Homeschool Curriculum Archives

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Beach Ball Craft

April 27, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Summer is right around the corner! When I was younger, summer was easily my favorite season of the year. I grew up about 30 miles from the beach, so hitting the shore was my favorite pastime.

Now we live further inland. About five hours further inland. So my trips to the beach are few and far between. But that doesn’t stop me from trying to have some summer fun with the kids!

I’ve even been known to make moon sand on our driveway. Hey, at least it’s sand, right?

One of the ways we’re welcoming summer this year is by making another one of our coffee filter crafts for kids. This time, it’s a beach ball coffee filter craft!

Remember those multi-colored beach balls you’d see all over the shore as a kid? Here’s a way to make one of your own with the kids, even when the weather won’t cooperate with a trip to the beach.

If you enjoy this craft, be sure to try our coffee filter sun craft as well!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Beach Ball Craft

For this coffee filter beach ball craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Start by using a black crayon to trace a circle around the center of the coffee filter. Then draw a horizontal line on either side of the circle.

Draw two diagonal lines inside each “half” of the filter. You should end up with six (roughly) equal-sized sections.

Then color every other section with a primary color. I went with green, blue, and red, leaving the other sections white. Glue the filter onto a piece of construction paper.

Now all you have left to do is color the center circle yellow…

and trace over all of your section lines again with a black crayon. Done! Looks like it needs a little air, though. 🙂

Check out some of our other easy peasy coffee filter crafts for kids to make!

And see more easy activities on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

This post is part of the Summer Unit Study roundup! Click on over to read even more summer learning ideas from my fellow bloggers!

Children’s Board Books about Summer from The Jenny Evolution

Summer Field Trip Guide from Bambini Travel

Summer Apps for Younger Kids from The Moments at Home

25 Summer Learning Activities from My Joy-Filled Life

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Umbrella Craft

April 21, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

We’ve had some pretty rainy days around here lately. I mean, they say that “April showers bring May flowers”, but we’ve been having some rainstorms that are a few degrees beyond “showers”. With all the rain we’re getting, we should see more flowers than ever before this May!

Since the weather’s been so windy and rainy lately, I thought it would be cool to make another one of our coffee filter crafts for kids: a fun coffee filter umbrella craft!

This is a simple craft that only takes a few minutes and a handful of supplies. Plus, it’s easy to do with several kids at once!

If you love making this craft, check out some of our other easy art activities, including a coffee filter basketball craft and a coffee filter sun craft. Or if you want to get a jump on your May flowers, make our coffee filter flowers!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Umbrella Craft

To make this coffee filter umbrella craft, you’ll need the following supplies: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Start by cutting the coffee filter in half. You’ll only need one half for the craft.

Color the filter half. I wanted to use a bright color to contrast with our dreary day background, so I went with yellow. But you can use any color you want.

Use a glue stick to glue the filter onto the construction paper at an angle.

Use a red crayon to draw an umbrella handle. We just made a letter “J” shape.

Draw some raindrops in the corner falling onto the umbrella.

If you want, you can add some rainclouds at the top too.

Ta-da! So easy and simple for little hands to make!

Want to try a fun twist on a basic coffee filter umbrella craft? Make one that’s been blown inside out!

To do this, color the coffee filter half yellow as above, but glue the filter onto the construction paper with the curved side down.

For ours, we cut a chenille pipe cleaner in half and curled one end into a “J” shape to form the umbrella handle. I used red, but (again) use any color you want.

After you draw the raindrops, add some storm clouds to show how hard it’s “raining” in your picture.

And you’re done! Until a little hand decides to add a few more details. 🙂

Did you get a chance to make this easy coffee filter umbrella craft? I’d love to know how your kids liked it!

Try these other simple kids’ crafts!

See more easy crafts for children to make on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

How to Improve Reading Fluency with Nessy Reading & Spelling

April 18, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

My seven-year-old is well above grade level at reading comprehension, math, and writing, which thrills me. But his reading fluency needs a little help. Because he has ADHD, he’s super active. (And I mean, super active.) And that makes him rather…impatient.

When he tries to read aloud or spell words, he gets frustrated whenever he can’t do it right the first time. But, like most kids, he loves to play. So it was it a wonderful gift to get to try out Nessy Reading & Spelling – a game-based reading and spelling program that makes it simple to improve reading fluency for active kids or children with dyslexia!

Read on to see how we’re using this fabulous reading program to help our child with ADHD work on reading and spelling. Plus, learn how to score a 15 percent discount on a monthly subscription AND a free book about dyslexia!

Disclosure: I received access to this program in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

How Nessy Reading & Spelling Works

Nessy Reading & Spelling looks and operates much like a video game, so your kids are not going to fight you when it’s time for reading practice. I promise. 🙂

When you first sign up, you’ll receive login information and then you can create a “monkey” (an avatar) for your child. Or you can let them create it on their own.

Kids can use their own name to sign in, so you don’t have to worry about helping them remember a username. Once they log in for the first time, they’ll get a quick tour of how the program works.

The tour is really helpful, because it shows kids how to navigate between “islands” (game levels) and how to find all the activities for each island. Nessy Reading & Spelling is touch-centric, so it’s awesome to try on a tablet, by the way.

After completing the video tour, kids receive “nuggets”, which are basically points. As they progress through games and levels, they receive more that they can use in MonkeyTown, which I’ll talk about in a bit.

Once they take the tour, kids are prompted to complete the Nessy Challenge – an assessment of their current reading level.

During the Nessy Challenge, kids fill in blanks with the appropriate word. As they complete words correctly, the questions get more and more difficult.

I will admit: The Nessy Challenge is long. It takes kids through all ten levels, and the challenge automatically proceeds to the next level once one is finished.

After about five levels, my guy was at the end of his patience limit. So I let him stop and go on to the Home screen to find an island he could explore. (You can always resume the challenge or take it again at a different time.)

Here’s a look at the “islands” in Nessy Reading and Spelling. Each one corresponds to about half a grade level, so Islands 1 and 2 are roughly equivalent to kindergarten, while islands 9 and 10 equate to fifth grade or so.

You might wonder: How can you go over half of an elementary grade on one of these islands?

Easy! By including a ton of standard-specific exercises! These islands are jam-packed with reading practice, lessons, games, and even printables!

There’s even sight word and mnemonic practice included – and that’s just in Island 1!

Remember MonkeyTown? Here’s a look at it. After kids complete their schoolwork for the day, they can go play in MonkeyTown – a game area that’s just for fun. You can set limits as to how long they can play in this area or how many lessons they must complete before entering.

Using Nessy Reading & Spelling to Improve Reading Fluency

Once my seven-year-old finished the Nessy Challenge, he was placed on Island 5. After looking through the standards, we started him on compound words – a topic he hadn’t learned much about yet.

Since he was already familiar with the concept of compound words (two small words joined together to make a larger word), he went straight to the games.

In the game “Monkey Words”, kids can help their monkeys jump to the top of the tree by correctly combining small words to form compound words. My guy did pretty good with this one.

See? At the end of the game, you can see a report that shows you which words kids learned, how they scored, and how long it took them to complete it. You can set the passing score however you like, but the default is 8 out of 10.

Then it was on to another game – “Hands Off My Bananas”. This was a great activity, because it was practice in typing, spelling, and recognizing the same compound words he just practiced in the previous game.

In this game, he had to listen to the compound word being spoken and then type it correctly. I love how Nessy Reading & Spelling lets kids work on reading and recognizing the same group of words through a variety of exercises. So much better than just drilling them over and over!

And, as you can see, even though he worked on the same group of words for about 20 minutes, he didn’t get impatient or frustrated at all. He loved it!

Finally, for that lesson, we used one of the printable resources: A compound words bingo game! We printed out the game and let my two boys play against each other.

As with the previous exercises, this game focused on the very same set of compound words. The challenge for each boy was to find the compound word I called out and get “BINGO” before the other.

Since the game boards aren’t identical (each one contains different words), there’s truly no way to know who will win.

But my seven-year-old won anyway. 🙂

And I made them both shake hands afterward. Good game, fellas!

We really had a ball working with Nessy Reading & Spelling and this was just a few exercises from one of the over 100 lessons! There’s so much to work with here for kids from grades K-5. It’s truly an excellent, comprehensive program for building reading fluency and spelling skills!

To learn more about Nessy Learning and how you can get a subscription to Nessy Reading & Spelling, follow the company on social media:

And if you’re ready to sign up for a monthly Nessy Reading & Spelling subscription, you can save 15% with the promo code BLOG17!

Plus, score an ebook about how dyslexia affects kids – FREE! This is super important if you have a child that struggles with dyslexia or if you suspect your early reader may be displaying signs of a learning disorder. Download the free Dyslexia Explained ebook to learn more about how to help your kids master reading, even if they’re living with dyslexia.

Get more tips for helping your readers on my Reading for Kids Pinterest board!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Cat Craft

April 14, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

When I was about 20, I found a stray tabby kitten outside my job. She was so tiny and she just kept mewling and mewling. Of course, I caved and took her home.

That was years ago (I’m not going to say how many!), but I still remember her grey striped coat and her giant eyes. She was adorable.

So, for our newest coffee filter crafts for kids idea, I thought I’d make a coffee filter cat craft that looked like her. This is really simple and cute for kids! And, while I made mine grey, you can make it in any color you like!

This fun craft isn’t the only one you can make with a simple coffee filter! Try our easy Coffee Filter Bouncing Basketball Craft or our Coffee Filter Sun Craft for more crafting fun!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Cat Craft

To make this coffee filter cat craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Star by coloring the coffee filter grey. I used a crayon, because I didn’t want the color to be so heavy that the details wouldn’t show. Then glue the filter onto the center of a piece of construction paper.

Basically, all that’s left to do is build the cat’s face. Start with a pair of ears above the filter and then add some eyes with a black colored pencil. Be sure to make the eyes rather large so that the face fills the filter.

Use a red colored pencil to draw a nose. (An upside-down triangle works fine.) Then use the black colored pencil to draw a mouth. Add a red tongue if you like.

You know how cats have those little freckles that their whiskers grow out of? Add a few of those, with some whiskers. Again, I just used the black colored pencil for this.

Then a few stripes at four diagonal corners! And those little fat roll lines they have under their chins. 🙂

We’re pretty much done!

Okay, let’s add some long eyelashes. Then, we’ll be done.

Check out these other simple coffee filter crafts for kids to make at home!

See more easy craft projects on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

Are You Too Busy to Homeschool?

April 11, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been homeschooling for nine years now. (Wow. It’s been nine years.) And in that time, I’ve heard no end of variations on the “I Want to Homeschool, But…” theme.

“I want to homeschool, but I’m too broke.”

“I want to homeschool, but I need to work.”

“I want to homeschool, but I’m not a teacher.”

“I want to homeschool, but I can’t take being around my kids all day.” (My personal favorite!)

But the one I’ve heard the most is: “I want to homeschool, but I’m too busy!”

Lots of people automatically think they’re too busy to homeschool. So if you’ve thought the same thing, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone! A lot of us (even veteran homeschoolers) have felt the same way!

If you think you can’t homeschool because you’re too busy, you might not be! Read on to find out just how flexible homeschooling can be, even for your full schedule.

Image c/o: creatista / depositphotos

Are You Too Busy to Homeschool?

I’m not going to begin by telling you that you’re not busy. It’s 2017. We’re ALL busy. Even people who don’t look busy are busy. And if you have kids, you are busy. Busy taking care of them, managing your home, possibly working or caring for aging parents (or both), and trying to maintain some semblance of health. It’s a lot. I’m not going to lie.

So if you’re thinking that homeschooling is something to add on top of all of these things, it’s no wonder that you feel too busy to homeschool. I would too! After all, if you’re already juggling bowling balls, it’s going to be harder if someone throws another one at you, right?

How to Make Homeschooling Fit Your Life

Here’s what I want to encourage you to do: change the way you think about homeschooling. It’s not actually a separate job to add onto your other responsibilities. Instead, it’s a continuous experience that can go on as you do other things.

“Homeschooling is not a separate task. It’s the constant in the background of whatever you do with your children.”

Look at like this: The device you’re using to read this post has several programs that automatically run in the background, no matter what app you use. So as you’re browsing the internet (and reading this post), your device is using a ton of other apps in the background.

These are not applications you have to stop and open up separately. In fact, if your device is running smoothly, you don’t even notice that they’re in operation. But they’re keeping up with every new program you open.

And that’s how homeschooling can be. When you think of it as an educational journey you travel with your children, it’s not a separate task that you have to begin and end at some other time in the day. It’s the constant in the background of whatever you do.

Naturally, you need practical homeschooling suggestions for putting together a schedule, choosing a curriculum, and teaching your kids, especially if you have more than one child. But please, please don’t dismiss homeschooling at the outset because you’re too busy. You CAN make it fit your life. You can.

Need more homeschooling support? Don’t miss these posts!

Plus, see more tips on my Homeschooling Pinterest board!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Earth Craft

April 6, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

I have to admit: I am NOT the craftiest person on the planet. I like to knit, sew, and write, but it’s hard for me to come up with crafts to make with my kids. The biggest issue is that I hate making a mess. So if the project involves glitter, lots of glue, or tiny pieces of paper, I’m probably going to run screaming in the other direction.

That’s not to say I won’t ever make those kinds of projects with the kids, but it’s a struggle. Have you ever tried to get glitter glue off of a four-year-old’s face? It’s not fun.

So whenever I do a craft with the kids, I prefer to make one that doesn’t take a lot of time, doesn’t need a lot of supplies, and doesn’t make a big mess. And that’s why I love coffee filter crafts for kids! There are plenty that we can make in no time flat.

This coffee filter earth craft is no exception! It’s an easy craft that only needs a few supplies and makes almost no mess at all. I promise. 🙂 Plus, it’s a great activity for kids who are learning about conservation, the universe, or geography!

If you like this craft, don’t miss our easy bouncing basketball coffee filter craft or our simple coffee filter sun craft!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Earth Craft

To make this craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Start off by coloring the coffee filter blue. You can use either crayons or colored pencils for this. I went with a blue color that looks aqua – just to give the appearance of water.

After you color the filter, glue it onto a piece of construction paper.

Use a green colored pencil to do a rough outline of the continents. I didn’t really try to draw the actual coastlines, because I…ahem…am not the best artist on the planet either. But I did enough to resemble the continents.

See? You can kind of see Florida hanging down in the top left. Kind of.

Afterward, just color in the “continents” with the green pencil. I colored these shapes in pretty heavily to make sure they showed up over the blue color.

Really, you could stop here and be finished with the coffee filter earth craft.

Or you can stretch out a cotton ball or two and glue the pieces in random spots to make “clouds”. Either way, you’re basically done. Wasn’t that easy?

Try these other fun crafts for kids!

And see more easy craft ideas on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Sun Craft

March 30, 2017 by Selena Robinson 12 Comments

We’re feeling sunny with the latest one of our coffee filter crafts for kids! This time, we made a coffee filter sun craft and – like all the others – it’s super easy!

Now when I say that this craft is super easy, I mean it is literally SUPER EASY. This whole thing took about five minutes, so it’s a perfect activity for young kids when you’re studying spring, summer, the sun, the solar system, day and night, and plenty of other topics!

Since this project is so easy, your little ones might be looking for more! Be sure to try our coffee filter basketball craft, our coffee filter flowers, and our coffee filter ladybug craft for kids to make!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Sun Craft

To make this craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Start by simply coloring the coffee filter bright yellow. The actual color we used is called “Dandelion” and it was a nice bright color that seemed better than ordinary yellow.

Use your glue stick to glue the filter down onto the center of a piece of construction paper. Light blue works well because it resembles the sky.

Now, just use a yellow colored pencil to draw “rays” around the sun’s edge. Simple triangles work just fine. We decided to use an orange colored pencil to add a little more color to our sun and rays. To do so, we just sketched a few lines over the whole filter lightly.

And we’re done! Just easy peasy from start to finish!

If you’re working with a group of kids such as at a daycare, an afterschool program, or a group party, this coffee filter sun craft is a perfect activity since you don’t need a lot of supplies, you don’t need a lot of time, and the kids don’t need a lot of help!

Try some other easy crafts below!

See more crafting fun on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

25 Free Spring Printables for Preschoolers

March 29, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Are your little ones getting spring fever yet?

My four-year-old is super excited about going to the park now that the skies are turning blue and the air is getting warmer.

Yes, I know we can go to the park during winter, but I’m from Florida, so no.

To help her along with her preschool lessons, I use a lot of printables for preschoolers and so today I’m sharing 25 free spring printables for preschoolers!

These are wonderful for helping young ones work on basic early childhood skills while enjoying a fun spring theme!

Check out the list below for some great resources for early learners!

And be sure to browse our list of spring books for kids that you can read together this year!

Work on essential early childhood skills with these free spring printables for preschoolers!

25 Free Spring Printables for Preschoolers

1. Colorful Birds Color Matching Activity – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Printable Flower Petal Counting Activity – My Mundane and Miraculous Life

3. Name Recognition Flower Garden – Totschooling

4. Spring Preschool Worksheets – Mess for Less

5. Butterfly Identification Cards – Look! We’re Learning!

6. Flower Names Building Printable – A Dab of Glue Will Do

7. Spring Sight Words Flashcards – Look! We’re Learning!

8. Bugs Preschool Worksheets – Learning 2 Walk

9. Rainbow Letter Match Free Printable – A Little Pinch of Perfect

10. Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats – Look! We’re Learning!

11. Printable Flower Counting Book – Fun-A-Day

12. Catch a Bug Printable Game – Picklebums

13. Printable Spring Flower Flashcards – Look! We’re Learning!

See more spring preschool printables on the next page!

Pages: 1 2

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Easy Coffee Filter Turtle Craft

March 16, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

We’re still using our coffee filters to make coffee filter crafts for kids!

This week, we’re making a really easy (and cute) coffee filter turtle craft!

This easy craft is part of a science and ELA lesson we’ve been working on about animal collective nouns.

In our lesson, we’ve been learning about groups of turtles. It turns out that a group of turtles has some pretty nifty names.

Read on to see how we learned about turtles and made this fun turtle craft. Plus, grab a free collective animal nouns matching activity for use with your students.

Learn even more about turtles with our list of fun turtle books for kids to read!

This simple coffee filter turtle craft is a fun spring or summer craft for kids to make!

What Do You Call a Group of Turtles?

We’ve been learning about animal collective nouns for the past few weeks. Many animals have their own unique collective nouns for groups, so we might refer to a “pride” of lions or a “murder” of crows.

Did you know that a group of turtles can actually be referred to four different ways?

While a “bale” of turtles is the most commonly used term, a group of turtles can also be called a “nest” of turtles, a “dole” of turtles, or (my personal favorite) a “turn” of turtles.

Try saying a “turn of turtles” three times fast.

So – we decided to make our own turn of turtles using coffee filters!

How to Make a Coffee Filter Turtle Craft

To make this easy coffee filter turtle craft, you’ll need a few items. (This post contains affiliate links. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Two white basket coffee filters (One for each turtle)
Washable markers
Crayons
Construction paper
Glue stick
Scissors

Easy Coffee Filter Turtle Craft Supplies

If you’re only making one turtle, you’ll only need one coffee filter. To make a family, grab a few more.

Making a Simple Coffee Filter Turtle Craft

Start by coloring the filter light green. I used green apple here.

Then use a glue stick to glue the green coffee filter onto the center of a piece of green construction paper.

Use a brown marker to outline several turtle shell spots.

Coffee Filter Turtle Craft to Make with Kids

Then go back and fill in the outlines to make your shell markings solid.

Use a pencil to outline the head and four feet.

To keep the turtle body even, I drew the feet at opposite ends of the shell.

Cut the turtle out around the shell. Be careful not to cut the feet or head off!

Because I used green construction paper, I didn’t have to color the head or feet in.

Making a Turtle Craft with Coffee Filters

Add a happy face with a black marker and you’re done!

Working with very young children? Try this even easier version that doesn’t require scissors!

With this one, color in the turtle “shell” as before. But use a green marker to color in the feet and head directly onto the construction paper.

Add a few polka dots or swirls to complete the picture.

Making an Easy Coffee Filter Turtle Craft with Kids

Aw….they love each other!

And that’s it! Our “turn” of coffee filter turtles is complete!

Get the printable instructions below!

Easy Coffee Filter Turtle Craft for Kids

This simple coffee filter turtle craft is a perfect simple animal craft to make with kids!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

White basket style coffee filter
Construction paper
Markers
Crayons
Glue stick
Scissors

Instructions

Color the entire coffee filter light green.
Glue the filter onto the center of a piece of green construction paper.
Use a brown marker to outline the turtle shell markings. Then color them in.
Lightly sketch the turtle's head and feet using a pencil.
Use scissors to carefully cut the turtle shell out, making sure not to cut off the head and feet.
Draw a face on the turtle's head with a black marker.

Animal Collective Nouns Sorting Activity

Want to learn more about how animal groups are named?

Pick up this printable collective animal nouns matching activity by clicking the image or link below!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter – this Sunday!

>>> Animal Collective Noun Matching Activity <<<

Don’t miss these other simple crafts for kids!

This simple paper bee craft is a fun way to make an easy spring or summer craft with kids!

Share an easy summer craft with the kids and make this easy paper ladybug craft! So fun for little hands!

Make this easy toilet paper roll lion craft with the kids for a fun art activity!

Check out more fun creative collective animal noun ideas below!

Touring NYC Landmarks with New York City Picture Books

March 14, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

New York City is one of our favorite places to visit. One of our family members lives in Queens and the kids always love traveling through the big city, staring at the buildings, and trying to spot the city’s most famous features.

Usually, though, we don’t have enough time to tour all of the NYC landmarks while we’re in town. So I wanted to put together a New York City landmarks unit study that the kids could use to really get an understanding of these buildings and places and how they fit into the history of New York and the U.S.

Which is why I was thrilled to get a chance to review five beautiful children’s books about New York City from Candlewick Press! These picture books and nonfiction biographies brought the Big Apple to us and helped the kids learn tons about the city!

Read on to see how we built our unit around lovely children’s books from Candlewick Press! Plus, find out how to score a 25 percent discount on Candlewick books for your family AND see how you can win a set of Judy Moody paperbacks!

Disclosure: I received these books in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

New York City Picture Books about NYC Landmarks

I love reading great children’s books with the kids and Candlewick Press has made its reputation on excellent children’s literature, so I knew I’d find some wonderful books about NYC in the company’s catalog.

To cover our New York City landmarks unit, we used five excellent books from Candlewick Press:

The first four are absolutely beautiful picture books about New York City, while the fifth is a heartwrenching, but age-appropriate retelling of the events of September 11, 2001.

The book Panorama Pops: New York is unlike any other children’s book I’ve ever seen. It’s an exquisitely cut fold-out book that serves as a 3D map of the city.

You can literally tour the city from the Statue of Liberty to Grand Central Terminal on one side and then travel from Times Square up to Yankee Stadium on the other. Since the landmarks in the book are arranged from north to south, it’s a pretty good geography lesson about NYC as well.

I wish you all could have seen me standing over the boys as they looked at this book. “Don’t pull it!” “Turn the pages carefully!” “No, that part is supposed to fold up!” I was basically treating it as a work of art. It’s that beautiful.

The book features twelve landmarks in all and gives a few facts about each one, along with a lovely illustration.

Plus, there are tiny little foldables. It’s just perfect. In fact, this book is such a little treasure that it would probably make a great gift for an adult.

With the book A Walk in New York, kids can explore more landmarks as they “walk” along the city. We used it for read-aloud time and my eight-year-old did the honors.

My kids were impressed with the size of Macy’s. (As am I whenever I’m in town.)

But that’s nothing compared to the Empire State Building, which has its own fold-out poster in the book.

Then we took a closer look at the city with the book Inside and Out: New York, another quirky book that I’d never seen before. With this book, you can pull out a large wall-sized chart of the city and explore intricate details about New York and its people.

But, then you can flip the book over and see what’s happening “inside” each of the buildings. You can even see people taking the stairs up to the top of the Statue of Liberty!

At the back, there are selected items for kids to find in the pictures. Naturally, my kids started there.

And the first thing they “found” was the New York Knicks playing basketball at Madison Square Garden, which is NOT on the list! (But we’re huge basketball fans, so it was inevitable.)

I knew that the book Pop Up: New York was going to be a big hit and it was. Pop-up books are always popular with kids and my four love them. But this book takes pop-ups to a whole new level.

You can see nearly all of the city’s landmarks in it – to scale! So when you look at the Flatiron Building, you can see the Empire State Building towering behind it. Plus, there are facts about the city tucked away in foldable books throughout.

The kids quickly found the page with Yankee Stadium and tried to find the players. As you can see, on the back sides of each pop-up feature are the names of each place and facts about it.

We spent a little time examining the financial district to find Wall Street and the World Trade Center.

Which led to a discussion about what the World Trade Center used to look like.

Reading about September 11, 2001 with Candlewick Press

September 11, 2001 is a difficult historical event to discuss with kids. It’s still a difficult event to discuss with adults. I didn’t live in New York, so (like so many people) I watched everything happen on television. But whenever I hear the date mentioned, I instantly get a knot in my stomach – even 15 years later.

The kids know that the original World Trade Center was destroyed. And they know how it happened. But now that my middle schooler is getting older, I wanted her to learn more about what that day was like. So we started reading the book September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City.

This book talks about September 11 from the standpoint of people who were there and lived to tell about it. They talk honestly about how they felt, what they saw, and how they processed it all afterward.

It’s a difficult book to read, but it is age-appropriate and the pictures are in black and white, which mutes the horror a little bit.

After skimming a few pages, Tigger disappeared into her bedroom with the book. She came out about five minutes later crying. We hugged and talked about it for a while.

At the back of the book is an afterword that ties in the events of that day with the events that followed: the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, the case for weapons of mass destruction, the capture of Osama bin Laden, and more. I’ll be saving this book for a more in-depth middle-grades unit later.

If you’ve been wondering how to broach this topic with your older kids, this book is a tough, but excellent resource to use.

Get to know the other reading selections for kids from Candlewick Press! Sign up for the Candlewick newsletter to get news about the latest book releases! Plus, you can read about some of the newest book collections below:

For more about Candlewick Press, follow the company on social media!

Now – for the goodies!

Score a 25 percent discount on any purchase from Candlewick Press when you use the promo code CANDLEWICK at checkout! AND – enter to win a set of eight Judy Moody paperbacks FREE! One winner will receive a boxed set of books 1-8 from Candlewick Press! Use the Giveaway Tools widget below to enter.

Entry -Form

For more awesome ways to use children’s lit with your family, follow my Reading for Kids board on Pinterest!

Hands-On Ancient History with Project Passport!

March 7, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Personally, I love history, even ancient history. Trying to make those subjects interesting to an eight-year-old, though, poses its own set of challenges. It can be tough to help kids to “see” the people and events so that they can understand what happened and why it has meaning for our modern world.

And that’s why I was so excited to have a chance to review the Project Passport unit study series from Home School in the Woods! Each unit focuses on a specific time period in ancient history and is chock-full with hands-on ancient history activities, lessons, and readings that make history exciting for kids!

Take a look at this fabulous history curriculum in our review! Plus, one reader will win all four of the current Project Passport History Unit Studies CDs! Read on to get the details and see how you can score these incredible products for yourself!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Preparing a Project Passport Hands-On History Unit Study

We had planned to cover ancient history with Pooh this year, so the unit studies from Home School in the Woods was a great fit! The newest unit study is Project Passport: Ancient Greece and it is AH. MAZING.

Here’s a quick look at just some of the resources in this fabulous unit. The CD contains all of the available downloads, printables, and instructions you’ll need to assemble the unit study. By the way, Project Passport unit studies are also available as digital downloads, with all of the same goodies.

Now here’s a look at how we got started putting our unit together!

Home School in the Woods has done a LOT of the work on this unit for you, so take advantage of every single download, instruction sheet, and PDF in the program. We printed the teacher’s guides, key’s and instructions for one binder. Then we started working on the “Scrapbook of Sights” for Pooh to complete as we went along.

At the beginning of the CD (or digital download), you’ll find a comprehensive Travel Itinerary, which gives you an overview of the entire unit. This is super helpful for scheduling your lessons.

There are also a lot of travel “tips” listed at the beginning. DO NOT SKIP THIS. This is a great reference sheet as you go along, especially if you’re a need-to-know-everything-at-the-start person (like yours truly).

I want to add a couple of caveats here:

Project Passport is loaded and, I mean, loaded with printables. Invest in a reliable printer. (Here’s the one we use.)
There is a lot of information to read through to see which activities to complete with each section of the unit. I have ADD, so I had to break each section down, highlight the action steps on each lesson, and then check off each printable as I printed it. That was the only way I could keep my activities organized.

Pooh and I started off by creating our “Scrapbook of Sights” – a visual memento binder of our “trip” through Ancient Greece.

I loved this activity so much, because it gave him a chance to keep up with little reminders of everything he learned through the unit. In fact, we’re still filling it up as we continue the program!

At the first “stop”, you and your child complete several activities that will be completed along the way. Two of these include the actual “passport” (as in “Project Passport”) and your “luggage”, which will collect your travel memories.

The passport is designed to be used as you travel through all of the Project Passport unit studies, including:

Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece (which we’re showcasing in this post)
The Middle Ages
Renaissance and Reformation
Ancient Rome (will be released in 2018)

As you finish each unit, your child gets to add a new “stamp” to his passport!

Now that we were all packed, it was time to head on our trip!

How to Use Project Passport Hands-On Ancient History Unit Studies

Whew! That was just the getting started part! See what I mean about this unit study being chock-full of activities?

Project Passport units are designed to last for six to twelve weeks of study. Really, though, I think you could stretch them out to a full school year (36 weeks), especially if you only cover history once or twice a week. These units are that comprehensive.

In our first “stop”, we talked about the origin of Ancient Greece. Pooh started adding to his “Snapshots in History” pages in the scrapbook.

We cut out character/place cards, colored them, and glued them in the scrapbook. At each “stop”, you collect a few of these.

We also began working on our maps of the Aegean Civilizations and the Ancient Greek World.

Coming along! (This is another activity that you add to as you go through the unit.)

A really cute part of Project Passport is receiving postcards from historical figures. Each postcard is written as if it came from a person in history, describing what they’re doing and where they’re at. Our first card came from Agamemnon and it briefly explained the origin of the Trojan War.

Pooh drew a ship sailing to Troy on the front of the postcard…

…and then added to it our Postcard Rack in our scrapbook.

At the beginning of each stop, you can print a guide text that serves as the basis for the unit. It’s really the “textbook” part of the unit. It’s good to read through this with the kids before you try the activities. Otherwise, they won’t have any context for what they’re learning.

A quick note here: Project Passport unit studies are not secular. The guide texts mention the Bible, Biblical characters, and God. We’re Christians, but we typically use secular homeschooling curriculum, and I didn’t expect those references. But, they’re very few and far between, so you can skip them if you want. I didn’t see any overtly religious information in the activities.

Another of the activities we’ll be building on is the “Greek Weekly” newspaper. At each stop, kids can write their own news stories about what’s happening in the Greek World. (Stories can be based on what they learned from the guide text.)

Hmmm….interesting stories in the paper today! (Just kidding, he’d only written one story so far.)

In our later “stops”, we collected more character cards and colored them.

And then pasted them in our Scrapbook, which was getting pretty full by this point. 🙂

And we got another postcard for our scrapbook too!

Project Passport also has a mega lapbook you can complete along the way. And what’s really nice is that kids are working their way into it through the unit. In this stop, Pooh worked on making matchbooks that each contained information about life in Ancient Athens.

Each matchbook contained information and pictures about an aspect of the city. We added the base page to our scrapbook and started assembling.

This activity alone could last a week. I mean, you’re studying about the cultural, political, social, and economic features of the city of Athens in ONE activity.

And we’re finished! (With that activity, that is. We easily have another nine weeks of activities in the unit.)

What you’ve seen in this review is just a few of the activities in three “stops” on the Project Passport: Ancient Greece unit study. Know how many stops there are altogether? 25. Now that’s a serious hands-on ancient history homeschool curriculum!

Stop by and pick up a Project Passport unit study yourself! If you want to go in chronological order, start with Ancient Egypt, then move on to Ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance and Reformation. It will be an awesome history education for your kids!

Now: for the great giveaway news! One winner will receive all four Project Passport CDs – FREE! (If the winner lives outside the U.S., he or she will receive digital downloads instead of CDs.) Enter for your chance to win using the Giveaway Tools widget below!

Entry -Form

Find out more about the entire Project Passport product line by following Home School in the Woods on social media!

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google +
And sign up for the Home School in the Woods newsletter in the upper right corner of the website!

For more ideas to teach hands-on history to your kids, follow my Living History for Kids Pinterest board!

Advanced Coding Lessons for Kids with Bitsbox

March 3, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Since we’ve been working on coding with our middle schooler this year, she’s learned how to write code for apps, video games, and more! So in this month’s Bitsbox box, we were excited to see her branching into some advanced coding lessons for kids, including if – else statements and sin() functions.

And to top if all off, she got to explore these coding techniques while creating fun fairy-tale inspired apps and art! See how we used the Bitsbox A Land Far Away box to introduce advanced coding skills with absolutely no tears!

If you want to see more Bitsbox coding in action, be sure to check out how we used our first box to introduce coding for kids to our tween and how we used our second box to explore robotics!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Bitsbox A Land Far Away Subscription Box Unboxing

I always like to begin these posts with a look at what’s inside the Bitsbox deluxe subscription box. Each month’s box has a different theme, so when you purchase a Bitsbox subscription, your child get a new set of apps to create based on a new theme in each box. This month’s theme was “A Land Far Away” and all of the apps were inspired by fairy tales.

Look at all this coding goodness! What I love about Bitsbox is that they make coding fun for kids, so when you buy the deluxe subscription, you always get a few extra toys along with your coding cards for the month.

This month we had trading cards for making mini apps, supersize cards for building advanced applications, temporary fairy-tale tattoos, a sheet of app stickers for keeping track of her progress through the unit, a Cata-pencil (yep, you guessed it – a pencil with a catapult on top) and a movable wooden snake.

Shortly after this picture was taken, my sons discovered the snake and ran off with it. I’ll probably never see it again.

The first thing we did was to add our new coding cards to our Bitsbox binder. We received that along with our second box last month. As we shuffled through the cards, Tigger found two apps she wanted to make right away.

A mini app called “Dream Catcher”.

And a supersized app called “Bling This Thing”. Color me surprised.

Once we had all of the app cards in the binder, it was time to get started!

Advanced Coding Lessons for Kids with Bitsbox

In the Grown-Up Guide (seen in the unboxing picture at the beginning), Bitsbox adds a bit of explanation for parents about exactly what our kids will learn in this box. By the way, that guide is a life-saver. A lot of us parents are like “Huh?” when we hear coding terminology, so that overview was very helpful.

One of the skills used this month is the if-else statement, which is an important skill to use for JavaScript programming. If-else statements are also used in Microsoft Excel and in basic logic, so they’re very useful.

The apps Tigger wanted to work with first don’t use this function. But one does use the sin() function, a skill used in C programming. When she saw that one app let her make art, she was off and running with that one, no matter what programming functions it used.

Since Dream Catcher is a mini app, it only requires a few lines of code. She had it completed in just a few minutes. And it creates this:

Pretty neat, right? It’s a look at how math can be used to create actual art!

After that, it was on to the app “Bling This Thing” – the one she was most excited to create this month.

“Bling This Thing” lets kids choose an object to decorate with jewels. And you can choose really any of the available coding stamps in the unit: cupcakes, crowns, thrones, even monsters!

You can also choose which jewels you’d like to show up as available stones, whether you want the app to select random jewels, and if you want to add any sounds when the jewels appear. It’s a really great exercise in customizing coding to create a desired result – super helpful if your kids are thinking about coding or graphic design for a living.

This app was such a big hit that my third-grader tore himself away from the wooden snake to come out and watch. (Side note: There is no doubt that these children are siblings. Wow.)

It works! Tigger found that she could customize the app even more, slowing down or speeding up the appearance of each jewel or deciding which way the jewels would rotate as they showed up.

After we were done, she added the “Bling This Thing” sticker to her app tracker guide to mark it as completed.

We have absolutely loved learning to code with Bitsbox! In just three months, my tween has learned that computer coding is used to create apps, video games, graphic design, sound effects, and images.

Plus, she’s learned how to use coordinate geometry, sin() functions, and JavaScript programming language – without any mind-numbing boredom. After all, when your twelve-year-old asks you to code for fun, you know you’re on the right track.

Sign up for a Bitsbox subscription yourself and let your children take some advanced coding lessons for kids at home! If you want to try just one box to see how you like it, visit the One-Time Product Shop to buy a single box!

Don’t forget: You can save 20 percent on a brand new Bitsbox subscription with you use the promo code SELENA20! (This code is only valid on new subscriptions and does not apply to purchases from the One-Time Product Shop. All subscriptions automatically renew on the first of the month.)

Want to learn more about Bitsbox? Sign up for the Bitsbox mailing list to learn about new products, boxes, and upcoming promotions! And if you want more ideas for teaching with Bitsbox, sign up for the educator mailing list!

Be sure to check out Bitsbox on social media:

See our other Bitsbox reviews below!

And follow my STEM for Homeschoolers Pinterest board for more engineering inspiration!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Basketball Craft

March 1, 2017 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

Last summer, we went out of town and stayed at a cottage for a weekend. It was amazing.

(If you’re wondering what on earth this has to do with coffee filter crafts, stay with me. It’s related.)

The cottage was filled with all kinds of comforts and appliances, just like you’d have at home. At home, though, we use a French press for our coffee, so I haven’t used a drip coffeemaker in years. Naturally, I assumed I’d need to bring coffee filters.

I got to the cottage and they already had coffee filters there. Awesome! But then I had 150 coffee filters and no drip coffeemaker at home to use them.

Fast forward to this past winter. We went to spend the weekend at a different cottage, which also had a coffeemaker. Naturally, I assumed that there would be coffee filters provided….there were not.

I had to run down to the local Dollar General and buy yet ANOTHER 150 pack of coffee filters. Which means that when I got home, I had nearly 300 coffee filters and no coffeemaker to use them with.

So a new crafting project series was born: Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids! Since it’s March and college basketball is a huge deal in our family, I thought we’d kick off the series with this simple coffee filter basketball craft. It even “bounces”!

Read on to see how to make this easy craft with your kids!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Basketball Craft

To make this easy coffee filter basketball craft, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

To start, simply flatten out the coffee filter with your hands.

Then use an orange crayon to color the entire filter.

Next, use a black crayon to draw the basketball lines on the filter.

I kept it simple with just four lines: two intersecting mid-section lines and half-curves at the top and bottom. (If you need to see a picture of a basketball to get an idea, pick up our free basketball skip counting flashcards for inspiration.)

Add one center black line running horizontally across the lines you just made. Now, glue the “basketball” onto a piece of colored construction paper. Place it on the right to have bouncing in from the left or on the left to have it bouncing it from the right.

A word of caution here: Do NOT use liquid glue. It will bleed through the coffee filter and discolor it. In fact, in the picture above, I’ve actually placed a second coffee filter “basketball” over the first after finding this out for myself. Always, always, always use a glue stick with coffee filter crafts. Lesson learned.

Finally, add your bouncing “lines” with a black crayon and you’re done!

This is a perfect craft for preschoolers, because it only needs a few supplies, it’s simple, and it’s done in just a few minutes!

By the way, if you’re having a party to watch the NCAA Tournament this year, this is a fantastic way for kids to get involved!

Did you enjoy this easy coffee filter basketball craft? Check out these ideas while you’re here!

And grab some easy craft ideas for children on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

Want to get exclusive learning ideas and activities in your inbox? Sign up for our email newsletter!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats

February 20, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Spring is just around the corner! And down here, spring usually means lots and lots of bugs. Some are downright frightening to me (palmetto bugs), but some like caterpillars, snails, and butterflies are just adorable.

I thought these cute Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats would be a fun spring-themed addition to our growing collection of Preschool Playdough Mats!

These are a super way to work on fine motor skills, counting, and letters with toddlers and preschoolers!

If you love these, be sure to grab our Rainbow Playdough Mats as well!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats

To use these birds and bugs spring playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are used below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Laminator (for keeping the mats sturdy)
Playdough

These preschool playdough mats are a wonderful spring activity for toddlers and preschoolers!

There are 36 mats in all – one for each letter of the alphabet (featuring uppercase and lowercase) and one for each number 0-9.

Kids can roll playdough into long ropes and then use it to trace the outline of each letter and number.

This is great fine motor skills practice and an excellent way to help them learn to recognize uppercase and lowercase letters and their numbers!

Scroll down to get your Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats!

Don’t miss these other spring resources!

To get your copy of our Preschool Playdough Mats: Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats, click the image or the link below to visit our Store!

>>>>> Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats <<<<<

Check out loads of Free Homeschool Printables from iHomeschool Network! Head over to grab freebies for your homeschool from my fellow bloggers!

Introductory Robotics for Kids with Bitsbox!

February 10, 2017 by Selena Robinson

We’ve been working on STEM concepts with our middle schooler for the past several months and she’s been enjoying learning science, technology, and even math concepts along the way. Our Bitsbox subscription has been a huge help in this. This girl absolutely hated math a year ago, but now that she’s learning how to use it to make things, she’s seeing mathematics in a whole new way!

This month’s Bitsbox subscription box came with a new theme: Robots! And it was a perfect way to cover introductory robotics for kids with my sixth-grader! Read on to see what’s in the Bitsbox Robo Boogie box and how we used it to code a robot video game!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Bitsbox Robo Boogie Subscription Box

Last month, we got the introductory Bitsbox basic subscription box: Animal House. So this month we were on the next box with the theme: Robo Boogie! As you might guess, it’s all about having fun with robotics!

One of the best things about a Bitsbox subscription is that it starts being fun as soon as you pop open the box. There’s absolutely no drudgery about learning to code with these kits.

The Robo Boogie box included a new set of app supercards, a miniature app trading card pack, a set of temporary robot tattoos, a super nifty deluxe binder for storing all of our cards, and a fun Cubebot toy. (As a mom nerd, I was most psyched about the binder. I am not ashamed of this.)

Each supercard contains a fun robot-themed app that kids can code using the code on the back. There are also cards with tips and tricks for making each app a bit unique.

The trading cards are tiny little app instructions for mini coding sessions.

And the Cubebot was a fun “extra” in the kit. It’s actually a really neat toy. It comes as a perfect cube. But if you move the pieces around, you get a robot! The challenge is getting him back into a perfect cube again. It’s hard!

Introductory Robotics for Kids with Bitsbox

After we organized all of the supercards into our brand new binder, Tigger decided to start with the app “Robodog Loves Robocat”. At the risk of sounding condescending, I knew she’d pick that one first. 🙂

So she read the coding instructions, signed in to her Bitsbox account, and got to writing the code. After completing the initial app, she wanted to add a bit of “flair”. So we flipped to another supercard and found a unique fill to add as the background.

Ta-da! This is Robodog Loves Robocat with the Future City background. When you click Play, the robot dog chases the robot cat off the screen. Neat!

As you move through a Bitsbox subscription box, you can keep track of the apps you’ve completed with this fun sticker page. One down, eleven to go.

For the next app, Tigger really wanted to code “Castle Defender.” If you look at the top right corner, you’ll see that this app has an icon that shows the needle all the way to the right. That means this is an app with a higher degree of difficulty.

I pointed that out to Tigger, but she would not be swayed. She was determined to code that app. I love it.

She read the instructions, stopping to test it after each step. According to the instructions, the game includes two characters: a heroic, selfless rock and an evil robot. After double-checking the code and re-reading the instructions, we ended up with a pretty neat robot video game!

As you can hear, even my little ones came in to watch the game being played. They all wanted a chance to try!

The original coding instructions call for the rock to spin at a rate of 15, but when we tried to play it that way, we had a hard time hitting the robot. With a little tweaking (reducing the speed to 5), we got a speed we could manage better.

And that’s one of the biggest parts of engineering: tweaking code to suit your (or your client’s) vision. I love how easily she’s learning these concepts without feeling bored or overwhelmed.

Boom! Another app successfully coded in this month’s box!

Now that Tigger sees what you can code robots to do in an app, we’re going to start researching how robotics engineers use coding to program actual robots to move, speak, and more. This was a wonderful way to start learning about that field!

Our Bitsbox subscription just keeps getting better. We’re looking forward to sharing next month’s box with you!

Be sure to check out the Bitsbox Basic Subscription and sign up! You can choose from one-month, three-month, or twelve-month plans – and they are all amazing! Or if you just want to buy a box outright, you can do that in the One-Time Shop! Great for testing the box to see if your kids love it! (They will.)

PROMO CODE: Save 20% on a new Bitsbox subscription of any length with the special Bitsbox promo code SELENA20! This code does not expire, but it does not apply to purchases from the One-Time Shop or to subscription renewals. New subscriptions only. All subscriptions renew automatically on the first of the month, unless canceled.

For more information about Bitsbox subscription offers and boxes, sign up for the Bitsbox mailing list! And get special tips for teaching with Bitsbox when you sign up for the teachers’ mailing list! Plus, keep up with Bitsbox online at:

Want more details about Bitsbox? Check out our review of the first subscription box!

Plus, learn more about teaching STEM to kids on my STEM for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

Basketball Free Skip Counting Flashcards

February 8, 2017 by Selena Robinson

We are huge basketball fans. My husband played basketball in high school and all of us love to watch games whenever we get a chance.

So – for my kids who are sports lovers, but aren’t necessarily math lovers, I thought I’d make a new set of free printable flashcards – basketball free skip counting flashcards! These are a fun resource to get active kids into memorizing skip counting by 2, 5, and 10!

Read on to see how to get your pack free! And stop by and grab our free Amusement Park Addition flashcards for more fun math printables!

Basketball Free Skip Counting Flashcards

To use these flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (for making the cards sturdy)

In this pack, there are flashcards for counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s – up to 40. And you can use them in many ways!

Play skip counting concentration: You could play a concentration game where kids have to flip over the cards that follow one another in sequence for counting by a certain number. For example, if a child turns over the 2 card, he or she would need to turn over the 4 card to have a matching pair. Then continue in order: 6, 8, and so on.

Use them for memorizing skip counting: Laminate all the cards and punch a hole in the top left corner of each. Put them on a key ring and have the kids spend a few minutes each day memorizing skip counting sequences. Be sure to put the cards on the ring in order!

Work on fast recall skills: Or you could use them as traditional flashcards. Put the cards in sequence. Then hold up one card and ask the kids what number comes next. For example, hold up a 10 and ask what child what card comes next. The child who calls it out correctly first gets to keep the next card. Whoever has the most at the end is the winner!

Scroll on down to get your free skip counting flashcards!

Don’t miss these other math resources while you’re here!

And see even more math learning ideas on my Math Mania Pinterest board!

To get your copy of our Basketball Free Skip Counting Flashcards, sign up for our email newsletter using the widget below! You’ll get these skip counting flashcards, plus a lot of other exclusive freebies for subscribers!

25 Gorgeously Colorful Rainbow Crafts for Kids

February 7, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

When I think of spring, I think of blooming flowers, baby animals, rain showers, and rainbows.

And there’s no better way to welcome spring than to make some lovely spring crafts with kids.

These gorgeously colorful rainbow crafts for kids are a wonderful way to add art and sensory play into a spring unit study.

Or, if you’re a parent, you can just spend a lazy weekend afternoon making the whole house colorful with these beautiful crafts.

25 Gorgeous Rainbow Crafts for Kids to Make

Either way, kids will love making them and learning how different shades combine to form the gorgeous rainbow colors we know so well.

Take a look at the full list below.

While you’re here, grab our printable Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats for some sensory preschool fun this spring!

Add some color to your early learning units with this list of gorgeous rainbow crafts for kids to make!

25 Gorgeously Colorful Rainbow Crafts for Kids

This list of rainbow-themed crafts features fine motor skill practice, color recognition, and even some simple science experiments.

Some of the ideas here are even no-mess, which means that they’d be perfect for large groups or very young children.

Or teachers who don’t have time to clean up afterward. (Like yours truly.)

How to Use Rainbow Crafts with Early Learners

When you’re ready to try some of these craft ideas, you might want to start by asking the class:

What is a rainbow?
What colors are in the rainbow? (If they don’t know, the acronym ROYGBIV is perfect for helping them remember the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.)
What kind of weather do we see before a rainbow appears?
When is the last time you saw a rainbow?

Beautiful and Easy Rainbow Crafts for Kids - Look! We're Learning!

As you talk about rainbows, listen for some ideas your students may have that are incorrect or some answers they may be unsure about.

Take a look at the basic facts about rainbows in this simple rainbow unit to help fill in the gaps for them!

When you’re ready to try a craft or two, let your students know it’s time to make an art project together. Then get out the crafting supplies and get crafting!

Need more rainbow-themed learning ideas? Try some of these too!

100th Day of School Rainbow Mickey Upcycle from Crafty Mama in ME
Rainbow Science from Schooling a Monkey
Rainbow Picture Books for Kids from The Jenny Evolution
Plant a Rainbow! from The Usual Mayhem

Get the list of 25 gorgeous rainbow crafts for kids below.

25 Gorgeously Colorful Rainbow Crafts for Kids

Add some color to your early learning units with this list of gorgeous rainbow crafts for kids to make!

Easy Coffee Filter Rainbow Craft - Look! We're Learning!

Rainbow Paper Science Experiment - Science Kiddo

Photo Credit: www.sciencekiddo.com

Rainbow Heart Suncatchers - Fireflies and Mudpies

Photo Credit: www.firefliesandmudpies.com

Paper Plate Rainbow Craft - Housing a Forest

Photo Credit: www.housingaforest.com

Rainbow Discovery Bottle - Preschool Inspirations

Photo Credit: preschoolinspirations.com

Fizzing Rainbow Science Experiment - Fun-A-Day

Photo Credit: fun-a-day.com

Streamer Rainbow Craft - Happiness is Homemade

Photo Credit: www.happinessishomemade.net

Rainbow Eruptions - Learn Play Imagine

Photo Credit: www.learnplayimagine.com

Rainbow in a Bag - Powerful Mothering

Photo Credit: www.powerfulmothering.com

Rainbow Colored Rice Activity Bin - Happy Hooligans

Photo Credit: happyhooligans.ca

Weaving Rainbow Fish Craft - Crafty Morning

Photo Credit: www.craftymorning.com

Rainbow Jar Experiment - Playdough to Plato

Photo Credit: www.playdoughtoplato.com

Stained Glass Rainbow Craft - From ABCs to ACTs

Photo Credit: fromabcstoacts.com

How to Make Rainbow Crayons - Pre-K Pages

Photo Credit: www.pre-kpages.com

Rainbow Slime - Mom Dot

Photo Credit: www.momdot.com

Rainbow Mobile Craft for Kids - B-Inspired Mama

Photo Credit: b-inspiredmama.com

Fruit Loops Rainbow Craft - Hands On As We Grow

Photo Credit: handsonaswegrow.com

Rainbow Soap Foam Bubbles - Fun At Home with Kids

Photo Credit: www.funathomewithkids.com

Celery Stamping Rainbow Fish Craft - Crafty Morning

Photo Credit: www.craftymorning.com

Grow Your Own Rainbow Crystals - Little Bins for Little Hands

Photo Credit: littlebinsforlittlehands.com

Paper Plate Sun and Rainbow Craft - Easy Peasy and Fun

Photo Credit: www.easypeasyandfun.com

Pipe Cleaner Rainbow Craft - Preschool Inspirations

Photo Credit: preschoolinspirations.com

Pom Pom Rainbow Craft - Artsy Craftsy Mom

Photo Credit: artsycraftsymom.com

Rainbow Threading Cereal Craft - Messy Little Monster

Photo Credit: www.messylittlemonster.com

Pom Pom Painted Rainbow Craft for Kids - Fantastic Fun & Learning

Photo Credit: www.fantasticfunandlearning.com

Don’t miss these other ideas for learning about rainbows and springtime!

This printable rainbow tally marks lesson for early learners is a great way to teach students how to count with tally marks!

Share this list of 50 spring books for kids with early readers!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Rainbow Playdough Mats

February 3, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Seasonal allergies aside, I absolutely adore spring. Next to fall, it’s my favorite season. Well, summer might be in the running also, which tells you how I feel about winter.

We don’t see rainbows that often in our area, but when we do, they are gorgeous. If I happen to see one while driving, I’ve been known to shout “Look, kids! A rainbow!”

They’re just as fascinating to me now as they were when I was a kid.

For our newest preschool playdough mats, I wanted to share one with a fun spring theme. And that’s why today we have our Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats!

Guess what? They’re FREE! Read on to see how to get yours!

To round out your spring unit, check out these adorable spring crafts for kids to make. And for more rainbow fun, don’t miss our Rainbow Number Word Matching Puzzles!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Rainbow Playdough Mats

To use these rainbow playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

You can use these without laminating them, but you probably won’t be able to reuse them a second time if you do.

If you’re waffling on buying a laminator, they’re totally worth it.

This product includes one color rainbow mat and one black and white mat, so it’s a great way to talk about colors with preschoolers as well!

Since these rainbow mats use several colors, kids can break out many colors of playdough to use together. That’s always fun.

Rainbow Preschool Playdough Mat for Kids

Work on one color row at a time and make sure that kids can recognize and name each one before moving on.

This is also a good fine motor activity, because preschoolers can use their hands to form the playdough into ropes and then mold them to fit the mat pattern.

Once kids follow the color playdough mat pattern, they can recreate it on the black and white mat.

Or just come up with their own color scheme instead!

Scroll down to get your free Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats!

Don’t miss these other preschool playdough mats while you’re here!

And pick up our Spring Sight Word Flashcards to help get preschoolers reading!

And see more ways to make learning fun for early grades on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!

To get your free copy of our Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats, sign up for our email newsletter!

You’ll get these printables, and lots more, in our exclusive Subscriber Library! Just use the widget below to enroll.

NOTE: If you don’t see your welcome email, check your spam folder.

Learning about colors is so fun with these printable preschool rainbow playdough mats! Laminate them and use them over and over again for quiet play!

How to Make Shakespeare Fun for Kids – Even Reluctant Readers!

February 1, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

I didn’t learn about Shakespeare at all during grade school, so it wasn’t until I got to college that I got a chance to read and watch classic Shakespearean plays. And, to be honest, it was confusing. I watched a live rendition of Twelfth Night for English lit class and I think I went to sleep during Act II.

As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve started to appreciate the wit, vocabulary, and poetry of Shakespeare’s writing. It’s almost as if each line is intentionally written to stand alone as a quote. Rereading his works as an English major when I returned to college a few years ago left me in awe at how poignantly he could describe the most ordinary things.

So I decided to introduce Shakespeare to my children as soon as possible. But my two boys are not the voracious readers that my girls are, which means I had my work cut out for me.

And that’s why I was excited to review the book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare with the kids! With the quotes and ideas from the book, we were able to make Shakespeare fun for kids, even my reluctant readers!

Read on to see how we did it. And find out how you can win a FREE copy of the book for your family!

How to Make Shakespeare Fun for Kids

I started by reading the book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig. It is truly packed with ideas and suggestions for how parents can bring these works to life, even for kids who are very young or unenthusiastic about learning poetry.

Personally, I had made a list of reasons why I thought I had to wait until my kids were older to teach them about the Bard, including the following:

My kids are too young to study Shakespeare. They won’t understand it and it’ll be a waste of time.
My kids won’t be interested in memorizing dialogue. They’ll get frustrated at the long words and give up after a few tries.
My kids will get bored trying to read the plays. Most of Shakespeare’s plays are pretty long. How on earth could I keep them excited about reading them?

And this is why How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare is so awesome. The author, Ken Ludwig, doesn’t shy away from any of these potential challenges. In fact, he addresses them head on.

Yes, your kids will have difficulty understanding the plays.

Yes, your kids will get frustrated at trying to memorize the lines.

Yes, your kids will get bored if they try to read the plays as they are written.

But there are ways to help them get past these obstacles and truly love these plays if we try the suggestions offered. I greatly appreciated the candor of Ludwig’s writing and that made me more receptive to trying his ideas. By the way, those ideas really work.

Learning to Memorize Shakespeare Dialogue for Kids

In the book, Ken recommends starting children off with memorizing a short passage from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He emphasizes going line by line and looking up any words that are unfamiliar.

Since Elizabethan English is quite different from modern English and since Shakespeare’s plays are a bit on the long side, that’s going to take some time. But that’s okay! We have time to sink our teeth in and savor these plays with the kids. There’s no hurry whatsoever.

Since I’d already seen Twelfth Night as a teenager (but couldn’t remember it due to falling asleep), we started working with that play.

On the How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare website, you can print off passages from the plays mentioned in the book and use them to help the kids work on memorizing short lines. We grabbed a few scenes from Twelfth Night and got started.

My boys weren’t too enthused about reading the lines at first, so we made some printable stick puppets from some of the principal characters in Twelfth Night.

Then we just cut them out, stuck them on some colored craft sticks, and made character puppets to act out the scenes!

Once my boys saw the character puppets, they wanted to jump right into playing with them. But they’re not just toys – they’re characters who have specific things to say to one another. Which means they had to learn their lines. Once the ground rules were established, they were ready to work on practicing the dialogue.

Interestingly, one of the attributes Ken encourages parents to stress is the way Shakespeare adds twists and turns to his plays so that the audience is surprised by how each story unfolds. When I assigned the Twelfth Night characters to the boys, I told my youngest that he’d be playing Olivia and my oldest that he’d be playing Cesario. The oldest taunted my younger son, crowing “Ha, ha! You have to be the girl!”

When he found out that Cesario is actually a woman named Viola disguised as a man, he was aghast. Serves him right. 🙂

After spending some time practicing their lines, they were ready to do a few passages from Act 1, Scene 5 of Twelfth Night.

Here’s their rendition. I couldn’t get my youngest to deliver the lines with Olivia’s quiet admiration of Cesario, but he is seven, after all.

My oldest also got to play the role of Sir Toby in Act 2, Scene 3.

When he saw the line “Ye lie”, he was determined to say it like a pirate. Oh well.

To help them see how the play ultimately turned out, we watched this really good summary of the play. And as we watched, we checked off a few common playwriting devices Shakespeare uses in his comedies.

We printed off this adorable Shakespearean Comedy Bingo sheet from Good Tickle Brain and crossed off each plot device as it happened in the play.

Hey! We got four in a row!

This was such a fun unit that I had to tell the kids it was time for lunch. That’s a record. 🙂

If you’re interested in learning how to make Shakespeare fun for kids, I cannot recommend How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare enough. It’s full of wonderful resources for developing a love for classic literature in your kids!

Oh – and if you’re interested, you can grab our free printable Twelfth Night Stick Puppet Figures set below! They’re awesome for using with the printable passages from How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare!

>>>>>>> Printable Twelfth Night Puppet Figures <<<<<<<

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win one of TEN copies of the book! To enter, use the Giveaway Tools widget below!

Entry -Form

To learn more about the book and to connect with Ken Ludwig, follow him on social media!

And be sure to follow my Reading for Kids Pinterest board for more tips to help kids learn to love reading!

50 Spring Crafts for Kids

January 20, 2017 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

Nothing makes me happier than hearing the first chirp of birds in early spring. Down here in the South, the weather tends to warm rather early, so we don’t have a super long winter. (It’s still too long for me, though.)

One of my favorite ways to welcome spring is to make fun spring crafts with my children! We love learning about spring animals, especially those that are waking up from hibernation or those that are having teeny little babies in the early part of the year.

Welcome the warmer weather with your children using these fun and easy spring crafts for kids! There are craft ideas here featuring all kinds of spring animals, weather, and plants! To round out your spring unit, don’t miss this list of 50 spring books for kids to read!

50 Spring Crafts for Kids:

1. Ladybug Fractions Craft – Look! We’re Learning!

2. 3D Doily Flowers – Crafty Morning

3. Kite Hoop Art – A Cultivated Nest

4. Easy Lollipop Flowers

5. Tissue Paper Spring Blossoms – 3 Dinosaurs

6. Hand Traced Flower Craft – Fun Handprint Art Blog

7. Paper Straw Flower Craft – Raising Little Superheroes

8. Spring Butterfly Tree – Enchanted Homeschooling Mom

9. Symmetrical Painted Butterflies – The Mommy Mess

10. Spring Lacing – Living Life and Learning

11. Homemade Wind Vane – Teach Beside Me

12. Spring Tree – Susan Evans

13. DIY Bird Feeders – The Homeschool Scientist

14. Braided Flower Bracelets – Living Life and Learning

15. Spring Flowers Fine Motor Craft – Pre-K Pages

16. DIY Pinwheels – Look! We’re Learning!

17. Tissue Paper Blue Birds in a Nest – Crafty Morning

18. Cupcake Liner Butterfly Craft – Raising Little Superheroes

19. Colorful Handprint Butterfly – Fun Handprint Art

20. Baby Birds in a Nest Craft – Buggy and Buddy

21. DIY Forsythia Craft – Playground Parkbench

22. Cork Stamped Button Flowers – Happy Hooligans

23. Yarn-Wrapped Butterflies – School Time Snippets

24. Spring Flower Collage – My Bored Toddler

25. Yarn-Wrapped Spring Tree Craft – I Heart Crafty Things

26. Spring Flower Vegetable Prints – Artsy Craftsy Mom

27. Colorful Spring Branch Craft – Inner Child Fun

28. Doily Spring Flower Craft – Cutting Tiny Bites

29. Spring Tissue Paper Stained Glass – Fun-A-Day

30. Spring Tulips Salt Art – Crafty Morning

31. Toilet Roll Butterflies – Look! We’re Learning!

32. Mix & Match Painted Rock Faces – Teach Beside Me

33. Fingerprint Counting Art – Fun Handprint Art Blog

34. Faux Tie-Dye Spring Flowers – Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

35. Stamped Sheep Craft – Buggy and Buddy

36. Lion and Lamb Craft – Coffee Cups and Crayons

37. Bottle Cap Flowers – My Mundane and Miraculous Life

38. Acorn Flower Craft – Crafty Morning

39. Watercolor Butterfly – Raising Little Superheroes

40. Colorful Watercolor Flowers – Buggy and Buddy

41. Spring Butterfly Wreath – Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls

42. DIY Nature Suncatchers – Where Imagination Grows

43. Spring Tree Flower Bud Craft – A Little Pinch of Perfect

44. DIY Terra Cotta Pots – Mama Smiles

45. Colorful Rain Sticks – Happy Hooligans

46. Fingerprint Spring Cherry Blossom Tree – Fun Handprint Art

47. Girl in Rain Boots Spring Craft – Crafty Morning

48. Tissue Paper Rainbow

49. Spring Egg Carton Flower Bouquet – Teach Beside Me

50. Popsicle Stick Flower – Raising Little Superheroes

Check out these other spring learning ideas for kids!

Plus, see more ways to make spring into a fun learning experience on my Spring Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

This post is part of the Spring Unit Study roundup! Stop over and visit my fellow bloggers for more spring learning tips!

8 Spring Kids Crafts You’ll Want To Do Today! from Playdough & Popsicles

Get Outside with a Spring Scavenger Hunt {Free Printable} from Crafty Mama in ME

Nature Walks in the Spring – Books, Printables, & Activities from Faith and Good Works

Planting with Preschoolers from Bambini Travel

Children’s Books About Spring from The Jenny Evolution

Spring Writing Prompts from Schooling a Monkey.com

The Four Seasons by Vivaldi from Tales of Education at Home

Hanami: Celebrating Spring under Cherry Blossoms in Japan from FrogMom

Spring Color by letter/ sight word worksheets from Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading

Affordable Homeschool Standardized Testing for Families

January 17, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Standardized testing is a somewhat controversial subject among homeschoolers. Some families perform testing regularly to assess their children’s performance each year. Others decide not to use standardized testing at all, opting for other ways to check their children’s understanding.

Our state requires us to assess our children with a standardized test occasionally. And, while I’m not a big fan of testing in general, I do want to know where my kids need the most help so I can adjust my homeschooling methods to assist them.

Which is why I was excited to try MAP testing from Affordable Homeschool Testing Services LLC! Read on to see how we used the company’s MAP test to administer a standardized test to our kids with almost no prep at all!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

The Challenges of Homeschool Standardized Testing

We’ve been homeschooling for eight years, so we’re not new to offering standardized testing to our kids. But over the years, we’ve found that giving a test at home can pose quite a few challenges.

Deciding on a test format: This can be daunting. There are so many tests to choose from! From the CAT to the ITBS to the PASS, there are several standardized tests available and trying to find the best one to assess your children can be confusing. Some tests are not even available for parents to proctor and must be completed at an assessment site, which can be inconvenient.
Scheduling a test for more than one child: Think back to taking a standardized test in school. Remember having to sit in a quiet room for at least an hour so you could concentrate? How do you offer that kind of environment when you need to test more than one child?
What adjustments to make for active kids: Since some of our children have ADHD, I was concerned about making a few adjustments to the testing schedule to help them stay focused during the assessment.
How to help the kids after the test is over: Once you get the testing results, how can you go about helping the kids to master the concepts they struggled with? A final score alone is not enough to help us know what to teach going forward.

How to Take MAP Homeschool Standardized Testing Online

With Affordable Homeschool Testing Services LLC, though, we found that all of our concerns were met. The Measures of Academic Progress test (MAP) is a thorough assessment of exactly which concepts kids grasp and which ones they need additional help mastering and that’s the test we administered.

The test assesses three subjects: reading, math, and language arts over the years of three days. On the first day, the kids were tested in reading, then math on the second day, and ELA on the third.

I set my two oldest kids up at the school room table (also known as the dining room table) with separate computers they could use. Each child has to work at his or her own computer, because the test is administered entirely online.

The test is designed to be challenging, so kids will only get about half of the questions right. Fortunately, they don’t know if they’re getting any right or wrong. The test just moves continuously. No error messages or warning sounds, which can be discouraging.

I did make sure that the kids had a couple of pencils and some scratch paper nearby, especially for the math portion. Other than that, all we had to do was log into the testing site and wait for the test proctor to call us to set us up. Since we scheduled our testing days and times in advance, we were ready to go.

With the reading portion, the kids really needed to slow down and concentrate, which is something they struggle with because of their short attention spans. For example, the reading test often featured a passage for them to read and then answer a few questions. On the next page, they might see the same passage again – this time with different questions. So they couldn’t just run through and assume they knew the answers.

Another option I appreciated was that the kids could go back and review their answers before finally submitting the test. That gave them a lot of flexibility to reassess their answers, just in case they had completed the test in a hurry.

Since the test was untimed, we could take breaks as needed. I didn’t allow them to decide when they wanted a break. Otherwise, they’d have been asking for a break every 10 minutes. But we did take them every 30 minutes or so.

The actual length of the test varies according to each child’s performance on the assessment. If it seems that your child has grasped a specific concept, the test may shorten by a few questions. If it seems that a concept is challenging, it may add a few more. My daughter, who was taking a 6th grade assessment in all subjects, had about 50 questions per subject.

We finished taking the test on Wednesday morning. By Friday afternoon, I had an extremely detailed report (around 60 pages) that showed me the grade level each child was performing at in each subject. The report also included a list of the specific subject objectives that were mastered and those that needed reinforcement.

But, what I really loved was the math objectives list. Not only did it explain which math concepts my kids needed assistance with, it included links to those specific objectives on Khan Academy so I could view the videos with the kids. That was a goldmine of information. Sometimes the way educational standards are written can be confusing, but seeing the specific objective in action gave me a great starting point.

Have you administered a standardized test to your kids? Do you have questions about using the MAP test with your family? Ask away in the comments!

Now is a great time to try out MAP testing from Affordable Homeschool Testing Services LLC, because through July 5, 2017, you can save $5 on the assessment with the coupon code MAPTest17!

To learn more about Affordable Homeschool Testing Services LLC and the different homeschool testing options available, visit the company’s website to schedule a MAP testing appointment or follow them on Facebook!

Don’t miss these other homeschooling posts!

Plus, get more tips for teaching kids at home on our Homeschooling Pinterest board!