Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids

The last few years, I've had months of Christmas posts ( see them all here ).  This year, I only have a few contributions; although, it's still several weeks until Thanksgiving so we'll see what happens when we get closer to Christmas.  I put together this post last year after Christmas and have been sitting on it to finally share with you today. After putting together the Quick and Easy Food Gifts with Printables blog post a few years ago, I had to make another one this year!  The first article focused on store-bought foods to which you can easily add a printable (and sometimes punny) label.  Today's post is about easy homemade food gifts you can assemble for friends, families, and acquaintances.  As a bonus, all of them fit in a quart-size mason jar! - Pumpkin Butter from Minimalist Baker in a Mason Jar with an Adorable Chalk Label from Lily and Val .  Great for new moms as pumpkin can help increase milk production, especially when paire...

I wrote this post several years ago and just found it when I was "cleaning out" my old blog to move things here.  I'm not sure why I never posted it.  Dragonfly still loves them and asks me to make more of them all the time. The leash is made from a 1-inch ribbon.  I used my machine to put a "handle" loop on one end, then added a key ring and tacked that down on the other end.  The key rings and clasp came from a pack that I found at Walmart, but I think these lobster clasps would work better.  The leash is about 3ft long* and just right for Dragonfly to drag around. *Strangulation danger* The collar is made from 3/4-inch ribbon.  I added a plastic buckle on each end, sewing the loops with the machine.  The leash and the collar probably took me ten minutes, including the time to gather the supplies and set up the machine.  Very easy, but so cute. Maybe I decided not to publish because the post was so short.  It's a great sto...

All this week, I've been posting about math things for the classroom like the Giant 100 Chart Poster  for the wall and the 100 Board Game for learning skip counting and patterns.  To end the week of math fun, I wanted to put together a roundup of ideas for teaching kids how to count.  Most kids can recite the numbers in order and learn them almost like a chant, but to actually understand the quantity and value of a number takes a lot longer.  Here are a few ideas to help kids practice. 1- Pencil Box // Planting Peas 2- Wood Tray // Mama Guru 3- Sticks and TP Rolls // Montessori on a Budget 4- Red Numbers // Le Jarden de Kiran 5- Cups and Straws // Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids 6-  Popsicle Sticks // Chalk Academy 7- Toothpicks // Our Montessori Home 8- Q-Tips and Ice Cube Tray // Mama Jean 9- Wood Pegs // Making Montessori Ours When I first started homeschooling, I was very drawn to the Montessori method. ...

Several years ago, I posted a Six-Sided 100 chart printable on this blog.  It was a good project, but I never got it to full usefulness, because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to use for a tray.  Now that my kids are ready for 100-chart work, I thought I'd remake the set and actually finish it. I started with an old Last Word Game from the 1980's, which has a 10x10 grid with little crevices for supporting the blocks.  Then, I bought a pack of 100 0.75" wood cubes  and printed my dice sides off my computer.  Working in small batches, I placed packing tape over the printed numbers and then cut them out and affixed them to the wood with a glue stick. I tried to make every dice exactly the same so that it was easier to turn them from one side to another when they were already on the board.  For example, the black and white side was side 1, then the rainbow side was to the left of that and the monster was to the right.  I tried to keep the o...

This post was entirely inspired by my new friends in the Gameschooling facebook group.  Gameschooling is a version of homeschooling, where families play games together and learn many (or most) of what they need to know for life through games.  It was from them that I discovered just how much can be taught through playtime. Did you know that  Guess Who  can be customized to be more educational (or even just more fun).  There are version for learning number identification (like this one from   A Love 4 Teaching ) and a women in history one from  Adventure in a Box .  Often, you can find a used Guess Who  game at a thrift store, but even a new set can also be purchased for less than $20 (sometimes as low as $10), which makes it extra affordable to have lots of customized versions.  Here are a few more that I've found. Skylander Version // Wine and Glue I actually don't know anything about Skylander, but I thought her gam...

For day two of Mickey week, I thought I'd do some  Mickey play food !  I ended up with two felt food pattern ideas, although their shapes are very similar.  It's not an easy shape to sew, but the results are fun, and I'm sure your kids won't care too much how it looks.  I know my kids love these projects.  Scroll down for supply lists and directions! Mickey Ice Cream Bar SUPPLIES: - black felt - DMC floss - large popsicle stick - stuffing or extra felt Cut out the Mickey heads from the pattern (I used the medium ones for my ice cream) and cut out two heads from black felt .  I like to use packaging tape to hold down the paper pattern while I cut it out.  If you're using fabric (like extra felt) or quilt batting for stuffing, cut out extra heads out of that material, too. Decide which thickness you want to make your ice cream bar and cut two 12" x N pieces of black felt.  Also measure around the width of your popsicle stick and the length of you...

After making the cute donut letter disks for National Donut Day, I couldn't wait to make another set in a different theme.  These were just as much fun to to create as the donut ones; although, I think the pink makes them even better.  For this first watermelon week, we've done math, science, crafts, and today is literacy (click the picture at the bottom of the post to visit all the activities). Just like the donut disks, I used one inch wood rounds and attached the letters to them with a glue stick.  I also laminated the front side of them with packaging tape .  On the backside, I placed a plain watermelon round (included in the printable), which allows the letters to be used for a matching game or for the disks to be used as math counters.  You could also print two copies of the letter page and put the same letter on each side to make picking them out easier when using them for spelling. > > > Click Here to Download the Printable < < < Rem...

I've been busy filling up my Elf Suitcase House with handcrafted decorations.  I wish the pictures were a bit better- maybe I can reshoot them next year when the sun shines again.  For now, hopefully these cell phone snaps from my shadowy bedroom will be enough to get a good idea of what I've done.  Most of the craft supplies with a few exceptions are basic and things I already had around my house.  I've included complete supply lists for your convenience. Peppermint Vase - empty glitter jar - fake candy canes - peppermint nail art pieces I first arranged the candy canes in the jar to get them the way I wanted, then I added a bit of hot glue in the middle of the to hold them to each other.  I lifted the bundle of candy canes out and added the peppermint candies.  A dab of hot glue in the middle of the candies came next, and I pushed the candy canes down on top while the glue was still hot.  When it was all assembled, I hot glued it in place on the she...

We're getting ready for Christmas around here!  Part of our celebrations include an Elf similar to the Elf-on-the-Shelf .  I really enjoy crafting different costumes, props, and settings for our elf to make her visits more interesting. I recently discovered a very easy way to make portable sets for the elf.  Inspired by Youtuber My Froggy Stuff, I used trifold boards and scrapbook paper to create a background.  It stands by itself and folds down flat for storage.  You can get two sets on each board if you use both sides. For this scene, I used a  Small Tri-Fold Presentation Board , which stands 14" tall and is 24" wide.  It's a great size for fashion dolls and elves.  First, I used plain computer paper and a glue stick to cover the edges of the board.  It creates a nice edge and gets you used to cutting and gluing on the cardboard. Next, I used scrapbook paper to cover the inside of the board.  I know that the red strip is a bit overwh...