Activity Day Girls - Thankful Tree

I serve the 8-9 year old activity day girls
in my local (Mormon) church congregation called a ward.
Every 2 weeks we meet for an hour with about 10 girls,
and we do something crafty, fun, educational, spiritual, etc.
It's a lot of fun.

This week we talked about the 1st Thanksgiving in America.
I loved when I asked the girls how the pilgrims made it the new land.
Most girls said, "they walked". Then we played a guessing game.
Each girl brought something they were thankful for.
We went around the room trying to guess who brought what.

After the game we made these Thankful Trees.

Lindy made this same tree a few years back when she was in Activity Days.

How to make the trees:

Make Something Monday - Stained Glass Poster Board Painting

In the summer, I try to let the kids make a craft or art project on Mondays.

Last week we got our idea from the July Friend Magazine.

I loved telling the story to the kids before we got started of

the man who makes stained glass art for the LDS Temples.

His story of stuttering as a child, and not getting accepted into college

I thought were inspiring examples of overcoming challenges.

Supplies:

Poster Board (I got a package of 1/2 the size of normal poster size.)

Masking or Painter's tape

Paint (washable is preferrred!)

Foam or paint brushes

Let your kids put tape on their poster board.

 After taping, let the kids paint the colors in between their tape.

The paint can overlap on top of the tape.

Try not to let different paint get inside the other taped shapes, though.

After the paint has dried, remove your tape and

see your design and art!

Decorating Sugar Cone Christmas Trees with Cousins

Tate, Hunter, and, Matthew doing serious work.

 Brandon being extra careful.

 Cousin Sam and Haylee busy at work.

 Aunt Karen showing them how to get it done right.

 Kyle carefully adding his details.

 Cousin Matthew sooooo super excited.

 Tate making sure to get every part of the cone covered.

 Finished Trees:

My sister, Karen, came to town as a last minute surprise
in early December. All of our kids, including my sister's kids
who live nearby, had fun hanging out one evening.

We needed an easy Christmas activity.

My sister, Karen, suggested decorating sugar cones as Christmas Trees.

Just buy a few boxes of sugar cones, make some green frosting,
and decorate with any small candies.

Favorite Frosting Recipe for Decorating (very sugary, beware)
2 lbs. (8 c.) powder sugar
2/3 c. crisco
2 T. milk (I always add more for right consistency for spreading)
1-2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. light corn syrup
Mix together, add your food coloring.
My favorite food coloring paste by Wilton.

It was super easy and fun for all ages, boys too!

An Easy Christmas Kid Craft, Christmas music, and a Christmas Video

Brandon is working on this craft today.

Inspiration found here.

My favorite Christmas music this season is this album:

I like song #'s: 1,3,4,7,11 and 12.

We watched and talked about this video:

for our Family Home Evening,

and our trying to do a little something

each day to share the gift.

Just small acts of service:

 a smile, a compliment, a thank you, etc.

With raising a family,

I can feel inadequate at times.

Not doing enough here or there.

I just do the best I can,

even in small ways.

A video, some music, a craft.

Kids' B-day Photo Albums

My sister, Karen, inspires me and many moms

with her fun ideas for kids.

She shared the idea of making a b-day photo album book.

You get a 4X6 photo album, and

put in 1-2 pictures each year of your kids' b-days and cakes.

I included their actual birth day photo and their baptism photo too.

I decided to make and give these to my kids this year for Valentine's.

The idea seemed simple enough.

But, then it wasn't!

Before blogging where are all my photos????

I went through boxes of family history papers, photos, and stuff

to try to find those early b-day photos of my older children.

(Now, I believe in blogging even more.

I have a great documentation of our family that I can find easily.)

Also, my sister Karen and I laughed,

will we really keep up and put in each picture

in the future of each kid's b-days???

I'm grateful for our Thankful Tree

Lindy made this Thankful Tree

at her Activity Days in October.

I love it!

It's been the centerpiece of our table all month.

It makes me smile whenever I see it.

How to make the Thankful Tree: 

Rinse out a can.

Wrap paper around it. (Lindy used wrapping paper)

Wrap a bow around the can.

Place some rice in the can.

Place a twig or small branch from your yard in the rice.

Make some construction paper leaves in different fall colors.

Write what your grateful for on the leaves.

Tape the leaves onto the branch.

Watercolor Planet Craft

The kids made these planet crafts one summer afternoon.
We got the idea from here. This link gives good step-by-step instructions.
They were pretty easy to do,
and I love the colors and how they turned out.

Supplies:
Black Construction Paper (We taped ours together to make a bigger piece of black paper)
Watercolor Paper and Watercolors
Paint Brushes
White Paint
Glue and Scissors
Various Circle Shapes from around the house. Cups, lids, etc.

 Tate

 Brandon, did all the watercolor himself.

We helped him cut out the circles and glue them onto his paper.

 Sadie

 Kyle being shy and then posing.

Silly Boy.