Leap Day!

It's a day that comes once every four years...is that not enough reason to celebrate?!  Here are some ways to have a little fun on this unique day!

Play Leap Frog

{or have your kids play}

Make Leaping Paper Frogs

{and then play some games}

I followed along with the tutorial above {I had to pause a couple times because I'm slow} and when I was done I actually exclaimed, "I did it!" So it really can be done!

I know my 4th graders would have LOVED to make these in class and they also would have loved a little competition.  Here are some game ideas to use your new leaping frogs.

Whose Frog Can Leap the Farthest?

Whose Frog Can Do the Most Back Flips in a Row?

Race of the Leaping Frogs!

Whose Frog Can Do the Coolest Trick?

I have no doubt that kids would LOVE to come up with many other games.  I think Mr. Hardman and I will play a couple of these tonight and then let {E} destroy our frogs...I mean play with them.

Make a Leap Day Time Capsule

{DO NOT OPEN UNTIL FEB. 29 2020!}

Either decorate an old shoebox or tissue box or just use a large or small envelope to store fun information and/or artifacts until the next leap day!  Here are some ideas for your kiddos to do:

Trace Your Hand

Write a Letter to Yourself

Draw or Take a Picture of Yourself

Write Down Goals You Want to Accomplish Before the Next Leap Day

Write About Your Interests

Predict Where You'll Be Four Years from Today

Cake Leap

If you have multiple children {or are celebrating in a classroom} this would be lots of fun!  You could use lily pads as the markers and ask the children to leap from each one while the music played.  When the music stops and a lily pad number is called you have a winner!  Green cupcakes or any treat would be lots of fun {and yummy}.

You can have your kids make the lily pads or download and print some {that I quickly made} here!

366 Activities
You could count to 366 as quickly as you can! {could also be a race}
Work together to draw 366 frogs.
Leap around the yard 366 times.
Write a special leap day story using 366 words.
Make chocolate chip cookies with 366 chocolate chips.

I'm Leaping for Joy because...
Around the dinner table tonight, have each family member finish the sentence, "I'm leaping for joy because..." You may be leaping for joy because you get a whole extra day this year or because you got to take a shower today or because you are surrounded by loved ones.

We hope you enjoy your Leap Day!

And for all my fellow 30 Rock Fans!!

{Natalie}

Val's Friday Favorites {02-26-16}

1.

This Primary Notebook.

I've been serving in my LDS ward as a Primary teacher for the last year and a half and I have LOVED having this notebook for my little kiddos!  It doesn't hurt that I come from a teaching background, so of course I love the educational worksheet approach vs. a coloring page.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love coloring, and I used that a lot before I found this.  It does include some coloring, writing, pasting, and it is an overview of the lesson, which I like.  Then each week, we collect it in their notebooks and they don't take home something every week.  At the end of the Primary year they will have this notebook to remind them of all the things they were taught and they can use it to share lessons with their family for Family Home Evening!  I have used it with 4, 5, and 6 year olds.  She sells the notebook for a very reasonable price and has one for the Primary 2 and Primary 3 manual.  I have both and LOVE both!

2.

This Cookbook.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that has a slight obsession with all things Pioneer Woman.  :)  I remember when my oldest was just a baby and I would nurse while browsing PW's website to look at recipes, pictures, and of course her stories.  I have tried a few recipes from the book, but mostly just like to look at all the pictures and imagine my cooking to turn out just like the pictures, even though it doesn't always.  HA!  The best thing about the cookbook is that if you don't have the money to buy it right now, you can search for recipes on her website.  She also has a fun cooking show on the Food Network that I watch with my kids and they love it just as much as I do!

3.

This Show.

I've been binge-watching a lot of Netflix lately, due to multiple illnesses that have plagued me for almost 8 weeks now.  :( After I had watched a lot of the new shows, I started New Girl over again from the beginning and I loved it just as much as the first time!  It's funny and light and kept me in a good mood while being sick.  It's not a show to watch with your kids and some people may not appreciate the general nature of the show, however, it is one of my guilty pleasures.  I can quote many scenes from this show and it makes me smile.

4.

This Book, and This One Also.

Again, because I've been sick, I've managed to read 2 books in the last month!  Shocker!   The first book I read was The Pact and the second was Dear John.  They were very different and both have either a lifetime movie or a feature film based on them.  The Pact is about a girl who suffers from a childhood trauma and as a teen decides to take her own life.  Her boyfriend doesn't want her to do it and he thinks he can stop her, by telling her he will kill himself also.  It's full of life's mysteries and what happens to the people you leave behind.  I really like Jodi Picoult and enjoyed this page turner.  If you like that one, you might also try, Plain Truth.

Dear John was about a young man that joined the army to grow up, and while on leave, he falls in love with a beautiful girl on the beach.  They fall instantly and hard in their love for one another, however, he is still in the army and the book unravels the reality of what that means for their relationship.  If you like that one, you might also try, A Walk to Remember.

5.

This Game.

I bought this game to practice alphabet recognition with my preschooler and he likes it so much he doesn't even notice that we are learning and reviewing.  It's very easy to play and all of my kids enjoy it, even my daughter who already knows her alphabet.  They also have Spot it! Numbers and Shapes, Spot it Jr.! Animals, Spot it! Sports, Spot it! Halloween, Spot it! Basic English, Spot it! Basic Spanish, and so many many more, including Spot it! Shopkins! (I know a little girl that would be over the moon for that one!)

{Valerie}

In My Heart

{E} and I try to go to our local rest home once a month.  This month another lovely woman shared a story with some of the residents.  I fell in love with it and had a few ideas of how to use it at home and/or the classroom.

In My Heart

A Book of Feelings

By Jo Witek

In this book different feelings are explored and described in unique and interesting ways. 

BRAVE. MAD. BROKEN. HOPEFUL. 

These are only a few of the feelings you'll find as you {quite literally} dive into the main character's heart.  All of these feelings are relatable to every age, but I think Grades K-3 would benefit the most from its presentation. Here are some ideas of how to use this book at home/in school!

Have a Heart to Heart

I know it can be hard to have meaningful conversations with children {especially when they are feeling upset or going through something difficult}. This book can help bring down some of those walls and create a safe space for an open conversation.  As you read, you might ask the child if they've ever felt shy like the girl in the book.  Then ask them to describe a time when they felt that way.  At the end of the book it reads, "How does your heart feel?" This is the perfect opportunity to ask the child to answer this question.  It may give them that comfort to talk about something they're feeling that they may feel worried or embarrassed to discuss.  You could do this on a classroom level as well!  Just ask your students to write down their feelings in a writing or personal journal.  If you want to read it, make sure you tell them before they start to write.

Add to the Story

Give your child a chance to be an author! After reading the story, discuss other feelings they may have during the day or week.  Provide them with the tools to draw a new picture to show how their heart feels when it's worried, mischievous, excited, or lonely. You could also help them or challenge them to add text along with their illustration. In the classroom you could compile all of their new pages and make it a classroom book to add to your library!

Practice Expressing Feelings

Being able to communicate feelings is a crucial social skill.  This book can help a child recognize the name of feelings with how they are feeling.  If your child has a difficult time with this skill, I would suggest reading this book with them and challenging them to inform you of their feelings throughout the day.  That way you can help them to know ways to enjoy, comfort, or ease different feelings. This could be very helpful in the classroom. You might challenge your class to express how their heart is feeling when conflict arises between friends at recess or happiness exudes after a successful quiz.

I love to do activities that relate to the nearest holiday/season.  Hearts + February = Perfection!  You have about a week to give this a try.  And even if you don't feel like you need to do a specific activity with it, the book itself it a fun way to end the "Heart Month".

If you are unable to get the book, you can have it read to you here. 

{Natalie}

Natalie's Friday Favorites {2-19-16}

1.

Korean Pork Chops

At our house we love pretty much any recipe that has soy sauce.  So when I was looking for a new take on pork chops, I knew we had to try this!  If you like those flavors too, definitely give it a try!

2.

Free Fonts

One of my favorite things to do is make printables/invitations.  I love to find the perfect font to fit each individual purpose.  One day I would love to turn my handwriting into its own font {not because 

my handwriting is great} but because then there would be a font that would always fit me!  Here are links to the 5 fonts I use ALL THE TIME.

My Own Topher

PenelopeAnne

Lavanderia {Type in $0}

KBReindeerGames

Cinnamon Cake

3.

These Markers

I can't really remember why I first bought these, but I can't imagine not having them.  Unlike the review given at the link, I LOVE having colors that are close but not the same {especially when you're doing ombre work}.  I've used these for church, play, invitations, decorations, birthday cards, and more!

4.

This Movie Trailer

Classic chick-flick!  I'd never heard of this book before, but I really want to read it before this movie comes out later this year.

5.

Cuticle Trimmer

I have pretty much always been a nail biter.  But I go through phases of really wanting to make my nails look good.  This tool is super helpful!  I remember seeing something like this in my Mom's bathroom drawer growing up and I never knew what it was.  Then one day in high school a friend was using it and everything related to my cuticles changed!  This does get dull eventually, but it works really well for the price!

{Natalie}

First Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Baby Girl!

We celebrated our cute little one's 1st birthday party last weekend.  I can't believe how fast the time goes.  It reminds me of this beautiful song by Mindy Gledhill.  

I was so happy with how everything turned out and even happier with the beautiful family who came {through the snow} to share their love with our babe.  I've never seen {E} so happy and excited in a big group, so I know she was happy everyone was there.

When I was trying to come up with the theme for her party, I had TONS of ideas including: sparkles, My Fair Lady, Winter "One"derland, balloons, rainbow, princess, and more!  Then I started to think about what {E} really likes.  My first thought was FOOD. Haha!  My second thought was Books.  I knew it had to be books.  Her favorite activity is pulling all her books off the shelf and reading them over and over.  Bonus!  I could use all of her fun books as part of my decor.  And as a former teacher, I already had a deep love of everything books. It was a done deal.

I found a couple of ideas on Pinterest to inspire the aspects of her party {see previous post}.

Kayla Aimee Writes

The Party Teacher

Johnson and Johnson

So here it is!  All the fun decorations and stuff we ate and did!

Number 1 Collage & Favor

I loved picking out the pictures from {E}'s first year to include in this.  It made my heart happy to see her cousins and other family members taking a minute to see how much she's grown and changed. You can also spy my favor for our party guests!  I paired it with Dr. Suess' "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" book.  It was a individual bag of colored Swedish Fish with a tag...

Other Decorations

I basically used every single children's book I had! I put them everywhere I could and used colorful accents everywhere else.  For the banners I went to Deseret Industries and found some books with really sweet pictures and a regular chapter book that was all text.  I cut out pennants and put them together with sparkly ribbon!  I printed out the letters for "Happy 1st Birthday" and "One" for two special banners.

Menu

This was my favorite part!  I used books to help plan the menu.  I wanted the food to relate to the book.  Here's what we came up with:

"Dragons Love Tacos"

Tacos in a shell or in a bag {yes they are delicious} with all the yummy toppings!

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Lots of delicious fruit! Complete with clementines, {E}'s favorite!

"Peter Rabbit"

A beautiful spread of all the veggies Peter could want!

"If You Give a Cat a Cupcake"

For those too eager to wait for a slice of cake. 

"A Bad Case of Stripes"

I bet you can't guess what's going on under that white frosting!

I wish I had gotten a better picture of the actual cake. We used a "1" shaped cake pan and it turned out huge and adorable.

Game

I love a good game at a party!  I made a quick game to have each family present race to see who could match different books with their FIRST lines {because it was a FIRST birthday, yeah??}. I forgot to take a picture of the prize, it was a cute book with some fruit snacks.

Smash Cake

We were all excited to watch this little foodie dig in! And she did!! Although more neatly than I anticipated. 

My very favorite find for {E}'s birthday was the book "The Wonderful Things You Will Be" by Emily Winfield Martin.  

I love the message and the colorful, whimsical illustrations.  I don't know if I could pick a favorite line, but I'll end with this one.

"For all of your tinniness couldn't disguise a heart so enormous...and wild...and wise."

I love you sweet birthday girl!

{Natalie}