day 324: popsicle stick bird feeders

happiness is a bird feeder made with a little peeps hands :)  she also took the photo ;)

day 324 and we are well and truly back into the swing of being at school.  today polly's art project came from pinterest!  she had to make a bird feeder out of popsicle sticks.  art is polly's favourite subject and i use pinterest ALL the time to find new and different creative projects for her to tackle.

today's project comes from tonya staab, who used the bird feeders as a craft at her x-treme craft party for 4 and 5 year olds ... brave woman!  it is pinned to my home school projects board on pinterest.  the party tonya hosted looked so amazing i also also pinned it to my party ideas board ... in my wildest dreams i would host such a party, but that's what pinterest is about, right? dreams and ideas to hope for in the future !?!?  any ho, even if you don't want to make a bird feeder, check out the post to see the party :)

for today's creation you will need 50 popsicle sticks, glue, and some twine.  we altered from the actual instructions and didn't use the tongue depressor sticks as i couldn't find any, instead using two popsicle sticks together.  you will also need something to feed the birds with once the project is finished :)  polly was very enthusiast as she took on this task, and as you will see in the photos the concentration levels were very high ... yes that tongue remained out during the entire project~!

what you need

look at the concentration ... ;)

that tongue hanging out is clearly important to the whole artist process :)

so she didn't have to thread the twine through i made sure it was put through and then the popsicle stick was glued on top to make it easier for her

pollyanna's goodies for the birds

filling the new bird feeder

big brother checking out the progress of the completed bird feeder, hung and ready for the native birds!

outcome:  she was one happy little lady with her bird feeder!  and so she should be, it is really neat and not too difficult a project to take on by herself.  pollyanna really appreciated being able to do it independently as she was really proud of the bird feeder she had "made my(her)self".  the birds i am sure will be gathering to give it a go too, especially with the fruit and nut mix polly put inside ... actually made me a little hungry ;)

my thanks to tonya staab for this wonderful craft that peeps can take on and do themselves.  i love it when polly takes on a project and shas such satisfaction at the end, knowing she was able to achieve it under her own steam :)  i shall definitely be back looking for more inspiration from tonya, who is clearly one very talented lady.

day 311: sports flipbook for home school

the home school PE flipbook

day 311 and we have spent the day organising hockey, going to hockey, purchasing hockey equipment, signing up for hockey ... are you getting how my day went ... yes we are about to head into the winter sports season and my peeps are both playing hockey.  and because i am kind-hearted a sucker i am the manager of both their teams.  it will be a fun season but not just yet ... why you ask? ben played in a hockey camp today and after he had finished he gasped "i am shattered, my legs hurt, my arms ache, and i can't move".  soon after this outburst he had a mental meltdown, went home, ate dinner, and feel asleep.  this had me pondering, well of course i have spent the last six weeks sedentary and guess what, so had they as a product of my back injury.  it was time for not only me to get back into shape but also the peeps clearly.

on the drive home from the hockey i remembered pinning something that might help kick start some fun exercise (sometimes it's really helpful living in the country far from anything as the long drive is a great time for thinking and problem solving but i digress).  pinned to my home school projects board is a PE flipbook from home grown mom.  its a book that has all sorts of PE ideas in it, one for each page so it never gets boring or routine ... just what the peeps and i need.

i have to agree with home grown mom, PE is so important but it's probably the hardest thing to make fun when you home school.  i have a child who would rather read than do anything else, so PE needs to be fun, exciting, and a little whimsical to get him on board.  don't get me wrong he loves swimming, hockey, and home school group kiwisport but aside from those group activities you will not find him riding a bike or running around outside instead he will be reading.

so this PE flipbook definitely has me excited for making our daily PE/exercise more exciting and, therefore, more appealing to my peeps.  i filled a 6x6 photo album with lots of different ideas for PE ranging from an hour (swimming) to half an hour for the more exhausting ideas ;)  the flipbook is full of things the peeps like doing and i intend to ask them for a page number each day and whatever is on that page is what we will do.  the pages easily pop in and out so i can change them around to make sure it really is a mystery what we will do for PE each day.  the activities include swimming, basketball, bike riding at the skate park, frisbee, to name a couple.

the pages easily come out so i can change their order around

have to have a 'your choice' ... it will be like hitting the jackpot for the peeps!

the finished PE flipbook for our home school fitness

outcome: well i'm excited to get started so that's a step in the right direction!  i am sure i will get the peeps on board too and hopefully this simple but awesome idea will provide us with a lift in our fitness, something we clearly all need in this house!

home grown mom has an amazing list of PE ideas for home schoolers (or anyone really) on her blog and lots of different ideas and web resources as well, definitely worth checking out!  and i sincerely thank her for coming up with an idea to put the fun back into our home school fitness ... :)

day 283: home school learning units

the units we printed out, heaps of pages of knowledge, advice, worksheets, and projects

day 283 and steve and i made huge progress during the morning before i went to the doc's for a meds checkup.  we discussed how we were going to make home life work: enable steve to get HIS work done, continue the peeps schooling, keep the house work done, and do a pinterest creation each day.

we were having morning tea together in our bedroom (because lets face it that's where i spend all my time at the moment) discussing how to make the most out of the peeps learning at the moment given it couldn't be done in the usual way that we did things.  the four of us decided unit focused work would be the best way to go as that would suit the fact we couldn't guarantee what each day was going to bring at the moment.  steve and i went on pinterest to my home school projects board and found some great units that would allow us to focus on a topic but cover different areas of the curriculum.

the best ones we found were from the home school share group.  we printed out their beethoven lives upstairs unit and their ancient egypt unit.  they are both pinned to my home school projects board along with many of their other units  both units cover various areas of the curriculum and have the facts, mini projects, suggested reading books, and lots of ideas.  the ancient egyptian unit is centered around making a mini book for each learning area and i love that idea.  i find with my littlest peep if she has to make something to do with her learning she retains the facts and knowledge much better and much longer than if she just does a worksheet or writing on the subject .. that quote that says "involve me and i will learn" is very apt for her!

outcome:  as sensible parents (yeah right!) do we had the peeps do their daily spelling and maths test after we returned from the doc's before we got started on the exciting new units.  i had meds to take and then things went down hill .... VERY fast and the learning for the afternoon was cancelled due to limited numbers.  so we haven't yet trialed the units but given how fast the peeps got down to their maths and spelling so they could get to the unit work, is a very positive sign~!

my sincere thanks to the homeschool share group for all the amazing units they have that are freely downloadable.  the homeschool share website is one of the very best home schooling resource websites i have come across and i can definitely recommend the site for all sorts of resources for learning :)

day 265: picasso helps me put a mini art gallery together :)

100 days to go, 100 days to go, la la lala la la, 100 days to go :)

ok now i have that off my chest, welcome to day 265, and it has taken me a while to get to this pinterest creation because i have never graffitied anything in my life before the size of a wall ... but i reckon this creation inspired from sarah's tumblr board and pinned to my home school projects board is totally worth it!  in fact, this is one of the first things i pinned about a year ago when i joined pinterest ... who knew then how i would come to depend on my friendship with this spectacular site ;)

any way, let us not get sidetracked from today's creation, where i take to the walls of our classroom with a sharpie and pretend like i am pablo picasso.  really nothing could be truer than the half quote i am writing on the wall from picasso,

every child is an artist

the man was an absolute genius as an artist, but when he opened his mouth it was mind blowing.  some of my favourite quotes come from this man, for example the other half of the quote above is,

the problem is staying an artist when you grow up

another of my absolute favourites is this one from picasso,

inspiration exists, it just has to find you working

ahhh, the man speaks the truth, even when you don't want to hear it.  i have taken so long to put up an art space on the wall as i knew the only way i could achieve it was to hand write it and i really didn't want to have my wonky handwriting on the wall for everyone to see :)  but as the team at pinterest says, 'done is better than perfect' and they are totally right.  the peeps have been churning out some awesome artwork over the last few weeks and they deserved the bare space on the wall to be turned into a mini gallery to show their wares off. so i set to with sharpie in hand and just DID IT :)

the before :)  yes, that is pinterest in on the laptop screen!

the after, before the artwork was installed!

the completed gallery, complete with it's first installations!~

outcome:  the artwork looks superb and the peeps are incredibly proud to have their own mini art gallery ... and they should be.  today was a lesson in getting over ones self and doing things as opposed to worrying about perfection.  i am absolutely certain picasso himself would have been proud of me today, even if aging has taken away my ability to be an awesome artist ;)

i would LOVE to thank the person who's original concept this is, but alas i can not find them :(  whoever you are, thank you.  it's creations like today,s that make you realise how little things like this can make your children's day, and it certainly did :)

the classroom ... for those who want a peek into our home school room :)

this is our new classroom ... it is a wonderful space for learning, reading, and the odd bit of pinterest creating! actually you can see heaps of pinterest inspiration and past pinterest creations in these photo's ... see i really do use all my creations!

the storage cube (pinterest idea) made of three bookcases  and a board on top for the laptop.
the white board is down low for mat time with pollyanna.

moving around the room, next to the laptop and storage are their desks and some more storage.
the map of new zealand and the pins of where they have been is also one of my pinterest creations!

i love storage and in a classroom you can never have too much!

moving around from their desks is our blackboard we painted and that also cemented a long term relationship and overuse of black board paint!  the craft table where we can all work together.  in the corner is the world map with the pins of places they have been and a bed which the peeps use for reading on ... nothing better than curling up in all the cushions with a good book!

some more pinterest creations and inspirations in this photo, in fact i think i can count 7!  my favourite pinterest creation in this photo has to be the library baskets on the wall.

and moving right around to the start (see the white board, this is our entrance and yet more storage in the form of a big bookcase.  love that there is still plenty of floor space and that everything has a place to be put away so the peeps can concentrate on what they have in front of them and not anything else :)  that's the theory anyway!

day 248: lunch notes for the peeps

such happy looking lunch notes all laminated and ready to write on :)

day 248 and it's another quick but thoughtful solution today, lunch notes ... today's creation isn't for valentines but will definitely let your peeps know you are thinking of them ... even at school ... or for us home schooler's a good thing to put under a sandwich or on their plate as a bit of fun.  there are heaps of lunch notes available to download for free, but i liked these ones from chickabug which can be personalised.  i have a whole bunch pinned to my home school projects board on pinterest.

the chickabug notes are freely downloadable for personal use.  i decided to laminate them so lunch wouldn't ruin the notes before they found them  ... who am i kidding, i just love to laminate things! these notes are ideal for those of us who have both sexes as there is a boys colour combination and a girls one so no one should be unhappy with the colour palette :)  there are also blank ones and helpful starters in each colour combo so you don't even have to think too hard in the morning or whenever you are going to write on them .... something i will definitely appreciate as morning is my favourite part of the day ;)


and for a little bit of fun these school joke lunch notes from peonies and poppy seeds (cute name for a blog) are also cool so i printed and laminated them as well. i figured the best idea for lunch notes was to print a whole heap off and then have them ready to go otherwise in the muddle of the morning it might be one of those things that just gets forgotten about :)

love that she provides the versatility of blank lunch notes and ones that are for certain occasions

who doesn't love a good school joke?

does anyone else love laminating as much as i do?  or should i seek treatment?

i love that i now have a huge pile of lunch notes ready to last me through term one ... then i can find some more!

outcome:  i am a bit of a romantic, so i love this type of thing!  hopefully it these "things" my peeps will remember as adults and make the extra effort for their peeps if and when they have them.  these lunch notes i never would have thought to do without seeing the inspiration on pinterest, and that's just another reason why i adore ben for starting up pinterest with his crew ... the inspiration and the 'get up and create' it has given me  is beyond words :) (ok, gush over!)

my thanks to chickabug and peonies and poppy seeds for the gorgeous free printable lunch notes ... and the fact they were freely available is just awesome.

i am still not able to sit for very long at the computer or a sewing machine thanks to my hamstring, hopefully given another week i will be back to being able to do more craftiness instead of little tidbits :) don't forget my new zealand give away starts tomorrow and i WILL have photo's of the classroom uploaded for those that wanted to see ... in the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

day 237: multiplication ice block sticks

multiplication ice block sticks ready for learning

day 237 and i am back to reality and out of holiday mode and once again preparing for the new home school year, which is now less than a week away ... yikes!  today i am in maths mode for pollyanna in the form of multiplication tools.  there are HEAPS of ideas on pinterest, and i have chosen one to make today ... ice block stick multiplication.

i got this idea from the first grade parade and it is pinned to my home school projects board.  mrs carroll uses the ice block sticks for teaching addition and subtraction and i thought the idea seemed so good it could easily translate to multiplication and eventually division.

i used a sharpie to write the problem on one side and the answers on the other.  i also used both ends of the ice block to demostrate that, like addition, it doesn't matter which number comes first in the equation.

what you need

the stick, this photo shows what the front side and the back side look like

2 x family ... i am going to give this group to pollyanna first and work our way up from there :)

outcome: i am hoping that this will make learning her times tables more fun for pollyanna and less about just reading and remembering her times tables from a chart.  the great thing with these sticks is i can mix them up or keep them as families.  the answers are readily assessable to her but not immediately so shw will be able to give it a go and then check whether she is right :)

my gratitude goes to mrs carroll at the first grade parade for uses such a simple everyday item to make maths more exciting for littlies :)

day 225: first day survival kits

the finished articles......and maybe a few m&ms missing

day 225 and the school room is still going through its makeover thanks to some time away holidaying.  it needs to be finished during next week as we start school in two weeks time! yikes, i can't believe how fast this summer is going and i feel very lucky to have done so much and spent most of it with family and friends.

this year the peeps are moving into uncharted territory, especially for ben who is going to have a huge year of home learning.  he is ten but will be starting year 9 english, maths, and science.  its going to be a big step up for a boy who loves learning and his mama who realised this week just how big a jump up from primary learning this is going to be ... it's exciting but heart stopping at the same time~!

i was looking through my home school projects board for resources to compliment the curriculum i am putting together and found this first day of school survival kit from bee in our bonnet.  i thought this was a great idea for the peeps only to discover when i went to  bee in our bonnet for further investigation it was supposed to be for teachers!  not easily put off and wanting to set the year off on the right foot i decided to make the peeps first day of school survival kits :)  the items all went into an embroidery box for each peep and the bits and pieces that made up the kits were colour coded according to their favourite colours (yellow and green for ben, red and pink for pollyanna).

yellow peanut m&ms.....yumm

red peanut m&ms.....yumm

for the peeps first day of school survival kits i went with the following:

• m&m's
• erasers
• pencils
• staplers
• yellow pins (for the places they want to visit)
• fruit sticks
• sharpners
• pegs
• glue sticks

i then used my new favourite publishing tool (my memories software) to make the kit toppers ... :)

outcome:   this little kit will hopefully ensure the peeps (and teachers if you are gifting this) know that you are right behind them for having a successful, fun filled year ... that's what i hope the little bit of effort says anyway!  these were really fun to put together, not sure if that's because i love shopping for stationery or whether it's because i know my peeps will laugh when they open up their little boxes and say "did you get these off pinterest mum?"  yes, that is almost an automatic question from my peeps nowadays if i try to make something new ... and you know what, more often than not it is!

my sincere thanks to bee in our bonnet for this great idea.  whether for peeps or teachers everybody deserves to start the first day of school excited and enthused about the year of learning ahead.

day 222: and p365 hits the road again!

the places you've been

day 222 and the peeps and i are off with a couple of dear friends to have some midweek fun while my sweet husband heads to work.  we are going somewhere i have never been before, the tawharanui peninsula [map]  it's supposed to be a beautiful part of new zealand and i am excited to explore it with one of my dearest friends, lana.  we are also taking one of polly's sweetest friends, hayley.

the five of us are heading up their to stay until thursday and i am reliably informed there is NO cell coverage in the area .... so there will be no blogging, BUT there will be creating! amazingly i could fly to singapore and still be able to blog each day, but if i head an hour and a half north for relaxation i can't :)  one day the entire country will have cell coverage and i will be able to blog till my hearts content no matter where i am in this fine country!

anyway (!) all this travelling got me to thinking about the peeps and knowing where they are going and where they have been ... a while ago i pinned a great idea that cements the above.  essentially you put a big map on the wall and the peeps add push pins to the places they have travelled.  this idea is not new and i pinned it from jesse papirio and i loved how she pinned the places she had been in blue and the places she wanted to go in yellow.

i purchased a big map of new zealand and a map of the world and put them up in the classroom.  the peeps put pins in all the places they had been in blue and then as we study and they find out about new places they can add the yellow pins for the places they want to go in the future.

ben pinning taupo on the new zealand map

the world map

pollyanna pinning singapore

outcome:  it's one of those simple ideas that is completely underrated.  already it has shown rewards for my youngest peep who has a greater appreciation for scale and distance and for just how big the world is and how many places she can go!  what an easy idea for the classroom walls and it is already paying educational dividends :) LOVE pinterest creating!

my thanks to jesse papirio for acting on this idea and then pinning the results to pinterest, it inspired me to get busy and do my own.

day 217: composer art for the classroom wall

the finished bulletin board with our first composer of the year attached!

day 217 and i am going through all the finishing little bits for our home learning room.  i wanted to put something up to remind the peeps who/what we are currently learning about in different focus areas.  i have decided to carry on our learning about different composers, inventors, and artists and wanted a bulletin board type of thing to put up a picture and highlights of the person we are currently studying.

this piece of canvas art i picked up last year for $8 no longer has a home and i figured it might make the perfect base for my composers bulletin board.  i got out my stash of sticky back felt letters and began to play!

i then went on pinterest and searched for some of my favourite composers to start off this year.  several were then pinned to my home school projects board ready for when we begin our studies of them.  i decided we would begin with mozart (the peeps current favourite), i want to get in their good books at the beginning of the year with at least one subject!  they find mozart's music more mellow than some of his contemporaries ... i adore beethoven, i'm not sure if its because i feel so sad for the life that he lived or whether the emotion of his more powerful music makes me feel more involved.  the peeps find beethoven's music too overbearing, poor man his music was so often misunderstood :)

ANYWAY, back on track with today's pinterest creation.  i created the board and then used the links from pinterest to find some cool pictures and bio's of composers, which i then printed and laminated ready to attach to the new bulletin board.

what was used for this project

i went with a combination of colours so they would stand out on all the parts of the background

finished! love how well it turned out, the composer is just attached with blue tac :)

outcome: REALLY cool!  i now need to find some cheap canvas art that will work for inventors and artists :)  it looks sweet on the wall and will hopefully engage and be a constant reminder of who we are currently concentrating our learning on .,. well that's the hope anyway.  and if that doesn't work, at least we have some pretty nice looking art on the wall that's multifunctional! 

day 215: entrance for our school room

the finished entry signage for our school room :) 

day 215 and our classroom is coming along nicely ... taking longer than i hoped but coming along ... good things take time :)  today i found inspiration on my home school projects board, in the form of signage :)  sara at august fields has this great little sign on her door and it got me thinking our little school room needed one too!

her classroom looks amazing, so clean and simple, love all the elements and thought she has put into it, including the signage on the door and the gorgeous bell to greet her children as they go into school.

as we know perfection isn't my strong point and as a silhouette machine hasn't mysteriously fallen into my craft area i went with the laid back approach to letter placing! i did use some liquid chalk (left here by one of my sweetest friends) to make sure i didn't go drastically up hill or down.

the supplies

the blank canvas

our motto ... i put a table cloth up behind the door so i could concentrate without looking at the mess still in the classroom!

can you see all the mess that is yet to be organised and the blank canvas walls and the filling that still needs to be done
... the list is still LONG :) rome wasn't built in a day and neither was my learning environment!

outcome:  the peeps will love it and i already do ... it's not straight laced because that's not us entirely.  we try to have lots of fun in our learning and i wanted our "school signage" to reflect that and the peeps to smile and be proud as they walk through the door into their learning environment.  i think the door says that .. i hope it will to my little learners as well :)

my thanks to sara at august fields for the truly inspiring classroom she has ... i would love to have a space like that, but feel incredibly blessed that at least i get to home school my peeps and have a dedicated space to do it in.  i will probably dream about her teaching space tonight and tuck it away in my dreams for one day.

day 214: blackboard

the finished blackboard ... perfect ;)

day 214 and blackboards anywhere, any way seem to be all over pinterest! so i, of course, wanted to have a go and join in on this blackboard craze :)  with a new classroom (an old store room) under decoration, painting a blackboard onto one of the newly painted ivory walls seemed like too good an opportunity not to take up ... and besides it's totally practical for a classroom ;)  i have pinned lots of blackboard ideas to most of my boards on pinterest, and there are several pins we took inspiration from on my home school projects board.

steve went down to the local hardware store and helped me get the right paint, who knew their were choices ... and while i have pinned many "make your own blackboard paint" i am not that confident yet, especially with a project this size!

what we used :)

ready to paint!

steve and i decided we wouldn't be able to make a perfect square ... what that really means is steve is a perfectionist and as he was helping me (the not so perfect) we decided it was better for our marriage to go for something that required a little less precision! so we went the free styler way ... yeah baby!

blackboard paint is so effective and so instant!

we literally rolled out a pattern for the wall!

outcome:  NEW ADDICTION for BOTH of us ... immediately after we had finished steve said to me "don't be surprised if you see blackboard paint on a whole lot of things in the future" ... now i know why so many things had been transformed into blackboards on pinterest!  no other way of describing it, it really is totally awesome and once you start, well ... just warning you :)

my thanks goes to all those lovely fellow addicts that have painted with chalkboard paint and then blogged about it.  all that wonderful inspiration ended up on pinterest and now i am completely obsessed with it myself!