Christmas Bell Craft

Today was our first day of Christmas craft week. We haven't had any time this month to do them so we are making up for it this week.
Today's craft was Christmas bell made from a egg carton.
First we cut out an egg cup from the egg carton, and then we painted it.

Next came the glitter.

Finally, we threaded a 12 inch piece of yarn into a needle, and then we threaded it through the bell. Then we threaded the jingle bell onto the yarn and then poked the yarn back through the cup.

And now you have a beautiful Christmas bell!

More Math Fun

More Christmas tree math today. This time the girls had to role the dice and add the numbers to decorate their trees. I drew the trees ahead of time and then made a color code for what color or type of ornament to put on the tree for each number 1 – 12. Lori could put bonus ornaments on if her role equaled more than 12. The first person to decorate their tree all the way was the winner.

 Lori’s Tree. She had to add a six sided die and a twelve sided die.

Audrey had to add two six sided dice.

Lori loved this activity. Audrey was thoroughly bored. I guess one out of two isn’t bad.

In addition to this activity, I also made Lori a “Lori’s Math Fact Book.” She will be writing or drawing pictures about new math facts or concepts she learns.

Her first entry for today was the addition facts she learned while playing the decorate the Christmas tree game.

Technorati Tags: Math Fun

A Puzzling Advent

I've been racking my brain for a couple fo years now, trying to come up with something special to do for Advent. The whole advent wreath and candle lighting doesn't really do for me so I chose the Jesse tree instead. I went to the Reformed Church of America webiste (https://www.rca.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=1625) and printed off the ornaments and the readings that go along with them each day. I won't lie. Cutting out all the ornaments was a PAIN. But I won't have to do it again,and the girls LOVE putting the ornaments on.


The second thing I decided to do was to put puzzle pieces in our Advent calendar for them to pull out each day as they count down to Christmas.

On Christmas day they will get their first clue which will send them on a treasure hunt to find the rest of the puzzle.

Lori is very excited about this. Audrey and Natalie could care less.
Anyways, that's our Advent fun for the season!

Making Math Fun

Math is Lori's least favorite subject so I have to get creative when it comes to the math lessons.
This week I cut out Christmas trees from green construction paper and put a numbered star at the top. Then I wrote out addition and subtration equations on stickers for Lori to put on the correct trees.

I simplified this for Audrey by having her put the correct number of stars on each tree.

They both enjoyed the activity and I didn't hear one complaint. Whew!!!

Melting the Calories Away

This was our 2nd annual Halloween candy melting experiment. I got the idea from a Family Fun Magazine article. The girls had so much fun doing it last year that they wanted to do it again. Last year only the candy no one wanted made it on the cookie sheet, but this year no candy was safe. They probably would have done the whole bag if we would have had room on the cookie sheet.
When they were finally satisfied with their conglomeration we put it in the oven at 350 degrees. The girls ooooed and awed as they watched the candybars become puddles, and the Lifesaver gummies become a mountain of foaming bubbles.

After the candy came out of the oven the girls poked and prodded it see how the heat had changed the texture of the candy.


I think this is going to be a yearly event in our house. So if you've got some candy lying around that you don't want. Melt it in the oven, and watch those calories melt away!

Secret Garden

It is amazing what kids will come up with when they are bored and "there's nothing to do!" Last week Lori had one of those days, and "The Secret Garden" as it is now called, was the product of that need for something to do. Lori has never seen the movie "The Secret Garden" and we have only begun reading book so this was purely out of her imagination. She gathered sticks that we had picked up on a walk one day, rocks from around the house, sand from the sandbox, and rotted tomatoes that were still laying in my garden. From there she, and later Audrey, formed each little place in the garden.
Here are the girls demonstarting the path you take to get into The Secret Garden.


This is the playhouse.

This is the fire pit.

This is a food storage area.

Lori also made a bridge today out of clay and sticks, but I don't have a picture for that.
Perhaps Lori has a landscaping career in her future!

Autumn Fun

We took the girls to Center Grove Apple Orchard this year to pick out our pumpkins. What a blast we had! There was a giant trampoline, a train for the kids to ride on, a corn pool, and the giant slide. The kids were pooped when we left but we had a fabulous time.