Activity TV

Are you ever in need of inspiration? Well look no further than ActivityTV! This neat website has instructional videos (ex/Make a rainstick), games and much more! Very cool resource!

12 Days of Christmas

This year I thought it would be fun to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. Since the kids are still young coloring pages are just the right thing. I found these, 12 Days of Christmas coloring pages at Dltk.

Growth of a Hummingbird

Here is a rare opportunity to sneak a peak into a nest of a hummingbird. You won't be disappointed!

Christmas Pattern Blocks

I discovered that my youngest son is really into pattern block designs. So with it being Christmas season I thought it would be fun to find some Christmas themed pattern block designs. PreKinders has some free printable pattern designs for wreaths, snowmen and presents. They look like a lot of fun!

Paper Snowflakes

This past weekend we had a holiday party for the neighborhood children. One of our activities was making paper snowflakes. I must admit I had to look online first and try out many sample cuts myself before I felt comfortable showing the kids. I wish I had seen this video before then. It would have saved me so much time. But don't we learn so much from trial and error?



If you would rather not draw or create your own design you could use a template or pattern. Here are some fun templates from Family Fun Magazine These templates include stars, clovers, hearts and snowmen. You could make them even more fun by using colored papers.
This template from Martha Stewart is a fun geometrical design. But no matter what you decide to use...Just have Fun!

Roll-A- Dice Games

My oldest son loves playing Roll-A-Christmas tree (see below). It is a lot of fun because you are racing another person to see who can draw their Christmas tree first. But if you don't roll the die on the right number it may take you a while to finish. This morning he said it would be fun if there were a Roll-A-Snowman game. So I immediately checked online and was thrilled to find that very game. Can't wait to play that with him later!

The following are drawing games--Supplies: Paper, Pencils, Dice
Roll-A-Christmas Tree
Roll-A-Gingerbread Man

Roll-A-Snowman

Here is another fun art idea: You assemble as you roll the dice! How fun!

Supplies: Printouts, dice

Roll-A-Penguin

Here is a fun Science Experiment game:

Melt An Ice Cube

I also decided to search for other Roll-A-Dice games and was thrilled to find a year's worth at Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshots. She has her games sorted by month and some months offer a few options.

Most of these activities are geared to younger children, but they could easily be adapted to older kids. You could try making it more complicated by doing math equations or adding more numbers and options. Have fun!

Dreidel Fun

My family is not Jewish but I love to celebrate holidays. In my opinion, holidays teach you a lot about a culture and what they believe. Besides holidays, I also love family traditions. I am in awe of the traditions that are passed down from one generation to the next in the Jewish faith. I feel that the Hannakuh season is a prime example. One fun tradition that I think anyone of any faith could enjoy is the Dreidel game. Below you will find lots of ways to play and learn about the Dreidel game. Enjoy!

Dreidel Games

Two different versions to play. Plus links to lots of information about the Origins of Dreidel

I Have a Little Dreidel (Click on link to hear tune)
I have a little dreidel,
I made it out of clay,
And when it's dry and ready,
Then dreidel I shall play!

Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,
I made it out of clay;
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,
Then dreidel I shall play.

It has a lovely body,
With leg so short and thin,
And when it gets all tired,
It drops and then I win!

Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,
With leg so short and thin,
Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,
It drops and then I win!

Virtual Dreidel Game

Requires Java Script, Netscape 2.x or Explorer 3.0

Make & Print Dreidel Game

Free printable dreidel to be used with a pencil

Free Lapbooks: Egypt & da Vinci

Handle on the Arts is offering the following two lapbooks free for a limited time only:


Egypt Lapbook
Take a deeper look at the architecture of ancient Egypt with our hands-on Egypt lapbook. Students will explore the steps in making the pyramids, the evolution of the pyramid, as well as other Egyptian architecture such as obelisks and the Great Sphynx.
Activities include vocabulary, a timeline, an art project, writing an acrostic, creating a map of the pyramid tunnels, plus others. The included project guide is complete enough to give you weeks worth of lesson plans, however, the lapbook itself could be completed in a single day.

Leonardo da Vinci Lapbook
Students will explore Leonardo’s most famous works of art, his inventions, his biography, and his art techniques.
Activities include vocabulary, timelines, multiple art projects, creating an invention, writing backwards, and many others. A project guide is included to make this a complete unit study and a great addition to your history
curriculum.

WatchKnow.org- Free Videos for Kids

This morning I got a real goodie in my inbox, WatchKnow "Videos for kids to learn by. Organized"! I did a little digging through their website. I love that you can filter your searches by age level. My oldest son is very interested in Japanese right now so I did a search for 'Japanese'. My search yielded 68 hits! Love it so far!

Email Santa Claus

If your child has not sent a letter to Santa Claus click here to email the big guy! The great thing about this website is that your child will recieve an instant reply back from Santa!

Magic Tree House Books

I know many children love the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne. I went looking to see how one could create a curriculum using these books. I was thrilled when I found the Magic Tree House Classroom Club.

I've copied and pasted the information from their homepage below. Ignore all the 'teacher' and 'classroom' speak and see it as an inexpensive unit study or curriculum.

This is taken directly from their website:
"Welcome to the Magic Tree House Classroom Club!
The Magic Tree House series has been trusted by educators for over fifteen years! Our free Classroom Club offers you teachers guides by unit, printer-friendly activity sheets, an educational planner, and writing tips from Mary Pope Osborne herself.

Sign up for the Magic Tree House Classroom Club newsletter today and you will be the first to know about new books, resources, and author tour information.

NEW!

Activities Available!
Use the fiction and nonfiction together to meet paired selection criteria!
The Magic Tree House fiction adventures allow you and your students to step into a world of adventure. From England in the Middle Ages to the prairies of America to the moon, protagonists Jack and Annie make history and science fun by taking readers right there!
The companion Magic Tree House Research Guides give your students the facts behind the fiction by providing easy-to-digest information about the times, places, and cultures Jack and Annie visit in the Magic Tree House fiction adventures. The nonfiction research guides amplify the exciting subjects and include fun facts, photos, illustrations, definitions, and much more!
If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to magictreehouse@randomhouse.com"

Non-Standard Measurement

Magnifying Glasses

The Gruffalo

'At' Words

Dogs

Dinosaurs

Limericks

Since St. Patrick's Day is on March 17th and March is Irish-American Heritage month we have been trying to do some Irish inspired things this month. Even though our family probably has no Irish lines we still love all things Irish. Instead of going straight to Ireland (which I would really love to do some day soon!); we have been cutting out shamrocks and reading limericks.

Last Friday at our co-op I did a mini-lesson on limericks and read some limericks to the group. According to this really neat poster I found at a local teaching-supply store:

A limerick is a humourous five-line poem. It is made up of 13 beats and has a rhyme scheme of aabba. The poem is named after the city of Limerick, Ireland, although no ones knows how or where the form originated.

Here is a sample from the poster:

There was a young boy from Caboo,

Who had trouble tying his shoe.

He said to his ox,

"I'll just walk in my socks."

Now all of his friends do that, too!

For those that are interested: Lines 1, 2 and 5 each have three beats. Lines 3 and 4 have two beats.

I have a series of books that I picked up at a thrift store called, Childcraft. Several of the limericks I read to the group came from that series of books. I learned that Edward Lear, was a famous writer of limericks. His first book of poems, A Book of Nonsense (1846) contained over two hundred limericks. Here is one limerick from Edward Lear:

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, "It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren

Have all built their nests in my beard."

If you would like to write your own limerick:

The first line often includes the name of a place, you may wish to think of a verse that uses the name of your hometown, state or country.

This week's Poetry Round-up is being held at The Miss Rumphius Effect.