The first step into making the hollow book is to select a book. Make sure this is a book your own, and not one belonging to the library, or your family. I suggest rummaging through books at yard/garage sales. Make sure it is a hardback; otherwise you will cut all the way through the other side when you are cutting out the insides. You'll also need: Elmer's white glue a container to hold glue solution (I've chosen a film canister) X-acto knife, and/or box cutter. Both if you have them brush to apply glue solution pencil/pen ruler, or other rigid straight edge Select a page that you want to be the first one cut out, and save that page to be cut out at the end. (I'll explain later) Even if you don't want to save any pages at the beginning of the book, you must set one aside for a later step. Mix a solution of white glue and water. Just enough for the glue to be runny, and absorbed by the edge of the book's pages. 50% to 70% glue (30% to 50% water) worked well for me. - Half a film canister full was enough for this book. Holding the remaining pages together, brush the edges with the glue solution - enough to soak in pretty well, but not too drippy. Allow this to dry, but use a spacer so the first couple pages, and the front cover don't get stuck. I spaced mine with post-it notes, and used some old hard disk platters to apply pressure. It dries quickly- about 15 to 30 min When dry, open the book to the first glued page. Draw out a half-inch boarder around the edge on all four sides. (Don't forget along the spine too.) Using a strait edge and knife, cut out along the inside of the line. Try to make the cut as vertical as possible, or else try to tilt so the hole will narrow as you go down. Continue cutting down through the layers. I found that a box cutter was easier to keep straight. This part takes a long time. I recommend listening to music while you work. Watching TV though could be distracting, and you could also cut a page out of your finger. (no, I didn't.) The longer you spend on it, the smoother and straighter the inside edges of your book will be. My first attempts at this yielded rough edges, but the fuzz flattens down a little when glued (later). After a while, you can store some of your tools in it while you take breaks. I did this book in 2 evenings. When you get to the back of the book, and through the last page, stop. Dump out all the little paper fuzz that inevitably comes from the cutting. Next, brush the glue solution on the inside edges of the pages. Give it a bit to soak in. A little bit of drippiness is okay, as the glue dries clear. This is also a good time to apply a second coat to the outside of the pages with the excess glue. Brush the rim of the book with a light coat of glue. This will affix it to that one page we saved earlier (and will cut through later). Close the book again, this time without any spacers. Give it another 15-30 minutes to dry. Clean up any glue that drips on your desk, like it did mine. Remember that first page we saved? It’s now glued to the rest of the book. Lets all turn there now. Cut through this first page with your knife to open it. The insides of the book may still be a little gooey since there was no air inside to let it dry. -So let it dry now. When it’s dry, you're done! Fill it with whatever treasured items (or contraband) you choose. Happy hiding. Reproduced with permission from the author: Aud1073cH
There's nothing quite as amazing as cooking with kids. Frustrating, yes. But amazing, too. I've always (mostly) enjoyed showing my kids how to cook decent food and take ownership of their own nutrition. But that's not always easy when they're first learning to read recipes. Especially for young kids still learning to read. Long recipes
by Jarrett Lerner I’ve been wanting to make an activity book for years now. Something that could help kids – and kids-at-heart! – explore and develop their creativity, and turn to as a source for r…
I share these stories because I suspect you have also had moments you’re not proud of, stories you’ve never told anyone; I want you to know you’re not alone.
This year I am going to do something a little different and share my personal book lists over here. Previously I had been sharing them over on my other
SMASH: "for the moments and musings that stick" At the end of "Making Crosses", my project for Lent, I stated that I wanted to find another project that would allow me to focus on God and use creativity on a regular basis. I found it!! Every Sunday I take notes on our pastor's sermons in a small notebook for that purpose. I don't like the notebook because the spacing of the lines is weird and sometimes I use all the lines and pages (2 per sermon) and sometimes I don't. All that blank space bugs me. The notebook itself is very bland and not very exciting. Most people probably don't care if their notebook is exciting but as a lover of pens, paper, school supplies and The Container Store I want my notebook to be pretty! Recently I went to Michael's Craft store to purchase some supplies for the third grade Sunday School class and I saw some wonderful notebooks called SMASH books. The idea for these is that you use them for projects. They have a pen with a marker on one end and a glue stick on the other attached to the notebook. That way the glue is always handy and you can easily glue things into your notebook as you find them. Examples of things people use these for: wedding planning, decorating or remodeling, a place to collect ideas for projects, a place to save favorite quotes and sayings and as a planner. Art journaling is very popular right now and this is a modified version of that. What I think is really cool about things like this is that I love to take something designed for a "normal" or secular purpose and use it for something spiritual. I bought a SMASH book! I am using it to paste in my sermon notes. I am then taking time during the week following the sermon to go back over the notes, look up the scriptures mentioned in the sermon and then create something decorative around the sermon notes and the scriptures. The SMASH purpose is to record "the moments and musing that stick". I want God's Word to "stick" to me! I did the first sermon this week. Our pastor presents interesting and challenging sermons, ones that make you want to change something about yourself or to do something differently. Each sermon is based on scripture and is full of meaning. This week was the Mother's Day sermon. Mother's Day was so hectic for us this year. I had spent several days preparing to teach the third graders and teaching them just fills your head with kids. If you've ever taught children then you know what I mean. They are so funny and they talk so much. After I leave them I need time to let it all settle. This doesn't leave much room in my brain for reflection on the sermon. Since it was Mother's Day we rushed to Chipotle after church to eat lunch and then catch an afternoon movie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - my Mother's Day present). Dean has work going on all the time and Parker has had AP tests so both wanted to get home and have time to do things in the evening. Anyway, life is always like this so I rarely take the time to go back over the sermon, even the ones that seem like they were written just for me. This week I worked on the SMASH sermon pages several evenings which meant I thought about the Scriptures and the Sermons several times and let them sink in. I was very excited with how the pages came out. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can come up with for the next sermons. Below are pictures of the notebook and accessories. Yes! the notebook has it's own accessories! Sadly notebooks don't wear shoes, however there is an elastic band to go around it that holds extra pens, there are little flags and stickers, some striped paperclips with little flags on them, Smash pads which are for recording certain kinds of information like quotes or family events, and there are pockets. I did not purchase all the mentioned accessories. I need something to look forward to! SMASH notebook and glue/pen. I glued one of the pockets on the inside cover. I keep grid paper in the pocket to take sermon notes on. I also keep some of the pages from the small smash pad that I use to record the sermon's scriptures. Some of the pages in the notebook are already "decorated" in some way. This is the first page of the yellow Smash notebook. This is the two page spread of the sermon and the scriptures. I pasted the sermon notes onto the left hand page and then later wrote the scriptures from the sermon on the smash pad pages and glued them on the right hand side. I stamped some butterflies onto watercolor paper and then painted them and cut them out. I then glued them onto the notebook page. Then I began tangling around the butterflies. In the Sermon our pastor, Gerald Griffin talked about what Moms do. They protect. He mentioned three ways Moms protect. 1. Moms protect by living the Word of God. 2. Moms protect by Living Their Faith 3. Moms protect by Modeling Service. The scriptures used in the sermon were: Psalm 103: 8-12, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, and 2 Timothy 3:16 The quote card is from the "blank" smash pad. The tangle that looks like a zig zag is called Pea nuckle and it is new. . Some pages in the SMASH book are simple and some are pretty busy. Blank SMASH pad. Quotes SMASH pad. More pockets and pages. This is the elastic band pen holder that goes around the notebook! When I made the crosses for Lent sometimes I found myself more focused on the process of making the cross than on the MESSAGE of the cross (but not always). I think it will be the same with the SMASHing Sermons project. When I was stamping, painting and cutting out the butterflies, I was thinking about the butterflies. But when I was writing the scriptures on the SMASH pads, I was thinking about the scriptures and I was going back over the sermon notes. When you are blessed with really good teaching it is a shame to hear it on Sunday, talk over the particularly meaningful parts with your husband and family and then just sort of let it go. I don't want to let ANY of God's Word go. I have mentioned my ladies Bible study and how much I get from studying God's word in depth. Those lessons stay with me. Maybe this will be a way for the truth of God's Word from Sunday's Sermons to also stay with me, SMASHed upon my heart. Happy Smashing!
I’ve been wanting to make some DIY Truffula Trees for a while now. The animated movie The Lorax is one of my children’s favorites and this weekend I finally
WOW your kids with this aqua sand activity! Learn how to make hydrophobic sand - a fascinating play material with an easy magic sand recipe!
Seems simple, RIGHT? Read a chapter, write a summary… Our students see this a lot, whether it be on our reading assessments, in our own classroom work, or on our state assessments. Bottom line, we want our kids to be proficient (and feel confident) in taking out the important elements from a piece of text,...
by Jarrett Lerner I’ve been wanting to make an activity book for years now. Something that could help kids – and kids-at-heart! – explore and develop their creativity, and turn to as a source for r…
It’s National Storytelling week soon, and I’ve been looking at ways to engage the children interactively in the art of storytelling. We did story sticks last year, which was a big hit, but I want to try something else this year. Here are some exciting ideas to look at and try for National Story Telling …
As many of you know, my externship this semester is with adults. Since my week one update, I’ve grown to really enjoy my patients. So so so many of my patients have dementia. I’ve been hearing a lot about making memory & orientation books, but had difficulty finding templates, ideas, and examples online. So of […]
These 6 ADHD Resources are really helping my kids right now. When I find something that works, I want to shout it from the rooftops! 2 of these resources really help with homework battles and 1 is great solution to sit without wiggling. We love our weighted blanket to get to sleep fast - and stay asleep! Plus the best book for ADHD Parenting!
🍎🐛 This PDF pattern will help you crochet your own Very Hungry Caterpillar scarf. It includes an explanation on how to crochet the Very Hungry Caterpillar scarf (US terminology), including detailed written instructions, tutorials and guides, and a pixel graph. You'll be able to download the pattern immediately after purchasing. I've tried to make this pattern as beginner friendly as possible. Thanks to the detailed written instructions, this scarf pattern is perfect for anyone who's been wanting to learn how to do (tapestry) crochet. It's easy to follow, using just single crochet and tapestry crochet. *Please note that there are two sizes available for this scarf: an adult version and a toddler/kids version (sizes: ages 2-5, 6-10 and 11-15), which features a letterbox insert to ensure a snug fit. Materials needed:Adult version:🍎 Yarn: 10 ply / aran / worsted in six colours🍐 A 4.5 mm crochet hookToddler/kids version: 🍎 Yarn: 2 fine / sport / baby in six colours🍐 A 3.5 mm crochet hookBoth:🫐 Scissors🍊 A tapestry needle to weave in the ends Love fun, kitsch and nostalgic designs? Check out my other patterns here. ⊹ Feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions about this pattern, or check out my Instagram, TikTok (@devout_hand) or webshop (devouthand.com) ⊹
If you've been following me on facebook you know I've been working on this project for past couple of weeks. It's taken HOURS upon HOURS but I'm finally ready to share this printable with you!
I’ve always struggled with showing kids that they don’t need to SCREAM at the person sitting right next to them, or that they can talk to the people at their center, but they have to use a whisper voice. My kids have always seemed to have an all or nothing view of talking in our ... Read More about Controlling Those Voices!
Hi friends! I wanted to share a fun little activity we did this week to go along with one of everyone's favorite Back to School read alouds! I've mentioned before how much I LOVE directed drawings.
Curious about using Sassafras Science Adventures in your homeschool? Here's what you need to know about this story-based elementary science curriculum.
If you have used books you can't give away, don't worry; these upcycling projects make artistic and useful items from your old books.
I've mentioned AJ's PECS before. PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. Taken from this website, here is the easiest way to explain PECS: PECS begins by teaching an individual to give a picture of a desired item to a “communicative partner", who immediately honors the exchange as a request. At the beginning of the 2010 school year (his 2nd year in preschool) his school SLP and I decided it was time for PECS. She made him a small PECS book from a small binder (think day planner size). After asking if she had another binder the same size, I made one for him to use at home. Since I am in the middle of making him his 2nd (BIGGER) PECS book, I figured I should get these photos on here ASAP! I was thrilled to finally find the pictures on our old laptop to share with all of you! Supplies Needed: Small Binder Velcro "Rough" & "Soft" Pendaflex Poly Clear "EasyView" File Folders Cardstock or Construction Paper Computer/Word Document Laminator/Paper Cutter/Hole Punch First, eyeball how long your velcro strips will be and cut to size. Choose either the rough OR soft but make sure to cut the same "texture" for mounting on the top of the binder and each page. I chose the "rough". I used the label sheet for the folders to decide on the right size pages. Cut your folders in half first. Then cut to desired size. Make sure they fit, then hole punch. Er, it is a bit tricky to line it up. I made marks with a pen. (Make sure your binder surface is clean!) Mount your velcro on the front. And on each page. I created a table in MS Word, making sure each row/column was 2x2 inches. I inserted pictures of AJ's things and also used general images from online. I cut red pieces of cardstock 2.25x2.25 inches to back the photos. Red is the color AJ is drawn to. I ran the pictures through my laminator *NOT PICTURED* I then cut them, cut squares of "soft" velcro and placed a square on the back of each picture. Here, I've put them into categories. When we first started, they were all mixed together. And finally, here are some photos of my little man COMMUNICATING!
Picking books kids can't put down can be time consuming. Print this list of FUN TO READ printable 4th grade reading list!
I've got one more summarizing idea to share with you! Did you see my other posts about writing summaries HERE and HERE?
I am used to having a few snow days in February--especially after last year's 17 days off. This year...none in February. With March approaching our chances are getting a little less and less. Last week we worked on adjectives and Valentine's Day and America. HMMM--wonder if the minds of first graders even absorbed any meaningful connections. Using pop rock candy kept us busy during our grammar portion of the morning. We had a special lunch and a party for the 14th. We took a side step from the pop rock candy to do a little writing on just why our carpet looked like an explosion after the Valentine party. (it was educational after all--I was linking to writing with similes. As in opposition to smiles when I looked at the room/carpet/chairs/desks. How could we totally not keep one little crumb on our plates? And if you notice--we do have carpet!) Back to America. My student teacher is teaching most of the day now. He is doing a great job of keeping the excitement of past presidents alive. Definitely alive from these kiddos! This week on to problem and solution in our reading strategy/skill block. I love Frog and Toad stories. We had one in our old basal and one in our new one so I will use those plus as many of the books as I can grab to let the kids model their understanding of problem/solution. I may make a l.o.n.g scroll of one of the stories and have the kids color code the introduction of the characters, setting, problem, and solution. I do want to have the kids work with a partner and one write/illustrate the problem and their partner write/illustrate the solution. My mind is working toward this idea... I've been inspired by some great anchor charts on Pinterest--you need to check out Jennifer Jones. She has pic after pic of great charts. This is one I plan on using with the various Frog and Toad stories. Pinterest inspired foldable--just perfect! Well, enough rambling, musing, wandering... Happy President's Day if you are off tomorrow.
Are you trying out a reading workshop model this year with your Kinders or first graders? If so, you might be wondering, how on earth do I set up a reading workshop when my kids can’t even read?! That’s definitely what I was wondering when I first started implementing reading workshop a couple of years ago. I was teaching Kindergarten, and I think I only had one student who knew a few letter names. They didn’t know letter sounds, and I definitely didn’t have any beginning readers. If this is what your situation is like, you can still implement a reading workshop in your classroom! Even if your little ones can’t name a single alphabet letter, there are things you can teach them to begin setting up the reading workshop. Here are some ideas for minilesson topics that you can use when you first start reading workshop with your nonreaders:– Procedures and Routines: Begin with the basics, such as: how students should access their reading materials, where they should sit, how to treat books, how to hold the book correctly and turn the pages, how to read silently and keep their eyes on the book, etc. It will definitely take multiple days (maybe even weeks) to teach all these routines and procedures. Just teach one simple procedure per minilesson. Also, to squeeze more procedures into one day of reading workshop, you can teach a minilesson, have kids read for 5 minutes, teach another minilesson, and have them read for another 5 minutes. This gives you more time to teach important routines, while still taking into account your students’ teeny tiny attention spans!– How to Tell a Story from the Pictures: Teach students that even if they can’t read the words, they can still tell a story to themselves from the pictures! Simply telling kids that they can do this isn’t enough, though – you have to actually model it. What I did was check out a few picture books from the library in languages that I can’t read – Russian, Chinese, Polish, etc. I would show students the book and begin by saying something like, “I found this beautiful book in the library, and I really want to read it. But I have a problem. The book is written in CHINESE! I don’t know how to read Chinese!! But guess what? Even though I can’t read the words, I can still tell the story by reading the pictures. Let me show you what I mean.” Then I would begin paging through the book, telling the story aloud as students listened. I would wrap up by saying something like, “Today I showed you that even if you can’t read the words of a book, you can still use the pictures to tell yourself the story! You can try this out today during reading time.” And then I would dismiss the kids to begin reading. Some of my Kinders were able to do it after I modeled once, but I modeled this skill several more times with different books so that all of the kids eventually “got it.” One note about this – make sure that when you establish guidelines for independent reading, you don’t require students to be completely silent. When kids begin to tell a story by using the pictures, teach them to whisper the story quietly to themselves – most kids won’t be able to silently tell the story in their heads. – How to Retell a Story You Already Know: Spend lots of time in those first few weeks of school reading aloud fairy tales and repetitive books to students. Some books I love using for this are: The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Three Little Pigs, Brown Bear, and I Went Walking. Then, get as many copies as you can of each of those books. Place them in students’ reading bags (side note: at the beginning of the year, rather than having students check books out, I prepared book baggies for them and had them switch bags amongst themselves each day so they would have new books to read). Then, teach a couple of minilessons about how to tell a story that you already know. You might start by saying something like, “Readers, today I want to teach you that when you are reading a book that you’ve already heard before, you can retell the story using the pictures and what you remember about the story.” Then, take out a story that children are familiar with and model retelling it (without using any of the words). Have students practice this during independent reading time.– How to Read Songs: I loved singing with my Kindergarteners, and I taught them quite a few songs at the beginning of the year (simple, shorter songs are best). I then gave them copies of the lyrics that they could “read” during independent reading time. To make this work, I started by typing up the lyrics to each song. On each page, I put an image that went with the lyrics (for instance, with a song about a frog, I put clipart of a frog on that page, so they would immediately know what song it was). Then, while we sang the song as a class, I projected a copy of the lyrics on my interactive white board. I modeled how to point to the words as we sang. After practicing a song many, many times, I made copies of the lyrics for the kids. I modeled how to sing the song using the lyric sheet, and then gave them the sheets to keep in their bags for independent reading time. It was soooo cute to see them whisper-singing the songs to themselves and attempting to point to the words! They just loved this option for independent reading time. If you teach in Spanish, click HERE for a free copy of the lyrics that I used with my bilingual Kinders. – Partner Reading: Since little ones can’t sustain independent reading for very long at the beginning of the year, mix things up with some
I recently had the idea to replace the photographs which hung above my couch with several images from one of my favorite picture books, Caps for Sale. Five dollars for the book, a few cuts with an X-ACTO, and I have six beautiful images that add new life to the room.Since I already had the frames, this was a very cheap and easy way to do a quick change to the room.
Are you at home with your kids? Do you need to work? Do you want your kids engaged in meaningful and fun activities, rather than sitting in front of screens? Yes! Yes! Yes! That’s me 100% right now. Today I’m going to share with you some fun activity ideas for kids, which are currently working well in my own life as a busy mum. I have three kids – ages 7, 8 and 10 – and I work from home as an online English teacher and writer. My kids go to state school in the country we live in, but they’re home for months in the holiday periods, and so I’ve compiled a list of activities that work well for both them and me when they’re home. None of these activities requires a lot of preparation, and the other great thing is that some of them are outside the home! Curious? Let’s get into it! Activity Ideas – Home 1.Lego Challenge If you have more than one child, get your kids to do a lego building challenge with a timer! You could do a 30-minute challenge, or even a 45 minute/1 hour challenge if you have older kids. This works great when you have to focus on your work solidly for a set amount of time and you don’t want to just stick your kids in front of a screen. 2. Freestyle Crafts Instead of stressing about your kids making a specific complicated craft, give your kids some paper or card, scissors, glue stick, colouring pencils, and then let them make whatever they like. Much less hassle, much more creative! This could be done at the table next to you, if your kids are little, or in another room altogether, if you have older kids. 3. Books, books, books Instead of spending hundreds of dollars in books, get a library card for your kids and let them explore the world of books. Contrary to the toy rotating idea (below), have all the library books out at once, scattered in different parts of the house. That way, your children will pick up books as they go about their day and read them spontaneously. If your kids really enjoy reading, they’ll devour all of them, and before you know it, you’ll have to make another trip to the library! 4. Rotate toys A great way to get your kids playing with their toys while you’re working is to only have a selection of toys out at a time. To do this, choose some toys that you know your kids haven’t played with a for a while but that are still age appropriate, and hide the rest away. Then, after a week or two, rotate the toys. When kids only have some toys to play with, they get less distracted and engage more with the toys in front of them. Also, when toys are put away for a while, they feel new when they’re taken out again. Win win! 5. Quiet games When you need to do shallow work (admin, emails) that requires some concentration but can also be interrupted if necessary, set up your kids with a quiet game or educational activity book at the desk/table next to you. In fact, if you like planning, schedule your children’s activities around your need for deep or shallow work. I generally do my focused work (writing and lessons) when my kids are either sleeping, reading, or playing in another part of the house, and my shallow work (admin) when my kids are close by playing. 6. Forts gallore Get your kids busy by suggesting they make a fort while you work. Suggest certain items to put inside their fort after they’ve finished the building state: blankets, cushions, fairy lights, boxes filled with toys, games, you name it. You could even tell them to play camping and set out food and cooking utensils. Join them later on your work break! 7. Map fun Keep your kids busy while you work by setting them up with paper atlases and give them countries/cities to look up. Then give them a related challenge according to what they enjoy doing: drawing the outline of the country or continent, searching the encyclopaedia or National Geographic books for further information on the country, making lists of cities/states and memorising them, etc. 8. Garden play Ever thought of working in your garden? Find a comfortable spot and set your work station there. While you work, let your kids create their own play, or set them up with garden toys, soap bubbles, a paddling pool, or whatever you have handy. Don’t have a garden? Take your work outside the house! Activity Ideas – Outside the Home 9. Library Take your kids to your local library and let them roam in the kids’ section, while you work at a table nearby. You can also give them some paper and colouring pencils and get them to do drawings of the stories they’re reading. Finally, check to see if your library does storytime and get your kids to participate. The only danger of going to the children’s section of the library (if you’re anything like me) is getting distracted from your work and start reading books, instead. 10. Café Take your kids to a kid-friendly cafe with a play area and enjoy a cup of coffee while you work and your kids play. If it’s good weather, make the most of outdoor cafes with outdoor play areas. If you don’t know of any, check online or ask friends. 11.Park /playground Take your kids to parks/playgrounds that are fenced in or far away from the road. Then, choose a bench or table near their play area and set up your work. While you might not be able to do deep work, being outside will do wonders for your mental and physical health. 12. Indoor playground A rainy day? Take your kids to an indoor soft play area and get ahead with work tasks while they play. Again, this type of “work trip” doesn’t usually lend itself to deep focused work. On the other hand, though, getting outside the house might just get your creative juices flowing, and you might find you actually gain new work inspiration! Did this post bless you? Pin it!
This guide is a spin on a DIY paper bag floor. Learn how to reuse old book pages to create unique flooring, with this step-by-step Hometalk tutorial.
