Insect Do-A-Dot Printables

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Please give a warm welcome to Katie from Gift of Curiosity who will be guest posting on Housing A Forest today. I have admired her blog for a while, so it is exciting to have her here sharing with us today.  Katie is a fun loving mom that enjoys engaging and encouraging her kids to learn through exploring their surroundings.   I absolutely adore her blog, so make sure to stop by Gift of Curiosity and say Hello!

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I’m Katie from Gift of Curiosity, and I’m grateful to Tammy for giving me the opportunity to do a guest post at Housing a Forest. Tammy’s blog has so many ideas for promoting fun, educational, and healthy play for children, so it’s an honor to be a part of that.

Long before I had kids, I used to dabble in graphic design. Since starting Gift of Curiosity, I’ve used my graphics know-how to create educational printables for my kids and others to use. With spring upon us, I’ve had my mind on insects, and I am excited to announce that my new Insect Do-A-Dot Printables are now available for download exclusively through Housing a Forest. The download includes eight Do-A-Dot printables featuring an ant, bee, beetle, butterfly, cockroach, cricket, fly, and ladybug.

Insect Do-A-Dot printables from Gift of Curiosity

These printables are perfect for giving kids practice in one-to-one correspondence while also learning to identify various insects. You can download my Insect Do-A-Dot printables by clicking here.

And if you enjoy these printables, I invite you to check out the other printables I have created by visiting my printables page.

Katie ~ Gift of Curiosity

Gift of Curiosity | Facebook

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Thanks for sharing Katie!  I just printed off a set.  I know my daycare kiddos will love them, they are really excited about insects especially lady bugs.  Don’t forget to stop on by Gift of Curiosity and tell her you saw her post on Housing A Forest.  We all love comments and I know Katie would love to hear from you:)  

Here are a few of my favorite posts from Gift of Curiosity:

20 Earth Day Crafts and Activities for Kids

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20 Earth Day activities for kids ~ lots of simple crafts for kids

Happy Earth Day!  As you know, we love using recycled materials on Housing A Forest.  Not only is crafting from your recycle bin frugal, but it is a great opportunity to teach your kids about our environment.  Check out this creative list of 20 Earth Day Activities for kids that are frugal and easy to make.

20 Earth Day activities for kids ~ lots of simple crafts for kids

Earth Day activities for kids

Which is your favorite?  There are so many fun ideas, however I think we might try making a salt paste!  I love the texture.

Happy Earth Day!

Temporary Tattoo Art

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The kids seem to be temporary tattoo magnets and have collected a huge stash.  They come one from birthday parties, parades, fairs and ball games with a new tattoo or three.  Since spring is here, I am trying to minimize clutter, so we decided to try our hand at creating Temporary Tattoo Art.  Let me tell you, it was a huge hit!

Temporary Tattoo Art To create your own tattoo masterpiece, you will need:

  • A stack of temporary tattoos
  • Sheet of craft foam ~ We also tried regular and watercolor paper but neither worked very well.  Stick to craft foam.
  • Shallow dish of water
  • Small sponge ~ we cut ours down to about the size of the tattoo paper
  • Tray to contain some of the water.

Temporary Tattoo Art

I’m not sure where the girls collected these little butterfly tattoos, but they were a hot commodity:)

Temporary Tattoo Art

Follow the same instructions for placing a tattoo on your skin.  Cut out the desired tattoo and remove the plastic sheet.  Place it face down on the foam.  Squeeze the excess water from the sponge and squish it on top of the paper side of the tattoo.  Count to 20 so you thoroughly wet the tattoo with the sponge.  Gently remove the paper, revealing the new tattoo.

Temporary Tattoo Art

It was a great time to work on the kids counting and their ABC’s.  Reciting number 1-20 or the ABC’s seemed to be the perfect amount of time to hold the sponge on the tattoo.  The kids thought it was a blast and had no idea that they were learning at the same time:)

Temporary Tattoo Art

This was such a fun process for the kids.  What do you do with all the temporary tattoos in your house?

If you don’t want to miss out on any of the fun we are having at Housing A Forest, make sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Google + and Twitter.

 

20 Must Try Painting Techniques for Kids

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Why should we be spending time painting with our kids?  Painting is a wonderful learning experience for kids.  It lets kids explore the creative process and express themselves.  There are so many unique mediums to discover, and now is the perfect time to explore them with your kids.  Here are 20 Must Try Painting Techniques for kids linked up from last weeks Kids Weekly Kids Co-op.

20 Must Try Painting Techniques for Kids

  1. Painting with Utensils ~ Spring Art: Tulip Painting
  2. Painting with Styrofoam Packing ~ Styrofoam Printing 
  3. Painting with Cocoa ~ My “Chocolate” Name 
  4. Painting with Glue and Salt ~ Watercolor Rainbow
  5. Painting with Glue ~ Glue Monsters
  6. Painting on Wax Paper ~ Stained Glass Painting 
  7. Painting with Toy Balls ~ Spikey Ball Painting
  8. Painting over Tape ~ Tape Resist Painting
  9. Painting with Food Coloring ~ Paper Towel Painting
  10. Painting with Food ~ Potato Printing 
  11. Painting in a bottle ~ No Mess Color Mixing
  12. Painting with Bingo Dobbers ~ We Heart Earth 
  13. Painting with Watercolor ~ Paper Plate Flower Craft
  14. Painting with tissue Paper ~ Square Collage 
  15. Painting with Light ~ Glow Tracks 
  16. Painting on a Tin Can ~ DIY Strawberry Planter 
  17. Painting in a Bag ~ Bouncy Ball Sensory Bag Painting 
  18. Painting like Gustav Klimt ~ Mr. Klimt Trees – Kindergarten Style 
  19. Painting on a Unique Surface ~ Happy Birthday Wendy Anderson Halperin
  20. Painting with Salt and Light ~ Salt Light and Play Dough Cutters 

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab a Housing A Forest button.

Come back every Thursday to see if your creative ideas were featured and link up any new ideas! (I will be using one image and a link back to your blog.)

If you don’t want to miss out on any of the fun we are having at Housing A Forest, make sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Google + and Twitter.

Weekly Kids Co-op



Saving Seeds

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Morning Glories are my kind of plant.  They require very little attention and have beautiful flowers in a variety of colors and shades.   Last spring, the kids came running in with a few of the seed pods asking if they could try growing them.  The best part is that Saving Seeds from a Morning Glory plant take very little gardening knowledge.  Perfect for a mom who has a black thumb and 3 eager kids.

Teaching Kids About Saving Seeds

I sent the kids back out to the garden with a pair of scissors and a jar to collect the rest of the little seed pods.  You would normally collect your seeds in the fall, so I was not sure how they would germinate after being left out in the snow and cold all winter.  But surprisingly it worked great!

Teaching Kids About Saving Seeds

After the kids collected the seeds, they placed them all on a tray and separated the black seeds from the brown paper pods.  We found a few smaller green seeds as well, and discarded them.  The kids quickly discovered that if you put pressure on the back of the pod the seeds would pop right out.

Teaching Kids About Saving Seeds

The kids planted their little salvaged morning glory seeds, and were able to sell a few of the plants for some extra spending money.  They loved that they were able to find their seeds in our backyard instead of purchasing them from a store.

Here are a few of our favorite gardening posts that we have done:

  • Starting seeds ~ The kids did all the work of planting, watering and growing plants to sell.  The end goal was to earn enough money for a trampoline.  I love their determination and perseverance.
  •  Re-Growing Celery ~ This has to be one of our favorite gardening posts.  The kids were amazed that something we would normally toss to the chickens could grow a whole new plant.
  • Sprouting Seed Activity ~ The Started a number of different varieties of of seeds to see which one would germinate the quickest.
  • Shamrock Sprouts ~ We were amazed the seeds do not need soil to grow.
  • 27 DIY Garden Markers ~ I love this simple round-up of garden markers/stakes that your kids can help make.

Don’t forget to check out these other great kid bloggers that are also participating in the Planting with Kids Blog Hop.  Just click on one of the red links to take you to their blog.  I would also love to see what you have been planting and growing with your kids so make sure to join in on the linky.  The link party is showing up a bit funny.  However, you just click on the red link under the “powered by Linky tools” to take you to where you can add your post.  I can’t wait to see what you share!

*   The Usual Mayhem   *   Child Central Station   *   Housing a Forest   *   Rainy Day Mum   *   Growing Green Fingered Kids   *   Nature and Play   *   Fantastic Fun and Learning   *   Kitchen Counter Chronicles   *   Teach Preschool   *   The Educators’ Spin On It   *   Kindergarten and Preschool for Parents and Teachers   *   The Fairy and the Frog   *   Let The Children Play   *   Little Illuminations   *   Early Play Outdoors   *   52 Days to Explore   *   Music Sparks   *   Milk and Cuddles   *   Teach Beside Me   *   The Pleasantest Thing   *   Making Boys Men   *   I’m a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here   *

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