Kale and Quinoa Stir-Fry

Here's a great recipe I found at The Glowing Fridge: http://www.theglowingfridge.com/sesame-kale-glow-bowl/

It's a great way to get a few greens in and protein during the day.

I made a full batch for myself and am eating it all week for lunch.  The only modification I made was to use 7oz tofu (half a container) instead of tempeh.  

It pairs great with fish and kimchi!

Alphabet Parking Lot

We started our morning off right with a warm glass of milk, alphabet cars, and a parking lot.

 

I finished these handouts last night and got Dustin's kid approval this morning.  The cars all have lowercase letters on them and the parking spaces have uppercase letters.  Drive the correct car in the matching parking space.  Fun!  (excuse the faded print outs up above.  I just ordered more printer ink.) 

 

These print outs, along with adding, subtracting, and counting cars can be found at my shop for instant download.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/174685679/car-math-activity-pdf-diy-printables-for?ref=shop_home_active_4

GOO!

Who would have ever thought mixing glue, Borox, water, and some food coloring would keep us entertained for hours . . . well it did.

 

 

First, Dustin helped me mix the ingredients.  We mixed 1/2 cup water, a few drops of food coloring, and 1/2 cup glue in one bowl.  In another bowl we dissolved 2 tsp Borox with 1/2 cup water.  Then, we poured the glue mixture in with the Borox mixture and it immediately began to solidify.  Mix it really well and then GO NUTS! 

The texture is really interesting.  It's rubbery, stretchy, and a little brittle if you pull it too fast.

 

We had fun making snakes, bouncy balls, and digging our fingers into it. 

I also let Dustin practice cutting it with a butter knife.  Overall, great before nap time activity . . . that's probably why I can hear him talking about right now on his monitor :)

Fly Swatter ABC's

I've been working with Dustin on letter recognition and try to find different ways of going about it.  Then it came to me.  He LOVES hitting stuff . . . anything really, so I designed a handout where he was encouraged to hit and we wouldn't tell him to stop.

 

 

I created one page that had the entire alphabet.  Then I drew up a wasp, bumble bee, and fly, and placed them around each letter.  I made bigger versions of these on flashcards, about 6 per page.  That way when we buy a new fly swatter, we can hang up the flashcards and he can swat at the BIG bugs.

 

He seemed to really enjoy it and kept his attention for a whole FIVE minutes!!!

 

I didn't take the time to laminate my fly swatter, so needless to say it's not going to last very long with Dustin.  As long as he has fun, I don't mind.

 

Handouts can be purchased at my shop for instant download:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/183731447/fly-swatter-abc-activity-pdf-diy

FREE Printables - Jumbo Craft Stick Shape

I had someone ask me about my craft stick shape print outs I used for my son.  Here are the three I made for him.  You can see the full post here:  http://amomknowsmess.blogspot.com/2014/01/shapes-with-craft-sticks-and-velcro.html?showComment=1395668941073#c2515427162595771276

 

These are free to print and use.  I normally sell handouts on my Etsy shop, but I made these really fast and they are not the best quality.  It gets the job done though.  :)

 

Easter Activites

I finished an Easter themed education print out today and had Dustin try it before I posted it on my Etsy shop. 

 

 

The first worksheet is a simple color matching activity.  We used pom poms, glitter glue, and tweezers (for part of it). 

I like to have Dustin use glitter glue, not only because it's sparkly and catches my eye, but it comes out a lot slower that regular glue.  Otherwise, I'd probably still be cleaning up a big mess right now.

 

The next worksheet was an egg matching activity.  I cut out the top half of the eggs and Dustin found the matching bottom half and glued them down.  We tried out a glue stick this time to change things up. 

 

**I helped straight the eggs a little when he wasn't looking . . . **

 

After being kid approved, I posted these handouts on my Etsy shop here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/181734175/easter-matching-activity-diy-printable

Build A Snowman

Despite having over two feet of snow in our backyard, Dustin built a snowman inside today . . . not really, but it's the next best thing.

 

 

One thing I am working on with Dustin is trying to get him to retell me stories in order or putting images in sequential order.  So, I made him a "Build a Snowman" handout to help him.  This was our first time trying it out, so it didn't go perfectly, but he seemed to catch on a little.

 

I printed, laminated, and cut out our snowman pictures.  Then, I asked him to put the first step of building a snowman to his left (I pointed where.  Sadly to say he doesn't know his left and right yet . . . we are falling behind!!!!!!!!!!!!)  We  continued this until the snowmen images were in sequential order.  I think after a few times doing this he will catch on pretty quick!

 

This handout can be purchased at my Etsy shop for instant download:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/179435703/build-a-snowman-activity-diy-printables?