Non Browning Apple Snacks For School

September 29, 2011.
A friend of mine pinned this: http://pinterest.com/pin/253762617/ to her board a while ago, but I didn't "repin" it because I didn't think Levi liked apples too much. I either send grapes or cantelope along in his lunch. However, Joshua was kind enough to go to Costco for me last night and he purchased, among other thing,  a 12 pack of apples (not on the list;). So, I decided to try this trick this morning. Levi was watching me rubberband the apple together and asked why? I told him it's supposed to help keep the individual slices from browning. He thought it was pretty cool!

Levi said the trick worked and he ate the whole thing!!!
I love that it helps add a little more variety to his lunch. Will definitely be redoing.

Pipe Cleaners and a Colander...keeps littles busy

September 27, 2011.
Found this pin on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/245424753/ and thought it looked entertaining. I LOVE working with pipe cleaners and we have a ton sooo...

 we started feeding the pipe cleaner through the colander.

 ...

 Abey thought it was pretty fun, but the activity didn't hold his attention as long as I'd hoped. I wanted it to be something he could fiddle around with on his own, while I did my stuff, but he wanted to sit with him and help. I had fun to though.

 A lot of our pipe cleaner were all tangled together from previous projects...Abe got a little frustrated;)

 But then it turned into a pretty funny hat!

 Abraham ran and got a towel rag to use as a cushion...the pipe cleaner were pretty pokey.

...mama's turn!

Words made with Pipe Cleaner and Yarn

September 27, 2011.
I repinned this lovely little idea: http://pinterest.com/pin/245437774/ to my "getting crafty with the littles" board. All you do is twist a word out of pipe cleaner and then wrap the pipe cleaner in different colored yarn. So, while Abraham was working with the "pipe cleaner and colander activity" from my previous post, I took one and made the word "love".

Now I just need the yarn...TO BE CONTINUED!

Eggs in a Mug

At a doctors appointment I came across an article that showed how eggs can be cooked in a mug in the microwave. I failed to write down and now can't remember which magazine I was looking at:( So, I came home and researched recipes and pinned this one. http://pinterest.com/pin/237436252/

I used only one egg in a gynormous mug and it only to 30 seconds. It puffed up to half the size of the mug, then I added shredded cheese. So SIMPLE...and yummy! I can take the mug and run out the door:)

Repurposed Globes

September 20, 2011.
There are a ton of repurposed globes and maps all over Pinterest, but here are two I recently repinned: http://pinterest.com/pin/192979480/ (bowl) and http://pinterest.com/pin/109002407/ (lamp). Then Joshua came home with this alley romp find!

Only problem is that it is from a Leap Frog geography toy, so it's full wires and the gazmos that make it work. It also has two cracks in the surface, but no biggie.

It came off of it's stand super easy and now all I need are the guts to cut it open. Need to work on my follow though!!!

Chalking the Alphabet Game

September 17, 2011.

I found this idea while going though my back issues of Family Fun Magazine and tried to find it on their site to pin it to Pinterest, but I couldn't find it even when I typed in the issue month and year...hmmm. FYI it's from March 2010 under "My Great Idea."

The idea is to chalk the alphabet, call out a letter, and have your child locate and stand on it.

pic coming soon:) it's on my phone.

I didn't want to overwhelm Levi with all the letters he doesn't know, so I just drew the ones he did, hoping to reinforce them, and added a couple of site words and shapes. It ended up being a fun game...one we will continue and gradually add new letters as he learns them, use upper and lower case and increase the site words vocabulary.

OOBLECK!

September 16, 2011.
I repinned this: http://pinterest.com/pin/145881410/ which takes you to a blog where the blogger has compiled a TON of "art and sensory recipes". One of them, I was happy to find, was for OOBLECK. I first came across the recipe while getting ready for Abraham's Dr. Seuss party and thought it might be fun to make, you know, let the party goers get a little messy. But, then the thought of fourteen 3 to 5 year olds running around with food colored muck on their hands kind of scared me, so I scrapped that idea! (and the party was still a blast without it:) When the party was over and the books came due we returned Dr. Seuss' "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" and another neato book called "Oobleck, slime, & dancing spaghetti: twenty terrific at-home science experiments inspired by favorite children's books" by Jennifer Williams. I swore to myself I'd check both books out again at a later date...three months came and went and I still hadn't done it. Thanks to Pinterest, and my attempt to stay accountable, I have finally done it. I busted out the cornstarch that has been sitting on a shelf in my pantry for years, let the boys mix in water and food coloring in a big glass bowl and VOILA!!! It's so easy and fun I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner...as usual.

1 1/2 cups Corn Starch.

1 Cup Water

A few drops of food coloring. 

While the Oobleck that falls from the sky in the book is green, we decided to do blue. Abey got a little naughty later and added a ton more food coloring and we all walked around for a few days with blue hands. It was funny though because everywhere we went, people would ask why our hands were blue and the boys would tell them about Oobleck:)))

Stir...

At this point it felt like it was vibrating as it dripped from our hands!

Eventually it started to "thicken up" a little, but it took a while of working it to get the right consistency. Next time I'd use more Corn Starch or less water. Another site I found said add water slowly and stop when it's about the consistency of pancake batter.

 We used a funnel and all kinds of playdough tools.

 Levi experimented with drying it out, which really helped get it the right consistency!

 The bestest part of Oobleck is that with pressure it becomes a solid. I squeezed it into a ball in my hand, then as soon as you let go...

It turns back into a liquid!!!

Levi stayed home sick from school today and this really helped liven his spirits. FUN FUN FUN!

Baggies Full of Paint!

September 15, 2011.
I repinned this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/195808620/ for freezer baggies full of paint. The beauty of this idea is the littles can draw with their fingers, or cotton swabs to practice letters or make pictures and then use their fingers to spread the paint back out to "erase" the image and start all over.

Abraham making "tracks" with a train!

Using cotton swabs..

Levi's yellow paint showed the markings a lot better than Abe's red. I even tried to put white paper under Abey's, but it didn't really help. It didn't stop him from wanting to continue though;) Also, the original from the pin used finger paint or tempera paint which is way thinner than my 15 year old acrylic paint from art school. But, I knew I was saving that stuff for something;) I also came across a variation of this, though I don't recall the site, that used hair gel from the dollar store!

 A couple days later, though the shirt is the same, LOL. Levi brings me this...a baggy of "truck tracks" and 4 trucks. He then informs me I have to match the trucks to the tire tracks!

Ta Da!!! I mixed two up the first time so I had to start over...oops!

I love that he took this to a whole nother level and made a game out of it:)

 Making more tracks and roads to follow.

Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls

September 12, 2011.
I repinned this: http://pinterest.com/pin/87956364/ onto my "cakes, cookies, and goodies" board. And, as my post's title states, my intent was to make "heart shaped" cinnamon rolls.

However, I never actually clicked on the picture to be taken to the site to see how said cinnamon rolls were made. Sooooooo...

...mine didn't turn out according to plan! LOL:)

 The boys couldn't care less though...and that's what's important;)

YUM!

***what happened was I just tried to shape "prepackaged" Pillsbury cinnamon rolls into hearts. First by trying to "unravel" it, but to my dismay they don't unravel...so, I just shaped them by hand...which we now know does not work. I've since clicked on the photo to be taken to the blog from where the image came and she makes hers from scratch. Good to know! HA:) ***UPDATE***found out from this blog's post that the Trader Joe's prepackaged Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls do unravel...so they can still be done quickly!!!

Write and Wipe Worksheets.

September 7, 2011.
Clicking on the photo of my pin is no longer taking me to the sight, but clicking on the site below the photo took me to the blog from where the pin came from: http://www.oneshetwoshe.com/2011/04/diy-write-and-wipe-preschool-worksheets.html.

I printed all the free alphabet worksheets from http://www.starfall.com/n/N-info/abcprint.htm?n=abc and http://www.learningpage.com/free_pages/galleries/basics.html. I also printed the number, time, measurement, etc. sheets from the later. Then I put them in sheet protectors, gave Levi a dry erase marker and He was off! I still need to buy more sheet protectors and a binder to put them all in, but the idea is BRILLIANT and I can reuse them over and over again, not only with Levi, but Abraham as well!!!

This is a different day, but shows more of the activities that can be done and there is a "font" option on both websites. Levi's school uses D'Nealian, so that's what I printed.

Alphabet Pancakes

September 7, 2011.
One of my favorite things to re/pin on Pinterest is related to making food fun for the little's. I came across this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/195593024/ and loved the color and creativity of the pancakes. Levi just started Kindergarten, and not having gone to preschool, is a little behind in knowing the letters of the alphabet...so, I decided to make "alphabet pancakes." This was not nearly as creative, I know, and, I must admit, it's not the first time he's eaten his name. Joshua has made name pancakes for the boys in the past. I just tried to make as many letters as the batter allowed...and a heart because I love him:) Then we went over each letter as he ate them and even tried to spell some simple words. It was fun and educational;) Oh, and it was for dinner to boot. I'll definitely be doing this one again!
On a side note, I came across this cool pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/195607009/ as a nifty way to dispense pancake batter onto the griddle, but realized I could use my "candy melts" dispenser and make thinner, more realistic letters. However, the batter jammed a few times and some letters were harder to flip for their fineness. So, I'm thinking I'll try the ketchup bottle trick before I cut a little more of the tip off the candy melts dispenser.

Levi's 1st day of Kindergarten "FAVORITES" photo

September 2, 2011.
I found this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/108434327/ and created my own photo based on it. Levi couldn't be any cuter in this pic and I love that it will chronical his "favorites" though the years! Can't wait to see what he says next year:)