Busy/Quiet Boxes - Funny Felt Faces

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After discovering the idea of busy or quiet boxes online, I scoured Pinterest for ideas that I could put into action in order to promote my toddler's imagination and quiet activities.

If you are unfamiliar with busy or quiet boxes, they are quite simple and can be implemented in a number of ways. A box can be created for each day of the week (or just the weekdays), bags can be created for each separate activity so you can pick and choose when to share certain activities, or bags can be created that can be taken out to restaurants and shopping trips.

This activity was based upon the idea of creating faces out of pre-cut felt.

I decided to create two skin tones (for now) as well several hair styles, eye colors and shapes, noses, and facial hair. I used green felt left from my Christmas Tree Activity for the background and sewed plastic canvas inside to provide some shape and stability.

In the future, I would like to create additional hair styles in different colors and additional mouths to show different emotions.

   

  

Crafts: D is for Door

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My daughter is working on learning the letters of the alphabet so we have been completing a number of letter-themed crafts.  To go along with a holiday lesson, I created this door craft for her and her brother to complete.

Materials

• construction paper 
• glue sticks
• school glue
• scissors 
• buttons (or another material for the door knob)
• wreath sticker (optional)
• snowflakes (optional)
• deer sticker (optional) 

Steps

1. Gather all materials.

2. If your child is proficient with scissors, they can cut out all the pieces themselves.  If not, cut out the letter D and a door.

3. Glue the letter D onto a piece of construction paper.

4.  Glue on the door.  Be sure to only glue a stripe onto the paper to create a hinge so the door can be opened and closed. Glue on the doorknob.  We recycled buttons for our door knobs.

5.  If you wish to decorate the craft for Christmas, add a wreath and other holiday decor.

6.  For a winter time D is for Door craft, add snowflake sequins.

If you create this craft with your child, I would love to see it.  You can share it on my Facebook page or tag it on Instagram with #momquesttoteach.  Thank you. 

Looking for more crafts from A Mom's Quest to Teach: 

Crafts: Paper Bag Goat Puppet

Crafts: Ladybugs

Minecraft - A Journey Through Tutorials and Let's Plays

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Do your children like Minecraft? Do you like Minecraft? Even though the game has been out for 8 years, it is still a very popular game. My stepson first introduced it to me in 2012 when he wanted it for the Xbox 360. Let me show you the journey I took on YouTube as I looked for tutorials on the game. Often as parents, we do not understand how our children can go from watching an approved Disney YouTube video to a music video with inappropriate language. The Internet, including YouTube, is a rabbit hole where one thing leads to the next. It is not all bad but depending on what you think is right for your family, you will need to monitor your children's views online.

I started watching Minecraft tutorials on YouTube as I started playing the game myself. I found The Black Belt Panda and Paul Soares Jr (PSJ). While watching PSJ, I found my way to Complete the Monument (CTM) maps, Vechs and Zisteau. From there to Vintagebeef and the Mindcrack Server. I spent a number of years watching most of the members of the Mindcrack Server. During that time I have watched a variety of games played by the YouTubers I had started following and found several new games that I also enjoyed (like Slime Rancher). I have also found many other Let's Players to watch via their association with those the Mindcrack Server as well as found some new games for our family to enjoy. Since I watched a lot of these men and women on YouTube, I was also able to monitor to a degree which channels our teen was watching to help decide on appropriateness of material (language, subject matter, etc).

Minecraft is a great game because it allows people to use their imagination. You can build fantasy based buildings or replicate real world places.

You can work out geometry problems or learn coding as you create a mod for the program. You can meet people from around the world as you play on servers and practice your language skills. There are also many different official and unofficial books to read and to use when teaching your children. Schools also use Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom for many of the reasons I have already mentioned.

So if your children enjoy computer or console games and this is the one they play a lot, it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Everything should be done in moderation but at least with this game it is allowing for imagination and creativity to be fostered.

Please Note: Some of the YouTube channels discussed in my blog are not appropriate for all age levels. We have allowed our teenager to watch some of these playlists and channels but not all of them. Please view any videos before or with your child. Also just because someone is family-friendly does not mean that all the games on their channel may necessarily family-friendly or align with your views.

Crafts: S is for Sheep

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After working in the Children's Zoo at our local zoo, I have grown to love sheep and goats.  I had the privilege of helping to look after them for several autumn months one year.  As we are learning about farms and farm animals, I thought creating a sheep craft would be a perfect complement to our lessons.

Materials

• white construction paper
• brown and/or green construction paper
• black construction paper
• pink construction paper 
• googly eyes
• glue sticks
• school glue
• scissors
• pencil
• markers or crayons
• cotton balls 

Steps 

1.  Gather all materials. If your children are older, they can draw or trace a large letter S as the body for the sheep. Help them cut out your shapes if they are semi-proficient or proficient with scissors.

2. Glue the letter S onto the green (for grass) or brown (for dirt) construction paper.

3. Glue on the head, ears, and eyes.

4.  Draw on your sheep's face.

5. Pull apart of the cotton balls till it stretches a bit and then glue onto the letter S for the wool.

6.  After drying, display proudly in your home.

Resources

Science Kids' Animal Facts Page about Sheep 
Sheep (Farm Animals) by Heather C. Hudak 

See more crafts from A Mom's Quest to Teach: 

Crafts: Lions

Crafts: I is for Iron

Book Club: What's the Difference Between an Alligator and a Crocodile?

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In the book What’s the difference between alligator and crocodile? by Lisa Bullard with illustrations by Bandelin-Dacey, children can learn some of the key differences between the two reptiles. 

Bullard's book provides great illustrations with an easy-to-read text sharing many facts.  It is well-organized and provides examples for each reptile on each pair of pages.  There is also a section for fun facts and a glossary at the end of the book to further your knowledge.

Vocabulary 

Free Alligator and Crocodile Vocabulary Worksheet for your children to color – words include the following:

Cold-blooded

Endangered

Mammals

Reptiles

Nostrils

Pretty

Scaly

Snout

Species

Territory

Freshwater

Saltwater

Alligator

Crocodile

Bellow

Activities

Share sounds with your children of baby alligators and crocodiles, as well as the noises that adults make

Share the following images of an alligator and crocodile skull with your children to review the physical differences of their snouts.  In the first two photographs, you can see the difference in shape and size.  The alligator's snout is wider and rounder while the crocodile's is narrower and more pointed. In the second two photographs, you can notice the bottom tooth sticking up on the crocodile's jaw.  This tooth is visible when their mouths are closed.

Replica Alligator Skull

Replica Crocodile Skull

Replica Alligator Skull

Replica Crocodile Skull 

Clay Play

Gather together materials to play with homemade or Play Doh.

Crafts 

These are two of the alligator themed crafts we have made at our home. 

Alligator Craft

A is for Alligator Craft

Alligator at Magnolia Gardens in South Carolina