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Compassion

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Treats 4 Your Tot

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Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

Friday, July 30, 2010

In My Heart ~ “Out of the Mud” {Psalm 40:1-2}

Out of the Mud {Psalm 40: 1-2} is #4 from Seeds of Courage,

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Full Page Verse Printable… image

Verse Mini Book {which could also be cut into mini flash cards to have kids put the verse in order}…image 

Copy Work Tracers {print & cursive}image

Copy Work Sheets… image

Full Verse Coloring Pages…image

Find these printables here!

Visit the main Seeds Family Worship Printables page here.

Visit Seeds Family Worship to learn more about their ministry here!

Simple verse cards from Seeds, and also a verse memorization checklist can be found here on their site!

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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Little Books for Little Cooks ~ Ten Little Fish

Little Books for Little Cooks

Little Apricot Goldfish

apricot pretzel fish

These little fish were a great after-dinner treat for our kids and super-easy to put together!

The Book Before You Cook…

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Ten Little Fish by Audrey and Bruce Wood

Summary: Fun board book that will help you counting from 10 down to 1. Cute illustrations make this a great book to keep around your house!

When It’s Time to Cook…

You’ll Need:

  • dried apricots
  • cream cheese
  • pretzels {we used chocolate graham cracker pretzels}
  • mini chocolate chips
To Make:
  1. Dip one side of the apricot into a little bit of cream cheese.
  2. Attach the apricot onto the pretzel using the cream cheese.
  3. Turn a mini chocolate chip upside down and press it into the apricot to make an eye for your fish.

Hope you enjoy this cooking activity with your little one! To see more featured books and activities, click here!

Little Books for Little Cooks is a bi-monthly feature that focuses on creating some edible fun with your little one.  We will share a fun book to read with your little one along with a cooking activity to do that ties in with the featured book. Sometimes there may be actual cooking involved…and sometimes just fun!

 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Now I Know My ABC’s ~ h is for horse

It's time for some fun alphabet crafts!! We hope you enjoy these! If you are new, you can visit our ABC webpage to find links to any other letters we have done, letters (with books listed) coming up, as well as all the fun crafty letters we have been working on. Be sure to check it out!

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Busy Horsies by John Schindel

Summary: Beautiful pictures and a simple text that gives your toddler some fun activities to do try with the horses ~ chasing, strolling, swimming, leaping. Some great new vocabulary words for your little one!

h is for horse letter craft

What You’ll Need:

  • Light and dark brown foam
  • a wiggly eye
  • pen & pencil
  • glue/tape
  • scissors

How to Make the ‘h’ for horse:

h is for horse letter craft

  1. Cut out a lowercase ‘h’ from a piece of a dark brown foam sheet. To make the letters go along with the uppercase letters we’ve done in the past, this letter was cut from a piece of foam that was about 4” x 4”.
  2. Cut out two small ears and a head for the horse out of the excess dark brown foam.
  3. Cut out a tail and a mane from the light brown foam sheet.
  4. Glue/tape on the head, ears, tail and mane.
  5. Add the wiggly eye and read the book again with your little one and try to do some of the things along with the horsies!

Cindy

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Play with Me ~ Foam ABC Floor Puzzle

Do you have a BIG ol’ Alphabet Foam Floor Puzzle?  Did you use it for awhile and then store it because it was in the way? {I did}  Do you want a BIG ol’ Alphabet Foam Floor Puzzle?  You can find them often  at discount stores like TJ Maxx, Ross, etc.  Toys R Us has one and this is the best {most reasonably priced} one I found on AmazonimageWe also have a number set-which is actually a hopscotch set, similar to this one I found on Amazon.

So, other than a big floor puzzle or foam floor mat, what are these good for???  Oh SO much, here are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing…

Lay just the letters out around the room and have your child hop from letter to letter as you call them out.  Or have your child find the letter you call out.  Or, have your child yell the name of the letter when they jump on it.image

Use the pieces to build a fortIMG_7438 copy

Take your learning outside and set the entire puzzle up on a deck, or on the concrete somewhere.  Just leaving the normal environment with a toy makes it more exciting for most kids.IMG_5656 copy

Using either of the sets, choose a specific set of numbers to work on 1:1 correspondence by having your child walk straight down the line and move only as you count the exact number.  You could do this with the ABCs also.  IMG_6230 copy

Our ultimate favorite---flying letters!  Since they are foam, they can easily be tossed around without much damage!  We use a paddle form a beach game we have.image

Recently Krash came up with his own extension.  He connected many letters to make a road for his cars.  IMG_3321

We used stirring sticks {we got ours at Target} to lay on the letters like this…IMG_3378

Challenge your tot to balance letters on his head or face ;-).  Definite FUN!!!!imageMore ideas not pictured…

  • make crayon rubbings of the textured pieces
  • play hide~n~seek with the letters.  Someone hides a few and the other finds them and says the name when the letter is found!

Happy Playing!

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You can see other toys we have featured by clicking here to see all of our Play with Me posts!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Get Real with God ~ A Fearful & Wonderful Gift


There’s something I want to speak to here that doesn’t necessarily have to do with being a Mom, but more in being a Believer in general. It’s not my role here to teach theology or to correct, but there is something on my heart that bears sharing as I think it is vital for us “Gentile” Christians to remember.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Israel and the end times. I’ve been hearing about something called “replacement theology” where people actually believe that Christians have replaced the Jews as far as blessing and covenants go. So when I was reading through Romans the other day this portion of scripture really stood out to me and I think it’s a good reminder to all of us, no matter what your theology or disposition.

Paul is talking about how we gentiles have been grafted in because the Jews wouldn’t listen and accept the gospel. (Romans 11: 16-22 NKJV)

For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

My oh my this is both thrilling and terrifying—like some ride an adrenaline junky might enjoy! On one hand Paul is saying we are very fortunate* that the Jews didn’t believe, because if they had, we would never even have a chance to be grafted in! On the other hand he’s saying if you don’t remember this and continue to remember this, you just might be cut off like they were! SCARY! That’s why he said, “but fear.”

So my encouragement for you today is to not argue with others about the doubtful things of end time philosophy and don’t worry about the cares of this world, but remember that you are grafted in. We have been adopted by the Father and it is an amazing wondrous GIFT! We were unworthy, yet he made us worthy. We were nothing, yet he made us something. We have the words of life and we know the pathway to heaven—don’t forget these things. In the midst of diapers and laundry and meals and crying children and housework it’s hard to remember this. But I want you to remember it because it will instantly put you in a place of reverence and peace and soberness and make everything else around you pale in comparison to what God has done for you!

For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! Romans 11: 30-33

Glory! Glory! Glory!




*If you’ve walked with the Lord for a while, you probably understand that God already knew that the Jews would reject His Son, therefore He already had the details of our adoption worked out! Amazing! And if you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about and want to learn more about being adopted by the King drop me an email at: carissablanchard@gmail.com

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Treats 4 Your Tots

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Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

~I do not take email requests to be added to this list, these are just personal favorites I find online, you are welcome to leave any giveaway links (TOT FRIENDLY ONLY) in the comments below.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Once Upon a Book ~ Ugh! a Bug

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Ugh! A Bug
by Mary Bono
Summary: This book provides an appreciation for bugs. It questions how you react when you see a bug. “Whether hairy or scary, mild-mannered or mean, pretty or ugly or somewhere between…spiny or shiny or speedy or slow, there will always be some bugs wherever you go…So next time you see a bug, don’t make a fuss – after all, there’s a lot more of them than of us.”

Bible Verse

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Proverbs 6:6

Craft

We made cute little Band-Aid fireflies from No Time For Flashcards.

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Math

I snuck in a little bit of math while we played with our bottle top bugs. (In the picture the spider is chasing after the ladybug!)



I added in some counting practice by asking various questions about our collection of bottle top bugs. Some questions included:

How many legs are there?
How many eyes are there"?
How many ladybugs…spiders…bumble bees are there?
We also worked on sorting our bugs.

Science

We took our magnifying glasses outside to hunt for bugs. The boys found a few slugs, but due to my dislike of slugs, I quickly got a little shovel and tossed them over the fence. I guess I need to read Ugh! A Bug a few more times so that I can develop an appreciation for the little slimy things that try to takeover my garden!  {smile}

Games

We played with a few of our insect themed file folder games. First we used the Butterfly Matching file folder game. This was a bit challenging for the boys, but they eventually got the hang of it!

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We also played with our Ants at a Picnic file folder game. We had fun rolling our die and counting space to see which ant would get to the picnic first.



Snack

We made caterpillars out of Ritz crackers, peanut butter and raisins. I let the little boys spread their own peanut butter, which definitely helps with those fine motor skills!

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Song

The Insect Song (tune: "The Wheels on the Bus")

The firefly at night goes blink blink blink
Blink blink blink blink blink blink
The firefly at night goes blink blink blink
All around the town
The bees in the flowers go buzz buzz buzz....
The ants in the grass go march march march...
The crickets in the leaves go chirp chirp chirp...
The caterpillar in the field goes creep creep creep....
from Preschool Education

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Now I Know My ABC’s ~ g is for goose

It's time for some fun alphabet crafts!! We hope you enjoy these! If you are new, you can visit our ABC webpage to find links to any other letters we have done, letters (with books listed) coming up, as well as all the fun crafty letters we have been working on. Be sure to check it out!

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Duck & Goose 1, 2, 3 by Tad Hills

Summary: Read along as duck and his two friends show the numbers 1 to 10. Fun little board book for tots!

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What You’ll Need:

  • white and yellow foam
  • white feathers
  • wiggly eye
  • scissors
  • tape/glue

How to Make the ‘g’ for goose:

g is for goose craft

  1. Cut out a lowercase ‘g’ from a piece of a white foam sheet. To make the letters go along with the uppercase letters we’ve done in the past, this letter was cut from a piece of foam that was about 4” x 4”.
  2. Cut a beak out of the yellow foam.
  3. Glue/tape the beak onto the letter ‘g’ and add on the feather and the wiggly eye.