Fabulous Farm Themed Party Ideas

Whether you need to plan a birthday party for a child or you want to have a fun celebration at the end of a farm unit study, I have collected some really fun and super simple ideas. We celebrated my son’s birthday a couple weeks ago and rather accidentally and last minute decided on a farm theme for his party.  On Wednesday before his Saturday party my plan had been a generic party, but my mom was picking up some plates for us and found some adorable farm themed ones. My son, who was turning two, loves our animals and playing with his toy tractors so it was a perfect fit.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Farm Themed Party Pinterest

I decided that it would be a fun and easy to put together theme because we already had most of what we needed. We used his toy tractors and farm equipment and some of his farm books to provide the decorations and then added some fun themed food.

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First, we set up a variety of toy farm equipment on the mantel and on the table where we were serving food. I used a green table cloth to be the grass under the equipment. We even happened to have a barn decoration that had been up in my older son’s room years ago.  We put that behind the table, but even without that you can make a really cute party with things that many folks already have at home.

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Next, I took to pinterest to see what kind of fairly easy finger foods I could find that had a farm theme and I was not disappointed. While there are plenty of more complicated options, we stuck with ideas that were easy to implement given our limited time frame.  We had ‘chicken feed’ trail mix, ‘tractor tire’ Oreos, ‘garden plot’ veggie tray, ‘u-pick fruit stand’ cut fruit, ‘hay bale’ rice krispy treats, ‘mud bath’ chocolate pudding and animal crackers, and ‘chicken eggs’ deviled eggs.  We did water and homemade lemonade to drink in mason jars (keeping it thematic and saving me from having to buy paper cups).

We could have printed out some farm themed color sheets or had a few farm themed games if we needed the time filler. However, we decided to go with a small ‘petting’ zoo made up of the chicks, goat, and chickens that we already had. It was a great opportunity for the other children to learn about and get up close and personal with some real animals.

While this certainly was not the fanciest birthday party I have ever seen, my son enjoyed it, the children all loved the decorations, and it was so simple and inexpensive to put together. I have included links below to the books we used to decorate as well as to the websites where I found the food ideas.  Do you have any fun farm themed party ideas?

 

Favorite Farm Themed Books

On the Farm Shine a Light Book

Farm Animals.

Baby’s Very First Tractor Book

Otis series (My five year olds favorite)

Farm Touch and Trace (a big hit with my toddler)

Chicken, Chicken, Duck

 

Farm Themed Unit Study

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When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

 

Little Women is only .99 on kindle right now! (Amazon prices subject to change always check before purchasing.)

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

All About Learning has released the best deal of the day: A FREE Snowman Pack with reading and spelling activities for a variety of ages.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Gift Ideas For Your Budding…Naturalist

What do you get for that child that loves to be outdoors? The one that watches the birds, listens for the squirrels, and hunts for flowers and leaves as you walk. All of my children love to be outside but my five-year-old is particularly interested in studying the various things he finds when we go on ‘adventures’ into the back yard, hiking in the park, or just walking down our road to the river. I love encouraging him to be observant of the world around him and help him learn about the plants and animals.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

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The ideas here can help a student learn more about the natural world and encourage exploratory play. You could easily create a wonderful gift basic with a few of these ideas to encourage hours of outdoor adventures. I believe that when we encourage these young naturalists to learn more, we are also encouraging them to appreciate and respect all of God’s creations. As a bonus, they think they are playing and exploring and you get to mark science off the list for the day.

 

 

Gift Ideas For Your Budding… Naturalist

 

Preschool

 Elementary Ages

Middle School/High School

I have really enjoyed writing these posts this week and gotten most of my Christmas shopping taken care of! If there are other interests or ideas that you have, please feel free to share them and I will be happy to add another post to the list. You can also check out Educational Christmas Ideas (that don’t feel like school supplies), Clutter Free Christmas Ideas, and Twelve Christmas Adventures for clutter free Christmas ideas. If you have other interests or hobbies that you would like to see included, please share in the comments.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

 

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

2019-thankful-year-with-tos-mag-sale-facebook-meme

 

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Gift Ideas For Your Budding…Builder

 

Do you have a child that loves to build things? Whether it is a preschooler who stacks blocks or an older child that puts together imaginative creations and complicated kits, there are tons of great ideas for gifts.  Be it blocks, tools, models, electronics or other materials building is a great hobby. It can help with fine motor skills for the younger set and logic, critical thinking, and more for older children.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

When it comes to building there are so many options. There are kits that give step by step instructions, books to help learn skills, giant buckets of Legos to encourage creativity and ingenuity and so much more.  On our personal lists are Legos, tools, and a whittling set. I hope this gives you some ideas to encourage your builder this year.

Gift Ideas For Your Budding… Builder

 

Preschool/ Early Elementary Ages

Older Elementary/Middle School/High School

Be sure to check back for each of the posts this week relating to a different interest. If there are other interests or ideas that you have, please feel free to share them. You can also check out Educational Christmas Ideas (that don’t feel like school supplies), Clutter Free Christmas Ideas, and Twelve Christmas Adventures for clutter free Christmas ideas. If you have other interests or hobbies that you would like to see included, please share in the comments.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Not Consumed has a special early sale on their new Bible studies! Sale ends today!

Evan-Moor is having a 40% off sale on their e-books. use code: VDAY40

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

2019-thankful-year-with-tos-mag-sale-facebook-meme

 

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Gift Ideas For Your Budding…Artist

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Welcome to the first of our lists of Christmas ideas based around a child’s interest of hobby.  I am excited to share some of our favorite art resources for all ages today. Art can be anything from crayon drawings or fun crafts to formal art lessons. There are so many great art supplies that make for fun Christmas gifts, will be helpful to your budding artist, and since they are being used won’t feel like clutter. A win-win for everyone!

I have divided this list up into several age categories, because I find that typically younger children enjoy the opportunity to just be creative and explore various materials, color patterns, and textures. Older children that have a stronger interest in art may be looking for more formal art instruction and higher grade materials. Gifts can be a great time to splurge on the higher quality materials that we might not normally buy, but that can really make a difference for some art techniques. For example, I did not realize until recently how much difference in quality there was between various brands of color pencils. We still use the trusty Crayola pencils for regular coloring but have invested in nice color pencils for my Bible journaling and some of the children’s other art work.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Gift Ideas For Your Budding… Artist

 

Preschool/ Early Elementary Ages

Older Elementary/Middle School

High School/ Adult

All Ages

Be sure to check back for each of the posts this week relating to a different interest. If there are other interests or ideas that you have, please feel free to share them. You can also check out Educational Christmas Ideas (that don’t feel like school supplies), Clutter Free Christmas Ideas, and Twelve Christmas Adventures for clutter free Christmas ideas. If you have other interests or hobbies that you would like to see included, please share in the comments.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Not Consumed has a special early sale on their new Bible studies! Sale ends today!

Evan-Moor is having a 40% off sale on their e-books. use code: VDAY40

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

2019-thankful-year-with-tos-mag-sale-facebook-meme

Crystal Paine is launching her newest e-book, Slashing Your Grocery Bill for a special launch price of just $7!! She always has great tips on saving money over at her blog, Money Saving Mom.

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Gift Ideas For Your Budding….

 

I absolutely love the Christmas season! The decorations, the food, lights,  smells, family time,  songs, and all of the joy and excitement. I love giving gifts and enjoy receiving them, but the one thing I don’t love is feeling like we have so much clutter because of all the gifts. I want to be very clear, that I am super grateful for the love that is shown to my children through gifts and they love them. It is just that when they get so many things all at once, it can feel like clutter. If we are not careful, things can even get pushed to the side and forgotten about.

In an effort to help calm the clutter but still encourage fun and love that are incorporated into gift giving, I thought I would come up with some fun but useful ideas for children with various interests. Over the course of this week, I will be posting each day with ideas for a different interest. If there are other interests or ideas that you have please feel free to share them. You can also check out Educational Christmas Ideas (that don’t feel like school supplies), Clutter Free Christmas Ideas, and Twelve Christmas Adventures for even more clutter free Christmas ideas. If you have other interests or hobbies that you would like to see included, please share in the comments.

Gift Ideas For Your Budding….

 

 

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Not Consumed has a special early sale on their new Bible studies! Sale ends today!

Evan-Moor is having a 40% off sale on their e-books. use code: VDAY40

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

2019-thankful-year-with-tos-mag-sale-facebook-meme

Crystal Paine is launching her newest e-book, Slashing Your Grocery Bill for a special launch price of just $7!! She always has great tips on saving money over at her blog, Money Saving Mom.

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

You ARE an Artist at ChalkPastel.com

CrossTimber: Your Amazing Name Video (Review)

The Your Amazing Name – Personalized Adventures for EVERY name! video by CrossTimber – Name Meaning Gifts is one of the most unique reviews we have done with the Review Crew. While these videos follow a template they are personalized with your child’s name, art work, address, photograph, and a letter from the parents (or whomever is purchasing the video for the child).

amazing name pinterest

When you purchase this for your child, CrossTimber – Name Meaning Gifts sends you a Google form to fill out with information about your child. You include all of the information that they need to personalize the video. My favorite part was the opportunity to write a short letter to Benjamin.  This was a wonderful way for us to share how we chose his name and remind him how special he is to us and God. You also include a piece of artwork that your child has done. This artwork is used throughout the video and is a really fun way for your child to connect to the video. We sent in a tractor he had drawn and he enjoyed seeing it show up in various settings of the video.

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The video is animated and takes your child on an adventure to learn about the meaning of their name. Our video was particularly interesting because my son shares a name with the main “character”, an animated pencil named Benjamin. The pencil takes your child on a rocket ship, made out of the child’s artwork to meet the stars. The stars share about how each of them has a name and how important our names are to God who knows all of our names. Then you also go to a tree house to meet an owl who talks about name origins, and even into a field to meet the sheep that ‘once was lost and now is found.’  Throughout the story you are learning more about names and name origins, the child’s specific name, and how God views each of us as individuals and knows us by name.

When I asked Benjamin what his favorite part was he said that he really enjoyed the part with the owl. The owl taught about names and told Benjamin that his name came from the Hebrew language and the country of Israel. Then at the end of the video, it shared that his name means “Son of my Right Hand, Mighty in Spirit”.

As a fun bonus, they included a PDF of personalized worksheets about Benjamin’s name. there were mazes, coloring pages, copywork, and tracing paper focusing on his name. These are perfect for us because he is working on learning how to write his name.

Check out this sample video for more information!

If you are looking for a unique and meaningful gift for a child in your life, consider getting them the Your Amazing Name – Personalized Adventures for EVERY name! video. I would recommend these videos for children in the 4-10 year old age range, although my eleven year old daughter saw my son’s video and requested a video using her name. In addition to the videos, CrossTimber – Name Meaning Gifts has a variety of personalized items sharing more about your child’s name including plaques, mugs, music boxes and more.  Make sure that you click on the graphic below to find out what the other Review Crew members thought.

Your Amazing Name - Personalized Adventures for EVERY name! {CrossTimber - Name Meaning Gifts Reviews}Crew Disclaimer 

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Our Summer Bucket

We often talk about summer bucket lists this time of year but today I want to talk about our actual summer bucket. I got this idea from a book study that I’m doing with my friend Jenn over at Homeschool Fanatic. The book study is all about being organized and getting your things together for summer was one of those challenges.
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I decided but it would be far easier for me to say yes to summer fun if I had everything together and ready. I didn’t want to go out and spend a whole bunch of money but I wanted to be able to make things easy. So, I gathered supplies that we already had and made a trip to the Dollar Tree to finish it out. I’m hoping that we can use these things throughout the summer for some fun family time. With everything all together I won’t have to worry about taking the time to gather things we can simply go outside and enjoy.
*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *
summer fun pinterest
You might choose different things depending on the ages of your children and what they like but these are the things that I found to put into our bucket. My kids range in age from thirteen to one so I chose versatile items that would allow us to all have fun together. In the heat of the summer, I’m always looking for a little bit of water fun but we don’t have a big pool at our house am I big kids are too big for most of the little kiddy pools.  I put together some water squirters and water soaker balls that would be easy to use and we’re available at the Dollar Tree. Some folks might choose water balloons instead of soaker balls but we liked that the balls could be used over and over again and would not leave trash on the ground.

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I also went ahead and put sunscreen in our bucket so that would have it ready so we can enjoy our outdoor time safely. Then I added some sidewalk chalk because it’s fun for all ages. Other fun toys could include bubbles, balls, or even outdoor lawn games like ladder ball. You might also add bug spray if those tend to be a problem in your area ( you might also want to try the amazing Spartan mosquito eradicator. )
As I was putting together this post, I realized that there was one more thing that would really help out our bucket: towels! If you have extra towels, it is always nice to have them together with the water fun toys so we don’t forget to bring them outside and have to come back in dripping water all over the floors.
In addition to these summer bucket basics, a few larger items that I purchased to keep from year to year include a Little Tikes slide that I found at a yard sale, this really fun splash pad that my son got for his birthday, and a sprinkler. For my older children, they have these fun hammocks that they can hang up in the backyard to relax or play. Another larger purchase that we have found to be really beneficial is the sun shade they can go over a play set or some other play area in your yard to help keep it a little cooler and the sun off of your little ones.
Now when the children get bored or are begging to do something fun together, I have all I need to to go outside and have a great time together. What items would you put together in your Summer Fun Bucket? Do you find it makes it easier to do fun things if you have all of the supplies ready to go?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Schoolhouse Teachers is also offering a great sale!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Stopmotion Explosion: Stop Motion Animation Kit (Review)

Sometimes my children complain about school work, but other times they beg to be able to work on it! I am so glad I took the opportunity to review the Stop Motion Animation Kit by Stopmotion Explosion because my son has loved it. He begs to have more time to work on videos and has multiple videos planned out that he wants to create. I expect that it will be a big project for him this summer when we have a bit more free time.

stopmotion pinterest

Since this was not a subject that I require in our home school, I asked my son if he was interested before agreeing to the review. It seemed like a really good fit, because it was a way for him to combine his love of all things Lego with a new found interest in videography.

I expected to have to help him get everything set up and figure out how to use the program and the camera, but he took it out and had it set up in just a short time.  The Stop Motion Animation Kit includes a 1080p HD video camera with internal microphone, the Stopmotion Explosion book, and the animation software.

Once my son had everything set up he quickly worked on a short video just to get the hang of taking pictures and putting it all together. Then I gave him a specific assignment for this next project. I wanted him to combine his history lesson for the week with a stop motion video. We were working on Assyrian siege towers and so he decided to do a video of the modernization of an Assyrian siege tower and the tower knocking down a wall.

He was able to get all of the video shots (over 2,000) done without any problems but was having some difficulty uploading them into the software for editing and adding sound. I e-mailed customer service and was pleasantly surprised and the rapid response. They were exceptionally helpful. Once we realized that he had a corrupt photo file, we were able to delete that one file and get it all working.

Next, he added title screens and sound effects. The Stopmotion Explosion book has an excellent chapter that explains how to edit and add sound effects. My son learned the hard way that its best to read it before trying to make changes. He did not read it at first and made a mistake that lost all of his changes. Once he read, he understood what he had done and was able to do it correctly next time.

The Stopmotion Explosion book was an excellent resource. It was laid out with each step being a different chapter. It was easy to read and understand and did not have to be read all the way through to be helpful. My son was able to read the chapters that he needed as he worked through the project. For example, one chapter is dedicated to lighting, and other to sound. The chapters on video editing and Sound were particularly helpful as he finished up his project. The book also gives links to video tutorials with more information on certain subjects.

This was a well laid out and easy to follow way to learn the art of stop motion animation. The book and video tutorials were thorough enough to take someone that had never done stop motion and teach them how to make movies with many great features.

All in all, I highly recommend this kit and I’m so glad we gave it a try. If you are looking for a way to add some fun to your homeschool this might be your answer. You could have a child make videos about the books they are reading, the history they are learning or even their science.  It can of course also just be a fun hobby, they can make videos about anything. For a middle grades student it is laid out in such a way that as long as they read the book, they should be able to work with the program fairly independently. With the exception of a computer and whatever they want to use in the video (we did Legos and Popsicle sticks) everything they need is included in the kit. This would make a great birthday gift or a way to keep the learning going through the summer. Check out the Stop Motion Animation Kit and don’t forget to click below to see the videos and reviews done by the other Crew members.

Stop Motion Animation Kit {Stopmotion Explosion Reviews}

Crew Disclaimer

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Counting, it’s in the Cards: Math Lessons From Card Games

counting pinterest

My four year old had little desire to learn his numbers. He knew how to count but was not interested in being able to recognize written numbers. I had not pushed the issue as I knew that it would be far easier to teach it when the time was right and he was ready. Little did I know that the job would be outsourced and I wouldn’t even have to teach him. No, I didn’t send him to school, I let him play card games.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

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In January, my daughter learned to play a game called Dutch Blitz from some Amish friends from Ohio who were here doing volunteer work. She really loved the game and the girls were kind enough to mail her a set of cards so that she could continue to play. She began playing several times a week with most of the different volunteer groups that stayed at our church. In my mind I thought it was a great chance for to get to know other people, but I never thought about what my four year old was learning. He wanted to be able to play with his older sister and the other volunteers and so he watched the games, played with help, and very quickly learned to recognize the numbers so that he could play on his own.  They have enjoyed it so much my husband found them an expansion pack so that they can include more people.

cards

In March, a dear couple who my children have come to love, came back to North Carolina for their third volunteer trip. In addition to playing Dutch Blitz they taught the kids how to play Diamonds Rule. They could not believe how much better the four year old was with his numbers than when they had been here in January.  He learned to play Diamonds Rule and could quickly recognize where each number needed to be placed in the stacks.  This was a simple game played with a standard deck of cards. In this game, he had to be able to put down the right card at the top or bottom of a stack in numerical order.

He now knows his numbers 0-9 and I never had to actually teach them. When he came to a math lesson a few weeks ago in a curriculum that we were reviewing, that taught the numbers, he proudly told me that he already knew those numbers.

There are many other games that can teach math concepts. Think about using the card game War for practicing greater than and less than or the card game 21 for addition skills. Games often help motivate children to want to learn those concepts to participate in the game. What games have you used intentionally or unintentionally to teach math skills?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library 

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Starting August 31st all of Evan Moor’s Daily Practice titles will be on sale 20% off!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Membership

Happy Birthday Joseph: A Dr. Seuss Themed Birthday Party

My youngest son was born near the end of February but when we looked at family schedules, we needed to wait and do his party on the first Saturday in March. I scheduled his party and then realized that the date coincided with Dr. Seuss’s birthday. I decided not to let that coincidence go to waste and set out to plan a fun but simple themed party.

Seuss party pinterest

There are hundreds of ideas for a Dr. Seuss themed birthday party on the internet so I had plenty to choose from. Then my older children got involved and started adding ideas of their own.  Together we came up with some fun, easy, and inexpensive ways to turn the birthday party in a Dr. Seuss extravaganza.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

I spent a mere $14 at the Dollar Tree for decorations and the only other expense was food (around $50 for 30 guests). We utilized the Dr. Seuss books that we already had along with the bright red, blue, and white decorations from the Dollar Tree. This kept it simple and made a big impact. I focused on decorating the food table and the area where the high chair was set up for the baby and his smash cake.  We also chose mostly foods that could be prepared the day before to keep stress levels low and allow me to be able to enjoy the party.

I adapted Lindi Haw’s idea of using a Dr. Seuss book as a guest book. I had each of our guests write in the cover of Oh The Thinks You Can Think!. I am very excited to have that keepsake for him when he gets older.

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When we were thinking about themed snacks, we immediately thought of green eggs and ham. We simply made our regular deviled eggs and added a bit of natural blue food dye to make them green. I added a bit of ham to the serving tray and it was done.  Next,came a series of Cat in the Hat snacks. We found several ideas over at Mighty Moms and then added one of our own. We made Jello Stacks and strawberry and banana stacks from ideas we found there. Then we also added tomato and mozzarella skewers. I simply cut up some fresh mozzarella and alternated it with cherry tomatoes on the skewers.  We also got our idea for ‘roast beast sandwiches’ from that blog.

My children thought it would be great fun to have Truffula trees and came up with two different ideas. First they had broccoli with dip as trees and then, my daughter created a ‘forest’ of Truffula trees using lollipops, an egg carton and a bit of green tissue paper. She covered the large egg carton with the green paper to give her a base and then simply poked holes and stuck the lollipops through the holes. We also had the colored gold fish in honor of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and my daughter decorated cheese sticks to resemble the Cat in the Hat.

We can’t forget the cakes! We had a small smash cake for my son that my daughter topped with whipped cream and used blueberries to make a “1”. Then for everyone else my mom had made her special strawberry cake and my daughter used strawberries to decorate the top like ‘Cat in the Hat’.

While the party was for a one year who did not really care about crafts, my eleven year old daughter thought it would be lots of fun to do themed crafts with the other young children. So she set up a station outside where they could do a hand painting activity and decorate their own ‘Cat in the Hat’ hats.

Overall, I thought the party was a great success. We were able to decorate in just a few minutes, the snacks were fun but simple, and everyone had a good time. These ideas are great for a birthday party or to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. What are your favorite birthday party themes?

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