There are many ways to build a castle with children. Once I already made a small cardboard toy castle with my kids, but this time we wanted something more impressive. For our castle we collected cardboard boxes of different size, and toilet paper tubes. Using those building blocks, paint and some colored paper, we created this castle with floors, round towers, windows and a cone-shaped roof. This project is very easy and straightforward. Reverse the boxes, stack them one onto another, put the toilet paper rolls at the corners, paint. Place towers also at the top and around the gate. I showed how to make a cone in my post about gigantic pencils, the cone-shaped roof can be made the same way. A flag from a toothpick and piece of paper is the final touch. I think you may enjoy the Cardboard castle by Ann Wood. It's more of a piece of art than a kids craft project. Take a look.

Breakups are fucking hard, and there's no nicer way of putting it. And why should there be? Breakups in life mean you probably haven't showered in days, your eyes are swollen shut from the amount of crying you've been doing and your days are a seemingly endless cycle of shouting how much of a strong independent woman you are and sobbing about how much you're going to miss him. The hard part about going through a break up in your twenties isn't the fact that everyone is starting to ask you when you're going to get married. Try dealing with that shit on top of sitting at home all day. Alone. With no one to yank the phone out of your hand every time you wanna call your ex and ask him why he couldn't just try to work it out. Sure, best friends can visit so you can roam the aisles of Target all afternoon, but eventually you're going to go home and that empty side of the bed and bottle of wine will convince you that you need to call him to let him know just how much of an asshole he is. Don't do it though, because at the end of the call, it'll be you feeling like an asshole. My entire love for writing began when my post on how to get over a guy went viral. Yeah, a post I wrote at 3am in tears somehow blew up and to this day sits on the first page of Google. Which is equal parts awesome and embarrassing. And fresh of the bathroom floor I'm back with 100 things to do to keep you from calling your ex. Because you're better than that, and he deserves to step on a rusty nail. Repeat after me, "fuck that guy." 1. Call your best friend. 2. Call your old roommate. 3. Call your mom. 4. Call literally anyone who will answer the phone. 5. Get a haircut. But nothing too crazy that you’ll regret later. 6. Dance to an entire Beyoncé album. 7. Realize you can’t dance and instead switch to a Taylor Swift album. 8. Belt out Adele’s entire album, in tears, preferably while using a remote as a microphone. 9. Sort through all the photos in your phone. 10. Go cry in front of the mirror. It’s weird but also kinda therapeutic. 11. Cook something since you probably haven’t eaten in a while. 12. Clean your apartment. 13. Clean the parts of your apartment you always skip. You know what I’m talking about. 14. Go to the store, any store. Just get some air. 15. Go grocery shopping, you could probably use some healthy foods. 16. Watch an episode of a show you absolutely love. 17. Write all your feelings down in a journal entry. Or email draft, whatever. 17. Organize your music library. 18. Watch a YouTube video. 19. Try to get through a Blogilates video. 20. Or visit the gym! 21. Take yourself to a movie. Trust me, no one cares you’re there alone. If anything, they’re impressed by your lack of needing someone to come with you. 22. Clean out your inbox. Life’s too stressful already without having 2000 unread emails. 23. Waste time on Pinterest. That’s an immediate hour gone. 24. Try one of those YouTube makeup tutorials. How the hell do those 14 year olds apply eyeliner so perfectly?! 25. While you’re doing your makeup, go full ultimate grand supreme and try a hair tutorial. 26. Clean out your closet and toss anything you don’t love. 27. Take your dog for a walk. 28. Or for all my cat ladies out there, brush your cat! 29. Block your ex from your Facebook newsfeed. 30. Or go the extra mile and block them on all social media. Status updates are only gonna bring you down, and you don't need that negativity in your life. 31. Find new music with Spotify. 32. You should probably do your laundry. It’s time girl. 33. Go for a walk, literally anywhere. 34. Pack away all the things that remind you of your ex. 35. Take a shower. 36. Start a blog! 37. Find a new hobby. 38. Join Meetup.com 39. Put together a bath. Like a legit one where you can take a photo of your legs in the bubbles. 40. Make a break up playlist. 41. Read one of your old favorite books. 42. Flip through all your old magazines. 43. Clean out your purse. 44. Clean out your junk drawer. 45. Turn off your breakup playlist and make a strong independent woman playlist. 46. Scroll through Tumblr. 47. Think about planning a weekend vacation. 48. Go buy some plants for your home. 49. Go to your favorite hangout spot. 50. Create a new outfit with clothes you already own. 51. Watch a comedy special on Netflix. 52. Buy tickets to a show you’ve always wanted to see. 53. Begin watching a new TV series. 54. Paint something. 55. Spend an entire day watching Law and Order SVU. Nothing mends a broken heart like watching Olivia Benson catch bad guys. 56. Drown yourself in inspirational quotes. Pinterest and Instagram are a gold mine for quotes to boost your mood. 57. Listen to a podcast. 58. Treat yourself to a manicure or pedicure. 59. Focus on your schoolwork instead. 60. Write down all the reasons you can’t stand him. It sounds childish but it’s important to not idealize the relationship. 61. Join something! A team, organization or book club. 62. Find something cute to Instagram. It sounds vain but it’ll keep you busy and the likes will boost your ego. 63. Change your ex’s contact name. 64. Find a video game to play. 65. Drink an entire glass of water, or wine, your choice. 66. Fill out surveys online. 67. Rearrange your furniture. This will help your space feel more like your own, which helps if you once lived together. 68. Pluck your eyebrows. 69. Go buy one of your old favorite magazines. Does anyone remember reading Cosmo Girl and Jane Magazine? 70. Invest in a new bra, because your boobs deserve it. 71. Learn the choreography to one of your favorite music videos. This will take you all day, which is kind of the point. 72. Actually follow through on those Pinterest projects you pin. 73. Dye your hair. 74. Spend some time reading about other people’s breakups. Shit could be a lot worse dude. 75. Go bowling. 76. Revert back to being 12 and dance around in your underwear to Hilary Duff, or whoever you were obsessed with. 78. Floss, because you probably need to anyways. 79. Clean out your text messages. They suck up storage space and are full of messages from your ex. 80. Clean out the photos on your laptop. Do you really need all 900 photos of your cat? (yes) 81. Delete any apps that you don’t use anymore. You need the storage space for all the new numbers you’ll be getting! (positive thinking guys) 82. Brunch is always a good idea, especially if it’s the weekend. 83. Have you updated your phone to the new iOS? Probably not right? 84. Your computer probably has updates you’ve been avoiding for weeks too. 85. Go find your perfect shade of lipstick. 86. Work on updating your resume. 87. Watch your favorite childhood film. Enjoy catching all those jokes six year old you never caught. 88. Watch a horror movie, because the last thing you need right now is to watch a romantic comedy. 89. Grab one of those adult coloring books and see what the hype is all about. 90. Bake something. 91. Clean out your downloads folder. 92. Sort through all your bookmarks. The internet ones. Does anyone still have physical bookmarks? 93. Play with your pet. The only thing on this planet that will love you unconditionally, even when you forget to feed them. 94. Private all your old/embarrassing Facebook profile photos. Nobody needs to see what 2008 version of you looked like. 95. Scroll through your Facebook posts from years ago. It’s weird how many pointless updates we used to post. 96. Not in love with your job? Check out who’s hiring. 97. Visit that coffee shop you always pass by but never go inside. 98. Choose the thing you’ll say to your ex in case you ever run into him. 99. Find an arcade in your city. They’re cheap and fun. 100. If all else fails, search funny cat videos on the internet. Are you a twenty something or millennial in need of support, advice, or sometimes just a second opinion? If your answer is yes, click to join Surviving Our 20s, where you can connect with others who are also adulting the best they can! Joining is FREE and the relationships you can build are priceless.

My kiddos love this game and BEG to play it again and again. The beauty of it, well.. it's also a great informal assessment! I use this with my Junior Kindergarten (ages 4 and 5) up through first grade. This is based on a similar one in Gameplan. The song and graphics are my own and so I am not stepping on Jeff and Randy's toes by sharing it with you but will give them all the credit for the game!! :)

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I have always wanted four children. I have wanted a large family for as long as I can remember. since I was little. My grandmother had four children. My great-grandmother had 11 children. My Great-great-grandmother had more than that. Each of our children was thought about, planned and brought into this world with every

I love the idea of this game. My 4 year old is on the verge of early reading, and I have not yet worked on sight words with her. Head on over to Come Together Kids to see how to make your own *BANG…

Sometimes it’s wiser to make your kids think they want to do something than argue with them. Learn how to employ a few Jedi mind tricks at iMOM.com.

It was August 1944 when the last trains rolled out of Radogoszcz station from the Łódź ghetto. The trains were headed for Auschwitz, and my great-grandfather Edward (Yehuda) Biderman was on one of these ill-fated transports. He had suffered so much already. Born into poverty on October 3, 1911, in Poland, he dropped out of...

tech time out sponsored by forester's - spend one hour quality time per day away from screens

I have posted before about the end of the school year and how I sing camp songs with my kiddos. They love it and can't wait for the end of ...

Making a connection to the past through hands-on learning helps a child to remember what he has learned and develop critical thinking skills.

A lot of times our students do not know how to communicate what they need in the moment. We can get to know our students by giving them a menu of options regarding things they need when they become upset, angry, nervous, worried, overwhelmed, and confused. Social emotional learning and coping strate...

Atlanta has so many kid-friendly options! It's the perfect place for your family's next getaway. Learn what to do and where to go!

When it comes to love, the best part is being able to kiss and make up. Check out a list of our favorite couples who got to do just that on National Kiss and Make Up Day!

It is never too early to equip your child to resist peer pressure. Use our conversation starters for how to talk to your child about drugs and alcohol.

I came across this game from one of my peers and think it’s really awesome. In fact I have been using this regularly this year as a fun and creative way to review before a test. So far I have used it prior to my grade 10 chemistry and biology test using the practice questions […]

Welcome to Workshop Wednesday!! 🙂 Today is my LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Oh my heavens, I can’t believe it. I can smell the sweet fragrance of summer just around the corner!! 🙂 Before I get into the meat of this post, I wanted to let you know that Workshop Wednesday will be changing JUST FOR […]

OurKidsMom is about life with 4 kids ranging from college age to toddler. We love sharing our thoughts on new products, travel, food & DIY.

Wahooo! This is the last week of February! Even thought it's the shortest month of the year, it always seems to drag on and on. Anybody with me?? Thank you for stopping by for another Peek at My Week, my weekly linky party where we all share our plans for the upcoming week. Here's what I've got going on... Reading: Last week, I had planned on moving on to point of view. However, after thinking about it more, I thought my kiddos needed more practice with text structure. I used this awesome resource from Teaching with a Mountain View. The passages were engaging and offered just the review I was hoping for! After a quick assessment on Monday, I think we will be ready to move on to point of view. A.R.: Do you use Accelerated Reader at your school? We do, and I absolutely love it. This Friday is A.R.'s "Read the Most From Coast to Coast" Challenge. A.R. is challenging students to take 5 million quizzes on Friday. At our school, we are challenging students to read 5 million words on Friday. Last year, we read about 4.6 million, so I think we can do it! To sweeten things up a bit, our 4th grade and has challenged our 5th grade to see who can read the most on Friday. The grade that doesn't win will clean the desk of the grade that reads the most. (Yikes, I have seen those desks and it is not pretty!) Go 4th grade!!! Source: http://indulgy.com/post/kztLkEkkA1/words-to-live-by;jsessionid=22AE1DD73A3C957524A0E8242992CA36 To get the kids revved up for a day of reading (yes, all we will be doing on Friday is reading, reading, reading...the kids are so excited!!), my teammates and I will be preparing breakfast for the entire 4th grade -- scrambled eggs, sausage, bagels & fruit. (Hopefully their bellies won't be so full that they fall asleep reading...) An InLinkz Link-up Thank for stopping by! I wish you a great last week of February...Bring on March!

The greatest songs about dads in one list.

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What's your name? Fitness activity printable for kids. Your kids will get a workout without realizing it when you make fitness into a fun game with this spell your name workout.

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In patterning our life after the Savior's we should seek for opportunities to serve those around us. In Mosiah 2:17 it states, "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." As Relief Society sisters, we have tremendous opportunity to watch out for those around us that need that loving hand of help. When we feel impressed to help someone we need to listen to those promptings and act upon them. We can provide service to others individually or we can do this as a family. Teaching our children the importance of unselfishness, love, and sacrifice. One thing that we did with our kids a few months back was thirty days of service. Each day we did an act of service for thirty days. It was fun to see them serve others and discuss the happy feelings we each individually felt from doing so. Here are some ideas:

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What do I want to talk about? An exercise to enable children to think about what they wish to discuss with an adult or the person who is helping them.

Video: Mom in Sign Language Signing: To sign mommy extend and spread your fingers apart. With your pinkie facing forward tap your thumb on your chin. The sign for mommy is the same as the sign for …

Hiya Peeps!! Kerri here... The 50th day was today! (Well, actually it is Thursday, but we have soooo many GOBs of activities to do that we ...

Would you like to decorate your classroom with fun, hand-drawn anchor charts/posters? Do you simply not have the time to get them done? Well, you have come to the perfect place! I love making these engaging and appealing anchor charts. I also can draw/create any other topic you would like, just contact me directly and ask! My students absolutely love these posters and references them every day. Many of them are visual learners, so the colorful images really help them connect and remember what they have learned. This particular anchor chart is for readers/writers practicing homographs. My students really reacted well to the visuals because this skill is so tricky for them to fully grasp and understand. **These will be copies unless asked otherwise for a custom poster. They are not laminated, and are printed on normal, anchor chart paper. I ship these out ASAP after being ordered, but please keep in mind once shipped, it is outside of my control. Therefore, if shipping does not meet your expectations, I highly encourage you to please reach out to me first, and we have always been able to work something out to make up for anything that may have occurred after I have sent your package, thanks so much!! Hope you love it :)

Google teamed up with more than 1,200 museums and galleries around the world to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world.

The state writing predictor test is almost upon us. With that in mind, I happened upon this post at Two Writing Teachers blog. They do what is called "Slice of Life" posts. If you are a writing teacher or you just need some kind words of encouragement, you need to stop by this blog. You can pick up a FREE copy of my PowerPoint on my TpT store that was inspired by that post. Do you have any activities or tools to teach bold beginnings?

Ideas for helping students begin to understand the meaning of letter and number grades so that grades are a learning tool!

I'm Melissa! I'm WILD about reading, writing & math workshops! I blog about my classroom and I share book recommendations and organizational tips.