You will love these Olympic-themed party ideas, from food to backyard games and lots of kid-friendly crafts! Who else is super excited about the Olympics starting? We cannot wait! Especially since it's now been 3 years since the last Olympic games. As a family, we decided that we're going to have an Olympic-themed party for the opening ceremonies, and my kids are already brainstorming ideas. There are so many fun ideas that we found, we just had to share with you guys. Which one of these ideas is sticking out to you? I want to make them all! This isn't

Today is St. Lucia's Day, a church holiday to celebrate martyrs that is marked by a procession of women, at the helm a woman wearing a crown of candles. Several different stories explain her martyrdom, but the Scandinavians symbolize Lucia...

The Condé Nast College is hosting a very different kind of masterclass this month, moving the focus from fashion to fizz

Also called a Tyrolean hat, the Alpine hat is the perfect accessory for an Oktoberfest Party! These hats come in a variety of styles and are used by German, Austrian and Swiss people. This cute paper version is so simple to make!

Note: I have tried for several days to upload the photos for this post correctly, but with no success. Here's hoping none of my readers end up with a cramp in the neck after reading this!!) Travel magazines usually contain breathtaking nature photography. I cut these out and laminated them to make sturdy, beautiful animal identification cards. I have over a 100 cards of different sizes, but here is a little sample: For the most part, my children just love 'free playing' with these. They stare at them and talk about them and make up little stories, and ArrowBoy especially likes imitating the sounds. But they can also be used in more structured ways. The possibilities for using these are ENDLESS... Here are a few very basic ideas: MATCHING: Match the plastic animal to the picture card. (A variation for my older child is to put the chosen animals in a cloth bag and she has to then 'feel' for the one on the particular picture card!) Match the picture to a magnetic animal from our Melissa and Doug set. BEGINNING SOUNDS Use alphabet flash cards to match the animal on your picture card to the beginning sounds. SORTING: Sort by continent on which the animals are found Are they wild / farm animals, or pets Mammals / birds / reptiles Place in alphabetical order (for older children) Or... play 'I Spy' to practice hearing beginning sounds.

I’ve always loved celebrating solstice, if only because there’s zero pressure to do it. There are no gifts to buy, no parties to throw, no cards to send. No one expects you to decorate your house or rent a special venue. And if you remember to celebrate, great, but if you forget, no one will ever kn

We had a fun Back to School kick off with a Tastes Around the World Party! Come check it out!

TONS of fun Canada themed activities to celebrate Canada! These hands on activities were done during a Canada unit with Grade One, Grade Two, and Grade Three. #Canada #gradeone #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade #gradethree #gradetwo #canadaunit #socialstudies #allaboutcanada

I've been thinking about this party since last spring. When my best friend Mac suggested we throw a party together with our other best friend Chelle, I knew this would be the perfect theme. Chelle is a graphic designer (who I'm trying to convince to open an etsy site) and Mac has great taste in decorating and is the most awesome baker ever - as one guest said when "our powers combine parties happen" - ha ha ha. The idea of the party is to bring a book to exchange with someone else. We had the guests fill out this book plate (which we sent with the invite) and place it inside the book that they were giving away. The book table decor. Behind the table are garlands strung with book pages and circles of scrapbook paper. We gave book bags with a book journal and book marks to each guest. We played a little literature quiz that Chelle created, really cute and surprising how much you forget! For the actual book exchange we had each guest write their name on a piece of paper and then everyone drew another person's name to see whose book you would get. We had all the guests wrap their books before coming and so we each took turns unwrapping them and seeing what book we received. That created a lot of conversation and some of the guests left with a list of new books they "needed" to read. Of course no party is complete with out delicious food: I created the food labels from this card catalog generator. We did a soup and grilled cheese sandwich buffet. The grilled cheeses were to die for - parmesan sourdough bread from great harvest yum! We cooked them on the George Foreman grill which made it super quick and easy! Mac made the deserts, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting - her own recipe! Chocolate cupcakes with gnash centers and cookie dough truffles - heaven. Water bottles wrapped in paper from a book. Great party - thanks ladies! Because we've had a lot of requests Michelle decided to give us a free download of the invite! Just open it in photoshop and add your text! Book Check Out-Template

The best Minute to Win It Games for the whole family. These are fun, easy, and competitive Minute To Win It Games are a fun addition to any party. Easy Minute to Win It Games for kids, teens, and adults to play at your next school, holiday, or church event. Minute to Win It Games …

May Day came and went so quickly for us and by the time I got the new ribbons for our Maypole it was pouring rain, even though we had a 5 meter high pole that Saxon had cut down for us. So we were unable to celebrate with the usual singing and dancing around the Maypole. So for Moran's birthday she wanted to have a Maypole and we made this one from scratch. Here is how we made it! Materials: * A pole of your choice, we cut down a tree from our block, but in the past we have used a very long piece of timber, a tall tomato stake (our first maypole was this as our children were all small then) or you could use a plastic pipe of some sort. * A hole to put the pole in and a strong lad to dig it, or a lass if you prefer. * Ribbon to length. Our pole length was 3 meters above ground with a half meter buried . So our ribbon was meters long, they could have been longer but this was more than adequate The colour and how many depends on personal choice. Our Maypole has 10 ribbons of various colours, but 10 because that is how many children we have at home at the moment. You can add or take off the ribbons at will. * metal U shape fence staples Here is an image link These are to tie the ribbon they can be taken off when not in use * hammer, shovel and perhaps a sledge hammer * flowers to decorate the top. We used silk ones as it is Autumn season here and not many flowers in our garden. * participants First off lay your pole across two 'ponies' as we call them, builders saw horses to steady the pole while you work on it. You may want to dig your hole now and check you have enough depth, for safety reasons, prior to completing your Maypole. The next thing to do is to hammer in your U shape staples around the top of the pole about 10-15 cm from the top. You can measure accurately if you like but I just 'eye-balled them in' Take your flowers and place them in and around the U shapes, with blossom part upward, holding them steady with one or two further down the pole if needed. You can see from this view that the flowers are amongst the U shapes and yet still see the U shapes for tying on the ribbon. Ribbon waiting to be tied on to the pole. The ribbon is simply tied on with a knot that can be taken off as desired. You could add more than one colour from each U shape but we did not All ready to be placed in the pre dug hole I just love the way it looks with the flowers and ribbons on top. Ready for our children to use All about to start. Ribbon wrapping around the pole Children running and leaping and praising God. We really have never learned any of the complicated dances but simple skipping and running while singing this song~ Fairy Branch Song: Here's a branch of snowy May! A branch the Fairies gave me! Who would like to dance today With the branch the fairies gave me? Dance away dance away Holding high the branch of May! Dance away dance away Holding high the branch of May! Here is a pattern to follow if you are more adventurous I hope you have enjoyed this small tutorial on making a Maypole. Really a simple and sweet tradition to share with your own children or others as well. For more ideas to celebrate Mayday and Maypoles look Here and a painting from last year by our talented Eden Eden's Mayday Girl (original work) Blessings to you and your homes,

was a hit… although the birthday boys didn’t even make it through the whole thing. Both zonked out in their cribs at Nana’s even before pre...

Ham and Cheese Rolls are soft and gooey, pizza-style rolls - the perfect party snack. These ham rolls are the best appetizer or after-school snack recipe. Made with puff pastry, mozzerella, pizza sauce, and ham, these bite-sized rolls are full of warm cheesy goodness!

This is my eighth (and final!) post about implementing reading workshop in the primary classroom. In my last post, click HERE to read, I explained how I use English Language Arts checklists (for the Common Core State Standards) as the main way that I assess my students during reading workshop. Today, I will specifically talk […]

Celebrate Burns Night or St Andrews Day with this really simple popsicle stick Scottish thistle craft for kids! So easy, no mess and lots of fun!

Hey everybody! I hope you are all well! I've been busy with various stuff - celebrating my girl's 7th birthday was the funniest of all, the...

Celebrate the Summer Olympic Games with a printable DIY torch craft.

Have you ever wondered how & why Waldorf families celebrate Michaelmas? Here are all kinds of resources for you to explore and create your own celebration.

This is my eighth (and final!) post about implementing reading workshop in the primary classroom. In my last post, click HERE to read, I explained how I use English Language Arts checklists (for the Common Core State Standards) as the main way that I assess my students during reading workshop. Today, I will specifically talk […]

449 years ago, The Bard of All Bards was born! To celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday, Brave Writer is offering the Boomerang based on Gary Blackwood’s book, Shakespeare’s Scribe: Half price for one day only: $4.95! OFFER HAS EXPIRED In Blackwood’s novel, we follow Widge, an actor in Shakespeare’s troupe. After the Globe Theatre is shut down […]

Scott Phillips remembers his family’s traditions of celebrating May and the coming of spring, and researches old newspapers to explore these traditions.

I love admiring this picture. For me, there's something so very peaceful about it. It represents nine months of blossoming for 24 young little thinkers. I took this on the day of our Poetry Cafe (inspired by Marie, my teammate, who found an amazing post about a teacher who knew how to put on a great Poetry Cafe - look here and you'll be impressed). Each of my poets got to sit in the limelight and read one of their published poems while the other poets sat on the floor quietly awaiting their turn and teaching the adults who came to join us how to be poetically cool and snap after each reading. (The black curtain is a Dollar Store tablecloth. I love how simple and perfect and cheap it is.) As our guests arrived, two of my kids stood at the door and welcomed them with their greetings, as well as a program. We had lots of guests too. Only five of my kids weren't represented by an adult. front back They were encouraged to wear jeans and black t-shirts. Berets were also mentioned as an option, and a handful took me up on that. They were pretty cute and very poetic looking. Each poet got to read their poem into our new sound system. You can see this little poet holding onto the microphone that fits around the neck. It definitely came in handy for some of our quiet readers and noisier guests. I also read a poem of mine. I read my Where I am From poem, which my kids also wrote during our unit. In fact, a few chose to read theirs at our Poetry Cafe. I recently posted about them. (Look here. You'll find a template.) Anyway, I didn't plan on crying, but the minute I sat down, I knew I was in trouble. I cried through the whole thing and could tell the tears were a bit contagious for the adults in the room too. Poetry and a blessed life and a year spent with little people who have grown so much can do that to a person. Every year my poets celebrate the end of our unit by publishing their poetry in a poetry anthology. This year was no different, except that I decided to pass them out at the end of our Poetry Cafe as a perfect way to end a perfect moment. The cookies were an added bonus. I'm very grateful that Marie suggested we give this Poetry Cafe idea a shot. I knew it was going to be worth it. I just didn't know how much. (The parents raved about it, by the way.) I've definitely found a new tradition.

Last July, mom and dad made their way to London for the Olympics and then spent a few days traveling Germany and France. Dream vacation, right? Outside of getting married and having four lovely chi…

For the last post in our series about holiday histories and traditions—take a peek at our previous posts on Hanukkah and Christmas—we bring you Kwanzaa. Fairly new to the lineup of December holiday…

Olympic activities and winter Olympic games are such fun indoor winter activities. Whether you're looking for a great Kids Olympics birthday party theme, Olympic games for kids for a play group, here are several amazing Olympic activities for kids! If you are looking for some DIY winter Olympic crafts and family fun ideas; you've officially hit the mother-load. I hope you enjoy these fun tutorials! The Tip Junkie Creative Community has over 20 olympic activities, food ideas, and DIY crafts. So be sure to check it out if you're looking for ideas. Olympics 1. DIY Olympic Rings Candy Jar ~ Aren't these

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit appeared as wind and fire (Tongues of Fire) This craft is meant to help remind children of those two symbols. This spinning pinwheel was a great party favor for our "Catholic Church Birthday Party". Plus, it's pinless so even little kids can have one! You will

45 Old-School Love Moments To Give You All the Feels

Celebrate one of the best children's novels of all time: Create this Frobscottle and Snozzcumber Recipe in honor of The BFG film.

We're sharing winter solstice family traditions & a tutorial for DIY winter solstice ornaments, to celebrate the change of seasons & welcome longer days.

This week has been all about adjectives as we try and get back to our “show me” rather than “tell me” writing! Today was our big adjective runway show…NYC style! The kiddos came dressed in complete runway style ready to work it on the catwalk! And let me tell you…they were FIERCE! I say this often, but this was one of my favorite writing activities! We turned up the music and off they went… We even had a visit from Steven Tyler! This kid is hilarious! As each child walked down the runway to show off their fashionable attire, we “rated” their outfit. However, our numbers did not represent our opinion of their duds, but rather how many adjectives we could think of to describe what they had on. Then we typed up a list of all of our descriptive words to keep in our writing folders. When our models walked back down the runway, the kiddos held up these flipbooks with the number of adjectives they could name to describe their attire. Let’s just say the runway didn’t look a thing like this when we were finished! We had way too much fun! If you are interested in this activity, you can find it in my Suzie Adjective Unit! Here is a link to our runway jams… Wooohooo….Friday is here! Have a great night!

A simple art technique creates a gorgeous bunting to hang in your family home or classroom.

Hi, all! Long time, no blog. This quarter has been a crazy one full of extra-curricular activities, illness, and big decisions. I’m back today though because I COULD NOT WAIT to share with you about our classroom poetry café! We’ve been planning this for weeks… My students worked extremely hard all ... Read More about Classroom Poetry Slam

Family-friendly tips that will see you through the big night without a bang

As a recent college grad only starting to understand what to do in the kitchen, I needed to find the simplest recipe possible.

Since you can’t exactly drive to Party City and pick up Summer Solstice decorations, I thought I’d do a quick tutorial on a very easy paper sun. Click on the image to see the full direc…

This post suggests five simple ways to celebrate Roald Dahl with minimal prep, aiming to encourage and nurture lifelong readers in your classroom.