Tradition, Gratitude, Thanks and Family {Thankful Tree Craft}

~:: Beth Panageotou of Page’s Corner ::~

For many, this time of year presents an interesting crossroad and our psyches are inundated with four words: tradition, gratitude, thanks and family. They vary in meaning to everyone and that meaning can change throughout life. But there is one word that I think binds all of those words together, no matter your family scenarios and situations. That word is food! Check out Beth’s Thankful Tree craft to celebrate the themes of the holiday season…

 

ABOUT BETH: Beth is the CEO and Co-founder of Page’s Corner, Inc. She has a BA from Mount Saint Mary’s University and has a background in public policy and education.  After working in Washington, DC, she taught high school social studies and developed her passion to incorporate multiple learning philosophies, learning styles and student-centered activities within the confines of both the traditional and extracurricular classroom setting.  This carried over to her personal life as Beth left teaching to care for her two wonderful daughters (ages 3 & 7).   Beth strongly believes in the need to stress the importance of literacy and creativity in the early stages of child development, as is reflected in the mission of Page’s Corner.

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Hop, Stick and Jump into Animal Classification

~:: Wildlife Fun 4 Kids ::~

Kids love games that involve grouping things together or picking the odd one out, which means that learning about animal classification is both easy and fun. You can tell your child is ready to learn about basic classification by their interest in animals, how many animals they can recognize and if they understand the difference between fur, feathers and scales. It doesn’t take much to learn, just a few really fun activities!

 

 

 

 

ABOUT PENNY:  Penny is the creator of Wildlife Fun 4 Kids, a site developed to help parents get their children closer to wildlife and nature.

She is a mum to three girls and works part time as a wildlife education officer. Penny holds a Bachelor of Applied Science – Wildlife Biology and a Graduate Diploma of Education (Early years). In what little spare time she has left, Penny loves to read, go camping and be out in nature.

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Reading Activity: Returning to Good Old-Fashioned Crafts when the Power Goes Out!

~:: My Little Bookcase ::~

Power outages can do wonders for family bonding. Finding ourselves without power for a day, we decided to stay in our pajamas and dressing gowns and we embarked on a day of reading and old-fashioned craft activities.

 

 

 

 

 

ABOUT JACKIE: Jackie Small is the editor of My Little Bookcase, a blog and resource that aims to model and provide parents with fun, warm, friendly and positive ways to engage their children in reading. Jackie is a qualified primary and secondary teacher. She is also the mother of one daughter (with her second child due in November).

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DIY Origami Turkey for Kids (No Need for Origami Paper!)

~:: Creative Family Moments ::~

I love the holiday meal because there are so many ways to involve children in the preparation. Grab some paper and a ruler, and you can keep those little hands busy making the cutest turkey placeholders (or centerpieces). The best part about these origami turkeys is that no special paper is required and has a little place to put names. Once your kiddo knows how to make one turkey, expect a whole rafter of turkeys. And, yes, apparently it’s not a “flock” of turkeys but a “rafter” of turkeys. Either way, Gobble Gobble!

ABOUT HEATHER: Heather Humrichouse is a freelance writer as well as owner of the silly blog, CreativeFamilyMoments.com. From crafts and weird science to the bizarrest of holidays, Heather and her crew are always up to something! With plenty of embarrassing moments and funny kid quotes along the way, they hope to inspire others to live a life of celebration as well!

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