Category Archives: printables

Free Family Board Game

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Corona Virus got your family down? Print this fun game to play with your family. Some of the activities are related to being healthy and some are just plain fun!

Download the game and both sets of cards, Players will complete the activity or answer the question depending on the color of the space they land on. You may need to reuse cards so make sure you have a discard pile for both blue and green cards!

You will need game markers and all three printables to play. Some activities require additional supplies, like access to soap/water and paper/pencil.

Or download the PDF here:

boardgameDownload

Happy TEACHing!!!

Planners 101

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If you know me at all, you know how obsessed I am with planners. I can’t really explain why other than there is something about organizing my crazy, all-over-the-place thoughts and ideas on to cute paper. With cute pens. And cute stickers. 🙂

I have used planners for soooo many years, and wanted to share some of the things I learned. First, disc bound planners are my absolute FAV. You can easily take out and add new pages. Gone are the days of feeling bad because you “ruined” a planner page with bad handwriting or you added all the wrong dates. You can just take out what you don’t like and put new pages in. Or if you decide you want to reorganize your pages in a new order it is NO PROBLEM.

But my favorite thing is that it completely folds in half. I LOVE that I can write notes in my planner without taking up too much room.

There are tons of different disc bound systems- with the most popular being the Happy Planner. I started out my disc bound journey wanting a half size, so I opted for the Martha Stewart planner from Staples.

Metal discs are a MUST- they help make the pages glide easier. Staples has silver and gold discs that hold up very well. I have also ordered a set of the Rose Gold discs from Levenger- they are gorgeous but super pricey, so it’s smart to wait for a sale.

The brand of hole punch you use will make a difference as well. I researched and found that the Levenger punch has the biggest hole, allowing pages to glide more smoothly. I use my hole punch all the time to add my own printed planner pages.

If you do plan on printing your own pages, I recommend buying a heavier stock of paper. I use a 32lb weight paper (regular copy paper is only 20lb). It will not only be more sturdy, but I have found writing on the paper seems more effortless and the ink just glides. I know it sounds corny but I love the difference!

Here is a sample page I created to track the books I want to read during the year. I write the titles on each book, and then color it in after I have read it. That way I can see what I read as well. Feel free to download and put it in your own planner!

I hope these tips help, I may do a second post with more printables! I love planning!!!!!

LDS Baptism Binder Freebie

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When my daughter was approaching her 8th birthday, we wanted to properly prepare her to accept the invitation to be baptized. I had heard of families inviting the missionaries over to teach the discussions so they would know exactly what it means to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I think that is so cool! As a former missionary myself I thought I could  teach my daughter the discussions. I wanted her to have a way to be involved in the lessons, so I made some handouts to go with each of the discussions.

We read the scriptures on each handout, filled in the blanks, and then added a picture that corresponded with the topic. It was super easy and by the time we finished I felt she was more prepared to accept the invitation to be baptized.

For the cover of our binder I used my daughter’s baptism picture. In the pdf I am uploading to this post I have created a baptism binder cover that you can use as well.

Most of the pictures I chose for the baptism binder were found on the church’s website. I added some pictures of our family and my daughter in her baptism dress on a few of the pages. You may decide to have your child draw their own pictures. It’s totally up to you!

I am uploading the PDF I created to share with you! Just click on the link, download, and print!

Baptism Binder Freebie

Happy TEACHing!

 

*clipart by Melonheadz, P4 TriOriginals, and Teacher gumbo  *Font by KG Fonts

 

 

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Having SOMA Fun with Math!

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I live in a home of math nerds. As such we like to spend time doing puzzles and math games. I came across some soma cubes that I used with my students and thought it would be fun to do it with my family! Soma cubes are a puzzle consisting of 7 different shaped pieces that when placed together in the correct way make a cube. And there is not just one right way of completing the puzzle- there are over 200 different ways these pieces fit together to make a cube! Isn’t that crazy?!?
I had some old direction cards that allowed you to use the 7 pieces to create different shapes. (not shown because I already threw them away) These cards were worn out- and well, I’ll just say it- they weren’t cute. Some of you might understand the effect cuteness has on learning even if it’s only to bring the teacher joy haha. I got to work making new, updated cards using Open Office (shout out to free software!) and am so pleased with how they turned out!

You can easily make your own Soma pieces by gluing little cubes found at the craft store together and then painting them (or you could leave them the natural wood color). OR you can take the easy route and buy them.

I made two sets of cards- a black and white set that is more challenging, and a colored set that went with the blocks we purchased. The colored set makes solving the puzzles way easier, since you can see where each block is placed. Side note: the colored cards match the blocks I painted.

Soma cubes are a great activity for kids to do when they are finished with their work! They are fun and with both the black/white and colored sets of cards you can easily differentiate this for a center. To ensure accountability, you could have students take a pic of their finished puzzle with a class iPad or tablet. And then post on your class blog for parents to admire! 🙂

Click here to download these cards. I hope they bring your kiddo joy in their learning. 🙂

And as always- happy TEACHing!

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Summer Punch Reward Cards

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Summer is here! YAY! I thought this would be a great time to introduce a goal card to my daughter. The basic idea behind the card is that whenever a child accomplishes a task related to the goal, they get a punch. Kindness was something that I thought would be a good focus, and I was ELATED when I found a darling goal card from My Sweet Sanity. She also has a reading and chore card… so cute!!!!

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The plan is simple. For every act of kindness, we  punch her kindness card. When the kindness card is full, she can trade it in for a special summer treat or activity on the rewards card (which will also get punched.) This prevents my daughter from choosing swimming EVERY SINGLE TIME and gives her the power of choice.  And when she randomly wants to get an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, I can simply point out to her that she needs to fill out her kindness card first. The whole object is to get my daughter thinking about showing acts of KINDNESS more frequently.

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I thought it would be fun to attach both the kindness card and the summer rewards card to a lanyard to make it more “official”. 🙂 Plus I think it might be harder to lose (hopefully!). I simply placed the cards in plastic lanyard sleeves. But you could laminate the cards and attach those to the lanyard instead.

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The lanyard also allows for the cards to be worn when we are out on the town- so I can immediately reward her with punches for good, kind choices (as long as I carry a hole puncher with me!). And I just love this How to Train Your Dragon lanyard!!

Rewards on our pass include: ice cream cone, snow cone, trip to the dollar store, pizza night with friends, family movie night, day at the park, swimming, and family campout. Feel free to download our pass or use it as a guide to help you make your own! (Just click on the image file below to download the pass).
reward cards

And we just happened to get lucky- our summer reading program is using brag tags to motivate kids to read. This is something I can easily attach to our lanyard. I love it!!!

Now some might say that giving your child a tangible reward for service or kindness is not a good idea. And I agree with that, to an extent. When a bad habit needs to be broken , or a good habit needs to be formed, I am all for doing everything and anything to ensure that habit is set securely in place. Sometimes we need to modify our way of thinking and our actions with those extrinsic things that motivate us.

Happy Summer!

Angry Bird UPDATES

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free angry bird download now available as a PDF

I am SO excited that so many of you have been downloading and teaching our Anger Management with Angry Bird pages. I am impressed that you took the time to download each individual page from our WIKI… but I thought I should update it to make it easier! So for those who haven’t downloaded the Angry Bird pages- you can easily download the PDF now!

ENJOY!!!

Click HERE to download the Don’t Be An Angry Bird Posters.

angrybirdposter                                     newestcooldown

Click HERE to download the Don’t Be An Angry Bird Student Book.
dontbeanangrybookpreview

STEAM Summer Camps

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Happy Summer everyone! I am so excited to have lots of time to hang out with my #1 kid before she heads off to first grade (and all day school! eeks!) I like to have a lot of summer plans to avoid lots of down time (aka TV time). steam I will be honest- as a teacher mom I have been frustrated with the lack of differentiated curriculum and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) learning in our schools. So I have taken it upon myself to provide my daughter with more extensive activities based on these areas and her interests and abilities. I was introduced to Core Knowledge by my sister and a colleague and knew it was a curriculum I wanted to integrate into our activities as well. Core Knowledge is a comprehensive curriculum that builds on the knowledge of previous years. I took some units from this program, tied them in with STEAM, and came up with this summer camp program. I am really excited about it!

The basis of this program is to provide my daughter with activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM). Every week we will be experimenting with Science on Saturdays. There will also be a weekly Engineering Challenge. The majority of our STEAM learning however will be from learning camps we will have on Thursdays and Fridays. I have a lot of science camps planned (based on content from Core Knowledge and my daughter’s interests) as well as Art, Music, and Math camps. Each camp has different ways you can integrate STEAM. For example, the Rock Camp will not only teach kids the science behind the rock groups, but have ways to incorporate technology, engineering, art, and math into your lessons.

Here is our weekly plan:

Make Something STEAMy Monday: (art project/fun treat/iMovie/etc) centered around STEAM

Take a Trip Tuesday: a day we can take a STEAM centered field trip

Wednesday: Worksheet (I just had to sneak in one day of paper and pencil work) and work on an Engineering Challenge. I made a letter template so the challenges could be done with friends who live far away.

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Engineering Challenge idea

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STEAM Engineering Challenge Letter template

Thursday and Friday: STEAM camp

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Sample STEAM camp idea sheet

Science Saturday with Daddy

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Science Saturday ideas

I am uploading my plans on Teachers Pay Teachers. Feel free to download and let me know what you think! There are also lots of STEAM based activities that can be found in many communities. Check your local library… many libraries will have science activities that go along with their summer reading programs. I also know of communities that have “Arts in the Park” or “Science in the Park” activities. If you live in the Salt Lake area, The Leonardo Museum downtown will be opening up some children exhibits in a few weeks based on STEAM learning…. I am thrilled!!!! And if all else fails, host your own camps! Your neighbors will love you 🙂

Happy STEAMing!

Alphabet Book: Free Printable

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A couple years ago I had a Book Themed Baby Shower for my sister in law. I have been getting a lot of people requesting the pdf of the abc baby shower book I made (THANKS!) and thought I would share it with you all in a post.

This is a printable that you can use to make any type of alphabet book- its not just for baby showers! Imagine the possibilities- “The ABC’s of Our Family” with all family members picking a letter (or two) and writing a word that starts with that letter to describe their family. Wouldn’t that be such a fun family night activity? If you are a teacher you could use this pdf to make class books such as “Animal ABCs”, “ABCs of Reading (or Math, Science, any subject!)”, or “26 Reasons Our Class Shines- Our Classroom Alphabet Book”. Seriously the possibilities are endless!

Feel free to download our ABC baby shower book– Enjoy and Happy Teaching!

Our Lego Day PLUS free Lego book template

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A couple months ago my daughter and some fun playing and learning with Legos. I thought I would share with you some of our engaging educational activities!

1. Add with legos. Count the circles on top of two 2×2 lego bricks. The answer will fit on top of a flat 2×4 brick! Good hands on addition fun PLUS its easy for kids to visualize that there are multiple ways of getting one sum by just using different sizes of bricks.

2.Alphabatize lego blocks. I put little alphabet stickers on 26 legos and had my daughter make an ABC stick placing the blocks in alphabetical order.

3. Create with legos. We just had fun building dinosaur caves. This was strictly a play activity :).

4. Measure with legos! Make a “ruler” out of lego blocks and run around the house measuring in legos instead of inches.

5. And our last- and my personal favorite- activity was making our own Lego book. I scoured the web for a cute lego template and couldn’t find any. So I made my own :). And I have to say that I kinda like it!

Download the template for our printable book and have fun creating a lego book!

I hope this helps you have fun learning with legos! Happy Teaching!

Tithing Box Printable

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First of all, I am the BIGGEST BLOGGING slacker! Oh my heavens!!!!
Second, my husband and I substituted in my daughter’s church class today. Our lesson was on tithing, and can you believe it- I couldn’t find an easy printable box online anywhere. And we had like 3 hours until church. (I am spreading my slacking skills onto lesson preparation as well. 🙂 ) I created this simple box that I thought I would share with you all! (Just right click and save image- then enjoy!)

One word of advice- don’t mess with gluing the tabs together- save yourself time and mental sanity by just scotch taping the sides together. I promise it is so much easier!

Only problem- there is no easy way to get the tithing money out, you’ll just have to shake the box until it comes out. It’s not a perfect solution, but its an easy one!
Happy Teaching!



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