Strong In Spirit - *Something I Made Monday*

Hard to believe it’s Monday again, already!  Here we go…!

This is our “Strong in Spirit” board.  Derek and I have a desire to raise our children to not only be strong physically, confident in their abilities, etc. etc. but we want them to be spiritually strong.  We want to instill in them a desire to serve and love others, and in doing so they will be serving and loving God.  It also helps with obedience training.  Win/Win! :]

I’d been praying about how I might make this a little more visible to the children.  I’m not really, really huge on reward systems.  I feel like this one is a different because it doesn’t focus so much on self.  Let me explain how it works:

I got these heart-shaped foam stickers  in the dollar section at Target.

I give the children a job to do.  This job is equal to their abilities.  For example, this morning Audrey picked up a box of crayons that she dumped out, while Roen vacuumed the dining room.  When they complete a task that has been a help to me or daddy or anyone else in the family, they get to put a sticker up on the board under their name and the correct day of the week.  We go week by week.  This gives them examples and ideas of how they can be serve others and be a blessing to their family.  Soon enough, I won't have to ask them to do things, they'll just be able to look around and see what's needs to be done and do it.  I can't wait for that day! ;]  I explained that they will not be rewarded for doing just anything.  Sorry, but picking up a scrap of something off the floor and throwing it away doesn't earn a sticker.  Thanks for the help, though.  Also, I explained that I'm looking for quality not quantity.  Roen might "pick up" the living room, but throwing everything off the floor into the toy box, including my shoes, papers, and other things that don't belong is not what I'm looking for.  I'll have him redo the work until it's done right.  Like I said, I'm not asking them to do anything outside their ability.  But I expect a job well done.  I'm not raising mediocre children who do mediocre work.  I want to raise hard working, responsible people who do it right the first time.  That might sound harsh, but sorry folks, that's the real world.  My kids know I love them :]

Roen's penny jar & Audrey's penny jar.

Now, not only do they get a sticker to put on a board (which is a very helpful visual aid for children) but they earn money at the same time.  Pennies!!  Now with this I go by age.  The older you are, the more pennies you earn.  It doesn't mean that Roen's work is better than Audrey's.  When Roen earns a sticker, he also earns 3 pennies, because he's 3 years old.  Audrey gets 1 penny because she is 1 year old.  These pennies will add up all week long.  On Sunday mornings we will empty out each child's jar and all the pennies they earned that week they get to put in the offering basket at church.  This is one way of saying thank you to God for giving us the ability to work and the desire to serve others.  The children get to decide how much they want to give back to God by how hard they served during the week.  

Both Roen and Audrey are very excited about this, and so am I!!  If you decide to implement this into your family, let me know how it goes!!  :]

  

Circle Time - *Something I Made Monday!*

I just want to say this before we get started... I love watching the snow out the window right now.  It's very snowy.. and pretty :]  Ok, Ok, Ok.. let's get to it!

Something I Made Monday!!!

Circle Time Board

 This is so much fun.  Something I love to do and the children adore it.  I learned a few tips and tricks while I was in high school volunteering for a club called "Future Teachers of America".  I got to help out in a Kindergarten classroom and learned a lot myself. 

Circle Time is a scheduled part of our day where we go over the calendar (the current day of the week, month, date, and year).  We also do songs, the weather, Bible verse memorization, and read a Bible story during this time.  Before we start, to let the children know it's time for Circle Time, I start singing a song I made up while doing day care, but it stuck with me.  Circle Time, Circle Time.  Grab a mat and have a seat.  It's Circle Time!!  We repeat that a few times until everyone has grabbed a pillow off the couch and is sitting down.

How To:
          The fun thing about this project is.. you can do WHATEVER you want!  And you can make it HOWEVER you want!  For ours, I used a tri-fold presentation board from Hobby Lobby.  It's very sturdy and folds up.  When we're done, we fold it up and put it away.  The end.  The children know that our Circle Time board is not a toy, although it's very tempting because it's pretty fun!  I'll go more in depth on how I made each section of the board below.

Here are some close-up photos along with descriptions of what we do and how we do it:

 The calendar itself is made of a large piece of poster board.  I drew the lines on with a ruler and king size sharpie marker.  Be sure to make enough squares for those few months where the calendar that hangs on your wall has to split the day to get both to fit in the space.  Does that make sense?  Anyway.. you have to make more than just 31 squares.  There, how's that.  I "laminated" the calendar with packaging tape.  (Just an FYI.. I cover almost everything that I make that's going to be handled a lot with packaging tape.  I don't have a laminating machine, and really have no desire to buy one, but this preserves our things for a long time.)  Place a piece of sticky back velcro on each calendar space AFTER you've laminated it.  I like to put the rough, scratchy side on the board so the pieces that we actually touch have the soft side on the back.  I printed out my days on the computer and cut them out into squares.  I laminated those also.  I use a star to show what day we're on that day (also laminated).  You'll have to place velcro on the front and back of the star.  It's just a helpful visual aid for children.  Above the blue calendar I typed out all the days of the week and taped them on.  I traced around the area where our month goes with the king size marker.  There is velcro to hold our month in place as well. 

These are all the months of the year.  I cut them all out by hand on cardstock paper from my scrapbooking supplies.  I tried to pick colors and themes that went with the month.  January has snowflakes, November has leaves, etc. etc.  These are also laminated and have a strip of soft velcro on the backsides.  When we're talking about the months, we sing the song I learned to memorize them while I was in 1st grade.  It goes to the tune of Jingle Bells.  January, February, March, April, May!  June, July, Au-gust, Sep-tem-ber, HEY!  October, November, De--cem-ber.  Those are the twelve months of the year that we need to know!!  It works.  Roen already has them memorized.  Everything is always easier to remember if you can put it into a song! 

This is how we learn what day of the week it is.  We go across the board above the blue calendar and we say, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat-ur-Day.  When we come to the star on the calendar, we know we're on the right day.  So I'll stop when we get to that point and let the children answer what the day is.  For each day of the week we say one of these:  Mountain, Monday starts with M.  M makes the mmmm sound.  Toe, Tuesday starts with T.  T makes the tuh-tuh-tuh sound.  We, Wednesday starts with W.  W makes the wuh-wuh-wuh sound.  Thunder, Thursday starts with T-H.  T-H makes the thh-thh-thh sound.  Fun, Friday starts with F.  F makes the ffff-ffff-ffff sound.  Silly, Saturday (Or Sunday) starts with S.  S makes the ssssss sound.  When we get to "Yesterday was:"  we say, "Yesterday is the day BEFORE today."  And I can point to the space BEFORE the yellow star on the calendar.  For "Tomorrow will be:"  we say, "Tomorrow is the day AFTER today."  and point to the space AFTER today on the calendar. 

These are all the days of the week.  Once again, all cut out by hand and all laminated with packaging tape with soft sticky velcro on the backside.

 This space changes every week.  We try to memorize one hymn a week from our song book.  This week we'll be working on Nothing But the Blood of Jesus song #269.  We also try to learn an easier song for Audrey.  This week we'll be working on Deep & Wide, one of Roen's favorites.  This space is made of Dry-Erase Paper.  That's right!!  You can get it at Hobby Lobby in the art department.  I think I paid $1.99 or close to that for like 3 or 4 sheets.  This one I cut because I didn't need a full sheet of the paper for this space.  You can write on it with dry erase markers and erase it as often as you like.  It's cool stuff.  I used a sheet of cardstock to make a boarder around the dry erase paper. 

To the tune of Oh, My Darlin'.  What's the weather?  What's the weather?  What's the wea-ther, everyone?  Is it windy?  Is it cloudy?  Is there rain?  Or is there sun?  Wave your hands in front of you like the wind is blowing, cover your eyes like it's cloudy, trickle your fingers down like it's raining, and circle your arms over your head like it's sunny.  We look out the window and we see what the weather is doing outside that day.  This day it is cloudy, snowy, and windy.  After we put them on the board we like to say, "Hi, Cloudy!  Hi, Snowy!  Hi, Windy!"  Just for fun ;]
These are all cut by hand, laminated, and velcroed. 

 These are our choices for weather:  partly cloudy, snowy, windy, rainy, cloudy, and sunny.  Am I forgetting anything?

 In this section we write our current Bible verse that we're memorizing.  We usually keep the same verse for two weeks because some are longer, some are shorter, and it usually takes Roen this long to fully get it memorized, along with the reference.  Our verse is "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." The words of Jesus from John 14:18.  This is also made of dry erase paper.  I think I used a full sheet here.

 This is our cute pointer that I picked up at Dollar Tree.  I use it to point to things on the calendar.  It's fun.  :] 

 

I have some empty space on our Circle Time board that I'd like to fill, I'm just not sure what to put there.  Any suggestions?  I hope everyone takes the time to make one of these.  You can get as crazy or as simple as you'd like!  But I believe your children will really benefit from it, and it's a really fun way to learn basic things that they'll need to know for school.  You can do like I did and add your own extra learning bits in there.  Whatever you believe to be necessary and valuable to your child's education.  It takes us about 30 minutes to get through everything.  We have this scheduled into our day.  I hope you'll schedule it into yours!! :-D

Club Roll-Ups & Tootie Frootie Salad - Something I Made Monday RECIPE

Occasionally, I will slip in a tasty recipe as my "Something I Made".  This is what we had for supper tonight. It was fun to make and very filling!!  I doubled the recipe, but it turns out I didn't need to -- we couldn't eat it all!  I hope everyone gets a chance to try this and I hope you enjoy it when you do! :]

**  Club Roll-Ups **

Ingredients:

                   2 cups baking mix

                   1/4 cup water

                   1 egg

                   4 sticks mozzarella string cheese

                   8 slices thinly sliced cooked ham 

                   8 slices thinly sliced cooked turkey 

                   honey mustard and mayonnaise

                   1 tablespoon milk

*Makes 4 servings

I get all my ingredients at Aldi's.  We love that store so much!  I don't know what I would do without it!  Just wanted to add this photo .. I love the company they buy eggs from.  On the inside of every carton they include the Bible verse from Psalm 118:24 "This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

How to:

1.)  Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, stir together baking mix, water and egg until dough forms.  On a surface sprinkled with baking mix, knead the dough about 10 times.  Divide the dough into fourths.  It should look like the photo below, but remember, I doubled my recipe.

2.)  Place a piece of dough on surface sprinkled with baking mix.  Press or roll into a rectangle shape.  In a small bowl, combine honey mustard and mayonnaise to make a sauce.

3.)  Spread each dough rectangle with the sauce.  Wrap each cheese stick with the ham and turkey slices.  Place the bundle lengthwise on one end of the dough and wrap it up; pinch to seal.  Pinch ends and tuck under.  Place the rolls seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet.  Brush tops with milk.

4.)  Bake 18-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!! :-D

We enjoyed this with some seasoned french fries, a simple lettuce salad, and my Tootie Frootie Salad.  It's a 

salad that I just threw together one day, but it's so good!  All the ingredients compliment each other so well!  You'll love it!

** Tootie Frootie Salad **

Ingredients:

                  2 cans mandarin oranges, drained

                  2 bananas

                  strawberries

                  whipped topping, thawed

                  fruit-flavored mini marshmallows

How To:

1.)   Drain the mandarin oranges in a strainer.  Let them sit while you prepare the rest of the salad to make sure as much liquid drains as possible.

2.)  Slice the bananas and strawberries.  

3.)  In a cute serving bowl, combine all the fruit.  Spoon whipped topping onto the fruit and stir.  Add enough topping so the fruit is all covered.  

4.)  Add the fruit-flavored marshmallows on top.  Stir them into the salad and add more, as needed.    Serve chilled.  Try and eat this without smiling, I dare you!! ;]

                 

Flannel Board Stories ****PRIZE*****

It’s that time again!!!  “Something I Made Monday!!!”

This is a special Monday because it is a PRIZE day!!!  Keep reading ;]

This is something that I learned to do when I did in-home daycare years ago.  I was working to get DHS certified and in order to do that I had to take a 10-week (I think it was 10 weeks?) training and education course through Childcare Resource and Referral.  Anyway… it’s a special training for in-home care providers and we learned how to do some pretty neat stuff!!

I introduce to you… the Flannel Board Story!!!!

These are unbelievably simple to make, and fairly cheap, depending on which method (see below) you choose to create them.  Children just adore them; teachers love to work with them.  It’s a great visual aid.  If you are looking for a more exciting way to tell stories, these will capture your child’s attention and hold it. 

So far, for our family collection, I’ve made “The 7 Days of Creation”, “Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden”, “Noah’s Ark”, “Jesus’ Birth” (The Christmas Story), & “Jesus’ Death & Resurrection.” 

When I did in-home day care, I had the stories, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do You See?”, “Old MacDonald”, “5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”, “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”,  & “Four Little Black Birds” (a story I made up myself).

What You’ll Need:

·        Milk Filters:  you’re probably thinking, “huh!?!”  This is the most important piece.  These can be picked up at farm supply stores, like Fleet Farm.  At the time I bought these (like…6-7 years ago?) I paid $9.99 for a box of 100 15” milk filter disks.  I’m not anywhere near close to using up the box yet.  It’s the most costly part of the project, but like I said, they’ve last me for years.  The product should look similar to this…

·       Crayons:  The cheap kind work the best.  I like “Cra-Z-Art” from Wal-Mart.

·       Black Sharpie Marker

·       Sheets of White Paper

·       Scissors

·       A Box with a Lid or a Metal Cookie Sheet:  I’ve used both, and personally, I like the box method better because it contains storage for your flannel stories.  Although, the cookie sheet idea is pretty cool, too.  This will be used as your “stage” to tell your story.  I wanted a larger box because I want to be able to fit all the characters I need to on the “stage.”  I got my box at Pizza Hut for 25 cents.  It’s the new “Big Box” version.  I also got a smaller “P’Zone” box from them for my “travel version.”  This way we can take the stories with us, but not have such a hefty box to haul around. 

·       A Piece of Flannel or Felt:  This needs to be large enough to cover the lid of your box or your cookie sheet.  Stick with a solid color.

·       Storage solution to keep stories separated:  You could use something as simple as plastic baggies in a variety of sizes, or a three-ring binder (you can get one for free from your bank!!) with clear plastic sheet protectors.  If using a box (built-in storage) for your stage, you could get by with the baggies.  If using the cookie sheet, you’ll probably want to use the binder.  Just be sure your characters are kept flat; never fold them.

·       Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks:  Necessary for attaching the flannel or felt to your stage.  I use a “cool melt” glue gun.  It doesn’t get as hot as a regular gun, so it won’t melt your fabric or make it too stiff.  This can be purchased at Hobby Lobby for under $5.

·       A Little Bit of Creativity & Some Artistic Talent:  You can create the characters for your stories anyway you choose.  You can draw them yourself or find pictures you’re looking for online or on a computer program.  I prefer to draw them myself because the other method never has exactly what I’m looking for.  Don’t worry if you aren’t the best artist in the world.  These are for your children, who think you’re the greatest even if you can only draw stick figures!! 

How To:  (Characters)

·       First of all, choose a story you’d like to tell your child.  I prefer to recreate Bible stories so we can use them during Children’s Church and Circle Time.  Read the story carefully and write down all the characters you’d like to make for that story.  (Example:  Adam & Eve:  don’t forget the fruit, the snake, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, etc.  Those are all considered “characters.”) 

·       Start with the Sheets of White Paper & a Black Sharpie Marker.  Draw your characters onto the white paper with the marker.  Remember to make the details, etc. fairly big because once you re-trace them, everything will get smaller.  Do the best you can to follow the descriptions of characters in the story you are choosing to tell.  If using the computer or online picture method, remember to re-size the pictures, if necessary, and print them off.

·       Re-trace the pictures onto a Milk Filter with the Marker by sliding your white sheet of paper under the filter.  Be sure to be a good steward of your filters and use your space wisely!  Fit as many characters onto one filter as you can, but be sure to leave enough room so you can cut them out later.

·       Color the traced characters with the Crayons.  Remember details.  If a character in a story is supposed to have blonde hair, don’t give them brown hair.

·       Cut your characters out with the Scissors.  Don’t cut directly on the lines.  I like to leave some white edging.  This makes each piece a little more sturdy.

·       Store your finished characters in the Plastic Baggies or Three-ring binder.  Be sure to label the baggies with a marker or the sheet protector pages with a hand-made tab or piece or tape so you know which story is which. 

How To:  (“Stage”)

·       Box Method:  Cut your felt or flannel large enough to cover the lid of your box.  Cover the top with glue from your Glue Gun and lay the felt or flannel on top.  This part you’ll have to do quickly because the glue drives very, very fast.  You may want to start by covering just a small portion with glue and laying down your fabric little by little.  This way you have better control over getting it laid just right.  Keep your stories tucked safely inside the box.

·       Cookie Sheet Method:  Turn the Cookie Sheet onto its backside.  Cut your felt or flannel large enough to cover the whole raised area.  Using your Glue Gun, glue just small portions at a time and lay your fabric down little by little.  Remember, the glue will dry quickly so you have to be fast, but accurate.  You won’t get any do-overs.  The fun part of the cookie sheet method is that one side can be used for flannel stories, while the other side can be used to stick magnets on.  Double cool!!  Keep your characters tucked safely in your three-ring-binder. 

See!!  I told you it was easy!!  These are also very fun to make.  Let yourself get as creative as you can!  I hope all of you will try this project and make a whole bunch of stories to share with your children.  These could be great entertainment for children while riding in the car, waiting at doctor’s appointments or at restaurants, or any other situation where little ones might start to get antsy.  These are also a big help for Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, AWANA or other kids’ programs, in the classroom or home school, or just for fun to share with your children or grandchildren.  But don’t forget to just sit down with a real book and read to your child and point out things in the pictures.  That’s a very important part of childhood, too.

Now…the moment you’ve all been waiting for!! 

The Opportunity to win a PRIZE!!!!

I will be giving away a handmade flannel story of your choice to TWO, yes, TWO happy people!!!  All you have to do is leave a comment in the comment section below sharing your favorite Bible Story or Children’s Story and I will re-create it for you in flannel story form!  I’ll also include a sheet of felt for your stage.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you’re the winner, such as an email address.  The winners will be randomly selected on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22.  You have until then to enter the drawing!!  Share the link to this page on your facebook and with your friends! :]

Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t win.  I will happily recreate a story for you in this form for $5/per story (Add $2 for shipping per story, if necessary).  Just send an email to TheSegerstroms@hotmail.com with “flannel story” in the subject line.  Be sure to include the name of the Bible Story or the title and author of the children’s story you’d like me to recreate.  Include your mailing information if shipping is necessary.  Payment must be received in advance.  Thank you for your support!! :D

Happy Creating, and Happy Winning!! :]

Alphabet Hop/Numbers Hop

It’s time for “Something I Made Monday!!!”  Every Monday I’ll do a post and step by step on something that I made.  It’s pretty self-explanatory. 

Here is my first “Something I Made”.  Enjoy. 

Most of you know that my husband, Derek, was homeschooled.  We also want to home school our children.  I’m so excited to do this because I looove to play “teacher” and I love to make things that can be used as learning tools. 

This item that I have made will be used to help our children with Letter and Number recognition.  This was totally just something I thought up one day.  I didn’t borrow the idea from any source, if I had, I would give credit where credit is due.  If there is another something out there like this, which I’m sure there is, then hooray for us for having such a good idea! ;]

I call this Alphabet Hop/Numbers Hop.  It’s a very simple little tool made with things you can collect around your home.  I save EVERYTHING.  It drives my husband crazy, but I just can’t bear to throw things away when they could be very useful at some point in the future! Voila!   The product and its step-by-step…

Alphabet Hop/Numbers Hop

This is made of two pieces of this square foam-like cardboard that I have been saving forever.  I can’t remember where it came from, but I knew when I saved it that one day it would be very handy.  I used a baby food jar lid to trace the circles.  You need to trace it 26 times for the alphabet and however many you want for the numbers.  I chose to go up to 30.  This is done very simply with permanent markers.  I wrote the letters and numbers in the circles by hand.  Then I colored in the background between the circles with marker.  It was too white, otherwise.  Once the board was constructed, I “laminated” it with packaging tape (this is a super thrifty way to seal things up that you don’t want to get wrecked.)  I didn’t want the marker to get smeared all over, or the board to get dirty.  You can always wipe the packaging tape clean with a damp cloth.  Just try to lay the tape out flat as you cover the board or you’ll have air bubbles and wrinkles all over.  (*note:  I use this method to cover pretty much anything that I plan on using more than once.)

Now, this activity can be done 1 of 2 ways.  But you need to do it WITH your child, at first, at least.  You need to be available to name the letters or numbers until he or she can identify them on their own. 

Notice the alphabet side.  See the round pink plastic things with the letters written on them?  Those are milk jug lids.  I’ve been saving them for a loooong time, as you can see.  But they’re perfect!  Your child pulls out a lid, looks at the letter, then looks at the board and has to match the lid to its letter.  Simple!   Be sure to make enough milk lids for each side, numbers AND letters.

Observe the number side.  Remember those plastic frogs that you push on the tab on their back and it makes them jump?  I got them at Wal-Mart -- 8 for $0.97!!  Once your child learns their letters/numbers, this is a great way to review.  Pop the little frog on the board, and whatever number or letter he lands on your child has to name! 

I know, I know.  It’s so simple.  Roen loves it, though.  And it’s good to make learning fun.  I hope this will be helpful to you to use for your home school, preschool, day care, or just for fun with your kids or grandkids!  :]  Let me know how it worked out for you!