Toy Labels

While I am not at all a fan of new year resolutions, I do like to take advantage of the opportunity that new Christmas toys provide.  This year we had to move some toys to larger buckets to accommodate more received as gifts, and give away some outgrown toys to make room for the new ones.  While I was at it, I decided to add some simple labels to the bins. 

Post card eschange (postcrossing)

Since I have been busy with projects for Christmas, I thought that I would share my postcrossing blog.  Postcrossing is a free website that initiates international postcard exchanges.  You put in your address, and sign up to send up to 5 postcards.  For each postcard that you send you are emailed the profile and address of a user in another country.  You send them a postcard, and after they receive it they register it on the site.   After it is registered, another user will receive your address and profile to send you a postcard.  We have had a lot of fun looking up the different countries on a world map, and learning a few things about them.

I asked for recipes in the suggestion area on my profile, and have received one for strawberry cake from Estonia, and one for draniki (potato pancakes) from Belarus.  I also really enjoy looking at the different stamps that come on the postcards.  I have been using some of my photographs to make postcards - you just print off a photo (I usually get them printed since my printer's ink smudges if it gets wet) and glue it to a piece of card stock.  It cost 0.98 to mail a postcard or letter internationally from the US.  Its a great way to learn about geography too.

I will be taking a break from posting for the next week or so as I spend time with my family.   So have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rainy Day Fun

I wrote this article this past summer as part of an application, and then I never posted it.  It is geared towards rainy summer days, but kids get just as restless when they are stuck inside due to cold weather.  Here are five simple ideas for occupying young kids on those days when you are stuck inside:

Paper Pilgrim Hat

 

This week our homeschool group is having a Thanksgiving celebration.  I am helping with the pilgrim hat station, so I needed to find a pattern and prepare 34 paper pilgrim hats for boys, and 20 paper bonnets for girls.  Skip to My Lou has a great tutorial for making a girls bonnet.  I found a cute boys hat online, but the pictures and directions were for 2 different hats.  And the paper size used was not one that is easily available.

Triops vs tadpoles

My son was gifted a pack of triops eggs a few weeks ago, and a pickle jar to grow them in.  This is like the fourth time J's come home from papa's house with something alive... and of course we had to hatch them immediately.  Triops are a small shrimp, and are similar to sea monkeys in that they are marketed to children as pets.

[caption id="attachment_605" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Waiting for the eggs to hatch"][/caption]

The Reformation

[caption id="attachment_600" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Martin Luther display at AIG's Creation Museum "][/caption]

On October 31st 1517 a little known German monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis to a church door in Wittenburg, Germany.  His thesis, which called for reform in the catholic church, were translated and reprinted.  Luther's document quickly spread among the common people in a time when the Bible was only accessible to a select few in the church.  The Reformation that followed had a tremendous effect on the world.  Even today, we reap the benefits of Reformation.  The Bible was translated into the language of the people, and is easily accessible.  Our country was founded on principles of religious freedom - freedom from a state controlled religion.

The church in America is in serious need of reformation.  Like the catholic church that Luther knew, the mainstream church in America is preaching a counterfeit gospel.  But unlike the people living during the Reformation, we have the Scriptures readily available in our native language.  We also have the legacy and writings of brilliant, godly men available to us.  And the internet allows sound teaching to be spread in a way that wasn't conceivable 500 years ago.

The Reformation is something worth celebrating.  Here are some ideas that I gathered to use in our home:

• Eat a German meal - [here] are the recipes I fixed last year.  We love trying new foods so it will be something different this year.


• Color a picture of Luther


• Print off a copy of the 95 thesis and hang it on your front door


• Copy out a Bible verse onto parchment paper with an 'illuminated' (decorated) first letter like the monks used to do.  [This link] has a neat lesson about the process of making a book with illuminated illustrations.


• Try your hand at book binding like the monks did


• Monks apparently had large gardens, and were pretty knowledgeable of medicinal herbs.  If you don't have a garden you could sprout beans for a quick project.


• Watch the old Martin Luther DVD (the new one is great, but may be too intense for kids.)

Free simple addition worksheets

In case you didn't know, I home-school my son.  I didn't buy any curriculum for kindergarten, expect for reading (and I am regretting that purchase.)  There are so many free resources available, between the internet and the library, that I haven't had a problem getting everything that I need.  (And most of the teacher's guides at this level are just filled with common sense tips.)  The one thing that I haven't found is a simple addition worksheet, where the answers stay below 10.  So I made one (well, three pages actually) and decided to upload it in case anyone else needs it too.  {Get it here}

 

Mr. Stick Person

I would like for you to meet my new friend, Mr.  Stick Person.  Mr. Stick Person joined me for breakfast this morning.  He was such a good guest - he even carried his own dish to the sink.  (Read on to see the rest of Mr. Stick Person's visit, and a free tutorial to make your own)

Fall / Autumn Themed Quiet Activities - Leaves

Falling leaves coloring page - http://www.123coloring.com/coloringpages/nature/autumn/images/10_gif.gif

Mini book - http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/autumn-day-mini-book-coloring-page/

Leaves coloring pages - http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/fall_coloring_pages.htm

Leaf Maze - http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes/Shape_Mazes/Fall_Maze.html

Leaf template for sewing card - http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/TCR/155734244X_65.pdf

For a leaf lacing card set: I cut some leaves from a cereal box using a similar template, punched holes around the page, and threw a lacing string in the bag.  To make your own lacing string, dab some glue (like Beacon's Fabri-tac) on the end of a string, and roll into a point using your fingers.  The leaves can also be colored, and used as templates to trace onto plain paper.  Lots of potential use for the 5 minutes it takes to trace and cut them out.

DIY Play dough

Many websites have recipes for play dough- I have tried a few and like this one best.  In my opinion, it has the same consistency as the real thing.  The same recipe is on several websites - I have no idea where it came from originally.  Aside from the obvious crafty fun and educational benefits, rolling and cutting play dough is good practice for rolling and cutting cookie dough.  Once your child masters even rolling in play dough you can move on to the real stuff.  :-)

Paper Dolls for Boys

My 5 year old son likes to watch me when I am making something.  When I made a set of Betsy McCall paper dolls to mail to my niece in Florida, he was fascinated with them.  And then he asked me to make him some, but with just the boys.



I assumed it would be fairly simple to find a set of knights or something similar, so I easily agreed.  It was not easy, in fact I only found one.  Bobby Bobbs was drawn by Orpha Kliner as part of a family series of paper dolls and published July 1925.  It is now in the public domain, but the only image I found was on flickr and the user had disabled downloading and printing.  I made a screen shot, tweaked the image in photoshop, and printed the page out.  (Not an infringement of rights since the image is in the public domain.)

Free Book Downloads

Growing up, my Dad had a series of old books on his bookshelf.  They were books that were printed in the early 1900's, that my Grandpa Poppy had read as a young boy.   Grandpa gave them to my Dad, and he let me read them.  The stories were written for boys, but that didn't bother me.  The heroes were actually good, and the young people had responsibilities.  Plus it was neat to hold something that was over 100 years old.

My Dad still has Grandpa's books on his shelf, and when I went off to school I started to collect them too.  Sometimes you can find them online or at used bookstores for around $5 a piece, and I have picked up around a dozen in the past 10 years.  But good old books are hard to come by, so I was delighted to find several  free digital editions available on amazon.  And several are also available on Guttenburg - H. Irving Hancock wrote the High School Boys and Young Engineers series;  Howard Payson and G. Harvey Ralphson are two of the authors of the Boy Scouts series.

Because they were written in the early 1900s, there are a few that have some really racist stuff in them.  But most of them don't, and they make great reading.  If you don't have a kindle you can still download the free program and get the free books to read on your computer or another e-reader.  I am looking forward to the next rainy day when I can sit down with a great story!

Peanut Butter

Yesterday we made peanut butter from raw peanuts.  I always have fun making things from scratch, and it is neat to learn where your food comes from, and what exactly is in it, and why.  We stared with about 2 cups of raw peanuts.  Roll the peanuts under your hand on the table to crack open the shells.