[Family Love Note Mailbox]  Recycled juice box is sealed until February 14th! 

[Recycled Candy Heart Box Game]  Sight Word Fun!  Last year we stuffed a similar chocolate box with goodies for lunch– HERE.

[Heart Zoo]  Make & Word Match

Heart & Arrow Color Clip Activity

1. Heart Puppets    2.  Valentine Letter Game  3.  Happy Hearts Book– all the characters are hearts (of course!)  4.  Heart Home Work

1.  Valentine for cousin Zoe (practice telling time!)   2 & 3  Emerson’s Heart Color SORT   4.  My favorite kind of  Valentine   

Knock Knock

Who’s There?

Justin

Justin TIME for your VALENTINE!

Hope your home is filled with loads of HAPPY HEARTS and SMILES in these chilly days leading up to VALENTINE’S DAY!!! 

xoxoxoxoxo

[Watercolors + Cardboard + Clothes Pins]

[Recycled Nativity Set:   Manger=Altoid Tin,  Baby Jesus=Spool,  Mary & Joseph=Medicine Bottles,  Shepards & Wise Men=Spice Bottles] 

[OH Come Let us Adore HIM!] 

And the WORD became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

[Nativity ABC Match]

Through stories, art and play we celebrate HEART of CHRISTMAS!!  The little wooden set (center) was handcrafted by my dear friend Heather.    

Nativity Inspiration Via:

AOK Corral  The GINGERBREAD Nativity Set (above)

Thoughts of Esme  The most adorable sweet cheeked wise men and story book!

Ministry to Children  Lessons for little ones using each of the nativity characters. 

You can find me over here today— GAIL’s 12 Days of CHRISTmas.  

  I wish you a peaceful and beautiful week as you celebrate HIS wondrous LOVE!  

A turkey a day

keeps the doctor away!

A Turkey a Day…

1.  Turkey Coin Bank  Recycled spice tin

2.  Turkey Color Bingo  Each turkey has a unique set of colors.  Fill your turkey feathers and BINGO (GOBBLE!!!) Via HERE 

3.  Water Color Turkeys   

4.  Hand Gobbler  Traced Hand Print +  Feathers + Clothes Pins (Via HERE)

5.  Eat more TOFU Ads!

6.  Turkey Dinner  Race  Mini board game made from paint chips.  Players race to fill their plates!   

7.  Turkey Farm  More math and color fun.

Trivia night has become a huge hit around here.  We are saving this weeks TURKEY TRIVIA for Thanksgiving Day!

Did you know…

 …that six hundred seventy-five MILLION pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the US?

…turkeys will have approximately 3,500 feathers at maturity?

…wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 MPH?

…Turkeys have more protein than chicken or beef?

This weeks Trivia facts via University of Illinois Extension

Turkey Treats

1.  Edible Play-dough Turkeys  Fancy tooth pics+ Feathers + Preschool Peanut Butter Balls (Mix and chill 1 cup PB +  1 cup honey + 2 cups dry powdered milk)  I remember loving these when I was a preschooler.  They are incredibly tasty!  mmm mmm… I’d love to eat a couple dozen right now!

2.  Kid Style Turkey Cupcakes via Pillsbury

3.  Turkey Roll  Left-over Halloween candy math game!   

Gobble ON! 

One last Turkey fact— did you know that you know that on a quiet day you can hear turkeys gooble from over a MILE away? 

 and I thought it was loud around here!!!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving festivities!

 

 \1. Cat Lady    2. CAT-RAT-BAT treat    3. Book Love    4. Skip to My Lou’s Terrifically Cute Chocolate Bat Wrappers    5. Stuffed Newspaper Rat    6. Cat & Bat Face Paint

 [Here Kitty Kitty Pumpkin]

Top Three Highlights of the Week:

1.   Family Trivia Night!  Did you know that Vampire bats have an anticoagulant in their saliva?  That rats fur smells like grape soda?   That Vampire bats are one of the few mammals who put their own life at risk to share food with unfortunate roost-mates?  That one type of domestic rat can have 15,000 descendants by the ripe ol age of ONE!?  I set up TRUE-FALSE questions so even the little ones would have a chance!   

2.   Seeing the look of bewilderment when I asked the face painter if she could kindly paint a RAT on my toddlers FACE!  heheheheh…  

3.   Taking crafts projects & snacks OUTSIDE.  Ever tried creating in a giant corn field? It was 65 degrees with a million shades of fall around us.  I am savoring this season.

1. -at family flip book with rubber rats    2. Bat Brownie Bites    3. Rat Pumpkin    4. The constant state of my house!!    5. Made By Joel’s Marvelous Cat Match Game    6. Mini Sketch Books  

 Family Fun’s Black Pumpkin Bats  &  My Favorite  Black Cat

Idea Via All Kids Network.  Super Easy!!  Fold an 8.5 x 11 sheet of black construction paper in half lengthwise.  Use the cut-out from body for the head.  Kids can embellish with scraps! 

Have a WONDERFUL day!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo!  

[Paint Chip Frankie]

 [Frankie's Snack Lab]  Fork idea via these Brides of Frankensteins.  

[Frankie's Feast & Feed the Frankenstein]

1.   Is Frankenstain Real?   2.  Finger Puppets for Five Little Frankensteins Jumping on the Bed   3.  Design a Frankenstein   4.  Paint a Frankie!

[Franken-wrap]

1.  Recycled coffee cups & old poker chips    2.  Lovable Green Guys    3.  Frankenstein’s HAPPY House    4.  Frankie’s Cookies

The BEST time

to explore the post office—- 

AFTER CLOSING:

The Post Office is much more fun when you are free to run and skip and hide! 

And of coure, mama is free to take photos without looking like a complete and crazy fool.  

Go and send some SNAIL MAIL ♥ today!! 

xoxoxoxox

Snail Mail Cupcakes

1. Stamp & Letter Match    2. Mail Style Spelling    3.  “Junk” Mail    4. Sketch Book for Stamp Collecting

1. Kids in their “mail truck”     2 & 3. Edible Mail– Postage: $1.90 each in the states    4. Post Office Hunt

  TWELVE ways to have fun with LETTERS, STAMPS & THE POST OFFICE:  

1.    Mail an edible post card.  We sent out boxes of gummy bears & smarties.

2.   Junk Mail Math! Match paper stamps with “math problems“ to envelopes with “address answers.”  

3.   Serve cupcakes with mini envelopes & letters tucked inside.   

5.   Set up a pretend post office and letter set!   Letters & Stamps = Paper, Velcro & Craft Foam,  Parcels = Wrapped Toy Blocks & Empty Boxes,  Mail Box  =  Shoe Box & Blue Paint,  Name Badges = Recycled Priority Mail Boxes 

6.   Bring a simple scavenger hunt to the post office! 

7.   Start a stamp collection.  We made simple sketch books with recyled boxes, paper scraps and envelopes. 

8.  Play educational MAIL games!  PO BOX Match Up, Word Family Letters, Stamp & Letter Match…  

9.   Take a copy of The Jolly Postman & other mail themed books to the post office; spread out a blanket and read in the sunshine!  

10.  Order an itsy-bitsy treasure from the World’s Smallest Postal Service: Leafcutter Designs.  I’ve always wanted to try this–haven’t yet… but maybe someday!

11.   Leave a surprise treat in your mailbox for your mail carrier!

12.  If you are ultra handy with needle and thread— sew a felt mail kit.  Emerson still  enjoys this one I ordered last year.