Make Paper Snowflakes!

Every December we like to decorate our windows with paper snowflakes. I figured out how to make really good ones by practicing on the Make-a-Flake website, which is where you can make virtual snowflakes. If you've never been on that website, you should give it a try--it's pretty cool! Here's a step-by-step photo progression of how I make a snowflake (though of course I cut different patterns each time). Oh, and I should note that the Make-a-Flake website folds it an extra time--you can do it whichever way...they're still pretty!



























Then I use the leftover strip that I cut off at the beginning, and I make a few small snowflakes because 2 different sizes look nice together! Here are some of my smaller snowflakes:



These are the kids' snowflakes. Isaac's is on the right. Moriah's is on the left. Actually I cut hers for her because she was struggling with the cutting, but she told me where and what to cut...so it's hers!

Charity Shop Finds (For Christmas....shhhh.....don't tell my kids!)

Just to let you know, we do buy our kids NEW toys and stuff for Christmas! However, because we're on a tight budget (living as missionaries in expensive England with a high exchange rate), we can only buy so many gifts. We like our kids to enjoy upwrapping lots of gifts (and yes, they are taught that Christmas is not all about getting presents), and we like to get them educational toys and games, so we get some of their presents at charity shops. Most of the things we find are practically new. Here's what we found on our last charity shopping spree:

For Isaac:



What I didn't get pictures of before Greg wrapped them: an Oklahoma Sooners football (yes, we found one in a charity shop in ENGLAND! LOL! And by the way, Isaac is a Sooners fan because of me...his daddy is a Huskers fan.), and a set of plastic knights and Robin Hood figures for his castle.

Moriah:


Gabriela:

Tot School, Dec. 7-11

I am so late on getting this posted. It's been a very hectic week, and I've been struggling to find time to write any posts at all! So, well, here's Tot School photos and descriptions from last week...

1. Tot Tray: Rhythm Instruments
I did this one while Gabriela was still sick with an eye infection, so she didn't last very long, though she did show interest. We'll try it again soon!



A shot of her poor, pathetic eyes! Makes me want to cry...but she's all better now! : )



2. Tot Tray: Lacing Farm Animals. Again, she showed interest but didn't last long. Same day as the first tray...not feeling well.




3. Abacus--This interested her for a bit. Same day as above 2 activities.



4. Farm Set--I actually set this up for Moriah (for a kindergarten activity), but Gabriela enjoyed it when Moriah was finished.



5. Shape Sorter--Gabriela likes my charity shop find!



6. Match and Make Farm Animals--I got this at a charity shop over a year ago. You put together puzzle pairs to match animal mothers with their babies. You also fit in mother animal pieces.






I didn't know until Isaac noticed and pointed it out, but you can also lay out all the matched puzzle pairs and put them together to make one big scene! I love it because it is such a typical English farm scene. : )


7. Farm Animals (from the farm set she played with earlier). She really liked playing with these on a tray.


She lined them up all by herself:


8. Transportation Magnets--She liked putting them up, and then she was done. I have to say here that I've not been very good at putting together themes for my tot activities. I only discovered Tot School just when our school year started, and I never had time to plan out anything. I'll definitely try to do that next year when she's a bit older and I have more time to plan!


9. Winnie-the-Pooh play set. I got the house at a charity shop the first year we lived here. I couldn't find characters, so I ordered these off ebay...the only time I've done ebay on my own (normally I have my dad do ebay bidding for me in America). I spent way too much on these, and I have since seen them in stores for much cheaper. Oh well!


10. Pouring activity. I know the pictures make the cups seem too big for Gabriela to handle, but she actually did quite well with this activity.



She finally just used her hands to transfer the pasta, but she seemed very intrigued to see them piling up at the bottom of the jug.


11. Bubble wrap...I would never have thought of this if I hadn't seen it some other blogs (don't remember which ones, sorry). So when we received a Christmas package from my parents, I gave it to Gabriela to try. She loved it!


I found some more tot school stuff at charity shops, but they're going to be Christmas gifts. Yes, Christmas gifts! We do buy our children some new toys for Christmas; however, because of our tight budget, we also buy some of the gifts at charity shops--gives them extra gifts to unwrap (and most of those are educational). A lot of our finds are actually quite nice and some are practically new. I'll write about these in a separate blog, so if you want to see what I found Gabriela for Christmas (from charity shops), just click here!

If you would like to see what others did in in Tot School this week, visit 1+1+1=1 and check out all the links to some really cool Tot School blogs!