TWINS DAY 2010

It is funny I think they could be twins!!!!!!

WACKY HAIR DAY 2010

I will say there were a few tears at the new do but by the time it was going to school time he realized it would be fun and it was only for the day! He is definately a clean cut boy and this is not him at all but I think he is going to have a fun day with is "wacky" hair!

Water Table Fun

The water table(you can also use dishpans) has been my most favorite purchase since deciding to do preschool at home. It has so many uses and I use it all year. Here are a couple of the ideas so far this year:

SNOW

I found this fake snow and added some polar animals and a bucket and scoop for some snow fun!


What is at the end of rainbow?

I found these 2 buckets at Michaels last year(75% off) and the 2 different colored coins as well. My preschoolers find the coins in the rainbow colored rice and sort them between the 2 buckets using tongs. They can also count the coins too! I reuse the rice throughout spring time so I will share more ideas later!

To make the rice you take 2 cups rice, 1 tsp rubbing alcohol(this makes it dry fast and not sticky), and 5 drops food coloring. Mix it together and let it dry on newspaper. Repeat for as many colors as you like. HINT: Once dry the colors don't rub off on anything

For more of my preschool ideas you can go to my preschool blog at jewelspreschool.blogspot.com

St. Patrick's Day

For $8.00 I bought the following items: 3 bags green gems(different shapes), a 4 pack of candles, 3 glass vases, a 9 square shelf. I also used some scrap wood from another project.


TIC TAC TOE


I removed the hangers off of the shelf, my daughter and I painted it white and added 2 different color gems. Let the games begin, once dry of course!

St. Patricks Day Centerpiece


I painted the board white(2 coats) and once dry I hot glued on the gems to look like clovers on the edges(I first intended it to be a sign of some sort but I like it like this and at a later date it could become a sign). With the remaining gems Julianna distributed them evenly between the vases and then added candles. Put the finished vases in the center and tada all ready for the table!

Movie Night

Most of our Friday nights are Pizza and Movie nights. When each child's room is clean they will receive one of these:



Now how many of these tickets in their bag is determined by behavior all week:



There are free options:



but really this is what they look forward to the most(using their admission bag to put their treats in):


(popcorn containers Michaels for $1.00)

Kids Say:

Jensen you are too cute...his response, "No I am just a little too cute"


We went out to build a burger night at the club and when we were ordering we were helping all the kids order the burgers doneness and they were ordering them medium well....as we are eating one of the kids said, "I should have ordered a small instead of a medium!" (the burgers were as big as their little faces)

I was picking up the kids from school after the 1st really warm day and apperently the sewer couldn't take all the melting snow(the smell was horrific). As Julianna exited the classroom to the wonderful outdoors she says, "Mom you smell like a farm!" Oh how fun to explain it wasn't myself but the playground that smelled like a farm!

Just Say No to Drugs and Yes to This Book!

If you want to open the door to you children about a tough topic(drugs) do I have a book for you. What makes it even more amazing is the author is 17.

A New Favorite

This new product from Crayola is a gem!!! No more worrying about spilt water or mucky paint trays!!!

Reduce, Reuse, Inspire!!!

I washed and saved container lids....


......went through old Friend magazines and found pictures of Jesus....


......cut out the pictures in shapes of circles(I found a circle shape object that fit in the inside circle of the lids and used that as a template) and glued them in the lid. I then took a hole punch and went around the edges.....

Great Sunday lacing fun for your little ones!!!

Super Snugglers

These 2 from the minute they were born were my little snugglers. I am so glad they have each other and that I have the opportunity to be their mom, I love my snuggle bugs!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!!

First let's start off with Wacky Wednesday...were all the kids dressed well wacky!!!!
Here he is all wacky...the pants had a hole in the knee and they were perfect for cutting off, then I cut the sleeve off his shirt, he even wore one short sock and one long one(not pictured), and I parted his hair on the opposite side I normally do to give on side a shorter look and the other longer(I tried to convince him to let me shave it but that was a no go).


Due to fever David missed the rest of Dr. Seuss week including tomorrow but I decided I would still bring in these for his classmates:



Needed:
Oreo
Marshmallows
White frosting
Cherry Twizzler Pull and Peel

Frost the top of the oreo
Pull a strand of the Twizzler off and set one end on top
Place a marshmallow on the top
Put frosting on top of it and add another marshmallow
Wrap the twizzler around the hat and adhere with frosting

Tada Cat in the Hat hats!!!!!

WIRES-need I say more

This is the amount of wires coming down from the top of my desk (this doesn't include my printer or computer wires and the wires are already taped together). I would have loved to show you the craziness on the floor under my desk before but I didn't think about posting it until after it was done and to redo this was not going to happen!


I had been looking for a basket to put all of my wires in and was not finding what I was looking for. I had 2 requirments- a lid and handle openings on the sides. I happend to going into our local Salvation Army just browsing around and found this box which met both of my requirments. It was a little beat up but it was going to hold wires under a desk and for under $2 I was not going to argue and it was the perfect size and structurally sound.


You fed the wires through the hole and hide all the unsightly wires and other electronic stuff inthe box.


No more getting my foot or chair leg tangled in wires and as an added bonus my priner fits perfectly onthe top!

"Toothy" Fun

I love this book!!! It is perfect for young children when you are talking about issues of teeth.


At our local school store I picked up a pad of teeth shapes, teeth stickers, and 10 tooth erasers. I took 10 of them and put the numbers 1-10 and then another ten and put stickers on them 1 on 1, 2 on another and continue through the number ten. This is great on so many levels and this what I use these for:
1. Taking the teeth with numbers on them and practicing number recognition and then putting them in proper order.
2. Taking the teeth with numbers and the one with stickers and play a matching game
3. Use the teeth erasers as counters and the numbered teeth to practice counting.


I found these pictures of mouthes on line and I printed them off and cut them out and programmed them. One says "t at the beginning" and the other says "t at the end". I then took several pictures of different items. Now we are ready to play this game. I put the mouthes side by side with a space in the middle of them and put the pictures face down. Each child takes a turn picking up a picture and deciding which mouth it belongs to. To make it a little trickier I have some pictures that don't go on either and one that goes on both(tent).


These teeth definately need some brushing! With the same tooth shapes from above I took the left overs and laminated them. I then took a dry erase marker and drew sugar bugs all over them. Now with all the children armed with a sugar bug laden tooth and tooth brush they get busy brushing those sugar bugs away(be prepared to keep readding sugar bugs to the teeth, in my experience 15 minutes or more)

I also take the oppurtunity to teach the "t" sound and the "th" sound and tooth is the perfect word to teach the difference.


What makes out teeth happy and sad? I programmed 2 teeth shapes one with a sad face and one with a happy face. Then cut out some pictures of different foods. I place the teeth next to each other and put the pictures face down and the kids take turns deciding what makes our teeeth happpy or sad!!!

Stories from the Bag

This is what happens when you get 6 3-5 year olds together and have them use the story bag:

Once upon a time... there was a treasure chest on a big boat and a pink flamingo took the treasure to an underground mountain where the flamingo played football. The flamingo flew in a rocket ship to space over a rainbow to the planet Saturn to hide the treasure forever. The End


Once upon a time... there was a tree on a hill with a lion waiting for his friend the monkey. They looked up into the sky from earth and a robot came from space and said, “I am going to eat you!” An airplane landed nearby and out hopped a frog and he ate everything in sight except the airplane and he flew far away.

The End

These crack me up!!!!

Once Upon a Time....

I made a story bag and this is how I did it:

I picked up this bag at Michaels for $1 and



these for .59 each(I bought around 15 of them)


Our story always begins with Once upon a time and then we draw a piece (without looking)and we start to tell our story. Every person adding to it as we draw new pieces. My children loved it and could have done it for hours, literally!