Fun and Yummy Watermelon

My kids love watermelon. These ideas were so cute - I love the watermelon snowcone! More here. Don't miss the Watermelon Cupcakes.



From my archives, some more fun ways to serve watermelon.



And while we're on a roll, a watermelon Fourth of July coloring page.



And of course, crafts:



A twist on the traditional paper plate craft for the littles

And for another twist on the old, a watermelon napkin holder

Best Baby Toy from Recycled Household Stuff

Don't you love that title?

Sorry, I've been absent lately, but if you've looked around the blog lately, you can see we're having issues here. Blogger was going to stop supporting ftps, so we treid to migrate the blog, but after it finished - the images and pictures suddenly dissappeared! Still trying to recover those. So, while I've been desperate to blog, I hated to input energy into something that is in a state of disarray, especially since I have no idea what will need to be done to resolve the issue.

But I wanted to share this baby toy idea since this is the day to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. :^) I think I started it for Ethan, and all of my babies have loved it. It's probably Bella's favorite toy.

Our favorite Chinese place has these great take-out containers for their soup in quart and pint sizes. I save them all - they stack and the lids fit either - plus you can see the contents. But, if your Chinese place isn't that awesome a quart size yogurt container or other similarly sized container will do. Cut a slit about 1/4 - 1/2 inch wide on the lid.

Save your frozen juice lids - they don't have sharp edges (but check yours to be sure) and they make a delightful clink as they drop in on top of each other. We've also had a few of those flat plastic balloon weights from time to time. You only need a few to start the fun - I've been saving them for a while.

I think that Bella has been able to do this since about 9 months. And now - I've found a way to extend the life of the toy. Bella loves the foam stickers that I get the kids from the Dollar Tree. We had basic colored flower and butterfly stickers left over from Easter. I put them on the indented side of juice can lids in pairs. She tried to peel them off, but couldn't. I don't think that they would be a serious choking hazard even if she did since they're not stiff without the backing - you decide for yourself. But since I put the stickers on in pairs, the lids can now be used for color sorting, matching, and memory games. Rose and I played three rounds of Memory in a row and she was delighted with them too.

So there you have it!

And for another idea, I also made a square block dropper by cutting a square in the lid of a thin diaper wipes container and using the classic wooden blocks.

Have fun!

Cheater's Guide to Saint Patrick's Day

Menu:

Breakfast: Lucky Charms cereal - yeah, I know Irish oatmeal would be more nutritional, but want them to eat it Coloring pages to match. :^)

Lunch: Shamrock Toasties - if I get to the store in time to get the pepper

Dinner: Reuben Casserole

Dessert: Minty Irish Chocolate Cream Pie. Rather make a cake? I like this Celtic cross, but we've got two birthday cakes in our near future. These rainbow cupcakes are the coolest cupcakes ever.

Education:

We're doing this lapbook from A Journey Thorugh Learning this week, but there is one for free at Homeschool Helper, that you could pick activities from. Currclick also has a St. Patrick's day resource focusing on St. Patrick the missionary, as their weekly free product.

We started PBS Nature's program on Ireland and will finish it soon. It has that confusing level of Ice Age, poor dating evolutionary stuff that someday I'm going to figure out the correct interpretation of, but really interesting observations of ancient Ireland and the plants and animals of the island.

We watched these fascinating clips from History.com a couple of days ago too.

Crafts:

Cute preschol crafts,

love this one, but I'm way too late to find the supplies - another year

I think I can handle this shamrock pin (or make it a magnet), but I like this even better.




We've got stroybooks and The Quiet Man and Darby O'Gill and so much more to work in too. So many things, so little time. More from me here and here, but be forewarned, I haven't checked these old posts for broken links.

Easy Christmas Shoes

Remember how I bought these boots for Anna's Goldilocks costume. And a Walmart reviewer offered this idea? I love it! And my Walmart still has several pairs on clearance (contrary to what their website says). Maybe yours does too. ;^)

P.S. I was thinking that some jingle bells laced into the the front of the shoes would be cute too - but I didn't get that far.

Need a great Thanksgiving website?

Look no further! Scholastic's got you covered. Take a voyage on the Mayflower, learn about daily life, and the Thanksgiving feast. Than be sure to go to the printables for :

readers theatre script and character puppets

a printable Mayflower board game or "Turkey Teller" game

standing paper Pilgrims and Indians

Thanksgiving stationary and recipe cards

a turkey puppet

period recipe: red pickled eggs

make oiled paper windows like the Pilgrims'

pilgrim draw and write page

bookmarks

Cute calendar and symbols

turkey graphing

make a Wampanoag picture dictionary

reward cards

make a Wampanoag house

cranberry activities

Plant pigment napkin rings are a really cool activity (that I'll probably have to save for another year)

Does anyone else find using an empty toilet paper tube for a Pilgrim hat snack holder (and maybe even the napkin rings) disturbing? Of course, you could cut down a paper towel roll.

There are a few more free printables and gazillions more if you become a site member.

Have fun, and Happy Thanksgiving!

graphic also a free Scholastic printable

Sewing

I finally got my sewing machine set up! (actually my mother-in-law got it set up - don't ask how many years I've had it).

Tonight I made Ethan's Link tunic and hat for his costume. Tomorrow I need to make his boot shoe covers and a cape for Anna Kate's Goldilocks costume. I also need to get bows for Anna and Bella and a blingy jacket for Rose. She needs a jacket anyway, but I can't find the right one. Denim would be perfect - I can add the bling - I just need it to be cheap.

But I'm picking up scarves at the Dollar Tree asap. Because as soon as the Halloween costumes are out of the way - my next project are dollar baby legs. I found this fantastic blog called Dollar Store Crafts tonight and she linked to this project. I checked out the Dollar Tree website and I'm hoping that mine has these, because I've been wanting to get some Baby Legs for Bella, and these are definitely a better buy.

Home Depot Kids Workshops

If you haven't been to one of these, or haven't been lately, check them out! The project for August 1 is a very nice-looking message center that would make a great Christmas gift from a child to their grandparents. The best part - apron, workshop, and materials - all FREE.

While you're at it check out Lowe's version too. Woohoo!

More Christmas for kids

1. Going carolling is easy with this ready to print Christmas carol book.
2. At Christian Preschool Printables you can print Christmas bingo pages made up of the nativity story pictures. And on the next page is a Road to Bethlehem file folder game and a nativity puzzle.
3. No kids activity list would be complete without The Toymaker. This year I'm planning to have the kids make the Dodechahedron of Little Snow Guys after reading (or rather looking at - it's perfectly wordless) The Snowman (this version is an easy reader just right for Anna Kate) and watching it on DVD. And I think that I have a resident artist or two that will enjoy learning to draw this Santa.
4. And Edhelper has a lot of Christmas worksheets, some are free, some are only available with a site subscription.

New Websites

It's always fun to find new kids websites. Angelina Ballerina has a new website! My girls, especially Rose, are big fans. That site led me to:

PBS Kids Sprout - they have the cutest website. Rosie just came down with a fever of nearly 102, and fell asleep watching Noddy video clips.

There are lots of healthy kids recipes, with names and designs based on favorite characters:

• Freeze Dance Pops
• Barney's Purple Hummus Dip
• Brussel's Mini-Quiches
• Jay Jay's Chicken Salad Plane
• Banjo's Banana Splits

And after you've tried them out, you can upload a picture of your kids making or eating them. My kids are gonna love that! You can also upload photos for various parts of the Gallery. And there are pages of video clips of sign language words from The Good-Night Show.

There are also pages of simple (and I mean really simple) crafts. No, you might not think they're beautiful, and they might not make good Mother's Day gifts, but they'll keep your kids occupied with simple household materials and lots of creativity. Some favorites:

• Bottle Cap Ladybugs
• Sponge Sailboat
• String Telephone
• Picture Puzzle

• Name Art

And finally back at those creative, veggie loaded, kid-friendly recipes, I clicked a link to:

KidsHealth where there are even more great recipes with sections of recipes for kids with cystic fibrosis, diabetes, celiac disease, and that are vegetarian. as well as educational games and experiments, information on childhood illnesses and accidents from kids' or parents' perspectives, a whole sections of "How the Body Works" videos that Ethan might totally love (though the one I watched seemed a bit slow-moving) The teens section of the site has some good stuff, but also lots of information you would expect from a public school type setting in regard to private matters. There's also a "Growing Up" section that you may want your kids to avoid before turning them loose on the site, on the other hand, it could be helpful if you are needing to discuss puberty and related issues.

Have fun exploring these new sites or just enjoying the links that I found. See you later!

Craft of the Day

Our Merry Mice ! (Walmart was out of green).

Simple Toddler gift

My mother made this photo album picture book for Anna Kate last year. Anna liked it, but Rose loves it, then and now. There are favorite characters from Disney princesses to Nick Jr. pals, foods, animals, letters - anything likely to peak a toddlers interest is game. She used a stack of old Family Fun magazines.

Mailing Packages

I think that tomorrow is the shipping deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery, so if you're still running slow, get thee to the UPS store.

Can you believe that today, I walked into the UPS Store and right up to the counter to mail my box? No wait. I was sure that I was going to be entertaining three antsy kids in a half hour line, but no. No line. This is a great blessing in my life. One I surely don't deserve, because I deserve to be taught patience at every turn. I HATE WAITING. In line, at stop lights, at stop signs for that matter, for my two year old to get her shoes put on the third time so that we can get out the door. Yeah, no line at the UPS store the week before Christmas is a red letter day for me, folks.

On to packages. I like to decorate my boxes that I'm mailing. I cover them with magazine pictures. All blue flowers for my mother, lacy hearts and roses for Valentine's Day, or, in this case, Christmas wreaths and florals. It just gives an extra special touch. I was in a hurry today, so this example is rather sparse, but you get the idea. Martha Stewart Living or old Victoria magazines (if I can bear to cut one, sometimes I have duplicate copies), a pair of decorative edge scissors and lots of packaging tape are all you need. They look best completely covered in a collage, but this simplified version is still a step above ordinary.

Independence Day Crafts

I was informed that there was a lack of crafts in my holiday plan. So I adjusted.

1. Fireworks for the little girls to trace with glue or glitter pens. Ethan drew his glitter fireworks on black construction paper.
2. A construction paper windsock with cut and glued stripes and stars and crepe paper tails.
3. A bald eagle.