ABC and 123: A Learning Collaborative

Our preschool classrooms love diving into the Creative Curriculum studies throughout the year. Each study invites children to explore big ideas through play, conversation, and discovery. To make learning even richer, our teachers add special supplemental resources, including dramatic play props, engaging books, and hands-on activities, to help children explore each topic in meaningful and memorable ways.

As we create our teaching totes, we will add resources to this page to highlight some of our favorite materials for enhancing learning and play. To begin this series, we are building our Plant Study tote.

Compostable Potting Containers

Root Viewer

Planting Gloves

Toy Garden

Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Worms Are Our Friends by Toni D’Alia

Making Predictions for a New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 21:15:00 +0000

Happy 2015! We hope you are all enjoying a relaxing holiday break before jumping into a great new year of teaching and learning.

One of our family traditions is to spend January 1st brainstorming predictions for the new year. What will happen in our family? What will happen in the world? How might we grow and change? Who might we meet? What things could become our new favorites?

Making predictions is also an important reading strategy teachers use to build reading comprehension and enjoyment. Predicting is much more than just figuring out what happens next in the plot. It involves using the evidence we already have to ask new questions, recall important facts, form hunches, infer, and draw conclusions. Making predictions builds our investment in the story we are about to jump into, just as it encourages us to be invested in the adventures of a new year.

Consider kicking off this new year in your classroom drawing each student back into your classroom community by making predictions about 2015. What objectives might be important in the coming months based on what they have already learned? What service projects might the class participate in? What books might they read? What field trips might be planned? What changes might be on the horizon for the classroom or school community?

Follow up this group activity with some personal reflection, predicting, and perhaps goal setting. There are many New Year's prediction recording sheets to be found on Pinterest to enhance this activity. My favorite example is from Michelle and Karen at Layers of Learning. (Click through to their site to download the printable version of their graphic below).

Let's kick off 2015 with the "I JUST CAN'T WAIT to see what is going to happen next" feeling!

Top 10 Universal Studios Inspired Halloween Costumes for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 15:32:00 +0000

Despicable Me

Image Credit: Costume Works

There are so many adorable options for dressing your little ones up as minions if they are your Despicable Me favorites. This year I am loving the idea of three little ladies dressed up to look like Gru's adorable daughters. This is an especially fun family dress up option.

The Simpsons

Image Credit: Coolest Homemade Costumes

The Simpsons would be another interesting family costume idea. Who can resist this adorable Baby Maggie!

Curious George

Image Credit: The Chirping Mom

Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat are dress up classics. The Chriping Moms put together a simple, yet adorable version of this famous duo. If you don't have two little ones to dress opt for the Man with the Yellow Hat and carry a favorite stuffed monkey.

Dora the Explorer

Image Credit: The MomBot

Dora and Boots are preschool favorites.

Po
peye

Image Credit: Crafty Bitch

While visiting Universal last summer we were able to introduce our four young children to Popeye and his best gal Olive Oil. This little sailor is the most precious Popeye ever!

Dr. Seuss

Image Credit: Moms Best Nest

Each year at Halloween we greet several Thing 1 and Thing 2 pairs at our doorstep. Dr. Seuss fans looking for something different might want to dress up like Sam I Am.

Shrek

Image Credit: The Truthful Mom

At Universal Orlando Shrek and Fiona are the fairy tale favorites. This little hat totally makes this costume

Image Credit: I Want Some Fun

Older children might not appreciate this Elliot costume for how awesome it is, but it certainly brings back childhood memories for mom and dad. The ET Adventure at Universal Orlando is our kid's favorite ride, making this costume a top contender on my four year old's dress up list.

Hulk

Image Credit: Costume Works

One of the most intimidating attractions at Universal Orlando is The Hulk, yet somehow every little boy is drawn to it - if only to stand beneath it and listen to the roar. I suppose that's pretty true to form for Hulk - loud and intimidating, but irresistible!

Transformers

Image Credit: Dollar Store Crafts

This construction is seriously amazing. My six year old is scheming to figure out who he could get to create this for him. He is also very curious how this friend got out of the costume when he was done.

What costumes are you lining up for this Halloween?

Does your family try to all dress according to a theme?

Do you focus on book characters? Movie Characters? Animals?

We would love to hear from you!

Ideas for Throwing a Three Billy Goats Gruff Fairy Tale Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 02:54:00 +0000

Since grandma read the book when he was very little my youngest son has had an interesting fascination with The Three Billy Goats Gruff. At first, he was terrified of the story. Everyone did their best to alleviate his fears by showing him video clips of adorable little billy goats, singing goat rhymes, reading parodies of the famous tale, and driving miles off our typical course to find farms with "nice" real life goats. All of our efforts proved successful when his fear turned into a giant toddler obsession.

His extreme interest aside, I never quite imagined when offered Thomas the Train, Olaf, Bob the Builder, Doc McStuffins, or I Stink the garbage truck as themes for his 4th birthday celebration my son would "choose his own adventure"... The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We knew right away the local party store wasn't going to be able to provide much for inspiration or decorations. With a little creativity, a bit of lesson plan adaptation, and some Pinterest inspiration our older children were able to help me put together a small party our littlest billy goat gruff found perfectly exciting.

It couldn't hurt to share a few details here in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation with an obscure preschool party request. You never know, you might thank me someday (wink!).

Decorations

To decorate the table we created napkin ring goats using paper towel rolls cut into quarters. Other materials include: a quarter of a cotton ball, scraps of brown and black construction paper, glue stick, Sharpie marker, and brown raffia. Since the kids did a lot of the assembly each goat had a look and expression of its own.

Construction paper goats in three different sizes became an inexpensive way to inspire story telling even with favor bags.

Activities

We always love to have a big pile of books available at parties for kids to check out during transition times. In addition to many versions of the classic fairy tale, there are many fun picture book spin offs on the Three Billy Goats theme. Here are a few of our favorite titles.

Three Silly Billies by Margie Palatini

Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachael Mortimer

Three Billy Goats' Stuff! by Bob Hartman

Just a Friendly Old Troll (Another Point of View) by Alvin Granowski

Older children worked together using Legos and goat figurines to build the story's setting while waiting for all the guests to arrive. Their finished sculpture ended up being a great decoration for the gift table.

During the party the kids enjoyed creating Pet Trolls like this colorful example we found on ScrumDillyDo. Supply each child with a lump of clay, very little instruction, and piles of googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and pom poms. Sit back and watch their imaginations run wild!

Sweets

Use your favorite trail mix and a bag of white chocolate chips to create this sweet, troll-ish treat.

There are likely many recipes for melted chocolate bark, but here is a quick and easy run down:

Line a cookie sheet with foil

Melt chocolate in a double boiler

Spread on cookie sheet

Evenly distribute trail mix through chocolate

Let cool before breaking into bite size pieces

A grassy mountain seemed to be a most appropriate scene from the story to display on the cake. This mountain was built using 2 heart shaped cake pans, chocolate frosting, and a little bit of leftover white chocolate "snow."

If building a mountain cake is too time consuming, stack various sized cupcakes to create mountains and valleys. Our family hosts two separate parties to accommodate two sides of the family. We brainstormed this "mountains and valleys" scene as a quicker option for keeping the dessert thematic for a second celebration. Arrange chocolate cupcakes of various sizes and top them with sprigs of frosting grass and toothpicks to prop the goats in their sweet habitat.

Do you use any Three Billy Goats Gruff activities in your class that could be adapted for use at a birthday party?

Elephant & Piggie Book Extension Activity

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 10:00:00 +0000

I Am Invited to a Party!

(An Elephant and Piggie Book)

by Mo Willems

Our kids LOVE the Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems. The text is easy enough for our youngest reader, but still laughable for our older kids. The character illustrations say so much with very few words and offer plenty of opportunity to practice inferencing.

During our many re-reads of these books our family began to brainstorm ways to bring Elephant and Piggie into our playtime too. In the coming days we hope to share several Mo Willems extension activities for your early childhood kiddos to enjoy.

The Basics:

After reading the book together pull out your dress up collection for some party primping. Print a stack of invites (see below) and brainstorm goofy party possibilities. Begin by handing each child an invite and letting them get creative about their costuming. Once they are getting in to the game let them choose their own cards and have you, or their friends, try to guess what type of party they have been invited to. This simple game brings new life to the costume box and LOTS of giggles!

Tips:

Before filling out the cards you may want to take inventory of your classroom (or home) dress up collection to be sure there are sufficient props to prep for the appropriate parties. Here are a few silly examples of the parties our family was invited to: Kitchen Owl Party, Construction Monkey Party, Clown Doctor Party, Star Wars Dog Party, Pirate Tea Party, Princess Pool Party, Ghost Baseball Party. If is also fun to leave some cards blank. As the kids get into the silliness of inventing wardrobes they will come up with great combinations of their own to add to the blank cards.

Examples:

For more extension activities check out our Mo Willems board on Pinterest!

The Ultimate Library for Creating & Nurturing a Home that Thrives

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 23:51:00 +0000

Teachers, homeschool families, and parents of young children love a great library. We spend lots of time researching the best resources, reading book reviews, and browsing the aisles in our favorite book stores. In the summer months we spend hours catching up on the newest techniques, tips, and strategies for teaching and learning. Books are kind of our thing.

We truly love a great library!

Today we wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to share an opportunity to build the ultimate library of homemaking resources with our book loving readers. While not every book in this collection may make its way to your classroom, the material included in this library is sure to simplify many other aspects of your busy life.

Here is a small glimpse at some of the titles that are available, by clicking through the picture you can see the titles and descriptions of each book as well as the book's individual value. The books are all listed by category and you will soon discover that the deal seems too good to be true.

I am especial excited to check out 101 Activities for Toddlers and Preschools, The Preschool Jouney, and two different variations on Homeschool Planners. I think it will also be fun to spend some time with Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Guide to Using PicMonkey to make pictures look professional. There are so many amazing titles included in this library.

On top of the fantastic collection of Kindle or PDF titles, this bundle includes over $200 worth of free products and subscriptions for you to sample. We are looking forward to experimenting with the free eco-friendly laundry detergent, which in itself holds the value of this whole bundle.

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is available for 5 days only. Check it out today and when summer reading season hits we should meet back here and chat about the tips and tricks you are most excited to add to next year's lessons for life plan!

Inspiration for Educators: Just Call It Good Teaching

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 19:30:00 +0000

What do you think? What quotes really stood out to you or challenged you?

Tools for Building Vocabulary

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 18:36:00 +0000

Are you looking for simple, fun ways to build your students' vocabulary?
We have collected a few suggestions to help you out!

As a classroom teacher, one of my favorite vocabulary building tools was the Vocabulary Anchor. We used a large laminated poster of a sail boat and anchor, set up as the illustration below, without the words on it. Each day the class would work together to fill in the chart using the new word of the day. As a quick way to review, during short transition times, I would call out past vocabulary words and they would respond with the anchor words.

Vocabulary Anchors

With young students it is fun to build basic vocabulary with a game we called "Name It." On small slips of paper create Name It cards with simple prompts such as: an article of clothing, a body part, a state, a fruit, etc. With the children in a line or a row have the first child pick a card. The teacher says, "A fruit, name it!" The first 3-5 children each think of one word that fits the category. Each word must be different from the person before them. After 3-5 students, have someone pick a new category and continue listing new words.

What's My Word, from Classroom Game Nook, is an interactive way for students to really get to know a new vocabulary word while recording their new learning.

On our Pinterest board, titled Vocabulary Building, we have collected links to several other favorite Vocabulary Building Games you may be interested in trying with your students.

Multimedia Vocabulary Tools
To encourage interaction with technology while studying vocabulary, the following sites are fantastic.

EGlossary provides interactive definitions that are read aloud to students and provide animated graphics.

VocabAhead offers an email subscription for a Word a Day as well as a great vocabulary guessing app that is available online.

Science Glossary, Geography Glossary, and Math Glossary offer online alternatives to practicing content vocabulary.

Listing synonyms and antonyms for a new vocabulary term becomes a creative outlet if you use Tagul or Tagxedo.

What are your tips and tricks for making vocabulary instruction entertaining and effective?

Disclosure: None of the links above are sponsored.

Throwing a #Frozen Olaf Party

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 02:42:00 +0000

Disney has once again become the inspiration for our family's winter birthday girl. The huge success of Frozen, as well as our ridiculously frozen winter here in Michigan, made an Olaf party on obvious choice this year. Not sure if I was thinking clearly when I agreed to letting my 8 year old invite her class to a pool party at our local aquatic center, but it made for the perfect setting for her friends to do "what frozen things do in summer!"

invitations

Food

frozen ice cap jello

Olaf donut faces, Rice Krispie treat ice chunks, and snowman string cheese

Snowman accessories: buttons, noses, and arms

The kids used these to turn their donuts into snowmen

thank you notes

Games

We created this game board as a variation on one of our silly family favorites, Don't Eat Pete. Put one marshmallow on each square of the game board. One child is sent from the room while the other children choose which Olaf must not be eaten. The first child returns and beings eating the marshmallows one at a time. If/When the child tries to eat the piece on the chosen Olaf, the rest of the kids yell, "Don't Eat Olaf!" The kids count how many they were able to eat before they tried to eat the Olaf, then refill the board for the next player.

a game board and pieces for each child to take home

snowman stacks

Set the timer for 1 minute. Everyone works by themselves to build as many snowman stacks on their mat before the timer rings. Each stack must have at least 3 marshmallow.

Favors

snow dough packaged with button beads, clay noses, and twigs

fleece scarves rolled and wrapped with a note

My daughter spent many hours of a snow day happily cutting and knotting these for her guests. The scarves were a perfect way to cozy up after chillin' in the pool, changing out of suits, and heading home.

Tags

Classroom Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 21:20:00 +0000

disclosure: affiliate links included below

As a child, and now as a mom and educator, my favorite holiday has always been Valentine's Day. I love all things friendship, hearts, frilly, flowers, pink, red, purple, chocolate and more. All the things Valentine's Day brings. In our house we begin putting together classroom Valentines early in January in anticipation. Here are a few ideas we tried last year and those in the top running for this year. It sure is fun to collect clever ideas from other bloggers and we would love to see what you have in the works for February 14th!

original idea from Design Mom

original idea from Paging Supermom

original idea from Living Locutro

Although we used candy hearts last year we especially love the options that include a treat that isn't sweet. This year our oldest wants to pass out toy soldiers, my daughter has made piles of freindship bracelets to attach to her notes, and our preschooler is handing out adorable Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Bag of Bugs. Our inspiration for this year's, yet to be assembled, Valentines comes from these clever bloggers:

Dandee

Armelle

What are you creating for classroom Valentine's this year?

Planning for Life Outside of the Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:34:00 +0000

Putting together amazing activities, planning detailed themes, writing curriculum, and implementing it all with students of many different ages is a joy and a pleasure. However, it leaves us lacking in time and energy for the necessary tasks of meal planning, ingredient list making, and grocery shopping.

eMeals is an online service committed to giving teachers and moms a break by creating weekly menus and assembling the ingredient lists. In addition, eMeals promises to keep meals affordable without the need for stock piling or couponing, while still keeping their valuable service incredibly affordable.

My family has been experimenting with eMeals for several months. To begin, choose your perfect plan from a variety of options. Menu plan options are available for large families or couples. They consider your favorite grocery store, as well as specialty needs such as: gluten free, low carb, low fat, vegetarian, and portion control diets.

After choosing your menu plan print off one or two weeks worth of menus (the site displays two weeks - current week & previous). I put the meal plans in plastic sleeves, one side showing the menu and the other side showing the pre-planned shopping list.

Shop, Unload, Cook, Serve, Smile!
(Let someone else in your family do the clean up so you can head back to your lesson planning, grading, and crafting)
Easy, right?

Before trying eMeals I was a bit worriedour grocery bill would increase based on unusual ingredient lists sometimes found on meal planning services. I also wondered if the weekly menus would include main dishes our family would actually enjoy.

The plan my family is currently enjoying is the Slow Cooker Meal Plan and it is not grocery store specific plan. The recipes all have fairly short ingredient lists and all of the instructions for each meal fit in a small grid box (which means they aren't very complicated!). Having dinner cooking in the Crock Pot as we all roll in after school is a life saver.

During our first month with eMeals our grocery bill actually went down because I am shopping with more of a plan in mind. I am excited about the fantastic line up of new recipe ideas I've collected. The plans have encouraged me to try some new flavors we typically don't include in our menu. After a couple nights of rave reviews from our kids my husband wanted in on the new secret. I'm more motivated to make dinner and I am spending less time in the grocery store.

The cost of the service is a very reasonable $1.25 a week and worth every penny to me! As an added bonus, members get a FREE holiday menu when they sign up for eMeals. They can choose between our Classic, Paleo, or Clean Eating Holiday Plans. See the recipes and images you can use below to promote it. You have access to the full menus in your members’ area on our website. You can also offer your readers the discount code HOLIDAY for 15% off.

Disclosure: E-Meals is currently providing our family with a 1 year subscription while I participate in their blogger outreach network.

Family Meal Time Pasta-billities

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Disclosure: The following post is sponsored by The Pasta Shoppe in conjunction with one of our advertising networks Business 2 Blogger.

There are many convicting statistics about the importance of eating dinner together as a family. As you put away the days materials, grade the papers you have collected, clean up the class, prep the white board with the next morning's agenda, and cram your take home bag with lesson planning to work on after your own children are in bed it can be difficult to come up with a dinner plan other than take out. One of our go-to meals on the nights I can't carve out time to make the dish planned in our weekly menu, or when I have forgotten to turn on the crock pot before heading out in the morning, is pasta!

The Pasta Shoppe adds pastabilities to family dinner plans. Their product line includes meal mixes, pasta nests, shaped pasta to use in your favorite recipes, and delicious low fat Meringues.

On a chilly night last week, it was a treat to be able to quickly put together Pasta Shoppe's Chicken Noodle Soup in just about 15 minutes. We added sliver cut carrots and strips of cooked chicken to the noodles and broth spices provided in the package. It was hearty & delicious and the kids enjoyed spooning the chicken shaped noodles out of their bowls. When it gets even cooler yet we are looking forward to trying the Wintertime Chili with snowflaks pasta.

One of our favorite summer picnic recipes is Crab Pasta Salad. It will be much more fun to assemble and serve with thematic crab noodles.

When one of our family friends has a new addition, our favorite meal to deliver is a pasta dish called Bowtie Bambino. I am looking forward to the next due date so we can prepare it with "bambino" themed noodles instead of bowties.

Bowtie Bambino

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 small bunch of sliced scallions

26 oz. 4 Cheese Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 cup fresh, chopped parsley

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup heavy cream (I always substitute with skim milk)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 lb. My First Pasta

Stir fry chicken in oil. Add cream, tomato sauce, parsley, scallions, and cheese. Reduce heat and toss with cooked pasta.

Any of the seasonal noodles from The Pasta Shoppe would make for a rockin' thematic sensory and sorting play station. There are 13 Halloween Sensory play ideas shared on Creative Playhouse, which one of these ideas would be more fun with shaped noodles?

We are especially excited to fill our sensory play bin with Halloween pasta, plastic spiders, dry corn kernels, mini pumpkins, and googly eyes.

In addition to adding something special to our nightly dinner inspiration, Pasta Shoppe offers a solution for the "been there, done that" school fundraisers. Request detailed information regarding the Fun Pasta Fundraiser here.

After sampling many of the pastas included in the Fun Pasta brochure, and reflecting on our recent experience with our school's fundraising choice, I am convinced this would be a great option. Fun Pasta Fundraiser allows for simple, online ordering. The food does not require refrigeration in the time before it is delivered. There are reasonable price points for all budgets. Pasta is more practical than $12 rolls of wrapping paper and more healthy than cookie dough. The profits and rewards programs are definitely worth looking in to.

Giveaway
The Pasta Shoppe will be gifting one of our readers with a box of seasonal shapes and your favorite team pasta. Enter to win using the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to School with Balefire Labs, Inc. {Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Balefire Labs, Inc. in conjunctions with Mom It Forward Blogger Network. The opinions, stories, and homework drama included in the following post are my own.

There isn't an hour that goes by that one of our four children doesn't ask, "May I use your phone? May I play the iPad?" We have always had what may be considered strict technology limits for our children. On school days they are not given any time on the computer, watching TV, or playing electronic games of any kind unless it is required for academic extension. On the weekends and over summer vacation we are a bit more laid back about the iPhone and quickly hand it over while we sit at appointments, ride in the car, or wait in long lines. However, the more time I spend myself examining the amazing educational apps and opportunities offered by smart phones and electronic readers I recognize their function in developing usable skills. I realize our family needs to balance our technology limits accordingly. It has also become very evident that having a system for deciphering which apps are indeed high quality and instructional is necessary to avoid ~~mommy guilt~~ technology time off task.

As part of this year's daily homework, my oldest son is required to practice multiplication facts for 10 minutes a day. His teacher copied a set of paper flashcards for each student, but highly encouraged the fourth graders to research online games for quick multiplication practice. Without exaggeration...the first night my son spent and hour and a half trying to find one game intended to develop fact chart confidence, with minimal pop up ads, and age appropriate graphics. Needless to say we were both frustrated with the "10 minute assignment." Offering him my phone for a search of the app store might have seemed like the next best answer, but again there are over 100,000 options considered educational. And...how many times have we paid the small amount to try an app that turns out to be a total dud?!

I wish I would have known then about the online service offered by Balefire Labs, Inc. Balefire offers objective reviews of educational apps to make searching for the right app quick and easy. Evaluations, including a letter grade and a quick reference features chart, are available for apps intended for students from PreK to 12th Grade.

After familiarizing myself with this tool, Gavin and I worked together to create a great list of possible apps for him to use when practicing his multiplication facts. Balefire Labs features an easy search by topic, grade, and subject area.

Once you have reviewed the easy to understand feature chart, it is helpful to click through and read the detailed reviews which have been compiled using a strict criteria.

Many of the apps Gavin and I discovered to help with his times tables actually ended up being free. Bonus! {Thought: the small amount you might invest in subscribing to Balefire will save you a load in app fees for activities that might not teach just what you were hoping to teach}

As a family we are appreciative of the option to search apps for the 0-4 year olds in our home as well. We have found a few favorites and have organized them in a separate bookshelf just for our toddlers. They are able to build their confidence in navigating age appropriate apps and don't end up distracted by Minion Rush or Temple Run, which teach very little and cause a lot of frustration for their age.

It seems, as more and more classrooms integrate technology, using Balefire Labs when planning for a new year of subject area lessons will save teachers time and hassle while ensuring they are giving their students the best possible opportunities within the limited time.

If you are interested in getting to know more about this product consider finding Balefire Labs on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. Then, give it a try for yourself!

Giveaway

3 Readers of ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative will receive a FREE 1-year subscription to Balefire Labs! Use the rafflecopter below to enter before the giveaway closes at 12:00 AM EST on October 4, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Planning a Fall Fam Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 23:09:00 +0000

We have a very large extended family. There are so many cousins for our children to get to know and it is rare we all get to spend time together. Spurred on by a conversation with my Gram our family decided to organize the 1st fall family festival ~ Fam Fest '13! After putting some time into planning a fun afternoon with our family we are hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Photo Booth Ideas & Props

After our time at Family Forward, we knew it wouldn't be a party without a fantastic photo booth. The props created by Mom It Forward would be an excellent addition to our festival next year when the printables become available online.

However, there are many other great sites for printable photo booth props. McKenzie Smith has 12 pages of colored pdfs to print, cut, and pose with at your festival.

Our family also used several of the unique props created by Oh, Happy Day.

To add to the prop collection pack up your dress up box into wooden apple crates to display by the photo booth.

For an autumn event a large piece of burlap or a giant roll of brown butcher paper make an easy backdrop for your photo booth.

{Learn from our rookie mistake and line up the seams or make sure the seams are not in the direct line of the centered close ups}

Tall, cut corn stalks or hay bales make an easy thematic border for the photobooth.

photo credit

Create a banner for your photo subjects to model with to remember what the occasion was all about!

Outdoor Games

When planning the outdoor games for our family carnival I referred to my Summer To-Do Pinterest board. This board includes several large, yard game versions of classic indoor games. The kids especially liked the Giant Jenga and the over-sized Right, Left, Center!

photo credit

This beautiful LRC game pictured about, from DIY Show Off, would be a very durable option for use year after year. The kids and I created ours out of red plastic plates and large white foam cubes wrapped in clear packing tape.

Corn Hole Cup

To entertain the adults we set up a huge double elimination Corn Hole (aka Bean Bag Toss) Cup Competition. The competition was fierce, and fun for the great grandparents to watch and cheer for from the sidelines. There is already talk of who the teams will be next year and how we might up the ante with the prize. For the inaugural year the big trophy was this "fancy" Corn Hole Cup which I am sure will become the centerpiece in someone's home for years to come ;)

original photo posted on Instagram

Ring Toss

photo credit

This homemade ring toss is made out of spray painted Jones soda bottles and bamboo rings wrapped in fabric strips. You will probably have to do without the flowers when the game is in play.

The other activities we included in our first annual festival included a backyard baseball game, facepaint, bean bag toss for children, scoops, Frisbee golf course, and a pinata.

There are several other game ideas posted to ABC&123's Pinterest board, Fall Festival Ideas we are hoping to incorporate next year.

For all of the games we used small prizes collected from "trinket catalogs" and the dollar stores. The kids at our party were especially thrilled with tattoos, plastic wizard fingers (ACK!), and those little grow capsules that melt in water leaving a colorful sponge shaped like a character.

Food

For this year's festival we kept the food simple with hamburgers and a topping bar, chips, homemade macaroni & cheese, fruits and veggies. During game time we served snacks in colorful paper cones similar to these from Bridgey Widgey.

Our party featured Clementine Pumpkins from Muffin Tin Mom.

We also served Veggie Skeletons.

When planning your own Fam Fest, remember it does not matter how simple or Pinterest-y you like to make things, what matters is the time together with the generations!

Happy {Almost} Halloween Tulle You: DIY Costumes

noreply@blogger.com (Katie from ABC&123: A Learning Cooperative) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 15:40:00 +0000

Disclosure: The following post was sponsored by Hub Network through their partnership with Circle of Moms. While I was compensated to write this post about Hub Network's First Annual Halloween Bash Costume Contest, all opinions are my own.

It will be here before we know it!
October.

Do your children get into costume? Are you a DIY family or do you love choosing a favorite character off the racks at the store? While in many school settings students are not allowed to come to school in costume and/or are required to choose a character from a book, dressing up is still a very exciting part of our October traditions!

Growing up a big part of the Halloween fun for our family was brainstorming costumes, digging through the dress up box for the perfect pieces, and making ourselves into clever characters for the big night of trick or treat! I will admit there have been years I've relied on the generic end of season clearance costumes that fill our dress up boxes to outfit our four for Halloween. However, our favorite costumes are always the ones we spent time creating together. Our extended family gets into the homemade dress up spirit too and some of their costume ideas are pictured below as well.

In the past four years my daughter has been Abby Cadabby, Tinkerbell, Cinderella, and Super Woman. Each of these costumes would not have been complete without a fluffy, over the top skirt made of tulle. To encourage your creative juices in preparation for this Halloween I have rounded up the tulle-inspired costumes created by members of our family.

Belle

Tinkerbell

Cookie Monster

Snow White

Cinderella

A pretty peacock

Super Woman

Santa

Ariel

Minion
(This is actually a wreath, but there has to be a creative soul out there that would love to figure out how to turn this into a timely Despicable Me costume!)

This season, Hub Network is hosting Hub Network's First Annual Halloween Bash Costume Contest. They are searching the U.S. for the spookiest, silliest, and most inventive costumes. Submit your one of a kind costume ideas for a chance to win a prize valued at $25,000.

Show Hub Network your best costume by registering before 9/29. Each entry must be a unique creation. One winner from each state will be flown to L.A. to appear in The Hub Network's First Annual Halloween Bash! Martha Stewart, the Halloween Expert herself, will appear as a judge at the Hub Network's Halloween Bash.

Here at ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative we are sure we have the most inventive readers in the blog world and we can not wait to see what spooky, silly, creative costumes you come up with this year!

Disclaimer: My crafty cousin in costume crime, of Justine's Crafty Creations, has put together several of these tulle costumes and modeled them on her sweet triplets!

Fall Fashion: For the Teacher Headed Back to School

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 18:52:00 +0000

Full Disclosure: The following post is sponsored by Meijer in promotion of their fall clothing line. ( I may or may not have spent well beyond what I earned between my desire to have "one of each" and the tow truck bill after I locked my keys in the car while I was shopping ;). All of the opinions here are my own.

After several years of working from home, teaching my young children in the classroom that is our home and our world, I have taken a new position teaching part time in a more traditional setting. This change has required a significant change in my wardrobe. When Meijer contacted me regarding their Fall 2013 Look Book it reinforced my need for a few new classroom appropriate outfits. Initially, I was quite certain I would also need them to provide a personal stylists so I would have a clue if the outfits I was choosing were even on the trendy radar. However, I decided to trust the designers to the current and fashionable part and to choose pieces I knew I would be comfortable wearing!

From the start I was drawn to these lovely infinity scarves and was tempted to build an outfit around each of the color combinations. I picked one to start with...

Using the cream, navy, and autumn orange color scheme I set to shopping for mix and match pieces to provide many options with a few classic pieces.

I left the store with

.~2 pair of pants - one pair for dress and one for casual Fridays

~2 pair of shoes - flats and boots

~2 dress shirts

~1 casual top & 1 sweater

...all to accompany my scarf!

After an afternoon of mixing and matching I was able to use these pieces to put together 8 smart outfits. A few of these combinations are pictured below. Navy is one of my comfort zone colors, so these work for me. The maize and navy scarf might be my next wardrobe addition. However, there are so many great colors available. It would also be fun to experiment with the deep purples and greens pictured in their fall Look Book as well.

For those of you who live in an area with a Meijer store, you may be interested in participating in their Pin It to Win It fall style contest for a chance to win a $100 Meijer gift card. There is more information regarding the specifics of this contest at Meijer.com/style.

What is your preferred classroom style?

Do your school outfits make a comfortable transition for weekend wear?

We would love to hear your fall shopping tips too!

Getting Creative with #DuckBrandTape

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 19:34:00 +0000

While attending Family Forward last week, our family had the chance to connect with Duck Brand Duct Tape during a project oriented session encouraging families to start a tradition of creating together.

Our family worked together to create 3 different projects of 3 different skill levels.

Beginner Project:

Duck Brand Tape Bow attached to a Tape Headband

Intermediate Project:

A Golden Wallet

Advanced Project:

Super Hero Accessories

This session was a highlight of the conference for my kids and since we have been home they have been dreaming up, and searching Pinterest for, more duct tape projects. Here are a few ideas for getting ready for back to school in Duck Brand Tape style!

iPhone or iPad case: It's Overflowing

Messenger Bag or Belt

Locker Mirror: Rykauna's Ruffles

Lunch Bag: Pinterest

ID lanyards

File Folders from The Silver Lining

Heart2Home: Drawer Cadd ies

Did you know?

The popular product, Cricut, used for scrap booking and creating fantastic classroom bulletin boards can also cut custom designs into Duck BrandTape? Experiment with it. It's fun! Using Duck Tape would be an easy variation on the personalized pencil case shared on Chase the Stars.

Organizing the Back to School Wardrobe

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 01:56:00 +0000

Part of our back to school preparation includes the wardrobe swap. Our kids spend the good part of a day swapping out the clothes they wore out with all their summer fun for more school appropriate outfits. The majority of our back to school shopping is done with the tubs of hand me downs we store from one child to the next. We set up a shop in our home and try to make it a special experience as the kids pick the outfits they like most in the size they will need for the new year.

This year, after shopping the storage tubs we talked about the different mixes and matches each of the kids could make with the clothes they chose. During the school year we typically expect our children to lay out a week's worth of outfits on Sunday night. From day to day during the week they can pick which of the 5 outfits best suit their mood or activity for the day. In the past it has been a bit of a challenge for our youngest ones to remember which pieces make outfits. This year we have brainstormed a solution for choosing the weekly wardrobe.

1. Create Outfits. Mix and Match. Be Creative

2. Take pictures of each of the combinations

3. Print the pictures and load them into plastic photo sleeves in mini albums

4. Store the albums in your kids' dressers

5. As they pick outfits for each day children can easily refer to the pictures to find the pieces they need

Hopefully this easy tip will simplify our morning routine during this school year!

What are you tricks and tips for getting your children dressed and on their way on busy school mornings?

One in a Minion: Encouraging Your Family

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 17:45:00 +0000

As I mentioned yesterday, our family recently traveled to Universal Orlando for the Family Forward Retreat organized by Mom It Forward. The conference focused on creating Super Hero families. If you have been reading ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative for long, you know that we are always on the hunt for activities that build family togetherness and promote learning. Mom It Forward has put together an amazing series of e-books: Becoming a Super Family! The idea behind the series is to recognize your family's collective influence and to find ways to build each other up by understanding each individual's super powers.

Book 6 is about developing TRUST among the people we love most! One of the activities in the book is called, "I Love You because..." They suggest once a week, or a month, to have each person in the family think of a unique "I love you because" statement for another person in the family. These encouraging words can easily be recorded and looked back on from week to week.

While in Universal Studio Orlando each of the families was given a generous gift bag by the resort. One of the items in the bag was this adorable little notebook.

Since our children had just enjoyed the opportunity for a private dance party with the lovable minions from Despicable Me they were all hoping to lay claims on this cute souvenir. We decided to make it our "Love you because..." book with a twist.

You're One in a Minion

Every family is special! Start the brainstorming with some specific questions:

What makes sister special?

What is dad good at?

How did brother help you with this week?

What is a characteristic you appreciate about mom?

During our drive home each person in our family communicated some "One in a Minion because..." statements while uplifting each other with our words. It was the start of a special once a month tradition for our family!

How does your family build trust and encourage one another? Is this a tradition you might consider adding to your new school year schedule?

Survival Tips for Road Trips with Young Children

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 01:48:00 +0000

While I know many of you are back in the swing of the school routine, we are not quite there yet! Our kids will hit the books next week, but this week we are still basking in the afterglow of an amazing summer vacation! Our most recent adventure was a 22 hour road trip to Universal Orlando for the Family Forward Retreat organized by Mom It Forward. In the next few days I would love to share some of the tricks, tips, favorites, and family memory making activities we discovered during this event.

To kick it off, we must talk about the journey - which we all know is just as important as the destination!

Tip #1: Explain the Route

By making the kids aware of the states we would be passing through, as well as some of the famous landmarks we would drive by, we kept them engaged in watching out their windows. This little trick also significantly cut down on the "Are we there yet"s! In the first 10 minutes of our trip the kids colored a miniature picture of a mini van that we hung appropriate as we passed each mile maker on our route.

Tip #2: Clip Stops

Create a special clip for each of the young passengers and display them on your visor. While in route the clips remain unless there is a problem (set appropriate boundaries with your children ahead of time as to what a "problem" will be). If a passenger causes a disagreement on a leg of the trip, take their clip down. When you stop for gas, a bathroom break, or a meal allow each child with a clip still hanging to choose a small snack. We designated which type of stops would be clip stops ahead of time. We did not buy clip snacks at meal stops for our family.

Tip #3: Surprise Activities

Fill several lunch sacks with a special activity that encourages play, conversation, or creativity. Label the bags by hour marks or time and allow the kids to open the bags as they reach those milestones. Our bags included: How to Draw Characters instruction sheets, pipe cleaners, coloring pages,*BINGO cards, Spot It, Blink, ViewMaster, Math Mountain dice games, Comics, silly cds, and more.

Tip #4: Choose a Comfortable Vehicle

Driving a great car with comfortable seats, leg room, a moon roof for gazing, and satellite radio makes the trip much more enjoyable for everyone. When we travel we like to rent a car from Hertz. With children on board it is also reassuring to know we won't end up stranded in our own vehicle waiting in a backwoods repair shop for hours...or days!

Tip #5: Lap Trays

Purchase tin cookie sheets from a dollar store for each of the passengers. These sheets come in handy for building and playing games, as well as turning into a makeshift place mat for meals on the go.

Tip #6: You can never pack enough wet wipes for quick clean up!

Tip #7: When all else fails, plug in the portable DVD player! :)

*I saw an idea on Pinterest to attach bubble wrap to road trip BINGO cards. The kids loved popping along as they found the licence plates and road signs they were searching for. It may or may not have given the driver a bit of a headache (wink!).

What are some of your most successful road trip tips? We would love to hear about them.

Disclosure: For this trip we drove a Buick Enclave from Hertz.com. They provided us with a free upgrade to the economy car package we booked. They have no expectations for us to write about their service or our experience, however it was a very positive experience for our family and we will look forward to working with them again in the future when we plan our vacations.

What Supplies Make Back-to-School EASY for You? {Staples Gift Card Giveaway}

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 01:16:00 +0000

Staples.com provided product for review as well as the gift card for this giveaway. The thoughts and opinions expressed in the post that follow are my own. Learn more about Staples entire line of cameras and accessories by checking out their store online.

While our family is more than happy to enjoy the sights and sounds of summer, back to school shopping time will be here before we know it! Even in July the teachers in the crowd are brainstorming new ways to manage their classroom, determining which objectives should be taught with what activities, and watching the ads to determine which week is best for buying the supplies on their back to school list for the lowest prices. All in the interest of starting the year off with a BANG!

When asked to consider my favorite classroom organization tool a few items popped into my head. None of them are crucial for instruction, but this short list of back to school supplies sure make me happy as I get my space set up for a new year:

Sharpie Markers

Rainbow of Dry Erase Markers

Mini Post It Notes

However, my #1 back to school must have is a great digital camera! As I prep for a new school year I use my digital camera to take pictures of ideas I want to try in my classroom, to create locker tags, to compile images to use on desk placards, to label and organize materials, to decorate bulletin boards, to get to know my students, and to share a bit about myself with my class.

This summer I am getting to know my new Nikon CoolPix and I love it! It is a great size to pack and carry. The CoolPix is easy to use and takes nice pictures. The camera offers quick effects for pictures we have already taken that make them ready for instant sharing. I'm looking forward to taking first day of school pictures with this plum beauty, but for now I am more than happy to be taking first day of tubing, camping, playing in the sun pictures!

It was a pleasant surprise to find several different Nikon digital cameras available on the Staples online site, in addition to all the other classroom supplies on my list. Ordering was easy and shipping was speedy. I also found the prices to be very competitive with online sales and bundles.

So, what is on your back to school shopping list?

GIVEAWAY

Staples would like to help you get a head start on your shopping. They are offering one of the readers of ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative a $150 gift card! to spend on learning materials or back to school supplies. Please note, this giveaway is available to US residents only. Enter to win using the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Fun: Playing with Water

noreply@blogger.com (Katie) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 01:48:00 +0000

There is still one more week of school for the kids in our house, but we have heard of many friends who are already enjoying summer vacation. Hot days and water play are on their way! Here are some fun water themed activities and games to try this summer!

Create a water wall, similar to an outside marble run. There is a nice example to get you started at Playing By the Book.

UCreate put together a DIY backyard Water Blob. This idea was all over Pinterest last year and we are looking forward to finally giving it a try this summer.

Roll 6 and Splash from Toddler Approved is on our summer fun list. Simple, yet silly enough to be cool! (There are other water themed games included in this link)

Mamas Like Me posted several water games. We are especially excited about trying the sponge bulls eye.

A favorite summer camp standby with our kids is "Drip, Drip, Splash" played like duck, duck, goose but the duck-er gets to carry around a small bowl of water to drip and splash on the unsuspecting gooses.

There are also many great examples of Kid Washes around the web. Here is the one we made last summer. The kids are ready to get it out again soon!

B.Toys makes a wonderful water toy called H2-Whoa. It comes with 4 water pens that draw on 2 different colored board surfaces. The picture slowly fades as it dries. Perfect for indoor or outdoor water drawings.

A very simple idea for young children is to fill a paint can with water, provide them with large paint brushes and a stretch of backyard fence to "paint." This activity kept my 1 and 3 year old entertained for hours last summer.

Ready? Get set. Get WET!

ABC and 123: A Learning Collaborative

March is Reading Month: Reading is Turtle-y Awesome!

Here is a Turtle-y Trivia staff engagement activity to match the month long theme.Encourage students and staff with these additional resources to accompany the game:'Turtle TrophyTurtle Tank Stickers

Preschool Creative Curriculum: Supplemental Resource Ideas

Preschool Creative Curriculum: Supplemental Resource Ideas

Preschool Creative Curriculum: Supplemental Resource Ideas

Making Predictions for a New Year

Top 10 Universal Studios Inspired Halloween Costumes for Kids

Ideas for Throwing a Three Billy Goats Gruff Fairy Tale Birthday Party

Do you use any Three Billy Goats Gruff activities in your class that could be adapted for use at a birthday party?

Elephant & Piggie Book Extension Activity

I Am Invited to a Party!

(An Elephant and Piggie Book)

The Ultimate Library for Creating & Nurturing a Home that Thrives

Inspiration for Educators: Just Call It Good Teaching

Tools for Building Vocabulary

Throwing a #Frozen Olaf Party

Food

Games

Classroom Valentines

Planning for Life Outside of the Classroom

Family Meal Time Pasta-billities

Bowtie Bambino

Back to School with Balefire Labs, Inc. {Giveaway}

Planning a Fall Fam Fest

Happy {Almost} Halloween Tulle You: DIY Costumes

Fall Fashion: For the Teacher Headed Back to School

Getting Creative with #DuckBrandTape

Organizing the Back to School Wardrobe

One in a Minion: Encouraging Your Family

You're One in a Minion

Survival Tips for Road Trips with Young Children

Tip #1: Explain the Route

Tip #2: Clip Stops

Tip #3: Surprise Activities

Tip #4: Choose a Comfortable Vehicle

Tip #5: Lap Trays

Tip #6: You can never pack enough wet wipes for quick clean up!

Tip #7: When all else fails, plug in the portable DVD player! :)

What Supplies Make Back-to-School EASY for You? {Staples Gift Card Giveaway}

Summer Fun: Playing with Water

Here is a Turtle-y Trivia staff engagement activity to match the month long theme.
Encourage students and staff with these additional resources to accompany the game:
'
Turtle Trophy
Turtle Tank Stickers