Free Printables

Valentines to use with Dollar store items

jnjfroisland
Valentines to use with dollar store items

Even though we homeschool, my kids through the years have participated in Valentine exchanges. It was easy to find Valentines when the kids were younger. They didn’t really care what the cards said (especially if they couldn’t read yet), as long as they received them and any accompanying treats. As my kids have gotten older, it’s become more difficult to find age-appropriate cards to exchange. For example, it would be a little awkward for my 13-year-old son to hand his buddy a card with a llama on it that read, “You’re Llamazing!” Since I needed some this year, I decided to make my own Valentines to use with dollar store items.

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Fun Summer Activities for kids

jnjfroisland
Summer fun activities
Summer fun activities

Summer is here! I don’t know about your kids, but my kids seem a little lost without something scheduled in their day. They still have their piano lessons, and martial arts classes, but I wanted to add some creativity to their time away from school. To help those creative juices going, I came up with 30 Summer fun activities for kids.

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LEGO STEM Challenges to try

jnjfroisland
STEM LEGO challenges
STEM LEGO Challenges

It’s been a minute since I issued a new set of LEGO challenges (so much for my attempt to put one out once a month). To add a quasi educational twist, these challenges have a STEM emphasis. (Yes, LEGO purists, I know LEGO builds are always educational.). If you don’t know, STEM is an acronym for: science, technology, engineering, and math. Ideally, a STEM project will include all four of those subjects at once. Enter in the almighty LEGO and, boom, you’ve got the perfect vehicle for a STEM project. To get your kids’ wheels turning, I have LEGO STEM challenges for them to try.

This post contains affiliate links.

Why 32 LEGO STEM challenges?

I know, 32 seems like an odd number, pun intended. Why did I choose 32 challenges? The short answer is that I’m using the same free printable template as my first challenge, which had 32. The longer answer is just as goofy. I was planning on making a Lego challenge calendar with 31 ideas, but liked the nice even look of 32.

Behold your LEGO STEM challenges!

I’ve listed them in the order they appear on the printable. I tried hard to include projects that did not require special LEGOs. There may be a few you’d need to tweak if you don’t have particular pieces.

  1. Build some targets that you can shoot with rubber bands or Nerf guns. Frugal fun for boys and girls also shows you how to build spinning targets.
  1. Protect your furniture and make coasters for your cups.
  1. Design your own house with furniture. 
  1. Create a vending machine that works.
  1. Organize your supplies with a desk organizer. 
  1. Take your minifigs for a ride on a zipline. 
  1. Build a volcano and have it erupt. 
  1. From the numbers of your age, birthday, or whatever you’d like.
  1. Race a balloon car with a friend.
  1. Design a working catapult.
  1. Play a round of paper football
  1. Get a sweet treat with the Smallest candy machine.
  1. On LEGO.com, you can discover how to make your own Domino run.
  1. Create a mini safe for your mini treasures. 
  1. Compare the weights of things with a balance. 
  1. Explore the Solar System with your LEGOs. 

17. Float away with some LEGO boats .

  1. Will you find gold at the end of your LEGO rainbow?
  1. How far can you make a LEGO slingshot car go?
  1. Boil some eggs  and then let them go for a ride in a LEGO egg race car .
  1. Experiment with water and make a  Water dam 
  1. Start saving with your coin bank.
  1. Grab a free pattern to make a world LEGO mosaic.
  1. Next, try your hand at an animal mosaic. You can find three free printable patterns of a  frog, pony, and penguin.
  1. Play a game of tic tac toe with a friend.
  1. Build the tallest tower you can without it topping over. 
  1. Go green and make a planter.
  1. Think like an Egyptian and build a pyramid
  1. See if you can make a perfectly symmetrical piece. 
  1. Learn how to make some tessellation pieces.
  1. Construct a  LEGO shadow tower and take it outside. Trace the shadow with chalk.
  1. Display a favoritte picture with a  picture frame.

More LEGO challenges

If you head over to Life Over Cs, you can pick up some free LEGO STEM Challenge Cards to print out. 

Check out these challenges to keep your kids building!

Lego challenge Free Printable

June Lego challenges

July Lego challenges

Disney themed Lego challenges

Christmas Lego Challenges

Don’t forget to grab your free printable!

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Easy planning using Post-it notes

jnjfroisland
Easy planning with Post-it notes
Easy planning using Post-it notes

I am a die hard Post-it note fan. When I was a classroom teacher, my desk was covered with sticky notes. Those notes were an extension of my brain. More than ever, now with eight kids, I need all the brain extensions I can get. Oddly enough, as much of a sticky note lover as as I am, it has not been until recently that I’ve used them for strategic planning purposes. I want to share with you some ideas for easy planning using Post-it notes.

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10 Great Games to Play on Zoom

jnjfroisland

How many of us realized back in March, that so much of our lives would still be virtual? From church services, to school, we are very much tied to the online world. Though our state is slowly starting to open up again, we are still being discouraged from gathering in person. Because of that, we have had to come up with creative ways to stay in touch. One of these ways is to gather virtually to play Zoom games. Since I’ll be co-hosting a Zoom game night this week, I rounded up 10 tried and true great games to play on Zoom to share with you.

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