Puzzles in Disguise!

Every year, each child has a few Valentines that are not used for their class party. 

These Valentines are puzzles in disguise!

Here's how:

Use clear packing tape to secure one Valentine onto the front of the envelope.  

Take an identical Valentine and cut it into pieces.  The envelope can be used to store the puzzle pieces.

It is a good idea to write how many pieces are in the puzzle on the back of the envelope.

The number of pieces you cut should be determined by your child's age.  It should be age appropriate.  

The younger the child, the less pieces.  

The older the child the greater number of pieces you can make.  

Older elementary school children would love to make these puzzles themselves.  

They can trade with their friends or have contests to see who can put the puzzles together the fastest

or the first.  

Puzzles can be made with any greeting cards or matching photos/pictures.  

BENEFITS OF PUZZLES

Puzzles are great for cold Winter Days!  They help chase away boredom.  They are good for times when you have to wait and are a great work-out for your brain.  Puzzles are a great self-correcting learning tool. They aid in eye-hand coordination and help children learn to categorize and organize pieces.  While doing puzzles children are able to classify and label the pieces.  Fine motor skills are practiced as well as encouraging and expanding social skills. When a child works on a puzzle until completion the child is developing persistence. Once the puzzle is solved the child can feel a sense of accomplishment which boosts his independence and self esteem. Children use adaptable thinking and deductive reasoning skills when they find different ways to put the pieces together. They gain the ability to think abstractly when they are able to see negative space, like the space where a puzzle piece may fit, and figure out what type of shape would be needed to fill that space.  

Puzzles offer a host of valuable educational benefits that support child development and they are so easy to make!  Have fun creating your own unique puzzles!

   For further reading on the benefits of puzzles go to:  

 http://b-inspiredmama.com/2012/08/benefits-of-puzzles-for-kids

President's Day Exploration and Fun!

Presidents' Day is intended to honor and recognize the contributions to our country of all the American presidents, but most significantly George Washington , born on February 22 and
Abraham Lincoln, born on February 12, which are celebrated together on this holiday.

Celebrate Presidents’ Day with your kids by learning about our country’s leaders. 
There are many activities and ideas to explore this day.  This post shares a few fun ideas to try.

So, get out your American Flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance and make this a national learning day.

First of all... the facts please...

LIST OF PRESIDENTS-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
01 Washington, George (1789-1797)

02 Adams, John (1797-1801)

03 Jefferson, Thomas (1801-1809)

04 Madison, James (1809-1817)

05 Monroe, James (1817-1825)

06 Adams, John Quincy (1825-1829)

07 Jackson, Andrew (1829-1837)

08 Van Buren, Martin (1837-1841)

09 Harrison, William Henry (1841)

10 Tyler, John (1841-1845)

11 Polk, James Knox (1845-1849)

12 Taylor, Zachary (1849-1850)

13 Fillmore, Millard (1850-1853)

14 Pierce, Franklin (1853-1857)

15 Buchanan, James (1857-1861)

16 Lincoln, Abraham (1861-1865)

17 Johnson, Andrew (1865-1869)

18 Grant, Ulysses S. (1869-1877)

19 Hayes, Rutherford Birchard (1877-1881)

20 Garfield, James Abram (1881)

21 Arthur, Chester Alan (1881-1885)

22 Cleveland, Grover (1885-1889)

23 Harrison, Benjamin (1889-1893)

24 Cleveland, Grover (1893-1897)

25 McKinley, William (1897-1901)

26 Roosevelt, Theodore (1901-1909)

27 Taft, William Howard (1909-1913)

28 Wilson, Woodrow (1913-1921)

29 Harding, Warren Gamaliel (1921-1923)

30 Coolidge, Calvin (1923-1929)

31 Hoover, Herbert Clark (1929-1933)

32 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1933-1945)

33 Truman, Harry (1945-1953)

34 Eisenhower, Dwight David (1953-1961)

35 Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1961-1963)

36 Johnson, Lyndon Baines (1963-1969)

37 Nixon, Richard Milhous (1969-1974)

38 Ford, Gerald Rudolph (1974-1977)

39 Carter, James Earl Jr. (1977-1981

40 Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1981-1989)

41 Bush, George Herbert Walker (1989-1993)

42 Clinton, William Jefferson (1993-2001)

43 Bush, George Walker (2001-2009)

44 Obama, Barack Hussein (2009-present)
______________________

ACTIVITY IDEAS

• Create a cherry tree with paint and fingerprints and talk about

          George Washington.  http://pinterest.com/hiddensplendor/

• Who's On Our Money Investigative Game:   Collect a $1, $5, $10 and $20 bill.  Collect a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.  Use a magnifying glass and explore everything you can see on the bills and coins.  Who can find the most things?  Which President's picture is on each one?  Research why that person was selected to be on each one.
  
• Coin Match up!  Match the president to the coin/bill that shows his face


• Guess How Many Jelly Beans or Peanuts
  President Jimmy Carter was a peanut Farmer… Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans so much he kept them in a dish at the Oval Office.
   
     Fill a jar with jelly beans or peanuts. 
     On small slips of paper, have the children guess how many are in the jar. 
     Appropriate for any age. 
     The winner shares the jelly beans or peanuts with the group!  

                                                                      
              source:  http://www.kidactivities.net/post/Presidents-Day-Fun-for-Kids!.aspx

• Log CABIN To celebrate Lincoln you can build log cabins with stick pretzels (alternative would be to use small sticks and cardboard) . Lincoln grew up in extreme poverty and lived in a primitive log cabin.
• Re-create a log cabin.

________________

                    Pretzel Log Cabin
                           Materials:

                          Small empty milk carton

                          Pretzel sticks

                          Chocolate frosting or peanut butter

                         1 tubular shaped candy (like a Rolo)

                         1 square cracker

                         Scissors and Hot glue or tape

• Cut the top flap of the milk carton off and tape or hot glue it closed to form the roof.
• Spread chocolate frosting or peanut butter on one side of the milk carton then cover with pretzels.
• Repeat this step all over the milk carton until log cabin is complete.
• You may need to break the tips off of some of the pretzels to make then fit up the sides.
• Break a square cracker in half, then break one of the halves in half.
• Spread some frosting or peanut butter on the back of the first half. “Glue” it to the front of the cabin as the door.
• Repeat this step with a smaller broken piece for the window.
• Spread some frosting or peanut butter to the bottom of the Rolo and stick to the roof.

 source:  http://www.kidactivities.net/post/Presidents-Day-Fun-for-Kids!.aspx

You can also make log cabins using small sticks or with Lincoln Logs

• COIN RUBBINGS

 A simple and fun President's Day activity is to do RUBBINGS of the face sides of coins by placing paper over the coin and rubbing it with a crayon. 

• MY HAT HAS THREE CORNERS (popular song for Pre-K/K about a Colonial Hat)

               My hat it has 3 corners. (Form a triangle above head)

            Three corners has my hat.

               If it did not have 3 corners...(Raise 3 fingers)

            It would not be my hat. (Shake head sideways)

•  Stovepipe Hat

President Lincoln, the 16th President of the USA, used to wear a black stovepipe hat.  He was known to keep notes and documents stored in his hat so he wouldn't lose them!


You can make a tiny version of Lincoln's hat using a toilet paper tube and black construction paper with the directions from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/presidentsday/lincolnhat

Supplies needed:

Black construction paper Toilet paper tube (1 tube makes two hats) Scissors A pencil Glue Tape

Cut a toilet paper tube in half, making two short tubes.

Cut out a 2 inch by 6 inch rectangle of black construction paper.

Trace a circle on black construction paper, using a tube as your guide. Draw four small rectangles around the edges of the circle. Cut this out (this will be the top of the hat).

Trace another circle on a piece of black construction paper, using the tube as your guide. Draw a larger circle around this circle, about 1/2 inch outside the first circle. Cut out along the larger circle (this will be the hat's brim).

Continuing with the brim, cut a series of lines through the inner circle. Fold these triangular pieces upwards.

Glue or tape the triangular pieces of the hat's brim inside the half toilet tube.

Now, for the top on the hat, use the circle with tabs. Fold the tabs where they meet the circle. Put the small black paper circle on the top of the hat, taping the rectangular tabs to the tube.

Place the rectangle of black paper around the central part of the hat. Glue it securely. You now have a tiny stovepipe hat to help you celebrate Presidents Day.

 Source:  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/presidentsday/lincolnhat/

•  Become President!  Discuss the tasks and job of the president of the United States. Ask each family member to share one thing he would want to accomplish if they were president. More thought-provoking questions can be asked of older family members, which can lead to interesting family discussions. 

• Memory Game - Create a link to the past by having your children interview you, their grandparents, teachers, neighbors, etc.  Compile a list of Presidents who served during that adults lifetime.  Have your children ask the adults to describe an important memory about each President.  Who was the first President they voted for? etc.

  

• Virtual Tours  - WAY TOO COOL!  Bring History to YOU!

           1.  Take a tour of Abraham Lincoln's home, from the kitchen to Willie and Tad's bedroom.
                Lincoln Home Photo Tour

                http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/gallery/pict.htm

         2.  Explore all three floors of George Washington's beloved home, Mount Vernon, on a tour of

              the historic Virginia mansion.

               Mount Vernon

              http://www.mountvernon.org/virtual/index.cfm/ss/2
 

• WRITE TO THE CURRENT PRESIDENT

         The White House

         1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

         Washington, DC 20500

Explore more ideas on the links below: 

http://fun.familyeducation.com/presidents-day/entertainment/32937.html#ixzz2K8WYXPtz

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/presidents-day/

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/presidents.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/presidentsday/

http://www.kidactivities.net/post/Presidents-Day-Fun-for-Kids!.aspx

http://www.ehow.com/list_5974037_children_s-activities-do-presidents_-day.html#ixzz2K8ezRHOJ


Trivia!  John Quincy Adams was born on MY birthday! 
             Were any of the presidents born on YOUR birthday? 
             Check out this website to find out:
http://www.indepthinfo.com/articles/presidential-birthdays.shtml  or
http://www.researchmaniacs.com/Birthdays/Presidents.html


How do you spend your special day?  Here is a web site that tells you some of the ways our past Presidents have celebrated their birthdays.  Enjoy!
http://www.history.com/news/all-the-presidents-birthdays

Happy President's Day!

Broken Hearts

   

Broken Hearts Matching Game

Create heart warming activities this Valentine's Day 

with red construction paper,stickers and a pair of scissors. 

Here's how:

Idea Number One:

Decide how many hearts you would like in your game.  Trace and cut out hearts that are all the same size.  Cookie cutters can be used to make a heart shape.

Add a lipstick kiss in the middle of some hearts (or maybe just one!) and a Valentine's sticker in the center of the remaining hearts.  Randomly cut the hearts apart using a different cut on each one.

Mix up the pieces and it is then time to let the children put the hearts back together.  

The kind of cut and the sticker in the middle give children clues on how the pieces fit together.

Storage:  Use an empty holiday candy container for storage and 

you have a game that will provide lots of fun for many years.

Idea Number Two:

Using a thick marker, trace a heart shape onto a piece of card stock (the back of a cereal or other food box would also work).

Cut out another heart the exact size from any color paper  (red, pink or lavender are nice colors for Valentine's Day).

Cut out the colored heart in random pieces.  

*Remember the older the child the more pieces, the younger the child the less pieces. *

 A toddler may have 2 or 3 pieces, a five year old may have 6 or 7 pieces and an older child may have many more pieces.  Design your puzzle for the child's age.

Put the puzzle together by placing the pieces inside your heart shape. 

STORAGE:  Pieces can be stored in a plastic storage bag or envelope.  

An envelope can be taped to the back of the puzzle board.  

A plastic bag can be attached at the corner with a brass fastener.

Candy Cane Art

Did you have lots of candy canes left over from Christmas?  

Are you tired of moving them around in your pantry?  

Here is a way to "re-purpose" your extra candy canes.

Use leftover candy canes to make hearts for Valentines' Day.

Use the hearts for creative name tags on gifts.

Leave messages of love in crazy places for your loved ones to find.

 

 

 

A heart center can be created out of a piece of pretty stationary/computer paper.

What other ideas can you think of?