Pick 3 Pins for JUNE!

Hey! It's the third of the month and that means Pick 3 Pins... er, maybe four.... and a giveaway! Thanks to my bloggy buddies over at Pawsitively Learning, Just Reed, and Inspired Owl's Corner for their idea generating monthly linky party. Love this one.

With Father's Day right around the corner I've been looking for a cute gift idea for my kiddos to do. I like this one because the kids will have a neat experience drawing on the golf ball surface. And I'll come up with a sports themed card idea to go with it... you're a good sport, Dad. Or, you're better than a hole in one! Even Dad's who aren't golfers will enjoy their one of a kind art piece, I think. (Sorry, this PIN only went to advertising for t-shirts, but I still pinned to remember the idea. You just give the kids Sharpies to draw on the balls with. Easy-peasy!)

Whether you're still at school for a few more weeks, or already home with the kids, here's an easy fun outdoor activity. Found these little shooters that take basic materials. I think I'll knot and cut the balloons, then let the kids stretch them over the cut cups. I'll give each kid a marshmallow (chepaer than pompooms) and head outside. I might bring out some empty cups, too, so some kids can be the catchers, as well.  Find it on my outside board where more outdoor ideas for kids can be found.

I don't know about you, but I do a lot of online reading. I am always finding articles that I want to have at my fingertips for reference– to either put into practice or share with a colleague later. The easiest way to remember and find it again, is to PIN it. So I started a "Pin Now to Find Again Later Board." Click to see what I think will be handy to have and reread again.

And last but not least, for those of you who haven't stopped by in a while, my kiddos and I put together two animated movies with the help of my HUE Animation Studio. YOU can win a HUE Animation Studio, that comes with the camera, too. I blogged all about it, and even put together a free downloadable tip sheet. Check it all out!

This was our first video

And this was our second:

I blogged about them here!

Get the free downloadable tip sheet by clicking on the image below.

And ta-da! The giveaway! Hurry and enter as there's only a couple days left!! Sorry it's only available to readers in the US. 

OUR GIVEAWAY IS OVER :(  CAROL D. IS THE WINNER :)

Big thanks to HUE for the cameras and opportunities to learn new technology!

NOW, go find more stuff to PIN by clicking below on those wonderful pins! 

An InLinkz Link-up

And thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Best Random Five for Fraterday

Sometimes the best stuff is random, and today, random it is. Thanks Kacey for Five for Friday!

1.  I start with one I'm really excited about doing- I'm going to call it the Bouncing Dice Game.

I call it the Bouncing Dice Game!

I just found this new math game on Pinterest. All it takes is one of these trays from the dollar store and some foam dice. There are several variations for kids from preschool to third grade. The kidpeople are gonna love it. Kathy even has a video on all the ways to play. Brilliant! Click to see.


2.  I combined literacy, art, and technology– specifically QR codes and Chatterpix– to make a neat display in our hallway at school. Parents and visitors can scan the code and see my student's artwork talk to them with the voice of each of the kidpeople. I posted about how I used ChatterPix and this guided drawing project on this previous post HERE. I put the display up just in time for our Kindergarten Round-up to get maximum viewing. Our fifth grade students went down with iPads to scan and listen, too. They will be using Chatterpix for some of their own future projects- it's not often kindergarten gets to teach fifth graders in the use of technology! Gotta love ChatterPix.

An interactive display using QR Codes

3.  We made clay snowmen, the kind of clay that is made of earth that dries hard without firing. (Google Crayola– one tub of it did twenty little snowmen.) We rolled them in glitter before they dried, though it's hard to see in the photos. The arms are real twigs- gathered before the snow covered the ground. We added tiny buttons and pony beads. Colored toothpicks made the noses. The scarves are fat yarn- easier to work with than ribbon. And the best feature is the headgear, I think. The kids could choose from earmuffs– chenille stems and pompoms– or caps– the fingers cut off of dollar store gloves! I had to use the hot glue gun to get them to stay. This is our display in a place of honor in our library. The kids were tickled with them!

Whee! I love the arms coming out of the head.

Lean to the left. Lean to the right.

Adorable and full of personality, each one.

My DH Jonathan, helped me set up the display on crinkled pink roll paper with tissue shreds on top, as they wouldn't have been as easy to see against white paper. (Okay, okay, I know snow can be blue sometimes, but we didn't have any blue... and pink was better than yellow.) He caught the spirit of these snowmen perfectly when he said, "Kindergarten art is always so sincere."


4.  Michigan at it's finest. Yesterday was just at freezing, brilliant sun, and no wind- rarely is it as wonderful as this. I grabbed several items as we headed out the door to extend the fun and learning outside. We were outside for almost an hour and terrifically happy the entire time. We hadn't done a good long recess in a looong while. I wear my phone and used it to snap lots of pics. It was SO sunny I was like a mole using the camera, unable to see much of anything. I managed to get some good faceless shots I can share, though.

Bilibos make good sleds

And good buckets

Which can be combined with real buckets

If you don't know about Bilibos click here to read about them.

It's difficult to see here, but bingo markers were a huge hit

When it's hard to climb in snowsuits you find other ways
to hang upside down

5.  And on a personal note, we took on one of those way-bigger-than-we-thought projects in the last month. (Jonathan chuckles at that line. It was a way-bigger-than-I-thought project. He knew exactly what he was getting into when he bowed to my request of an inside construction project in the winter.) We are a complete book fanatical family. We have books in every room of our house, and we were still in need of more storage space. I reorganized the bookshelves in my study this summer leaving in only teaching books to cover the full wall of bookshelves in there, but that meant that I needed to take out my storytelling books. They've been in boxes since then in my workroom. And I had multiple stacks of books all along the foot of our bed– books we've read but don't want to get rid of. (Remember, I have a little free library that is a regular source for my give-away books.)

We also were in need of quick and handy spots to hang coats. We have a coat closet, full of coats, but being the lazy and rushing family we are, we rarely actually get out a coat hanger and hang up our everyday coats. They stack up on a chair in the family room which looks messy and takes up seating. So we decided to maximize the space in our front hall with built in bookcases and added coat hooks.

Before

During

Let your imagination fill in with ladders, lumber, paint cans, dry wall supplies, air compressors, tools and toolboxes, dozens of electrical cords, and dust, dust, dust.... right in the house. Ugh.

Almost ready

It still needed major dusting and cleaning at this stage. You can actually see piles under the shelves.

Ta-Da

Well, almost ta-da... we are still waiting for the coat hooks we ordered to come in. There will be three sets of two on each of the vertical supports where coats can hang. I don't know if I've ever seen bookcases combined with coat storage, and you won't be able to see the books as well in the winter, but that is what we need so we are going to give it a try. We also built in a long horizontal support on which we can mount a ladder rail. I've always wanted one of those library ladders... we'll see. 

We had various little issues to solve- We wanted to keep the wardrobe, but still have a built-in look. We needed an outlet up high so we could install the lighting on the top shelf that shines up the pitched ceiling. And we have hot water heat– our house is now over 120 years old– which in this new addition of the house means baseboard heat, and we couldn't block that. In the previous picture you'll see that the bottom shelf is up rather high to allow for the heat to come out. The trunk under the window is only temporary until we build in a bench seat with storage. I simply could not stand the idea of even one more day of indoor sawdust, so the window seat is going to have to wait until the spring weather allows outside construction. 

I'll post better pictures that show the coat hook idea later. We are very happy with it and love the look in the hall.  We are also happy that it is finally operational and the construction is gone... though the dust remains and is a major item on this weekend's to-do list, right after report cards. We have loads more books, but we too pooped this week to sort and move any more. What do you think? I might get the credit for the idea that prompted all this, but Jonathan did the design and construction almost single handidly. I was sick with a humongous cold for weeks of this project and did hardly more than raise a paintbrush a couple of times. Thank the Lord above for this sweet, accommodating and "handy" man. Love. 

Click on back to find more! See you next time!

FitFlops, Pie Tag, and Stamping Fun for Friday

Well, here's another bitterly cold Michigan Friday link up with Doodle Bugs Five for Friday. I'm huddled under three blankets and thinking of you all in warmer temps.  brrr.

1. I don't usually blog about fashion too much, but a month ago I got a pair of boots that have become my comfort and joy. I have this bum knee with issues that come and go. I've always been really flexible and apparently really clumsy, too. Take a look at this photo that my mom recently unearthed.

A looooong time ago

Yep, my brothers and I were cute... but note my KNEES. Bandaids and I had a very close relationship when I was growing up.

Jump to current day and it's not too surprising that I have sore knees now. During the summer I wear nothing but FitFlop sandals and they do me very well. They have this special patented sole that really works for me. I thought I should try a winter version of FitFlops and YIPPEE! YAHOO! I'm so glad I did. They felt good on my feet from the first minute and I noticed a difference in my knee right away. No breaking in period needed. They are every bit as comfortable as the sandals. They go with everything and I've gotten tons of compliments.

New favs

They're not cheap, but the best price I found was on Amazon. I'm a FitFlop kinda girl I guess. Check them out for yourself.

2. If you live in the snowy states I hope you remember that new fallen snow is great for playing games like pie-tag. I took the kids out to the front yard where few people walk. Then I had them line up behind me and told them to stay in my path– a rather large challenge for kindergartners. I made a BIG circle, and twenty pairs of little feet turned it into a narrow walkway.

Making the pie

Then I tromped across the "pie" to cut six slices, designated the first "It," and let the fun begin. Kids had to stay on the path as they chased. It was interesting to see them use strategies to figure out how to change direction to tag someone.

Playing pie tag

It wasn't too long before someone's excitement got the better of them, of course, and they charged their own path across the pie, but it was fun even then.

Tuckered out from pie, but happy!

I have to be truthful– these are pics from years gone by... I forgot to play this year! Duh. I hope we get just ONE more big snow dump so we can play this year. Thought I should share the idea so you don't forget like me.

3. I seem to have lots of activities to help kids sort words by word families once they are familiar with the particular letter pattern. What I needed were more ways to let kids practice making words in one particular family right after I taught it. So I got out the letter stampers, of which I have two sets, and put out the letters for just that chunk, and then some letters to make words in that family.  To save on copying, I folded the paper into six parts so the kids had a specific place to stamp each word and an illustration to go with it.

Letter stamps and folded paper equal word family activity

I liked the easy set up, and the kids liked discovering all the chunk words they could make with the stamps I put out. Thought it was an idea worth sharing. If you have letter stamps, it's low-prep, low-cost, hands-on learning.

4. Have you seen this video? I found it SO inspirational! If you're fighting the Get Fit War and thinking it's a battle you'll never win, take heart because you're not alone, Sister! Here's 90 seconds of Pump Up!

5. I leave you with this little Valentine scene. All these Valentines around our classroom fireplace came from fourteen different states– note the little map in the display.

We loved sending our own Valentines off, then getting mail and reading the letters. I also loved all the new ideas for kid-made Valentines-- especially the heart peacock that is front and center. And this little project brought on all sorts of discussion about maps and climate. This coming week is a winter break for us, but I'm leaving the love letters up for our kindergarten round-up which takes place the Tuesday we're back. The incoming newbies and parents can see what's ahead. Check out this post at PAWSitively Teaching to participate next year.

Hope you have a terrific Valentine Weekend! Scoot on back to Doodlebugs and catch what's going on with everybody else. Thanks, Kacey, as always!

Glad you stopped by. Hope you enjoyed your visit!

What's a Bilibo?

Here's a quick post on a neat toy.  It's great for summer outdoor play... and winter outdoor play... and indoor play for that matter. It's called a Bilibo. It is a lightweight, very sturdy plastic shell. I know they are durable because my kindergartners put them to the test and they really hold up.

It's a Bilibo!

With all the makings of a classic toy, it is very basic and lends itself to a multitude of play options. I took some shots of my kiddos playing at recess this spring. We use them a ton inside, too.

Sitting in it, kids can rock and spin.

Kids can push or pull each other by adding bandanas or jump ropes.

Linking up is fun.

You can even become a turtle!

When it's turned over it can be a stool to sit or stand on. It can also be a tunnel, cave, sled or cradle for toys. And just imagine the fun at the beach when it's a sand and water toy. The possibilities are endless!

Here's a great video that shows all the fun!

You can get one on-line for under $30. I think they have years and years of play value, both at home and at school! Bet your kids love it as much as mine.

Special thanks to Allison at No Time for Flash Cards for her linky highlighting summer activities for kids. Click on back to her site for lots more ideas!

The post What's a Bilibo? first appeared on kidpeopleclassroom.com