Free T-shirts

My boys received a package in the mail yesterday, and they were excited!  We completed their H.E Buddy Reading program and received the rewards yesterday.  Each of them received a new T-shirt, pencil, bookmark, and reading certificate.

Easy Sensory Box

During the summer between college and my first teaching job, I worked at a daycare.  They had a very nice, large sensory table for the children.  When I had my first son, I thought a sensory table would be wonderful, but they were way too big and expensive.  His first babysitter showed me how easy it was to create a small sensory box for your home.  I just purchased a small, flat storage container and started filling it with inexpensive or free items.  I always use old containers, such as yogurt containers in the sensory box. 

My toddler now enjoys the sensory box for about five minutes at a time, but as my older son grew he started enjoying it for up to thirty minutes in one sitting.  This would allow me to get the dishes done or cook a dinner. 

We started the sensory box with noodles.  I took one afternoon and dyed some of the noodles just for fun.  

Then we added rice to the sensory box.  My oldest son really liked driving his cars through the rice and making mountains for his construction workers. 

We've also tried soapy water.  This is fun to pour from container to container or drive boats around.  I also poke holes in the bottom of some of the containers so the water leaks through. 

Some other sensory items we've tried at playgroups are oatmeal, beans, play dough, and a cornstarch/water mixture. 

For easy cleanup, I always put an old towel under the box. When playtime is over, I simply shake the towel in the box, and then sweep the floor. I store everything we use in plastic bags inside the box. 

What kind of things have you used in a sensory table/box?

Carnival of Homeschooling

Visit As For My House to see the newest edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling.  You can read my post Help Your Child Learn Multiplication Facts and many other great homeschooling links!

American Flag

I was trying to think of an activity to do with my toddler Sunday School class for the Fourth of July.  I decided to make an American flag and have the kids do thumb prints for the stars.  I found a blank American flag on the Internet and tried using finger paints with my one-year-old.  Angel Baby was not very impressed with the activity, but I think the three-year-olds will enjoy it.  I used finger paint at home, but I'm going to try a giant washable stamp pad with the church kiddos. 

Christian Education Website

Do you work with kids in your church, or are you looking for some Biblical material for your own kids?  I love using DLTK's Sites.  The Bible section has printables to color, lesson plans, mini books to make, crafts, songs, and puzzles.  The main site also has preschool material, animal crafts, holiday crafts and much more. 

Do you have a favorite website you would like to share?

Garage Sale Finds

When my husband and I first were married we thought it would be fun to go bike riding together.  So we went out and bought two brand new bikes for about $80 each.  Why?  We didn't know any better.  We wanted to go bike riding, and we wanted to go now. 

Since then, I've learned how to shop garage sales.  I've bought my sons three bikes and two scooters for less than the price of one new bike (less than $40 for all of them).  I always look ahead for good deals.  I bought all three bikes when my son was only around three years old.  Now I know this won't work if you don't have extra room, but we've always squeezed the extra things on the sides of the garage.  Now our oldest son is ready for the biggest bike, and our youngest son is just about ready for the smallest bike. (One of the scooters disappeared to Grandpa and Grandma house, so I wasn't able to include it in the picture.)   

Picture Book Math Part 3

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (A Math Adventure)
Upper elementary and middle school kids will love this book when studying circles.  This book along with the book Sir Cumference and the First Round Table, introduces children to important geometric terms such as diameter, radius, circumference and pi.  My middle school students were so engrossed in the book that they didn’t even realize they were learning anything until our discussion.  In the Dragon of Pi, Radius’ father is turned into a dragon until Radius finds the magic number (pi) to turn him back into a human.  In the First Round Table, Sir Cumference has to use his knowledge of math to find the best shape for a table.

Click here to read Part 1.
Click here to read Part 2.