With the school year is coming to an end, my kids are coming home with backpacks full of papers, projects and school supplies as they clean out their desks and lockers. My son brought home this ceramic whistle that he made in his art class and surprisingly enough, I knew immediately what it is. It helps that I know my son and his interests because without that insight, I'm pretty sure I would have no idea what this is supposed to be! Can you tell what this odd shape is? No? W

Last Friday was my final craft day in my daughter's 4th grade class. Because it was a couple of days before Mother's Day, we made cards and candy bar wrappers as a gift for mom. Some of the kids really got into the project, putting great thought and effort into their words and their designs. Other kids hurried through the project and did as little as possible. Regardless of how much or how little effort was put forth by each child, I hope that mom enjoyed the gift. The collag

My daughter is just finishing up her student teaching at a local elementary school. One of her projects was to create a learning kit based on a children's book. The Best Nest was a favorite when she was younger and with it being springtime, it was the perfect book to build a project around! Pictured above and below, you can see some of the activities that she came up with. Of course there is the book to read. The eggs have different word strips with some of the key words from

My 7th grade son had an assignment to create a cell structure model in a unique way. He chose to create his cell using donuts and candy. He made a list of all of the necessary components, then sent me to the store to pick up his ingredients. Armed with a pile of sugary goodness, he set to work creating his cell. Without one bit of help from me, here is the model that he came up with. He was quite pleased with his work! His teacher did not want the actual cell model to be brou

Today was my second craft day with my daughter's 4th grade class. I had one hour and I thought that would be plenty of time for this gratitude wreath because I had everything prepped and ready to go. I had a pattern traced onto a paper plate that they could cut out to form the base of the wreath. I created templates with my Cricut that the kids could use to trace various leaf and acorn shapes onto the 4" x 4" squares of cardstock that were precut and sorted so that each child

I wasn't planning on doing a SHOTBOX post today but my daughter has her last high school volleyball game of the season tonight and I wanted to create an image to post on Facebook and Instagram to share with my family and friends to invite them out to this final game. Tonight's game is a big deal because our school is playing our biggest competition, the Lone Peak Knights. The Sophomore and JV teams beat Lone Peak at Lone Peak earlier in the season but Varsity lost. Tonight we

A couple of weeks ago, I did a paper crafting post about Monster Corner Bookmarks. I mentioned that they were fun and easy to make and that maybe I would teach my daughter's 4th grade class how to make them. Well, today I did just that. In less than 30 minutes and with nothing more than colored paper, scissors, glue sticks and markers, 32 students plus my dauther, the teacher, made these cute and unique bookmarks. I was impressed with the creativity of each and every student!

When I was a kid, the first day of school was always in September, the day after Labor Day. Now days, it seems like everyone starts school some time in August. I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to be done with summer some time in August! The weather is still hot! The pool or the beach are still calling my name! It is still light late into the evening! I still feel like there are adventures to be had, memories to create! But the reality is, August has become back to sc

Yesterday, my son and I spent some time making a few origami octagons that slide together to make a ninja star (see my Paper Ninja Star Tutorial). As we were playing around with them, we realized that they would be a great tool for practicing multiplication tables! You simply write the equation on the main part of the octagon and the answer on the tab that sticks out when you slide that portion of the octagon. So easy but a fun way to practice your math facts! Of course this

Earlier in the summer, my teenage daughter did a one week long Kids' Camp for children ages 5-10. Each day had a different theme and was filled with fun crafts and activities. Day 4 was Science Day. They created geysers with Mentos and soda pop. They made Ziploc bags burst with baking soda and vinegar. They grew Borax crystals. They made ice cream. And they made popcorn kernels float and sink. The kids were so enthralled with this experiment that we did it several times and t