Month of Joy: Candy Cane Burlap Door Hanger

We're breaking out of our normal routine around here to bring you a month filled with joy.  Marcy and I have been keeping our eyes and ears open to show you some things that simply bring a smile to our faces!  Whether it be an educational craft, a gift to give, a classroom project, or even a holiday tradition that we think might bring you happiness too. 

Today's joy comes in the form of a candy cane burlap door hanger that happens to be super simple to make.  Children can definitely help with this Christmas creation!  I know we haven't flipped the calendar over to December yet, but it's never to early to start thinking about teacher or volunteer gifts.

All you need to gather for this project is:

Red or natural colored burlap
Red and white acrlyic paint
Glue gun or sewing machine
Wired ribbon
Florist wire
Plastic grocery bags

Trace a candy cane on your burlap (notice I chosen a seasonal shape that even I can't mess up!).  Fold your burlap so that you can cut once and have two candy canes.  If you are able to find red burlap, you will just need to paint white stripes.  If you use natural, like I did, you will need to paint both red and white.  The burlap soaks up your paint so you will use a couple of bottles of each color.  This is the longest part of the project, so don't give up!  Make sure to paint on a piece of cardboard.  The paint will soak through the burlap.  You only need to paint the front side of the candy cane.  Once you have the front of your candy cane painted and dried, either sew the two pieces together or hot glue at the edges.  Make sure that you leave an opening to stuff the shape!  Now gather your bag of plastic grocery sacks and start stuffing.  This plastic stuffing allows the cane to hold its shape and be more weather resistant.  Stuff until you can stuff no more!  Then sew or glue your candy cane shut.  Add some florist wire to the back to make it able to hang, and a big ole fluffy bow.  If you aren't the best at making your own bow, have the ladies at your craft store whip one up for you.

Perfectly festive, inexpensive, and simple gift to give or keep for yourself! 

If you have something that brings you joy and you would like to share with us, please email us at simplysprout@gmail.com.

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Mommy & Me Mondays: Future Voters & Cookie Lovers

This future voter is ready for Tuesday!  It is hard (or near impossible) to teach a two year old about the democratic process, however he did have fun making a button just for him.  Here are the things we used:

*  Card stock paper
*  Red and white striped wrapping paper
*  Star stencil, star shaped stickers, or star die cuts in red, white, and blue
*  Mailing label
*  Red and blue curling ribbon
*  Tape
*  Badge or name tag adhesive pin (found in bags of 20 at Hobby Lobby for a couple of dollars)

First trace a circle on the card stock paper and on the wrapping paper, and then cut both circles out.  I let the future voter glue the wrapping paper on top of the card stock.  I showed him how we make patterns with colors and he glued down the stars (a glue stick works best with these wee little ones).  While he was busy gluing, I wrote out "future voter" on the mailing label and stuck it down in the middle of the circle.  We cut a couple of pieces of curling ribbon, taped it to the back, and stuck on the name tag pin.  

I look forward to making these with my students on Tuesday.  To speed things up in the classroom, I am going to use a die cut circle and stars.  Of course my students can do the rest of the creating!  How cute will they be at the poll with their parents on Tuesday?!

Another way to bring some election excitement into your home or classroom is through a cookie taste test.  You could choose any two types of cookies, or use the ones below from Michelle Obama and Ann Romney.  

Here is a free printable to use with your kids to find out what cookie wins the popular vote!

Recipes from Family Circle magazine

Michelle Obama's Mama Kaye's White and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields: 5 dozen cookies

Prep: 15 minutes

Bake: 375 degrees for 12 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 stick Crisco butter-flavored solid vegetable shortening

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup each of white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and mint chocolate chips (or Andes mint pieces)

2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  On low speed, beat in flour mixture.  By hand, stir in white and milk chocolate chips, mint chips and walnuts.  Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Ann Romeny's M&M's Cookies

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Prep: 15 minutes

Bake: 325 degrees for 18 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter

1 tablespoon light corn syrup (suck as Karo)

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

6 ounces of chocolate chips

2/3 cup M&M's candies

Directions: 

Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl, cream sugars, butter, peanut butter and corn syrup on high speed until well combined.  Beat in eggs 1 at a time.  Beat in vanilla extract.  In a separate bowl, mix together oats and baking soda.  Stir into peanut mixture until combined.  Mix in chocolate chips and M&M's.  Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets (about 9 per sheet).  Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

For more presidential lessons check out our Presidential Pack in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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Mommy and Me Monday: A Healthy Halloween

A healthy Halloween just doesn't sound right.  I can remember filling a pillow case full of candy and working through my loot until the New Year!  We have no doubt that your children will be full of sweets in the coming days, if they aren't all ready.  As an adult I even look forward to this sweet time of year!  But just in case you wanted to mix in some healthier options with those heaping piles of sugar, here are some easy ideas from Pinterest.  A fun way to get your children or students involved in the holidays is having them prepare food for others.  My students always beam with pride when they are able to share with others something they made by hand at home, or even at school.  I know that I am always looking for ways to bring festive and fun snacks into my classroom, son's classroom, and home. 

Carmel Popcorn Mix

 

Ghostly Strawberries

Orange O'Lanterns

Apple a Day Keep the Witches Away!

Mummy Pizzas

Just a few that I thought were cute and easy enough to pull off in the next couple of days.  We'll be mixing up some Scarecrow Mix for my son's two year old preschool class this week.  For these and other Halloween ideas, visit our Pinterest Halloween board!

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Mommy and Me Mondays: Pumpkin Cookies

Life gets busy.  Crazy Fall days seem to follow the lazy days of summer and leave you scratching your head wondering how we got to the middle of October already.  I know our household isn't alone wondering how Halloween is just a little over a week away, how school has been back in session for months, and before you know it we'll be ringing in a new year. 

With that said, I almost forgot to make one of my favorite fall treats.  So I decided to slow things down a bit and head to the kitchen with my son.  He is a pretty good helper, and only slightly slows the process down due to asking dozens of questions (which melts your heart and tests your patience).  However, these pumpkin treats are for his preschool teachers, so I wanted to make sure he helped out.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups quick-cooking oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin 

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.  Cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour mixture gradually, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from A Thyme to Celebrate.  A cookbook by the Junior League of Tallahassee.  Proud of what the Junior League does locally and nationally for the betterment of children and families.

This is also a nice time of year to thank your new crop of classroom volunteers.  Simple and gracious thank yous keep them coming back!  Pop of few of these treats in a Halloween themed Chinese takeout container and you will have a pumpkin perfect thank you!

All this talk of pumpkin reminds me that I haven't switched my bulletin boards over to pumpkins yet!  Told you life gets busy!  To do this week!  If you haven't either, no worries, check out our pumpkin themed Fall Bulletin Board Kit in our Simply Sprout store.

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Mommy & Me Mondays: The Importance of Dramatic Play

Children love to use their imaginations. From a very early age they enjoy putting on clothes and trying on shoes. In fact my 19 month old son has a shoe addiction. He tries on high heels, tennis shoes, sandals, you name it. As long as they aren't his shoes he wants to try them on for size. He struts his stuff around the house hamming it up and having a great time. My daughter (age 4) spends the majority of her time changing outfits. She goes from one extreme creation to the next creating and role playing as she goes. In our house the dog isn't even safe, I often see him walking by with a tutu on or a pair of wings and bows on his ears. While the boas, necklaces, big tacky dresses and leg warmers might seem like an odd combination to us they are an essential piece of child development and should be given as much praise and attention as academic accomplishments.

Role playing is how your child deals with their emotions and it helps your child navigate situations or events your child doesn't quite understand. When ever we go away on a trip or stay at a hotel my little ones play "Hotel" for weeks after, dressing up, packing plastic Publix bags with all of their stuff, they pretend our closets are the elevators to their room, it is all very amusing to watch.

While dressing up and playing pretend might seem like child's play this is a key component to growing up and helps lay an academic foundation for years to come. You would never think that playing dress up could help your child in math or writing but is does. Helping children learn to problem solve, think outside the box, find a resolution and use their imaginations are all key components to role play.

Dress up centers use to be found in Kindergarten classrooms everywhere, now with such a strong push towards early academics our classrooms are quickly changing. 
So the next time your little ones want to dig through your closet or try on some of your old shoes encourage them to get creative, because learning to role play and use their imaginations today will help them to become more well rounded learners in the classroom tomorrow.

Check out this great article on Dramatic Play

With Halloween right around the corner now would be a great time to set up a dress up station in your child's room. Remember dressing up is not just for the girls, there are several great costumes and household items out there for boys as well here are a few lists to help get you started! 

Boys

chef hat, items from the kitchen
fireman hat & jacket 
old Halloween costumes
 wigs
sports equipment
old shoes
ties
glasses

Girls

dresses
necklaces
boas
old shoes
hats / crowns
wigs / glasses
purses / bags 


The key to a great dress up spot is organization! A tall mirror and a basket or trunk of creative accessories are a must. Check out a few of these ideas we found on pinterest!

Join us on pinterest!

Happy Monday!

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Kick off fire safety week with a fire safety party!

Next week kicks off fire safety awareness week. Educators and parents alike will be talking to their children about the importance of having a fire plan, checking fire safety equipment and stop, drop and roll. So why not make it a memorable event by throwing a fire safety party! If you are going to talk about safety you might as well make it a memorable occasion.













 For some creative and fun firehouse invitations visit: Magic by Marcy

For some fun finger foods try a few of these firehouse favorite:

Little Smokies: Mini hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls

Dalmation Cookies: Black and white cookies

Snap, crackle & pop: Rice Krispie treats

Firehouse Sub sandwiches

Fire cracked popcorn

Bring up the heat: Salsa & chips

 

What firehouse party would be complete without a super fun cake and some adorable cupcakes?

For some fireman fun try a few of these activities:

Borrow a fireman's suit from a local fire station. Have kids try it on for size or simply see how heavy it is.

With young ones you can play pin the horn on the firetruck

Give little ones a fire hat and have them race each other practicing their crawling close to the ground techniques, in order to avoid smoke.


Create a relay race with garden hoses where they have to uncurl and stretch out a hose before the other team.

Practice evacuating an inside area

Use toy firetrucks and have little ones race them

 We hope that we have ignited a spark of creativity for you to introduce some life saving skills to your young ones next week. For more resources please visit: NFPA
Fire Safety Checklist and Plan

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Fingerpaint and Glitter...No Joke!

 I truly never thought that I would ever type or say those two words together, fingerpaint and glitter.  It's been a long running joke that I tell my students at the beginning of each year that I'm allergic to glitter.  I don't mind mess, but when it lingers on your fingertips, eyelids, desks, oh say everywhere for months, I'm not so into it.  In honor of the fall feel to the air today, I embraced my inner glitter snob and conquered my fear.

This simple outside art activity created a seasonal masterpiece for our home.  I cut out some leaves using craft paper and an image from Google.  After the grown up part was done, I let little Picasso take charge.  We mixed Elmer's glue and water to make a solution perfect for glitter.  I held the leaves down, he painted the glue/water on with a paintbrush.  Using a paper plate underneath, we sprinkled with glitter.  I even bought glitter, there's a first for everything, and it's called Velvet Glitter.  Very fancy isn't it?  I really bought because it was a sample pack that came with lots of different colors.  

While the leaves were drying, the fingerpainting got underway.  We chose some fall inspired colors, and Mack mixed them about.  While the paint was wet, we stuck the leaves on the paper, and hung it up to dry.

I remembered that I had an unused shadow box inside (usually around $12-$15 at a TJ Maxx or HomeGoods type store).  I love to keep a couple to pop in seasonal things just like this.  The box allows the dimension of the piece to really shine.  Sounds very artsy doesn't it?

This quick art project with your kids will add some fall feel to your home or classroom.  What a wonderful way to introduce children to the idea that leaves change colors throughout the year.  What a vivid reminder at how beautiful this season is.  

Fall art like this would make a great addition to our Fall Bulletin Board kit in the Simply Sprout store.

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Happy Fall Y'all!

Welcome to fall y'all!  Today marks the first day of a wonderful season.  We don't see many signs of autumn around our parts, but we sure do enjoy the little taste that we get.  I am a lover of pumpkins, corduroys, burlap, football, pies, oh the list could keep going and going!  Despite it being in the high 80s in North Florida, we are happy to welcome this time of year with a kid friendly craft. 

You might have seen this paper bag oak tree in the past, but it is worthy of sharing again and again.  I've used it for years in my class to create family trees, but this year my son and I used it to learn about colors and practice his fine motor skills.  All you need is a brown grocery sack, and anything you would like to add to it.

To construct the tree you will open the grocery sack and turn in upside down.  Using scissors cut one inch strips around the bag from the opening to the first fold in the bag.  At this point it will look more like a jelly fish than a tree.  Just below that fold you are going to squeeze the bag by pushing in from the left and right.  Once you have a good handful, start twisting.  I used a wired ribbon to keep mine well twisted, but you don't have to.  Give the bottom of the sack a good whack to flatten it out.  Then you will simply twist each of the strips to create branches.  Younger children will need help with the construction, but by third grade they should be able to handle it on their own.

We used glitter scrapbook paper to create fall foliage.  The pumpkins are from the dollar section of Target (although they were $2.50 each...tricky, tricky), and add some more fall fun to our scene. 

Here are a few ways to keep the learning going with your fall trees:

*  Encourage children to write a story about their "magical" fall tree.
*  As mentioned above, research your family and create a family tree.  Each leaf is dedicated to one family member.
*  Have children write things that they are thankful for on leaves over the next month and leave out as November and Thanksgiving centerpieces.
*  Have students make a tree for a classmate.  The student is responsible for rounding up adjectives from other classmates that describe the person.  Then they are able to present a classmate with a tree full of positive remarks.
*  Create multiple trees to represent trees of all seasons.  Or simply do a drawing of the trees during different seasons. 

Most of all enjoy the first day and the many days to come to the fall season! 

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Hootie Who's Ready for the Weekend?

The flock is ready for the long Labor Day weekend, and we have the perfect kid friendly activity to usher in fall.  We can only hope and pray that fall is around the bend, because honestly there is enough heat and moisture in the air to cut it with a butter knife!  Nonetheless, we are super excited for the traditions that the season fall brings.  Back to school (you already know we love that!), college football, yummy food, family gatherings, pumpkins, and these adorable owls!

Making these cupcakes would be a perfect home or classroom tie in to Wednesday's Lil Sprouts Book Club choice.  Here's what you'll need:

Box of cake mix
White cookie/cake icing
Oreo cookies
Sixlet candies
Shaved almonds
Coco Puffs cereal
Goldfish crackers or Cheez-It crackers

Directions:

Follow the directions on the cake box to make cupcakes.  Let the cupcakes cool completely and then add your icing.  

Your mini pastry chefs can decide if they would like to create a brown owl or white owl.  If they would like a brown owl, have them put a handful of Coco Puffs into a resealable baggie and crush.  Sprinkle cereal crumbs on top of the cupcake.  Carefully twist apart two Oreo cookies to use as the owl’s eyes.  You’ll need to use two so that you can have two eyes that are covered in the yummy white frosting!   

Place a Sixlet candy on the icing to finish off the owl’s eyes.  Now using your shaved almonds create wings for the owls by making staggered rows.  Your final touch will be the beak.   

Let your kids use their creativity!  They can shape a Goldfish cracker into the beak, or even bite off the corner of a Cheez-It cracker.

 Extend the fun and learning with a journaling activity that has your little owls practicing their writing and sequencing skills.  Simply save the image below into a Word document and print for your kids. 

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