I don't know if your kids get nervous when a new school year starts, but mine sure do. So I'll be slipping one of these notes of encouragement into their lunches for the first week just to remind them how incredibly awesome they are.
Showing posts with label everyday life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label everyday life. Show all posts
August 22, 2012
Encouragement School Lunch Notes Printable
I don't know if your kids get nervous when a new school year starts, but mine sure do. So I'll be slipping one of these notes of encouragement into their lunches for the first week just to remind them how incredibly awesome they are.
August 15, 2012
Kids Craft: Painting with Marbles
We like messy activities at our house, and painting with marbles is one of our ultimate favorites. Plus it has really cool results, and you can even display it without it looking like a 3 year old made it (even though they did).
First of all you need supplies:
• paper, cardboard, posterboard, or whatever surface you want to paint on
• a box, or cookie sheet, or in our case a big dry erase board covered in plastic wrap (because it's going to get messy)
• finger paint, acrylic paint, or whatever kind of paint you want to use (I think acrylic works best)
• marbles (of course) but you can also do paintings with hotwheel cars, or plastic dinosaur feet, or lots of other creative things.
So, put your paper (or whatever) on your white erase board (or whatever you're using). And then squish some paint onto it. At first I started with really huge glops which actually made the marbles get stuck easily, so I would suggest using smaller and more dispersed paint glops.
Then grab a bunch of marbles and start rolling them around in the paint. If you're using a box you can tilt the box to get the marbles to roll. We tried doing that with our setup, but it was easier (and more fun) just to roll the marbles back and forth to each other.
My methods are, of course, the messiest possible way to do a marble painting (aside from using your feet, I guess). But it's also really great for sensory processing and fine motor control, and my boys loved it.
And this is why I covered my white board with plastic wrap. Also, we painted our kitchen floor a little bit too, but it washed off.
I tried a bunch of different paints and surfaces, and here are the results. This first one is a paper bag with finger paint:
This is acrylic paint on tracing paper:
This is a regular sheet of paper with acrylic paint:
And this is some bubble wrap with glitter glue - NOT RECOMMENDED. Because, obviously, it's ugly. And also, glitter glue? What was I thinking? (Plus it's more fun just to pop the bubble wrap.)
My favorite was when we used acrylic paint on blue posterboard. We're totally displaying it to the world (or anyone who walks down our stairs). Jackson Pollock, eat your heart out.
July 13, 2012
Free Friday the 13th Printable
It's not like it's a holiday or anything, but I just couldn't help making a Friday the 13th printable. So here you go:
July 6, 2012
Polkadot Cupcake Wrappers
You know when you just need some generic and fun cupcake wrappers and you're like, "Gah, these all say Happy Birthday!" or whatever? Well, check it out: free printable polkadot cupcake wrappers!
OH YEAH.
Just click to download these six printable wrappers. And also, you're welcome.
April 2, 2012
Craft Stick Puzzles: Printable and Tutorial
Craft stick puzzles are one of my new favorite things. My kids love them, and they're cheap to make, and they don't get destroyed like paper pieces.
If you haven't made craft stick puzzles before, let me tell you how tremendously easy it is.
First, download this printable (because they're cute and sized right and just all around better than other craft stick puzzles):
Print the pages on cardstock and cut around the whole puzzle (don't cut each piece out yet).
This next step is optional, but I highly recommend it. Cover the fronts (only) in clear contact paper. This will help your puzzles last longer, especially since you know they're going to be handled by grubby little kid fingers.
Then chop the pieces apart with a paper slicey-cutter-thingy. (There are lines on the puzzles, so you know where to chop.)
Get a bunch of big craft sticks out, and rubber cement a piece to each one. Try to center the pieces on the craft sticks just so they look better. If a person was smart they would put one puzzle on one side of the stick and then a different puzzle on the other side of the stick. Therefore needing half the amount of sticks. A not so smart person, such as myself, just uses a whole bunch of single sided sticks.
Your sticks will need to dry before you can play, but rubber cement doesn't take long to dry.
To play with the puzzles, just hand your child the finished group of sticks. You can make it easy by separating each puzzle to do one at a time, or the whole pile so your kid has to pick the right pieces before assembling.
We really really like craft stick puzzles. (Isn't that the cutest little monkey you have ever seen? And I'm not talking about the cartoon one, although it's kind of cute too.)
If you haven't made craft stick puzzles before, let me tell you how tremendously easy it is.
First, download this printable (because they're cute and sized right and just all around better than other craft stick puzzles):
Print the pages on cardstock and cut around the whole puzzle (don't cut each piece out yet).
This next step is optional, but I highly recommend it. Cover the fronts (only) in clear contact paper. This will help your puzzles last longer, especially since you know they're going to be handled by grubby little kid fingers.
Then chop the pieces apart with a paper slicey-cutter-thingy. (There are lines on the puzzles, so you know where to chop.)
Get a bunch of big craft sticks out, and rubber cement a piece to each one. Try to center the pieces on the craft sticks just so they look better. If a person was smart they would put one puzzle on one side of the stick and then a different puzzle on the other side of the stick. Therefore needing half the amount of sticks. A not so smart person, such as myself, just uses a whole bunch of single sided sticks.
Your sticks will need to dry before you can play, but rubber cement doesn't take long to dry.
To play with the puzzles, just hand your child the finished group of sticks. You can make it easy by separating each puzzle to do one at a time, or the whole pile so your kid has to pick the right pieces before assembling.
We really really like craft stick puzzles. (Isn't that the cutest little monkey you have ever seen? And I'm not talking about the cartoon one, although it's kind of cute too.)
March 12, 2012
free paperdolls printable
One time my mom drew some paper dolls that looked just like my sisters and me. And they were awesome. I'm not willing to draw custom paper dolls for everyone though. Because that is just crazy talk. But you can get these free paper dolls to print and play with and make fun memories with your kids.
Print these on cardstock and laminate them to last longer. Or you can cut off all the tags and mount the pieces on magnetic strips to get the clothes to stay on easier. The magnets also allow you to play with the dolls in fun places like the fridge.
I plan on posting more clothing to print with these every once in awhile. But let me ask you a questions - do you want a boy version? Do boys like to play with paper dolls?
REMINDER: Printables from Peonies and Poppyseeds are free for non-commercial, personal printed use only. Mass production and file sharing are not permitted. If your friends or family want to know where you got your printables, send them to our site. Thanks!
Print these on cardstock and laminate them to last longer. Or you can cut off all the tags and mount the pieces on magnetic strips to get the clothes to stay on easier. The magnets also allow you to play with the dolls in fun places like the fridge.
I plan on posting more clothing to print with these every once in awhile. But let me ask you a questions - do you want a boy version? Do boys like to play with paper dolls?
REMINDER: Printables from Peonies and Poppyseeds are free for non-commercial, personal printed use only. Mass production and file sharing are not permitted. If your friends or family want to know where you got your printables, send them to our site. Thanks!
February 28, 2012
Fun Food Bingo Game Printable
We like playing bingo at our house. Especially when we get to mark the squares with candy or cereal or something. Because then, when you win, you get to eat the treat!
Here is a fun food bingo game printable for you and your kids to enjoy - it comes with 5 different player bingo cards and all the calling cards (so you can put them in a pile upside down and pick the next square to mark at random by drawing one card at a time). Just click to download:
Never miss a freebie, subscribe to our RSS feed!
Here is a fun food bingo game printable for you and your kids to enjoy - it comes with 5 different player bingo cards and all the calling cards (so you can put them in a pile upside down and pick the next square to mark at random by drawing one card at a time). Just click to download:
Never miss a freebie, subscribe to our RSS feed!
February 6, 2012
Organization Homework Posters
I'm trying to teach my kids to be more responsible and organized, which has been a really huge struggle, because they are MY kids and we all seem to have immense aversions to all things responsible and organized. But still, we can try.
So, over the weekend, I made my kids these posters, because I'm tired of their homework and other school papers floating around the house.
Basically they're couple of regular posterboards, some cheap file folders, 2 corkboard panels, some chalkboard paint, printed labels, and a whole lot of tape.
I included the corkboard because they're always bringing notes home. The "other projects" folder is for art they're making at home. And the chalkboard paint is so that I could write a list of chores, and have the days of the week where they could check off their finished tasks - then we can erase it and start again next week. And I pretty much just taped everything good and proper so that nothing will fall off (yay for packing tape).
I got a little sloppy once I hit the chalkboard paint stage, so here's a diagram to help you see what exactly I placed where:
And now I just need to get them to USE the posters - which is where the real battle is looming.
So, over the weekend, I made my kids these posters, because I'm tired of their homework and other school papers floating around the house.
Basically they're couple of regular posterboards, some cheap file folders, 2 corkboard panels, some chalkboard paint, printed labels, and a whole lot of tape.
I included the corkboard because they're always bringing notes home. The "other projects" folder is for art they're making at home. And the chalkboard paint is so that I could write a list of chores, and have the days of the week where they could check off their finished tasks - then we can erase it and start again next week. And I pretty much just taped everything good and proper so that nothing will fall off (yay for packing tape).
I got a little sloppy once I hit the chalkboard paint stage, so here's a diagram to help you see what exactly I placed where:
And now I just need to get them to USE the posters - which is where the real battle is looming.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Get Peonies and Poppyseeds newest posts by email or in your blog reader.
January 20, 2012
School Jokes: lunch note printables
School lunches can get boring - print off the school jokes lunch notes and put one in their lunchbag each day. It will give them something to chuckle about.
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
To Print
- Download the file using the pink “Click Here To Download” button
- Your computer will automatically download the file
- The image is now on your computer ready to print!
* * * * * * * *
Get Peonies and Poppyseeds newest posts in email or in your blog reader.
January 19, 2012
Free Bedtime Routine Printable
Every evening I say "go get ready for bed" and the next thing I know my children turn into pajama clad lunatics whose sole purpose is to jump off every surface in the house while screaming. And then when I say, "have you brushed your teeth?" they look at me like I have 4 heads. And when I say, "why aren't you reading?" they say, "I didn't know we were supposed to". It's like you would never know that my children get ready for bed EVERY DAY.
So I made these bedtime routine printables. And I'm going to glue them to a posterboard so that they're in order. And then I'm going to hang them somewhere glaringly obvious. So that next time I say "go get ready for bed" there's no questioning what I mean.
So I made these bedtime routine printables. And I'm going to glue them to a posterboard so that they're in order. And then I'm going to hang them somewhere glaringly obvious. So that next time I say "go get ready for bed" there's no questioning what I mean.
_________________________________________________________
Peonies and Poppyseeds printables are for personal, private, non-commercial use ONLY. Absolutely no redistribution allowed. Thanks!
_________________________________________________________
Want to know when we post new printables?
Get Peonies and Poppyseeds newest posts by email or in your blog reader.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)