sand art

This was such a fun activity to do with my kids. It occupied them for at least 30 minutes and they made something that they can keep on their shelf to display!

You can get colored sand and the tools & containers at any craft store for fairly inexpensive.....especially with coupons and sales! They loved creating the different layers in the fish and triceratops.

I think my neat & tidy husband has no clue about what we do during the day or he would have an anxiety attack! We had a mess EVERYWHERE. My philosophy is if it is creative art you can't worry about making a mess. It really is a good thing that I don't live by myself---I'm pretty certain there would be paint, fabric, and glitter EVERYWHERE.
So I'm go glad I have good helpers! They swept, vacuumed, and scrubbed the kitchen to perfection because they know how their Dad is too. As Zander said, "Daddy is really going to be mad when he sees this mess."

No worries though (just for you, Kara)....the table was soon shining with cleanliness.
And their projects turned out great!!

all about snow

In anticipation of The Blizzard of 2010 here in Georgia, we had some "snow" lessons here at home this week.

The first thing we did was make our own snow inside. To do this you need shaving cream, white paint and a flat cookie sheet or pan. We mixed together the shaving cream and paint (the paint makes it a little thicker that just using the shaving cream) on our sheets. And then we had fun!!

Both of the kids practiced writing the word "snow" in their mixtures. I thought Zan did a pretty good job! And they both know how to spell and recognize the word now!
But they had more fun playing with their animals in the snow!!

The next day we used our magnetic boards to make words. I made cards for them that said snow, ice, cold, and play.
This is an easy activity you could do with your kids anytime. They really enjoy it---Kaya told me it was her favorite part of the day.
And finally the next day we got our actual white stuff. They loved playing in it. Not enough to make a snowman but enough to make footprints----and that seemed to be good enough for these guys!

how to make work into a math lesson

Well, another reason I haven't posted pictures lately while I blog is my camera, my new fabulous camera I got for Christmas last year, is not working. And...my other two that worked, but weren't as fabulous---I donated to charity. And...I can't find the receipt anywhere for my new one (I could blame that on my meticulous husband who donates or throws everything away......or I can blame on myself morphing into my dear husband who donates or throws everything away). So, every time I want to take a picture.....I am out of luck.

So---here is my math lesson (without pictures.....sorry.....hope you can follow). Now at first, at Publix, while we were waiting to have subs made for lunch, I took the kids through the Halloween Castle to pick out treats for our friends. I even got paper lunchbags to put them in. I already had plans that the three of us would decorate them beautifully for our trick-or-treaters. But then Matt entered the picture. He said, " I don't know why you think you always have to have the best at Halloween (really, he wonders why I think that). We don't need that much. We don't need bags. That is ridiculous." So I put all of the stuff up. We only got a few treats for the trick-or-treaters. And I hated it I couldn't make my cute bags.

But the next morning I had a plan. I figured out I had over 100 sandwich bags in our pantry......from Aldi.......super cheap! So I put the kids to work. I made a diagram on a white piece of paper that said (or was actually drawn out)....2 pieces of gum, 2 blowpops, 1 bag of M&M's, and then put them in a ziploc with a halloween sticker.

The kids loved their math assignment. I sat there with them and they counted out each perfectly. A perfect math assignment, indeed.

halloween countdown tree

Yippee! We are in the month of October and my favorite holiday is right around the corner. The countdown for the big day I made a tree for the kids.

I used a small Christmas tree (if you have a white one, I think it would look even cooler) and decorated with regular twinkle lights and skull lights. I then made 31 little pockets and put stickers in them (2, one for Z & one for K).

They open a pocket each day and put their stickers on their countdown charts. They were so excited to see the tree and look forward to counting down (math skills snuck in there, of course) each day.

what shall we do on a rainy day?

For most of the summer we have had hardly any rain. Lately, every day is a soggy one. Lucky I have a few tricks up my sleeve here at home to keep us busy when we can't go out and burn energy!

1. Paint some shirts--

This summer our Dollar Tree sold tee-shirts. I grabbed a bunch of them and keep them in my craft closet, just in case. I give the kids fabric paint and they love to decorate their shirts. The last time I drew their names out in block letters with a fabric marker and they painted in the letters.

2. Maracas

Materials you will need: an empty jar or plastic container. Beads, uncooked pasta, beans, etc. (anything that makes a cool noise when you shake it). Let the kids fill them up and then shake around and have some fun!! I attached the lid with a glue gun so the kids wouldn't be tempted to open them up and make a enormous mess!
They also decorated their maracas with stickers. I was so proud of Zan for helping his two-year old friend with the stickers.



And this was the funniest part. The kids figured out a new way to use their instruments all on their own!

3. Little Monsters

Before we made these I read the book Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli. They designed their monsters to look like the guys in this book. I got this idea from an preschool-lesson plan book and also got the feet template from it. I think however, that you could draw your own feet to attach.

We first stuffed grocery bags into a foam bag. You could also use a paper bag to stuff or use tissue paper or newspaper to do the stuffing. I then attached the feet to the bag with my handy-dandy glue gun. I also got a ferocious blister using my glue gun so be careful if you try this at home! Then the kids decorated (well Kaya decorated hers, I helped the boys quite a bit) their monsters with googly eyes, fabrics, pipe cleaners, etc.

Hope you can use these ideas for the next rainy day you are stuck inside!

shaving cream and water

Last year when I got the shaving cream out to play with, write letters with, or create sculptures with my kids needed LOTS of supervision. Now I can squirt some out on the picnic table and let them go to work. They will play contently forever, sometimes I can even manage to unload the dishwasher while I watch from the kitchen window.

For extra fun you can add food coloring. We like to make designs and also mix primary colors together to make secondary colors.

Or sometimes they just like to rub it all over their play set.

This is super messy as you can tell so get out the hose for some quick clean-up!

Yep, I think the "clean-up" may be their favorite part!

4th of july shirts

These are slightly late but maybe you can use this ideal for another holiday or for fourth of july next year. I remembered us making them as I lurked around the web tonight and found this amazing site, Dollar Store Crafts, on Make and Takes. I can't wait to make the "tie-dyed" shirts this week with my kiddos. Our Dollar Store has had lots of shirts this year and my kids love to make shirts to wear.

Here they are in their firework shorts. I had them draw their fireworks then spread the paint with a brush. I then helped them write "I (heart) fireworks" on the designs. I then added their names and the year to the sleeves.