“My Time Capsule” and Noon Year’s Eve Party

As this year comes to an end have your kiddos create a time capsule with some of their year’s favorite memories! If you are like me, you have a hard time remembering anything unless it gets written down so  have some fun writing down those memories with your kiddos to look at in future years! You can also include pictures or small mementos!

My friend Kelly created a “My Time Capsule” a couple years ago for a Noon Year’s Eve party so, I recreated a Time Capsule sheet for you to print. I thought that was such a great idea to have the party and countdown at noon since I know my kids aren’t staying up until midnight (actually I rarely make it until midnight). 

Whether you do the Time Capsule with just your kids or have some friends over for a Noon Year’s Eve Party, have fun and enjoy the celebration!

Fence Picket Pumpkin (Single Stem Idea)

As I was putting up our fall decorations I realized we needed a focal piece for our mantel! I decided I wanted to make some sort of sign. Fence pickets were on my brain but it originally was just going to be a sign with some sort of fall saying. I am very happy with the pumpkin that it evolved in to! This project is seriously very easy and will take about an hour. You get to use one of my favorite tools - a jig saw - a must have for every DIYer! Another great thing about the Fence Picket Pumpkin is it is extremely inexpensive, especially if you can find some old fence posts to re-purpose!

Enjoy this single stem idea of
Fence Picket Pumpkin

Cereal Box Journal (Single Stem Idea)

This summer a group of 5 other moms and myself and our kiddos are going to visit several farms in our area. I wanted my kiddos to remember the farms we visited and what they learned so we made some farm journals. These journals up-cycle cereal boxes (our CSA up-cycle item of the season) and can be used for any type of journal (summer vacation, bug, alphabet, drawing, science, etc.). They are quick to make and sturdy enough to get some good use!

Enjoy this single stem idea of Cereal Box Journal for
all ages…

The Stuff:
Cereal box, plain paper (we used 5 pieces), hole punch, pipe cleaner, markers/crayons to decorate

The FUN!
1. Cut one of the sides off a cereal box and fold in half with the blank side out.

2. Fold plain paper in half and fit inside the cereal box to see if you need to trim. Trim if you need to.

3. Punch about 6 holes in the folded side of the cereal box.

4. Put the folded plain paper in the folded cereal box and punch the paper through the holes that were made in the cereal box.

5. Lace a pipe cleaner up and down through the holes. At the end, go back through a hole and wind it around itself to hide the end and hold in place.

6. Fold the binding a couple times so that it can open easily. That’s it, the journal is ready for writing and drawing!

7. Write or draw in the journal!
The first farm we went to was a rhubarb farm. There were horses that the boys were able to feed which is what Hornet wrote about here. On the next page he wrote about the rhubarb and he added a picture that I took of all the kiddos at the farm.

 *The boys decorated their cereal box covers before I punched the holes but of course it could be done after as well.

More ideas…

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the Cereal Box Journal!
Happy Crafting
~Sara

P.S. I changed the format of this blog post to go away from the chart form. I love charts but they are a pain to put in blogger so I decided to try something new. Do you like the new format or should I go back to charts??

Stars and Stripes ~ Fourth of July (Bouquet Event)

This was a fun kiddo event that we did last summer but the next day we were evacuated due to a fire in our area so I was not able to post it until a couple weeks after the 4th of July. I wanted to re-post it this year so that you can plan a fun Stars and Stripes event! There is another horrific fire in our town right now so please keep those evacuated and the amazing firefighters and police in your thoughts and prayers.

Here are a few ideas for a
Stars and Stripes (Fourth of July) Event for
Sprouts and Seedlings (toddler/preschool and elementary age)...

We started out learning the song “This Land is Your Land” with hand motions. Check out this link of a kindergarten class singing it - wish I would have recorded our kiddos singing it.

We then put some vinegar, food coloring (red in one, blue in another) and penne noodles in a tub to dye for our Noodle Necklaces. The kids had fun shaking the tubs to get the color on the noodles. We set them out to dry and then got to work on our…

 Red White Blue Tissue Lantern

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Glass jars (we have been saving pasta, pickle, etc jars) Red, White, Blue tissue paper Modge podge (or glue mixed with water) Foam/paint brushes Tea lights (we used battery powered ones)	Cut tissue paper into squares Put modge podge on plate/bowl	1. Use brush to paint modge podge on a section of the jar. 2. Stick tissue squares on top of the modge podge. 3. Repeat to cover the jar. 4. Add a layer of modge podge on top of the tissue squares. 5. Light or turn on the tea light and place inside the jar. Beautiful!

 Yogurt and Berries US Flag SNACK

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Vanilla or plain yogurt Blueberries Strawberries Blue and Red Ice cubes (made from juice) *We also had red, white and blue goldfish	Freeze blue and red ice cubes Cut fruit Put dollop of yoghurt and berries on plates Put red and blue ice cubes in water cups	1. Kids spread their yoghurt out flat into a rectangle. 2. Then they use their berries to create a flag! 3. Then of course they gobble it down!

We did the next three crafts in centers with and a helper at each one.

The kids rotated to each center and then we had a
parade around our street!

Noodle Necklaces
Noodle necklaces are a classic craft for kids and we have made them at several holidays (ie. Green for St. Patrick’s Day). I am always looking for kids to be involved more in the whole process so I had them dye the noodles ~ they loved it and it cut down on the prep!

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Penne pasta Vinegar Food coloring (we used red and blue) Tub (with a lid) Yarn/string Plastic kids needle (or check out Happy Hooligans for her easy straw needle)	Thread needles on the yarn Tie one noodle to the end of the yarn	1. Add a little bit of vinegar (maybe a tablespoon) and several drops of food coloring to a tub. 2. Add the noodles and lid. *Save some noodles plain for the white ones. Pass the tub around and have the kids shake until the color is on the noodles. 3. Set out to dry – if it is hot this won’t take long! 4. Kids thread the noodles on the yarn. Tie off when finished and wear with pride!

 Fabric/Ribbon Flags
I was looking for an easy way for them to make flags and the rubber band around the top worked well. Some of the smaller kids just needed help holding the rubber band out and they slid the fabric/ribbon through!

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Small dowels Rubber bands Fabric/Ribbon cut into 12-24ish” long strips	Cut fabric/ribbon Wrap a rubber band around the top of a dowel	1. Kids pull up part of the rubber band and slide a piece of fabric/ribbon through. 2. Pull on the fabric/ribbon so it goes half way through. 3. Repeat until flag looks full! *optional ~ We also added small bells to the ends of pipe cleaners and put these through the rubber bands

Pipe Cleaner Hats

The Stuff	The Prep	The FUN!
Red fabric or craft foam (3” by 24”) Red, blue, silver pipe cleaners Duct tape 2 paper clips/kid *optional ~sticker	Cut red fabric in strips	1. Kids twist the pipe cleaners around their fingers to make a spiral. 2. Turn the red fabric so that the wrong side is showing. Lay the pipe cleaners down on the fabric so the ends go about half way down. 3. Put a piece of duct tape across the pipe cleaners to attach to the fabric. 4. Flip to the front side and add stickers if you wish. 5. Size to the kiddos head and attach with two paper clips on the back. Wear hat for the parade!

More ideas…

Check out Child Care Lounge for songs!

We sang Wave and an adapted version of Red, White, and Blue!

Have a Parade while singing songs!

 Firework Straw Painting

Please BRAINSTORM your ideas/suggestions in the COMMENTS below for the
Stars and Stripes (Fourth of July) Event!
Happy Crafting
~Sara