The most delightful spring book!

Today I read Wake up, Sleepy Bear by Christine and Greg Shaw for the first time to my younger boys since we have been doing spring activities. This book was so adorable and the illustrations of the baby animals are just beautiful. Write this title down on your wish list for your young child (2-8 years old). This book would even be perfect for an Easter basket.

You can do this extension activity after reading this book if you have a small group of children.

Hibernation game

Have all the children sit in a circle. One child will sit in the middle and pretend to sleep all curled up like a bear hibernating. Make sure his eyes stay closed. Pick a child and have him quietly sneak up and touch the bear then quickly return to his spot in the circle. Everyone in the circle says "WAKE UP SLEEPY BEAR! WAKE UP!" The child (sleepy bear) sits up and guesses up to three times who woke him up. Choose a new bear if the child does not guess the correct person. If he does choose correctly, the person who tapped him has to be the new sleepy bear.

Enjoy!

Kids LOVE Resurrection Eggs!

Using Resurrection Eggs to teach the Easter story is my favorite Easter tradition. My boys anxiously wait for me to tell each part of the story and then take turns opening the eggs. Even though we have done this for many years and they know what is in each egg, they still cannot wait to open them!

I have used my purchased set of eggs for about 10 years for teaching my children, my students in a private school and in my Sunday School class, and at church Easter parties. My son just found the Resurrection Eggs today when we were unpacking the Easter decorations and he asked if he could take them outside to share the Easter story with the neighborhood kids. What an awesome feeling it is to have your child so excited to share the Easter story with others! Resurrection Eggs are definitely a FUN and engaging teaching tool.

Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs is highly recommended to compliment your Resurrection Eggs. It is nicely illustrated and each page tells a story to match the items in the eggs. Children also enjoy hearing the story a little boy's point of view.

Teachingheart.net has created a printable to go along with this activity. The printable has an egg to open and a part of the story and a symbol from the egg to glue inside. How cute is that! CLICK HERE for the activity.

EXTRA IDEAS: Some parents and teachers hide the eggs before they read the story and open them. Others have a child open one or two eggs per day as a count down until Easter instead of opening them the same day. What creative ideas!

If you want to make your own, Tony Kummer explains how to make your own set of Resurrection Eggs in this video tutorial.

CLICK HERE for the printable pattern and directions. Be sure to check out her site at www.ministry-to-children.com. It is filled with tons of Bible games, activities, lesson, and crafts.

Enjoy!

For more Easter activities, click HERE

The cutest spring & Easter treats!

While putting out my Easter decorations today, I got so excited about springtime and Easter. As I was going through my Easter crafts, recipes, and activities for my children, I came across some photos of an Easter party from a couple of years ago. They were taken at our homeschool Easter party, and my friend, Maria, made these adorable Easter bunny cars.

EASTER BUNNY CARS

 

Aren't they so cute? Maria used a Ho Hos cake for the body of the car and a Peeps bunny for the driver. Using icing as the glue for this creation, she adhered the bunny and a Life Saver for the steering wheel to the cake. She stuck on the marshmallows as tires and added the malted eggs for headlights. 

You can be original with whatever ingredients you may already have. For example, you can use jelly beans or M&M's as headlights and Sprees as the tires. You can also use Swiss Roll Snack Cakes or Twinkies for the car.

Here are some more treats that she made.
(It was a windy day so the bunnies shifted a bit.)

 The bunny cars were the hit of the party! My kids absolutely loved them.

I found this picture with the photos from above. Even though it has nothing to do with Easter treats, I had to include it anyway. I think it's precious because my boys have no idea that this Easter bunny was their Dad. What a good sport my hubby was to dress up for the kids at our church party in that incredibly hot suit in Southwest Florida! 

Now onto more Easter goodies. 

BIRD'S NESTS COOKIES

My kids LOVE making bird's nests with peanut butter cookies and coconut or even using our peanut butter edible playdough recipe HERE. Be creative with the eggs and use your family's favorite candy- chocolates, jelly beans, malted eggs, Whoppers, M&M's, Skittles, or any other candy that is round and will fit.

HIDDEN SURPRISE TREATS

 These look so easy to make for a quick party treat that everyone will remember. The best part is when you open the egg, there is a treat inside. How ingenious is that! Kids love Rice Krispies Treats so this one is sure to be a winner. Visit Bright Ideas for this recipe.

Enjoy!

For more Easter activities, click HERE

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Rainbow Cookies

source

We made rainbow cookies yesterday to begin our celebration of Saint Patrick, and the kids really enjoyed making AND eating them! 

Use your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe or pre-packaged sugar cookie dough (2 tubes).

(1)  Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different food color- 1 pink/red, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 yellow. I used Wilton food coloring for extra bright colors.

(2) Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls.

 

(3) Place one ball of each color together to make one large ball, like a hacky sack pictured below.

(4) Chill the balls for at least one hour before rolling. (Warm hands make the dough too soft, which is hard to roll and easier for the colors to blend together.)

(5) Roll each ball into a small snake and then coil it to make a cookie shape.

(6) Bake according to your recipe's instructions.

Enjoy!

 For more St. Patrick's Day activities, click HERE and then SCROLL DOWN to see all the posts.

St. Patrick's Day Units

Check out this FREE St. Patrick's Day Unit
at What the Teacher Wants-

one of my new favorite sites!

 Click on the image below to download.

 

A Bible Verse for Every Parent

I am currently in the busiest season of my life. I'm very grateful for my family but lately I have found myself complaining more and more over little things. (Maybe from sleep deprivation but that is still no excuse.) I love to read God's word and sometimes a verse just stands out from the rest and is just what I need for that particular time in my life. My new favorite verse for this busy season is: 

Philippians 2:13-15   (NIV)  "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.  Do everything without complaining or arguing,  so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."

I taped this verse on my refrigerator so I can be reminded of it throughout the day. I have also used it with my children when they complain about doing a chore or when they argue with each other. It is just perfect for every family!

As a homeschooling mother of five children, I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with parenthood. There is no doubt that parenting and teaching is a challenge because we all want to do the best for our children. By fulfilling our divinely appointed jobs as parents, we can be God's tools that define and refine our children as they are sculpted into the individuals that He wants them to be. Often we put so much energy into our children's needs, we fail to do the things that keep us energized.

You may be familiar with the drill about what to do in an emergency when you get on an airplane. The flight attendant tells you that an oxygen mask will drop from the ceiling if needed. She will remind you that if you are traveling with small children, you will need to put on your own mask first before you help your child.

As you go through your busy life, ask yourself if you are putting on your oxygen mask first. We cannot give our children something we don't have ourselves. I encourage you to make a commitment to having a quiet time with God every day. This may involve some sacrifices, such as waking up ten minutes earlier, turning off the morning news for a few minutes, or finding time alone, but I can promise that the results will be worth it.

Many people ask what they should do in their quiet time. Find a time early in your day when there are no distractions, which includes children, television, radio, or anything else that may take your focus off what you are doing. Pray for concerns on your heart and thank God for your blessings. Read God's Word and look for meaning in the scriptures and how to apply them to your life. You and your children will be blessed when you seek the Lord daily.