Month of JOY: Gingerbread Houses

The smell of sugary sweet candy brings instant JOY to the face of little ones. Whether it is in your classroom or at your kitchen table, kids love decorating gingerbread houses. Make this part of your holiday tradition this year. Let your little ones have free reign to decorate how they would like. You will be surprised by their creativity. Looking for a little math connection, gingerbread houses are a great way to talk about patterns, counting and...

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Month of Joy: Stained Glass Mitten

Sometimes the old classic crafts of my elementary days are the ones that I love the best.  I have fond memories of making tissue paper stained glass to celebrate a holiday when I was little.  Since we live in the warm and sunny southeast, school being cancelled due to snow is almost unfathomable.  Each year I host a "Snow Day" for my students.  I will bring your more details soon, but this is one of the crafts we make while "snowed...

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Month of Joy: Family Game night

 What brings more JOY than a game night? I love watching my kids have a good time, I can't imagine any better way than to spend a cold winter night inside having fun. To raise the bar and excitement for your players assemble a winners box containing small toys and trinkets for your winners to choose from ( The Dollar Tree is great for this)To get started with a family game night gather a few household items and let the fun begin:Tower of...

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Month of Joy: Candy Cane Burlap Door Hanger

We're breaking out of our normal routine around here to bring you a month filled with joy.  Marcy and I have been keeping our eyes and ears open to show you some things that simply bring a smile to our faces!  Whether it be an educational craft, a gift to give, a classroom project, or even a holiday tradition that we think might bring you happiness too. Today's joy comes in the form of a candy cane burlap door hanger that happens to...

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Turkey Day art projects

Looking for an easy way to keep your little ones occupied while you slave away in the kitchen. Get a few easy art projects ready so they can have a little fun while you are prepping for the big meal.Cut a paper plate in half and then cut red, orange and yellow tissue paper into small squares. Have your little one cut out shapes that you have traced a circle for the body a triangle for the beak and 2 feet. If hey aren't ready to cut on their own just...

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Lil Sprouts Book Club: Turkey Time

It's beginning to smell a lot like Thanksgiving with all this baking and cooking going on!  I have noticed, and maybe you have too, that students don't have the sharpest attention at this time of year.  Oh I wonder why?  So I had to think outside of the box to cook some concepts of measurement into one of my dear students' heads.  We mixed baking with some math.  She was skeptical, but we managed to reinforce a few concepts...

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Night Owl

Today we were stuck inside due to a cold, but not bad enough off to not get crafty.  My son and I made this special card for some one dear to us, and we hope that you'll make it for someone that you're thankful for.  Nothing perfect about it, and I'm thankful for that!  Scrap pieces of fabric, construction paper, and a little paint pulled our sentiments together perfectly. While the little one was snoozing off his symptoms I made...

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Mommy & Me Mondays: Carrying on the traditions

As we approach the holiday season I enjoy reminiscing about my own childhood and family memories of the holidays, they always involved lots of food, family and fun. Mom slaved away in the kitchen while my sister and I obsessed over the newspaper ads, making a very detailed list for Santa. One part of thanksgiving that I remember every time I look at my dining room table is learning how to set a table from my Grandma. She is very particular and loves...

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Lil Sprouts Book Club: Squanto's Suggestion

As you probably have gathered by now, I love teaching American history to kids.  I think the thing I love the most about it is that most children think it's boring.  It's a challenge as a teacher, and I fully accept it!  History is even better taught when you can mix in applicable lessons that can be used today.  For instance, the suggestions that Squanto gave to the Pilgrims to help them with farming.  These were life saving...

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Mommy & Me: A time to be thankful

Everywhere you look on online you see people posting things they are thankful for, especially on Facebook! So why not take a few minutes and get your little ones involved in the season of thankfulness? For Mommy and Me Monday I took a few minutes with my daughter to discuss what being thankful means, we made a list of all the things that are important to her and what she is most thankful for...I have to say her list was quite detailed. It's amusing...

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And the President is.....Grace!

As you wake up this morning you are probably a little groggy from all of the late night presidential election coverage. Sitting on the edge of your seat as each poll is tallied and votes are determined. All of the debates, campaigning, and political advertisements all lead up to this, the announcement of our newest President. In our state of Florida it was neck and neck the entire way. While it is exciting to include little ones in the democratic...

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Mommy & Me Mondays: Future Voters & Cookie Lovers

This future voter is ready for Tuesday!  It is hard (or near impossible) to teach a two year old about the democratic process, however he did have fun making a button just for him.  Here are the things we used:*  Card stock paper*  Red and white striped wrapping paper*  Star stencil, star shaped stickers, or star die cuts in red, white, and blue*  Mailing label*  Red and blue curling ribbon*  Tape *  Badge...

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