We are 100 days COOLer! :)

While I have been taking a bit of a blog break - or maybe a really, reeeeaaallly long one - I found I had some free time on my hands for a few evenings and thought it might be fun to jump back on for another post.  However, I'll be keeping the wording to a minimum (unless you take the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" literally).

This year, our 100 day celebration came during a bit of a rough patch of illness for us.  We'd been cooped up, and it just seemed like a bit of excitement was in order...

 

We'd already completed a winter themed 100th day at least 2-3 years ago.  However, my kids seemed to be really lamenting the lack of snow this year, so I felt it might be time to have a "snow day" once more. 

 

 Cover each activity with a snowflake once completed!

 

What an easy way to incorporate 100 with these melting snowman kits!  Simply give them 100 seconds to build a snowman and then enjoy the wonder of watching it melt...

 

Snowman necklace with 100 white beads!

 

Toss the "snowball" in a cup and add the numbers.  First child to reach or cross over 100 wins!

 

This was a more time consuming activity - consider yourselves warned if you attempt this at home.  I had each child lie down in a snowball fight pose (except for the youngest who stood against the wall) and traced around him/her.  They then painted themselves and broke open a bag of 100 cotton balls (snowballs) which they glued to the mural.  We actually ended up opening two bags because one just wasn't enough!

 

We counted out 100 cotton swabs and the kids used them to make snowflakes - even our toddler was able to participate in this one with a bit of help.   

 

Snack time!  We counted out 100 items (usually in groups of ten such as 10 pretzels, 10 yogurt covered cranberries, 10 mini rice cakes, etc.) and created our own snow mix for munching. 

It is hard to tell, but these melted snowman pictures are puffy and came out so cute!  We made the puffy paint by mixing roughly equivalent amounts of white glue and shaving cream.  It can be a lot of fun as long as the children are old enough to realize it should not be eaten (or you are sitting right next to your toddler).

 

Spelling practice - the kids practiced spelling snow/winter words in whipped cream.  Yes, our toddler enjoyed participating in this one as well!  The whipping cream was on top of brown (unbleached?)  wax paper.  This was definitely a finger-licking activity!  

Note:  Make sure you do this one AFTER the shaving cream painting above to avoid confusion regarding what can be eaten.   If you do them in reverse order, you run the risk of a toddler assuming that if you can eat one puffy whiteness first, the other is fair game as well.  

Happy homeschooling!  :)

100th Day of School!

I know, I know.  I said I wasn't planning on posting much the next few months as I attempt to rest and hopefully better recover from an ongoing health issue.  However, it was the 100th DAY OF SCHOOL, ya know?!  I couldn't just let that go by without a peep, right?  I'll make it quick though - promise.

Our theme was "Snow excited for the 100th DAY OF SCHOOL!"  Yes, you read that correctly - I decided to incorporate winter into our fun day mix (it is January after all).  

The picture above shows the sign that greeted my kids that morning (I also hung some snowflakes above the table).

Hunting in the "snow" (flour and salt mix which I later turned into play dough) for 100 cents!

Once they found all one hundred, I traded the pennies for a dollar bill (actually, I gave each one a dollar because that's just sooooo much more impressive than splitting the cents and each only getting $0.50).

Our themed shirts.  :)  Several days beforehand, the kids and I stamped one hundred snowflakes and snow dots on these.

This picture also shows one of the crafts they made - a snowball necklace with one hundred snowballs (beads in groups of ten).  The groups of ten are separated by some snowman face beads (just wooden beads I painted to look that way).

I was inspired by this post to make a surprise snowy breakfast.  I also made a "100" out of a sausage link (the number one) and pancakes (the zeros).

This was a craft where the kids glued one hundred snowballs (cotton) and one hundred snowflakes to a mural depicting a snowy day.

A game where the kids had to wear a snowman nose and try to keep a balloon (snowball) in the air until we counted to one hundred by tens.

Yum!  The kids helped me count to one hundred as we made a snowy snack mix for our 100th day (we would switch snack pieces after every group of ten we dropped in - ex. 1-10 macadamia nuts, 11-20 yogurt raisins, 21-30 bunny crackers, etc.).

We ended the day on a sweet note by making igloos with one hundred mini marshmallows (using white frosting as glue).  Let me just say, this wasn't as easy as I first thought it would be - but it was tasty!  :)

(Not shown but noteworthy - I issued a snowball challenge to my kids and husband.  I told them that if they could design/create a catapult that shot a snowball one hundred inches or further, they would all get a prize.  I am happy to report that they rose to said challenge and earned their prizes!)

If you are celebrating your 100th day milestone now or soon -  a huge CONGRATULATIONS to you and your kids!  Hope it is "snow" wonderful as you make new memories together! ;)

100th Day of Homeschool!

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our 100th day of homeschool this year!  Woo hoo!  The end is in sight!  ;)

This is the table runner I made by just writing on a long piece of paper from the kid's drawing roll.

I also made them some simple shirts with buttons and rick rack (glued on with fabric glue) in honor of the occasion.  The certificate was a freebie I found here.

The celebratory breakfast consisted of sprinkle pancakes with whipped cream on top and MORE sprinkles!

Hey - why contain the excitement of the day to ourselves?  Why not share the joy?

That's exactly what we did - by passing out 100 pieces of candy.  Well, actually I think we only made it to ninety-seven or something like that before we had to head back home.  But the kids had fun and lots of people received an unexpected piece of candy that day (while Mommy completed errands).

Mission accomplished (mostly).  ;)

We headed back home where the kids enjoyed fishing 100 mini M & M's out of a container filled with cereal (organic fruity o's).

We then made necklaces (or snakes depending on your child's point of view) with the cereal pieces.  

We also attempted to find different ways to make 100 cents in 100 seconds.  (This activity we did a few times - 100 seconds isn't a whole lot of time to work with, after all.).

I was the bearer of good news that each child would be given a dollar (100 cents) to spend at the Dollar Store (Tree)...

and the next day, the kids concluded their celebration by purchasing one toy each with their dollar bills.  :)   Fun times!  

Happy 100th Day of Homeschool/School to you other mommies and teachers out there!