Teacher Gift

So, I've been home for a week! I'm really trying to get back in the swing of things, but these few last day's of summer have been so enjoyable. We start school tomorrow and it's exciting and the last week has been spent having a lot of fun and trying to catch the last few days of summer fun!

Here is a fun little project that I put together as a back to school gift for the teachers. I got the idea at Eighteen25. I added the jolly ranchers and some gum.

Hope your enjoying the last days of summer!

Back to School Bus Craft

We made these for BayLees teacher for the first day of school. She insisted on making one for her first grade teacher also. She just painted an egg carton yellow and used a sharpee for the writing. She wanted to cut pictures out of a magazine for the kids faces instead of drawing them on the popsicle stick. Both ways work fine. We finished it off by adding wheels. The teachers loved them and she thought it was a cool craft too!

Perfect for back to school.

All About Me

Whether you home school or your children attend public school, I think this is one activity that can really boost your child's self-esteem. My oldest son, who is in 1st grade did a poster in kindergarten. We had so much fun picking pictures for him to put on it and letting him decorate his super star!! Tyson, just entered preschool and this was an activity they sent home the first day of school. We had so much fun making his poster and he loved it when they did his spotlight on him. He cried because he didn't get to bring it home with him!! He was sad to leave Spiderman at school, because he wants to be Spiderman when he grows up!!

J.D. still has his poster from kindergarten. It's of course one of those things that we'll keep, but for now it's hanging on the wall next to his bed so he can see it all the time.

Kids need to know that they are important! They need to know that they are important as children, siblings and as individuals. I just love the idea of highlighting their individuality. You can do this through making a poster, making an all about me book or through family spotlight times. One of the things that my kids love is their scrapbooks. I love to scrap and I have put in a lot of time to make them nice. The kids love to look back at them and have me tell them stories. They never tire of it.

There are lots of books out there that you can get and the kids can color in and fill out as a keepsake book. J.D. is currently working on one that he got for his birthday. But if you want to go a little cheaper here are some great links with really great ideas!

All About Me Book at DTLK kids

Super cute All About Me Book at kids printables. They have cute stuff!! They have printable family trees and lots of other options besides the book.

Orange Lunch

Today in preschool, it was Orange day. The boys wore orange shirts and everything was about the color Orange. So for lunch I thought it might be fun to extend the day and to an Orange lunch. We had oranges, cheetos, and chicken strips that seriously do look orange. Topped it off with Orange Kool-aid! The boys loved it. Thursday is Purple day. Any ideas???:)!!

Some Fun Kid Websites

I love the Internet. I love the way that it can be used as a teaching tool. I just wanted to share two of the fun websites that we have used.

The first one is Starfall. My friend, Lori recommened this sight to me. She is a school teacher and has her masters degree in literacy. She mentioned this to me when I was worried about J.D. not knowing his ABC's for Kindergarten, and I must say it's an amazing sight. J.D. plays on it all the time.

Another one we just stumbled across was I Know That. They have sections for the arts, languuage arts, math, science, social studies, thinking games, and a quiz central. Pretty fun sight. I am excited to do the science sections.

We use PBS Kids, a lot. J.D. loves to play on their site and I don't mind letting him. I love all the diffrent variety of games. We also occassionally play on Nick Jr., but we both prefer PBS.

What are some of your favorite kid friendly websites? Let us know!!!