h is for hot air balloon

This week in Kindergarten we made hot air balloons. I came across an idea of putting strips of paper together to create a circle look and then I put some of my own creativity to work and created this.

I gave each child six pre cut strips of craft foam and some shapes. They glued and decorated them.

I then poked holes in each end of the strips and connected them with a brad.

When the balloon shape was complete we attached the "basket" (a dixie cup with two holes punched on either side) and connected it with a pipe cleaner. I also attached a string to the top of the balloon so it was easier to hang.

Overall, a really great craft. The students are excited to take them home and put lego men, little people or whatever else they can fit in the basket :)

b is for birdfeeder

Today we made bird feeders. I was looking online for an idea that would be simple and fun. Lots of ideas had feeders made with peanut butter as the adhesive, but I have a nut-free classroom and therefore peanut butter was out of the question. So I searched some more and eventually thought of the idea of using shortening. Safe for the birds and sticky for the seeds. Next, I wanted to find a "holder" to be the feeder. Again, lots of ideas online and saw the use of an ice cream cone. The idea showed it point side up with yarn strung through and it looked kind of complicated and also not strong enough, in my opinion. So, like I do many of my crafts, I held it in my hand, turned it round and round and decided, I needed to create a way to hold it to the tree. I came up with the idea of an elastic and three pieces of yarn that the cone would slip in and hold nicely. I gave each of the students a paper plate, a cone and some shortening. They spread the shortening with a plastic knife and then they rolled it in the seeds. I then attached the elastic/yarn holder and voila, they had a bird feeder. I was very pleased with the results. Many of the students enjoyed the messy-ness of the craft, but I did have some comments of "I don't like this craft, my hands get too dirty". It is all in the experience I guess :) I find it important to create many different experiences for the students to express their creativity. This one stretched some of them out of theircomfort zones, but they sure loved the end result, and that's what counts!

(the elastic holder invention ;))

the messy part!

Pay it forward.....

Awards are always a great way to show people honour in a way that recognizes the greatness seen in them and then shared with others.

About a week ago I was approached in the hallway at the school by Marta LaFranco(http://martasponderings.wordpress.com/, an incredible blog filled with honest stories staright from her heart to yours!) and "presented" with an award for my blog. She read my blog and presented it with the Liebster Blog award!

One of the conditions of my receiving this award is that I present it to other bloggers of my choosing. A "Pay-it-forward" kind of award....my favourite! It didn't take me long to think of a few of my favourites and I have decided to start by giving the award to the following two wonderful people:

Nicole Brodrecht – an incredible mother of five beautiful girls . Her blog is an encouragement to all women out there who have a desire to discover a deeper sense of who they are in Christ! Her words to all women are deeply impactful and written from a genuine heart for others. Check it out at http://motheroffivelittleladies.blogspot.com/!

Karen Mitchell - is an amazing mom of three young and busy boys. Her blog is chalked full of recipes, DIY crafts and other great mommy things. Such a great resource for ALL mom's out there! She gives a fresh view of life with tons of ideas that are simple to incorporate in a busy household. Check it out at http://mommyscorner.weebly.com/index.html

I encourage you to show honour to someone today. Spread your love of life and those experiences that have shifted your thinking. Tell someone you care, even if it's simply with a smile.

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Romans 12:10

Happy reading :)

a memory shared in secret...

I love books. When I was a kid (not THAT long ago) I remember reading stories and I definitely had my favourites. I also remember being read to. My mom read me stories and I do remember those, but often it was my Dad's story reading that I remembered as he often did them with different voices for each characters. As I teach Kindergarten, some of these favourites come back to me as I read them to the class. It brings back the same familiar feelings of when I used to hear them back when I was young. Today, I was reading The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. As I am reading them I am remembering how my Dad would read Winnie the Pooh stories. Today's story was "In which a house was built for Eeyore at Pooh's corner". I found myself doing Eeyore's voice (as low as I could go) just like my Dad used to. It brought a smile to my face and almost made me laugh as this connected my memory, but most importantly my heart to the story. I remember thinking my dad did the BEST Eeyore voice and so today I decided I could to. Thankfully the Kindergarten kids thought I did great, some may not have even noticed as they were too interested in the story, but it sure was fun to bring in some of my great memories as a child and "secretly" share it with others. Maybe that is part of why I love teaching so much. It brings back great childhood memories and now I choose to pass those on.

If you ever see my Dad, ask him to do his Eeyore voice. I am sure he would love to share with you his talent for making me smile ;)