4 Crazy Kings: February 2011

St. Patrick's Day Craft: Rainbow Favor Craft II

Here is a variation on the Rainbow Favor Cup I posted last Friday. See how I made this...

St. Patrick's Day Craft: Rainbow Favor Cups

Having a St. Patrick's Day party or play date? Maybe just want to surprise your favorite Leprechaun?

How about this cute favor cup!

See how I made this...

Book Inspired Character Mobile

Have your kids turn their favorite characters into an easy mobile (no wire cutters necessary!) See how we made ours...

Paper Mache With Little Kids: Part 1

Be prepared to get messy! Paper Mache is a fun and tactile art experience for children. It can also be technically challenging and requires a lot of guidance and assistance from an adult.

There are a lot of great tutorials out on the web. Here is our version...

Book Inspired Crafts

It is Winter Break. The girls and I are stuck at home with the sniffles. We decided to work on some suggested literacy homework. Children were asked to keep a reading log and create a book inspired project (i.e. mobile, diorama, puppet...)

I read Clara and the Bookwagon by N. Smiler Levinson to Lu. We checked our book out of the library but if you are interested it is available for sale here. The I Can Read Series is an excellent introduction to chapter books. This is a particularly great one! Lu wanted to make a bookwagon for her project.

Make A Beaded Eye Glass Holder

Here is a simple craft for children ages 5+ and who enjoy beading. Kids can make a pretty beaded eye glass holder for a special Grandma or Teacher!

Kids Vacation Journal

Lu's teacher gave Lu xeroxed pages she could use to document her vacation. Lu and I enjoyed spending some quiet time together working on her journal each day. We got to talk about what she liked best about the previous day. I encouraged her to write at least one sentence on her own, per page. I let her dictate the rest to me.

When we got home we added pictures and some stickers to decorate her journal. I slid the pages into plastic page protectors. Lu had fun making a wonderful keepsake of her vacation (and practiced her writing in the process!) She is so proud of her journal and wants to show it to everyone!

Thanks to Mrs. N for suggesting Lu keep a journal of her vacation!

The 4 Crazy King's Meet the Mama's A Mess Crew

We just returned from visiting my husband's best friend and his family in Hawaii. While in Hawaii I had to see if Sharon over at Mama's A Mess Blog would consider meeting me. My husband found the prospective meeting of my "blog friend" incredibly amusing. I ignored him and scheduled our meeting at the Dole Plantation. I was thrilled Sharon was just as excited to meet me. After all, we felt like we already knew each other! We have been corresponding since 2009.

We just got back from an AMAZING vacation.

Guess who we got to meet?

Hints...

A favorite blogger of mine.

She has 2 beautiful daughters.

She lives somewhere warm.

She has an Etsy store that sells cute aprons and camera straps.

OK, last hint...

We named our cat after her youngest daughter.

Any ideas? Leave me a comment with your guess.

I'll give you the answer tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you and your little Valentine's have a special day!

Hugs, Mama King

My First Little House Series

I was obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie series when I was younger. (OK, who am I kidding, I visited the Laura Ingalls Museum when I drove cross country after college.) I was so excited to find this picture book version, My First Little House Series, for my girls. It is a wonderful way to introduce Laura and her family to young children. The girls love hearing about the "olden days" and have so many questions to ask about Laura and her family.

Gumballs

We revisited this colorful craft recently.

I was reminded of the craft when I saw this amazing gumball necklace at Charming Party.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Did you know that in Korea everyone becomes a year older on the Lunar New Year?

It is a bit confusing. When children are born, they are 1 years old instead of 0. So if your baby is born in September they are 1 until the Lunar New Year at which point they turn 2. Wikipedia refers to it as East Asian Age Reckoning. At any case, this system makes me much older than I'd like to be.

Click here to download the Tae Guk Template and instructions to make your own Korean Fan.