Make Your Own Ornament

Making your own ornament is easy and simple. You can either use a ready to assemble kit (usually costs around $1) or have the supplies available for your child to make/design his or her own ornament. For the activity below, we used a ready-to-assemble kit. It was really easy, we added glitter as an after thought. You can place a picture of each child in the center to make it unique. 

To make your own ornament you just need to let your child take control and have fun decorating and adding details with the craft supplies. For your own ornament making, you will need:

• Glitter
• Fabric paint squeeze bottle (used under adult supervision!)
• Sequins
• Pom-poms
• Liquid glue
• Small pieces of string or yarn
• Cardboard circles or squares (these are used if you need to make a hole in the center for inserting a picture)
• Pre-cut felt shapes (based on your ornament theme; like snowflakes, penguins, circles, snowmen, stockings, gingerbread house, evergreen trees, stars, candy canes, etc.

© Everything Family Guide

© Everything Family Guide

Annie

Math Patterns

Calendar time is the ultimate learning experience for my preschooler, as we grow and learn new concepts every week. I have recently added a new routine to Calendar time. Since we are learning about patterns (i.e. ab, abc, abcd, aab, etc.) through colored number/date tiles, I thought to add something more tactile for pattern practice. You know how that saying goes: "Learning by doing." So here are some ways that we practice and learn about patterns:

• Using body movements that represent the pattern such as clapping, slapping knees, tapping, snapping with fingers, jumping, twirling, etc. For example, for the ab pattern, we will clap and slap knees; Clap, Slap. I also say the actions words out loud so that they are easy to follow for a preschooler. 
• Place little objects (i.e. buttons, marbles, etc.) in a pattern using an egg carton or ice cube tray. This is not only visual but also very tactile. I also prep this a activity by drawing a follow-along chart that visually details what the child has to do. For example, if the pattern is abc, then I draw three different colored dots that represent the objects used for practice.

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Overall, math is so much fun so don't forget to share that love of math with your child to help him/her cope with math anxiety in their later schooling years.

Annie

Recycle Art

It is so cold here in our city!! BRrrrr! We have been cooped up inside most of the week but enjoying the Winter weather none the less! What are we doing this winter? We are drinking hot chocolate, baking cupcakes, playing in the snow, watching timeless family classics and doing fun learning projects. 

Busy making snow forts © Everything Family Guide

Below are two art projects we did using recyclables (pencil shavings). I recommend using liquid glue as it provides a visual for little artists and helps them stay on track. We placed glue on the paper in a circle around our painted finger dots and then carefully placed the pencil shavings on the liquid glue to make flowers.

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Project # 1 © Everything Family Guide

Project # 2 © Everything Family Guide

Sorry about the messy bit as our toddler decided to intervene hehehe...Hope you all had a great weekend!

Annie

I Spy Lenses

So you know by know that I LOVE playing "I Spy" games with my kids. They are a great opportunity to learn and practice concepts. Little kids learn new things quickly or may even learn them very easily, but they forget just as easily and quickly! So it is very important for early education to be repetitive but with a new twist or theme each time to keep it interesting. So we have been focusing on learning vocabulary words using our sense of sight and hearing. We use the "I Spy" lenses to look for things called out and our sense of hearing to hear the words and associated sounds. Here is how we made our "I Spy" lenses:

We colored a 8" by 11" paper.

© Everything Family Guide

Collected a paper towel cardboard tube and cut in the middle to make two small tubes.

© Everything Family Guide

Cut the paper we colored in half.

© Everything Family Guide

Rolled the half paper around each tune and secured with a piece of tape.

© Everything Family Guide

Taped the two small tubes by placing them together like binoculars.

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Secured a detachable keychain (optional) to wear around the neck. Viola! Our "I Spy" lenses are ready.

© Everything Family Guide

Let the hunting games begin...hehe

© Everything Family Guide

Annie

Cheesy Quesadillas

Nowadays my kids are hooked on Quesadillas! They are super easy to make, delicious and filling, healthy and great for a person of any age to eat and enjoy! You can also pre-make a batch of the filling in advance and freeze it or keep it in the fridge for a day or two. I am also able to sneak in some veggies!!

© Everything Family Guide

(This recipe yields 12 quesadillas)

Before you begin, you will need:

• 1 lb regular ground beef (with fat)
• 1 large green/bell pepper (seeds removed and diced in small sized chunks)
• 1 large onion (chopped in med. sized chunks or shredded with cheese grater if you kids don't like onions)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder or fresh garlic paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin (It's great for digestion.)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (if you like a bit of spice, I usually skip this steps for kids)
• 2 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar, marble or mozzarella)
• Pack of large 12 tortillas (white or brown)
• 1 tbsp oil

Directions:

1. Turn on the heat to medium low on your stove. In a sauce pan add the ground beef, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Now let this cook for at least 20-25 minutes on medium low heat. Stir the ingredients occasionally to mix them well into the ground beef.
2. When the ground beef is done, add the onions and green pepper and stir for 5 minutes on medium high heat until the veggies are translucent. Take the pot off the stove.
3. Fill the tortillas with ground beef and shredded cheese on one side and fold the other side over.
4. Turn the stove to low heat (to keep the tortilla from burning or turning dark brown) and in a frying pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Now carefully add the tortillas on the frying pan using two spatulas to avoid any spillage. Cover the frying pan with a lid. Toast the tortilla on one side for 2-3 minutes so that the cheese melts, before turning it over.
5. Now place in a lidded tray or plate to keep the tortillas from hardening. You can also use aluminum foil to cover the tray. These can be made in advance for parties, as you can warm up the Quesadillas for a few seconds in the microwave before serving.

Overall, this recipe is delicious and easy to make. My family loves it every time. Sometimes I use left-over roast chicken (with gravy) and serve with onions, bell peppers and cheese and it tastes equally good.

What are some variations of Quesadillas that you make for your family?

Annie