Paint Swatch Calendar

One day I was browsing through Pinterest, when a picture of a paint swatch calendar caught my attention. Although I never actually ended up looking at the blog to see how it was done, I winged it and came out with this guy instead!

What You’ll Need:

-          Paper cutter (scissors work fine but the cutter speeds up the process)

-          X-acto knife (if you don’t have the paper cutter)

-          Ruler, pencil, scrap paper (for calculating measurements)

-          Paint swatches of your favorite colors

You’ll be cutting the swatches into 35- 2” x 2” squares, plus 7- 1” x 2” rectangles, so make sure you get enough!

-          Rubber cement or glue stick

-          A 16’ x 20” frame

-          1 piece of poster board (I stuck with a neutral – very light beige – it’ll be your calendar’s background)

-          Acrylic paint for the frame

Instructions:

-          First I ended up painting my frame. I chose a dark espresso brown that would blend with the swatch colors. This is the frame before it was painted.

-          Paint swatches - I ended up getting my colors at a local Wal-Mart (the Glidden paint brand). These swatches were on the large size, and when I got them I knew I could get two squares out of each one. I kept my color scheme rather neutral, and settled with three shades of three different colors – beige, pink, and blue.

   -  I cut off each of the color names first, which let me know exactly how much of the remaining swatch I was dealing with. It was over 4 inches, so I proceeded to measure out the first 2 inches, slice it, and then another 2 inches, and slice it. Then I picked up those pieces, turned them, and cut them.

-          Lay out your colors in whatever pattern you choose. I stuck with a repeated fading look, and spaced each swatch ¼” .

-          After this was finished I realized I still had some extra swatches, and decided to make seven 2” x 1” rectangles where I could write the days of the week. This is completely optional, but it was real quick and makes for a nice addition to the calendar.

-          To make the background of the calendar, use the frame’s glass to trace. Cut it out.

-          Before we can go ahead and glue on the swatches, we have to do some math to make sure the calendar will be centered:

o   Your frame is 20” wide

o   There will be seven columns of 2” x 2” swatches, altogether 14”.

o   There will be six gaps that are each ¼”. .25 * 6 = 1.5”

o   So lengthwise, you will be using (14 + 1.5) = 15.5” of space.

o   20” – 15.5” = 4.5”

o   4.5” / 2 = 2.25”, the amount of space that will be on either end of the frame. Lightly mark two lines, both 2.25” from the sides of the paper

-          The last bit will tell us how much space for the top and bottom of the frame:

o   Your frame is 16” high

o   There will be five columns of 2” x 2” swatches, altogether 10”

o   There will be four gaps that are each ¼”. .25 * 4 = 1”

o   If you choose to add the swatch for the days of the week, I gave a ½” gap between that and the 2” x 2” swatch. Add that to the 1” height, and you get an additional 1.5”.

o   Height-wise, the calendar will take up 10 + 1 + 1.5 = 12.5” of space.

o   16 – 12.5 = 3.5” of leftover space.

-          You want more space at the top of the calendar to write the month. With your pencil, lightly mark a line that’s 2.5” from the top, and another that is 1” from the bottom.

-          Now you’ll be able to see you have a faint (centered!) border for your calendar. Using rubber cement or glue stick, begin to lay each swatch just how you had it on your draft. Make sure the gaps are ¼“ on the sides of the swatches, and you’ll start seeing your calendar take form.

-          After you’ve glued everything down on the poster board and the pieces are dry, dust it off (I’m static-y lately so I was cleaning it for a while!!) I Windex-ed the glass probably three times before I mounted it, and voila! The only thing that’s left is to expo that calendar up and put it to use!



Before Writing



Paint Swatch Calendar



Now it's an official calendar!



 

By Danielle Lamoureaux

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Snowflake Float

Purpose:  To demonstrate why snowflakes float gently to the ground.

Materials:  2 pieces of notebook paper

Directions:

1.       Crush the first piece of paper into a paper ball.

2.       Hold the paper ball in one hand and the flat piece of paper in the other.

3.       Drop both pieces of paper at the same time.

4.       Record which paper falls faster.

Outcome:  The paper ball will fall faster and hit the ground first.  The flat piece floats slowly down.

The science behind it:  There are two forces at work here: gravity and the upward force of air.  The gravity is the same for both piece of paper but the upward force of air is different.  The flat pap falls slowly because it has a great exposed surface area and therefore receives more upward force from the air.  This is the same science that causes raindrops and snowflakes to fall differently.  They are both made of water but they have very different shapes.  The raindrop is like the paper ball, they take up a small amount of space and falls faster than the snowflake which behaves like the flat piece of paper.

Gingerbread Cookies

What's better than baking when you're stuck inside in the winter? It's so much fun to put all the ingredients together then you get to smell the mouthwatering smells, finally you're rewarded for your hard work with a delicious treat!

Ingredients

• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup shortening
• melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed. Divide dough into 3 pieces, pat down to 1 1/2 inch thickness, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies are done, they will look dry, but still be soft to the touch. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. When cool, the cookies can be frosted with the icing of your choice.

Ways to Stay Active During the Holiday Season

It’s that time again! The time of year we all struggle with. There’s tons of great food that leaves us exhausted and not wanting to move. We know in our heads we shouldn’t have that extra helping of mashed potatoes or that extra piece of pie but we give into temptation. Then as if we were stuffed turkeys ourselves we go and do the worst thing when you’ve overeaten: we lie there with our pants unbuttoned in a state of exhaustion. According to the New England Journal of Medicine the average person gains one pound over the holidays and never loses it. I know, I know, what’s one pound? Well it’s a lot over the course of years. One pound eventually becomes twenty if we’re not careful.

Now I’m not against all those delicious foods and I’m just as guilty as anyone of indulging on Thanksgiving BUT I do try to keep myself and my family as healthy as possible and I want my family to develop healthy habits as well. So indulge in your favorite foods but try one or two of these activities so you can keep some of the holiday weight off this year:

1.      Help out-I noticed many of the women in my family are very fit while a lot of the men tend to pack on weight. I decided to observe to see why this was. One huge difference I noticed was that after a meal the women begin busily cleaning up after dinner while the men go sit on the couch and watch television. Preparing a Thanksgiving meal is a lot of work so make sure everyone in the family has on chore before the meal and one chore after. This will keep them busy and away from the appetizer table before the meal and the dessert table after the meal. Plus staying them their feet will help them burn some extra calories. You’re helping you family stay fit as well as teaching your kids the importance of helping out. Not only will this benefit everyone by keeping them moving but whoever is hosting Thanksgiving will be grateful as well.

2.      Take a walk-You can take a walk right outside your house or plan a beautiful trail nearby to walk on. Plan a scavenger hunt or play a few games to keep kids occupied during the walk. Another fun idea is to have an imagination walk.

Walking game idea: Everyone tries to find five things that begin with the same letter as their first name. If you have several people with the same first letter you can use middle names.

3.      Dance-This is a fun and easy way to burn a few calories. Just put on some music and let everyone get moving. Make sure you have a wide variety of music for everyone and I would recommend having it on CD’s so you’re not looking through the radio to find something.

4.      Plan a family game-Split the family up into a few teams and have a tournament or just kick the ball around. Either way playing a game of soccer, kickball, or softball is a fun way to get the family working together and keep them off the couch. TIP: Have everything set up before the meal because you probably won’t feel like dragging soccer goals out after eating a big dinner. If it’s already set up it’ll be much easier to motivate yourself and everyone else out to the game.

5.      Try some of these activities geared toward kids.

6.      Schedule some fitness into your own schedule. It’s best to schedule this with someone else so that you won’t skip it when you’re feeling full and tired after celebrating the day before. My gym has a turkey buster class the morning after Thanksgiving that I attend every year. You can do something like that or plan a session with a personal trainer or make a date to play tennis or go for a run. Thanksgiving should be just one day and this will help you get back on track if you’ve over eaten. The best way to teach your family to be fit is to model the behavior yourself.

Paper Plate Spider

As all my crafts are, this is easy to make and a child should be able to do it by themselves.  My son loves to make a whole spider family and hang them all over.  It actually ends up looking pretty cool if you hang them and at different lengths.

Supplies:

Paper plates

Black paint

Black construction paper

White paper

Black marker

Blue marker

Step 1: Paint the paper plates black on both sides

Step 2: Let dry

Step 3: Cut black construction paper into eight even strips and fold like an accordion

Step 4: Cut out two ovals for the spider’s eyes

Step 5: Use the black marker to draw the spider’s pupil on the white circle.

Step 6: Use the blue marker to give the spider blue eyes

Step 7: Glue the eyes onto the top of the black paper plate

Step 8: Glue 4 legs on the bottom each side of the black paper plate

Imagination Walk

One of my favorite activities is going on an imagination walk.  You and your kids can go where ever you want although I try to go places where I can really get them moving.  Some examples of imagination walk activities are flying through the clouds, big jumps over a stream, swimming in the ocean, climbing a mountain, or quickly ducking when a dragon flies over head.  We’ve pretended to go for a ride in a magic bubble and had a magician turn us into frogs and we had to hop from lily pad to lily pad until we reached the other side of the pond then were turned back into humans.  We take turns deciding where to go and what we see on our walks.  The best thing about it is you can do it for as little or as long as you want, there’s no set up or clean up, and it’s always different and always new.

Although you are having fun with your child you are also teaching important skills.  Make sure you challenge both their imaginations and their bodies.  This article decscribes how imagination plays an important role in a child’s cognitive growth.  One great quote was "fantasy play is correlated with other positive attributes. In preschool children, for example, those who have imaginary friends are more creative, have greater social understanding and are better at taking the perspective of others."  They are also developing gross motor skills through all the physical activity in your adventures.  This is just one example of the importance of play in a child’s education.

Where  will your imagination take you and your child?

Flower Craft

I like easy crafts for two reasons.  First, if the craft is easy I know I'll actually do it with my child instead of putting it off until I have time or have all of the supplies together.  Second, if it's easy the child actually does it themselves instead of the parent doing all of the work.  That way the child gets the benefit of the activity instead of the parent.  This craft strengthens fine motor skills through cutting and tracing.

Supplies:

Orange construction paper

Yellow construction paper

Green construction paper

Picture of your child’s face

Step 1: Trace a circle around the picture of your child’s face and cut it out. 

Step 2: Cut a slightly larger circle out of the orange construction paper.

Step 3: Cut flower leaves out of the yellow construction paper

Step 4: Cut a stem and leaf out of the green construction paper.

Step 5: Glue the picture on the orange circle.

Step 6: Glue the yellow leave around the back of the orange circle

Step 7: Glue the stem and leaves to the flower head.

How To Get Your Kids Inspired To Play Sports

In this day and age there are many kids who would rather sit inside and watch television rather than play outside or do physical activities.  Many parents I know force their kids to play at least one sport just to make sure the child is active.  I don’t completely disagree with telling a child they must pick one activity but I also think that a child should be encouraged and inspired to play.  My son loves playing and these are a few things I’ve done to inspire him to love sports:

1.       Practice together-Kids love spending time with their parents plus if you take time out of your schedule to practice then it shows your child this activity is worthwhile.  I recommend starting with a very minimal amount of time at first based on your child’s age, ability, and interest.  Even setting a timer for 5 or 10 minutes at first will show them they don’t have to spend endless time practicing.  Make it as fun as possible.  I usually have my son practice a skill for a few minutes then play a game that reinforces that skill.  It helps for them to see you laughing and having a great time.  Make sure you keep your patience no matter how annoying your child is being.  It’s so important to teach them that this is fun!

2.       Add a little friendly competition-Schedule a low key game once a week with a few friends.  My son’s friends meet up to play different sports a few times a week.  This enables your child to associate the game with friends and it’s more relaxing to play without a formal practice or game.  You don’t have to make it into a huge play date.  The other parents and I just send a quick text to each other that says something like, “At the basketball courts until about 4 if you guys want to stop over.”  Usually at least one friend will stop over.

3.       Watch professional games-If you can afford it go to a major league game or just watch some on television.  I make special snacks and watch the games with my son.  It’s not just about the game it’s about hanging out, eating awesome food, and developing a love and understanding of baseball.  Our little league sells tickets to go to local minor league games and we all go together.  These games are much cheaper than major’s games.  Even going to high school games can be so much fun.  We meet up with a couple of other families and have a blast supporting our high school soccer, basketball, and baseball teams.  Plus your kids know that someday they’ll be playing for these teams too.

4.       Make it a family thing-Schedule a family competition once a week.  We have “Soccer Sundays” throughout the whole summer.  We barbeque, set up a couple of soccer goals, make up teams, and challenge each other to a pretty competitive game of soccer.  Usually the adults only play once but the kids can usually go at it for hours.  The added bonus is they are EXHAUSTED and ready for bed much earlier than usual.  I always feel like a good mom when I see kids outside, being active, and having fun with their family.  It’s such a great combination.

5.       Consider lessons-I know lessons can be very expensive.  My son likes pretty much every sport but I try to really focus on improving just one per year.  This year he took batting lessons with a professional coach.  The difference in his hitting was unbelievable and he has so much more confidence.  He wasn’t that into baseball because he had a rough year last year and struck out pretty much every single time.  Now he loves playing because he is doing so well.  As with anything in life,  it is so much more fun to do the things you’re good at.  It’s much more fun as a parent to watch your kid hit the ball than strike out too!

What do you do to get your kids excited to play sports?  Let me know if any of these ideas work for your family!

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Encouraging Positive Behavior

 One of the things that I try to teach my son is how our actions affect other people.  When we’re nice to someone it can make their whole day and then they’re nicer to others too.  The same happens when we’re mean to someone.  I tell him just a big, bright smile can put someone in a good mood.   This can often work as a ripple effect and affect the people that person meets and all they people they meet until your happiness is spread through many, many people.

One book that talks about happiness is “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud.  This award winning book tells kids that everyone has an invisible bucket that is meant to be filled with happiness.  When that bucket is filled the person feels wonderful.  When the bucket is empty the person feels sad.  The book then goes on to show what a person can do to fill not only their own bucket but also the buckets of those around them. 

This book can be used for very young children but I also just read it to my eleven year old son who was inspired.  We decided we were going to keep our own buckets.  I bought some small tin buckets and some vase gems and put them on our counter.  Every time we do something nice for someone else or if someone does something nice for us we put a gem in our bucket.  If we do something mean or rude we have to take a gem out.  This way we can see how our actions affect others as well as ourselves.

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Using Blocks to Develop Vocabulary

          When I was a preschool teacher one of my favorite areas to teach was in my block area.  Blocks are such a great tool to develop math and science skills as well as imagination and literacy.  Today I’m going to talk about how to help your child develop a rich vocabulary using blocks.  Imagination play is a great tool for conversing with your child.  Try moving all the furniture to one side and build a city with them.  Speak their language but incorporate some bigger words into the play, “Wow that building is so big!  It looks like a skyscraper!”  Some other words to use: architect, architecture, automobile, ambulance, elevator, crosswalk, or intersection.   

 I usually print the words off with pictures to put up around the city or on the walls, that way your child will learn some word recognition too.  If they remain involved you can have them write out the words to label different parts of the city.  In my classroom I had many kids, particularly boys, who hated to write unless it was for the block area. 

Note: Let your child dictate where the conversation goes.  I know there have been times when I thought we were going to be talking about a city and it turned out aliens came and took us to outer space.  Our playtime ended up being a great talk about spaceships, stars, and the different planets but never would have happened if I had been rigid in my instruction. 

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Insect Thumbprints

Insect Thumb Prints

This is a cute, easy craft that kids can do on their own after a little instruction. 

First, make a background (this is optional).  Sometimes I paint some flowers or use construction paper to make a meadow scene.  You can also leave the paper blank and use the bug prints for wrapping paper.

Second, using stamping ink, put the child’s finger prints all over the paper.

Third, using colored pens, turn the prints into bugs. 

For older kids you can take this opportunity to teach them about the different body parts of insects.  For example, the ant’s body consists of the head, thorax, and abdomen as well as antenna and six legs.  Once you’re done with instructions, let them use their imagination to create their own bugs. 

I've also turned this into wrapping paper for a cute homemade look for a gift.

 Photography courtesy of DML designs

What are the names of some of the bugs your children created?

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Green Eggs and Ham Activities

To commemorate Dr.Seuss’s birthday many families and schools like to focus on Seuss activities in the month of March.  I am a big fan of Dr. Seuss because I think he taught extraordinary lessons to children all while entertaining them with his whimsical rhymes.   Here are some activities to go along with his “Green Eggs and Ham” book:

1.       Make scrambled eggs with green food coloring

This is very simple but kids love it.  Just make scrambled eggs as you always would but add a few drops a green food coloring to it.  Some kids will love it and gobble it up.  For those that don’t I’ve also put the eggs in a sensory table and just let them play with them. 

2.       Make a list of food the child likes and one the child doesn’t like

This is a great opportunity to have your child try new foods.  Talk about some foods the child doesn’t like but hasn’t tried.  Since the main character in the story is brave enough to try something new it may encourage your child to do the same.  This is a great activity for a picky eater.

3.       Have a food tasting, trying all new exotic foods

I like to pick easy foods my child hasn’t tried before like exotic fruits or different kinds of cheeses.  Encourage them to use all of their senses, noting the colors of the food, what it smells like, and the texture of it.  I’ve even made charts so we can decide which one we’d like to eat again.
Food Tasting Chart

4.       Pick out the rhyming words and make rhyming cards

Each card should have the word written on it as well as a picture, you can decide how much of the work the child should do based on age.  Once the cards are completed you can play the memory game.   Just turn all of the cards over and take turns flipping them over two at a time.  If the words rhyme you get a pair if not turn them back over and let the other person go.

5.       Continue the rhyme

After you’re done reading the book help the child think of more rhymes, for example, “would you like it at a game, would you like it in a frame?”  This is a good opportunity to get silly while learning.

6.       Green Eggs and Ham Word Search

I added a word search for you to print below.
Word Search

7.       Play an online game

This is a link to a cute Green Eggs and Ham game:

Green Eggs and Ham Game

8.   Watch the movie

Here’s a link to a good youtube.com video:
Green Eggs and Ham Movie

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Ways to Laugh with your Child

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. 

~Victor Borge

      One thing I am so guilty of as a parent is being an overachiever.  I spend a lot of time accomplishing things and helping my child accomplish things.  I spend plenty of time with my son but much of it is studying, helping with homework, practicing piano, cooking healthy foods, cleaning and doing chores, practicing for whatever sport he’s involved in that season or driving him around.  In this day and age how much time do we give to our children just doing nothing or being silly?  I have a few activities that I’ve been doing with my family that is accomplishing absolutely nothing but having fun and bringing on some laughter.  Actually I’m lying, some of them do help kids learn skills, which I’ve listed here,  but I PROMISE that’s not why I’m doing them!!!  To tell you the truth I think pretty much any activity you do with your child is teaching them SOMETHING, whether you’re trying to or not.

1.    Buy a joke book and read the jokes to them or if they’re old enough, take turns reading the jokes to each other. (Helps, obviously, with reading aloud and reading comprehension)

2.    Have a silly photo shoot-make silly faces and poses. (Teaches kids you are weird and not even slightly cool-don’t worry, they were going to figure that out anyway)

3.    Tongue twisters (Helps with language development)

·         Double bubble gum, bubbles double.

·      Which watch did which witch wear and which witch wore which watch?

·         An Ape hates grape cakes.

·         Rubber baby-buggy bumpers.

·         Black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?

4.    Mad Libs (Teaches parts of speech and reading aloud)

Mad libs are a word substitution game invented in the fifties. The game is played by creating a word list that is inserted into a story. After the new words are inserted into the story it usually creates a wacky and hilarious story that brings laughter to all listening.

You can buy books and do them by hand but here are a few online ones too:

http://www.itsamadlibsworld.com/

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

What do you do to get silly with your kids?

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Heart Cake

This is a quick and easy recipe to make with your kids.  It's always a hit at Valentine's Day parties too.

Step 1: Bake a square cake and a round cake

Step 2: Cut round cake in half

Step 3: Add each half to the square using frosting to attach to make a heart shape

Step 4: Frost with pink frosting

Step 5: Enjoy!

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Four Active Indoor Activities

 "I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny."

~Dr. Seuss

One of the most trying times as a parent is when you’re stuck home with your kids all day,  the weather is too bad to go outside for any length of time and they have no outlet for their boisterous energy.  Usually a parent’s stress level directly correlates to a child’s energy level (this is a mathematical fact, I didn't just make that up).  Instead of constantly hushing them, or worse, losing your temper like we all do from time to time, try some of these activities.  The following activities allow children to use large muscles and be loud but in a regulated manner (think controlled chaos).   They involve minimal props, little clean up, and you can invest as little or as much time as you want to them.  If I really don’t feel like doing them I’ll set the timer for a time that will allow me to stay sane as well as assuage my guilt for not wanting to spend every waking second entertaining my child.  After doing one or two of these with your child they will have satisfied some of their need for exercise and will maybe sit and color for longer than a five second clip.  If you're really lucky they'll find something to do to entertain themselves.

       1.       Skater’s Waltz

      Use two paper plates as skates and skate around the house listening to the skater’s        
              waltz.   

      You  can just look the song up on youtube.com or even just Google it.  Here are a few links
             to

      make it a little easier:

Skaters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV4BxDcWus8

Ballerinas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ04B1tiXx4&feature=related

Just the music with a Christmas picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXpK42v18oo&feature=related

        2.       Animal Noises

This one is great because it teaches your child a little self control.  First say to them in a loud, excited voice, “What noise does a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig dog make?”  Then bark with them in a loud voice.  Then whisper to them, “What sound does the liiiiiiiiiittle dog (puppy) make?”  Now bark in a very quiet voice.  Go through as many animals as you can think of.  This has kept my wild son as well as my entire classroom busy for as long as I’m willing to play.

       3.       Balloons

This one is so easy.  Just blow up a balloon and play keep it in the air.  Many times if you play for a couple of minutes then your child will continue to play on their own.  You may have a break for a few minutes (well one at least).  If you want to take it farther take out a box or basket and try to shoot it in.  Depending on your child’s age you can either toss it it or throw it up and hit the balloon in.

       4.       Puddle Jumping

Don’t worry, this doesn’t really involve muddy water.  What you do is pretend you’re out walking in the rain.  At first you whisper “Tip toe, tip toe, tip toe” and you pretend to tip toe through the puddles.  Then you jump as high as you can a yell, "SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!" while pretending to jump in puddles.  Go back and forth between the two so your kids don't get completely out of control.  You can make this game more challenging by using a paper plate or a book as a rain hat and try to balance it on your head as you play.

Let me know how these work for you and your family!