Matching/Memory Game with CUPCAKES!!

For Easter, my mother gave the kiddos each a craft kit (GREAT alternative to giving them more chocolate, by the way).  Trey got a drawing set, Addison got a card making kit, and Lindsay (bless her heart), got a cupcake decorating kit. 

The kit came with a book full of really cool decorating ideas (which she'll probably use when she's a little older b/c they were fairly advanced), a piping bag with all the tips, and a silicon cupcake baking pan. 

When we drove up in the driveway that Sunday night at 9pm (after 3 1/2 hours in the car) , Lindsay was already asking where her apron was.  I promised her that we would get to them on Monday, and that she would be decorating in no time.  Well, we baked Monday night during dinner preparations, but had to let them cool overnight.  FINALLY, Tuesday morning arrived and she was going to decorate those cupcakes if it was the last thing she did!!  I had to beg her to allow me to at least get Addison to school first, and she reluctantly agreed. 
 

She was so excited Tuesday morning when we returned from dropping Addison off at school!  We donned our aprons, and commenced to frosting, sprinkling, (tasting), and decorating!  The sprinkles were flying in every direction!  I'm still picking them out of my hair. 

And as if that weren't enough fun, I had the wild idea of making our time in the kitchen a learning opportunity - not only about baking and proper kitchen procedures, but I wanted to include some of her language lessons into our baking.  So we made this cupcake matching/memory game!  We laid out all the cupcakes on the counter so she could match them up together.  Then, she ate one!  And since she was only allowed to eat one for morning snack and one for after dinner snack, she had to remember which one she ate first so she could eat it's match after dinner.  It was a really cool game that all the kids enjoyed.  :) 

A is for Apple

B is for Bee!

C is for Caterpillar (don't make fun of my deformed caterpillar!)

D is for Dora (who else??)

And our cupcake decorating session wouldn't be complete without a final tribute cupcake for her grandmother, "B" for giving her this lovely gift!! 

 

Thanks B!!!!

Recycling Project - Paper Overload!!

Ever had one of these days?

This was me a few days ago.  Seriously. Whether you homeschool like me, or have kids in public school (also like me), you must know what this feels like.  At least this lady has a large enough desk to pile it onto! Geesh!

Since Trey has gotten the whole family into "Going Green," we've been making a collective conscious effort to try to reuse as much as possible.  So when I came upon  these boxes a couple of weeks ago, I set them aside and just knew I'd be able to come up with something great for them. 

I sat and sat, and stewed and stewed, and tried to figure out what on earth I was going to do with these boxes that could unleash my creativity a little.  Using them as (gasp!) plain old boxes just would not do! 

I went to my thinking spot - the fridge - and pondered and wondered some more.  Then I shut the refrigerator door and it hit me in the face!  No, seriously, it hit me in the face.  Our fridge was covered in soooo many reminders, notes, calendars, menu planners, and special "For You, Mommy," crafts that I almost gave my eyeball a papercut as I was closing the door.  {Shiver}  It looks like a ginormous Where's Waldo exhibit.  So this is what I came up with. 

All I used was old scrapbooking paper and stickers.  I cut out some black paper for the chalkboard, and wrote on it with actual chalk to give it a more authentic chalkboard effect.  You get the idea.  I love it.  So much in fact, that I use it to hold all of my teacher guides, gradebook, menu planners, and other Mom stuff - to keep it off the fridge....well, with the exception of the special "For You, Mommy," crafts - they still hang in their usual spot on the fridge where they belong!!  :) 

I got so excited at how much life and color this brought to our homeschool area, that I decided to make another one for Trey's paperwork.  He now has a place to put his completed work for me to grade.  Once I grade it, I place it behind the tab, "Graded Work."  At the end of our school day, he picks up all his graded work, reviews it, and then places it in his binder. 

It's the same process for this box.  I just used some die cut stars that I had left over from one of last year's bulletin boards.  I tried a white paint pen on this one instead of chalk, because Trey would be the primary user of this box, and I didn't want the chalk to rub off.  I think it worked out ok, but it doesn't show up as well as the chalk did.  :(  The back tab is just a Title Tab sort of thing.  I cut all of the flaps off the top of the box except one.  I covered it in scrapbook paper, and printed off a title from my computer.  You can't see it very well, so I probably could have left it off. 

What types of organizational products do you use in your home office / homeschool area? 

Homeschool Toolbox - Recycling Project!!

Ever go to Sonic and order enough drinks to constitute using one of their drink carriers? We actually do - way too often in fact. These things are pretty sturdy, so I thought I'd try to re-use this in a way that could benefit our homeschooling endeavours - but you could just as easily adapt it for a child's room, the living room remotes, in an art closet, etc. The uses really are limitless. Since we're doing our homeschool lessons at the kitchen table for now, I thought a Homeschool Toolbox would be handy for us.

You'll need a Sonic 4-drink carrier (I'm sure other places have similar ones, too - I've even thought about doing the 2-drink carriers for each child to have their own caddy), labels, stickers, and 4 containers that fit in the openings. I used some small decorative square flower pots that I had around the house. But I've found that those plastic SOLO cups also fit perfectly, and it's a great way to recycle those cups left over from the holidays, etc. :) OR - you could wash out the actual cups that came with the carrier if you're in Super-Recycler Mode.

I printed labels to place under each compartment of the caddy...just to make it easier for the kiddos to find what they need. I also placed a label at the handle - I found that return address labels fit perfectly here!

I also went through some old scrapbooking stickers and found these foam "tool" stickers! I think it turned out cute, and it took less than 5 minutes to put together. :)