze them in Tupperware
          type containers. Just let them thaw on the counter or microwave for 10 seconds.
        -Make fruit smoothies and freeze them in popsicle molds (even paper cups and a craft still will do)

Frozen tropical fruit mix from Walmart, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, frozen bananas, about 1 cup of Pom Juice (and a hand full of spinach, but I'm not telling the kids:)

4. Help the budget by buying on sale. You can take advantage of the summer fruit deals and freeze them for later. It is usually easiest to clean the fruit, remove seeds, and basically make them ready to eat and then "flash freeze" them. Basically that means spreading them out on a tray and freezing them individually and then, after they are frozen, put them into a freezer bag or container. That way when you want just a few blueberries, you can take out a few without having to defrost the whole block.

5. Get the kids involved. I have one of "those kids". You know, the ones who would live on chicken nuggets and pizza. She has not eaten a vegetable voluntarily since the day she was born. But when we planted a garden (lettuce, spinach, green beans and peas), I started to discover the pea pods (shells) surrounding the garden when I went out to water. My picky eater was eating peas! She wasn't thrilled about the lettuce or green beans, but by golly she ate the peas. Next winter we will plant several:). This kid hates oatmeal and bananas. But this morning she offered to make banana muffins. Well, my recipe has bananas of course, but also oatmeal. She made the muffins, ate the muffins, AND said she liked them. Get kids involved in the growing and preparing of healthy foods and just maybe they'll actually like the end product.

6. Taste test - often. Repeated exposure will often help kids develop a liking. For years my picky eater wouldn't touch broccoli without gagging on it. Not dramatic, just a reflex, she's done it on any soft food since she was a baby. Then I realized, I was only giving it to her cooked. So I cut it raw. She was NOT happy with the texture of the florets either. Then a stroke of brilliance hit me, it's broccoli from top to bottom. So what if I strip the hard part off the stem and slice the inside of the stem like chips. It worked. She liked it. And she didn't choke on it. So now when I steam broccoli for everyone else, I peel the stems and 2 of my kids eat broccoli chips. Another mom suggested to me to take kids to a natural market and let them pick out things to taste. Or pick out a fruit like oranges and get several different kinds. By accident, this is how we discovered our love for Asian Pears. They have the sweetness of pears, but are crispy (not mushy for already identified picky eater).

7. Sneak in healthy foods where you can.
     -Pureed sweet potato or spinach in spaghetti sauce (use baby food if you don't have good blender)
     -Use applesauce instead of oil in baked goods (play with amounts, but I've used just applesauce in
       some recipes and they come out just fine)
     -Mix pancake batter in the blender and put in bananas or if you want pink ones, add strawberries
     -Offer grated zucchini as a salad mix in

I asked my homeschool group for ideas and here are some links for additional ideas and recipes
Deceptively Delicious
  I hear that the chocolate chip cookies (with garbonzo beans) are great and kid approved!
Green Smoothie Girl
Sneaky Chef

Completing projects

Sometimes big projects can be overwhelming for little ones. My statement of "clean your room" is totally a doable project for the born organized 15-year-old. She could handle the job, mostly on her own from the time she was 4. But for my more creatively thinking kids, that is an overwhelming request that will most likely deteriorate into tears and frustration within the first half hour. That is, if they don't get distracted and just start playing with something instead.

My solution has been to break down the job into smaller steps and then when possible, give them a visual to track their process.

In the example of cleaning their room, I might cut out a construction paper triangle and cut layers (like the old Food Pyramid idea). Put one area of their room on each section with "vacuum" being the very top triangle. Scatter the pieces on the table in the living room, out of the project area, and child finds the largest piece. It might say "make your bed" or "clean off the top and the floor under your desk." When that job is done, the child comes back to the table and finds the next piece up on the pyramid. Completing each job piece by piece gives some organization to the process and helps to guide a child who might not be able to get through the process on their own without getting distracted. For added incentive or structure, you can set a timer for 10-15 minutes. If the job is done before the timer goes off, the kid gets to play until it does. The job is still completed in the time frame you set forth, they are encouraged to stay focused for a short period of time, and they also get the mental breaks they may need to get it done.

We also use this sort of system with our younger kids when it comes to school work. Starting her day with a list of subjects to get through is overwhelming. She doesn't always have the same subjects every day either. But she is much more willing to stay focused and work if there is light at the end of the tunnel and she knows there is an end to it. So we use something like this...

All of the subjects she will work on were written on die cuts from the dollar store and backed with a small piece of magnetic strip so that they stick to the fridge. I got a magnetic pocket from a sale on school supply sales somewhere years ago. By adding a clipart basket to the front of the pocket, I've created a "done" basket. Each day I put the subjects that are on her assignment sheet on the fridge. Since I work with this child one on one while my older students complete their own work, I know what the actual assignments are. When we finish an activity or reading assignment she puts the correct apple into the basket. When all the apples are in the basket, she'd done for the day. 

You could also use this system for chores. Put each item to be done on a piece of paper or clipart image and  as the jobs are completed they are put into a basket or moved from one side of a chart to the other. Personally I like things like this on the fridge. It is out in the open and I can see someone's progress without having to interrupt and ask them what they're doing, what they've finished, or what they still need to do.

Ready for school

I was well on my way setting up this blog and getting several posts entered, when poof, it was almost time for us to start school again. So much for the grand plans I had for getting some things done this summer. But, we had a much needed time of relaxation and break from our regular routine. We can now begin a new school year with enthusiasm. As a homeschool mom here are some of the things I do to prepare for the new year...

Some of the supplies for 3 kids (huge pencils are Pringles cans that will hold some things for 1st day)

1. New school supplies.
Take advantage of the super sales that are offered now (and buy extra to replace or refresh supplies for 2nd semester). At the end of each summer I make a spreadsheet to compare which stores are offering what so I can get the best deals. Keep in mind that Walmart matches any price, so you can price match the lowest sale price at one store AND use a coupon on the same item (even if that coupon is from another store).

Top: Post It notes, boxes of pens, lined paper (1/3 of our stash)
Bottom: Sharpies, glue bottles and sticks, mechanical pencils

2.  Go through the library (home library)
As many homeschoolers do, we use a LOT of books. Being the Type A person I am, I need to have all (or most) of those books in my possession before I begin the school year.
*1 - I move all of last year's books back in to their storage space clear the shelves for the "current shelves" for the books we will use over the next 9 months. Go through the curriculum and make a book list. When the books are bought, they do not get shelved until I have logged them in to our book list. Yes, I have a list of every book we have (hundreds). That list allows me to mark who I loan books to as well as providing a reference that keeps me from ordering duplicates. It was quite a process to create, but not shelving books until they are logged in is key to keeping it current.
*2 - Mark the books for this year with a colored dot and put clear packing tape over it. This color-coding system easily marks each book for what year of the curriculum it is used. Once all books are purchased, each year gets easier to set up because we just gather all the same colored dots.

                      This is 1 year of Tapestry of Grace (not including math and science books)

3. Create schedules
*1 - I print out blank spreadsheets with 5 columns and as many rows as we need for our school day (typically each box is 30 minutes of time). I use 1 sheet per student starting with the oldest. Mark off any days/times that are not going to be used for school (weekly classes, weekly Bible studies, ... anything that happens every week that would affect school).  I write all of the student's subjects on separate 1x1 sticky notes and start placing them on the 30 minute sections (some will take 30 minutes, some take 60 which would be 2 boxes).
*2 - After completing the first student's schedule, I move on the next. The 2nd (and subsequent) schedules will need to be compared for when each student might need your attention. Do not double book yourself to help 2 or more kids at the same time.
*3 - After all kids have been done, I create a schedule for myself. This shows me when I am supposed to be where and when I have scheduled in time for me to do grading, take care of business (I run a home-based business as well as teach 3 grades).
*4 - After every sticky note chart matches up (or at least I think it does), I transfer everything over to a spreadsheet in the computer. This I print out and post on the wall as well as give each student one for their room.

4. Resource Folders
My kids were often needing to reference the same information throughout the school year (math charts, theories, Scripture we were memorizing, etc.) So I decided to give them one place to reference. This became our Resource Folders. For my youngest, it was where she learned her address, her birthday, my cell phone number. For the older kids it is where they look to remember a multiplication chart or an algebra formula. The base of the folder is basically 2 file folders glued together (think 'lapbook'). I go through their math, science, and whatever else I think they may need to know for the following year and print it up on the computer or copy it right out of their books. Attach everything to the folder and it's flaps and then laminate the whole thing so it lasts for the entire year.

Red folder has yellow flap added (sticking over yellow folder). Everything folds up into single folder size.

5. Plan for as much as possible (but be flexible - some things work and some things don't. Tweak as needed and move on). Consider things like:
- Do you expect/plan for them to do their work in a specific place? (we gave up on desks a long time ago)
- Do you need snacks or breaks to get through the day?
- Where will kids turn things in? (stacking on my desk does NOT work)
-Do you need a family calendar so everyone is on the same page each week?
-Are your schedules and goals realistic? Have you planned too much? Not enough?

This is what we are using this year. The Homework Caddy gives us a place to see the calendar, turn things in (and get them back without my tracking down each kid), see the schedule and even keep track of who is making breakfast on what day. The calendar is magnetic and there is a pocket (mine is yellow) to the right for pen storage. A large slide through pocket in the center allows us to post our daily schedule with a 4x6 pocket on either side. We have the breakfast cooking schedule to the left and a quote on the right reads, "I am a homeschooling mom. If you hear me talking to myself, please do not interrupt. I am having a parent/teacher conference." The 4 pockets on the bottom are labeled with 1 place to turn papers in and then I return them to each child's individual pocket.

Have a great year!!!

Travel Tips

Any time you travel with kids, it is good to think ahead. If you plan some activities and snacks for at least the time spent in the car, the trip usually goes a little smoother.

Things to consider:

1. How long will we be in the car each day? Depending on the age of kids, you might want to pack some goodies so they get something new every 30-60 minutes.

2. Have you looked at a map and thought about where the possible stops are? How long between stops? (good for everyone to get out of the car every 2 hours to stretch legs and move around a bit)

3. Do you have a beach ball or Frisbee or something else small that can be thrown around at a rest stop to encourage moving around?

4. Choose smaller size cups for preschoolers so you don't have to stop and find bathrooms quite so often. You might also try freezing water bottles 1/2 full so that all of the water isn't available early in the trip either.

5. For extra long trips, you might want to consider getting a portable DVD player and taking some favorite movies. (our rule of thumb was that the kids could pick a movie if we would be in the van for more than 3 hours at a stretch)

6. Older kids might enjoy doing some letterboxing on the way or at your destination city.

7. Car games - to keep dice from rolling around, put the required number of dice into a small clear plastic food storage container. Shake to "roll" the dice and set it upside down so you can see through the container what numbers were rolled. 

8. Give the kids a map so they can follow along. If you know ahead of time the stops you will make, you can mark those on the map and the kids can connect the dots at each stop.

9. Contain it!  Having lots of activities in the car to keep kids busy is great, but a hundred flying projectiles could be really bad if the car came to a sudden stop. Consider the items you are allowing kids to bring with them and consider a container with a lid so the activities that are not currently being used can be put away and contained.

This blog by Tip Junkie has some great ideas as well.

Color-coded kids??

How many times have you found a pair of scissors (or pencils, or cup, or ... you fill in the blank) in the living room and nobody will admit to leaving them there?  You don't know who it belongs to because it's just a pair of scissors. We resolved this in our house by having every kid pick a favorite color. Each child needs their own color and the colors should be basic, for instance "blue" and not "sky blue".

Once each child has a color, buy everything possible in each kid's color. Some examples of what we have done:

1. Drinking cups
2. Bath towel and washcloth (no they don't match the bathroom decor. We've learned to deal with it).
3. Pack of school pencils
4. Stapler
5. Paper clips
6. Tape dispenser
7. Pencil boxes for individual sets of Sharpies, markers, etc. (Each pen is color-coded too)
8. Scissors
9. Notebooks
10. Book covers
11. Boxes and bins to store stuff in in their room
12. Lunch containers
13. Travel mugs/cups

Following this color scheme, we can also mark items that normally couldn't be labeled. When we go camping or on a picnic and we go through several water bottles, we use colored pony-tail holders from the dollar store around the neck of the bottle. They are easily slipped on and off as we go through bottles.

When we traveled with younger kids, each of them had a rolling backpack or bin in their color (or with their color ribbons tied to the handle or striped in Duct Tape) to contain all of their stuff in the airplane or car.  When we used our travel currency, their assigned poker chip color was their everyday color at home.

Color-coding takes the guess work out of who the "lost" items belong to... if  a red stapler is found in the living room with no child in site, anybody who finds it knows to put it on the owner's desk chair (or a parent may confiscate it and know who to charge if they want it back - but that's another post).

3 scoops = you're done!

When I just couldn't take the question "can I play now?" any more, I came up with the ice cream idea. Each child had 3 things they had to do each day during the summer (that we were home and not running around somewhere) BEFORE they could play outside with friends, turn on the TV, play on the computer, etc. But they really didn't need one more of mom's lists to check off. So I printed 3 scoops for each kid with specifics for their assignments on their color paper. (each child has a designated color for everything from drinking cups to school supplies; helps keep things straight and know quickly who left what out where it didn't belong). 

Anyway, I printed the assignments on scoop shaped clip art and then cut a brown ice cream cone from construction paper. With a magnet on the back of each piece, they were stuck on the fridge and ready to go. Each night the scoops are cleared off their cones. Each morning the child puts the scoop on the cone when the assignment has been completed. The word "zones" (chores) is on a red circle for the cherry on top (not pictured - I took the pictures before the cherries were printed). When the 3 things have been done and the cherry put on top, they are free to play on the computer, watch TV or visit with friends.

Each day that they get all 3 scoops completed, they put a star onto the cone. At the end of the summer, we will take the cone with the least amount of stars (want them to encourage each other and make it more of a group project) and there will be some sort of reward in accordance with the numbers. Might be the number of topping scoops they put on frozen yogurt, number of water balloons they get in a water balloon fight, number of cookies or M&Ms they're allowed to pick...we'll come up with something. 

Preparing for a trip

Packing and Preparing

1. As a scrapbooker, it is easier to pick colors for the pages if the people I have pictures of are in similar colors (as my kids have gotten older, we no longer completely match, but we do try to coordinate in the same colors on the same days). So I pack the same colors in shirts for the whole family for at least the days we'll be taking the majority of pictures.  This is also helpful, if God forbid, I should need to describe one of my children to a police officer. I know exactly what they were wearing.

2. Road trips. When going in and out of hotels each night in different cities, I don't want to take a suitcase for everyone in each night (nor is there usually room in the van for so many suitcases). So I have 1 suitcase for the kids and myself with pajamas, toothbrushes, medicines, etc. Anything we'd need overnight). Clothing is packed by the day in large 2 1/2 gallon zipper bags and put in a larger bag (coordinating colors of course=). Each night before we go into the hotel, I grab the next day's worth of clothes, put it in the hotel bag with the PJs and the rest stays in the van.

3.Activity boxes (also see In the Car post with other travel ideas).  For each road trip, we use these snap on lid boxes. Each kid has their own and it holds notebooks, crayons, MP3 players, money, travel games, etc. If they get new stuff on the way, have some leftover snack (IN a bag), they can put it in their space and it's not spread out all over the floor.

4. Letterboxing. Before we take a roadtrip, I always go online and see if there are any letterboxes in the cities where we will be stopping. Letterboxing is fun and free!  What you take with you: small notebook (we use a pocket size sketchbook), a small rubber stamp and an ink pad. You follow the clues to find the letterbox. Inside you will find a unique rubber stamp and another notebook. You stamp your stamp in their notebook and leave a short note (like the purpose of your trip and when you found it) and you use their stamp to stamp in your book and journal that as well. Here is one site with clues - Letterboxing North America

In the car

Traveling with kids on long journeys requires some preparation to make it go smoother. Here are some ideas that I hope will help.

General tips

1. Instead of giving things out all at once, have a stash of travel activities that you dole out every 15-30 minutes. Inexpensive toys can often hold a kid's interest for 15-20 minutes before even the simplest thing gets old. (remember to plan a different set, or repack everything for the trip home).

2. Snacks. In your stash of activities, include snacks. Small pieces are often a better choice because it takes longer to eat. A snack size baggie of trail mix will take longer to eat than a breakfast bar that is chomped down in  4 bites. You might want to avoid chocolate just because it's messy (however, M&Ms in a trail mix usually go over pretty well with minimal mess). Snack size baggies of grapes, mandarin oranges, apple slices (dip in pineapple juice and they'll last a week in the fridge without going brown), pretzel sticks or carrot sticks with single size tub of peanut butter.

3. Be sure each child has a place to set their toys/trash when they are moving on to the next activity. We use the snap on lid boxes that have a handle on the lid. They are small enough to be stepped over, but big enough to store a lot of stuff. 

4. Travel currency. When going on long trips, we (parents) decide how much money each child is going to get for spending money on the entire trip. We divided that by how many days we will be gone. We use poker chips to equal $1 each (each child has a different color chip). Each day the kids get the set amount of poker chips (make sure they have a coin purse or container to keep them in). If they want candy at a convenience store, they hand over a chip. If they disobey, hand over a chip. When we get to the actual destination (tourist spots, Grandma's house, whatever) they can spend whatever they have on keepsakes. If they don't have the "cash" to buy what they want, they don't buy it. They must earn it first. If they spent it on candy and sodas instead of eating the healthier snacks and water that we brought along, then they do without that "must have item" at the gift shop.

5. Keeping a record of where you were...postcards. As a scrapbooker, I like to journal what we do each day so that I can scrapbook the trip in chronological order when we get home. To help with this, I buy a postcard at each stop (wherever we spend the night). At the end of that day, I journal what we did in that location (spent driving, where we stopped to eat, amusement park,...) and then I actually mail it home (remember to take postcard stamps with you). When I get home or shortly thereafter, I have a day-by-day record of what we did. 

Little ones

1. Crayola Wonder markers. These markers are fabulous! They only write on the special paper. They can be dropped on the car seat or floor, used purposely on the door or window, or even a sibling, and they don't leave a mark other than on their special paper or coloring book.

2. Magnadoodles. These draw and erase toys are flat and solid enough to not need a table to set them on. 

Older kids

1. Games - Pack a game box for long trips. Think of things that can be played with just what you hold rather than what is laid down on a table (1-handed solitaire, travel bingo - buy or print your own with a different card for every member in the car, window cling tic-tac-toe)

2. Dice Games - you can even take dice games in the car if you use a "dice holder" to do the rolling with (you don't want those little things flying all over the car). 

3. National travelers - print an alphabetical list of all 50 states. Make your chart so that each state (or it's abbreviation) is in a box on a grid leaving plenty of room to make marks inside the box). Each time you see a license plate from a different state than where you, put a hash mark in the state's box. 

4. Map it. Print out a map for each child in the car and give them a highlighter. You can circle the day's destination with a red pen and each leg of the trip, the child highlights where they've been (but the red circle tells them where you're going). 

Timeline

When we moved in to a new house, I found a space for almost everything. But by the time everything was put in cabinets and pictures hung on the wall, I discovered I had no wall space left for a timeline. Bummer, I really wanted one of those. So I mentioned (ok whined) to my husband that I didn't have any place for a timeline. He grabbed his keys, went to the local home improvement store and returned with the PERFECT solution.

He hung a fake bamboo roll up blind in our dining room window. It rolls up tight against the top and you don't even notice it's there when it's rolled up. But when it's down, it is the perfect place to put the timeline pieces. Instant timeline space for about $20.

Socks!

When my kids were little we seemed to have socks everywhere!

When they were still wearing socks with cuffs (that roll down at the ankle) we would mark each sock with a line about 1/4" long using a Sharpie marker. 1 mark meant it belonged to the oldest kid, 2 marks, 2nd oldest and as the kids handed down the socks we just added a line to show who it belonged to now. Every now and then we'd go over fading marks. But this really made sock sorting go MUCH easier.

Anything from the dryer without a match went in to the Sock Bucket (a wash tub or whatever container we were using at the time). Occasionally we would need a "time out" activity and someone would sort for a certain amount of time or until they had a specified number of matches.  If the bucket started to get full and nobody had been on sock matching duty, we'd dump them in the middle of the floor and have races to see who could get the most matches in 5 minutes.

Again, when the kids were little and I was more concerned about their socks matching their outfit, I even put baskets into their closet and sorted the clean socks by color. Labeling the buckets gave the pre-readers some practice at seeing the color written in context with that color socks inside the basket.

Kid laundry

Teaching kids to sort laundry is a time consuming skill that takes practice. If we start when they are young, they won't end up wearing pink (supposed to be white) T-shirts when they leave home and go off to college. Doing laundry is something that kids can begin helping with at a young age and working up to doing it on their own.

To encourage my kids to sort their clothes as they took it off instead of waiting until laundry day, I put 4 hampers in their bathroom. Labeled with: red, white, dark and light.

Then instead of doing laundry just once a week, we make it part of our daily routine. The child in charge of the laundry zone (our chores are divided into zones) gets 1 hamper from the bathroom, adds any adult's clothes of that color to the bucket and then starts the laundry before breakfast. At lunch time the laundry person moves the clothes to the dryer, and before they play after school work is done, they are responsible to sort the clothes and lay neatly on the couch so everyone can put away their own clothes.

Organization - Kid cothes and shoes

It is often more cost effective to buy kids' clothes when they're on sale rather than waiting until they are needed. But if they don't fit someone right now, what do you do with it? I found it easiest to set up a storage system by size so that when one size was outgrown it could be passed down or passed on to someone else and then the next wardrobe was already ready to unpack without going through several other sizes at the same time. Big boxes can be stacked in closets and little ones can be put up high on shelves that are not used very often.

I buy at resale shops, yard sales, discount stores and occasionally big box stores (but almost always on clearance). Buying used or really cheap means I also do not feel too bad if some items don't get worn before they are outgrown. They are still in a condition that I could pass them on to a friend or donate to a charity.

For clothes:
I used Rubbermaid totes and labeled the size of the clothes inside. These stack neatly, are fairly watertight and heat tolerant (don't store things in the attic or outside that might melt or elastic that could become brittle).

For shoes:
Label the box with what size is inside. I always tried to have a pair of black dress shoes, white dress shoes, tennis shoes and sandals/flip flops in each box. No scrambling at last minute when someone's shoes do not fit and they need a bigger size (usually in the morning when we are getting dressed for church or to go on a field trip).

Angry Birds Party

12x12 cake trays made with scrapbooking paper and laminated with clear Contact paper before putting cupcakes on top.

Cupcakes put in bird/pig shape and then frosted as one piece to make a pull apart cake

Facial features made with marshmallow fondant (recipe from Pinterest)



Decorations:
*Paint birds on the window by enlarging pattern and hanging on the other side of the window. Paint solid colors first and then outline in black
* Print bird faces and put on balloons or balls
* Use Christmas ornaments made for outside (plastic) for black birds
* Bird colored streamers
* Large cardboard boxes or building blocks with stuffed animal pigs
* Plates - plain green and add paper snout and circle punches eyes, add eyebrows with permanent marker

Games/Activities
* Bird shooters and paper box pigs
   We used bird colored pom poms for the birds
* Angry Bird Live!
   Pig faces painted on large green T-shirts
   Bird faces painted on red and yellow balls
   Pigs climb on play structure and birds are thrown at them. After set time, switch places

Custom scrapbook by Wild About Scrapbooking

Buzz Lightyear Party

 Buzz!

Decorations:

Stars, planets, rockets

Mural for guests to take pictures with. (use an overhead projector and coloring book image to trace Buzz on a 5x7' piece of foam core. Then paint). In sample above, we also did 2 small aliens and cut them out so that kids could stand in front of Buzz but behind aliens. Every guest got a picture with Buzz and we sent those out with the thank you cards.

Food:

Star shaped cookies

Dehydrated astronaut snacks

Alien party mix

Cake - rocket or star shape

Activities

Laser tag

Star Command missions (scavenger hunt)

Star shoot (rubber end type dart gun at stars on the other side of sliding glass door or window)

Relay races from Star Command to a "planet" and back

Space frame (peel and stick space pieces on foam or wodden frames)

Dora the Explorer Party

Mural to take pictures with. Sample painted on 5x7' foamcore using overhead projector and coloring book. Trace picture with fine point permanent marker onto an overhead transparency. Project the image onto the foamcore, trace lines with a pencil or permanent marker then paint.  Have guests take pictures with Dora and print those to go in the thank you cards.

Decorations:

Fiesta theme (piñata, streamers, bright colors)

Goodie bags (purple bags like Backpack from craft store):

• Sipper cups (Oriental Trading Company)
• Bracelets (yellow pony beads, blue foam flowers, white buttons) (*more detail below)
• Roll up coloring pages printed from Nick Jr.
• Dora stickers (OTC)
• Camera kaleidoscopes (OTC)
• Dora fruit chews (individual packets in the fruit snack isle of grocery store)

Activity ideas:

• Bracelets (blue flowers, white buttons, stretchy string, yellow beads)
• Have “kits” prepared ahead of time with just enough beads to go around child’s wrist. Let them string the beads and then tie them for a bracelet.
• Coloring Dora pictures printed from Nick Jr. (put bucket of crayons on table covered with a tablecloth)
• Pinata - burro shape or yellow star (check party supply places or make your own star)
• Scavenger hunt - follow a map

Food:

• Punch (Hi-C orange won’t stain carpet or clothes like red punch)
• Mexican finger foods like mini quesadillas (use cookie cutters to cut out stars), tacos, etc.
• Star shaped like Pinata
• Cupcake Pull apart – Grocery store bakeries will make 18-24 cupcakes into any shape you want and frost it all as one design. Then the kids just pull off the cupcake they want. You could do a piñata shape, star shape, or even Dora herself.
• Use solid color plates and napkins from dollar store instead of Dora print (pink, orange, yellow)

Bead bracelets

     Use shaped hole punch to punch 2" flowers from blue Fun Foam. Put a dome topped white button through the center of the flower with the button shank pushing through to the other side. Run elastic string through the button shank (long enough to go around a child's wrist and be tied in a knot). Put the flowered elastic in a small container with enough yellow pony beads to fit around the child's wrist. Kids string the beads and an adult ties it off.

Big Game Review

Study just about anything! Nothing to study? Quote Scripture or sports trivia...anything! All ages can play together.

Suggestion: Have older students make up question cards from anything they need to study for an upcoming test (history, science, math equations...). They study while they make the questions as well as when they play the game. Cards can be kept and added to throughout the school year to be used as a weekly or quarterly review.

Each player answers their own question cards, so a high schooler might be answering biology questions while a 3-year-old sibling is naming colors when it's their turn.

Big Game Review (Study Game)

You can use any size/type game board, but if you want to cover it, the supplies needed may be slightly different depending on the size and shape of your board. The sample boards I’ve done are all square boards that fold into fourths and go in a square box.

Supplies needed:

Square box game board (like Trivial Pursuit)

(4) pages of 12x12 paper for the game board background

(4) pages of 12x12 pattern paper for the squares to make the track

        4 different designs or colors. Sample uses black solid and 3 patterns

        Paper #1 (solid) – approximately 60 1 ½” squares

        Paper #2 – approximately 15-20 1 ½” squares

        Paper #3 – approximately 15-20 1 ½” squares

        Paper #4 – approximately 15-20 1 ½” squares

Extra paper for decorating the box

Adhesive for paper (won’t wrinkle paper – sample used Modge Podge)

Clear Contact Paper (enough to cover the entire board)

Game tokens (like bingo markers from Oriental Trading Company)

Container for bingo markers (mini M&M container or Mentos with flip up lid work well)

Single dice

Bonus – if your game board comes with a box to hold question cards, cover that too:)

1. Cover just one section of the game board with Modge Podge or other adhesive (thin layer;p just enough to hold it down).
2. Cover all 4 corners of the board in the same manner (making sure all 4 corners match up in the center). 
3. Press evenly to smooth out any bubbles.
4. Once all 4 corners are down, snip off outside corners with scissors to avoid buckling.
5. Fold trimmed edges over to the back of the board and glue down.
6. Lay out your track using the 1 ½” squares. Solid color (Color #1) is just for making the trail and marking spaces. Color#2 is for answering a question card. #3 is for rolling again and #4 is for moving back 1 space (or whatever works for you).
7. Once you have everything laid out where you want it; glue it down. No beginning and no end.
8. After entire track is glued in place, use Clear Contact Paper to cover the entire board (going completely around each piece that divides in half when the game folds.)
9. Once the board is covered, you can cover the game box, token holder, and/or card holder to match if want to.

Print directions for playing the game. Best to laminate this or stick it inside of the lid. You'll need to change the directions a bit to suit your game, but here is a sample:

Big Game Review

 From 1-8 players or teams. If you can answer questions, you’re old enough to play!

Needed to play: Playing board, playing pieces, chips, one dice and

     questions (or agree what is to be used for the question spaces - could be as simple as naming a color)

Set up:

There is no beginning and no end. Players simply pick a blue square wherever they would like to start.

Determine the goal of the game (set a time limit or number of chips needed to win)

Object of the game:

To collect the most chips by correctly answering questions.

Rules for play:

1.      Each player rolls the dice; highest score goes first. Play continues around the board clockwise.

2.      In turn, player rolls the dice and moves ahead that many spaces and acts accordingly:

·         Blue spaces – no action

·         Red – answer a question

·         Orange  – roll the dice again and move accordingly

·         Green – move back one space

3.      Answering a question correctly earns the player a chip.

4.      Play until goal of the game is achieved (time limit or number of chips).

5.      WINNER is the person with the most chips at the end of the game.

Breakfast ice cream?

Bananas
Milk - just a little
Mix ins: peanut butter, chocolate chips, strawberries, nuts, ... whatever you want
Food processor

Peel the banana, cut into chunks and freeze for several hours (or overnight)
Put frozen banana chunks, tablespoon or so of milk and whatever else you want to mix in, into the food processor. Blend well.

Tastes like ice cream! No added sugar, nothing in there but you put in yourself.
Shhhhh - the kids won't know they're not sneaking ice cream for breakfast unless you tell them! =)

Sight Word Sliders

Paint chips (sample cards - use large ones for more writing space)
White cardstock (to print on)
Laminate (best price usually at teacher supply store)
Hole punches - I used small square for "window" and slot to create the space on either side of window

1. Cut off any pre-printed writing from the paint chip (in this case, I cut off the end that gave the color number)
      SAVE the part you cut off.
2. Punch a hole for the letter strip to show through (first letter of the word)
3. Write a word ending on each card
4. Print out letter strips on the computer or do it by hand giving several letters for each word ending (making the strips up instead of just using random letters helps to prevent unacceptable words from being created).
5. After printing out the list of letters, cut a small piece of paint color from the section you cut off of the big piece and glue it to the top of the appropriate strip. (student matches paint color on strip to the paint card word ending and then will know what strip to use with what word ending)
6. Laminate both the cards and the letter strips.
7. Cut out the letter strips and the paint chip cards.
8. On the paint chip cards, you can now use a slot punch to make a space for the letter strip to be slipped through (from top, under the laminated punched out window, and back through the front - the letters show through the laminated window from the back of the card)

Math Game Box

Floss box
120 wooden hearts (that fit inside sections)
2 wooden circles (that fit inside sections)
Digital timer (optional - check the Dollar store)
Printed instructions for games
Colored Sharpie pens

Label box sections 1-10 (or to whatever number you'd like)
Put 12 hearts in each section
Number the faces of each heart to skip count by the appropriate number in each section
    1s number: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
    2s number: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20
    ect.
On the (2) circle pieces, put + and - on either side of one token and < and = on the other (can use a 3rd
     circle and make multiplication and division pieces as well)
Color the edges of every heart in each section a different color (need 10 different colors of Sharpie)
   Coloring them each a different color is helpful when putting them away; the smallest number of each color
    tells student which section to put it back in. Then everything that color goes with it.

Print rules for a few different games on cards that will fit inside one of the sections. Examples:
1. Lay out each section from 1 to 10 in order with the 1's on the top row, 2s on the 2nd row... all the way to 10 (after this is done, show student how to use the grid to see what numbers are when multiplied together - find the 5 on the top and the 8 down the left side = where those 2 intersect is 40. 5x8 is 40)
2. Dump out the hearts from one section and turn them all over so you can't see the numbers. Set the timer for 30 seconds. When you push "start" turn over all the hearts and put them in order of smallest to largest. Then say all the numbers out loud from smallest to largest - you're skip counting!
3. Lay out 2 numbers and use the circle symbols with the < and = sign to show if one number is bigger than another or if they are equal.
4. Lay out equations and see which sign fits. Example: 2 (blank space) 3 = 5 (student puts in addition sign)

I spy bottle

Use a wide mouth, clear, plastic bottle (objects inside of bottle need to fit through the opening).

Scan or take pictures of every object you are putting in to the bottle.

Print 2 of each picture (this is your key of what to look for in the bottle)

Cut out the pictures (I used a circle punch) and glue them back to back with a loop of ribbon, as a "tag"

Put objects into bottle and fill almost full with birdseed

Use loops on pictures to hook them to a key ring that fits over the bottle top.

Use a good glue or epoxy to glue the lid on the bottle when you are done - no spilled seed:)

Keyring of what to look for can be easily removed leaving all of the bottle exposed for searching.

Options:

* Use little plastic animals for a "zoo bottle"

* Use theme items (like the Disney sample - I used Jibbits for Crocs) to make a theme bottle

* Collect small items on a road trip and create a memory bottle as you go. When you get home, take your pictures and then fill with birdseed.

Menu Planner - western theme

Base is an old cookie sheet. 

Top section (menu and activities space) is laminated for use with wet erase marker

Bottom section has 2 pockets with 30 menu ideas each, and Post It note for shopping items to be added to the list.

Magnets hold the menu items to the board and bigger magnets hold the cookie sheet to the side of the fridge.

Summer Activities

It's HOT outside, here are some hot weather ideas...

* "Paint" with water on the sidewalk! Just get a container of water and a paintbrush and let the kids have at it.

* Puree and freeze fruit in popsicle molds (even paper cups with a craft stick will do)

* Water balloon fights

* Discovery blocks (freeze small plastic objects in a large plastic container - when frozen solid, set outside and kids chisel out the prizes)

*Scavenger hunt for "tickets" hidden around the house or yard. Use the tickets to buy water balloons from the "Cool off station"

*Toddlers - put ice cubes in the tray of a stationary saucer type toy. You can also put a little water in the bottom for their feet to splash in (there are usually holes in the bottom for drainage, so there won't be a lot of water accumulation)

* Toddlers - going to a sandy place like a beach or lake? Take a small blow up kiddie pool and put the toddler in there with some water (or not depending on the age). Little pool specifically for them stays clean longer than in and out of the sandy shore.

* Water tag - tape single squares of toilet tissue or facial tissue to the T-shirts of all players. Use water guns or squirters to "tag" opponents. When all of your targets are wet and have fallen off, you're out.

First Post

My first blog... wow. Hopefully soon this will be a resource place for parents and teachers.

With a background spent primarily with preschoolers, we needed a place to share ideas and activities relating to older kids. So you will find activities, recipes, tips and just plain fun stuff for kids of all ages.

Enjoy!