Teaching Heart Mom

Just a Mom With a Teaching Heart. Find fun activities to do with your kiddos and students (infant to age 10). www.teachingheart.net blog

Thursday, September 30, 2010

More Yummy Halloween Printable Activities.


Last night, I posted the Halloween pretzel activity here.  Here's another one using Betty Crocker Halloween Fruit Snacks (found  these at Sam's Club! 46 Pouches in a box)  It is a little more advanced.  I would use it with support in grade K and 1st.  Second and Third graders should be able to do this independently.  The activity is two pages and should be printed front to back. 

Te activity looks like:


 
For more fun with Halloween Yummies, click here!!!


 

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Pretzel Bats and Pumpkins Sort and Graph

Learning is so much more fun if you can eat it!!!  The holidays always offer us lots of fun yum!  Click here to view some ideas at Teaching Heart.


A Teaching Heart visitor told me about these pretzels and asked if I could create a simple Pre-K to K level activity sheet to use with them!  Of course and here it is...

Click here to download the sheet.  I found the pretzels ad Sam's Club.  They come in a large box of 40 packs! 

You could have fun with this activity at home or at school!!!




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Monday, September 27, 2010

Moo... It's Monday (The Pittsburgh Great Race 2010)



10 mile race done in May and now I get to add a 6 mile race to my list!!!  Yipppeeee!!!!  I am surely hooked on races.  I love the spirit of the runners and how friendly and happy most of them are. 

Here's the start of the 10K Great Race in Pittsburgh 2010!
I snapped a quick picture before going over the starting line.  I went to the race with my Dad.  He ran the race a few times back in the 80's with my Uncle.  My Uncle is a great runner and actually was seated in the race back in the 80's.  It's in my blood!!!  My dad was so funny...  In our hour bus line wait to get to the start line he was telling everyone about my Uncle.  He's now a legend in Pittsburgh. 

So we got in the LONG line for the 10K bus at around  8:00 and did not end up getting to the start till about 9:35.  Ran to the bathroom and just jumped into the crowd going towards the start.  The crowd was awesome clapping and getting excited about crossing the start line.  Gotta love the Pittsburgh Spirit!

The first mile is down hill and then a pretty big uphill stretch.  You start seeing people walk on the hill.  Around mile 2 the Air Force running cadence caught up with  me and I got to run with them in my site for about 20 minutes.  It is fun listening to them.  Takes your mind off the "temporary" pain of running.

The run is pretty through the city (Pittsburgh is a nice city to look at) and the  people cheering on the streets keep you going.  Reading the signs and watching the crowd makes the run go by.  It's a change from my usual boring trail run.  My dad said when he passed the jail that the people in the jail were waving.  I never looked into the windows at the time.  I remember hating life around that time.  My legs were heavy and I knew I was close to my wanted time.  I was hurting and wanted to be done.  So I missed the waving jail mates.  I did  give the Eat'n Park cookie a high five.  Then I ate one at the end of the race.  LOL!!!

Anyway, I was told there was lots of down hills in this race.  There were, but there also some good hills and steady upgrades. 

Coming into Point State Park you see a huge crowd yelling.  I tried my best to sprint...  but it wasn't working as well as I had hoped.  I was happy with a time of 1 hour 3 min for over six miles of running.

Here I am at the finish line!  I circled my blur.  The two in blue were with me for most of the race.  Thanks to them for helping me get a good pace going and their conversations were interesting...  LOL!!!

My only complaint about the race...  at the finish give people water bottles.  Germ city the way they handed out water at this race.  I don't even want to think about it.  GROSS!!!!

Okay, what's next...  started with 10 miles, did a 10K, think a 5k is in order.  How about the Turkey Trot in November...  Or maybe the five miler???  I can burn extra calories for all the food I will be eating that night. 
Thanks for reading!!!! 

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Sprinkle Me With Fairy Dust (A Review of New Tinker Bell Movie)


A few days ago we got a free copy of the new Tinkerbell Movie, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (Two-Disc Blu-ray/ DVD Combo) courtesy of the Amazon Vine program (I love me some Amazon1!!).  My daughter was thrilled!!!   My daughter has seen all the Tinker Bell Movies and she is a huge Tinker Bell fan.  So she put on her wings and cuddled on the couch with Mommy to watch this new Tinker Bell film.  Quickly I could tell this film was going to become a favorite of this four year old.  She was mesmerized.  When the film was over, her first question...  "Can we watch it again!"  I guess she liked it!   We did watch the flick again with her big 8 year old brother and he didn't blink through the film (but he won't admit he liked it since he thinks boys should not like Princesses and Fairies). 

The Great Fairy Rescue is actually the third film in the series, but you don't need to watch the first two movies to understand what's going on in the third movie. The movie is rated G and is about 70 minutes long

As you can guess from the title of the movie, one of the fairies (Tinker Bell) gets captured by a human and needs to be rescued. During the course of the rescue, Tinker Bell ends up repairing the broken bond between a dad and his daughter

The extras are good.  There are some deleted scenes, there is a preview of Tangled (can't wait to see that), some  introductions. and a three-minute music video, "How to Believe", by one of the rising Disney stars; but the others, including the Fairy Field Guide Builder, and How to Build a Fairy House, are in HD and seem interesting.

I have enjoyed all three of the Tinker Bell Movies and both of my kids love them.  We were happy to add this to our collection and I am sure it will be watched many times. 
 

Click here to get a $10 coupon!

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fall Resources...

I updated the fall theme/unit at Teaching Heart.  Got rid of the dead links and added a few treats too.  You can view it here!

Some of my favorite goodies on the page include. 

In this book, your class will learn about different leaves and why they change color. As a class, go on your own leaf hunt in a nearby park. Their are instructions in the back of this book for doing leaf rubbings and for pressing leaves in wax paper.



You can make this into a book or use it in a pocket chart. Cover up
a word and have your students tell you the word that is missing! You can do many
things with these printable cards.

You can make your own or purchase our CD for October -December and use and modify ours to meet your needs. Clcik here to learn about the CD
THE COLORS OF FALL
We see a black cat
We see a red apple
We see a colorful scarecrow
We see an orange pumpkin
We see a green leaf.
We see a yellow moon.

***Free from the Teaching Heart Graphing CDROM!!!*What is your favorite fall activity?
P1 - P2 - P3
Above are the free printables. Click here to learn more about these activities!

Fall Board Game from our CDROM. Click here to learn more!!!

For even more, click here!


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Monday, September 20, 2010

Moooo.... It's Monday!


Hello, It's a Moo.... It's Monday post!  Do you believe it? 

Sunday I run The Great Race!  Anyone else?  My goal for this race will be tough for me.  I want to run it in an hour.  Six miles in an hour.  I have a hard time doing this when I train, but I hit it on the treadmill on Thursday...  Yeah! 

Hopefully I can run this through the hills of the Burgh!  I finished 10 miles in less  than 2 hours at the GW...  So if I cut off some time, I can get six done in an hour.  Hoping with my fingers crossed!!!

What I love best about six miles is the calorie burn...  Look at that 909 calories...  Spent 450 of that at Panera following the run! 

I am excited about this race.  My Dad is running it too and he has run it many times.  My uncle (mom's brother)  use to run it. He is my idol runner!  He even placed in the race & was in a commerical for the race back in the late 80's.  So it will be neat to run the race! 

Funny, but they have a heavy weight category in the race for women.  If you are 140 pounds or over, you are eligible for the heavy weight category.  I think that weight should be set higher or go by height...  I am 5"10.  There is no way I will stand on a scale to get the title of heavy weight, even if it means I have a chance of winning a prize.  Wonder how many women would?  The heavy weight for the men is 200lbs.  LOL!

To prepare this week...
Sunday - Run on Trail 4 miles
Monday - Bootcamp - DONE!
Tuesday - Run 3 miles
Wednesday - bootcamp
Thursday - Run 2 miles
Friday - Bootcamp and one last run
Saturday - REST
Sunday - Race Day!

Look a Great Race Post!!! I Run Like a Mother (her six year old ran this race in an hour and 7 min.!!!)

Good luck all!! 




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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Lego Car Race Party Game


One of the games we had the kids play was having them build a Lego Race Car.  They all got a race car as part of their favors (only five boys, so it was affordable at around 6.00 each). 

       
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As soon as the kids came to the door, my son directed them to pick a car, open it up, place the pieces in their bowl, and then start building.
They all were into making their cars.  Give 8 year olds a Lego set and you get a quiet room!!! 
 
After they finished the cars, they got to race them on a Lego Race track I made.  I just used two pieces of thick poster board and designed a road with construction paper and graphics I found online.

I put the board on a plastic table with one side of the legs set up for the ramp.  They spent 45 minutes just playing with this and racing their cars.  It was a hit!!!

Here they are in action:

 

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Lego Favors


My favorite thing to do when planning the kids parties is make the favor bags.  This year our favor bags had, edible bricks (you can build with them and eat them), a CD of some of my son's favorite chapter books, silly string, Scooby Doo Silly Bandsego Car, , Mario Candy, And Pokemon Cards.




These were a hit!  I put them on the party table and they built towers with them!  Then they took their own bag home. 



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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Lego Party Homemade Decorations!!!


Happy Birthday Banner!


Lego Yum Tags!



Lego Party Table


Lego Mobile!


Lego Cupcake Toppers


More Lego Yum!














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Friday, September 10, 2010

8 Years Happened in a Blink...


My baby turned 8 today.  Time flies and every day we have is a blessing!  Thankful today to God for the gift of his life!

If you have not heard the song BLINK.  You need to listen to it and soak in the words...

Teach me to number my days

And count every moment before it slips away

Taking all the colors before they fade to gray

I don’t want to miss even just a second more of this



It happens in a blink

It happens in a flash

It happens in the time it takes to look back

I try to hold on tight, but there’s no stopping time

What is it I’ve done with my life

It happens in a blink



When it’s all said and done

No one remembers how far we have run

The only thing that matters is how we have loved

I don’t want to miss even just a second more of this



It happens in a blink

it happens in a flash

it happens in the time it takes to look back

I try to hold on tight but there’s no stopping time

What is it I’ve done with my life

It happens in a blink



Slow down, slow down

Before today becomes our yesterday

Slow down, slow down
Before you turn around and it’s too late



It happens in a blink

it happens in a flash

it happens in the time it takes to look back

I try to hold on tight but there’s no stopping time

What is it I’ve done with my life

It happens in a blink



Thursday, September 9, 2010

Lego Brick Cake


I make my kiddos homemade cakes every year.  It's one of our birthday traditions.  My son's cakes have included...  Winnie the Pooh, Train, Thomas, McQueen, Spiderman, Scooby Doo...  This year it is a Lego Brick theme.  If you look online you will see many beautiful Lego Brick Cakes out there...  like this one I found here.


Is this person who made this from Ace of Cakes or what???  I will say their directions for this cake do not fit the picture. 

If you google Lego cakes in images, you can see a million tries at this cake!

My try probably falls somewhere in the middle of the pretty scale.  I know it will taste awesome because I used my Grammy's Yellow cake recipe!  Here it is.  Ta-da!

Now, I ended up making a sheet cake.  I actually had enough cake for another brick...  but at around 12:30 last night that brick ended up in the trash because I was tired and began to think...  Who is going to eat all the leftovers???  Me, of course!  I don't need a yummy tasting cake staring at me following the birthday weekend.  So a big portion ended up in the trash!  Better there than on my hips later.  Right?

I used Little Debbie Cup Cakes as the knobs on the Brick.  Some websites tell you to use large marshmallows or rice krispie treats shaped as circles. 

You can't tell from the picture, but one brick is on top of another.  I used a large thick poster board as my bottom.  I then iced that in green.

As easy as this may look, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  The Birthday Boy hasn't seen it yet.  When he does I am sure I will think it was worth the work when I see his toothless smile. 













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Monday, September 6, 2010

EASY Lego Party Marshmallow Pops!


Gearing up for a Lego Birthday Party for my son.  We have done BIG Star Wars and Spiderman Parties in the past.  This year we are keeping it as simple as I can possibly stand.  He was allowed to invite four friends over for four hours of Lego Fun.  We will play Lego games, go mini-golfing, eat, and have fun building. 

I saw these lego pops and had to make them!!!  They looked easy to make and I think I even made it easier than the directions on the site I found them on. 

First off...  Get a bag of large marshmallows,  mini marshmallows, yellow wilton melting candy  ,
I let them dry in a Styrofoam square.
Put the large Marshmallow on the stick first and then add the mini marshmallow on top.  Roll the two mallows in the melted chocolate and let dry.  I did use a butter knife to smooth the chocolate and make it even all around the Lego head.  Once they are dry, draw on your face with the edible pen.  My hubby even had fun drawing the faces with me. 

Aren't they cute???  I will add them to the table with the snacks and cake.  I also wrapped some to put in the treat bags.


These were fun and easy to make!!!

Now on to making the homemade Lego Games and Some other Lego Fun which I will post later. 

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