Flickering Paper Lanterns on a Stick - Repost

With Chinese New Year coming up on Sunday, February 10th, I thought it would be a great time to repost the fun paper lanterns that I made for the girls this past summer.  Check out Flickering Paper Lanterns on a Stick for the tutorial.

Valentine Themed Regrouping Manipulatives

I knew that the "algorithm" for addition with regrouping (or carrying as I was taught) would be a cinch to teach my daughter.  However, I wanted her to really understand why it works and realized that incorporating manipulatives into the lesson would be the best way to explain it to her.  With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought using conversation heart candies and marshmallow hearts would be fun way to do it.

I've Flipped Over You! Dolphin Valentines

My Kindergartener loves dolphins and wants to be a dolphin rescuer when she grows up. And an astronaut. And a teacher. All at the same time. You have to admire her ambition!   So at the future dolphin rescuer/astronaut/teacher's request, I created these cute dolphin valentines to hand out at her classroom party.

Icy Epsom Salt Luminaries

After making my No-Glue Epsom Salt Luminary, I wanted to experiment with growing larger salt crystals.  The problem was that surface tension causes the salt solution to bead up on the glass.  Fortunately the answer was sitting right next to my kitchen sink.  A squirt of dish soap is all that is needed to break the surface tension and allow the crystals to spread.  Just a few tweaks to the original method and I was able to create these beautiful "icy" luminaries!

Winter Decor with a Hint of Valentine's Day

Last week I shared my Snowy White Winter Mantel.  Today I want to give you a quick peek at the rest of my winter decor.  I am not one to go overboard on the Valentine's Day decorations, preferring to add a touch of red here and a few hearts there.  This makes it simple to change out after February 14th and I need all the simplifying I can get.

Snowy White Winter Mantel

It's easy to forget the beauty of a fresh blanket of pure white snow in the rush of day to day activity.  After a recent snowfall I took the girls outside to play, and for a good ten minutes I just sat and took it all in.  Watching the girls I reminisced about the winters of my childhood.....snow ball fights, building snow forts, sledding, ice skating, making snow angels, playing king of the mountain on the snow drifts, building snowmen, catching snowflakes on my tongue, and eating fresh snow with maple syrup drizzled on top!  This was the inspiration for my winter mantel.

No-Glue Epsom Salt Luminary

Applying Epsom salt to bottles, vases, and candle holders is a beautiful way to add a wintry touch to your decor.  The usual method is to coat the object in glue or mod-podge, then roll it in Epsom salts.  I would like to show you another method that does not use glue, and it is a little less messy.

Free Printable Fact Family House Worksheet

While researching methods to teach addition and subtraction to my daughter, I repeatedly came across the concept of fact families.  I don't think I was taught this in grade school and only remember memorizing my math facts by mind-numbing repetition.  As it turns out, fact families are an early introduction to algebra, demonstrating the commutative property of addition and the inverse relationship of addition and subtraction.  Understanding these principles makes learning subtraction easier for children.  In later grades, fact families are again used to relate multiplication and division.

Free Printable Addition and Subtraction Flash Cards

I recently began teaching my Kindergartener how to add and subtract. Once she understood the basic ideas behind the computations, I wanted to give her some flash cards to practice the math facts.  I searched the internet for flash cards with the answer printed on the reverse side and could not find anything suitable, so I ended up making my own.

How to Make Ice Lanterns

I made ice lanterns this past weekend with plans to light them on New Year's Eve.  Unfortunately it wasn't cold enough, so I put them out this evening.  They were simple to make and I love the beautiful swirls created by the addition of food coloring.