Intro to the ABC's of After School Activities (After School Link UP)

We're excited that next week we'll be bringing you the ABC's of After School Activities.  We thought we'd take a moment and ask our readers to fill in the blank for things that you include or want to include in your After School Activities with your child.  We would both fill pages and pages of ideas but we want them to be full of what you need the most as your child's first teacher at home.  So here's your chance!  Tell us in a comment below! 

 

Ask Yourself as your Child's First Teacher....

What resources are you looking for After School Learning and fun? 

What works best for your child After School? 

Where does your child want to go After School?

What subject area do you need more support with After School?

 

Do you have any goals you're setting for After School Activities in 2013 with your child?  Did you print your New Years Resolutions Printable or Craft Project? We invite you to share your child's responses on our Facebook Page or Google+ After School Enrichment Community.

Our Favorites from last week's After School Link Up  

• Gingerbread Unit from PreK + K and Sharing
• Handsewn Gingerbread from The Usual Mayhem 
• Budget Friendly Gingerbread Houses from Mama Smiles 
• 50+ Gingerbread Activities from The Educators' Spin On It

We would love to have you link up your School-Age Posts (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including, crafts, activities, playtime and adventures that you are doing to enrich your children's lives after their day at school or on the weekend! When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up you're giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board or Feature on our After School Party next week! Don't forget to follow along and Join our After School Enrichment Community. 

 

 

Link up your After School Activities, Crafts and Adventures! We'd love to see them!

 

Top 12 of 2012: Our Most Popular Posts

Are you ready to see what was your favorite posts for 2012?  We're sharing the Top 12 Most Popular Posts of 2012 from The Educators' Spin On It . We've had so much fun we sharing ideas in 2012 for your children. 

Can you believe that between the two of us we wrote 246 posts in 2012!   

The two of us dedicated our time in between raising our 3 kids each to creating and sharing ideas for Baby Time, Tot School, After School Express, Gardening with Kids, Love Books, Bilingual Babies, Little Hands that Cook with Books, Virtual Book Club for Kids, Around the World in 12 Dishes and Snapshots of Parenting with Purpose!  Which do you follow the most?  Are you ready to see which posts you viewed the most?  Check them out!

 

Top 12 Posts of 2012 

• Raising a Strong Willed Child
• Join the Fun with Eric Carle
• Thank you Gift Ideas for your Child's Teacher
• Tot School Holiday Fun
• 8 Activities for Kids with Lids
• Baby Time: Tips for Reading to an Active Baby
• 30 Ways to Eat Blueberries
• The Vegetable Group with Little Hands that Cook with Books
• Giant Pattern Blocks: Teaching Math to Tots with Movement
• 20 Picture Books and Activities
• Baby Time: Easter Activities & Crafts
• Top Summer Reading and Writing Pinterest Boards  

Check out the post from above and leave a comment on the post you visit, we love hearing feedback from you! Keep your eye out for Kim's Favorites and Amanda's Favorites and The Very Best Activity of 2012 next week!  Until then we invite you to check out our favorites from 2011. 
 

Our Favorites from 2011
Amanda's Favorite Spin on Things by Kim in 2011
Kim's Favorite Spin On Things By Amanda in 2011

Do you have a favorite on The Educators' Spin On It?  Do you have a topic you'd love for us to share more on?  It's your turn to share what you need the most support and resources for your child.  Email us or leave a Comment below. 

Stay tuned for the Best of 2012 Blog Hop from over 30 Bloggers from the Kids Blogger Network January 1! Come share your favorite blog post of 2012!  

 Click Here for New Years Printables for 2013

New Years Activities & Printables for Kids

Here's a FREE New Years Interview for 2013 for all our readers of The Educators' Spin On It. 

We hope that you will join us in 2013 as we share more ideas for your child.  It's fun to capture your child's memories each year and create a keepsake of their childhood.  You might be surprised at some of their answers.  We'd love for you to share a photo of your child's completed New Years Interview with Kids on facebook or google + or in our After School Enrichment Community on Google+. 

What do you think their Goal will be in 2013?  

• Printable New Year's Interview with Kids

Click Image or Here to Download from Teacher's Notebook for FREE for our Followers

• New Year's Keepsake with Wordle



 

Create a printable New Year's keepsake by having your child write their answers into Wordle.com.  We like using the program for Spelling word practice at our house and for just plain fun.  The image above is a simple version of New Years Resolutions we made using the words simplify, enjoy, grow and organize which are my goals this year!  

• New Years Collage

Use this Printable to create a New Years Collage  Here's a fun craft to do with your child.  Check out the image below for ideas of how to create a fun New Years Activities with Kids from last year. 

 

 

• For more New Years Ideas with Kids  Visit our Collection of New Years Activities from our Site or  Winter Pinterest Board or Party Board . 

While you're here we invite you to check out our Top 12 Posts of 2012. 

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook & Pinterest for ideas in 2013!

Happy Holidays from The Educators' Spin On It

 Happy Holidays from all of us at The Educators' Spin On It!

In an effort to stay true to why we started The Educators’ Spin On It (to learn and play with OUR kids and inspire others) we will be taking a 2 week break over the holidays. We will be posting the top 12 posts of 2012 after Christmas but there won't be any new posts from December 22th - January 1st.  We hope you will stay awhile and browse all the fun and inspiring posts we have written previously!  Here are just a few from this month to get your brains spinning with ways to parent with purpose this holiday season.

• Gingerbread Man Gift Wrap: Jan Brett Virtual Book ...
• Make Your Own Life Size Gingerbread House for Kids...
• 50+ Gingerbread Activities for Kids
• Resources for How To Help Children Cope with Trage...
• Our After School Pinterest Board is Growing! {Link...
• Top Pinterest Boards for Holiday Fun with Kids
• Ways to Play with Peppermint Scented Play Dough
• Christmas Tree Fun with Lids
• After School Enrichment Community
• Holiday Bear Easy and Budget Friendly DIY Gift
• Christmas in India
• Tips for Meaningful Family Mealtime: Snapshot of P...

As we start to plan for blogging in the new year, if there is any topic you are interested in hearing our spin on or an age group you would like to see more of, we would love to hear from you.  Feel free to comment on this post or e-mail us at the educatorsspinonit at gmail.com.  We value your thoughts and opinions!!!

Happy Holidays

Amanda and Kim

Gingerbread Man Gift Wrap: Jan Brett Virtual Book Club for Kids

Looking for a last minute idea for gifts? We're sharing our love of the Gingerbread Baby with others this holiday season. Reaching out to our neighbors, teachers, friends and coworkers with a little Gingerbread Love.  You can join us too! 

Gingerbread Man Gift Wrap
Grab a piece of brown paper, some leftover scrapbook paper or buttons, and a yummy chocolate bar and let's go! 

 

 

First cut the brown paper and wrap your chocolate bar. The best part is that this can work on boxes and books too! Then it's time to cut out a circle for the head and 4 long oval shapes for the arms and legs.

 

We used a lid to create our circle on colorful scrapbook paper.  Then my daughter drew on the button holes.  You could also use real buttons for an added touch.  She also added the frosting to the arms ands legs but just cutting the paper in wavy lines. 

 



Now our Gingerbread Man is complete and ready to be giving to someone special in our lives.  I'm very lucky to work with a very creative coblogger that I always get to "Spin" my ideas off of.  This Gingerbread Gift Wrap was inspired by Amanda's Bear and Snowman Gift Wrap.  If you are looking for more Gingerbread Man Activities we invite you to check out our 50+ Gingerbread Activities for Kids! 

The Gingerbread Gift Wrap is our contribution to the Virtual Book Club for Kids.  This month we are featuring Jan Brett .  We enjoying reading Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends to get us in the Gingerbread spirit.  I'd love to own the Jan Brett's Snowy Treasury which is a collection of several of her top selling stories. 

 

Printable Gingerbread Baby Activities

• Printable Gingerbread Card from Jan Brett
• Create your Own Gingerbread Inspired Mural with Jan Brett's artwork
• Gingerbaby Coloring Sheet from Jan Brett
• Gingerbread Baby Printable Masks for retelling the story from Jan Brett
• Jan Brett Pinterest Boards from all over to explore

 

Jan Brett's YouTube Channel provides numerous videos.  Here's are some she's shared about the Gingerbread Baby.  My daughter and I both love learning how to draw characters from the illustrator and getting to know them through videos!  I think it's great inspiration for children!    

Are you ready to share your discoveries & creativeness with Jan Brett? 
Come join our Virtual Book Club for Kids featuring Jan Brett! 

Jan Brett Virtual Book Club Blog Hop

There are a few rules for this blog hop that we ask you to follow, so make sure to read them:

1. Link up ONLY posts inspired by Jan Brett that share children’s book inspired crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Any other posts will be deleted.
2. Visit other blog posts on the linky and comment on or share the ones you love!
3. Add our Virtual Book Club button to your post if you’d like.

Here are several of the bloggers are participating in this year's Virtual Book Club for Kids:

Toddler Approved - The Educators' Spin On It - Rainy Day Mum - Mommy and Me Book Club - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo -  - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom -  - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child

(This post contains affiliate links)

Make Your Own Life Size Gingerbread House for Kids

  
Let's make a Gingerbread House!  

We can make one with Candy and Graham Crackers with Friends!

 

Or maybe two with wood at Lowe's Build and Grow Workshop!

Or three when we add our Foam Gingerbread House that get's built every year

 

Confession....Our four and five are houses planned for this week while we have some extra time at home.  Thank you JoAnn's and Target for always having fun things for my kids. 

Ok so we've made a Gingerbread Village! Did I mentioned we love Gingerbread Houses at our house!  I don't think my daughter can get enough of them.  Which brings me to her list to Santa. 

We were so lucky this week to spend time with friends making Gingerbread houses, a custom that we have shared together for many years. Have you ever wondered as you're making a Gingerbread House what it would be like to live in one?  Check out that smile, I have a feeling she's thinking about it. 

  

When my daughter got home and she wrote down her Christmas list to Santa one of her requests was to be able to create a Gingerbread house whenever she wanted to.  How would you respond to that?  I had to think a bit and I came up with this adorable idea.  

Here's how to make your very own Life Sized Gingerbread House!   

We are all about reusing things to make something new at The Educators' Spin On It. This holiday season we decided to tranform our outdoor play area into a Life Size Gingerbread House.  We simply grabbed a few pieces of colorful scrapbook paper and started to create!  We made candy circles, which my daughter calls gumdrops.  You could also used leftover wrapping papper.  We made curvy lines for the frosting details.  We even cut a few straight lines to create icing windows.   

Then we took the pieces and laminted them with clear contact paper so that they would last during many days of playtime.  Now it was time for the fun to begin!  Both of my daughters had so much fun hanging up the pretend candy and frosting all over their House.  

Then they played like they were real Gingerbread Cookies. Run Run as fast as you can !    Of course she's already asking for Gingerbread Costumes. 

Amanda..... do you have any ideas?  

 

 

This Gingerbread House post was inspired by Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby for the December Virtual Book Club for Kids.  Come join us with your own ideas with her books!  You can find a printable of the Gingerbaby's house here. 

  
If you're looking for more Gingerbread Activities,
check out our page with over 50 amazing activities from top children's websites! 

50+ Gingerbread Activities for Kids

Here's where the Gingerbread fun begins!  We were inspired by Jan Brett's Virtual Books Club for Kids to find more Gingerbread Activities.  We have searched many of our favorite Children's Websites for Gingerbread Activities and want to share the best with you!  So...... here is our BIG LIST of GINGERBREAD IDEAS.  This list includes Ideas for Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Houses, and Recipes.  We even included Gingerbread Learning with activities for reading, writing, math, science and the performing arts!  Gingerbread fun for everyone! 

Gingerbread Man Crafts and Activities

• Gingerbread Man Ornament from The Educators' Spin On it
• Gingerbread Playdough by Teach Preschool
• Gingerbread Cloud Dough by In Lieu of Preschool
• Sandpaper Gingerbread Man from Happy Hooligans
• Gingerbread Playdough Fun from Little Wonder Days
• 10 Little Gingerbread Tot School by The Iowa Farmer's Wife
• Felt Gingerbread Man Dressup by The Iowa Farmer's Wife
• Gingerbread Party & Printables by RV Parties
• Easy Foam Gingerbread Man by 2 Big 2 Little
• Gingerbread Man Standing Greeting Cards by Red Ted Art
• Gingerbread Man Playdough by Rainy Day Mum
• Puffy Paint Gingerbread Man by Teach Preschool
• Felt Pattern for Gingerbread Man by Mama Smiles
• Sewing a Gingerbread Man by The Usual Mayhem
• Gingerbread Puffy Paint by Growing a Jeweled Rose
• Gingerbread Tree by Domestic Goddesque

Gingerbread Houses

• Make your Own Outdoor Gingerbread House from The Educators' Spin On It
• Gingerbread House Ornament from Happy Hooligans
• Secret to Gingerbread House by Busy Kids Happy Mom
• Cardboard Gingerbread House by Domestic Goddesque
• Easy Gingerbread House by Red Ted Art
• Tips for Making Gingerbread Houses by Mama Smiles
• Gingerbread House from Scratch by Mama Smiles
• Healthy Gingerbread House by The Iowa Farmer's Wife
• Cardboard Gingerbread House by Inner Child Fun
• Felt Gingerbread House by Toddler Approved
• Upsized Gingerbread House by Coffee Cups and Crayons

Recipes

• Gingerbread Pancakes by Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons
• Honey Spice Cooks from Kid World Citizen
• Gingerbread Scones from Created by Diane
• Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites from Created by Diane
• Gingerbread Spice Cookies from Created by Diane
• Gingerbread Playdaough by 2 Big 2 Little
• Gingerbread Men by Red Ted Art
• Gingerbread Men from Busy Kids Happy Mom

 

Shhhhhh... Don't tell them that we're learning with Gingerbread Man too!

Reading

• Gingerbread Man Alphabet from Klever Kiddos
• Gingerbread Man Sight Words from Cindy Gilcrest
• Gingerbread Ending Sounds by Becca Brown
• Gingerbread Story Elements from Around the Kampfire
• Gingerbread Man Story Basket from Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
• Gingerbread Man Game video included from I Can Teach My Child
• Gingerbread Man Can Verb Printable from First Grade Fever
• Gingerbread Literacy Games from Growing Book by Book

WritingGingerbread Writing Pack from Miss Williams

• If I Were a Gingerbread Man Printable from Kindergarten Smiles
• Gingerbread Man Contractions from Carly Wizeman

Math

• Gingerbread Man Money Lesson from The Teacher's Cauldron
• Gingerbread Man Patterning from Teaching Heart
• Gingerbread Button Math from Teaching in Progress
• Gingerbread Math First Grade Crusada
• Gingerbread Math from I Heart Kindergarten
• Gingerbread Man Baking Center from Learning 4 Keeps
• Gingerbread Man Ten Frame & more from KinderKids Fun
• Gingerbread Fact Families from Queen of the First

Science

• Gingerbread Man Science Experiement by Mrs. Jump's Class

Performing Arts

• Gingerbread Man Play & More by Mrs. Jump's Class

Gingerbread Man Units & Lapbooks

• Gingerbread Man Unit from Our Sweet Success
• Gingerbread Unit from Growing Book by Book
• Gingerbread Man Packet from Homeschool Creations
• Gingerbread Man Unit from The Moffatt Girls
• All Things Gingerbread Printables from The Teacher's Cauldron
• Gingerbread Baby Printables from Homeschool Creations
• Gingerbread Lapbook from Rockabye Butterfly
• Gingerbread Lapbook from Homeschool Creations

Gingerbread Pinterest Boards

• Gingerbread Unit from Jennifer
• Gingerbread from Miss Carla Kindergarten
• Pinterest Gingerbread Units.... just click and you'll find tons more! Let me know below in the comment section if you have one to add!

We invite you to check out the

Virtual Book Club for Kids featuring Jan Brett for more ideas!  

Resources for How To Help Children Cope with Tragedy

We both have 6 year olds at home. The tragic events that occurred on Friday in Connecticut hit both of our hearts and homes very strongly especially as classroom teachers.  We felt that we needed to stop, acknowledge and grieve for the lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

Our hearts and prayers go to the victims, their families, the surviving students, teachers and community at Sandy Hook. 

The past few days we've all seen how the media and peers and the world have reacted to the news.  We all react differently.  Amanda and I chose to react differently to the news of the events with our own children and how we shared the information.  We know that many of our readers will each have their own ways to grieve, respond and involve your family.

Resources for Helping Children Cope with Tragedy

We consider all of you as friends that we might hang out with at the playground one day and share things we find online that are helpful with our own children.  We've a tearful heart and a wish to help we just wanted to share with you some resources that we have read and searched for over the weekend for our own children that may help you with parenting your child through this event.  They can be found on our Pinterest Parenting Board .  Many are posts from Early Childhood Specialist, Psychologist & Counselors who specialize in this area of dealing with trauma with children.

Image Source Imagination Soup 

Our #1 Suggestion to all of our families would be to TURN OFF the TV.  

Try your best to monitor the messages they are hearing through various forms of media.  Be available to talk with them about their self initiated thoughts and concerns.  Since you may have more time on your hands with your child, especially as they holiday break arrives, here are some SCREEN FREE ACTIVITIES to spend special time with your child.   We've also found many resources for you for Screen Free Activities that can be found HERE on our board.  Free Play is a great way for children to process information that they may not be able to verbalize in a conversation with adults.  Books can be a great way to help your child open up about concerns and feelings.  Here's a book list "Using Books to Break the Ice" that Allison McDonald shared on Scholastic. 

Image Source Not Just Cute

If you have older children who wish to get involved with Community Outreach we're sharing resources we find on HERE.  Ann Curry is inspiring many to join #26ACTS of Kindness.  PTA has also shared info on how to support with sending snowflakes {no longer accepting but encourage you to reach out into your community}.  There is also an initiative to send child made Hearts to Newtown. 

We both printed this book from Fun in First for our children about Reassuring Children in School as they came home from school to color and talk about.  Here is a list of Age Related Reactions to Traumatic Events from National Child Traumatic Stress Network to help monitor your child.  If you have any resources you recommend please leave a comment and we'll add to our Pinterest Board.  We will continue to update our boards as we search for the best information for you and your child during this time.   

May no child experience tragedy in our World

Visit Sarah Jane Studio to Donate and Print your own copy of this Card