Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

Movement Spelling: Walk Your Spelling Words

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Sometimes, the best thing to do after a long day in school is to get outside.

So often, homework means that the kids are stuck inside even longer.

Luckily, practicing your spelling words doesn’t have to happen inside. We can go outside and do some movement spelling.

Grab the sidewalk chalk, head outside, and get the whole body moving while you walk your spelling words.

Go outside to learn when you practice this fun movement spelling idea: walk your words. It's a great idea for kids who need to move.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

How to set-up this movement spelling activity

All you need is some sidewalk chalk and a large area of concrete. Write your child’s spelling words all over the driveway. Write them big!

Tip: Have your child write the words for a little bit of extra practice. So, with one simple activity, you’ve practiced your spelling words twice.

Go outside to learn when you practice this fun movement spelling idea: walk your words. It's a great idea for kids who need to move.

Walk your spelling words

Now, it’s time to practice. Have your child walk along all the words, spelling it in their head along the way.

This works so well for kids that need to move while learning (kinesthetic learners).

If your child’s learning style, like kinesthetic learning, is not being met in school, give them as many opportunities as you can at home to learn their own way. Let them walk their spelling words if that is the way they learn best.

It’s also great for any kid who is tired of sitting all day long. Movement spelling is a great way to get outside, get moving, and get learning.

Go outside to learn when you practice this fun movement spelling idea: walk your words. It's a great idea for kids who need to move.

You may also like one of these spelling activities:

Car Word Tracing

Spell With a Driveway Letter Grid

Make Words With Play Dough

Buy the 31 Ways to Practice Spelling Words Ebook

You can purchase a printable form of this book for $7.50 The book is designed to print and turn into a half-page size booklet. It’s perfect to keep at your homework station. Your kids can flip through and find a fun way to practice their spelling words.

The ideas will be convenient and ready to use. No need to turn on the computer every day for ideas.

Most activities require little to no prep time. And, if you make sure you have all the supplies on the Master Supply List (included in the book) on hand, you’ll be able to do any of these fun spelling word ideas any time.

A Week of After School Activities Plus the After School Linky Party – Week 21

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It’s After School Linky Party time! Last week there were so many awesome ideas. I found math, reading, and lots of fun science projects. I’ve rounded up five of my favorites in this week’s After School Planner. Have fun learning and playing!

(Pictured left to right)


Day 1: Explore area and perimeter with Duplo blocks. You can get printable task cards over at Schooltime Snippets.

Day 2: Can you blow up a balloon with Alka-Seltzer? Find out how to do this fun experiment over at Science Sparks.

Day 3: Wiggle to 100! Find out how to play this fun gross motor math game over at You’ve Got This.

Day 4: How do bees pollinate flowers? Find out with this fun experiment from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Day 5: Can you make paper flowers bloom? You can with this fun experiment from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational.

Check the linky below for even more great ideas.

 

Make sure to visit all the After School Activities Hosts:
The Educators’ Spin On It
Planet Smarty Pants
Boy Mama Teacher Mama
Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational 

Check out the link up below for even more great after school ideas. If you’re a blogger, please link up any ideas for elementary-aged kids (ages 5 and up). 

 

Learning About Ancient China Through Books and Activities #ReadYourWorld

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The Multicultural Children’s Book Day is an amazing initiative whose mission is to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. There is nothing better than reading a book about a kid who is just like you. I’m a big believer in the fact that every kid should be able to see themselves in a book.

As part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we were able to whisk ourselves back to ancient China. It was a fun and fascinating journey.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details. I was sent a free copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I’m very grateful to have been introduced to Icy Smith through the MCCBD team. We were sent a copy of the Mystery of the Giant Masks of Sanxingdui, written by Icy Smith and illustrated by Gayle Garner Roski. It was a beautiful book that we greatly enjoyed.

In 1968, construction workers found an amazing discovery. Two pits full of over a thousand artifacts, containing bronze, jade, gold, and elephant tusks. This Sanxingdui site is considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in China. Who buried these? Why? What happened to the ancient Sanxingdui culture? Icy Smith tells the story of what she thinks may have happened through the eyes of a young girl Min and her older brother Wei.

The story was fascinating and quite approachable to my 1st and 3rd grade daughters. We enjoyed this glimpse into ancient China and we were happy to see it through the eyes of a young girl. We learned a lot and are eager to read more books from Icy Smith.

Extend the fun with some activities:

 

The Multicultural Children’s Book Day team’s mission to spread the word and raise awareness about
the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to
see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures,
languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage
readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun
book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book
linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media 

“Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.”

The co-creators of this unique event are Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press. You can find a bio for Mia and Valarie here.

Thank you to all the sponsors of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day:

Multicultural
Children’s Book Day 2016 Medallion Level Sponsors! #ReadYourWorld
Platinum: Wisdom Tales Press * StoryQuest Books*Lil Libros
Gold: Author Tori Nighthawk*Candlewick Press,*
Bharat
Babies
Silver: Lee and Low Books*Chronicle Books*Capstone Young Readers T
Tuttle Publishing ,NY Media Works, LLC/KidLit TV

 

Bronze: Pomelo Books* Author Jacqueline Woodson*Papa Lemon Books* Goosebottom Books*Author
Gleeson Rebello*ShoutMouse Press*Author
Mahvash Shahegh* China
Institute.org*Live Oak Media
Also, thank you to the hosts:

All Done Monkey,
Crafty Moms
Share, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Imagination Soup, I’m Not the Nanny, InCultural Parent,  Kid World Citizen, Mama
Smiles, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Spanish Playground

 

Peanut Butter Honey Apple Snack

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We’re big fans of apples at our house.

Bake them in a pie, turn them into applesauce, or just bite into a fresh juicy apples. It doesn’t matter.

While normally, I just slice them and serve with side of honey for dipping for a yummy apple snack, sometimes it’s fun to mix it up a bit and try something new with one of our favorite foods.

Combine peanut butter and honey to make a delicious sauce for apples. This yummy apple snack is perfect for after school snack time. #snack #kidssnack #applerecipe #CreativeFamilyFun

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. See my Disclosure Page for more details.

Peanut Butter Honey Apples are easy to make. My kids (ages 6 and 8) did most of the work themselves. It’s a little bit fancy and a whole lot delicious.

This apple snack recipe is going to become a favorite at our house!

Combine peanut butter and honey to make a delicious sauce for apples. This yummy apple snack is perfect for after school snack time.

Prepare your apples

We started with the apples. I sliced each one with my apple corer/slicer first. Our slicer takes a lot of muscle and isn’t easy for the girls to use.

Once the apples were sliced, the girls cut them into smaller pieces and arranged them on the plates. As you can see, they were able to safely cut the apples with a simple table knife after going over a few safety details. (i.e. Curl the fingers under!)

Tip: There are several things to consider when teaching your kids how to safely use a knife. You can find all the details you need in this post, Knife Skills for Kids.

Combine peanut butter and honey to make a delicious sauce for apples. This yummy apple snack is perfect for after school snack time.

Make your Peanut Butter Honey Sauce

After we chopped our apples, we got to work on our peanut butter honey sauce.

We used a microwave-safe measuring cup to make things easier.

We measured the honey directly into the cup then added in our peanut butter.

There’s no need to stir just yet. Pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds first.

Combine peanut butter and honey to make a delicious sauce for apples. This yummy apple snack is perfect for after school snack time.

Pull it out of the microwave and stir immediately. Remind the kids to use a hot pad when removing something from the microwave!

At this point, your sauce should mix together nicely and should drizzle easily with a spoon. If it’s still too stiff, microwave in 10 seconds intervals, stirring after each time. Be careful not to overheat.

As soon as you have it mixed, drizzle your sauce over your apples. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts if you desire. (And I did, yum!)

This is not a recipe you can make ahead, but this apple snack comes together quickly. It’s delicious and a fun recipe to make together with your kids.

Combine peanut butter and honey to make a delicious sauce for apples. This yummy apple snack is perfect for after school snack time.

Peanut Butter Honey Apple Snack

Peanut Butter Honey Apples
Makes 4 snack-sized portions

4 apples
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. honey
Crushed peanuts (optional)

Cut your apples into bite-sized portions. Arrange them on plates, one apple per person. Meanwhile, add your peanut butter and honey to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove and stir immediately. The mixture should soften and blend together when you stir. (Microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring after each, if it’s not mixing together.) While still warm, drizzle the peanut butter mixture over your apples. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts if you desire. Serve immediately.

Combine peanut butter and honey to make a delicious sauce for apples. This yummy apple snack is perfect for after school snack time.

 

A Week of After School Activities Plus the After School Linky Party – Week 20

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It’s After School Linky Party time! I’m always so excited to see all the great ideas linked up every week. This past week there were some fun winter ideas. Snow seemed to be the overall theme.

I’ve pulled together five of my favorite ideas from last week in this after-school planner. They look like so much fun and will provide some good quality time for you and the kids. Take a look at what I found!

(Pictured left to right)



Day 1: Learn all about the Philippines with these resources from Mama Smiles.

Day 2: Make LEGO creations using one of these printable play mats from One Mama’s Daily Drama.

Day 3: Mix colors, create, and have fun with Snow Paint. The Science Kiddo shows you how to make your own.

Day 4: Use blocks to make snowflake patterns. JDaniel4’s Mom shows you how.

Day 5: Decorate your windows with button icicles. Hands On As We Grow show you how to make them.

Check the linky below for even more great ideas.

 

Make sure to visit all the After School Activities Hosts:
The Educators’ Spin On It
Planet Smarty Pants
Boy Mama Teacher Mama
Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational 

Check out the link up below for even more great after school ideas. If you’re a blogger, please link up any ideas for elementary-aged kids (ages 5 and up).