Groundhog Day and free Printable's

Groundhogs Day, that day where we are in the middle of winter and still enjoying the season but begin to think about the upcoming spring.  It is a holiday that we celebrate every year because besides being just plain cute and fun we love the concept of looking forward.  The origins of this holiday centers around the first sighting of the groundhog in the winter and the planning of planting crops for the upcoming year.   This is a great time to sit down and plan for the spring and upcoming year.  

Groundhog Day is February 2nd. It is said that if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of bad weather, and if he doesn't, that spring will be here soon. 

Make sure you visit the official groundhog website to find more information just like below.  They have information and ideas for Elementary, Middle and High School students.  The cloud chart is perfect!  You can visit their site HERE

Teachers

Groundhog Day is all about fun! Every year we hear teachers and other people from around the globe who ask for suggestions on how to properly celebrate this unique holiday. We hope you'll find the resources on the left to be helpful!

Have you come up with a unique activity for Groundhog Day in your classroom? Send us your ideas to: The Groundhog Club, 102 West Mahoning Street, Punxsutawney, PA 15767, and you may see it on our Web site.

Lesson Plans for Teachers

Groundhog Day comes only once a year and its arrival is eagerly awaited by thousands of Phil's faithful followers. Nowhere in the world is Phil's prediction more anxiously awaited than in Punxsutawney, PA, the HOME OF THE GROUNDHOG!

Legend decrees that if Phil sees his shadow on February 2nd, six more weeks of winter weather will befall the world. If no shadow is apparent we're in for the delights of an early spring.

NOAA SKYWATCHER CHART

Print out a Cloud Chart for your classroom at this National Weather Service Site.

GROUNDHOG DAY CUPCAKE PUSH POPS!

Provided by http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/

Crafts for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Jr. that great man who fought for equality and peace and is so deserving of his own holiday.  Times have changed since the days when he was bravely speaking his message to the world but his message is still one that speaks to the heart and everyone, especially today, should give a few moments to think about his brave acts, what he was fighting for and evaluate our own minds and goals of today. 

Please see our previous post to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. Day by clicking HERE

Crafts for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

peace dove created with fingerprints 

Beverly Cleary School

Organizing 2012

One of our goals every year is to be more organized.  We are constantly researching and finding helpful ways to help run our lives a little more smoothly.  Here are a few of the things we found that may help you get organized too.

Ann Voskamp has a free Daily Planner available for download.

Print free 2012 Calendar Pages.

Happy New Year!

 

We are so excited about 2012!  The New Year brings a time of refreshing our lists and organizing our lives.  It also brings with it the feeling of renewal, a time to review our past year and plan for our upcoming year.

We love sitting down with the kids and reviewing how much fun we have had over the past 12 months and planning for the upcoming 12 months.   

With the kids getting older, we really want to step up their exposure to different cultures.  We have always dabbled in getting the kids exposed to all different things and this year we are going to be more focused on it.

New Year's Eve ideas and FREE printables!

Here are a few things we found along our way while searching for inspirational items for our annual New Years Eve celebration!  

Champagne JellO

 
Make Bubble JellO Parfaits for New Year’s Eve HERE at Family Fun. - Love it!

New Year’s party printables to share with you.

go HERE to download your new year's subway art.

 

Merry Christmas!

Dear friends and followers,
Wishing you a most wonderful holiday —full of love, laughter, and lots of good cheer. May you feel blessed now and all throughout the New Year.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

Free Christmas Printables!

FREE PRINTABLES

Christmas craft ideas

Here are some of the craft ideas we found online while looking for our own inspiration:

Gingerbread Cookie Wreath

by Home and Garden Editor

Here’s a fun wreath to make for the holidays! Inspired by a martha Stewart design this adaptation is totally adorable and very festive. Get the how to from Saving 4 Six: Gingerbread Cookie Wreath.

Our Halloween Fun and Facts with Kids Party!

This year for our annual Fun and Facts with Kids Halloween craft day, we all decided on a spooky cemetery theme.   We asked Matthew to help create a giant Haunted House.  Using his imagination and a lot of duct tape, he fit together 6 pieces of black poster board.  With white chalk, he drew a picture of a haunted house.  After this, he took a box cutter (while supervised!)  and cut it out.  We then taped yellow construction paper behind the doors and window to create the effect of lights in the haunted house.  We then took a piece of fencing and put that in front of our haunted house and decorated that with assorted grave stones and fake skeleton bones.  To add a 3D effect to the whole thing we added one cob web draped around the whole house.   We turned on our fog machine to give our whole room a spooky feel which really added a lot of ambiance to our lunch.

For our table setting we used a black table cloth and draped gray cheese cloth over it.  For the place setting we used plastic silver platters with black plates and dark brown glass bowls.   We then spread out a few items that fit in with our graveyard theme.  We made brown paper coffin treat boxes filled with Halloween Candy (of course!) and a plastic skeleton.  Wrote R.I.P. on them and then wrapped black string around them – these were adorable! 

 Keeping with our graveyard theme we decided to serve beef stew.  We added mash potatoes to the center of each bowl of stew in the shape of a ghost and added two peas for ghost’s eyes.  We also created mummy rolls.  With a bone shaped cookie tray we created 5 bone cookies, one for each of us.  We created a black/dark brown punch by combining ginger ale, purple and orange cool aids together.   At our local craft store we found Graveyard Cupcake Wrappers which were perfect for our theme!   We placed them around our homemade pumpkin spiced muffins – and there you have it! Spooky fun lunch in a grave yard!

The whole party was Spooktacular!

Owl Craft ideas for kids!

We just couldn't help ourselves showing you all these adorable Owl Crafts we found online!

Owl Crafts

Plastic Bottle Owl

Well, I gave it away in the title of the post, but
would you ever have believed this sweet owl was
made from a plastic bottle? I think it's amazing and
definitely worth trying with a group of kids. Get the
details at Craftberry Bush.

 owl candy bag topper printable 

Owl Lantern

The first word that comes to mind when I see this owl lantern is CUTE! I mean really cute. Cute as can be… overkill? I digress. I love how adorable this lantern is and Jill will show you how to make your own. So head over to Meet the Dubiens for the how to on this owl lantern.

Make Something Happy

Owl S’mores and Oreo Spiders

by Edible Crafts Editor

Here are two quick and easy ideas for Halloween treats made from store-bought goodies… Find step-by-steps to make owl S’mores HERE and Oreo spiders HERE at Craft Buds.

Find step-by-steps to make owl S’mores HERE

Framed Pine Cone Owl

by Home and Garden Editor

This unique and beautiful piece of art from The Shady Porch is an ideal nature and fall project. I love the way this turned out, and that’s not just because I’m an owl lover! Check it out at The Shady Porch — Framed Pine Cone Owl.

Free 2012 Owl Calendar from MY OWL BARN

Instructions:

Click HERE to go to her site and then select the month from the drop down below each art work and hit "Download Calendar" button at the bottom of the page. You'll be prompted to download or open the PDF file. Make sure you choose to download it. Once you have the file, you can open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader and print it.

In a rush? Click here to download our pre-made calendar.

pinecone owl craft 
5 Orange Potatoes


spatter paint owl art 
Artolazzi


macrame owl necklace 
That Artist Woman


needle felted owl 
Laura Lee Burch


Picasso inspired owl art 
Painted Paper


soup can owl craft 
Art Projects for Kids


paper bag owls 
Andiland


egg carton owl craft 
Nini Makes


acorn owl 
Csupamoka2


paper craft owls 
Amelie's House


miniature owl softies 
The Crafts Dept.


owl leaf mask 
Made In Me

Make a Santa Owl ornament

 

 

Jenni of Vintage Umbrella has started a series of tutorials for 24 handmade ornaments. Yea! First up is this precious Santa Owl. Go to her blog post for the free pattern and tutorial.