Le Chef Petite - Ocean Pie!

Got the summer blues?  Hmmm, probably not - at least not yet.  BUT if you do - then sit down, close your eyes, dream of the beach, and let your kids make you a dessert that will be almost as good as digging your toes in the warm sand while a balmy breeze kisses your face.  :)  Did I mention that your kids can make it?  (Depending on their ages though, you will want to step in on the hot water part, AND it would be most wise of you to keep at least one eye open, watching the process in the kitchen so that most of the "ocean" does not end up on your floor or in someone's tummy).  See below for the recipe!  :)

Ingredients:
1 small box of blue Jello (3 oz.)

1 container of Cool Whip (16 oz.)

1 graham cracker pie crust (or crushed graham crackers)

Strawberries and kiwis for ocean plants (or some other type of fruit)

Swedish fish or gummy fish or gummy eels (a.ka. worms), etc.  - basically, anything ocean creature like.

Optional: blue food color, large glass bowl or container

Directions:

1.  Mix the entire box of blue jello into 2/3 cup boiling or very hot water until Jello is dissolved.

2.  Add 1 cup of ice water (or part water with ice mixed in) to the jello mixture and stir.

3.  While the dissolved jello mixture cools a bit, slice strawberries and kiwis (use child friendly knives - see below for some suggestions).

4.  Once the jello mixture has cooled to a lukewarm temperature, carefully add the mixture to about 12 ounces of Cool Whip and stir until well combined.

5.  Place sliced fruit on top of the prepared graham cracker crust OR crushed graham crackers in a glass container (we used a large glass container so you could see through the sides, and we just broke up the crust and smashed it into the bottom of the bowl.  Then we placed some of the slices up against the glass so you could see the colorful ocean "plants").

6.  Carefully pour the jello and Cool Whip mixture over the graham crust and fruit until the container is full (if you have extra - freeze it as well and save it for eating later on).

7.  Push your Swedish fish or other gummy ocean creatures into the "ocean" mixture until submerged (or you may want to have a few peeking up from the ocean depths). 

8.  Optional:  dip a knife in blue food color and swirl through the mixture and against the sides of the container you are using.

9.  Dot the top of the "ocean" with any extra Cool Whip to simulate frothy waves.

10. Place your pie in the freezer for 4-6 hours and serve up your own piece of the ocean!  :)

COMING UP LATER IN THE WEEK:  A Homeschool Kinder Graduation - Fancy Style!


NOTE:  I'd love to feature some of my readers!!  If you have an infant or child related post or party you would like to share, please send me a link at michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com and I will take a look.  :)



Linking to:
www.sumossweetstuff.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.printabelle.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Oceans and Beaches!

We had a break recently when family came to visit us and then we traveled to visit family.  But we are back in the swing of things - at least for a couple weeks until we finish the year.  This week's theme was "Ocean and Beaches"...

We did not have a sandbox handy for this theme, nor do I know of any great beaches nearby.  Sooo, I made my own sandbox/beach.  I bought a plastic container and dumped some play sand inside.  Miss A loved it and enjoyed making sand castles, digging for "treasures", etc.  Who needs a real beach anyway...

This is an activity called an "ocean in a bottle".  See here for directions on how to make your own.  We should have used more food coloring to make the water darker so you could see the division between the water and oil and benefit from a better visual of wave action.  Oh well.  Miss A still liked making this.  We added shells and fish buttons and some sand to ours.

I saw a cute idea here on Pinterest regarding putting treasures under shells.  I put my own spin on it and wrote a number on the bottom of each shell to use for addition facts.  Miss A would turn over two shells, add the two numbers together, write the number sentence in the sand, and if she was correct - would get to keep the two shells.  Then I would have a turn.  At the end, we laid our shells out (matching one to one) in lines to see who had more.

Part of the fun of going to the beach is searching for treasures in the sand which have been washed ashore.  But if you don't have a beach, you make do with your homemade sandbox (pretend beach).  While my daughter was busy with something else, I wrote out some words related to our theme and buried them in the sand for her to find and read.  As a special treat, I also put some gumdrops in a bag with the tag "buried treasure" and hid those in the sand as well.  :)

This was our fun snack for the week!  See details here.

While walking through a craft store one day, I was struck by the gorgeous jeweled tones of some acrylic gems and how they seemed to resemble the shiny, colorful scales of a fish.  Soooo, I bought some, drew a fish outline, and let Miss A pour on the glue and gems (the glue began to overwhelm the gem part so we added glitter to help).  I am thinking this would have been a super activity to go along with "The Rainbow Fish".

My plan for this activity was to do a crayon resist painting.  Miss A picked a page from a book, then drew and colored the scene on watercolor paper.  However, I made the mistake of having Miss A use crayons which were washable.  So of course, when she began to watercolor her picture, the crayon seemed to do less resisting and more blending.  I told her to try to avoid the other crayon areas and just paint around them instead.  So much for the "resist" part.  Oh well.  I am now wiser for it, I suppose.

We created a coral "garden" or "zoo" using cheerios glued onto shapes Miss A cut out.  The original activity (here) called for puffed rice, I believe.  However, I didn't have puffed rice so we used cheerios instead.  She then painted the cheerios to match the color of the shape and glued them onto a paper she had watercolored.

We also made "ocean pie" for our dessert night on Friday.  It was super easy and something fun that Miss A could easily help make.  I will try to post the details later...

We finished off the week by watching Disney's "Oceans" (a really well done documentary about ocean life) and eating fish tacos and "ocean pie".

By the way, if you are fortunate enough to live near an upscale grocery store with a great fresh seafood section - think possible field trip!  I know it sounds crazy, but I was shocked at all the neat creatures we saw at one  - dead - but real.  I think Miss A was highly intrigued by them, as was I.

Looking for some ocean themed books?  See below.


NOTE:  I'd love to feature some of my readers!!  If you have an infant or child related post or party you would like to share, please send me a link at michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com and I will take a look.  :)






Linking to:
www.cleanandscentsible.blogpsot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.milkandcuddles.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.whipperberry.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.printabelle.com
www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com
www.petalstopicots.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
www.sixsistersstuff.com
www.bedifferentactnormal.com

"Ocean View" Snack

Here's a snack from our "Oceans and Beaches" theme last week.  Check back later this week to see a post full of activities and fun related to the theme as well!  :)

Snack details:

Blue jello ocean with graham cracker crumb "sand", kiwi and strawberry "coral", apple starfish, strawberry fish with a chocolate chip eye, and goldfish (parmesan).  The hairy looking "urchins" are actually rambutan shell pieces and not really edible (although the inside part is) but they looked sooo much like something one would find in the ocean that I decided to include them.  

Muffin cup #1:  Apple starfish for more decorating.

Muffin cup #2:  Kiwi slices for more decorating.

Muffin cup #3:  More parmesan goldfish.

Muffin cup #4:  Real seaweed salad.

Garnish:  Cheerios

See amazing snacks by other moms here:  www.meetthedubiens.com, http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

Would you like to be featured or mentioned on "The Nature of Grace" blog?  See here for details!

Linking up here:
http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/
www.makingtheworldcuter.com

Opportunities for YOU....

How many of you have started a project only to find out halfway through that it is beginning to take on a life of its own other than what you originally intended?  Well, that is what happened with this blog. Initially, I had planned to post new designs for a maternity t-shirt company I was hoping to start up with a friend (which for several reasons has now had to be put on the side for a bit).  However, in the process of getting that moving, I began blogging about homeschooling and fun projects as well.

Eventually those posts caught up with and surpassed the number related to the maternity design posts and the blog began to attract a following of other like-minded mommies and teachers.  I found that I was challenged to put even more creativity and effort into fun ideas for themes and homeschooling just by knowing they would be posted for others to see and to use.  So I decided to keep it up and have enjoyed the many uplifting comments you've sent in the process!  Even though I have not responded to each one as my time is pretty limited, I truly appreciate the encouragement!

I'd love for this blog to become a spot where other homeschool families and teachers can showcase some ideas as well so after much thought, I will be opening up some spots to feature others - see below!  :)

Send your email inquiries about any items below to:  michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com

Friendly Fridays:  Tell me something your family, child, or classroom has done to benefit someone else.  This could be anything from a tiny tot holding the door open for others to a bunch of children organizing a food drive or cleaning up a park.  If you or your family have done something small or large to help someone else here or even abroad in other countries, please consider sending me a quick note and link to your blog (or pictures if you don't have a blog).  I will definitely consider shining a spotlight on your classroom or your family's or child's actions!  :)

GENDER REVEAL and/or other Kid Related Parties:  Send me a link to your blog post or tell me about your party and send some pictures!


Le Chef Petite!:  I have been intrigued by the number of recipes showing up out there which only require two - four ingredients and are so easy, your toddler could make them.  I have pinned several already in hopes of letting my kids try them out and thought I would post them if they turn out well.  :)  So feel free to send me your own "Little Chef" attempts and successes!  :)

Infant or Kid related posts:  If you have a post or a product which doesn't fit under the categories above, but you would really like to have featured, please feel free to send it my way!  :)

If you have a kid or toddler friendly product you would like me to review, I would be happy to consider doing so and posting about it if it is something I feel confident in promoting.

I am tentatively considering adding some sponsorship adds as well, so if you are interested in grabbing a spot, please let me know!  :)

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Dentist and Teeth!

A visit to our new dentist was in order recently, so I decided it would be the perfect time for a unit on teeth and dentists.  I would also like to point out that one VERY handy and cheap little item we use for our own Miss A is a timer which has a button for brushing teeth and a button for washing hands.  She hits the tooth button and a light flashes and continues flashing (faster as the time counts down) until it turns red to let her know it is time to stop brushing her teeth (or washing her hands if that was the button pushed).  It is sooooo wonderful to have because it is a good visual aid to help her know how long she should take when brushing her teeth (or washing hands) in order to do a good job. I will post a link below if you are interested.  Without further ado, here are a few activities from our week:

I saw this activity (see here) and loved the idea of teaching flossing by using legos and playdough so that is what we did!  :)  Lots of other cute stuff on the same site!

Another activity (see site here) used egg cartons for teeth.  I chose to smear different kinds of real food on AND in between the "teeth", and Miss A would practice brushing them in the bathroom until she was able to get them sparkly clean again.  She loved this!

Losing baby teeth is part of growing up, so we made a mouth full of twenty baby teeth and then made up stories about losing teeth and number sentences to show how many teeth were lost and how many teeth were left.  :)  I believe I saw this idea on a first grade website as well but cannot remember where (if you know or see it, please feel free to send me the link so I can post it here).

Welcome to our Toothpaste Factory!  I used leftover shaving cream and paint to create a toothpaste making factory for my daughter.  She chose what "flavor" each color of paint would be, labeled them, and then mixed them into the shaving cream to make a new "flavor" of toothpaste.



The fun did not end there though.  I cut out some large white paper teeth, gave her a toothbrush and let her practice brushing (circular motions)/painting the teeth with her new toothpaste mixes.  :)

We also read books related to our theme (see below).  By the way, while I was browsing books on Amazon, I found some pretty neat looking activities that I wish we had had for this week's theme.  I know Miss A would have loved the Playdough drill and fill set!  Oh well, maybe next year.  I added them to the links below in case you were interested in supplementing your own dental unit at home or in the classroom...




Linking to:
www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.printabelle.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.whipperberry.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.classyclutter.blogspot.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Birds!

Miss A really enjoyed our unit on birds!  With so many neat kinds out there, who wouldn't?  :)

Here are some snippets from this theme:

A fun last minute snack one day:
Muffin Cups 1 & 2:  blackberry clouds.
Muffin Cup 3 (NOT shown):  peanut butter "mud" for spreading all over the Peeps!
Other items:  Purple grape clouds, red apple umbrella (I saw a photo of some amazing apple umbrellas on Pinterest - I think you can find them on www.cutefoodforkids.com - and thought I would try one) with a string cheese handle, purple Peeps with peach boots, and blue M&M raindrops.

We learned about different types of bird nests and then attempted to make one of our own!  This is a great activity for kids who love to get down in the dirt and mud, squishing it around in their fingers as they construct a nest.

Miss A also practiced the art of making a nest cozy by adding pieces of ribbon, felt, etc. to it.  In order to incorporate some addition, she added two numbers together to determine how many items to add each time.



More math fun with an egg graph!  Actually, the eggs were really just sparkly jelly beans but they certainly worked well for our graphing purposes, not to mention our tasting purposes afterwards.  ;)

I found a neat bird feeder idea on Pinterest  (see it here), so we made one and filled it with seed!  I wonder who our first feathered visitor will be???

Some kids have lemonade stands, but WE have a Scraps-of-Aid Stand for the birds.  Inspired by this post, we constructed our own little container from an oatmeal can and some paint, filled it with scraps of yarn, ribbon, raffia, felt pieces, etc. for birds to use when making their nests cozy!  :)

This painting was just a matter of finding items around the house with different textures to use for making the different parts of the picture:  thumbprint birds, corrugated cardboard trees, sponge clouds, and lots of paint!  :)  We also added feathers for the wings.  I believe the lines you see are showing the flight paths of the birds (also note the nests of eggs)...

We found a neat book in the library illustrating how to draw a large variety of birds, step by step (see the link at the bottom of this post if interested).  Miss A chose some to draw and then we looked them up on www.allaboutbirds.org so we could listen to the sounds the birds made and learn a bit more about them.

These two bird houses are not only a fun and simple craft, they are also serving as a science experiment.  Miss A painted one in bright colors and one in camouflage colors.  The goal is to see which house attracts more bird attention.  Who knows - maybe a feathered friend will even decide to nest in one (or both)!

Peepscake, anyone?  We followed a very simple no bake cheesecake recipe.  We then melted some chocolate and mixed it with edible Easter grass to make our nest on top of the cheesecake.  Jelly bean "eggs" placed under the Peeps in the nest were the finishing touch for a yummy dessert in honor of our bird theme!

For anyone interested in incorporating a bird theme into a homeschool or classroom environment, I highly recommend this free website www.allaboutbirds.org.  My kids loved it!  You can learn about different types of birds, listen to the sounds each makes, see pictures and videos (if available), etc.   We were especially captivated by the live video we found when we looked up the Great Blue Heron and could see one up close sitting on her nest of eggs!

Some bird books:

Linking to:
www.michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.amommysadventures.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
http://too-much-time.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Spring (Splash Picture Activity)!

Here are a couple of activities we did this past week which tie into our spring theme and were also a great follow up for one of the books we read "Splish, Splash, Spring!"

This person piqued my interest when she painted using condensed milk and food coloring and it came out looking so shiny - see here!  So I pinned it (saving it for a rainy day - ha, ha, ha), and we tried to make a fun symmetrical splash picture early this week. 

Basically, the picture was to look as though Miss A had just jumped in a puddle (notice the tips of the yellow construction paper boots on the bottom edge), and she is now looking down at her reflection in the water.  She was instructed to only paint half of her face and half of the puddle on a pre-folded piece of paper.  When she was done, I closed it, rubbed it and opened it back up (such a fun activity for a kid to see a mirror image on the other side completing his/her face).

I love the texture of the puddle that came out when we did that - I am not quite sure if it was the texture of the kind of paper we used or paint or both, but it had a kind of rippled/splashed look to it - AND shiny like a puddle should be when it is reflecting light.  :)  My daughter touched up the picture (nose and mouth were kind of messed up), and we were done!  Very cute!  :)

This was a math activity (went along with the book as well) - Roll a Spring Storm!  I found a picture online of a girl with an umbrella but no rain (perfect!) and printed it.  Miss A colored it and then rolled two dice to create an addition number sentence on a separate piece of paper showing how many raindrops she could add to the picture.  She then added the drops using blue paint and a cotton swab.  If you do this at home/school with your kids, repeat several times for lots of drops and a bigger storm!  

Linking up:
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.momontimeout.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Spring!

True to spring style - we have been busy little bees in homeschool!  See some of our fun activities below...

A fun spring snack!
Snack Details:
Muffin Cup Flowers:  strawberries with a blackberry center.  Green apple stems and leaves.
Muffin Cup Cloud:  marshmallow cream for dipping fruit.
Garnishes:  peanut butter soil with organic cheddar bunnies.  Hershey hugs flower buds with green apple leaves and a carrot caterpillar (details on face drawn with food safe markers - see link below).

Welcome to our Learning Garden!  Consider making one yourself and enjoy celebrating all of the things your child has been learning this year (great for review of past or current concepts).  This could easily be adapted to make a larger family or class garden where each child is given a "plot" to share what they have been learning.

I made two seed packet envelopes and would place a "seed" in each with a description of what Miss A should be doing for a particular plant or flower written on the seed.  The packets also contained the petals and items she would need for the flower.  Then it was just a matter of following the directions on the seed (glue the seed to the base of the plant) and building one or two flowers for the day (we only made one or two per day)!  :)

We made our own flower print book as well, picking different household objects to experiment with for making flower prints on each page.  We used items such as a toy tractor (wheels), corrugated cardboard, etc.

It seemed a shame to put away old winter shoes and this was an extra pair given to us, soooooo I decided to repurpose them into something Miss A could use for dramatic play.  AND since we had just finished a St. Patrick's Day unit where we learned that leprechauns are shoemakers for fairies, we decided to to make our own fairy shoes.  See the tutorial here.

After we finished the shoes, my daughter completed a writing activity where she pretended to be a master leprechaun shoemaker telling a younger apprentice leprechaun how to make fairy shoes (using the story sequencing: First, Next, Last).

In our family, we have our egg hunt on the first day of spring.  So this week seemed the perfect time to follow that fun activity up with a pattern block book for spring which also focused on number order, number words, and position words!  :)  I made our own pattern block pieces from different craft papers and then we added some fun details (I think the pom pom bunny tail was one of my favorites).

And what did we use for the eggs in the story?  Why thumbprints, of course (which Miss A then drew designs on)!  :)  If you would like to make your own pre- or post egg hunt book, you can download the book here for only $1.50!

Hatch a story - really easy and fun!  Want to hatch your own stories?  Simply fill each egg with a word (you can also do this labeling certain colors as nouns, others as verbs, adjectives, etc.) and have your children pick one of each color.  They open the eggs and try to come up with (and write down) a story using all of the words. For really tiny children, just have them tell you a story or sentence using the words.  :)

Tell it to Mr. Long Ears.  We have a Mr. Long Ears in our house and fortunately for us, he just happens to love listening to stories!  We also just happen to have a bunch of books about spring right now.  :)

Miss A would read a book and try to re-tell it to Mr. Long Ears.  Do you have a creature in your house that looooves listening to stories?  If so, make sure you put it to good use!  :)

While in a craft store one day, my daughter found a sheet of craft paper covered with many different Easter egg prints.  I purchased the paper, cut some of the eggs out and made up some sorting and graphing activities to go along with the eggs.  :)

And of course, we read many books together...

Linking to:
www.mushkiloves.blogspot.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
http:\\makingtheworldcuter.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com
www.funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.enchantinghomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.handsonaswegrow.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.whipperberry.com
www.toysinthedryer.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com