Teacher gifts

With the school year coming to a close. I'm always looking for a nice, easy, affordable teacher's gift to thank Bubba's teachers for putting up with him (though I'm told he's an angel most days). Check these out:

What I did was take a washcloth that I knitted, fold it in a triangle and then wrap it around the top of a Dawn Dish soap that I picked up from the Dollar Tree. Who doesn't need dish soap or new wash cloths?

What are some of your ideas??

Snow Days

Snow Days. The bane of my existence. When did these days of childlike joy turn to dread?

When my child was enrolled in school.

I'm sure your asking yourself why? I mean my children are perfect angels all of the time, right?? Insert sarcastic laugh here.

I have learned to love and look forward to my afternoons with only one child at home (who naps most of the time). And as much as I truly LOVE my 4, almost 5, year old, I love him at school...He has a zest for life, and energy that sometimes just wears me down so quickly when we are cooped up in the house due to unfavorable road conditions. And heaven forbid I send him out in the neighborhood alone....a topic for another day.

That's one reason snow days in our house have been nicknamed Preschool Mom Days. I need to focus his energy on something positive. Not to mention I hate the idea of him losing an entire day (all 2.5 hours of it) of learning. Typically it's no where near as long as his normal preschool time, but I've found that he loves these set aside times. And this week he actually requested one of our activities, a repeat from last year.

Preschool Mom Days typically consist of a few different activities, some of them building on skills I know he is learning in the classroom. Cutting practice. Writing practice. Workbooks. Story books. Science experiments. Art projects. Baking cookies. All are fair game. I've found that Pinterest is my best friend on these intentional fun days.

Here are some highlights of our most recent Preschool Mom Day. Hopefully you could be inspired ;)

Popcorn Dancing

We mixed water with baking soda and added a few kernels of popcorn then added white vinegar and watch the magic happen. I was skeptical at first as the kernels didn't do anything, but once we tapped the sides of the container the kernels started dancing. Both Bubba and Trouble found it pretty interesting.














Writing Practice

This was fairly straight forward as we used a writing mat and he traced all the letters that he's learned in school thus far and the letters in his name. Just once, but that seemed to be enough and he was pretty proud of himself and enjoyed showing off his new skill.

Bathtub Art

We used shaving cream mixed with food coloring and just let the boys go to town, Bubba enjoyed this a little more that Trouble, but they both enjoyed the bath afterwards (a major perk for me). This was the requested messy activity.



How do you survive a Snow Day?

Sock Creatures

My mother gave me a book for Christmas. Not surprising as I adore books. This book was an instructional guide on how to use old socks (or new ones) to create creatures. I have become addicted to these little guys! They are so easy and fun, and dang adorable!

I find myself longing to go to Target and raid their dollar aisle for socks that I can transform into these little monsters. I plan on giving them to my nieces and nephew as a Easter gift and Bubba is getting one for Valentine's Day. Actually I'm giving one away this weekend at my family Christmas Party (yes, my family celebrates Christmas well into January).

The best part about them? There are no rules! The sky is the limit when creating these little puppies and nothing goes to waste. Save your scraps and put them all together on another creature. The imperfections are what give the little guy character.

Here are my first 2 attempts (the OXOX one is for Bubba and the Striped one is party of my Dirty Santa gift):