First-then schedules are some of the simplest types of schedules that we use with students with autism and other disabilities. Simply put, it just presents what we need to do now (first) and what we will do next (then). It can be done with pictures, objects, in writing, or using apps. We typically...

Your story is always stronger when your character wants something. This is what propels them to make the decisions they make. If you're struggling to find a good motivation for your character, I've compiled 50 ideas you can use... If you want to learn how to use the character's backstory to formulate a motivation, we c

Have you ever heard of reverse psychology? It's a fascinating trick our minds play.

From Morning Meeting to Dismissal our school days are packed with important learning and some days it all seems like a race. Taking the time to slow down and reflect on the day is often placed on t…

wondering if you can juice frozen fruits or vegetables? Look no further. I've got everything you need to know right here.

Help break kids of unthankful habits by bringing in a box filled with items that allow for opportunities to feel gratitude.

Are ya'll familiar with the Japanese holiday called Children's Day? I think sometimes my students are convinced that everyday is Children's Day which is why nearly every night is Grape-Flavored Grown-Up Drink Day for this art teacher. But I digress. The real Children's Day is celebrated in Japan on the 5th day of May which, in case you didn't know, is the 5th month. It's a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness. Which, seriously, that part should be everyday in an art room, don't you think? On this day, all children fly a carp kite called a koinobori on a flag pole, along with the koinobori of those in their family. The father's koinobori is usually at the top, followed by the mother with the children's kites, from oldest to youngest, flown below. I had big visions of flying the kids' koinobori outside of our school for the occasion and for our upcoming art show (which is in 10 days, people! Not that I'm freaking out at all). However, we had some pretty Big, Bad and Ugly weather at the start of last week that lead me to believe that keeping these lovelies inside would be a better bet. The last time I hung something in these windows, it was a pretty big hit so I thought I'd do it again with our koinobori. Along with a sign, of course. Otherwise everyone just thought they were super cool fish kites. Which they are but there's also a super cool story behind them as well. So just how did my friends in First Grade Land create these awesome koinobori? Dude, it was so super easy and, like, the World's Fastest Art Project (which for me is a total rarity). Here's a list of the supplies we used: Roylco's Japanese Carp Wind Sock Kit For about $8, you can get your kitten mittens on a set of 24 die-cut fish with tag board strips that get glued into the mouths (if you look at the orange fish above, you'll see the tag board propping open the mouth.) Sharpies. This is optional. I had the kids use these to add details that they wanted to remain permanent. Watercolor Paint. Boy, talk about an End-of-the-School-Year-We-Are-Almost-Outta-Supplies Limited Palette, ya'll. But, we're artists, kids! We can make do! Or something like that. A Spray Bottle Full of Water. Yarn. Hole Punch. How the lesson went down: My kids have been learning about Asia, with an emphasis on Japan, all year. In fact, we'd just finished off this sushi lesson not long ago and had just completed making a ceramic koi fish. I needed a short and quick tie-in lesson while our clay projects dried and fired. These koinobori were just the perfect thing. After chatting about Children's Day, the kids were given a tray of warm and cold colored Sharpie markers. We chatted about the parts of a fish (fins, gills, scales, tail, etc.) and how we might emphasize those with either warm or cool colored Sharpies. That took up our first 30 minute session. For the next 30 minute session, we reviewed correct use of water color paint (which obviously doesn't include cleaning the tray, ew!). I also told the kids that they were again to use warm or cool colors but that they didn't have to stick with the same color family as they used last art class. Once the kids had collected their supplies (a paint brush and two ziplock bags -- the two things I forgot to mention in that above supply list, doh!), they were to raise their hand and I came over and squirted their fish with water. Because the paper is made from the same stuff as coffee filters, a wee spritz of water really helps the water color paint to spread out. The kids thought that was pretty rad. Once the kids had painted their entire fish, they were given the option of splatter painting. I don't think a single kid opted out of that one. To dry, the kids gingerly carried their zip locked fish to the floor. The reason I kept the bags on the bottom was that I found that the color will often run off the paper and on to the surface that it is sitting on. However, if the paper is allowed to "sit in it's own juices" so to speak, it dries much more vibrant. Now, normally, I woulda had the kids add the tag board and attempt to tie the string. But I was in a bit of a time crunch. So I set aside about 15 minutes every afternoon to hot glue the tag board at the top, hot glue it into a tube, hole punch the top and add the yarn. By the end of the week, I had all of my classes finished. To hang, I bent a paper clip so that it looked like some sort of scary prison shank and stuck it into the foamy ceiling tie. I added the top fish to that paper clip. Then I hole punched the bottom of that fish and added a bent paper clip to that hole where I attached the second fish. If I'm not making any sense it's because I'm deep into that aforementioned Grape-Flavored Grown-Up Drink Day and I simply cannot be held accountable for my incoherentness. I managed to get 'em all up and ready for Monday, May 5th on Friday. I can't wait for the kids (and the grown kids) to see them and celebrate all things children -- especially during our standardized testing week! Until next time, enjoy Children's Day! Or Grape-Flavored Grown-Up Drink Day. Your choice.

Hi! I recently finished rewriting my K-6 art curriculum plan. We are required to do this every 4 years. You can see my first blog post about organizing curriculum that I wrote a few years back. I use the curriculum plan as a guide for my yearly planning. If students are interested in one area of art more than another, I tend to adapt my plans. If I have a brilliant idea for something new I want to try with … Read more... →

In case you missed the reveal, you can see that here and here. Laura’s home already had wonderful, historic bones, but the living space could use a bit more character. Laura wanted bookshelves, and while we had talked about something clean and modern, I really encouraged her to stick with the period of the house and create something that looked original. Custom built-ins aren’t cheap, and we knew this would need to be on a budget. Hacking the Ikea Billy has been done before (my friend, Kristin, did a beautiful version) but with this being an older home, we had several obstacles to overcome. One, we didn’t want to have to rip out any of the existing woodwork. Usually you cut away the base trim when you want something flush against a wall, but Laura wanted to keep the over-100-year-old trim in tact, in case the built-in was ever removed. […]

Discover creative ways to upcycle your old sweaters and transform them into something amazing, beautiful, and practical.

This topic is something I've wanted to cover for a while now. It is especially beneficial for beginner embroiderers who are currently exploring long and short stitching and needlepainting. So, today's topic is actually not just “using long and short stitch as a filler”. I mean, we all know that it can be used as one, right? And we all know the main “how's” of using it as a filler: outline the shape and fill with long and short stitches. In fact, the main point that I wanted to speak about today is using long and short stitching to fill a curvy/wavy shape. Or, in other words, a shape where the direction of your stitches has to change slightly. This wording, however, is a bit too heavy for a headline and I just don't know how to phrase it better, haha. Anyway. Why is this topic important? The main problem here is that long and short stitching consists of straight stitches. And one of the characteristics of stitches is that you can't really bend or curl them. Most of the time, it is a straight line between point A and point B that we use in a lot of various ways. It is not a brush stroke that you can lay in any curvy or wavy way you want. So how can you use these straight stitches to not only fill a shape but keep the “flow” of that shape? Actually, the main trick here is the same as with stem stitch. If you go to the Stem StitchCrash Course and take a look at the last point, you will see there what I said about using it for curves. Stem stitch is a straight line, so that's why the secret is the same. Make your stitches shorter! You can start with guiding stitches, as usual, keeping their direction aligned with the shape's outline. After filling the empty space between the stitches, you can start with the second row of stitches. Now, if I'm completely honest, I lose the sense of which stitch is short and which one is long, quite soon after that. So I just vary the length of my stitches and vary the place where they come out from the previous row. If one stitch started lower, I start the other stitch higher, and so on. This is the longest that I allow myself to make the stitches in such cases. The shape didn't reach the main curve yet and is still pretty straight, so I can slack off a little bit and make the stitches longer. Also, don't forget to keep your stitching dense. Currently, there are definitely more stitches here than there were at the beginning point. As you reach the curve, make your stitches shorter. Look carefully at my stitches here and imagine that they are continued longer and longer. If you do that, you will realize that they actually would bump into the outline. That's why we make them shorter. The other rows of stitches will soften the “straightness” and will create an illusion of bending stitches. We are on a finishing line here. The shape is narrowing down and the number of stitches we use to fill it at this part is decreasing, but we still need to maintain the same density. And so, this is the final result. By the way, this is a new design I'm currently working on! It is going to feature a lot of long and short stitch and color blending so it is going to be a GREAT practice for you! :) Hope this post was helpful! Check out the other Needlepainting tips to master it better :)

This simple craft uses our solar system coloring pages for kids to color and then transform into an easy blueprint to create their own solar system model.

Sometimes, even a simple question, like “How was your day?” can make your kid not want to be around you or spend time with you. That’s why parents, from time to time, should step into their kids’ shoes and see what they actually need from them.

Next time I need a good comeback I'm using one of these!

This post is my workflow on how I back up my photos. Because keeping our memories safe is important and I want you to back up your photos!

When we decided how to make the Great Wall of China out of paper, I immediately thought of the way that it curves and winds through deserts, grasslands, mountains, and plateaus. Also, look at my Ancient Civilizations page. I wanted to use something that would replicate that bending shape and thought of a file folder so that it would stand up.

Creating a nursery for your baby is one of the most exciting parts of getting ready for their arrival. If you love the idea of a calm and cozy space, a neutral nursery might be perfect for you. Neutral colors like beige, grey, and white are not only soothing but also super stylish. Here you’ll …

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Please read entire listing and shop announcements before purchasing. 💙🌖💙 Blessed Be This listing is for "The Path meant for me " working which is a combination of the Personal road opener as well as a sweetening jar. This spell work is for you if you feel like your career, business, relationship, influencer work etc. are feeling stagnant and you know that something is standing in the way of you and what is meant for you. The personal road opener is used to remove anything standing in your way of what is meant for you in these areas and then the sweetening jar is used to attract & sweeten the areas you would like help in. We are so much more powerful than we even realize and this brings that full potential forward and allows you to stop getting in your own way. Road Openers are some of my favorite workings to do. They’re useful in times when we feel stuck, stagnant, and may have tried many different routes to “break through” in some area of your life, but just can’t seem to do so. Road Opener workings are staples in my own personal life. They help clear the path, so all good things can flow to you without the blockage. **Please provide your first and last name with your purchase along with any details you want us to know regarding the situation we wish to focus on and remove road blocks for** This is a working that I will do on your behalf. By reading this and purchasing this, you’re agreeing that you understand that NO PHYSICAL ITEM WILL BE SHIPPED TO YOUR HOME. This is for a Spiritual Working. Photos will be sent through Etsy messages once services is started. Road openers are some of the top requested workings because they’ve been long used to make a path where there wasn’t one before. They can be used to assist you in moving further in career when everything else has failed, or in any area of your life that you feel stuck/blocked. ***I currently have a 10-14 business day processing time for spell work unless a Skip The Line Pass is purchased which will have your service processed within 24 hours of purchase**** Disclaimer: Per Etsy’s agreement I must state that this is being sold as a curio item for entertainment purposes only. While I believe in its powers, I can make no guarantees that they will bring any changes or outcomes. **BE ADVISED: The thumbnail photo for this community Road Opener is from our past Road Openers! You will be updated via Etsy messages with your personal workings. A spell is not 100% guaranteed. Sometimes what you want is not always what you get. The universe is tricky like that. Photos of your service will be sent through Etsy messages once services is started.

This content is only available to a Deeper KidMin Subscriber, but don't worry! It's easy to join and gain access to this content and our entire Subscriber Freebie Library. If you're not currently a DKM subscriber, join for free to gain access to 120+ free kidmin downloads and receive our weekly emails. If you're […]

I love working on social skills with students but sometimes feel like we do more talking than working. This game reenforces target skills for real life use!

Are your students reluctant writers? Do you have reluctant writers who either write terrible stories, or hate writing altogether? I used to have to pull teeth to get any decent narrative writing out of my kiddos. Whenever I announced we were going to write about something, they’d moan and groan, and (I hate to admit this), I’d sometimes just neglect creative writing altogether. But over the years, I learned some strategies for reluctant writers to get my students’ creative juices flowing and turned my reluctant writers into awesome authors. Now I love to teaching narrative writing, and the students are actually begging to write! I’m going to share 9 tips that have worked for me and I think will work for you too!

Asking a child to talk about a problem, explain their behavior, or come up with solutions when they feel disconnected or upset is often ineffective. Art provides an accessible, nonverbal alternative when words don’t work.In this article, you will learn 5 art therapy-inspired activities for calming behaviors and building resilience. You will also gain important best-practice tips for using art for social-emotional growth. No artistic skill or special supplies are necessary. This is a guest blog p

Great step-by-step instructions on how to make a meaningful Ancestor Gallery Wall! Full of useful tips on finding quality frames, repurposing mats, and more.

This is a guide to transforming a bathroom window. Learn how to make a DIY privacy screen for a bathroom window with this step-by-step Hometalk tutorial.

Click to read how God can use us by looking at the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah. A righteous couple that served Him throughout their entire life and blessed in their old age.

Makers Gonna Learn

Whisper method manifestation explained. Learn how to manifest your dream life using the manifestation method.

We always dove into our insect unit in the spring, I wanted to let you know that I put together a list of insect books for you to use with your class! Be sure to stick around until the end of this post, because I have something VERY special for you and your students!

As a Tarot reader, how many times have you been asked "When will I…?" When will I sell my house? When will I meet my future husband? When will I find a