Easter 2012

I know it's December, but I was going through some old things and thought I'd post the Easter Bunny's coloring page from 2012.  Enjoy!

Peanut-Butter Jar Banks

My hubby and I recently put these together for our kids; so far we all love them!

I made the labels on the computer and backed them with scrapbook paper. They're attached to the jars with a little glue and clear contact paper (for protection of the label as well as attachment to the jar). Same with the lid covers--some scrapbook paper with a slit, covered with contact paper slightly larger than the circles. Hubby cut the slits in the actual lids, cut and stained the wood, and screwed the jars to the wood.

Pretty simple, used all on-hand supplies, fun, and quite functional!

This Year's Coloring Page

Another simple offering from the Easter Bunny:

More Conference!

I realize that this is last-minute for the current General Conference, but it may help a few of you. If not, it can be used in the future! I've been putting together some more pages for my kiddos and wanted to share.

*Disclaimer: I've been having some trouble when converting my files to PDF format. Some of my images become very poor quality, or the PDF document adds random lines to images, etc. I apologize for this and hope that you're still able to enjoy the pages for what they're worth! :) (And if anyone knows of a free PDF creator that would produce a higher-quality product, please let me know!)

General Conference Packet

More great General Conference packets can also be found HERE!

Conference Helps

I've put together a few random activity packets/pages for my kids for LDS Stake and General Conferences. I'm also so grateful for others whose packets and activity pages I've used! I thought that, since I'm always gathering others' packet/activity ideas, I'd put up some of what I've come up with in hopes that it will help someone else out there. :) Hope someone finds something useful in here!

LDS Stake Conference Help Packet 1

LDS Stake Conference Help Packet 2

Noah's A-MAZE-ING Animals

General Conference Word Sheet

Random Conference Pages

Easter Coloring Page 2010

Each year the Easter Bunny leaves a coloring page in my kids' Easter baskets to help them remember the real meaning of the day. Here is this year's page:

For past years' pages, see HERE and HERE.

Homemade Stickers - Lick 'n' Stick

Remember lick 'n' stick stickers? I think they're less common these days! Here's a fun way to make some tasty ones of your own. You can use pictures from magazines, computer printouts, your kids' own drawings...be creative! To make them stick, mix the following:

1 tsp. gelatin (any flavor)
2 tsp. boiling water

Stir until gelatin dissolves and let cool for just a minute or so. While still warm, paint mixture onto the back of your "stickers" - use a paintbrush, a cotton swab, your fingers...whatever!

If you're doing a large sheet, it's easier to just coat the whole sheet and then cut apart afterward...

Let dry. Cut apart, if still needed. Lick, and then stick!

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!