The Letter D for Preschoolers

We've missed a few weeks of our little preschool, but I don't sweat it too much.  We have plenty of opportunities to do little things throughout the day that aren't exactly "in the curriculum" but involve numbers and letters and colors and stuff anyway.  So it's all just dandy.

This week we're going to be talking about the letter D:

• We'll be watching the Storybots letter D video, and also this other semi-cute video on youtube that has some kid drawing animals that start with D.



• Then we're coloring this letter D worksheet, and this D is for Dragon coloring page (except that we had to draw eyelashes on the dragon before we could color it because apparently it just wasn't girly enough).

• And then we're going to be doing this door activity sheet.  (Just click on the picture, then when it's all huge and stuff right click and either save or print.)  You need to print the door sheet on thick paper and then cut around 3 sides of each door so that the door can "open".  Then adhere a separate paper to the backside so that it's on there really well, but you still want those doors to open.  Then have your child draw something different behind each door, just make sure the things start with the letter D.  (The sheet has suggestions if you need help coming up with D things.)

And that's pretty much all we'll be doing, officially school-wise speaking anyway.  Because we have other stuff to do, like finding all the Christmas decorations that are still semi-packed away in random places from our last move.

Cubees Printable Characters

Have you heard of Cubees?  I hadn't until I came across a way awesome website that has tons and tons of these printable Cubee characters.

All their characters are free.  Basically, you pick your favorites, download and print, then follow the super easy instructions to put them together.  They have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Star Wars, and Princess Bride, and the Tardis, and more and more and more characters.

And you don't even need glue or tape to keep them together - it's purely a notch and flap system (so you will need to be accurate while cutting).

I decided to make Harry Potter and Voldemort.  But only because they had the Tardis, but no Dr. Who.  I'm thinking about making my own Matt Smith and David Tennant Dr's just because I WANT TO (and because I'm a humongous geek).

Would you guys want some original Peonies and Poppyseeds Cubees?  And, if so, what kind of characters would you be interested in?  Please do tell!

2012 Olympic Mascot Paper Dolls Printable

We're getting super excited about the 2012 Summer Olympics starting in a few days, so get ready to hear a lot about it.

First of all, the mascots - what are they?  And also, I think they're really cute (I have a thing for cyclopses).  And because I like them so much, I made them into a free paperdolls printable!

Now you can dress Wenlock and Mandeville like London officials, put them in a USA shirt, or decorate the gray t-shirt for your favorite athlete!

Free Printable Magnetic Bookmarks

Motivating my kids to keep up their reading in the summer usually has to include bribes, because days are sunny and pools are calling.  So while I was perusing for bribes I came across these super adorable magnetic bookmarks on Disney's Family Fun site.

Aren't they the cutest?!  You can download them for free at family.go.com, and then when you're done with that, you can get our magnetic owl bookmarks for free too!  

Because if you have multiple kids, you're going to need multiple options, and everyone is going to need at least two.

Happy summer reading!  (I'm thinking about laminating these so that we can read in the pool......oh, but then I'd have to laminate our book pages too....my plan may possibly be flawed.)

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):

Just click to download this free printable.

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.)

Colors of the Rainbow

The other day, my kids asked me what colors were in a rainbow, and I was SHOCKED because I just assumed they knew. (I don't know why I figured that... it's not like I had shown them.)

And thus, we have am 8x10 colors of the rainbow print for you to download and share. I mean, how cute would this be in an art room or nursery? (Answer: SUPER CUTE.)

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:

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This bingo set was made with the Yum Digital Scrapbook kit, found here.

Quick and Easy: DIY Banner Tutorial

Banner’s are all the rage right now, and I don’t know about you, but the weather where I’m at has been a little too gloomy for my taste. So I decided to make a quick and easy, spring-ish, could also pass as Valentine’s-ish banner…. IT’S WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY, ALRIGHT?

To start, you need to gather your supplies. I went with a greenish/pink cottage type vibe, because a) I had it and b) I like it. And those are the two most important components to this sort of afternoon craft.


Next, I cut the papers into 5x7 rectangles.


And this is not related to the task, but the day was rather gloomy and dreary, and the lighting was oh so terrible. I tried to fix it, but no go. I’m just letting you know, so as to explain why the pictures are slightly different shades of colors.

NEXT STEP: Trimming the ends. I cut out a point, also known as a triangle.  Now some people would throw the triangle pieces away, but oh no, not I.  TRIANGLES FOREVER! 


Now, you should have two stacks of papers. A cute banner shape stack, and a triangle shape stack.
CRITICAL STEP! Lay out the banner pieces in an order that is pleasing to thine eye. If you used all the same types of paper, awesome. If you mixed and matched from your scrap pile, awesome. Lay it out, move it around, play with the order until you like it.

Then, you mix and match the triangle pieces over the tops of those… like so:


Now you’ll notice that I didn’t put the triangle pieces all the way to the top. For this banner, I chose to score, then fold, and staple the banner. If you want to put the pieces all the way at the top, you can. It’s you banner, so it’s your call.

But for the sake of argument, I’ll show you my score line. It’s a little less than a half an inch from the top, not that I measured. I eyeballed it.


I also couldn’t find my scoring tool, so I used a flat head screwdriver instead. If it works, it works. You could also use the back of a butter knife, if you can’t find your screwdriver, not that I’ve ever had to do THAT before *cough*.


ANYWAYS. After you have finished scoring all your banners, then you can start to assemble them to your liking. Glue down the triangles, add some embellishments… whatever you have, that you like.


Once that’s all done, you’re ready to attach the banner flags. I had grosgrain ribbon on hand, so that is what I used. (Can you sense a theme here?)


I just slipped the ribbon under the flag, and then folded the scored edge over. Then I stapled each end, and once more in the middle just for good measure.


I spaced each flag about three fingers apart, and got my assembly line on.

When everything was attached, I used some extra ribbon to tie a knot between each flag for some pizazz. (Plus, I really like ribbon.)


The nice thing about this banner is that it’s LIGHT, so I grabbed my scotch tape, and hung it on up.

Instant cheer on this cold, winter day.



Total cost for this project: $0, but that’s only because I had everything on hand. And my four year old totally go in on the action and helped glue and assemble everything. Perfect way to brighten up any rainy day.

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.

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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!
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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.

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Peonies and Poppyseeds printables are for personal, private, non-commercial use ONLY. Absolutely no redistribution allowed. Thanks!

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The Professionals

After school today, we went to get flu shots.

This was an adventure, because we had to drive across town to the minute clinic at CVS pharmacy.

We had to drive across town because it’s the only place where they A) take our insurance and B) give flu shots to people under 18.

My husband asked why we didn’t just go to the pediatrician…. The pediatrician would cost us $25 per person. And at CVS, flu shots are FREE. Which is a difference of $100.

At any rate, while we were in the room at the minute clinic, the kids were asking all sorts of questions about the needle the nurse was going to use.

And then they pulled up their sleeves, and alcohol swabbed their own arms, and told the nurse she has to wait a minute until it dries.

The nurse was very impressed.

She was even more impressed when nobody even flinched during their injections.

CONCLUSION: We have become shot professionals.

The Stroke of Twelve

It’s just after midnight, and I just finished unloading and reloading the dishwasher, sorting and switching the laundry, packing the kids lunch boxes, doing a general pick up of the house, and sprinkling baking soda on the carpet (it needs to marinade for a few hours).  I do not understand people that go to bed at 10.

Meanwhile, we’ve had some really fun packages in the mail. The most exciting package was for the girls… mostly Blayne. You see, Blayne is built like me. This is to say, that she has rather long legs, and a short waist. Which means that we have to be very particular about the types of shirts she wears, because a scoop neck means that our belly button is showing. ANYWAYS. Tea Collection got in touch with me and we picked out the most fabulous things for Blayne, and THE NECKLINES! Be still my heart. They are awesome. And the clothes are super soft, and they fit exactly the way children’s clothing should fit, and I am seriously in love. And have already bought something extra for Taylor. But FOR REALS, we’ll have a fashion show later, because Blayne wants to show off.

I have also decided that I need to work on being empathetic towards people. Actually, maybe not. Because empathy is not the same thing as compassion, and I am compassionate towards people and willing to help out with things and such. But empathy. Bleh. I don’t want to feel what other people are feeling. Frankly, any type of emotion exhausts me. Even thinking about having to deal with people’s feelings stresses me out. I’m too clinical for my own good. COMPARTMENTALIZE PEOPLE.

Did you see that I resurrected my other blog? Because I did. And I LOVE IT. And I made some Halloween printables to get my toes wet. Here, have a peek. 

I know it’s not a TON of stuff, but I have more coming. Promise. Besides, it’s free, so you really don’t have any room to complain. (Stop having feelings and click here to download.)

AND NOW, we get to talk something that I can never quite decide about. It’s after midnight, so TECHNICALLY, this is THURSDAY, but I should maybe just pretend it’s still WEDNESDAY because I haven’t yet gone to bed. The stroke of midnight, gets me every time.

How To Play Ninja

Sometimes my boys play ninja.

It sounds like this: "kkkeeeeiiiii" and "hoooaaahhh" and "tttsssss" and "UGH"

And sometimes the line between a friendly fight between Ninja's and Mortal Enemies is blurred.

That sounds like this: "AAGGHH!!" and "WAAAAHHHH" and "ATTACK!" and "OHMYEYE" and "MOMMY!"

Which is invariably followed by a muffled apology.

And a valuable life lesson.

And that is how you play Ninja.

Knock ‘em Dead, Sweetheart

When Daniel got off the bus today, he told me that he had a bad day.

When I asked him why, he said it was because he got a yellow.

(If you’re not familiar with this behavior system, Green=Good, Yellow=Warning, Red=Bad)

And when I asked why he got a yellow, he said it was because he hit someone BACK.

“I didn’t hit him FIRST mom. That mean boy hit me hard so it hurt, so I hitted him back HARDER.”

To which I responded, “Good. As long as you don’t hit someone first, you’re okay.”

Because in my house, I teach my kids to not hit FIRST.

But hitting someone back? I’m totally good with.

Knock ‘em dead, sweetheart, knock ‘em dead.

Reason #19 that kids are awesome*

  

 

*this story is real. let’s talk about the crush I had on on the oldest boy in 3 ninjas, 20 years ago.