Creative Kids
School Projects: Inside Your Feet Cookie Creation & Writing Assignment
A tray of “Inside Your Feet” Cookies ready to take to school
The girls recently had a writing assignment that they had to do for school. Karlie came up with an Inside Your Feet Cookie creation. For extra credit they could make their creations and share them with their classmates and teachers at school. We came up with a cookie creation using all the ingredients she mentioned in her writing assignment and they turned out fairly well. The cookies were a perfect treat to share with her classmates instead of cupcakes on Halloween. Brina also did a cookie creation and writing assignment called The Eye Ball.
A few days before the actual assignment due date we did a trial run and experimented to make sure we could make her “skin, blood, bones, and ankle joint” to reflect the Inside Your Feet cookie as accurately as possible. We tried white sparkle writing gel (bottom right) but is blended too much, we tried straight white sprinkles (bottom middle) it was a lot of work and hard to get straight, we tried round white sprinkles (bottom left) too difficult to get straight, we tried pearl balls (top left) wasn’t too bad and would have been a more do-able option, and the final attempt was our favorite and probably the easiest option too, we used white writing frosting.
We didn’t have any feet cookie cutters and the stores we checked didn’t carry any so Jake made a set we could use with his 3D printer. Once again it saves the day!
Up close of the Inside Your Feet Cookie
Inside Your Feet Items:
- Sugar Cookie Dough or Brownies(we did some of each)
- Red Frosting (or white frosting with red dye)
- White Writing Frosting
- Red and White Mint
Make your favorite sugar cookie dough or brownies (your can make from scratch or buy a mix). The sugar cookies seemed to look more like feet with toes, but the brown mix had less steps to put together. Make your sugar cookie dough, roll it out, cut out your feet, and bake. OR Make your brownies first and cut out your feet after they are baked and cooled.
Once the cookies are cooled you can decorate by putting red frosting on the cookie. We did not go to the edge of the cookie with the frosting because Karlie wanted to show the layers of the Inside Your Feet Cookie (bottom – skin, frosting – blood and muscles, white – bones, and mint – ankle joint). Next add your red and white mint. Draw your foot bones with the white writing frosting.
The cookies turned out well and were a big hit with Karlie’s class. It was a lot of fun putting together with her.
What the different parts of the cookies represent:
- Bottom Sugar Cookie or Brownies- skin
- Red Frosting – blood and muscles
- White Writing Frosting – bones
- Red & White Mint – ankle joint
School Projects: Southwest Region Native American Pueblo House
Southwestern Region Native American Pueblo House Project
Karlie recently did a Social Studies project for school. She was studying about the Native Americans and the different regions. Karlie picked the Southwest Region and the pueblo house for her project. She had to make a pueblo house and write a paragraph on how the lodging benefited them.
Even though the girls are both in the same grade and have similar projects they rarely chose do to the same thing with their projects! The great part about them being so different is we have more opportunities to learn while doing various school projects. For this particular Social Studies Project Brina did the Great Plains Region with Tepee housing and Karlie chose the Southwest Region with Pueblo housing.
Putting the final touches on the pueblo house!
Karlie‘s Southwest Region Pueblo Paragraph: Southwest Pueblo Native Americans used pueblo houses that were made of harden clay. They lived in a village and their houses resembled an apartment building on mesas. The pueblo housing was beneficial to their way of life because the mesas helped cool the houses and protect them from sand storms. You can fit a lot of families into a pueblo apartment building. It is easier to help each other out because they were all together during bad weather or other hard times. In their village they grew corn, beans, squash, and cotton to help feed their families. All the people in the village worked together hunting, farming, and raising their families.
Karlie putting her title and name on her project!
Jake and Karlie put together this neat Pueblo House with items we had in the garage!
Pueblo Construction:
- Flat Pieces of Scrap Wood
- Wood Glue
- Speckled Paint
- Wooden Dowels
- Cotton Balls
- Markers
They took flat pieces of scrap wood from various wood working projects and glued them together to create this Pueblo house. The house has three levels. Once all the pieces are glued together and the glue has dried they attached the house to a flat board with wood glue. After the structure was put together we sprayed the whole pueblo with speckled paint (you can get this at Home Depot or Lowe’s). It ended up taking two coats of spray paint in order to get it covered well. The ladders are made out of small wooden dowels. The top windows and doors are cut out, but the other ones are drawn on with marker. The cotton balls represent the cotton the Southwest Region Native Americans grew in their fields. Inside the house on the top level there is a fire and a mat for sleeping.
Pueblo house is finished and ready to go!
We didn’t paint the back of the Pueblo with two coats of paint, but this picture gives you a glimpse at the top inside which has the 3D fire and mat for sleeping. The little storage “cubby” (as Karlie called it) with the paper in it on the lower left is where Karlie stored her written paragraph and ladders during transport to and from school.
Karlie so proud of her project! It was a handful to carry into school!
School Projects: Great Plains Native American Tepee Home
Great Plains Tepee Project
Brina recently did a Social Studies project for school. She was studying about the Native Americans and the different regions. Brina picked the Great Plains Region and the tepee for her project. She had to make a tepee and write a paragraph on how the lodging benefited them. On this Social Studies project Brina did the Great Plains Region with Tepee housing and Karlie chose the Southwest Region with Pueblo housing.
Making her designs on the tepee!
She finished the Native American designs on her tepee! Looks good!
Tepee Construction:
- Cereal Box
- Old White T-Shirt
- Elmer’s Glue
- Wooden Dowels
- Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun
- Markers
Cut a cereal box into a semi-circle. Use Elmer’s Glue and attach the T-Shirt to the non-print side of the cardboard from the cereal box. Once the glue dries use the markers to create your own special Native American designs on your tepee. Cut out the door to your tepee. Hot glue the wooden dowels to the inside of the tepee. Once the glue dries stand the tepee up and hot glue it to the poster board. To help your tepee maintain its shape you can use rubber bands around it as it dries in place.
Brina’s Great Plains Paragraph: The Great Plains Native Americans used tepees because they were very transportable. They used the tepees so they could follow the buffalo and other animals while hunting them. Their main source of food was buffalo meat. The tepees were light weight, transportable, could be folded up, and carried to the next spot. they also used the tepee poles to carry buffalo meat. The tepees were shelter during the nights for the families and transportable when they were trying to find food. The tepees were a valuable tool used to help feed their families.
Brina’s social studies project ready to go!
She was so excited to hot glue her horse and a folded up tepee on her poster board!
Her tepee turned out well!
Brina was super excited about the fire because Jake used his 3D printer to make it for her project!
Awesome learning lesson about the Great Plains Native Americans and their transportable home – the tepee! It was a great project!
Family Activities: Fall Pumpkin Carving Fun
The girls carved pumpkins glowing on the front porch! Can you guess who designed which one?
It has been a tradition for our family to carve pumpkins around Halloween. A lot of times we carve the pumpkins the weekend before Halloween, but with everything going on this year it was a little later this year. On Halloween afternoon our family went out to search for the perfect carving pumpkins. After stopping at three stores we started to wonder if we were even going to find any pumpkins to carve. Finally, we ended up at Publix and thankfully they still had a lot of pumpkins including some huge ones. All the pumpkins, not matter what size were $5! Of course the kids picked the biggest ones they could find. We came home with one 25 pound and one 26 pound pumpkin!
This year instead of dressing up and running around doing trick and treating the kids decided they would rather spend the evening as a family celebrating Halloween. So thankful that the girls wanted to hang out and spend a relaxing evening with us. We let each kid pick out their favorite bag of candy, a pumpkin to carve, some fun games, and family activities to do Halloween evening. For Halloween dinner we picked up Chinese take out as a special treat.
My brother and sister-in-law brought my nephews came by dressed up as the cutest little lion and minion! It was the first year we had trick or treaters because usually we are never home for Halloween! It was great getting to see them and spend some time hanging out with them on Halloween!
The pumpkin is fresh, washed, and ready to be carved!
Cleaning out their pumpkins! They did the majority of the cleaning, designing, and cutting on their own!
Brina saw a cat designed she liked online and used that as an example to draw one on her pumpkin! We used wet erase marker to draw on the pumpkin before carving it out.
Karlie couldn’t find a design she liked online so she drew a rough draft of what she wanted on a piece of paper than drew it again on the pumpkin! She really wanted a rocket, Saturn, and a star on her pumpkin so this is what she created!
Brina carving her cat pumpkin out!
Karlie carving her space pumpkin out!
We have a space and cat pumpkin glowing on our front porch!
The girls chose more non-traditional pumpkin designs. Brina got her cat idea from another pumpkin she saw. Karlie designed her rocket, Saturn, star, and space one completely on her own (and fit her personality and interests perfectly)!
The pumpkins! I am pleased with how well the girls pumpkins turned out and they really did most of the work on them!
Mom & Daughter Date Night at Hearts of Clay
Brina working on her new plate!
Earlier this year I took the girls to Hearts of Clay to make their first pottery creations. We were super excited when we got the call from Hearts of Clay saying that the items were ready to pick up, however, one of the pieces had broken (Brina’s big flower plate). They were very sweet and offered to let her create another plate if she wanted to come in and do it. Although, she was sad about the broken plate that she had worked so hard on she was a good sport and felt a lot better knowing she could create another one. We made it into a Mom-Daughter Date Night and had a great time being creative together. Thankful for Hearts of Clay and their kindness in letting her come make a new plate. We had a wonderful time and look forward to another fun activity at Hearts of Clay in the future.
Brina’s new plate! She made the plate beautiful, but simple this time around. Instead of a flower she chose a square shape. Her colors are very similar to the last one she created.
We also picked up the pieces that were done from the previous visit to Hearts of Clay! They turned out really well! Glad the girls enjoyed this fun adventure!
All the pieces that survived the first fun creative evening at Hearts of Clay. Karlie’s is the rocket plate and the goat! Brina’s is the purple heart, black lab, giraffe, and cat (whose tail fell off).
Karlie was so thrilled “Oreo” the goat came out well.
Karlie loves space so her rocket, stars, and planet plate was a perfect display of something she enjoys! She was pleased with how it turned out!
We are looking forward to seeing how this Brina’s recent plate turned out along with her other little creations she made with the extra clay. We met up with Jake and Karlie after finishing up at Hearts of Clay and the four of us went out to dinner together. It was nice to spend a little one-on-one time with Brina as well as a relaxing rest of the evening with the family.
Greenville: Exploring the Children’s Museum of the Upstate
Karlie and Brina climbing the rock wall at the Children’s Museum of the Upstate!
We had some great opportunities to travel over the girls summer break so we didn’t get to do some of the fun activities in our local area. Whenever we had a chance we would look over our list of fun local activities and pick one to do together. The girls recently chose going to the Children’s Museum of the Upstate as one of their activities. The Upstate Children’s Museum is located in downtown Greenville and has many fun interactive activities for the kids. We had a great morning exploring and learning at the Children’s Museum. Thankful for such an awesome museum for kids in our area.
When you put your hands on the spots the drum mimics your heartbeat. Pretty cool! Two people can do it at the same time and hear the differences in their heartbeats.
They are smiling a lot for being on crutches! Hopefully we will avoid having family members on crutches.
Karlie pulling herself up!
Brina smiling as she pulls herself up. Testing the different ropes and pulleys.
Karlie at the bank getting some cash for her groceries.
That’s a lot of wind!
Construction crew making bricks!
Brina bringing over a wheelbarrow of bricks!
Karlie’s proud of her creation!
Making a cool structure!
Relaxing in the camping area!
The Light Waves Ahead display is always a fun one to use your creativity on too!
Fun times with the girls at the Children’s Museum!
Driving the recycling truck! Watch out!
Brina in a water bubble!
Karlie having a blast in the music room!
Brina loves hanging out at the Children’s Museum!
Going through the cool jungle gym area at the museum!
On the Farm: Sand Pile Creations, Games, Hay Bale Climbing, and More!
Four kids and a pile of sand results in multiple interesting creations including a huge sand jacuzzi!
While staying at Grandpa and Grandma’s house this summer the girl’s cousins came over to spend a couple days with us. The kids had a blast coming up with a lot of fun activities to do together. It is amazing how long a big pile of sand can keep them occupied. All the kids played well together and had a grand time at Grandpa and Grandma’s house!
Grandma played several games with the kids. We have a lively game of Skippo going on this time around.
Oh my….they found a praying mantas in the yard.
Who knows what cool bugs you will find in Kansas!
Karlie, Midnight, and Nathan hanging out on top of the hay bale.
Brandon and Brina trying to the dog to look at the camera, ha!
Fun times at Grandpa and Grandma’s house!
Thankful that the girls had some time to hang out with their cousins!
Brina loves carrying around the dog!
The kids running around the yard for 3 minutes to vent off some extra energy. They were good sports and the dogs joined in on all the running around fun too!
Introducing Febreze Fall Home Harvest Collection – #FebrezeFall
The Fall Season is just around the corner! Even though Fall officially starts on September 22, 2014 it is already starting to cool down in our area. The leaves are falling, apples are ripening, and animals are scurrying around to finish stocking up for the cooler months. Recently we received a package and this adorable barn was inside from Febreze, Walmart, and SheSpeaks! Let’s just say the kids were as excited about seeing the barn box as I was about getting all the amazing fall Febreze scents and goodies!
One of my favorite parts about Fall is all the amazing Fall smells from toasted nuts, pumpkins, fall harvest, apple picking, pears baking, and more amazing scents of the season. What are your favorite Fall Scents? Febreze has come out with their Fall Home Harvest Collection! Have you already tried the Febreze Home Harvest Collection? If not it is a great way to get you ready for the upcoming Fall season! They have some perfect Fall scents to get your house and car ready! Some of the scents you might want to check out this Fall season are Vanilla Latte, Autumn Harvest, Spiced Pear, Toasted Almond, Sugared Cranberry, and more.
We opened up our Febreze Fall Home Home Collection barn box and were pleasantly surprised with all the cool scents, goodies, and activities included. What a great way to get excited and prepared for the Fall Season! Febreze truly eliminates odors so your guests will only notice the freshness of fall when they enter your home.
We received a Febreze NOTICEables Warmer with two NOTICEables NOTABLES. One was the Autumn Harvest which is a blend of sandalwood and chai – smells amazing! The other NOTICEables NOTABLES was the Vanilla Latte which is a blend of vanilla and sugar – absolutely love the smell of this one! Reminds me of a fresh hot cup of coffee on a cool Fall day! Febreze even took care of bringing Fall to our car! They sent us a Febreze Car Toasted Almond vent clip which lasts up to 30 days and smells delicious! Even the teachers have commented that they really like the scent when I pick the kids up in car line at school.
The barn yard is complete with the awesome Febreze Fall Home Harvest Collection, activity cards in the scentspiration box, a gift card from Walmart, and cute decorative picket fence, wagon wheels, and hay bales!
They thought of everything! Included are some delicious Fall Recipes, fun Fall Activities to do with your family, and Fall Home Decor to get your home ready for the Fall Season! We will share a few of the ones we have done so far below.
We are already enjoying the Febreze NOTICEables Warmer with NOTICEables NOTABLES Vanilla Latte!!! Makes the house smell amazing! Do you like having a different fall scent in each room or one scent filling the whole home?
One of the recipes that Febreze included that will make your house smell like Fall – Oven Baked Smores:
What you need: A graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate bar per Smore and an appropriate baking sheet to fit all the Smores you are making.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place graham crackers on a baking sheet.
3. Press marshmallows between your fingers to make them a little flat, then place them on the graham crackers.
4. Bake until the marshmallows have puffed up and the edges turn a light, caramel brown color.
5. Remove tray from oven, and firmly press a piece of chocolate down into the marshmallow. You want the warmth of the marshmallow to melt the chocolate. Enjoy!
Delicious Oven Baked Smores! You can put another graham cracker on top if you want as well. You can probably use a little less chocolate too, but we enjoy the extra sweetness!
Febreze Fall Activities – Whistle with an Acorn Top
What you need: An acorn top. I recommend washing your acorns with water first to make sure they are clean and bug free.
Directions (once your acorn is washed):
1. Make a fist with your hands, then place your hands together with your fingers touching.
2. Place the acorn top on the top of your index finger.
3. Put your thumbs on top of the acorn top, angling them so that the tips of your thumbs make a “V” shape.
4. Blow over the top of your thumbs, and you’ll hear a whistle!
Our whole family tried the various acorn tops for whistles. Jake won the contest for the the loudest and most shrill whistle! These were a little more difficult than we expected, but if you got your fingers and acorn top just right you can get a really loud whistle which brings smiles to the kids faces. Do you have any of the great scentspiration activities you would like to share?
Febreze Fall Home Decor – Acorn Centerpiece
What you need: Acorns, leaves or flowers or ribbons, a vase, Febreze Air Effects
Directions:
1. Gather lots of acorns.
2. Take the vase of any shape and size and fill it to the top with acorns.
3. Add colorful leaves or flowers if you want to cover the top of vase.
4. Lightly spray the top of the arrangement with your favorite scent from the Febreze Fall Harvest Collection for a unique final touch, and then put it on display.
Do you decorate your tables with seasonal decor? Have you ever used Febreze to add an extra festive touch to your home or used Febreze scents to enhance your home décor?
I would love to hear how your family prepares for the Fall Season:
• Have you ever tried making toasted almonds?
• Have you ever tasted sugared cranberries?
• What is your most popular pears dessert recipe?
• Do you have another version of one of the recipes, decorations, or activities that I shared today?
• I would love for you to share any pictures of the Fall scentspiration activities you have tried.
• Are there any scents or designs that help inspire the ideas for you?
• What new ideas do you have to get your home fall-ready?More information about Febreze:
- Like Febreze’s Facebook Page
- Follow Febreze’s Twitter Feed
- Pick up your favorite Febreze Fall Home Harvest Scent at your local Walmart
A special thanks to SheSpeaks, Febreze, and Walmart for sponsoring this post! Any specific product information was provided by Febreze, Walmart, and SheSpeaks, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own. We received a complimentary products for sharing information and our family’s experience.
Travel & Vacation: Family Reunion at Acorn Resorts on Milford Lake
A lively round of golf (the card game) with the kids!
Our weekend with family in the the Acorn Resorts on Milford Lake was a lot of fun. We had a blast playing games and splashing around in the lake. We even were able to celebrate some birthdays during our weekend together! Thankful for a great weekend with our family!
Karlie enjoying her time at the lake!
Who wants to play “chicken”?! Brina and Nathan are ready! Thankful that the girls had a chance to hang out with their cousins and for the memories they have created!
Karlie jumping off the tube!
Another serious lake competition!? 🙂 No, just having fun! Look out for Amber and Sierra!
Ouch! That one looked painful!
Sierra’s very proud of her talent! Hilarious!
Brina springing off the tube!
Nicko having a grand time swimming around the lake!
Oh no, here she goes again. Look out below!
This cool contraption was flying over head as we were swimming around in the lake. Looks like fun too!
Karlie was always ready to go FASTER!
Brina, Brandon, and Karlie on the tube!
Nate, Meg, and Sierra got some air on this one!
Whoa! Hang on!
They are having a blast!
Karlie and Brandon going for another spin!
Candice and her friends sailing across the lake on the tube!
They even let me go a couple times! Loads of fun on the lake!
We had a grand time zipping along on the tube!
The kids are all showered after a fun day at the lake. Passing the time watching TV while the adults get dinner ready!
Happy Birthday Nicko! He had a super cool cake! The trucks on top were a huge hit too!
Time to celebrate and eat some delicious cake!
Welcome Ranch Horse Camp
What a great week of fun and learning at Welcome Ranch! Thanks Ms. Lisa!
The girls were able to do a week of Horse Camp this summer at Welcome Ranch! They always enjoyed getting there a few minutes early to say “hi” to all the farm animals on Ms. Lisa’s farm before camp started. Both girls love horses and animals so camp is always an activity they look forward to during the summer.
Brina on the move around the ring!
Ready to ride? Karlie all smiles while Brina holds one of the cats at the ranch!
Karlie all decked out waiting for her turn to ride. Ms. Lisa always has some special surprise or something different to do each day in addition to taking care of the horses and riding lessons.
Brina leading the horse back to the barn!
Finger painting their names and designs onto Reno, who was being a good sport standing still with all the kids around him!
I didn’t get a picture of all their finger painted drawings, but I did get a shot of their names!
