Color Hunt

Here is a simple, fun activity to do with your kids: go on a color hunt! Take a camera and find things of each color. Take pictures, and put the pictures in a collage when you're done. To make it easier to keep track of what you've found, take a simple checklist like THIS ONE along with you. You'll find colors where you least expect them...

The Three Little Pigs

Here's a quick little project to do with your kids sometime! Read or tell the story of the three little pigs. A fun online version can be found HERE.

Then make the three houses! We used spaghetti noodles for the straw (yarn or actual straw would work, too), craft sticks for the sticks (toothpicks would work great; just watch out for the pointy ends!), and red paper rectangles for the bricks. For hanging, we attached all three houses to a piece of yarn.

If you'd like a pattern for the houses, click HERE.

It's also fun to make the houses in 3D--use yarn or straw (or noodles) for the straw house, get some sticks outside for the stick house, and use Legos or some sort of building block for the brick house. Then have the kids try to blow each one down! They have a lot of fun trying to "be" the wolf! (Incidentally, you can also make a wolf out of a hair dryer--cover the barrel part with brown or gray paper for the wolf's muzzle, and cut out a face with a hole in the middle to slide onto the barrel...and voila! You have a wolf that can actually huff and puff!)

If you'd like some patterning practice for little ones, here's a fun little sheet. Since we did this with a group of five, the second sheet has five cutouts for the "answers"--in case you're wondering why there are so many! :) (Since the preview on the download link isn't showing properly, here's what the sheets look like):

A Really Great Site

I stumbled across this website this week:

Fun4Kids

This gal has LOADS of GREAT book suggestions and projects to do with your kiddos. She usually posts a list of books and then TONS of great activities that relate to those books. If you're ever bored, or need ideas on a particular theme, or just want to change up your routine a little, check this site out!! It is a FANTASTIC resource.

Early Literacy in the Home

This month's KidStuff activity was about early literacy in the home--from birth up! I gave a presentation about different ways to promote literacy (in all facets) and then we made a craft. Here is the handout:

If you'd like a .pdf version of this handout, please click HERE.

Here are some links that may be of use, as well:
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/LiteracyIdeas.htm
http://www.rif.org/parents/
http://www.walearning.com/Guide.html
http://www.kcls.org/kids/whattoread/booklists/Raising%20Readers%20Toddlers.pdf

Our craft was making our children's names out of tactile letters. We cut the letters from lots of different textures! My kids love theirs. The visual and tactile combo is really great for early learning, too!

If there's anyone in my area who didn't make it but would still like materials for the craft, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks!

Easter Coloring Page, 2009

The Easter Bunny's newest coloring page:

FYI, the Easter Bunny found the text and images for this activity HERE. :)

St. Patrick's Day Edible Fun

Our older preschool kiddos (ages 4-5) got to have little "pot of gold" snacks on St. Patrick's Day. Michelle found this idea on familyfun.com, though she used bowls instead of limes--much more practical, I say! The "gold" is just lemon-flavored Jell-o cubes (Jigglers). The kids loved these, and some even ate Jell-o when they previously wouldn't touch the stuff! :)

Our younger kids got to load up on some super sugary Froot Loops while they made these fun little rainbows, courtesy of http://www.kidssoup.com/. They had a lot of fun matching up the colors...and eating the goods! :) You can get this rainbow sheet HERE.

Shape Books

In addition to our church group, I also help with a home-rotating preschool. On St. Patrick's day, our little guys (2-3 years old) made these fun shape books. They love being able to see their names on the title pages.

The text is predictable, so they can "read" their books to everyone! They enjoyed being able to put the appropriate number of shamrocks on each page (we did numbers 1-5).

This is a great project for any holiday, or any other time of the year! Pick a shape or a theme, and run with it! Kids love having ownership, and they love to show off a book that they've made.

To download a copy of the templates we used for this book, go HERE. Thanks to http://www.abcteach.com/ for the shamrock shape!

Easter Coloring Pages

The past couple of years, the Easter Bunny has begun leaving coloring pages in the kids' Easter baskets to help them remember what Easter is all about. Here are the ones he's left so far:

I wonder what he'll bring this year!

Note: Clipart used in these pages and other wonderful LDS clipart can be found HERE.

Yummy Easter Object Lesson

Thanks to Michelle for this wonderful idea!

Resurrection Rolls: Great Object Lesson for Easter
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
8 large marshmallows
1/8-1/4 cup melted butter
1-2 TBLSP cinnamon
1-2 TBLSP white sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Separate crescent rolls into 8 individual triangles.
In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon & sugar.
Dip a marshmallow into melted butter, then roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place marshmallow in the center of a dough triangle.
***Be sure to pinch all seams together tightly to seal in marshmallow as it melts.
Place on baking sheet. Bake until golden brown - about 15 min.

Share how the marshmallow represents His body.
The butter/sugar/cinnamon represents the oil & spices used to prepare His body, which was laid to rest in the tomb (dough).
The tomb, like the roll, was found empty, for He had risen!

Number Of Servings:8 * Preparation Time:20 min.

Fun Easter Lesson

Here is a lesson (great for Family Home Evening) about the last events in the Savior's life, leading up to the Resurrection. Label twelve plastic eggs with #1-12 (mine are labeled with masking tape--you could use small labels, or just write on the eggs themselves...whatever!). Each egg contains a scripture and an object. We look up the scripture, read it, and discuss what the object has to do with the scripture. The kids really like finding out what is in each egg, and it is a fun, interactive way to review what happened in the life of our Savior before He died and was resurrected. The last egg, of course, is empty like the tomb (except for the scripture), and I use a bigger egg just to make it a little extra special.

If you use all small eggs, these can be stored nicely in an egg carton. Mine just stay in a plastic bag all year! :)

Below is the info on the scriptures and the objects you'd need to make your own set. For a .pdf file of this info, click HERE; for a Word file, click HERE.

Placemat Totes

Also made these last spring. Inexpensive, especially when you find placemats on clearance (or use one you already have!). Great for mommies who need a small handbag but not the mega-diaper bag; great for kids for scripture totes, "treasure" bags, etc....lots of uses! We also made awesome little tri-fold scripture pockets--but I didn't make one and don't have a pic. If someone has a pic of theirs, email me and I'll put it up!

I don't really sew very well, but here are some basic instructions. If these confuse you, just Google "placemat totes" and you'll get some great instructions from others who are better at this project than I am! :)

Go get a placemat and some ribbon, and you're halfway there. (The wider ribbon makes for more comfy handles, I think.) If you're going to sew any handles that show in the front (as opposed to just sewing the ribbon on the inside, which is the way my BACK handles are on the brown and pink ones), sew those on first. Sew on any decorative ribbon next. Turn placemat inside out and sew up sides. Turn right-side out and, voila! Done...unless you want the extra seams on the bottom (like the one with the multi-colored ribbon). Basically you have to just pinch the corners (while still inside out) and sew one straight seam (perpendicular to the ones you did to close the sides--you will cross those seams).

The multi-colored ribbon handles are just one, continuous ribbon--start at one end, stitch across placemat (lengthwise), form handle, stitch across again, form other handle...

Enjoy.

Peek-a-Boo Books

Last spring we made "peek-a-boo" books. I did a religious one and a secular one (thanks to my sister for helping me put the samples together!). They're a lot of fun and are very adaptable: text or no text, large "windows" or small, simple pictures or complex, themed or non-themed, etc. You can use old magazines, calendars, etc. for pictures. Here are a couple of scans from that project:

Juice Lids!

In November we had an "idea fair" of homemade Christmas gifts (simple, inexpensive things)--more on that later. But in addition to the ideas on display, we had three "make and takes" available. I'll post on the third one later, but here are the first two:

Jumbo Bank

For this activity, you need juice lids, a peanut butter jar, and colored paper, stickers, or both. If you want to go the extra mile, you also need clear Contact or laminating paper. I suppose you'll also need an exacto knife or something to cut the slit in the jar lid, and scissors or a circle cutter to cut the paper. :)

You can decorate the "coins" however you'd like. When I made mine, I cut colored paper slightly smaller than the middle of the juice lids. Then I put stickers on the paper and attached the paper to the lids with a little bit of glue. I cut circles from clear contact paper, slightly bigger than my colored paper circles, and I "laminated" the paper circles to the juice lids. This protects the designs from exploring little mouths...and protects those cute little mouths, too--from swallowing paper or a sticker or something.

I've gotta say, I've had this toy around for years now and my kids still love it! They never seem to be too old to put the "coins" in the slot!

Star Match Game

For this one, I turned to the good old juice lids again! I used patterned Contact paper for the backs, which was a really easy way to make the backs uniform. Then I just used those great star stickers to make pairs of matching patterns on the other side. I did patterns of two, three, and four stars each, and that provides a simple enough game for really young ones with some help, yet challenging enough for some older ones (it's more challenging than you think, looking at all of those stars!). I've had a lot of fun playing this game with my kids, and it was SO simple, cheap, and quick to make!

"Button Me" Jack-o-lanterns

It feels strange posting about Halloween in February, but here's what we did last October! :) We made "button me" jack-o-lanterns out of felt. They're so simple...and a fun skill-builder for kids. Just cut a pumpkin shape out of orange felt. Cut eyes, nose, and mouth from black or yellow felt, depending on whether or not your jack-o-lantern is "lit" or dark! Cut slits in the face pieces, and sew buttons in corresponding locations on your pumpkin shape. Viola! Halloween buttoning practice!

"Teach the Children" - Symbols of Christmas

Another Christmas project...

Many of you have heard the story where Santa comes to visit shortly before Christmas and admonishes the storyteller to "teach the children" the true meaning of Christmas. He explains the symbols of the season and whence they come. So a year ago, Christmastime, we made these little bags to go along with the story. We sewed simple drawstring bags and filled them with items that illustrate the story.

For your own kit, you would need the following:
-a bag for everything
-a star
-a red ornament
-a mini tree
-a bell
-a candle (bday cake candles work well)
-small gift with a bow
-candy cane
-wreath
-the story! You can download the text HERE.

I loved having a kit like this when I was a kid. There's wonderment in pulling all of the miniature ornaments from Santa's little bag, and learning about what each one means! It's a fun thing to share with family during the Christmas season.

The ABCs of Christmas

We saved our Christmas cards through this last Christmas season in order to use them for these great books entitled, "The ABCs of Christmas." My aunt made one for my family growing up, and my mother saved her Christmas cards and made one for my little family a couple of years ago. We love it! You can see in the picture above the one my mother made and then the one that my daughter is in process of making. We need a few more pictures, and then we'll be able to laminate and bind!

These are a couple of pages from my mom's so you can see examples--so cute!

Here is the full text and some title text, for a cover, if desired:

You can download a file of the text in book layout HERE, if you're ready to put one together! We printed our pages on white cardstock.

Gracious George, the Gingerbread Man

In December this past year, we made a cute little family service helper named Gracious George the Gingerbread Man. He's made from felt, stuffed with split peas, and decorated with dimensional fabric paint (puff paint). His story follows the traditional "gingerbread man" story, but before he runs away from people, he helps them with something first. (He might wash the old man and woman's dishes, weed a farmer's garden, help a boy tie his shoelace, etc.) In the end, he arrives at...your house! Here he stays, to help your family serve one another. One person begins by doing a service for someone else and leaving Gracious George "at the scene" of the service. When the service recipient finds Gracious George, he then does something for someone else, leaving Gracious George for the next recipient to find. And the good deeds continue on!

On George's back is a little pocket, with the following poem tucked inside:

I'm Gracious George, the Gingerbread Man! You and I should make a plan. We'll do something kind, so no one will see, and then see just how happy they will be!

You can include a space to mark Xs each time someone does a service, or you can leave it plain. You can have a separate chart to keep track, or you can just let Gracious George secretly travel from person to person. The details are up to you!