Roll-A-Pumpkin {A Fun Halloween Dice Game}

In the past, I've shared a few different versions (a snowman one and leprechaun) of this fun, simple dice game I ran across several years ago on Happy Home Fairy.

This is always an activity in our Halloween countdown, and as we were playing it this year, I realized I've never shared the original pumpkin version of this game.

You can get the how-to in the link below, but basically all you'll need is some paper, two dice, colored pencils, crayons, or markers, and the Roll-A-Pumpkin printable instruction sheet.  Each player takes turns rolling the dice, and then following the instruction for each designated number.  The first person to complete his/her pumpkin, wins!

We've played this for years, and my boys never get sick of it!  And I love seeing how different each pumpkin turns out at the end of the game.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Favorite How to Draw Books for Kids

We gave my twins a How To Draw book for Christmas this past year, and it has proven to be one of those surprise gifts that gets used all the time!

As much fun as toys are, I like my boys to get books, art supplies, games, etc... for gifts.  I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way.

Anyway, we shopped and searched reviews around Amazon when ordering the book for our boys, and I have to tell you we totally hit the jackpot!  These books (we only have the monster one right now, but we'll for sure be adding to our collection!) are absolutely perfect for young kids.  My twins are seven and my four-year-old can even do many of the monsters with a bit of help from me.  The steps (six for each monster) are simple and easy to follow.  We've tried a few other drawing books, and my boys just get frustrated because the steps are so complicated.  Not these!  So, so easy!

This is one of my twin's latest monsters.  We try to draw something every day while on summer vacation, and with 101 monsters, they have plenty to keep them busy!

Here's my other twins' favorite monster. Their new technique is to sketch with pencil, then outline with black marker before adding the color.  I LOVE how these turn out!   I could even make a pretty good/scary looking monster with these books!

And last, but certainly not least is my four-year-old's monster.  He was determined to do what brothers were doing, but I was worried he'd just end up frustrated because he couldn't do it.  Well, I was wrong!  I did have to sit with him and kind of talk him through each step, but look what he was able to do.  He was so thrilled, and so was I!

You can find these 101 How to Draw books on Amazon for about $5 (awesome price!).  There is a fairy one that I'm sure my boys wouldn't go for, but I tempted to buy it for myself!

Happy drawing!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Garden Books for Kids {@ Or So She Says}

Happy Tuesday to you all!  We are finally experiencing some sunshine here in Utah.  It seems like the past few weeks have been nothing but cold, wind, clouds, and rain.  But that kind of weather just makes you appreciate the sunshine and warmth that much more!

Today I'm over at Or So She Says with a list of our favorite children's books for the garden.  Does summertime mean garden time at your house?  It sure does for us.  I look forward to it every year, and so do my boys.  I can't count the benefits of gardening together as a family.  They're countless!!  And I always love to build upon the activities we're doing with great books.  So, stop by and visit (click here to do so) to check out our list.

And just because I can't get enough of them, here's a few pictures of life in the garden.  Some of my most cherished memories comes from here!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Free Easter Egg Coloring Collage {From Doodle Art Alley}

My cooperating teacher (wonderful Mrs. Linda Lewis) gave me the cutest Easter egg collage coloring page to use in my classroom many years ago.  It was always one of my favorite activities to do with my students, and they had so much fun with it!

When I quit teaching after having my twins, I pretty much left all of my files for the teacher who took my place.  I figured she needed them much more than I did at the time.  And for the most part, I'm glad I did.  But every once in awhile I remember a really great activity, or page and kick myself for not keeping more. 

The Easter egg collage picture always haunted me.  Why didn't I keep a copy?  Well, awhile back I stumbled upon this picture.  I believe the one I used to have had more eggs, and they were smaller, but this one totally works!  In fact, I think the fewer eggs and bigger sizes makes it more doable for younger ones.  It's become a tradition to do one of these each year with my boys now.  (And be sure to print yourself a copy.  I could color hundreds of these.)  They're always amazing once completed! 

My four-year-old and I started this one, and it's not quite complete yet, but already looking fantastic!

Thanks so much to Doodle Art Alley for helping me out!  Click here to download your free Easter egg collage today.  And while you're there, take a look around.  They have some amazing downloads for your kids (or, if you're a coloring fanatic like me, yourself)!

Doodle Art Alley

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style. 

Sticker Stencil Art For Kids

My four-year-old and I do a little "school" every morning.  He has a late birthday, and won't start kindergarten until the fall of 2015.  I know a lot of kids do two years of preschool, but we've always just done one.  I love to teach my boys at home anyway (at least during the preschool years, I'm not sure I have what it takes to always do it).

A few weeks ago while doing school we finished a page in his counting sticker book and had this left over.  I immediately thought it was the perfect stencil for a fun art project for my him.  He loves to paint, and so it's fun to find new creative ways to do it.

We took the sticker stencil, (the left over part of stickers you usually just throw away) pulled it off of the sticker page, then stuck it to a piece of white card stock.  My four-year-old then went to town painting each circle a different color.  It looked a bit messy, but the magic happened when we pulled the stencil off!  We were left with these perfectly (well, four-year-old perfect) round colorful circles.  We did have a little tear in the stencil, hence the two  conjoined pink circles, but anomalies are cool, right?  An instant, free, amazing piece of art for his bedroom! 

 We used Crayola's Washable Kids' Paint for his first project, but I'm thinking water colors would be amazing as well.

I even started experimenting myself.  I used some Mod Podge and gold glitter.  I think I need to fine-tune it a bit, but the potential it definitely there!  Stay tuned.

So, next time you buy or use a set of stickers, don't throw away the outer stencil part.  Save it for an art project for your kids, or a home decor project for yourself.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Shaving Cream & Food Coloring Art For Kids

Do you ever read Family Fun magazine?  I used to have a subscription, and loved seeing all the clever activities and crafts for kids.  This art project came from one of their issues many years ago.  My boys love this project so much that we've done it for years now. 

My four-year-old said he had never done this activity before (he has, but it's been a long time), so we got out the shaving cream and food coloring a few days ago.  This art project is always a hit with kids of any age, but it is a bit messy.  In fact, I think the Family Fun magazine had this as an outdoor project for summertime.  We've always done it inside, and it works.  You just have to be careful with all the food coloring.  Have you and your kids wear aprons and gloves if you're worried about getting messy.  We never do, but we should.  Our hands are always stained for a day or two after the project.  All part of the fun, though.

SUPPLIES

Shaving Cream (not gel, CREAM)

Cookie Tray (I use cheap ones from the dollar store)

Food Coloring(the we love using the neon colors)

Popsicle Sticks (for swirling the colors around)

Knife (for spreading the shaving cream)

Card Stock (For imprinting designs)

Paper Towels (for keeping the mess somewhat under control)

HOW TO

*Start by squirting some shaving cream on the cookie tray, and then spread it around just like you were frosting a cake.  It doesn't need to be deep, just a nice covering of the entire tray.

*Next, squirt drops of food coloring in the shaving cream.  You can do one color at a time, or multiple.  If you do multiple colors, drop them in different parts of the shaving cream.

(We were working on a valentine project in these pictures.  We usually don't just use one color.  The more, the merrier!)

*Swirl the food coloring with the popsicle stick.  If you're doing multiple colors, make sure to remind your kids to not over-swirl.  When they do, it just ends up looking brown because all the colors mix too much.  You want the colors to look swirled together with individual colors showing, not just a brown blob.

*Take the card stock and gently push it on to the colorful shaving cream.  You can do a big piece of card stock to get the entire cookie tray at once, or you can cut the card stock into smaller pieces and just do sections of the tray.  Play around with it and see what you like.  We like to do a lot of smaller sizes most often, but we do whole pages sometimes as well.

*Pull the card stock off of the shaving cream, and then lay the paper on a flat surface and and use a popsicle stick to scrape off any excess shaving cream.  You can kind of see the shaving cream on the card stock here.  That's what you will scrape off.

*Set the card stock aside and allow to dry a bit.  Don't worry if the card stock begins to curl while it dries.  Ours always do.  I just lay them under a heavy book when they're completely dry to flatten them out.

And that's it!  This is honestly one of the coolest art projects I've ever seen!  I never get tired of pulling the card stock off the shaving cream, and scraping it off to see the end product.  Beautiful every time!  

Here are a few of my four-year-old's masterpieces from the other day.

Stunning, right?  He was so proud of all of them!

This is the perfect activity for these cold wintry days when we're inside more often than not.

Oh, and we always have to use our fingers to play with the shaving cream when we're done with all of our pictures.  Way too much fun!

Happy swirling!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.