Time intro...

Trying to incorporate a hands on activities to further enhance learning. We have worked with physical clocks but I wanted to turn this into a craft they could be proud of also. During our lesson on time we created clocks. What you need

dark plate (I used black, happened to have some from a party)

round multicolored stickers

brad pin

construction paper to draw big hand and little hands (In addition to using arrow points, I made the big hand bigger and the little hand smaller to help the children in distinguishing which one.)

hole punch

Using a separate circle cutout I told the kids to pretend this was a pizza and if we wanted to cut it up so that 4 people could have it how would we do that. B was given the cutout and began to show the lines using her fingers to make it in fourths (intro to fractions) I was then told to fold the creases. I unfolded the paper and told them lets now pretend this is a clock and had them tell me what numbers would be at the corresponding creases. i.e 12,3,6, etc (Add stickers to those areas to reinforce visually) We then talked about total minutes from 12 to 3 and introduced them to counting up by 15s. Then they were ready to begin.

I think the craft is pretty forward. To add to the learning they were given time worksheets and had to recreate it on there clock and then listened to dictated times and had to show me. What kid doesnt like a craft and even better that it helps them learn.

Sensory Snowman partially finished!

So we have finally finished the Michaels's store inspired craft...The total cost for this was

3 $1 wooden certificate frames
1 $1 Picture frame pack with the rounded hook style eyelets and wire
1 $1 wrapping paper
Bows on hand


Total $5

Though we didn't here I would recommend modge podge if this is going as a gift. I can't get the link working but it is the last post under Christmas Project

Snow man creation is here....



We left out the glasses in the frame to encourage my kids to touch and feel the different textures of the snowman rounds. This would be a great gift for the grandparents to proudly display winter wonderland pictures of the kids, their works of art, etc. The best thing about this is with a little of fan back and forth folding it will tuck away super nicely.

Christmas Project

As Christmas is fast approaching we have embarked on yet another craft. This idea actually was inspired by Michaels craft stores...They are doing a weekly contest where they give you 3 things to work with you create it and then post a pic. Well I was too late for this one but the 3 items were

Picture frames, wire, and wrapping paper.

My originally idea was to take 3 picture frames and cover the outside in snowflake or plain wrapping paper. Adding a few coats of modge podge to the frames. Adding those full covered hook things to the bottoms and tops of frames to link the frames together. then adding a section of a snow man in each frame.

I just had to come up with a variation for the kids to do this one. It is a great sensory tool as the touch is different on each one. What they used...

3 pieces of cardstock for background
3 alternating circle shapes
shaving cream
glue
leftover tile for coal eyes..

Been awhile..

Pressing back to back parties and homeschooling have left little to no time for my blog...But here is the sneak peak of the newest party that I am planning. Carnival theme party... ON limited budget and the need for all things to be circus I have attempted my hand at Paint.net.


SO far this is what I have.

10 4 x 6 photo invitations = on sale for $.10 each....$1.00 custom invitations (I use Facebook and evite for most of our parties)

Ticket Booth sign= Thank you to Walgreens for their offer of 3 led lights for $10 we used 1 set for the ticket sign.....= 3.33
Foam board was my daughters old science board and paint on hand =Free THanks to the brilliant minds over at http://www.euclidboo.com/how-tos/build/carnival-ticket-booth-sign for the design idea... the puppet show house/ticket booth was ours but you could use a refrigerator box. call around .

Can toss = I have tried using the special seal can openers and hot glued lids but they arent' always reliable staying sealed. So I looked online and found the plastic set of cans for $19.99 but I found an even better idea.....Slim Fast cans..they are the perfect weight and can be spray painted with some concrete poured in....

Concrete on hand....and blue and red spray paint from Walmart $ 2.00

Red and white tissue paper discount store for fair style bunting. $2.00

Buying $10 of weiners on sale right now at staters when you buy 10 ---$10
Using to make corn dogs (other supplies on hand)

homemade funnel cake.....=$4.50

Photo Booth---(I am not a lets plan this in one day person so when I saw our neighbor with a Large swamp cooler box on there lawn of course I had to have it!!
Broke it down in the garage but will have it up before the party....

This party is for my boys....one is 7 and the other is 3. My expense is $200 though I am thinking we will be going over a little.shhh..... I will have to say most of the money has been spent at Oriental Trading company for a total of $100.00....

Do presents count in my total? Nooo....of course not but i found this awesome item
http://www.amazon.com/Cranium-307053006-100E-Carnival-Clubhouse/dp/B000OWIO8O
for $20 on craigslist...Doesn't it fit the theme beautifully...This was the youngests present as his bday is closer to turkey day...but it will work as a great addition to our party festivities.



Grand total so far.....123.00

Here are the pictures from our famous event

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=245360&id=525294146&l=b2e27a772a

The total was a bit more but I will give final tally later.


Yes balloon columns I made...get the instructional here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQL5lJegmHc



Super easy helps to have lot of help blowing..try to avoid doing in a warm house the static will be crazy....Second...The first few 4s i did were lopsided and lastly, I did the wrap around with the string and this became more of a nuisance so i just twisted the balloons and they were still okay...The base I made using a 20" tile 1/4" pvc pipe hot glued to the tile. The first try was pretty good then when I tried again the tile insulated the heat of the glue gun and didnt stick very well and it wouldnt cool ( shh a little ice did the trick). Hot glue cooled and then pvc pipe added might be a better bet or using some Liquid nails.

The lollipop tree was a last minute addition...I used my daughters science board from last year and cut 3 triangle shapes to make a pyramid and hot glued the edges together. I then used contact paper to cover. Using a phillips screwdriver poke holes in foam board at an angle and put lollipops have one marked for the winner. I found the topper which was a acrobatic tiger with gumballs at the dollar tree. I cut the top of the pyramid and stuck the topper right in. No one won this as they were too many lollis. I used 3 bags of dum dums from dollar tree.

Colored rice tubs

1. As a tie in to the crazy for pasta theme...I have been itching to try this with rice. A recent purchase of a 50 lb bag of rice and voila....we have colored rice. Now the how to.
   
   I took enough rice to cover a cookie sheet and poured rubbing alcohol on top just to get slightly wet. Then had my daughter place drops of color on the rice. Using a rubber spatula slowly stir together the rice to mix the coloring throughout. Towards the end we added a little more alcohol and set it out to dry. We did this 4 times for the different colors. When the rice is dry I took a small tupperware about 12 x 24 and filled it up with the rice. We will be rotating various goodies inside the rice for the kids to sift through the rice. Aside from being a great sensory tool, the kids have a blast. This week we have dinosaurs buried deep within and a few paintbrushes they become mini archeologists.

crazy for pasta... Total cost $4

A recent post by skiptomylou.org about National Macaroni Day and the coloring pasta has given me such a frenzy today...I can't get enough pasta. So my kids and I embarked on making colored pasta for necklaces at a later time. They look so beautiful. Here are some pix.

2 bags of Penne Pasta from dollar store

1 box of food coloring from dollar tree

and lastly alcohol (I had but you can get at the dollar store)

Homemade Ornaments---$5.67

I recently saw this at another school and it was just soo cute we had to do it.
What you need:

Food coloring...green and red $1
Shredded Wheat large bricks $3
Tall Glue $1
ribbon $.67
Margarine tub lid x 18
glue gun w. glue stick

Place a 1/8 cup of glue in one bowl and the remaining in another. Combine red food coloring in the 1/8 cup of glue and green food coloring in the other. Add enough food coloring to give the green a pine look.

You can give a brick to each child in a plastic baggy and have them crush. One brick = one ornament. Then on a plate have them mix the shreds of wheat with the green glue to coat evenly. Take mixture and pack it around the plastic lid in the shape of a wreath. Let dry for at least 2 days. After the first day you can paint plain glue on the top to give a shiny look.

using the red you can put little slivers of red around the wreath or tiny beads for holly.

Carefully pop the wreath out of the plastic and turn around to add hanging ribbon for the tree. Attach using ribbon and hot glue.

You can also cut a piece of cardstock and place a picture of child and attach to the back of wreath. Attach a small red bow at bottom and it is ready to hang or gift.

Went to michaels and found some red ribbon and flowers for another $2 to add more glitz to our wreaths.

Chika Chika Boom Boom Craft...

My youngest are reading this adorable book, so naturally a craft had to come from it. So my gears were clanging thinking of what to do.

What you need..

Brown Paper Bag
Green construction paper
Brown construction paper
foam letter stickers
foam circles
fabric glue
stick glue
sand or sticks...
black crayon or marker

Using the bag is the foundation of your tree. On the non flap side paste a 2 inch wide piece of brown paper for the tree trunk. Then cut or rip out palm tree frawns about 5 per tree. Glue the leaves on top of the brown trunk and let dry. Mark xs from bottom to top of trunk to create palm tree look. Then have them decorate with foam letters going up the tree just like in the book. You can add enrichment by having them look for the letters in their name or sorting the letters by color, etc. As a final touch I wanted something that had a sensory feel so I took fabric glue and placed some on a foam circle and then glued some sand/use small twigs or even old grass to look like a coconut (I was considering using real coconut shreds died brown) then glue to their masterpiece. When dry, you can open the bag and the tree should stand up on its own.

Enjoy...my kids had a blast....