Footprint Bookmark

This is what I make each year for my studetns to give their moms for Mother's Day. I was given one when my now 12 year old was in three year old preshcool and I still have it! You paint each child's foot any number of colors you want (we have 3 choices out and let them pick one or a combo of 2 or three.) Then we make the footprint onto cardstock. After they are dry we cut them out, add the poem on the back, (Please use my foot to mark your book!) and laminate.

Saw this on the American Girl Facebook page and since Pinterest can not yet pin from Facebook, I decided to put it here. Great idea for teacher gift, Sunday school teacher gift, etc.

  

Rainbow in a Jar
1. Cut a colorful piece of paper to fit on the lid of a clean jar. Attach the paper to the lid with double-sided tape.
2. Wash your hands, and open a bag of brightly colored candies. Sort candies by color, and layer them in the jar to make a rainbow. Replace lid tightly.
3. Write a sweet message on a piece of colored paper. Punch a hole in the paper, and attach the tag with a ribbon. Present your rainbow with a smile!

Butterfly Sandwiches

In my effort to try to find a fun snack that my 4 year old studenst can make that centered around butterflys, I came up with this. You will need: flour tortillas, cinnamon butter spread (I use the Land O Lakes brand), pretzel sticks, butterfly shaped cookie cutter, and knife or spreader.

First, cut 2 shapes out of the tortilla with the cookie cutter, I find it helps if you have the child push down and twist. If you place them strategically, you can get 2 shapes out of one small tortilla.

Spread the cinnamon butter on one of the shapes.

Add the pretzel sticks.

Top with the other shape and done!

I am thinking there are many variations on this. Could do with turkey and/or cheese in the middle, jam, strawberry cream cheese, etc. Send me your ideas on variations!

Changes...

I started this blog a while ago and have realized I want to expand its, well, boundaries. I find I have lots of things I want to explore and share.

Photography has always been a love of mine and I find myself more recently seeing "pictures" everywhere. I walk nearly every morning very early (around 6:45 as my middle-schooler heads to the bus stop) and I get a chance to see the sunrise. It is especially beautiful in the winter when the trees are bare and you can see the clouds behind them. Did I mention I love trees? And the sky fascinates me. Here are some of my amateur shots.


The shot above caught me by surprise! I was turning the corner and happened to look behind me and this is what I saw!

I love the colors in this one.


The dark clouds behind the trees.

So, the moral of the story is, look up and don't be afraid to look behind!

Animal Butts

Each year, the first week of school is usually spent talking about friendship. We play games, sing songs and talk about how to treat your friends. We help the children learn each others names and work toward making the classroom environment welcoming to everyone. One year, one student said to another, "Do you know animals smell butts when they want to be friends?"

If only it were that easy...

Keep Your Clothes On

Each year on the first day of class, I have the students help me make the classroom rules. I let them give me rule suggestions, and I write them down on the wipe board. I then create a poster with all the rules on it that we display in the classroom. Each year brings the normal suggestions, such as no running, no hitting, no spitting (I always kept my eye on the child who suggested that one!), etc. But one year I got the best one yet. One of my students politely raised her hand and I said,

"Yes, Susie, what do you think one of our rules should be?"

"Well, you know when the boys take off their shirts and lay on top of the girls and kiss them? That's disgusting."

Long pause.

"So then we should keep our clothes on at school..."

Thankfully another student raised their hand and added, "And our shoes too!"

"Oh, yes, our shoes too!"

I proceeded to write these rules down and kept on going. Needless to say, I couldn't even look at my assistant for fear of spiraling into a fit of giggles. I can't wait to hear the rules that this year's student's suggest. I wonder if anyone will beat Susie's?