Pumpkin Shaped Jello

Now that the temps are starting to dip into the 80s it's starting to feel a little bit more like Fall here in Texas. (Could you hear all that sarcasm?) Anyway, it may not get that cool here but it doesn't stop me from fully embracing the Fall season.

I decided to kick things off with a fun cool treat for the kids. When I was in the hospital I became a big fan of jello. It was so cold and yummy. I thought it would be fun to make some orange jello for the kids and use pumpkin cookie cutters to make little pumpkins.

As you might have realized by now - I am not the type of Mom that tries to reinvent the wheel. I am going to share this super easy activity with you. All you need is orange gelatin mix and pumpkin cookie cutters.

Make the jello according to the package directions. You can make the jigglers version of these pumpkin by following the directions on the side of the box. You'll need to two boxes of jello for that. We didn't have jigglers because I didn't read the entire box until we were home. #momshrug

Note to Moms everywhere - Sometimes reading the box while in the store can be extremely helpful. 

The jello has to set in the fridge for what seems like forever. Next time I'll make the jello in the morning so that it will be ready by school pick up.

The pumpkin molds came out perfect! You have to press a bit to get them to pop up into the cutter. 

I plan to do this again in November. In December we'll use red and green jello with our Christmas cookie cutters. I love a cheap, easy and fun activity!

Will you be trying this? Don't forget to use the jigglers recipe. It would really take this activity to the next level.

Preschool at Home: Using What You Have

Savannah is finally starting to feel better. She had no fever today and she was playing as usual. I didn't have an activity planned for us today. I was expecting her to still be a little sick. She asked me if we could do "homework" and that's when I knew she must be feeling a lot better.

So. I pulled out her workbook and we did a few pages. She then requested to do numbers. This made me happy because we really need to focus on her numbers. My focus has been on her letters, writing and phonics and because of that we haven't really focused on counting/numbers as much.


After completing a few pages, I remembered an activity we had done with her class. The teacher had us doing simple addition using candy. Since Sav loves marshmallows I added those to some m&ms. We counted from zero to twenty a few times.



Then we sorted the treats and counted them.  This was a fun activity. It was quick and luckily I had somethings in the pantry. We had previously decorated Christmas cookies so I just pulled the candy and marshmallows from there.


You could do this activity with anything you have that your child likes. You could use chopped fruit or nuts. Another cool idea would be to use colored pasta. My point here is to use whatever you have on hand. Everything doesn't always have to be so thought out and perfect. As long as your child is learning and you both are enjoying it that's all that really matters.

What do you think? Isn't this so easy? I love getting ideas from Savannah's teacher during class and using them at home.

Preschool at Home: Paper Plate Snowman

Here we are with a new craft idea. Today I thought it would be fun to make a snowman. We never have paper plates in our house. Since we have a few leftover from Thanksgiving I decided to use them for a craft with Savannah.

For this snowman you will need three paper plates, tape and whatever you'd like to use to decorate your snowman. We used eyes, puff balls, pipe cleaners and construction paper (for the hat). This was super easy and fun.

To start cut out your two smaller circles. I used a cup to trace the smallest circle. Then use the tape to build your snowman. We used tape because it was less messy and there's no drying time.


Remember to keep your left over paper plate pieces. You'll need them if you decide to do a scarf or use them for arms like we did.


At first we were going to use pipe cleaners for the arms but I'm really glad we went with the paper plate pieces.


And here is our finished project. I used a sharpie to dot on his mouth and we added the pipe cleaner (that was originally for the arms) to his scarf for a little extra flair.

What do you think about Savannah's snowman? Will you be trying this? If you like the crafts you see here please feel free to pin and share them!

Preschool at Home: Christmas Crafts

It has been really hard staying on our learning schedule with family in town. We have always used workbooks but I have a new appreciation for them now. When I don't have time or the opportunity to do full blown lessons with her it's great to whip out one of these workbooks. We can do a couple pages in a few minutes. I like that because it keeps us from totally abandoning our learning efforts while we have so much going on at home.

We normally always do some type of learning lesson before we start our craft. Today we did the workbook before moving on to some fun Christmas crafts.

I found a pin on Pinterest that used popsicle sticks to make ornaments. I found these colorful sticks at the Dollar Tree and we used super glue to make them hold their shape. She decorated them with glitter after they dried.

I also thought it would be fun to make a Rudolph face. For this quick and easy craft we used a paper plate, eyes, puffy ball (for nose) and pipe cleaners. I also used a hole punch to make the holes for the "antlers" but you don't have to. The pipe cleaners should poke right thru the plate. Savannah curved the cleaner in a U shape before I poked it thru the plate. Rudolph's smile came out pretty nice. 

Once we were done I felt like our face didn't look like a reindeer. I grabbed a brown marker and filled his face in. It made him look so much better. I would recommend wrapping your plate with a paper bag or painting your entire plate brown if you decide to do this. Hindsight being 20/20 I guess I could have cut off the white edge. Maybe next time (LOL)...

What kind of crafts have you been doing with your little ones to get into the holiday spirit?

Ubisoft: Just Dance Kids 2014 Video Game Review

Who's started shopping for Christmas? Anyone do Black Friday? I am not a Black Friday kind of girl. I'm more of a Cyber Monday type girl. I like going to the mall and strolling. Listening to Christmas music while I check out all the deals. That's my kind of shopping. 

While shopping for your kids this season a great gift idea is Just Dance Kids 2014. It's a great gift for the entire family actually. When I found out I was selected for this campaign I was beyond excited. Savannah has really started getting into dance so this was perfect for us! When we got it in the mail I immediately threw it in the Wii to give it a go. 

There are so many things I love about this game. First, I love that there are parental controls. That's always a win. You can make your own playlist or play the game on a non-stop shuffle mode. Savannah and I loved the balloon-pop mode. Her favorite song on the game is Yo Gabba Gabba's Freeze.

This was a WORK OUT! After hopping, jumping, running and dancing Savannah was nice and tired, LOL!! We enjoyed all the colors. The songs have a level of difficulty on them that work as a guide. I liked that. We worked our way up to some of the more difficult songs, it was very funny!  

I would highly recommend Just Dance Kids 2014. Look for it on Amazon or at your local GameStop. There are over 30 songs to dance to. There is something for everyone. Older kids will enjoy dancing to One Direction. Younger ones will enjoy The Wiggles and parents will enjoy it all!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Preschool at Home: A Blooper (Kind Of)

This isn't a real Preschool at Home post. It's more of a blooper. I'm sharing what happens when a craft goes all the way left. I had good intentions for today's turkey craft. It was going to be a cute handprint turkey with pipe cleaner feathers and goggly eyes. 

But like I've said here many times crafts are not where I excel. So today's turkey turned into what I will call a Fall Face. 

I'm still not sure how all of that turned into this but I do know that Savannah had a great time making her Fall Face turkey, LOL!

When I noticed that the pipe cleaners weren't going to stay I switched it up and went for the adhesive foam leaves that we had. She was able to stick those on herself. When I noticed that this craft no longer looked like a turkey (Did it ever though?) I told Sav to just make a face with the eyes. 

I shared this blooper because I feel like it's unfair for me to only post the super cute stuff that turns out perfect. Not to mention anytime I can make fun of myself I go for it! Hopefully this inspires some of the not so crafty Moms like me. Sometimes you'll get the perfect turkey and sometimes you'll get whatever this is but you'll always get the memory of doing something fun.

What do y'all think of this Fall Face turkey? Will you be making it? (LOL!!!)

Preschool at Home: A Christmas List

Whether you have accepted it or not there are seven weekends left until Christmas. I was going through the Sunday paper for coupons when I noticed that there were several Christmas toy books in the paper. After counting how many weekends I had left to prepare I thought it would be a good idea to have Savannah write her Christmas list and letter to Santa. 

Anytime I work learning in to something we have to do anyway I feel like I'm winning.  Because there were so many sales papers and toys books in the paper I thought it would be a great time to help Savannah get comfortable with using her scissors. I started by having her cut coupons. (teaching her to save money and cut at the same time -- win) Her job was to cut along the dotted lines on her page. She thought it was very fun to cut coupons for the toys. 

I told her Mommy and Daddy would use some of the coupons and that we could send the other coupons to Santa to help him save money. (and yes, I realize Santa does not need coupons) I liked having her cut coupons because the dotted lines on them made for the perfect guide. My only tip would be to make sure they are not practicing on a page that has coupons that you might actually need.

Once she was done cutting her pictures and coupons we wrote a letter to Santa. I helped her a lot. We both hold the pencil and I make sure her letters are as close to the real thing as possible. She can do a few letters by herself but for the most part she still needs a lot of guidance. 

"I have been a good girl. We will bake cookies for you. Please bring toys to me and Mikey."

Then I had her glue her pictures to a blank piece of paper using a glue stick. I wrote in a couple of the requests she had and we were done. I am currently looking for Santa's address. I would like for her to get a letter back from him in the mail. I'm not sure if the USPS is doing that again this year. I was able to find this PDF but I don't know if that's for this year. I'm going to do more research and I'll post what I find out about this year's Letters From Santa program.

And I just wanted to share this. She has developed a love for the letter H. It's all she writes, paints and scribbles.

Have you and your kids made Christmas lists yet?

PreSchool at Home: Update

It's been a while since I've shared some of our PreSchool activities. In an effort to get into a really good routine I have been trying to simplify our schedule. Now that Sav is going to a Preschool class once a week I have been using what she's learning in class to guide what we do at home. We still do our own activities but I really try to reinforce the lessons she learns in school.

My main focus with her right now is reading and phonics. We've been spending the majority of our "learning" time on that. We had been doing letters and phonics for a while but I didn't really know how to take the next step to help her start learning to read. Her teacher suggested that I try Starfall. I had heard of Starfall before but never really looked into it. Sav loved the site.

This month we are working on the short "a" sound. At first, I couldn't tell if she was really reading or if she had memorized the book from reading it so much. When my husband came home from work I had her read it to him to see if she could do it and I was very surprised that she could read it to him with a little help from me. She was also very proud of herself.

Today we did our reading in the morning (after I realized a planned trip to the zoo wasn't happening) and some pumpkin painting in the afternoon.

 

So slowly but surely we are settling into a routine that I am happy with. Can't lie. Cutting out a lot of play dates and moving dance to the evening has given me more time to spend with her. I have also been able to get so much more done around the house. These past few weeks have been really great. Anyone using Starfall? How do you like it?

How Nature Celebrates...

It's almost Friday. Yay. Oh. Wait. I'm a Mom. I don't get days off from my job. I still look forward to the weekends though. With my husband home I can truly relax a little. Before the weekend gets started I like to enjoy some quiet time with kids.

One of our favorite things to do is roll out a blanket and create some sidewalk art with chalk. I'm pretty sure Savannah could do this all day. Too bad it gets too hot here to be out all day. In the mornings we enjoy outside time. I can sit and relax while she plays. It's refreshing and a nice way to wind down before the weekend. 

The little guy hangs out in a carrier as usual. I love all of the trees that are on base here. I might not enjoy all the squirrels that are a little too socialized for my taste but I do think the trees are lovely.

When we're done with the sidewalk chalk we take a walk over to the runway to watch the jets take off. Savannah loves doing this. I was able to get one on camera taking off. I wish we could get closer but the runway is a restricted area. This is literally one street over from my house...

Every Friday, Deer Park® Nature's Blends™ Fruit Flavored Beverages is sharing beautiful ways that nature celebrates with a reminder to treat yourself to a celebration, too. Head over to the Deer Park® Facebook page every Friday for inspiration to celebrate naturally and share your own story on their page.

*This is a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are my own.*

PreSchool at Home: Finger Paint Flashcards

We have officially started adding more hands on activities to our routine. We have always played learning games and read books but I wanted to start introducing Savannah to Pre-K skills. I want to make sure she can hold a pencil, use scissors properly and listen to instructions for activities.

Today I thought it would be fun for her to make some number "cards". I have been collecting paper bags from the grocery store so we used that to make our cards. I cut down the center of one side to make to strips of paper.

I then cut the bottom of the bag off to make a paint holder. Save the rest of your bag for another activity later.

I then cut the two strips into six squares or "cards".

As we went through the numbers I wrote the number out. I then showed her how to write the numerical version of the number. Then it was her turn to write the number. For the tougher numbers I made dots and had her connect them.

On the other side of the card I wrote the number out again and had her paint the appropriate number of dots on the card.

She used the left over paint to make a picture. She enjoyed herself. Today we made cards for numbers one through six. We'll work with these cards by placing them around the house. When she sees a card I'll have her do one of the following things: -Count up to that number. -Count as high as she can starting from that number. -Tell me what comes before and after the number.
From what I've read it is important to have children prepared to work with numbers one through twenty before they start kindergarten. What do you think of this activity? 

Pre-School at Home

In an attempt to try not to sound like I'm whining I want to talk about Pre-School and how my child isn't old enough. At first I was very upset that she wouldn't be able to start school. She's ready. After looking up all the schools in our area I learned that the birthday cut off is September 1. Since her birthday falls two weeks after that she wouldn't be eligible for any of the programs this year.

I even looked at putting her in some of the highly recommended private programs. They had programs with curriculums for three year olds, but your child has to be three by September 1. Bummer. I then considered putting her in one of the Mother's Morning Out programs. I figured it would be good for her and she would still be able to learn in a group setting. Once I learned that the MMO program didn't follow a curriculum I decided to take a step back. I was told that the MMO program offers learning through play and that the three year old school is the first time curriculum is offered for students. So, with all that information... I decided that it would be best to continue teaching Savannah at home.

She already participates in activities. We go on play dates and I plan to start taking her to a weekly playgroup once the older kids here go back to school. There is also a program here called Ready Set Learn that's pretty awesome. It's a pre-school type class that meets once a week. We'll be starting that too. My goal is to have her doing something learning related every day. Between the resources that I have available to me thru play groups and Ready Set Learn, her dance class and the activities we'll be doing at home I feel pretty confident in my decision to not put her in a MMO program. Why would I pay for her to go somewhere twice a week when I can get that same learning environment for free? 

I have already started collecting our supplies for our at home learning days. Of course I've been on Pinterest looking up different activities too. I also found a book on Amazon I plan to use as a guide along with a book that I've had since I was a child. I think this will be a good start for us. Here are some of the supplies we have so far. I've been getting paper bags for my groceries for arts and crafts. I love the Leap Frog Learning Skills books for handwriting and worksheet style activities. There are still some things I need to get but I think this is good for now. We already had crayons, paint, playdough, chalk and lots of other art supplies so I didn't have to get much of that. I do however need to stock up on more crafty items like beads, pipe cleaners, colored tissue paper and all those types of materials.

How did you go about getting your little one ready for Pre-K and Kindergarten?