Teach Me Tuesday (1-31-12)

Teach Me Tuesday is here!  We had so many fabulous links last week, and I am so excited to see what everyone has to share this week!  Also, I am excited to announce that since so many people are linking up, I'm going to start featuring the top three most clicked on links!  If you're featured, feel free to grab the button from the right sidebar!

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Our features this week (the most clicked on links from last week) are:

 

Brittney at Mom's Heart shared this Valentine's Sensory Bin!  Not only is it beautiful, but her kids love it!  She includes a list of everything she put in it and some activities to do with it!  Check it out at http://moms-heart.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-day-sensory-tub.html!

Melismama at The Joys of Home Educating shared these DIY Heart-shaped Crayons!  She included a tutorial and fabulous ways to use them!  Check it out at http://www.thejoysofhomeeducating.com/2012/01/diy-valentine-gifts-for-classmates-and.html!

 

 Trina at Teaching My Blessings shared some fabulous ways to strengthen fine motor skills while with fun and unique activities!  Check them out at http://teachingmyblessings.blogspot.com/2012/01/this-week-we-focused-on-fine-motor.html! 

Many thanks to these awesome ladies for sharing their great activities with us!  If you missed them last week, but sure to check them out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.

2- Your post must be family-friendly.

3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).

4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!

5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!

**Please make sure you picked up the button from Preschool Powol Packets, and not my old blog!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

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How to Make a Bird-feeder From Water-bottles! (tutorial/instructions)

We've noticed a lot of birds out during the last few mornings, and decided to make a little bird-feeder from water-bottles for them!  It's a very easy and fun project, though it does require some supervision.  Depending on your children's ages and attention spans, you may even want to pre-cut the bottles for them. 

For you visually-oriented people, here's a diagram of the entire process:

If you want a step-by-step, here you go:

1.  Prepare the bottles.  Cut the flat bottom off of Bottle 1 and save it for a lid.  Cut the pointed top off of Bottle 2 and recycle it (or throw it away...sigh).  From Bottle 2, cut two holes near the bottom for a stick to go through (see diagram) and two holes to use as doors (about an inch above the stick holes--see diagram).

2.  Thread a long piece of yarn through the doors to use as a hanger.  Make sure it is not in the way of step 3.

3.  Squish and slide Bottle 1 (Tip A first) into Bottle 2 until Tip A is below the bottom of the doors.

4.  Fit a stick through the holes for the birds to sit on.

5.  (Everyone's favorite part!) Pour birdseed into your new bird-feeder!  Squish the lid on and find a cool spot to hang your new bird-feeder!  It may take a day or two for the birds to find your feeder, but they will come!  Try to learn the names of all the birds who come to visit!

 

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Sharing Saturday: Groundhog Day

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Today is Saturday, and I'm so excited to share a few activities I've come across during the last week for Groundhog Day!  Groundhog Day is February 2nd--tradition says that if the large woodchuck sees his shadow, we still have six more weeks of winter!  For more details check out The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Groundhog Day website!  Then see what these fun families are trying:

*** Jill at Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons shared the fun dessert idea pictured above--you can just see Phil popping out to check on his shadow!  The details and instructions are at http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2012/01/groundhog-day-desserts.html.


*** Marcia's Links shared a fun poem that goes to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot!  You can find Here's a Little Groundhog at http://www.marcias-lesson-links.com/Heres%20A%20Little%20Groundhog.pdf.

*** Jill at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom shared an entire Groundhog Day unit!  Pictured to the right, it includes geography, math, and more!  It has materials for a variety of ages--check it out at http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com/2012/01/groundhog-day-printable-activity-unit.html.  She also has several other printable Groundhog Day activities and resources--look for her Groundhog Day link in the right sidebar for more! 

If you were featured, feel free to grab a button from the right sidebar!

For us, any excuse to have a party is a great one!  We like to play shadow games and learn about groundhogs on February 2nd.

What about you?  Do you celebrate Groundhog Day?  If so, what do you do?

Peanut Butter Play Dough OR Peanut Butter Cookies

Play dough your preschooler can make and share with your toddler?  Oh, yes! 

This fun recipe can be used as just a recipe for cookies.  Or, you can let your kids play with it--once it is mixed together, it molds wonderfully!  Or, you can divide the dough, make cookies with half, and play with the other half.  It's up to you!

The recipe is simple:

** 1 cup creamy peanut butter

** 2 cups powdered sugar

** 6 Tablespoons (1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons) soft butter

The steps are fun:

1.  Stir all three ingredients together, then knead them into a ball.

2.  For cookies, pull off a child-sized handful of dough and knead it into a ball.  Let it harden on a sheet of wax paper (a plate or cookie sheet also works fine).  If you like, you can dip the top in dipping chocolate or press a chocolate chip into the cookie!

 

3.  For play dough, hand it to your child and let her play!  Even better, grab a handful and play with her!  You can store the dough in a sealed container in your refrigerator for up to a week.

Note:  Yes, it is entirely edible!

Teach Me Tuesday (1-24-12)

Teach Me Tuesday is here!  We had so many fabulous links last week, and I am so excited to see what everyone has to share this week!  Also, I am excited to announce that I made an "I was featured!" button--if you are featured this week (or ever have been before!), feel free to grab the button from the right sidebar.

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Our feature this week (the most clicked on link from last week) is:

Lauren at Tutus & Tea Parties shared Colored Spaghetti Play!  She included a video that shows how to color the spaghetti and different ways to play and teach with the fun noodles!  If you missed it, be sure to check it out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.
2- Your post must be family-friendly.
3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).
4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!
5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!
**Please make sure you picked up the button from Preschool Powol Packets, and not my old blog!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

Giveaway: Oceans PDF!!

 It has only been one week since we moved to our new blog home and we have already had thousands more visitors than I expected!  Wow...I cannot tell you how exciting that is to me!  Thank you so much for coming by, leaving comments, pinning posts, and sharing them in other ways!  I truly hope you find inspiration and ideas from visiting here! 

Today, I want to offer you a fun giveaway!  You've probably noticed the Oceans Theme for preschoolers for sale here.  The PDF file contains over 50 pages of lesson plans, activities, printables, and other ideas for a month of learning about the ocean!  The lessons are designed for families who want a short, fun, focused "School Time" with their preschooler.  The regular $3.99 is a steal for the PDF with a full 22 lesson plans and printables, but I'm going to give one away to two of you for FREE!  

Here's a sneak peak at what's inside!  The 22 lessons introduce the letters M, N, and O, circles, and so much more!  To enter the giveaway, scroll down to the instructions below!

This giveaway is open for a week.  It closes at 6 am on January 31st, CST time, when I will choose two winners randomly via random.org.  I will email the winners with a link they can use to download the PDF for free! 

There are six ways to enter.  You can choose any of them--none are mandatory, but all are appreciated!  Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you enter--email is ideal.  If it's not available in your profile, please leave it in your entry comment.  Thanks again for coming by and good luck everyone!

1.  Follow me on GFC and leave a comment telling me you did so!
2.  Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me so!
3.  Leave a thoughtful comment on my Facebook Page Wall, or reply to one of the posts there, and leave a comment here letting me know you entered this way!
4.  Post about this giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment here with the direct link to your FB post.
5.  Share this giveaway on another social media site (Twitter, Digg, etc.) and leave a comment with the direct link to your post.
6  Post about this giveaway on your blog.  Feel free to use one of the pictures on this post and link it back to this blog.  This obviously requires more effort, so you get three entries for it!  Leave three comments, and make sure at least one of them includes a link to your post!

Sharing Saturday: Chinese New Year

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Today's Sharing Saturday is all about China and the Chinese New Year!  The Chinese New Year/Spring Festival usually begins on the second full moon after the winter solstice (January 23rd, this year) and ends 15 days later with the Lantern Festival.  Schools close and work is cancelled for the first week and festive, red decorations celebrate good luck and happiness for the new year!  Wonderful parades, firecrackers, and family parties are everywhere!  How can you celebrate with your family?  Here's a few ideas!

Sierra at H is for Homeschooling is sharing an awesome preschool/kindergarten Chinese New Year Printable!  These adorable pictures include coloring, color recognition, numbers, pre-writing practice, games, size ordering, and more!  Check it out at http://his4homeschooling.blogspot.com/2012/01/free-chinese-new-year-dragon-printables.html! 

When I lived in China, I totally fell in love with the Plum Blossom paintings.  They represent strength, hope, beauty and virtue.  The beautiful blossoms appear when the trees are surrounded by snow and winter, and remind anyone who sees them that Spring really is coming!  Traditionally, they are painted with a dry brush, but you and your family will love the way Jill at Meet the Dubiens has turned this symbol into a fun tissue-paper craft at http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2010/04/craft-cherry-blossom-branch.html!   

Introduce Chinese characters to your kids!  Kate at My Oatmeal Kisses shares stories, crafts, activities, and other ideas for her China Theme this week.  Chinese characters are especially fun for young children to learn about because each character represents a word or idea, unlike English where each letter helps build the word.  Check it out at  http://www.myoatmealkisses.com/2011/08/chinese-characters.html!
 
We are starting the Year of the Dragon!  Miya Maeda at Jellyfish Jelly shares this awesome Dragon Puppet Craft...as well instructions for an awesome looking red Chinese lantern!  Check them out at http://www.jellyfishjelly.com/?p=2615!

The dragon is passionate, proud, fiery, smart, strong, artistic, generous, and loyal...even if he might be a little tactless and brash.

It's no secret that kids love to make things!  Melismama at The Joys of Home Educating has been sharing crafts and activities all week that she and her family have been using to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.  At http://www.thejoysofhomeeducating.com/2012/01/diy-chinese-new-year-crafts-tutorial.html she shows how to make firecrackers, felt fortune cookies (complete with a treat inside!), and paper lanterns! 


Wow!  It's a little more than normal, but Chinese New Year is so much fun!!  Are you celebrating?  If so, I'd love to know how!  I hope these give you some great ideas!  If I featured you, feel free to grab an "I Was Featured!" button from the sidebar!

Snowman File Folder Game and Writing Practice (free printable)

It's winter and everybody loves snowmen!  Today, I have a fun pattern-based Snowman File Folder Game with a writing practice page for you...and, it's a free printable!  To make the file folder game, cut out the hats and laminate them.  Cut out the snowmen and tape them to the inside of a file folder.  Let your child match the hats to the scarves with the same pattern!  This can be an individual activity, but we did it as a group--those poor snowmen were so cold without their hats and everybody wanted to help!  Re-create the patterns with colored blocks or crayons!  We also followed up with some other icy activities!  If your child is learning to write, he may enjoy the tracing/writing page that is attached as well.

Click here to download the Snowman File Folder Game and Writing Practice Page!

Teach Me Tuesday (1-17-12)

Teach Me Tuesday is here!  This is our first link party hosted exclusively from Preschool Powol Packets for all things related to teaching, homeschool, and education!

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Before we get started, let's take a look at the link most clicked on from last week's party:

Melismama at The Joys of Home Educating shared lots of curriculum ideas for snow, geography, time, and art in this awesome, most clicked-on post!  If you missed it, be sure to check it out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.
2- Your post must be family-friendly.
3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).
4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!
5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!
**Please use the new button--it looks the same, but the old button links to the wrong blog!  This new one will bring your readers here to join the party!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

Science Experiment: Elephant Toothpaste

This exciting science experiment works great in a discussion on reactions, as a demonstration, or as an actual experiment.  To use it as an experiment, perform it once with your child, then ask your child what might happen if you changed the amounts or left out an ingredient. Let her direct the experiment!  Also, the foam created is safe to touch.  It is simply water, oxygen gas, and soap, so if your child has no soap allergies, she can experience and experiment with the texture of the foam!

How to make Elephant Toothpaste:

1.  Set a soda pop bottle in the middle of a pan to catch the toothpaste.

2. Mix these in a separate container and swirl together for a minute.  The yeast will catalyze (or speed up) the reaction.  Woo hoo!

** 2 Tablespoons warm water
** 1 teaspoon yeast

3.  Mix these in your soda pop bottle: 

** 1/2 cup 6% hydrogen peroxide.  It is important to use at least 6%.  You can use 8% or more (available on Amazon), or you can Salon Care Professional Stabilized Formula.  20 Volume Clear Developer from Sally Beauty Supply works fine too. 3% from the grocery store will NOT work as well.  :)
** 4-5 drops food coloring
** squirt of dish soap

4.  Pour the yeast mixture into the soda pop bottle...and be amazed!

If you're working with older kids, you may be interested in how it works:

The reaction is summarized by this formula: 2 H2O2  -->  2 H2O + 02.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) naturally breaks down into water and oxygen.  It is stored in opaque containers to help slow down this process.  Catalase (an enzyme in all living things, including yeast) speeds up the reaction.  Dish soap catches the oxygen and makes bigger bubbles and the food coloring makes it look cool.  The foam and bottle feel warm because the reaction is exothermic--it releases energy as heat.

Re-Launch is TODAY!! (Giveaway coming up!)

Today is the official launch of Preschool Powol Packets--thank so much for joining us!!  To celebrate, I'm giving away one Oceans Theme for preschoolers next week!  Be sure to check back next Monday to enter!

Re-launch is COMING UP!!!

Hi everybody!!

How do you like the new look?

Welcome to everybody coming over from Whole Child Creative Curriculum!  All your favorite posts have transferred over...okay, okay, all the posts have transferred over.  I still have a few more changes to make and links to add, but I am planning on being done and officially launching Preschool Powol Packets on Monday next week!

So, what should you expect next week?  Check out this awesome line-up:

1- A very exciting science experiment on Monday--be prepared for lots of ooohs and aaaahs!

2- A fabulous linky party on Tuesday--come link up any education-related posts!

3- A free printable on Friday--use it with your preschooler!

4- Sharing Saturday--a small list of awesome posts I've found around the internet this week, sure to make a preschooler's parent smile!

If you're new, please take a second to introduce yourself!  I'd love to stop by your blog and see what you're up to!

Simple Preschool Experiment

Today I'm over at Cachey Mama's blog guest posting about this simple, fun, and educational experiment that preschoolers love!  Check it out here!