earth men (cute earth day craft)

this semester i had the opportunity to work with a great

first grade class.  i was assigned to work with a sweet little girl

who is struggling a bit with her reading skills
(i will share the strategies I used with her in future posts).

while in the classroom, we had certain activities that we had to do for a grade.

one of those activities was called "large group instruction"

which basically meant we had to work with the whole class.

my co-teacher and i decided to do earth day activities because the

assignment was due the same week as earth day.

i'm sharing my activity today

i will share my co-teacher's activity in a different post.

all you need to make these little guys are:

blue circles (about the size of a paper plate)

small white circles (two per man)

small black circles (three per man)

hand and shoe cut outs (found online, but i can't remember where - sorry)

red yarn

black and green construction paper

tear the green construction paper into little bits of scraps and glue them to the blue circle.
glue the white circles and then the small black circles on top of the white circles for eyes
glue another small black circle for the nose.
glue the red yarn for the mouth

next, cut the black construction paper into about one inch wide strips.
fold the strips of black paper in a zigzag, accordion fold.
glue the black strips to the back of the blue circles.
color and cut the hands and shoes
then glue them to the other end of the black strips.

you can leave the black strips unfolded if you like.
you can also leave the hands and shoes white.

this little earth man is one cool dude with a mohawk 'haircut'

this one is a girl with a cute little bow on her head.

this one had its hands on top of its head and was made to look like it was walking on its hands.

a moustache!

a cowboy with a beard.

the possibilities are endless...

these were really fun to make

and the kids had a blast putting their own creativity into them.

we also enjoyed quite a few rounds of earth day bingo.

such a fun day (not only for the kids, but for me and my co-teacher as well).

paper plates + paint + ziploc bags = butterflies

 Pretty Swirly Butterflies

all you need is:

paint

paper plates

ziploc bags

craft sticks

black construction paper

pick a few shades of paint

and put a dollop or so on the paper plate

then put the paper plate into a storage size ziploc bag

have the kids spread or "finger" paint the plate.

all the fun, without the huge mess.

for a bonus, kids can practice writing their letters in the paint as they mix the colors together.

try not to smear the colors all together - the paint will turn brown and not be as colorful.

take the plate out of the bag and set it aside to dry.

you should use a different bag per plate.

using black construction paper, trace and cut some bodies.

when the paint dries

cut the paper plates into cute butterfly shapes.

glue on the body

also glue a craft stick to the back of the butterfly

i recently made these with a pre - k class that i was subbing.

the kids loved them

and the butterflies came out super cute!

you can use this same method with a multitude of crafts.

it was so much fun

(i even made one)

did ya miss me?

i'm back.....

i'm finally done with the semester.

most of it was fun, but it was

long and a lot of work.

i had to write numerous lesson plans,

raise a virtual child (for my psych class),

write papers - tons and tons of papers,

do field work (which means going to

elementary schools and working with children),

and so much more.

it kept me quite busy.

and if that wasn't enough...i still worked as a sub

with head start and pre - k counts.

and run my kids here, there, and everywhere

there were days when i felt like i never sat down.

i think i read so much that my eyes would pop out of my head.

but you know what...as much as i love complaining

and being overly dramatic -

i truly did love it all.

it wasn't easy, but it's been worth it.

and here's little look of what we've been up to....

i was awarded as a presidential scholar for my academic success

see all that hard work did pay off - hehehe. 

my motley crew....who cheered for me - literally - as i walked across the stage
to accept my award.

"go mommy!"

then it was zach and sarah's turn to shine....

they were inducted into the national honor society.

proud momma moment

not to be left out...

nicholas and nathan both won first place trophies for playing darts.

me teaching first grade....fun times!

nathan started playing baseball again.

oh yeah, i almost forgot....

i turned 43 {gulp}

 the hubs bought me these beauties

and these too.

i think nathan pretty much sums it all up.

until next time!


*fyi...you can keep up with my family via instagram  @charlenejuliani

sharing a few cute books....

A Pet for Fly Guy

by Tedd Arnold

"A boy had a pet fly.  He named him Fly Guy."

Buzz loves his pet fly.  He loves spending time with him.  

He loves him so much that he thinks

it's time for his friend to have a pet of his very own.

And so begins the search for the perfect pet for Fly Guy.

They visit the pet store and come out with a cute puppy.

The little puppy was so happy that he licked Fly Guy.

So they tried a kitten, a frog and a worm.

The kitten swatted at Fly Guy.

The frog chased Fly Guy

and the worm was just too slimy for Fly Guy.

So they tried a spider, but it was too tangly.

Next they tried a cricket, but it was too jumpy.

Just as they were about to give up....Fly Guy decided the perfect pet for him

was his very best friend - Buzz.

This was a cute little tale about friendship for little readers.

Scary Mary

by Paula Bowles

Scary Mary rules the barnyard.

She chases away all the other animals, keeps the food all to herself,

builds forts to keep the others away and makes scary faces.

She thinks the best thing is to just be all alone.

But, she soon realizes just how lonely it can be, without any friends.

Being scary, isn't such a great idea after all.

Scary Mary is a perfect book to teach little ones about bullying

and that it's much more pleasant to be a friend than to be

all alone and scary.

Blame it on the Big Blue Panda!

by Claire Freedman

Little Pandy is one naughty little bear.

He loves mischief, but never wants to accept the blame.

In fact, he claims that all the bad things that happen aren't his fault at all.

It's actually Big Blue Panda that is causing such a ruckus.

Mama Bear is not fooled and comes up with a clever plan

that keeps Pandy on his best behavior.

Will his good behavior last? Or will the Big Blue Panda make another appearance?

Blame in on the Big Blue Panda is a great book to help explain to children

that it is best just to admit their wrongdoings, than to blame it on others.

Abigail

by Catherine Rayner

Abigail loves to count.  She wants to count everything, it's her favorite thing to do.

She tries to count the spots on the ladybug, the stripes on zebra, the leaves on the tree

and the spots on cheetah.  The animals won't stay still long enough for her to count them

and someone keeps eating all the leaves.

The animals decide to help Abigail by taking her to a field of flowers.

but by then it's too dark to count them.

Abigail finds the perfect thing to count at night - the stars! 

This is a count book for little ones to read.  I think the moral could be summed up by saying

never give up on something that you love doing, no matter how many things get in the way.

*Disclosure ~ The books Scary Mary and Abigail were given to me by Tiger Tales for review purposes only.  The opinions herein are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Storm Fest - Carnegie Science Center

A few weeks ago, we went to the

Storm Fest

at Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, PA

The Storm Fest was presented in partnership with California University of PA.

Not only did we get to enjoy the everyday exhibits of the Science Center,

but we also got to participate in lots of fun weather related activities.

Nathan made several weather related crafts

a lava bottle

a rain stick

glurch

a wind sock

He learned what type of tent would best protect him in different elements

He learned how to make a homemade thermometer

a cloud

and did a cupcake core sampling

a weather map

paper snowflake

He made a rock

and many more fun weather activities.

We also watched a show by the "Weather Dude" Nick Walker of The Weather Channel.

Nathan's name was pulled from the hat and he won a song book and CD by Nick Walker.

He also got his autograph and picture taken with him.

Then, we checked out an old retired submarine....

 

We topped off the trip with a stop at the Sports Work Center, where Nathan tried out a bunch of fun games and we took a ride through the human body.

It was a super fun day.