Arts And Crafts

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Presidents’ Day Activities

Sunday, February 19th, 2012

As my search for items to do with the kids over February break continues, I wanted to look at possibilities that have to do with President’s Day. Since the kids have President’s week off, it makes sense to try to tie something in with that.

Of course, I went to Pinterest and searched for President’s Day. I was pleasantly surprised with quite a few craft, writing, and classroom activities. Remember, once a teacher always a teacher – even if you are not in a classroom of your own. Before I knew it, I had a good amount of items on a board of my own.

I love that a lot of these will be more of a challenge for my third grader, but some could work well for my preschooler. One that I think will tie in nicely with other crafts we already have is the Kids Coins for Presidents Day from Alpha Mom.

Source: alphamom.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

There are a bunch of other items that we will have ready just in case we have extra time during the week. If you are interested in seeing the items that I have pinned, just click on my board below.

The best part of these boards is that I have a great collection to not only do with the kids, but also use in a classroom in the future. So, do you have any special items that you will be doing to celebrate President’s Day? Please share your plans or link up to a post about your ideas.

Happy Birthday Trees

Saturday, February 18th, 2012

Dear JSL,

Watching you learn about Jewish holidays at nursery school has been so much fun. You love taking in all of the information and sharing it with us when you get home. Of course, you also adore making crafts that go along with the events.

Last week, your class celebrated Tu B’Shvat. As you told us, it was time for the trees birthday. One day, when you arrived at school, you were going to add paint to a tree project that you had already started. You were so happy to see what this multi media craft would involve. Another day, you planted parsley seeds into the remains of half an orange. As we drove home and you held onto the orange you were proud to announce that you helped to make orange juice before planting the seeds.

Now we will take the best care of your seeds as possible. With any luck, some parsley will grow and we can use it for our Passover Seder. For now, I look forward to seeing your smiling face as you learn all about Purim in the weeks ahead. I have a feeling you will be a pirate for your festival at school.

Thank you for sharing all that you learn.

Love,

Mommy

Crafting Ideas for Winter Break

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Some parts of the country have a week of school off in February. We live in one of those areas and it is next week to coordinate with President’s Day. Although it has been a mild winter, we still may have days that are too cold to head outside or snow may keep us home.

Thanks to this, I have been looking at Pinterest for crafting ideas to do with the boys. Over the last few weeks, I have gathered some items that may work for one, or both of the kids. I also tried to find items that we could do with supplies that we already own. To see some of the items that I pinned click on the Crafts for kids button below.

I know that NHL really wants to try finger knitting. With all of the extra yarn that I have in the house, this would be great. The boys would also love to make and then play with their own play-dough. Why not pull them into the kitchen to make something that they can use for hours with the toys that we already have. Of course, we will also be testing our their Shrinky Dinks that they got from Nana and Papa for Valentine’s Day. Who knows, maybe I will even have a chance to try some of the items in this board too:

So this week my question is:

If money, time, space, and mess factor were no issue – what craft would you love to do with your children and/or yourself and why?

It's Me

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #191

Disney Shrinky Dinks Valentines

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Ideas for Valentine’s Day 2012

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Tuesday is Valentine’s Day and families all over will be getting ready to send there children things into school for celebrations. One of my boys will be doing this on Tuesday, while the other will have to wait until kindergarten. NHL’s class is having a little gathering where they will exchange Valentine cards and have some snacks.

I knew we would not have enough time to make any of the really cool Valentines that I have seen on Pinterest – like the ones from Zakka Life below.

Source: zakkalife.blogspot.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

It would have been great to make them, but the reality check is not enough time to get the items needed and to construct them. Thanks to this, I went to the store and bought some that I knew NHL would love. I do believe that Agent P would approve as well.

So this weekend, NHL will sign them and get them ready. Then we will try to figure out what snack to make to bring into his class. I have a feeling I may try one of the cool items that I pinned in my <3 Day Items board on Pinterest.

There are just so many great things to be found on Pinterest. If you want to see what I have pinned in mine, just click on my board below and it will take to there now.

So what are your plans for Valentine cards, crafts, and/or baked goods for Tuesday? Please share below!

Winter Snowmen Crafting Fun

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Mother Nature has been mighty odd this season. We had more snow in October (about five inches) than we have seen in November, December, and most of January combined. Living in New York, I am not complaining about this. I am a realist and know that “winter” can give us pesky frozen weather well into March and even April. Thanks to Pinterest, I am trying to think ahead. I have a lot of items in my house to make crafts with the kids should we be stuck home during a winter weather phenomenon.

So, I set out to look for items after I saw a pin with the snowmen below. This looks like a great family project that could be put up on a wall, mantle, or over a doorway. No doubt it could be done with other items and be great for different ages. When I used to decorate my classroom, I would put them up right after Thanksgiving and keep them during the winter months. It was the perfect non-religious decoration, plus they are cute!

Source: somedaycrafts.blogspot.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

Another item that I found was adorable and would be great to do at home or in a classroom as part of a snow, winter, snowman theme of study. The blogger that it came from is a first grade teacher and you can see the portfolio items that his students made along with these star snowmen.

Source: mrsschmelzer.blogspot.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

For older children, a mixed media project would be a lot of fun and more of a challenge. I thought this idea from Elementary Art Room using torn paper mosaic style came out great. I even thought the cutting practice would be great for my little guy as well.

Source: elementaryartroom.blogspot.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

Snowmen with words, specifically children’s names, was the inspiration for this project. This kindergarten teacher had each of her students put a letter of their name on on a snowball and then add on faces, hats, and arms. She also had other projects that were done within the same time frame with this theme.

Source: stlmdk.blogspot.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

There were many other pins that I added to my snowmen crafts and goodies board over on Pinterest. What items have you made with snowmen? Please share them below so I can add them to my list of projects to try one day soon.

Transportation Time Fun

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

Dear JSL,

Two weeks ago, your class started a transportation theme. During this time, you made your own blue car, played with boats, washed cars in a car wash, designed your own train, and many other items.

There was also a giant class project. Last week, your teacher called one night to ask that you go to school in clothing for some major painting. We had that set, but forgot about your brand new white sneakers. Thank goodness your teacher from last year had rain boots that you could use for painting. When we got into school, there was a giant cardboard box on a plastic tarp. As soon as I saw the box, I had a feeling I knew what it was about to become.

This Tuesday, we walked into your classroom to see the finished project. It was an amazing creation. It had windshield wipers, wheels, headlights, the stop sign for cars, a door, and more.

When we looked closer there was even a steering wheel and a seat for the bus driver. I have a feeling all of you must have had a great time going inside the bus together to sing The Wheels on the Bus as a group.

Of course, once I had the camera out to capture these photos, I had to get one with you next to the bus.

I know you loved this unit because of all of the fun items and you learned so much. I was so surprised to hear that you went on a real bus to check it out. You have grown up and I keep trying to forget that soon you will be heading off to kindergarten. Keep learning, growing, and sharing all that you do each day with me.

Love,

Mommy

Tuesday Tales – Disney Drawing Books

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Do your children like to draw? My eight year old son, NHL, has caught the drawing bug. I still remember growing up and constantly drawing with the Ed Emberley books. I loved, loved, loved them and would spend hours making the critters and characters in the books come alive. I think these books may have sparked my desire to continue with art classes when in high school. To me, they were great to be creative and relax a bit from the high level science and math courses that I took.

During our February 2010 trip to Walt Disney World, NHL was fascinated with the drawings and animation area at Hollywood Studios. While visiting one of the gift shops, he begged TechyDad and I to allow him to purchase something. It was a giant “How to Draw” book of Disney characters. It looked like a bit much for him, but certainly something he would grow into. As a perk, it was not a plastic toy or new stuffed animal. We bought the book seen above. We pulled the Learn to Draw Disney: Celebrated Characters Collection book out recently and NHL adored it. He kept trying new characters and making up stories to go along with his drawings.

Recently, a Scholastic book order came home and something snagged my attention. There was Learn to Draw Disney Phineas and Ferb Book that I knew NHL would love. This would combine his love for Perry, Doofenshmirtz, and other characters from the show with drawing. I ordered it to put away for Chanukah. TechyDad and I were right, NHL was in love with his new drawing book.

We were impressed with the easy to follow instructions in the book. The new Phineas and Ferb book is actually made by the same Walter Foster publishing company. Inside the book there is a table of contents with all of the characters that you can learn to draw yourself. NHL was excited to see not only Phineas, Ferb, Perry, but also Baljeet, Buford, Jeremy, and many others.

Here is a sneak peek inside the book at drawing Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz:

During one of the days of vacation, we pulled out the drawing books and other items to spending some time inside the warm house. NHL immediately picked a character to draw. Much to my surprise, he picked Buford and got started.

It was fun to watch NHL concentrate and smile when he was finished and had a favorite Phineas and Ferb character drawn on his own paper. Yes, I do believe many hours of drawing fun will continue with this book, and likely more from Walter Foster in our future.

Do you have any drawing books that your family loves? I would love to know. I would also like to hear about what have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Tuesday Tales and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: As mentioned, we bought both of the books featured in this post. Two Amazon Affiliate links are included. Should someone purchase these from Amazon I will receive a small percentage of the sale. As always, all opinions are my own.

The Year that was 2011

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

It is hard to believe that 2012 is here. Once again, the year went by with a lot of fun, photos, and memories. Here are just some of the highlights from the year that was 2011.

January:

Mother Nature started her tricks with a lot of snow that came our way. We had fun making memories with the sled in our own yard.
I started writing Education posts at The Disney Driven Life and introduced it to everyone. Thank you to J.L. for the amazing opportunity. I look forward to getting back on track in 2012.
NHL lost three more teeth during the first three months of the year. Much relief as they came out without dental assistance.

February 2011:

The Snowpacalypse welcomed the month of February threatening 18-30 inches of snow. It left lots of the white stuff and tons of ice damage. Our neighbors probably had a laugh with knee-highs on our roof.
With all of the freezing cold, even the little guy was trying to ride Tony Pony to Disney World to escape. Of course, we were gearing up for Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2011 in March.
We continued to take the boys to introduce them to hockey. They had a blast checking out all of the extras between the on ice action.

Greeting the Devil Dawg

March 2011:

Mother Nature teased us with warmth to melt snow mountains early in the month, only to knock us down with an ice storm to remember. Crackling trees and ice pelting the house is hard to listen to in the dark.
A magical trip to Walt Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration allowed me to see amazing friends, learn, and have fun with my family. Lots of items from that trip were shared throughout the months ahead.
Of course, the reality world hit hard once we got back from our magical adventure. Tough decisions were ahead and left my head spinning. All of this made me remember the wise words of Rene Syler – The Good Enough Mother.

April 2011:

Passover preparations were dominant this month. Making lists, shopping, and getting the house ready. Of course, we also captured memories of the holiday itself.
Lots of moments where I wished I was not the adult who had to make decision. Thank goodness, JSL helped to keep me smiling along the way.
A routine visit to the dentist for NHL revealed the need to see an orthodontist. We made the appointment for several months later in June, but knew the missing adult tooth was going to be something to contend with.

Views from Seder 2

May 2011:

Even moms need field trips. Yes, the weekend before Mother’s Day, Cutestkidever and I jumped into the car for a lunch date with Rene Syler.
JSL’s 4th birthday and new love for Jake and the Never Land Pirates required working on a theme for his party. Supplies were bought and cupcakes were made.
The sun coming back also provided an opportunity to test out our new grill, plant some veggies, and attempt to regrow our front lawn.

June 2011:

After taking NHL out of a school he had been in since kindergarten, TechyDad and I watched as our second grader started to flourish in a new school. Once again, we started to believe in the education system. This entire drama made it SO hard to bite my tongue and keep a lot of things to myself.
Father’s Day we spent a fun day together. We had lunch out, went mini-golfing, and had dinner with Nana and Papa. It reminded me of how special these moments together are.
The end of June marked a major milestone for TechyDad and me. We celebrated out 10th wedding anniversary. Memories of our special day, honeymoon at Walt Disney World, and everything over the ten years together came flooding back. Of course, the day of our actual anniversary was a house nightmare. A plumbing fix resulted in us moving out for several days.

Reliving our honeymoon almost 10 years later

July 2011:

The month started with a visit out to see my brother and his family for 4th of July. While there, we went cherry picking and beat our previous record. A day at Niagara Falls was also included in the fun adventures.
Both of the boys were home with me for the entire summer. We looked for fun activities to do. We often ended up at the library for learning and crafting.
We also spent a lot of time at Michaels crafting our way around the world. Yes, Michaels and Crayola teamed up to make a great passport of crafts for kids to do that were mostly free. The kids learned so much and we found some great new crafts to try later on.

August 2011:

At the end of July, we started to think about a magical getaway to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Shortly after this, we booked a fantastic trip to relive our honeymoon at Walt Disney World. Everything was planned from the hotel, dining, and place for the kids to stay over Labor Day.
NHL turned 8 in August and requested lion cupcakes. We documented the construction process and birthday celebration.
The end of the month was heart breaking. We watched as Hurricane Irene wrecked havoc up and down the east coast. Thanks to the fear of the kids being stuck with no power and our flight getting canceled, we postponed our big trip to Disney. Being responsible adults was tough.

September 2011:

The boys started back to school after Labor Day. NHL loved his new school and was settling into third grade. JSL thrived at his familiar nursery school and we had lots of fun going apple picking with his class.
As a Type-A personality, I am a planner. So it was very rare for me to pack up in just a few days notice to head to New York City for the first ever SheStreams Conference. It was an amazing time seeing friends, learning, and getting away for a weekend. A huge thank you to all of those that made it a magical and empowering weekend.

October 2011:

As a third grader, NHL started to take band in school. He picked percussion instruments and drum practice even got a Disney touch thanks to Nana and Papa.
During the month of October, two large packages arrived to host parties. The boys loved learning and playing with LeapFrog items during the Learn, Create, and Share Party. The LeapPad had been an amazing addition to our family learning electronics. HexBugs also invaded our house for some glow-in-the-dark holiday fun.
Halloween was a lot of fun thanks to everyone staying healthy. NHL was Darth Vader, JSL was Jedi Tigger, and even TechyDad dressed up. Of course, Snowtober threatened to make things more interesting just a day before heading out.

November 2011:

The start of the month meant going to a fun event for bloggers at Price Chopper, headquarters. The Price Chopper Holiday Cheer afternoon showcased endless holiday entertaining ideas. Of course, I wanted to highlight the Decadent Desserts line.
This was also the month that my entire family fell in love with Susan Egan. I had been lucky enough to see Susan at Disney Social Media Moms in March, but her new CD review was a hit in our house. My little guy even had a crush on her and certainly did care more than Nina.
The boys learned about what an aufruf is and spent a lot of time with family in November during Thanksgiving weekend.

Silly Turkeys

December 2011:

The month began with full on Muppet madness in our house. The boys have always loved the Muppets, but the anticipation of the new movie brought it on even more. There was Muppets mania clothing style and lots of Muppet music playing in our house. Heck, I even tossed in some fun Muppets nail polish. Bringing things from our childhood back are so much fun.
Chanukah was more quiet this year as we focused on time with each other, festive music, watching the menorah glow, and less attention on presents.
A surprise trip to Build-A-Bear workshop introduced our family to Snowflake and Clumsy. Snowflake has been on a lot of adventures and even requested a beary special knitted scarf.

There were so many other things that made 2011 special and amazing. Thank goodness that is what archives are for. We can look back, laugh, cry, remember, and reflect.

What are some of your favorite part of the year that was 2011?

Scarves for Stuffed Friends

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Days after the boys made Snowflake and Clumsy at Build-A-Bear, a request came from my little guy. He decided that his bear friend was cold and needed a scarf. Of course, what he really meant was that he wanted me to knit Snowflake a scarf. So what is a knitting Mom to do?

I just happened to have a little yarn left from making Cousin BA’s scarf and it matched Snowflake perfectly. JSL could not imagine what was taking me so long to knit the scarf. I mean hello, it was not finished in 20 minutes! That night while he was sleeping, I captured Snowflake to measure and make sure the scarf was complete. JSL was surprised in the morning and declared that his friend must go out.

Yes, Snowflake went on some adventures since the snow had not started to fly. Of course, once Snowflake had a scarf, NHL declared that Clumsy also had to have one. NHL asked if I could make him a matching scarf since I had already started a new one for him. I was able to knit up NHL’s new scarf quickly.

That night, I quickly used the rest of the yarn to make Clumsy his own scarf. Luckily, I had just enough to make it work. The result are two stuffed family members that are smiling and warm, plus two very happy children.