FreshlyPlanted

Creepy Pair of Underwear! Easy Holiday Ornament for Kids

By freshlyplanted - 9:19 AM

Inside: Based on the funny book, "Creepy Pair of Underwear!" This is an easy holiday ornament for all ages. A fun craft to do with a classroom, multi-age homeschool or after-school activity.

Creepy Pair of Underwear! Easy Holiday Ornament for Kids

DISCLOSURE: This post includes "affiliate links". This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we may receive a small affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we would use personally and believe will add value to our readers. (full disclosure)

One of the first things I appreciated about my husband, back when we were friends, was he made me laugh. A lot. It wasn't the only reason I fell in love with him, but it definitely helped.

No surprise he was the reason my water broke ten years later, pregnant with our oldest. As we waited in triage to see if I was "far enough along" to be admitted, he got me giggling. Giggles turned into full-blown laughter, and my water burst all over the hospital bed.

The shocked nurse came in to tell us that we now had to be admitted. And our daughter was born twelve hours later.

She's been followed by two more kids who love to laugh like their dad. They also learn best through laughter, so we have lots of funny books with great lessons. "Creepy Pair of Underwear" is an excellent one!

Photo via Simon & Schuster

In the book, Jasper really wants a pair of Creepy Underwear. They're creepy! And comfy! But they also glow-in-the-dark. Jasper decides they are too creepy and tries to get rid of them. However, they always come back.

In the end, he gets rid of them for good- then discovers they were useful after all. Our kids love the happy reunion and how the Creepy Underwear end up helping Jasper.

Elasticity is the thinking habit of staying flexible. I love that Jasper didn't like the Creepy Underwear at all, but then finds them useful. And ends up liking them!

How often have we encountered something- or someone- that we didn't like at first?

Elasticity allows us- and our kids!- to move past those initial feelings to find something of value. Being able to value people- and things- also creates gratitude. Which is a habit, too.

We love this book so much that we made easy holiday ornaments about it. We hope that you like them, too!

RELATED: The Easiest Advent Calendar {Free Printable}

PIN FOR LATER? CLICK HERE

Creepy Pair of Underwear!

An Easy Holiday Ornaments for Kids

MATERIALS

STEPS

Soften the green polymer clay by working it in your hands. A great job for kids!
Using a rolling pin or clean jar, roll the clay out. Flipping it over as you roll helps it not stick to the table.
Cut out underwear shapes.
Create eyes by rolling two small white balls and pressing them flat. Attach them.
Pierce holes using a pencil, making sure they go all the way through and are big enough for wire/string.
Bake according to directions, then let cool.
Now create faces! We used Sharpie to draw on our details. The last pages of "Creepy Pair of Underwear!" are great inspiration :)

Today’s post is part of the wonderful 10 Days of Kid-Made Christmas: Ornaments Inspired by Children’s Books. This event is hosted by Melissa at Mama Miss. Be sure to take a look at all the other fabulous books and ornaments that are being shared this year!

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Simple Homeschool

Why Kids Need Typing: KidzType Review (A Free Online Typing Game!)

By freshlyplanted - 2:23 PM

Inside: A free online typing game! KidsType.com makes it easy for kids to learn typing. Typing helps students work faster, stay focused, and reduces the risk of RSI. A skill that will last a lifetime!

A free online typing game! KidsType.com makes it easy for kids to learn typing. Typing helps students work faster, stay focused, and reduces the risk of RSI. A skill that will last a lifetime!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Please read our disclosure statement for more information.

"Why do I need to learn this?" our oldest asks at every turn.

With each new math lesson or grammar rule, she wants to know the purpose. Anything that doesn't fit into the "useful" box is often dubbed a waste of time and endured.

Something to be mastered, then filed away for later.

When learning to type came up, her reaction didn't surprise me. Before sharing all the reasons to learn (included later in this post), I began with a story.

What Not to Do: My Typing Failure

Once upon a time, I was a middle school student. Our colors were neon, the New Kids had traveled around the block, and we'd all died (at least once) of typhoid fever on the Oregon Trail.

The internet was new, but everyone was sure that computers were going to be used more & more. So we took typing class to help us keep up- at least in words per minute.

Since we still wrote everything on paper, I doubted that typing skills were really needed. They seemed a waste of time, so I stopped trying. It was easy to "hunt and peck" when the teacher wasn't looking- and a group of us mastered the art of peeking underneath cardboard keyboard covers. I passed the class, but I didn't know how to type.

Since we rarely typed papers in high school, my "hunt and peck" typing worked just fine. Then I went to college.

All of a sudden, everything needed to be typed. I spent hours in front of a computer screen with English essays and art history assessments. I also began to sit next to people who could type, and realized that I couldn't. They would sit down, type their paper, and be done before I was halfway finished with mine.

I was frustrated at the waste of time my not typing was now costing me.

So I started over. I checked out library books on typing and taught myself. I was painfully slow, but gradually became faster and faster. (Which was good since I had also added on a English Teaching Minor.) Papers began to only take me a few hours, then an hour, and once- in a pinch- twenty minutes.

I regretted not learning typing earlier, but was happy to know now.

Why Kids Should Learn to Type

Our oldest enjoyed the story, but still wanted to know why she should learn typing. So we talked about the importance of skills, inspired by this James J. Corbett quote:

Only those who have patience to do simple things perfectly ever acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.

We talked about difficult things she would type in the future: essays, papers, personal emails, professional emails, and resumes. I didn't include spreadsheets, power-points or other things I've typed recently: recipes, directions, blog posts.

I also didn't talk about how typing:

can help with working faster & staying focused.
is best learned during elementary school.
can improve handwriting.
helps reduce the risk of RSI (repetitive strain injury).
will last a lifetime (like riding a bike!)

But I did tell her how fun it was going to be as we watched this video. She wasn't disappointed.

Making Typing Fun: KidzType

I received our lessons free of charge & was compensated for my time. All opinions are entirely my own. This post contains affiliate links, see our disclosure policy for details.

When we first opened KidzType, our kids were excited to be on the computer. Most tech learning happens on the iPad, so they were excited to use a real keyboard.

Our first grader compared typing to the piano lessons he just began. "Look! You need to have the right fingers for typing, too!" he noted.

The kids enjoyed the KidzType typing games, finding them easy to understand. Since the games aren't timed, they didn't feel rushed and could take their time.

But they did enjoy winning more & more faces!

A few more things we've learned:

It doesn't remember where you left off. I was writing down their progress each day to keep their levels straight, but they're great at remembering if I can't find my notes.
The program doesn't actually know if you're using the right finger. The games show the right finger to use, and the lit keys are the same color as the finger-nail, but I still check on their typing form. Keyboard cover peeking runs in the family!
There's typing lessons, exercises, practices as kids learn. And more typing games!
There's free typing tests, too. These are through TypeDojo, and I had fun trying to see how fast I could type :)

We have a daily tech time in our homeschool, and this is a great addition. The kids do timed times tables, chess, and now typing too. Skills they can master now and use the rest of their lives!

KidzType is oldest daughter approved!

Benefits of KidzType.com

Free online typing games, lessons, exercises and practices
12 levels for your student to complete at their own pace
Lessons are child-informed and engaging
You can use it as a standalone program or to supplement school lessons
Easy to include in your school day!

FREE Online Typing Games at KidzType

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Easy Nature Craft for Kids: Squash Prints

By freshlyplanted - 7:33 PM

Inside: Inspired by "The Pumpkin Book" by Gail Gibbons, these easy nature prints are a fun way to explore print-making and pumpkins with kids!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Please read our disclosure statement for more information.

Fall has arrived in our hills! Since we live in the Midwest, our seasons are tied into local crops. The planting, the growing, and now the harvesting. The cornfields we drive past daily are cropped close, the wheat fields neatly tied into bundles, and the soybeans left to dry for a little bit longer.

Our little community garden plot is almost harvested as well. The tomatoes are done, and only turnips and green onions remain.

And our local orchard has its pumpkins ready, too!

It was these pumpkins that inspired this craft. First of all, our littlest wanted to "see inside her pumpkin." Then we realized that our small pumpkins are quite different, and the kids wanted to compare the different shapes.

What better way to "see inside" then to cut them open and make prints?

Easy Nature Craft: Squash Prints

MATERIALS:

Tempera Paint: yellow, red
Butcher block paper (or any large paper. Amazon packing paper works great!)
Small squash cut in half, carefully, by an adult

HOW TO:

Carefully scoop out seeds, leaving rind intact. We did one with seeds and one without- they both worked great.
Lay paper on a surface. If the weather allows, this is a great outside craft! You can also do this on a plastic tablecloth on the floor, taped to a wall, or at the table.
Squirt small dollops of red and yellow paint onto a plastic plate or other reusable palette. Cardboard or plastic lids are also handy.
Start printing!

OBSERVATIONS:

Compare the different shapes not only made by the pumpkins, but the space inside the pumpkin too. What about the spaces where pumpkins print overlap?
What happens as the red and yellow mix? Does it take more yellow to make red into orange, or the other way round?
How does the paint feel as you continue printing with it? Does it get easier or harder or print with? How does your palette feel?
Why won't your picture stay wet forever? (The water will evaporate out of the paint, leaving only the pigment behind!

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The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush: Flower Paintbrushes- A Fun Nature Craft for Kids

By freshlyplanted - 8:21 PM

Inside: A great nature activity after a hike! Collect flowers and use them as paintbrushes. This craft was inspired by Tomie dePaola's book, "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush." Great for all nature lovers young and old- toddlers, preschoolers, elementary, and teenagers too.

A fun nature craft inspired by Tomie dePaola's book, "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush." Easy to set up and great for all ages!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Please read our disclosure statement for more information.

Some children are born gatherers. While hiking, these are the ones stopping often to bend down and admire something. Perhaps it's a little blue stone, which will end up in their pocket along with a little green stone, a feather, an acorn cap, and a tiny yellow leaf that curls up at the edges.

(Some children are also born quiet, but they are not the ones running around our house!)

When going for a hike, I'll often bring a basket to collect these treasures. This prevents nature finds from being crushed- or found in the bottom of the washing machine days later. Later on they'll become a part of our nature shelf, a highest honor, or into our crafts.

And sometimes we paint with them.

Related: 25 Nature Books You Need To Read To Your Active Kid

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

Since we love flowers and art, the kids were excited to find "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" by Tomie dePaola. In the story, there's a boy who's not destined to grow up into a warrior like the other boys of his tribe. He grows up to be a painter who paints stories for his People to remember. One painting eludes him though- capturing the magnificent colors of the sunset.

"He used the brightest flowers, the reddest berries, and the deepest purples from the rocks, and still his paintings never satisfied him. They looked dull and dark."

One day he receives a gift to help him, and this gift still flowers today in the desert: the Indian Paintbrush.

We don't have this beautiful flower in the Midwest, but we decided to use our native prairie flowers to paint our own sunsets instead.

Related: Easy Peasy Beginner Nature Journal Ideas for Kids

Nature Art: Prairie Flower Paintbrushes

This post is part of our Nature Book Club series, with more links below. Enjoy!

SUPPLIES:

A collection of wildflowers
Sunset paint- red, orange, yellow acrylic paint for older kids, tempera for younger
Hefty paper or canvas for painting

PREPARE:

Cover your table or use lunch trays if you're painting with acrylic to prevent staining.
Put a small drop of yellow onto a paint palette (we use the insides of cereal boxes, leftover Styrofoam, and other recycling goodies for ours)
A small tub of soapy water or a large wet washcloth helps children who don't like messy hands clean them right away. Sometimes just knowing they "can" gives them the freedom to get messier than you'd think they would!

CREATE:

Let your child dip their flower in the yellow paint and experiment with it on the paper. What happens if they drag it? What it they drag it harder, softer? What if they stamp it on the paper?
Have them repeat with other flowers, experimenting with their different "paintbrushes."
Introduce a smidgen of red onto their paint palette or onto their picture. What happens when it mixes with yellow? It only takes a little! (see HELPS below)
Have fun!

HELPS:

Yellow paint contains the lightest pigment and is easily tinted by other colors. It takes only a little red to turn yellow into orange, but it takes A LOT of yellow to do the same to red.
Yellow, red and orange are on the WARM side of the color wheel. To help kids remember this, we call them "fire" colors.
Fun fact: Warmer paint pigments are less dense than cool paint pigments. So it takes more warm paint to turn a cool paint (blue, green) warm then the other way around!

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Easy Peasy Beginner Nature Journal Ideas for Kids

By freshlyplanted - 6:38 AM

Inside: Nature journals are a great way to explore nature as a family! Here's an easy, cheap method of setting up journals for your classroom, homeschool or summer nature hikes with low-mess, portable art supplies.

This post may contain affiliate links.

Please read our disclosure statement for more information.

"Mama! Come see what we caught!"

Slipping shoes on, I watch our kids dance up our front path to the hilltop and rope swing.

Lately, the rope swing has been their main interest as they take turns ricocheting off trees and bouncing around the driveway.

Today they lead me past the swing, to something nestled in leaves on the ground.

"Do you see him? We've named him Box."

Living in the woods means finding all sorts of things in our yard: salamanders, bugs of all kinds, caterpillars (including this stinging one ), and unsuspecting box turtles.

We love to draw our finds, but it's rarely safe for the animal to be handled or carried away from from their territory. For example, our box turtle can become sick from foreign parasites if moved away from his home or relocated in another one.

Here's what we do instead:

Draw on site- Especially if it's a slow-moving snail or a squirrel that's taking a sprawled-out nap on the deck rail (true story)
Take pictures- Our favorite method! A great way to carefully study an animal or object later. Also helpful for parents who desire a detailed nature study but are rushed for time or worried that their kiddos might accidentally disturb/kick/sit on it.
Use reference materials- We love Nature Anatomy and often use it to learn more about what we're drawing. Field guides are helpful, too.

Nature journals are a great way to explore nature as a family! Here's an easy, cheap method of setting up journals with low-mess, portable art materials which should last you through several dozen sketchbooks.

Related: 25 Nature Books You Need to Read to Your Active Kid

Beginner Nature Journals for Kids (And Adults!)

Nature Notebook: We find the A5 size (5" x 8.25") to be less intimidating than larger notebooks, with plenty of room for details. They're also handy for sticking in a pocket! Recommended: Moleskine Plain Journal- set of 3, Seawhite of Brighton- set of 3 (Do you love rounded corners, too? We use this to round corners on everything.)
Quality Pencils: There's nothing worse than a non-sharpening pencil or one that crumbles into a million pieces over your page. We started buying Ticonderoga pencils in bulk and they're worth every penny. A friend swears that Field Notes pencils are even better, so I'm hoping to compare soon.
Watercolor Pencils: These are so handy and fun! You can draw with them first or paint water first and draw on top. Our preschooler loves them as much as our oldest!
Brush: This is a great starter set! Just make sure you keep your watercolor brushes separate from your acrylic brushes (which leave residue behind).
Water dish: We use clean yogurt cups filled from our water bottles.

Optional:

Watercolor Crayons: These crayons are nice for filling in larger areas of color or for younger family members.
Watercolor Journal: I have this one, and the paper weight is great. It's large for adventures so I'll sketch & paint things from my travel journal or pictures.

Related: {Free Printable} Animal & Egg Nature Bingo

With these easy supplies, you'll be ready to draw whatever crawls into your yard!

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Simple Homeschool

Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!

By freshlyplanted - 3:08 PM

Inside: This all-in-one Math program playfully challenges kids! For kids struggling with math- and those who love it!- it builds Math skills through daily practice, with built-in rewards that kids love. With fun games to continue learning! Perfect for busy families, including homeschool & multi-age classrooms.

$Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!$

This post may contain affiliate links.

Please read our disclosure statement for more information.

I realized the quiet voices in the next room had just gotten louder.

Since we've birthed masterminds, collective voices (especially excited ones) are usually linked with plotting- this is how indoor pillow fights and sliding down stair races begin. I quietly crept toward the doorway to get a closer look.

There was a competition, but it didn't involve pillows or stairs.

It was our oldest competing in Math.

As the kids clustered around the tablet, she quickly figured out her answers. Our son was narrating the problems to his 3-year-old sister like a wrestling commentator:

Do you SEE that pattern!
She's going to choose the yellow hat next. GO, Isia!
She did that problem SO fast!

Those are exact quotations, and I hid my surprise behind the door.

There've been more quotations, too:

From our six-year-old, while multiplying: Do you know what 11 times 9 is? It's 99! Do you know what 11 times 8 is? It's 88!

From our eight-year-old, while doing logic: Look, I can do them now! They taught me the pattern. I LOVE logic!!

I still can't believe our kids were jumping up and down about Math (and this is from someone who competed in HS Math Academic Super Bowl.) And it's gotten me to thinking: Why is this so unusual?

The Math Disconnect

Why don't we usually see this much excitement about Math? As a former teacher, and student, I've been thinking about this & discussing it with friends. Here's a few reasons we've come up with:

Focus on grade-level goals: One friend said her kid was discouraged from exploring higher multiplication tables in the class because "you'll cover that next year."

Repetitive: Who hasn't had pages of math drills in class? My younger self was a better day-dreamer than drill-doer, and I often felt like a Math failure because of it.

One way only: When kids don't "get it" this first way, many teachers (especially ones who don't adore Math in the first place) are unable to adjust their teaching or demonstrate an alternate way.

And let's be honest, if you don't love a subject - it can be hard to teach it.

How Smartick Method Helps Kids

Disclosure: I received Smartick access in exchange for a review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. I only share resources we would use as a family and believe other families would also enjoy.

When first starting Smartick, we were most curious about our oldest who had recently become Math-relunctant. (The same kid who was competing for fun in a Math competition just a few minutes ago.)

We knew our Math-loving son would enjoy it- but we weren't prepared for him to rise over a grade level with it.

Do you remember that grade-level goal above? I hadn't realized that was a hang-up for us, too, until Smartick blew it out of the water. Because Smartick was inviting him to try things that are one to two grade levels ahead- and he was mastering them.

Smartick does not follow the official curriculum or State standard. Smartick promises to prepare your child to advance faster than in school and beyond what's taught in the classroom.

In other words, it's not grade-specific and kids often end up mastering concepts beyond their grade level. Why? Because these ideas are able to organically build upon each other.

Our son loves addition, so Smartick built upon this & introduced multiplication:

8+8 is the same as 8x2

4+4+4 is the same as 4x3

9+9=18 18+18=36 so 9x4=36

(You get the idea.)

He was already doing double digits plus a unit, but now he was adding double digits and quickly sped onto carrying.

$Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!$

Smartick Win! Our 6 year-old son adding double digits with regrouping.

We sneak peeks at his daily progress in real-time and afterwards via our parental portal. This lets you see every single problem they do per daily 15 minute session and how they answered it.

Can we chat for a second about how much Math you can fit into 15 minutes? This kid averages 30 to 50 Math problems a day, perfectly adjusted to his level via AI technology.

This technology also introduces a concept multiple ways, minimizing repetition. For example, 9x3=?, then ?=3x9, then arranging 27 into 3 groups, and so on.

$Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!$

Using a digital abacus on Smartick to figure out a solution.

Frustration is minimized by this adaptive technology, too. It senses when our kids became frustrated (slower response time, multiple wrong answers) then bounces onto another concept before circling around later or returning to the original concept the next day.

$Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!$

Math is child's play! Smartick fit well alongside our tactile Miquon curriculum.

The best part? They love it.

(And not only because they can use earned points to buy things in "their own" virtual world.)

It challenges kids in a way that helps them feel successful in Math and learning- then builds on those successes.

That's the kind of education that's worth jumping up & down about!

Smartick can be used as a:

complement to existing Math curriculum
stand-alone homeschool Math curriculum
daily challenge above & beyond classroom Math
intuitive Math tutor to help build skills & confidence
easy daily strategy to prevent summer Math loss

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What's your family's favorite Math game or activity right now?

$Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!$

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Creepy Pair of Underwear! Easy Holiday Ornament for Kids

DISCLOSURE: This post includes "affiliate links". This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we may receive a small affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we would use personally and believe will add value to our readers. (full disclosure)

Creepy Pair of Underwear!

An Easy Holiday Ornaments for Kids

Why Kids Need Typing: KidzType Review (A Free Online Typing Game!)

What Not to Do: My Typing Failure

Why Kids Should Learn to Type

Making Typing Fun: KidzType

Benefits of KidzType.com

Easy Nature Craft for Kids: Squash Prints

Easy Nature Craft: Squash Prints

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush: Flower Paintbrushes- A Fun Nature Craft for Kids

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

Nature Art: Prairie Flower Paintbrushes

Easy Peasy Beginner Nature Journal Ideas for Kids

Beginner Nature Journals for Kids (And Adults!)

Thanks to Smartick, Our Kids are Fascinated With Math!

The Math Disconnect

How Smartick Method Helps Kids

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