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Presidents’ Day Activities

Posted on February 19, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As my search for items to do with the kids over February break continues, I wanted to look at possibilities that have to do with President’s Day. Since the kids have President’s week off, it makes sense to try to tie something in with that.

Of course, I went to Pinterest and searched for President’s Day. I was pleasantly surprised with quite a few craft, writing, and classroom activities. Remember, once a teacher always a teacher – even if you are not in a classroom of your own. Before I knew it, I had a good amount of items on a board of my own.

I love that a lot of these will be more of a challenge for my third grader, but some could work well for my preschooler. One that I think will tie in nicely with other crafts we already have is the Kids Coins for Presidents Day from Alpha Mom.

Source: alphamom.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

There are a bunch of other items that we will have ready just in case we have extra time during the week. If you are interested in seeing the items that I have pinned, just click on my board below.

The best part of these boards is that I have a great collection to not only do with the kids, but also use in a classroom in the future. So, do you have any special items that you will be doing to celebrate President’s Day? Please share your plans or link up to a post about your ideas.

Categories:
arts and crafts fun holidays Pinterest

Tuesday Tales – Shiver Me Letters A Pirate ABC

Posted on February 14, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

For almost a year now, my little guy has been quite into all things having to do with Pirates. When we made his birthday party, his request was for a Jake and the Never Land Pirates theme. Of course, Jake was new on the scene. Thanks to this, we had to improvise.

Once again, Pirates are on JSL’s mind. Yesterday, he wore his Jake shirt for the premier of Peter Pan Returns. Yes, Peter Pan finally arrives on the scene with Jake and the Never Land Pirates. This is a huge event in a four year old’s world.

The popularity of all things pirates is evident when you see all of the pirate themed birthday items, costumes, and lots and lots of books. Yes, authors are reaching out to new landlubbers to take them on an adventure with their own cast of pirate friends.

Last year, a Scholastic Book Club flyer came home and a book caught my eye. When I saw the title by June Sobel, I knew it was being purchased for our family. Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC seemed like a perfect book to help my little pirate loving child to immerse himself into his alphabet learning through literacy.

This book is now a family favorite. Big brother NHL even likes to practice his pirate talk when reading this fun tale to JSL. The pirate adventure begins with the captain of the pirate ship ordering his crew to find him more letters. After all, a pirate does need more than just his R’s you know. The bright, cheerful illustrations by Henry Cole add another dimension to the story. What I really enjoyed was allowing JSL to search for each new letter within the pages. This helped him with letter recognition and gave us time to talk about what we could see within each page we turned.

As an educator, I love picture books that tell a story, captivate their audience, and teach children at the same time. Shiver Me Letters certainly does this and more. What I also adore is that June Sobel has a page on her website for teachers. Here you can find some great items to print and pointers to use when reading this with your class. She also linked up to Scholastic’s PDF with Read Aloud Activities to accompany the book. I have a feeling that JSL and I may have an alphabet treasure hunt next week during break. I know NHL would love to help us to make a map and I think it would be a great activity for all of us to do. I highly recommend this book to use with preschool and kindergarten age children to reinforce alphabet recognition and to create fun adventures with pirates and letters.

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: An Amazon Affiliate link is included in this post for the book mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to buy the book through that link. We bought this book on our own from Scholastic and know it is on our gift list for other children.

Categories:
books Educational fun looking back Product review Tuesday Tales

Ideas for Valentine’s Day 2012

Posted on February 12, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday is Valentine’s Day and families all over will be getting ready to send there children things into school for celebrations. One of my boys will be doing this on Tuesday, while the other will have to wait until kindergarten. NHL’s class is having a little gathering where they will exchange Valentine cards and have some snacks.

I knew we would not have enough time to make any of the really cool Valentines that I have seen on Pinterest – like the ones from Zakka Life below.

Source: zakkalife.blogspot.com via TheAngelForever on Pinterest

It would have been great to make them, but the reality check is not enough time to get the items needed and to construct them. Thanks to this, I went to the store and bought some that I knew NHL would love. I do believe that Agent P would approve as well.

So this weekend, NHL will sign them and get them ready. Then we will try to figure out what snack to make to bring into his class. I have a feeling I may try one of the cool items that I pinned in my <3 Day Items board on Pinterest.

There are just so many great things to be found on Pinterest. If you want to see what I have pinned in mine, just click on my board below and it will take to there now.

So what are your plans for Valentine cards, crafts, and/or baked goods for Tuesday? Please share below!

Categories:
arts and crafts baking fun holidays photos Pinterest school

Counting Down the Days to Disney

Posted on February 6, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

To tell the kids or not to tell the kids? That is often the question that many families contemplate as they plan a Walt Disney World vacation. I will admit, as we finalized our plans to go to the 2012 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I was not sure what to do.

I wondered how I would be able to keep this BIG secret from my boys. I always watch the videos of people surprising their children the day of and wonder how they do it. TechyDad and I just did not think it would work for several reasons.

Our house is not large enough to have a secret packing area. Packing for a big trip is stressful enough in a smaller house. I could not even imagine trying to do it while in stealth mode.
How does one talk to teachers and others at school about missed days, but not tell their child? My eight year old would know something was up as I went into school and came out with a load of work.
I am WAY too excited and can’t stop thinking about everything. I wanted to be able to share the magical planning and joy in my heart with the kids now. Winter can be depressing enough, so having something to look forward to as a family seemed like a great idea.

There were other items on my mind, but those were the biggest things. To date, we have never been able to keep a Disney trip a secret from the boys for long and I think it has been the right decision for our family. When we told the boys that we were going to Disney World, their faces lit up. Then, they wanted to know when and how many days away it was. Chatter about rides to visit, places to explore, and Hidden Mickeys to find have dominated things in recent days. The boys sit together and read planning guides and think about how they will notice a new Hidden Mickey in their adventures.

Each day, they recite how many days are left until we head to see our favorite destination. Excitement is definitely in the air. At eight, NHL gets that we have just under three months until we go to Disney. JSL is only four and does not quite get it. I have thought about making a Mickey Ears paper chain to help us count down the days. This will help him to see as we get closer to the day of our trip.

Have you ever kept a Disney trip or something else a secret to surprise your children on the day of your trip? I would love to know how it went and if you have any other count down traditions that you do with your family.

LINKY

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop!

Categories:
Blog Hop decisions Disney DisneySMMoms fun jsl looking back nhl photos TechyDad travel

Snow Exploration

Posted on January 30, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As an adult living in the northeast, snow is something that we have to deal with during the winter months. This winter has been mild, but it does not typically last forever. Although I am not a fan of the beautiful white that falls to the ground now, I was as a child. There are so many memories of building snow forts and snowmen with my friends and family.

These days, my best snow memories have been watching my boys explore and learn about snow play. When JSL went out to play in the snow for the first time as a walker, my camera was there to capture the moment. The best part, I caught his first few steps on video when he learned that snow is slippery. That first winter as a toddler was rough for JSL. He wanted to play and wander in the snow like his big brother, but he could not keep up. Eventually, he got to the point that standing out in the cold did not interest him.

That changed when JSL turned two. As a fast moving and grooving two year old, he was able to safely maneuver in the snow. A year seemed to help him to figure out how to move around within the confinements of his snow pants. He also learned where to put his fingers inside mittens to be able to use items while building in the snow. Yes, experience and time to become familiar with this environment made a drastic difference.

JSL also learned how important it is to stay warm. He would not fight us when putting on boots, a hat, mittens, scarf, snow pants, and his winter coat. Since being a helper is important to toddlers, we bought him a little shovel. The proud look on his face as he went to help clear off the snow was priceless. Of course, I think his favorite part was building a snowman with my husband and older son, and chanting “faster” and “more” while riding in a sleigh.

The best advice I have is to have fun and be a kid again. Take some time away from shoveling to make snow angels, build a snowman, and play in the snow with your toddlers. These magical moments will not last forever and are fun to look back on.

I would also suggest finding some mittens that little fingers can move in, a small kid shovel, sled, and a scarf to protect faces (hard to find for little ones – I knit them for my kids). In addition to this, bring a camera and snap away or take videos to show your children later on.

What types of things do your younger children like to do when they brave the cold weather to play in the snow?

Disclosure: This post was previously published on a project I worked on. The text is mostly the same, but I placed additional photos and the question at the end for my blog.