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This scarecrow is absolutely adorable, and kids would love to make one! If you wanted to make it more "outdoor-friendly," you could use yardstick-type sticks in place of the paper tubes, use some rafia in place of the yarn, use felt or some other stiff fabric (or a real hat) in place of the paper hat and use a plastic or styrofoam plate instead of the paper plate.
This pie-tin decoration reminds me of some things that my dad has made. He's really good at woodworking and has made many, many things for my mother and us kids over the years. He made a cabinet for my mom that has the tin-punched panels in the door. Here's a picture of it in the background from the post I did about the girls' sewing project.
This twirler looks super easy to make and actually reminds me of something you might make for the 4th of July or something, but maybe if you use fall-colored ribbons or attached some fall leaves (real or silk), it would look more fall-like.
This pumpkin-patch ring toss game is a really neat way to reuse those water bottles that we occasionally accumulate. We usually recycle the bottles, but if you held on to a few of them, I bet your kids would really enjoy this game. We would have to come up with another idea for the rings, because I don't think we would ever have 8-10 plastic coffee can lids. If you don't either, maybe you know someone who drinks coffee that would be willing to give you the lids when they finish the canister. I have some from when I used to drink coffee, but I use them for storage. We put the kids markers in one, some decorative scissors in another one, etc. I got that idea from my mom. She's so smart! =)
This Jack-o'-Lantern looks really cute and seems very easy to make. Since we don't drink soda, we would probably use an aluminum food can or maybe some glass jars. If you use varying sizes and heights, you could do a cute little grouping of them. Remember, pumpkins aren't all the same size and shape. =)
These bead rings are another great way to recycle some things that you may ordinarily discard. Plus, it's jewelry, and what little girl doesn't LOVE to make jewelry? =) The only thing I might try differently than what the instructions tell you to do is to twist the wire ends together (once all the beads are on and it's the size I want) and then try to work the wire ends back through a couple of the beads so that you don't have to worry about the end scratching or using unsightly tape on the back side. Does that make sense? One wire will go in one direction and the other wire will go in the other direction. The only problem would be if the holes in the beads aren't large enough to hold two widths of wire.
Here's the complete list of all 12 of this month's craft ideas. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that your child will enjoy. =)
It always takes me a few weeks into a new school year to get our routines figured out, but I fear that it's going to take me a little longer this year with my decision to incorporate a more flexible schedule. Jason is home now a lot more than he was last year, and it is just nearly impossible to do school with him here. I'm hoping that his appointments will pick up again soon. If they don't, I'm going to have to boot him out of the house for a couple of hours. =) Just kidding, honey!
All that said, to say, my life for the last two weeks has been wrapped up with Jason, school, sick kids, organization issues, cooking/baking, various activities, and a couple of things that I'm not at liberty to discuss (but you can pray with us for these "unspokens").
I realize that the last few posts have been about food, but we are really into cooking and experimenting with recipes and want to share those recipes with all of you. However, I feel the need to post about us...well, mainly about the kids. =) This is going to be a random synopsis of the last two weeks. Enjoy!
Two weeks ago today, Alyx and Larissa attended a birthday party for one of their friends. It was a horse-themed party, and they got to take a wagon ride to some nearby stables to ride horses...Every little girl's dream come true! They had a blast, of course! Here are some pictures from the party...
This is poor little Sydney taking a nap on the couch. She was one of the unfortunates that caught the bug.
A week ago today, we went bowling with our Sunday School class. We asked the girls before we left if they had ever been bowling before. (We couldn't remember.) Alyx said, "No....well, we've bowled on the Wii..." =) Of course, we laughed! They played on a Wii at the house of some friends of ours about a year ago. How sad! My kids are so deprived! =) They did much better than I expected, though. Some of them actually beat my score, but they did have the bumpers. =)
When we got home from bowling, we decided to finish up a craft that we had started the day before. (We had to wait for glue to dry.) During the week, Alyx had come up with an idea for a craft. She had read in a Highlights magazine about how to make a guitar from a paper towel tube and a cracker box. She couldn't find the magazine with the instructions, but she remembered enough of it that I felt pretty sure we could just fake it. =) We didn't have any cracker boxes, but I figured paper plates would work just as well. With a hole cut out of the center of one plate and 3 rubber bands strung across the opening (giving 6 strings total), they were able to strum little "tunes" with the "picks" that they made from the scraps that were cut away from the paper plate. (The "pick" was their idea. Aren't they creative?)
It's almost impossible to get a "group picture" with everyone looking "normal." Someone is bound to blink, look down/up/left/right, or do a little jig just for fun. =) I don't know how Jon and Kate do it!
The girls enjoyed it, and that's all that matters...
On another "crafty" note, Alyx started her "Science Notebook" this past week. She is learning a lot of interesting facts about animals, and she will be creating a "scrapbook-type" page of each animal to compile a notebook when she's done. I gave her several options for the picture that was to be included on the page. She could cut out the pictures provided in one of her books, we could print a page from the internet (either in color or for her to color), or she could draw and color the picture herself. She thought about it and decided that she wanted to draw them so that she could (in her words) "work on her drawing skills." Isn't that cute? I'm so glad that she didn't choose the "easy route." Here's her first page. I think she did a great job!
Yesterday, while we were doing some school work, Alyx informed me that her doll was going to help her. I looked over at her questioningly, and she explained that the way her doll's hands were positioned, she could hold her ruler and "clicky" eraser. How funny is that?
We subscribe to Highlights for Children Magazine, and I get emails all the time with craft ideas, teaching ideas, online reading for kids and even extra printable Hidden Pictures, which my kids LOVE! The email I got today had a link for a Hidden Picture for May and June, and since that was only going to be 2 pictures and I have 3 kids, I decided to see if they had any in archives, so that I could print an extra one.
On the Highlights Kids website, there is a link that will take you to the Hidden Pictures where you can either play online, print a picture or see the answers to the Hidden Pictures in the current month's issue. Follow this link to look through 2 pages and (if I counted correctly) 200 pictures of printable Hidden Pictures. My kids thought we hit the "Jackpot" when I discovered this today. =)
Recently, I received an email with a link to a short story based on John Chapman - "Johnny Appleseed." Here's a link to the archive pages of their short stories. When you follow that link, you will be directed to a page of stories categorized as "Adventure." There are 9 total categories listed under the "Highlights Stories" picture.
There are also science experiments available. Here's a recent one that teaches about air pressure. Here's the archive page (note that there are two pages) with more experiments listed. This is a great supplement for home schooling.
When it comes to crafts, I like to find things that are relatively simple and not very messy. (I know...I'm so much fun!) We always have lots of paper towel and toilet paper tubes, so I like to find crafts using those. Here is one called a Spiral Roadway that uses a PT tube. This one shows how to make a rocking horse out of a TP tube. Here is the craft archive page that has 6 categories available to look through.
Check it out! Your kids will love it! Mine do. =)
