Fun-Filled Friday: Christmas is on the Way!

Christmas will be here before we know it. Here are some links to get you started.

Audrey's Christmas Page - coloring pages, songs, skits and plays, crafts, recipes, and more

Everything Preschool - Christmas songs and music

Printables 4 Kids - gingerbread house coloring page and activities

Child's Play Family Daycare - songs and fingerplays, recipes, crafts, activities and games

Enjoy!

I'll Be on the Radio Tonight!

Cooper Lawrence has asked me to be on her show again tonight. I'll be discussing ways to save time and money on Christmas. I hope you can stop by for the Thrifty Mommy segment, which will begin sometimes around 9:20 p.m. tonight. You can also listen via livestream from Cooper's website.

Christmas Tree Craft

The Make it From Scratch blog carnival is up at Stop the Ride. As usual, there are a lot of good ideas to choose from. One of my favorite ideas is Stephanie's Christmas tree craft. This is perfect for gift giving. Stephanie made her tree into a wall hanging, but this idea would work well on a sweatshirt, tote bag, or apron. How thrifty!

Christmas Plays for Children

The secretary at my church asked if I knew of some easy Christmas plays for children. I did some searching today and thought my Little Fun readers might have interest in them too.

• The Littlest Christmas Tree - This is the one I suggested for the preschoolers at our church. It should be fairly easy because there is a narrator and the songs are set to tunes the children already know.


• The Christmas Story


• Christmas Around the World


• Quick Christmas Pageant


• Christmas Skit


• Preschool Pageant


• A Crossword Puzzle - Santa's Reindeer Christmas Play


• A Christmas Alphabet Poem


• Christmas Songs - Some of these songs, as well as other Christmas songs, could be put in an order that tells the Christmas story.


• The Perfect Gift

Feel free to put links to other Christmas play and skits in the comments.

Christmas With a Capital "C"

I've had this sent to me twice in the past week. It has a pretty good beat. My daughter has one of the Go Fish cds.

I Am So Thankful

Today we went to my brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner. He lives about 2 1/2 hours from us. My sister-in-law's family was there and a few people that she works with. Now we're at my parent's house, which is another 2 hours from my brother.

Tomorrow my hubby and I are actually going to get away by ourselves and leave the kids with my parents for an overnight trip. Yay! I'm so excited! We haven't been away by ourselves in years. I would like to go to Cape Hatteras. I've never been there and have wanted to go for many years. It's a little farther away then we'd like to travel for a 1 1/2 day get away, so we'll probably go somewhere closer.

Anyway, I'm sitting here all by myself. Everyone else is asleep. I'm used to keeping the late night blogging hours. I guess I need to get to bed early while I can.

Here are some of the things I am so grateful for:

• Words cannot tell how grateful I am for Jesus giving it all for me. These songs express a little about how I feel - Jesus, You Gave it All and Love You So Much.
• My parents who taught me of God's goodness and modeled His love for me.
• My husband. He loves God, me, and his children. He comes home every night and he provides for his family.
• My children. I prayed for them many years before they were born. I pray that one day they'll experience a relationship with Jesus and know the peace and joy that He brings.
• God's provisions. We have a nice house, working vehicles, clothes to wear, and food to eat each day.
• For the United States. I am so very thankful for the men and women that have fought and sacrificed for the freedoms that we have.
• My true friends that love me in spite of my failures and are there for me when no one else is.
• For holidays such as today when we set aside time and reflect upon our blessings.

I can't even begin to describe how I feel right now. I am gushing with gratefulness.

We love because He first loved us. I John 4:19

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope your day is surrounded by the ones you love.

Due to the holidays, there will not be a Fun-Filled Friday post this week. Next week I plan to begin posting lots of Christmas ideas. Be sure to check out the archives. There's plenty there to choose from.

By the way, what are you thankful for?

Thanksgiving Place Mat

Here is a cute idea for a Thanksgiving place mat. You write "I am thankful for . . . " and then have the child draw pictures of things for which they're thankful. It looks like this particular mat has die cut leaves around it. You could cut some out yourself and/or have your child help you. If you don't feel too creative, then a plain colored border would work too.

Have your children made anything for Thanksgiving?

Sesame Street Advisory

Have you heard the news? According to a warning on Volumes 1 and 2, Sesame Street: Old School is for adults only. "These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child."

Say what? At a recent all-ages home screening, a hush fell over the room.
“What did they do to us?” asked one Gen-X mother of two, finally. The show
rolled, and the sweet trauma came flooding back. What they did to us was
hard-core. Man, was that scene rough. The masonry on the dingy brownstone at
123 Sesame Street, where the closeted Ernie and Bert shared a dismal
basement apartment, was deteriorating. Cookie Monster was on a fast track to
diabetes. Oscar’s depression was untreated. Prozacky Elmo didn’t exist.

When I was growing up, I never watched Sesame Street. I guess I'm safe from all the trauma. lol

What do you think about this?

Nick Jr Celebrates Thanksgiving

I have noticed something pretty aggravating about the Nick Jr. site--whenever you find something you like, you'd better bookmark it. The site is constantly changing. One day you could find something that you like and the next day you go to look for and you could search for a while.

Thankfully, last week I bookmarked their Thanksgiving page for you. There is plenty to do. There are recipes, a Thanksgiving tree, place cards, placemats, printables, craft ideas, and ideas to help your child stay active.

Yesterday, I was on my phone with a good friend and her child was about to drive her nuts. I told her to click on Nick Jr. and let her child have fun. She immediately found a Holly Hobbie game she wanted to play. Now here's my tip: Save special stuff like this for when you absolutely have to have something to keep your child busy. That way, being on this site or any other site won't become a normal day activity that will be "no big deal" to them. When you're cooking Thanksgiving dinner and need your child out of your way and fast, tips like these can really be a help. :)

Have you found any great sites? Please leave them in the comments.

Amazing Little Boy!

Here is a clip that is circulating over the internet quickly. This little boy, Logan, called into a radio station to share some wisdom.
Here is a direct link from the radio station - http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/logan-calf-story.mp3

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

My friend sent these pictures to me today. Her daughter made this in preschool.

• brown material - burlap (Don't forget to pick up some extra for the vests.)
• feathers - fingers painted different colors
• body - brown construction paper
• beak - yellow craft foam (construction paper would work fine too)
• eyes - wiggle eyes
• wattle - red construction paper
• legs - yellow paint

The SPUMPS is the name of their preschool.

Fun-Filled Friday Part 2: Happy Thanksgiving!

Just as I had hoped, here is Part 2 of Fun-Filled Friday. Hope you enjoy all these ideas. Be sure to check back later throughout the week. I'm hoping to have more Thanksgiving ideas for you.

1) Thankful Tree



Isn't this Thankful Tree cute? I found this idea over at Boasting in My Weakness. To get started, you'll need a tree. (You can make one from brown posterboard, construction paper, felt, etc. You could also use a branch placed in a flower pot and then hang the leaves on the tree.) Then you'll need to cut out some leaves of different fall colors. Ask your family, "What are you most thankful to God for?" Then write each family member's response on a leaf and stick it to the tree. Repeat this daily until Thanksgiving. You can read them all on Thanksgiving day.

It is important for us to learn to be thankful for what we have. Being thankful helps us learn to be content and happy, no matter our circumstances.

2) Thanksgiving Scripture Place Cards

Boasting in My Weakness also has an idea for scripture place cards. Your kids could help decorate these with glitter, stickers, etc.

3) Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

Printables for Kids has free Thanksgiving coloring pages.

Have fun!

Fun-Filled Friday Part 1: Fall Songs

I feel badly that I haven't put more time into giving you ideas. When I was teaching, I had ideas constantly flowing through my head. I was in the teaching mode. Now that I'm staying home, I'm having to do more searching. I did some digging in the basement today and found some of the songs we used to sing for fall and Thanksgiving. Sorry, I have no idea where these came from or I would give proper credit. As you can see, I have labeled this Fun-Filled Friday Part 1. I hope to post more ideas today.

Hello Mr. Turkey

tune of If You're Happy and You Know It

Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?

Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?

With a gobble, gobble, gobble,

And a wobble, wobble, wobble,

Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?

Gobbly, Wobbly, Turkeys

tune of Ten Little Indians

One little, two little, three little turkeys,

Gobbly, wobbly, bobbly turkeys,

hurry, scurry, worry turkeys,

It's Thanksgiving Day!

Thank you, Thank you, This We Say

tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Thank you for the earth and sky. (Form circle with fingertips; then point to sky.)

Thank you for the birds that fly. (Flap arms.)

Thank you for the food we grow. (Cup hands together; then slide one arm upward as if to grow.)

Thank you for the streams that flow. (Flutter fingers as hands move to side)

Thank you, thank you this we say. (Point to lips.)

Thanks for all we have today! (Spread arms out wide.)

Gobble, Gobble

tune of Pop! Goes the Weasel

A turkey is a funny bird.

His head goes wobble, wobble.

He knows just one funny word-

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.

Leaves are Falling

tune of Jingle Bells

Leaves are falling

Leaves are falling

One fell on my nose

Leaves are falling

Leaves are falling

One fell on my toes.

Leaves are falling

Leaves are falling

One fell on my head.

Leaves are falling

Leaves are falling

Yellow, orange, and red.

Wordless Wednesday: Warm Weather This Week

Another Winner!

I confess that Blogger really annoys me. I am used to using Wordpress at my other 3 blogs. If I want to contact someone, then I can. When they leave a comment I have access to their information. Not so with Blogger. Last week I announced a winner for our Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway. I tried to contact the winner, but had no luck. Anyway . . .

I'm pleased to announce our new winner is Awesome Mom. Congratulations! :D I chose comment #13 because I have been married for 13 years.

Sesame Street Website

I found the Sesame Street website today. Perhaps you've known about it and I'm just now getting a clue. lol Anyway, the site looks great!

This Potty Time Game will be good for my 2-year-old. He wants to be potty trained, but gets stubborn sometimes. Maybe this will give him the encouragement he needs.

Check out their games, stories, art, music, mail, and Elmo's World. They also have a parent's section.

Enjoy!

Fun-Filled Friday: Thanksgiving Ideas

It's hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away. I'm sure some of you are already looking for Thanksgiving arts & crafts ideas, so here are some to inspire you and get you started.

Thankful Pumpkins

For each pumpkin, cut out the inside portion of a large paper plate. Paint the remaining rim orange. Cut a white construction paper circle a little bit larger than the open area inside the rim; then glue the paper to the back of the rim. Have each child add a green or brown construction paper stem to their pumpkin. Around the top of the orange part of the pumpkin, use a permanent marker to write, "I am thankful for . . .". Then have the child draw and color something to complete the sentence.

Optional: If you have a classroom of pumpkins, you can mount these to a bulletin board and make a vine to go around the pumpkins. You could also change this design and use orange construction paper instead of painting the paper plates.

Rustic vests

My first year teaching preschool, I actually made these for each of my preschoolers. This is before I had children of my own, but still the project took me so long that I was left frazzled and wondering, "What was I thinking?" LOL The children loved their vests and they wore them to the family Thanksgiving dinner at the school. Anyway, on to the project.

You will need 1/2 yard of burlap for each child's vest. Fold the burlap once for an 18-inch square. Cut a v shape in the fold for the neck opening. Then cut from the bottom of the front panel to the bottom of the v-shaped opening. This will be the front of the vest. Pin the sides at least half way up. Using a plastic yarn needle and yarn, sew the sides as pinned and remove the pins. (I chose to sew the sides of the vest myself. My students were 3&4 years old.) Draw a Native American design onto the vest with permanent markers. (Supervision is needed with permanent markers!)

Optional: Using bright colors of yarn, straight stitch over the lines. Finish the vest with additional stitching as desired. (I skipped this step. It was all I could do get enough of these done for everyone. lol) If you have only one child to make this for, then you could try this step (or if you actually have some help).

This idea is from a very old, but still good Mailbox magazine.

More Thanksgiving ideas via link love:

Tiny Toms

Turkey Fan Toilet Paper Roll Craft

Thanksgiving Word Search

Make Your Own Books

Under the Sea Video

I found an awesome fullscreen flash video today from National Geographic. Here are some uses I thought of:

• use it when studying the letter "O" and talk about the ocean
• great for homeschool moms to use when studying the ocean
• classroom teachers could show it
• my little 2-year-old would love to watch it
• Watch it yourself. Seriously, the colors are beautiful and I think anyone would enjoy watching.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Florida Trip

Our Fall Y'all Bloggy Winner

It has been a weird week. If you've been reading then you'll know that my family has been in Florida for a few days. Before we left I posted giveaways at all four of my blogs. Whew! I can't even begin to tell you the comments I've been getting. My other 3 blogs are hosted by Wordpress and if you have a new commenter, then you have to approve the comment. Then for each comment I get at my blogs, an email comes to my inbox. Needless to say, I've had tons of emails!!!! lol

Ok, ok, on to the giveaway. I chose commenter #42 because my children are ages 4 & 2. Congratulations to And Then There Were3. Be sure to look in your inbox for an email from me.

Thanks to everyone for participating. I hope to have some more giveaways going on soon. If you would like to give away a prize, please contact me.

Have a great week! :o)

Sorry

Sorry I've not been around the past few days. Our family took a spontaneous trip to Florida. The trip here was horrible. My 2 and 4 year old did not want to ride. You know how that goes. Hopefully, the trip returning home will be better.

We're here visiting my husband's parents. They're moving into a different house, so we've been helping them unpack. Their house is right on the canal, so it's pretty cool to watch the boats drive by. There is also a screened in pool. Yes, my husband and kids got in the pool today. It sounds crazy to get in a pool in November. I heard today that North Carolina got freezing weather last night. It's funny to be here and to be enjoying the warm weather.

In case you don't already know, there is a giveaway going on. This is my first one for Little Fun; Little Learning. Be sure to leave a comment with the giveaway announcement so that you can be entered in the drawing.

I'll try to get back on track in a few days. Have a great weekend and don't forget to set your clocks back! :o)