This Little Project: February 2012

Free Book Download--The Last Waltz

If you are a feeling a bit old for Dr. Seuss, and want to read something good, I have some good news:
One of my favorite authors (and dear friend) G.G. Vandagriff is giving away the download of her award-winning novel, The Last Waltz today. This is one of my all-time favorite books!
Go grab the e-book now for FREE on Amazon!
You're in for a treat!

Off your Chair with Dr. Seuss

Today I'm over at abcand123learning.com to share some ideas to get you off your chair and moving with some fun games and music to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday.
Come by and see how to use my Dr. Seuss Dress-up with the games I'm sharing!

Learning Alphabetical Order with Dr. Seuss

Jay is just learning how to alphabetize and look things up in the dictionary. {This little project} takes something that we usually do in our heads (alphabetical order) and puts it out on the floor where the kids can interact with it.

{This little project} started with 26 paper plates with a letter on each plate (I put a red ring on them with a marker to make them more seussical). Then I taped them together in a order.

Then we wrote words that rhymed on our hats- rhyming works great because each word start with a different letter.

Then Jay cut his hat up (which turns it into a puzzle too) and put the words under the letter they start with. Kay didn't want to cut up her hat so we used other strips of paper for her words.
We also put our Dr. Seuss book titles in alphabetical order.

The kids really started to grasp how we can organize things according to the order of the alphabet by doing it in a way that they could touch. They're excited about it, and I have a feeling we're going to alphabetizing a lot of {little} things around here!

P.S. Just for fun, you can type anything here and it will put the words in order for you!

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Dr. Seuss Dress Up

I've been getting some {little} dress-ups ready in preparation for some games and other activities we're doing to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd.
Here's our Cat in the Hat costume look so far (the kids will be making their own hats)

{This little project} is courtesy the invention box.
I got this red bag with a purchase recently and loved the color so much that I couldn't throw it out (I know-that probably means I'm weird!) so I put it in our invention box instead. I'm so glad I did because it is perfect for our Cat in the Hat bow ties!

I simply cut it along the seams to get a nice long piece and then cut it in strips.
Then tie it to a rubber band, or hair ponytail before you tie the bow:

Now you can use a clothes pin to attach it to the person wearing it.
For the ears I used black felt and hot glued them to alligator clips.
The white paws are from the dollar store a few years back, but you could whip some up out of white and black felt.

Stay tuned for some fun {little} games to use this Dr. Seuss dress up costume with!
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Friday Favorites and Freebies-Teaching Resources

Happy Friday! I've been enjoying some of these great resources with my kids this week and thought some of you may enjoy them too!
Jay is really into learning to type right now-the right way-on the computer. He loves to be on the computer, so I look for fun ways for him to learn something while he's there! He sat down and whipped out 3 lessons of this typing game in about an hour. I couldn't believe how much he liked it. I found it courtesy of this post where you can find other typing games as well.

Enchanted Learning is another go-to place for me. Kay loves to make little books. So these mini books on all kinds of subjects are awesome for her. There are so many great resources there!

The other great resources we use a lot is teacherspayteachers.com. It's an amazing marketplace of talented teachers sharing the resources they have created to teach something. There are tons that are free to print or download and tons that are just a few dollars--in all the subjects and languages you can imagine! So fun!

So have a fun time learning or teaching something new with this week's favorites and freebies!

Happy Weekend to you!

Friday Favorites and Freebies-Building with Kids

Some of my favorite {little projects} are the ones where I get to create something with my kids. And doesn't FREE always sound like a {little} more fun?
We are regular attendees at both the Lowe's and Home Depot children's building programs.
If you haven't been before, you are in for a lot of fun!!
Here are some details for {this little project}

Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics are held the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month starting at 10am. You can register for them here and also see what the {little project} will be. Registration isn't required though. You can just show up that morning and as long as there are still kits left you are good.

The Home Depot Kids Workshops are held on the 1st Saturday of each month (the two don't conflict) from 9am to noon. Their website (which shows what {little project} is next). No registration needed.

I've taken Jay to the Lowe's ones since he was a little guy. Kay has always come too. She loves it just as much--maybe more than he does! I'm sure the fine print somewhere says something about age, but they have never turned us away. My kids really look forward to these!
Parents lend a helping hand but the kid-sized tools help them create with you and my kids always get a lot of satisfaction out of their efforts to make their {little project} with building materials--even when they can't get the entire nail in by themselves.

I love the confidence that my kids have gained as they have learned to build.
Both stores provide free aprons for the kids to use again at each building day. Lowe's gives the kids a patch to put on for each project they finish, Home Depot gives pins to put on the aprons to show which projects they've done.
Check it out, you have time to get the next one on your calendars (Lowe's Feb. 25, Home Depot March 3) and go have a great time making a {little project} together!

Chocolate Cranberry Crunch Cookies

Ok, I have a new favorite treat. It's kinda like a cookie. But it's more like chocolate yumminess!

Meet the Chocolate Cranberry Crunch Cookies
(say that 3 times fast!)

My meeting this treat was born of trouble: I had no eggs on hand and needed to make cookies. I hadn't really noticed before, but every cookie recipe has eggs in it!

But not this recipe! And it doesn't have any oven time either, which can also be a bonus.

I can hardly tell you about {this little project} without needing to go eat it right now!

ok...self-control...

so here is what you need for {this little project}

(if there are ingredients you don't like, just leave those out and increase the others a little--it's all good!)

Chocolate Cranberry Crunch Cookies:

1 lb package of milk chocolate chips

1 cup of peanut butter (crunchy is yummier)

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans or slivered almonds)

3 1/2 cups rice crispies cereal

(you need wax paper, and cookie sheets too)

How to make {this little project}

First, I like to measure out my ingredients. Because once the chocolate is melted the recipe goes fast and I don't want to worry about the chocolate cooling before I'm done combining all the ingredients.

Start by melting the chocolate chips (microwave or stove). Stir periodically until all melted.

Then mix in the peanut butter, coconut, cranberries, nuts, marshmallows. Then add the cereal. Sometimes I add more or sometimes less, depending on how chocolaty I want it to be. But the crunchiness of the cereal is so yummy!

Then cover your cookie sheet(s) in wax paper and drop the chocolate yumminess into little mounds on it.

Move the cookie sheets to the refrigerator for 20 minutes to cool and set before eating (you really do need to do this for the cookies to set~but it tastes good without it too!)

It's best to keep them cool until just before it's time to serve them. That way they don't melt too fast in your hand.

If you store the cookies between wax paper in an air-tight container in the fridge they still taste perfect up to a week later. You can freeze them that way for about 3 months.

These are great to have on hand in the freezer for surprise company! I get compliments every time I serve them...and they are so easy
(and you don't even need eggs to make them!)

Seriously, a super yummy {little project} and perfect to share with your valentine
or as part of the Kindness Project!

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