Sharing Time - May Week 1 & 2

After initially being discouraged that I had to pull two weeks out of one topic, I'm now changing my tune.  I've found so many fantastic ideas about this very integral topic.  The fact that we believe in a modern day prophet who receives modern day revelation sets us apart from most religions.  I can't wait to teach my kids and hopefully trickle a little of my excitement into them!

I usually do one week at a time when it comes to sharing time, I really like to spend my time doing research and focus on one topic before moving onto the next.  But seeing as it's the same topic and I really want the learning to build from one week to the next, I decided to talk about both weeks in one post. 

(I love this picture, I can't help but smile when I look at it.)

Attention Getter (for either week)
I saw a cute idea on lds dot org (scroll down to #2) that illustrates how necessary it is to follow the light.  While one child leaves the room, hide a picture of a home in the primary room.  When they come back, have another child (or children) lead them to the picture with the light from flashlight beams.  Physical light helps to show us how to get around, but spiritual light is even more important and our prophets teach us how to walk in the light!

Week 1
This Sunday I'm going to partly follow a fantastic family home evening lesson I found on Sophia's Primary Ideas.  She uses 14 fundamentals for following the prophet as the spine for her lesson (they are found in President Benson's talk here).  I'm going to either grab pictures of each of the apostles from the library (well, 14 of them, that leaves one off) or print them off 4 to a page from lds dot org.  On the back of each picture I'm going to put one of the fundamentals AND one thing that apostle taught in the last conference. 

I was originally thinking of getting pictures of 14 of the 16 modern day prophets, but as I read through the ideas in the Sharing Time Outline, I decided I wanted to focus more on the teachings from our current apostles.  You could still choose to use previous prophets (from any dispensation) if you would like.

The main purpose in having one item or topic each apostle spoke on is because I'm going to use that for a game during Week 2.  They are going to need to know which apostle talked about which things so they can complete the game (or at least be able to guess a little more closely than a random guess). 

I also want to teach them to follow those teachings in their daily lives and I found the perfect idea on lds dot org (scroll down to #5).  We are always saying, "Follow the prophet," but what does that mean everyday?  We'll start talking about it this week by having a large piece of paper up front with a picture of all the apostles (like this one or one from the library) in the center.  Each time we talk about a teaching, I'll write it around the picture (or have the kids write it for me) so by the end, our paper will be full of the teachings of our living apostles (I'm going to use this in the testimony challenge today also).

Another fun idea that goes right along with our search for the apostles is a song the kids can sing as we're looking for pictures (I'm leaning towards only doing it for junior primary, but I haven't decided yet).  To the tune of "Are You Sleeping" sing:

Where's the prophet?  Where's the prophet?
Here he is.  Here he is.
His name is President Monson.  His name is President Monson.
We love him.  We love him.

I found these adorable lyrics on Nurture Mama.  I am thinking of changing the second line to say, Where is he?  Where is he? instead, to go along with the search.  And I might just hide President Monson's picture the best so the kids don't find it until the very end. 

Once you've found a picture, Sophia's Primary Ideas has some tips for how to talk about each of the fundamentals, quotes to read and games to play. You won't have time during sharing time to get to all of it, so pray about what your primary (kids and teachers) need to hear and learn a little more about. 

Testimony Challenge
This weeks challenge is to pick one of the teachings to work on.  Encourage them to set a small, specific goal they can do everyday.  If you're doing the Armor of God theme in your primary, you could also bare your testimony about how when we study and learn the gospel, we are prepared to walk where the prophets ask us.

Week 2
I have a few different ideas for this week, each accomplishing the same goal of testing the kids knowledge of which apostle taught which truths (or said which quote) while re-teaching the truths at the very same time.

You're going to need the paper with the apostles in the center you started filling out last week.  This week, as the kids guess who said which quote or talked about which topic, ask them how they could live the principle and write that on the paper next to the teaching.  By the end, you should have a very full paper with TONS of great ideas for living what our prophets are teaching us.

Idea #1
I think this is my favorite, but it's also the most complicated and I haven't decided if I'm going to opt for one of the simpler choices yet.  This option is a board game, a game of life (which is one of my very favorite board games, by the way) that resembles our life here.  You'll want a nice straight path with birth on one side and Heavenly Father on the other.  Along the nice straight path there will be other paths that detour off leading to no where.  Each of these no where paths begin with a problem that can be solved by following counsel given in the last general conference.  As they correctly guess who taught them the principle, we'll talk about living the teachings in everyday life and add ideas (from the board game and from them) to our apostle paper.

For the older kids I'll have the pictures of the apostles to choose from (with the quote or topic on the back to double check their guesses), for the younger kids, I'll have the topics to pick from and then we'll turn it over to see who said it.  I'm toying with the idea of finding pictures to go along with each topic for junior primary, but I haven't decided if I want to spend the extra time yet.

Idea #2
For this idea we'll act out the different counsel given during conference and the kids will have to guess both what's being acted out and who said it.  After they guess correctly, we'll talk about how to apply the counsel to us and add their ideas to the apostle paper.

I'm not sure how well this idea would work in junior primary (although the kids often surprise me), but I might only do this in senior primary and do the next idea for junior.

Idea #3
This time there won't be any guessing, but we'll still be acting out each principle taught.  I'll call up a child who'll draw a principle out of a bowl and instead of trying to get everyone to guess, we'll tell them what it is and then act it out while singing the chorus to "Follow the Prophet" AND holding the picture of the apostle who taught us the principle.  As we figure out which action to do, we'll talk about how to apply the teachings to us and add to our apostle paper.

Testimony Challenge
This week, we'll look at all the additional ideas on our apostle paper and talk about how simple (and sometimes still hard) it is to live the gospel.  I'll encourage the kids to either choose a new goal or continue to work on the goal they set the last week.

Don't forget to talk about the armor piece we added this month!  As we walk where the prophets ask, we are protected and kept safe.  That doesn't mean that bad things won't happen, but it means that the Holy Ghost will always be able to comfort us and help us along the way.

Good luck with your weeks!!

PS.  I've written more generally about this month's topic here.  You'll also find some ideas on how to learn and teach about our prophets.

PPS (5/3/13).  I went ahead and made up the quotes with a picture.  I think it will help the Senior primary to remember who is who along with Junior. 

As you can see, they fit 4 to a page for easy printing.  I've changed my mind a little on how I'm going to use them also.  I'm still going to hide the apostle pictures around the room, but I'm only going to put the fundamental on the back (which I've typed up also), then we'll stick the apostles picture up on a board next to the quote.  I'll hang up all the quotes and have them waiting to get matched up on the board.  I'm going to use these same pictures for week 2 in our games.

You can save the pictures from my blog but if you'd like a pdf (which has a higher resolution) of the pictures and my master (cheater) list, leave a comment or send me an email!

5/21/2014 - I've made a new set of quotes and pictures to go along with the April 2014 General Conference.  If you'd like to check them out (and download them), click over to the post where I talk about how I best like to use them!

May Holidays

We've had so much fun knowing and learning about some of the wacky holidays and days of recognition through April, I wanted to make sure we take note again in May.

For April, I went to the Calendar Spot, printed out a blank, generic calendar and filled it out with all the days we wanted to take special note of and it ended up looking like this...

I stuck this on the white board in our school room and for the most part, it's helped us to remember the days we wanted to recognize.  I'm going to do it again for May, but I think I'll also put Makenna in charge of reminding us about the holidays (less chance we'll miss one when we get busy).

On to May (if you'd like to see more holidays, yes it boggles the mind that there could be more, or see descriptions of where these got their start, check out Holiday Insights)!

Date Your Mate Month
Now, I know this doesn't have too much school room use, but this is awesome.  I think this means Steve and I should up our date nights.  Maybe we could even do a retro date night (back to when we were first married) and go walk through Wal-Mart.  Heehee.  He isn't a huge fan, but combine the fact that the town we first lived was small and it was one of the only stores, with us being very poor students and we ended up there a lot, just wandering around.  It always brings back fun memories when we're there together.

National Barbeque, Hamburger and Salad Month
No, it's not these together, but I think it's interesting that May is all of these seperately.  Maybe because it's getting warmer which leads to cooking lighter and outside?  Either way, cooking is always a great lesson for kids (and if you happen to have a cub scout in your house, there's always something cooking related they can pass off).  I think we'll try a few new recipes and maybe even have my kids pick them. 

National Photograph Month
Last year I tried doing a photograph a day challenge and it didn't last very long.  Maybe we could do a take on it during the school week.  I could assign a different child to be in charge of the camera each day, giving them each a chance to show me our day from their perspective (which might just lead to masses of pictures, I'm so very thankful for digital cameras and the delete button).  They would LOVE it.

National Police Week
The website says it's the 3rd week of the month, does that mean the 3rd full week?  Which would mean the week of the 20th?  Or would it just be the 3rd week and the week of the 13th?  Either way, we had so much fun in April taking thank you cards to the librarians (for National Librarian's Day), I know my kids would love to make some to take down to our local police station.

1 May Day
The traditional celebration of the beginning of spring, warmer weather and the beautiful flowers they bring.  This is one of my favorite holidays and I'm excited to start a new tradition with my kids. 

Did you know that one traditional activity is to give flowers to your neighbors and friends without being spotted?  I didn't, but it sure sounds like a good time.  I've found two simple flower baskets you can make out of paper and some cute paper flowers to go in them.  One involves candy and the others are a little more plain, both would be so much fun to doorbell ditch at a loved ones home.

2 Brothers and Sisters Day
Last month siblings day was a pretty big hit at our house, so we'll definitely be recognizing Brothers and Sisters Day (even if it might be a made up holiday).  This will be a more low key holiday, one where we focus on loving, serving and leaving surprise notes for each other.

3 Space Day
This day has a lot of potential.  Space is pretty awesome and there are lots of fun activities you can do to go along with it (if you aren't feeling up to being crafty, you can always visit a nearby air and space museum instead).  I found a TON of different crafts for different ability levels at about dot com.

I think we'll make a space ship with a little paint (or a lot depending on which of my kids you're talking to) and a couple of paper plates.  Simple enough for my youngest, but fun enough my oldest will still love it.  If the simple version doesn't float your boat, try out this pretty cool version using a CD, mini touch light and half an easter egg.  In fact, I might just give this a whirl if I can find some cheap lights at the dollar store. 

And if you're still thinking, come on, bring on the SPACE, well then, this craft is for you.  Have you ever wanted your very own Hubble telescope?  Now you can have one.  Of course, it's a smidge smaller than the one in space, but it's pretty great just the same.

4 Bird Day
I know that celebrating two holidays in one day is a little bit crazy and I'm not sure we're going to, but I couldn't decide between Bird Day and Star Wars Day.  As this day happens to fall on a Saturday, we probably won't do any big crafts, but maybe I'll print out some coloring sheets for the kids (like this cute one of a pelican).  If I can manage it, we'll go for a hike on a trail, aptly named Birdsong, not too far from my home and do a little bird watching.

4 Star Wars Day
This unofficial holiday got it's start accidentally when a German news channel mistranslated the famous phrase, "May the force be with you" to say something along the lines of "We'll be with you on May 4th."  So, May the fourth be with you while you go and watch a Star Wars movie, it's what we'll be doing.

5 Cinco de Mayo
I love May.  I love May holidays and Cinco de Mayo is no exception.  This holiday can be so much fun!  Learn a little about Mexican culture (even though the holiday started as a celebration of an important victory against the French in 1862, it's turned into a way to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture), make some super yummy recipes (check out Our Best Bites list of favorite Cinco de Mayo recipes, I LOVE their flour tortillas, simple and YUMMY!), or try out some fun crafts and activities (like the ones on Deb's Pinterest board).

9 Lost Sock Memorial Day
I just thought this one was funny.  Maybe I could have my kids write a eulogy for all the lost socks they love.  Or maybe would should finally go through our un-mated sock bag and get rid of all the ones that have been hanging around for years.  Do you have any fun (or funny) ideas? 

9 National Train Day
I haven't met a kid yet who doesn't like trains.  Yes, I know they are out there, but I still haven't met one.  This will be the perfect day for us to head out to an old train depot not too far away and climb all over the old trains (we're allowed to, don't worry, I'm not a rule breaker).  If you don't happen to have a depot near you, try making your own trains out of construction paper or if that sounds too simple, you could always use pasta instead (so cute)!

12 Limerick Day
We love limericks around here.  We studied them earlier in the year (we read a lot of Edward Lear) and then we used this worksheet to help us write our very own.  I'll admit, my younger kids needed a lot of help, but they still had fun and couldnt' stop laughing at their own rhymes by the end.

15 National Chocolate Chip Day
I think this might take over as my favorite holiday of all time.  Okay, probably not all time, but it's going to be up there.  Did you know there was a National Chocolate Chip day?  Well, why didn't you tell me earlier?! 

My very favorite way to eat chocolate chips is inside cookie dough.  I know, some strange people make cookie dough to make cookies, and they're good that way too, I just happen to prefer the dough.  One of my very favorite, very, very favorite recipes of all time are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (they even have cookie dough icing!).  I've made them for my birthday the last two years and I'm pretty sure I'm going to make them again this year.  What's your favorite way to eat chocolate chips? 

18 International Museum Day
I love museums.  My kids love museums.  I see this as a win-win and the perfect opportunity to visit a museum we've been wanting to check out, but haven't made time for yet.  This year the 18th falls on a Saturday, which might be better for some families (letting the whole family go together), but if you're like us and this just adds one more thing to an already over-stressed day, go earlier in the week, we always love a good field trip!

20 Pick Strawberries Day
If you have a place near you (or are lucky enough to be growing your own and they're ready), go pick some.  Eat some.  Yum!!  Or, if you aren't, I think you can count going to the grocery store and buying some as picking them, because either way you get to eat them, which is the part that really matters, right?  If you get tired of eating them by themselves (does that happen?) you can try this freezer jam recipe or try one of my favorites and make some Strawberry Cheesecake Bars.

25 International Jazz Day
I think I might have mentioned before that I'm not a huge music person.  If you ask me what's on my Ipod, I could tell you all about the audiobooks I've got on there, but nothing about the music my husband put on there for me (isn't he's so nice?) and I almost never listen to.  My point is that I want to give my kids a chance to discover and appreciate all different kids of music, in spite of me.  My plan is simple.  I'm going to find a good jazz station and listen.  Let my kids experience the music and see what they think.

27 Memorial Day
Last year for Memorial Day we joined up with some of my husbands family to visit the graves of many of their ancestors.  Do you do that?  I'd never heard of it before, but given the masses of crowds that were out, I'd say it's a fairly normal thing.  If you haven't done it, I highly encourage it.  It was so much fun to hear stories and introduce our kids to family members they haven't gotten a chance to meet.  Plus, the visiting happened with living family we don't see often enough and that was fun too.  A great tradition I'm looking forward to again this year.

Sweet Pretzel Pinning

A few weeks ago I made some amazing cookies, super amazing even, Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Cookies.  Yum-yum.

They were so good, I was dying to try another, very similar recipe I'd pinned around the same time. 

These Caramel Pretzel Brownies look pretty good don't they?  I adjusted the recipe a little bit by adding the same caramel bits that were in the cookies and mixing the pretzels in instead of leaving them on top.  I also added some caramel to the top, a recipe I've been wanting to try since I heard my sister raving about it.

There was enough left over after drizzling to fill a regular bread sized loaf pan.  The caramel turned out awesome.  Even more awesome?  It's 5 ingredients and only takes 6 minutes to cook!

Okay, after trying out the brownies, I like the cookies way better.  Although, my husband LOVES the brownies.  You see, I like all sorts of stuff in my brownies and it seemed like these would fit the bill, but somehow, they just turned out kind of like regular brownies (which are my husbands favorite).  I think I would have liked them better if I'd went ahead and poured all the caramel on top instead of drizzling.  Hmmm....I might just have to try it again later.

We're going to be making some savory pretzels tomorrow in honor of National Pretzel Day, do you have any favorite pretzel recipes?

Current Events

I mentioned in a previous post that I have had issues with the news.  I really don't like it and for much of my life I haven't felt that the pro of knowing what's going on in the world outweighed the con of it being full of horrible, depressing negativity.  A fact for which my husband has teased me mercilessly. 

He's also been bothering me for most of this school year about current events (especially for our 6th grader).  Now that I'm homeschooling, am I going to teach my kids about current events?  He tells me they need to know how to find out what's going on, to be exposed to news around the world, and possibly learn to like knowing what's going on.  All things I happen to agree with, but still, actually DOING something about it is another story. 

I figured the first step in implementation is to figure out what my options are.  How exactly do I go about adding current events to our school days?  And, even more important for me, is it possible to meaningfully involve my younger kids (2nd and Kindergarten), which means keeping it quick and simple?

After spending a few hours researching around on the web, I've decided yes, it is.  Now I just need to decide which of the options I've found I'd like to do.  Maybe you can help me. 

Web
For those who have easy access to the Internet in or near your school room, there are lots of different websites you can go to that are geared towards both kids and education.

My favorite (without using it, yet) is Student News Daily.  It showcases one article a day, which I love from the simple and easy perspective, and each day is a different type of article: world events, media bias, editorial, cartoon and then every Friday there is a quiz testing your retention and understanding of the articles you've read throughout the week.  The articles are shorter, easily printed and could be used during the start of each school day. 

I also really like Learn The News because it has two reading levels.  You can choose a lower level (which would be great for my boys) or a more challenging level (much better for my daughter) depending on your needs.  There are comprehension questions and worksheets to go along with the articles and a cartoon character Jimmy who teaches you about journalism and how to write a story.  The downside?  It's not free and it's not cheap.  It costs $90 for a one year subscription (which comes out weekly), but it's meant for a classroom, so perhaps you could use it in your co-op or go in on it with a few friends to create your own "classroom."

Time For Kids has a variety of different articles you can choose from (top story, kid reporter scoops, world and nation).  They also have quizzes, worksheets and more (according to their website), but you can't access anything beyond the articles unless you are a subscriber.  The good news is that you get a print booklet with your subscription and they're pretty cheap.  The bad news is the subscriptions are geared towards normal classroom sizes so you have to order at least 10 subscriptions (the same holds true for all Scholastic magazine subscriptions, and they have lots of different types not just current events).

If you're a fan of the New York Times, they have a teaching and learning website where you can go more in depth with some of their articles through lesson plans, student opinions, questions and quizzes.

This last website I read about isn't geared towards students or kids, but I like it.  I am often stuck in my own little world.  What obviously directly affects me is what I focus on, but in our world today, the world can affect me.  Even when I read about world news, it's definitely viewed through the lens of the United States, World News might help me to view the news differently.  From another perspective, which a good thing.  But this wouldn't just be good for me, it would also be great for older kids.  Helping them to realize that the stance of their country of origin is not the only way to see things.

Magazines
I already mentioned two up above Time For Kids and Scholastic, both of which require at least 10 subscriptions.  But, on the plus side, both are the cheapest (by a lot) per subscription if you have friends to go in with (a co-op, park or support group?).

My very favorite subscription is from God's World News.  There are a lot of bonuses.  First, the magazines come in different grade levels.  If you more than one child, they're probably not all in the same grade (crazy, I know) and you can get them each their own level to read.  Even cooler?  There are correlating articles in each level so you can still talk about the news you've learned together!  It also ties news into other areas of learning for you (there are teaching tips on almost every page).  For example, if the article is about someone from India, it'll teach you about India.  There are also fun games and worksheets that tie into the news throughout the magazines. 

If that isn't cool enough, with your subscription, you also have access to all articles they've written, answer keys, lessons and a variety of biographies (the sample one you can check out is of Abraham Lincoln, which would be a great Presidents Day activity!).  To look at samples of each level, click the link above and then click on which level you want to look at.  Or check them all out. 

You can get a full year subscription (it's not really full year, they don't deliver in May or December, so a 10 month subscription) for $28 each, which could get a little price-ey with multiple kids.  Or you can order a school subscription (September through April minus December) for $21 a piece.

Tips
No matter what you choose to do for current events, there are a few other ideas you can incorporate into your study.  On Elemental Blogging, Paige talks about a few steps, including questions to ask you rkids and writing a summary to show understanding (plus it'd work on summary skills which my kids could always use!).

I also found an article on the HSLDA website that has some pretty good ideas.  Have your kids keep a running list of words they come across that they aren't familiar with and then look them up later.  Learn more about the area an article talks about using at atlas, encyclopedia or even google.  And as they get older (or even not so old), they can start their own newspaper using the skills they've picked up by reading the news.  I especially love this idea, they get to choose topics, do research, look for stories and LEARN disguised as fun!  Oh wait, learning is fun.  Right.  I knew that.

Eclectic Homeschool Online talks about how to learn history through current events by asking yourself (and your kids) one simple question: It all started when...  Look for links from history you've studied, time lines you've made (or purchased) and the news today. 

I've learned that the most important part of teaching is to just get started.  Figure out how much time I want to spend (or have to give), examine my options and then pick one.  I think we might start with Student News Daily for the last few weeks of this year and then add God's World News next year (you couldn't tell I liked that one, could you?).  But I'm still open to ideas.  Do you have a great one I didn't mention?  I'd love to hear about any tips, websites or magazines you've come across!

Disclosure: This was not a sponsored post.  I'm not affiliated with any of these products or websites, I just like how they look!  Any opinions expressed are mine.  Yep.

Sharing Time - April Week 4

I spent a few hours yesterday looking through various blogs and websites about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and found some fun things. 

But, before I tell you about them, I have to say that I really like the ideas that are already on Sugardoodle. 

Learn
I love Sofia's Primary Ideas from the research and learning perspective.  She's got some really good looking talks to read about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, so check that out regardless of what idea you choose to use for your sharing time!

Search
I also love the idea on Little LDS Ideas.  It's cute and simple and I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE to find anything.  We hid a CTR detective last year for the kids to find every Sunday and I think they're going through withdrawals this year not having something to look for every week.  If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, the idea is to look for stones (representing the stone Joseph found the plates under) and under or in each stone is someone or something related to the translation.  Easy Peasy.

Bean Bags
Chocolate on my Cranium has a fantastically fun and informative family home evening (the best kind).  It's all about the Book of Mormon and parts of it can either be adapted to fit teaching about things related to the translation, or it could be used as a part two to delve into the teachings of the Book or Mormon.  I would use the bean bag toss game and the super cute Book of Mormon reading chart (although if you don't like her chart, but want to do one there are TONS out there, here's a link to a search I did on Pinterest to get you started). 

Just as a quick aside, I know that most kids would throw away or lose the chart, but there might be one that wouldn't.  My daughter read the Book of Mormon for the first time because she was challenged to by her Activity Days leader.  While we can't be sure what we are teaching or encouraging our kids to do sinks in, I don't feel that's our job.  Our job is to offer (with love) and theirs is to do or not.  This is one of the hardest, but at the same time, liberating concepts for me both as a parent and as a leader at church.  If the whole year chart approach still isn't appealing, you can go here to download a certificate encouraging the kids to read with their families for one whole week.

She has several great cards for the bean bag toss game that cover many aspects of Book of Mormon information and you could do those (I'm thinking this would be a fantastic FHE for us next month) or you can substitute clues about the Book of Mormon translation.  For example:

1. He translated the Book or Mormon
2. This was used to help with the translation of the Book or Mormon
3. He was a scribe (someone who writes what you're saying) for a lot of the Book of Mormon translation
4. The power used to translate the Book of Mormon
5. He showed Joseph where to find the plates
6. What Joseph translated the Book of Mormon from
7. June 1829 (translation completed)
8. This is one of the 3 witnesses who saw the Book of Mormon, heard the voice of God and saw and angel
9. This is one of the 8 witnesses who saw the Book of Mormon
10. 4 (number of years of preparation before Joseph received the plates)

If you need a few more ideas (or just want some), you can check out this Friend article from January 1973.

Translation
Another thing you can talk about is the translation.  The actual act of translation, how it was and whether or not the kids think it would be difficult.  There are some really fun ideas on Sugardoodle including a code you can use to write them a message that they then get to "translate" into English.  You could work this into either the bean bag toss or the searching game above by having them find part of your coded message with each stone or toss of the bean bag and then the message could be a wrap up.  For example, you could use (or paraphrase) Joseph Smith when he said that a man can get nearer to God by abiding by the precepts in the Book of Mormon than any other book.

If you'd like something more than just a simple number code, I've found another fun one here that uses shapes and symbols.  It even has a code you can use that translates as "Joseph Smith was the prophet of the restoration.  He translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God."  It's a little long for a sharing time, but you could use one symbol per word to make it go a little faster.  Or send it home for the kids to work on and bring back.

If that wasn't enough options, I found another code using simple drawings on Sugardoodle.  Yes, I know, I have a problem with going overboard occasionally, that's why my motto is to keep is simple (and it even sometimes works).

Testimony Challenge
If you choose to send the kids home with a coded message, this would be a great tie in to the testimony challenge.  You could tell them that you want them to pray about (and for the older kids maybe study about) what the message says.  I would probably tell them if they brought it back to primary next week, decoded, they could get a treat or a small prize of some sort to encourage finishing it.

Good luck with your planning and have a great week!

Planet Pinteresting

We're just finishing up studying the planets and I was looking through my some of my boards on Pinterest when I came across a pin for a simple planet project. 

Perfect.

You can find the instructions and a planet template on the Busy Bee Kids Crafts website.  The one thing I thought about doing, but didn't in the name of simplicity (and slight laziness), was make my own planet templates so they would be the right sizes in relation to each other.  They really aren't, but my kids didn't care.

I was thinking we might make our own later (next week?).  I could set up a project for my 6th grader to decide how big she wants earth and then figure out how big every other planet should be in relation (a good use of math skills).  Then, we can cut them out and hang them on our wall (go teamwork!).  Although, we might need to hang them outside our schoolroom (it's sorta tiny) depending on how big she goes.

I'm still amazed at how much fun my kids have doing any sort of craft project.  It reminds me how important it is to plan ahead enough to get them ready.  Huh, I think this calls for a little more Pinteresting. 

Natural History Museum of Utah

A month of two ago I saw a friend post a question on Facebook asking whether our local Natural History Museum would be good for her almost 4 year old son.  I was so excited because I hadn't known there was a natural history museum less than an hour from my house!

I had the opportunity to tag along with my husband last year on a business trip to Washington D.C. and I spent a lot of my alone time (while he was in the conference) walking around the Smithsonian Museums.  My very favorite, by far, was the Natural History Museum and my one regret was that I couldn't take my kids there.  I knew they would love it.

Well, now I could.  I mean, of course, I knew it wouldn't be the same, but I also knew it would be fun. 

And it was.  In addition to all the cool exhibits I knew would be there, they have so many activities to involve kids throughout the entire museum.  We were there two hours and could have easily spent the whole day if we'd stopped to do every activity along the way.

There are five levels including the lower admissions level, so bring your walking shoes.

This is something we didn't do, but think would be a really great learning tool for our older kids.  You can use your smart phone to access extra information all over the museum.  It even says that some of the codes are hidden, so it's like an information treasure hunt trying to find them all. 

There are so many fun activities, I'd encourage anyone in the area to stop by.  If you aren't convinced yet, look through a few of the fun things my kids got to do.

James is "fishing" at the top of the stream in a room with a cave to crawl through and a few terrariums full of critters that will never be allowed in my home, but my kids all LOVE.

This is one of my very favorite activities we got to do and the best part?  They're all over the museum!  You get to smell all sorts of things.  Just push a little button (this one's green) and then sniff at the silver circle near it to see how different plants and animals really smell. 

And they aren't all good smelling.  I had Makenna smell this one and she gleefully encouraged Ben to smell it while she took pictures of him.  I'm not sure he appreciated her excitement.

This is my audition for the Price Is Right (is that show even still on the air?).  I know, I totally missed my calling in life.

Their special exhibit right now is all about weaving and Makenna especially liked the pattern on this bowl.

They all had so much fun creating a sand damn and then filling up one side with water until it washed away (Ben has his hand on one of the spouts).

The best part of our visit?  Okay, it wasn't the best part, but it was pretty great.  We went for FREE!  Now, it's worth the price of admission, but I do love free.  Once every 3 months the museum has a free day, (although you still need tickets to guarantee entrance) and you can check out when they're having the next free day on their website. 

Maybe I'll see you there!