Pillow Forts with free printables!

With kids around the house one things for sure — nothings ever boring. That is, unless you ask them. Any parent of grandparent knows how often kids can complain of boredom. With all their energy and need for new experiences, it can be a difficult task to keep any kiddos entertained, especially so on cold or rainy days.

When they can’t go outside, this printable pillow fort is the perfect indoor activity for the whole family. With the printable instructions, making a fort together is fun and easy. Plus, the included signs encourage kids to decorate and play in their creation for hours. A pillow fort is all the fun of an outdoor adventure, all without ever leaving the house!

To take the pillow fort to the next level, use the printable gift tag to pack a fort to-go! Simply bundle together an inexpensive sheet, some clothespins, and the printables by Sleep Advisor, and you’ll have the perfect slumber party gift or rainy day activity for everyone!

 With summer just around the corner this would be the perfect boredom buster. Grab these adorable free downloads and have fun creating some special memories with your kids.

24 Fun Holidays to Celebrate with your Kids in May

I think I say this all the time but the months seriously fly by.  I can't believe its almost May!  For us that means school projects and activities, recitals, and yard work.  With a crazy schedule its easy to get in the mind set of just getting through the day.  That is one of the biggest reasons I love these calendars.  It helps me get out of that mind set and do something fun with my family.  There are so many fun holidays in May I kind of want to celebrate all of them! 

Download a copy of the calendar, print, and display.  You do not need to celebrate all of them (we probably won't) just pick and choose what works for you and your family.

Download your copy here

I'll be posting ideas as I finalize my plans and also as we celebrate some of these holidays.  My hope is that this will be something fun for your family and a way to create some special memories.  I'd love to hear your ideas and see pictures of your celebrations!

Holiday's came from here, here, and here. 

Amazing graphics from

 The Learning Attic, Creative Clips, Graphics4kids, Prettygrafik,  Dorky Doodles, my cute graphics, Cathy's Store,Isma Clips, revidevi, Teacher Laura, Laine Sutherland - A Little Peace of Africa,   P4 Clips Trioriginals, and fonts from Hello Literacy

Superhero Day & Free Popcorn box Printables

Tomorrow is National Superhero Day.  Its one of those fun holidays I didn't know existed (you can find our fun holiday calendars here.)  Here are some fun ideas that would be perfect to celebrate this awesome holiday.  Don't forget to grab your FREE popcorn box templates at the bottom of this post.

Superhero Training Day-Fun day of crafts and activities

 

Dress up as your favorite hero

Have a photo shoot and use it to create a sweet Father's Day Gift.

It says "Some people don't believe in superheros, but they haven't met our dad."  You can create this using Picmonkey with the collage option.

Try out these superhero pita snacks.

Make an Easy Superhero cape 

Finish up with some superhero movies of course!  Add some awesome popcorn boxes and Hulk Punch (aka green koolaid)

I have four options for you.  Download the templates and print on cardstock.  

Here's a quick how to

Fill with popcorn or your favorite treat.

Download the popcorn boxes here

 I've noticed I don't need to go all out for my kids to be excited and have fun.  Honestly they would be happy just watching a movie but I love the look of  excitement and joy when I add a little something extra.  

Roll a story...Story Dice.

Today is Tell a Story Day, how fun is that! (find more fun holidays here)  This little activity was a hit with my 4 year old.  Roll the dice to discover your main character and setting,  the rest of the story is up to you.  If you happen to have a singer like I do make up a song instead.

There are two different character dice.  You only need one but it could be fun to roll both. 

One has animals, a monster, unicorn, and a robot.  The other has people like an astronaut, farmer, and princess.

You could have a princess on an island, a robot in space, or a superhero on a farm.  There are so many possibilities and such a fun way to stretch their imagination.  Use these for preschool, a bed time story, or take them in the car.  

To make your story dice download the pdf below.  Print on cardstock. Cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted lines.  Glue or tape together.  I use tape because its easy :)

I also included writing paper in 3 fun colors to record your fun story.  Each color has 2 styles: 1 with a picture box (like below) and one with just writing lines.

Download your pack here.

Adorable Healthy Snack ideas for Kids

I'm always looking for ways to make our day a little extra fun. I love Personal Creations’ adorable snack ideas for kids. From a superhero pita for your little warrior, to a penguin cucumber for the animal lover, these snack foods are not only delicious but will put a smile on your child’s face. Using a few common grocery items and less than 20 minutes creation time, these snacks are easy to make and cost effective. Make these with your children, or send them to school with a surprise treat in their lunch box. Your kiddos will love their unique snacks, and you’ll appreciate how healthy they are!

They go along perfect with our Monthly Holiday Calendars.

How cute would the Penguin Cucumbers be next week for World Penguin day

or I'm dying over the superhero pita for National Superhero Day!

Head over to Personal Creations and find the recipes for 27 Healthy and adorable snacks!. Your kids will love it!

25 Fun Holidays to Celebrate in April

Is it just me or do the months seem to be flying by so fast!  It's time for the next monthly holiday calendar.  April has so many fun holidays that your kids are going to love.  I like to incorporating some of these fun holidays into our preschool schedule or use them to inspire an after school activity so my older kids can join in.  

This month I found 25 fun holidays to include on our calendar April (most I didn't know existed).  Pick a few or all and have fun :)

Download a copy of the calendar, print, and display.  After that have fun creating some special memories with your little ones.

Download your copy here

I'll be posting ideas as I finalize my plans and also as we celebrate some of these holidays.  My hope is that this will be something fun for your family and a way to create some special memories.  I'd love to hear your ideas and see pictures of your celebrations! My Facebook page is a great place to share :)

Here are a few fun ideas we've done in the past that would work with some of these holidays.

For Easter: Match game

Preschool Crafts and Activities

Earth Day: Recycled Egg Carton Flower Craft

National Dandelion Day: Flower Stamping

D.E.A.R or any of the book days: 

Reading Bingo

Read-a-thon

World Penguin Day:

Letter Craft

Feed the Penguin Counting Mats

Penguin Number Hunt

Holiday's came from here and here. 

Amazing graphics from Kari Bolt Clip Art, Prettygrafik, Molly Tilyer, Teacher's Gumbo, Educlips, Dorky Doodle, My Cute Graphics, Studio Devanna, Creative Clips, and fonts from Hello Literacy

Reading Bingo (Free Printable)

I'm so excited about this new Free Printable!  I love reading, always have, and just assumed my kids would too.  That hasn't really been the case with most of them.  I'm hoping with this new Reading Bingo Game that some of the required reading will turn into a love for reading. 

I chose a variety of challenges for each square such as reading in a different place, reading to different people, and reading different types of books.   Hopefully this will make reading seem less like something they have to do and instead turn it into something they look forward to doing.  I'm using this right now during the school year but this would be a wonderful summer activity as well.  

Use the link below to download a copy of this free reading bingo printable (I included a black and white version too if you want to save on ink).  Print 1 copy for each child. I recommend card stock and laminating if you want to reuse it.  White board markers work great to cross the boxes off and will erase.  If you aren't worried about reusing or are going for a blackout regular paper is great too.   

How we Play.  

I allow my kids to pick one square a day and once its complete they can cross it off.  Each bingo results in a little prize (candy bar, stay up a little later, treat of their choice, etc...doesn't need to cost money!).  Erase and play again.  If they are feeling ambitious they can go for a black out to receive a larger prize and each bingo they receive on the way is a small piece of candy instead of the regular prize for a bingo.

You can download your copy here

8 Free Reading Trackers

Yesterday I posted our Piano Practice Trackers and today I have some cute free printables to keep track of reading minutes. I have one daughter that is required to read for 20 minutes a day for homework and I thought it would be fun to have a cute way for her to track her progress.  I know know reading is so important to a child success and so I'm also using this as an incentive for my middle schooler and my preschooler as well.

There are 8 different backgrounds and 2 styles.  The first is a basic one with the date and minutes.  The second has a spot for the book they are reading and the minutes they read.  

 Download version 1 here

Download version 2 here.

7 Free Piano Practice Tracker Sheets

I have 2 kids in piano.  One loves it and the other not so much.  Practicing through out the week is a big part of success and it is so easy for the week to pass by quickly and realize that they practiced maybe once.  Hopefully that's just my house :)  Instead of me needing to bug them and staying on top of it I have now moved the responsibility to them. 

 We are now using these cute Piano Practice Trackers to keep them accountable.  After the first week they noticed their success in passing songs went right along with how much they practiced.

They come is 7 different colors!  The 4 pictured above and the 3 below.  Hopefully something for everyone.

 You can download and print the FREE Piano Practice Trackers  here.

 Adorable Backgrounds are from Instruct and Inspire, KHDigi, and Sweet Shoppe Designs

Free Valentine's Day Bingo

There are a few games my kids LOVE and Bingo happens to be one of them.  We had such a great time with our Christmas Bingo that I knew a Valentine's Day one needed to happen.   It's a fun addition to any family fun night, class or family party, etc. I used it at Activity Days and the girls had a great time. I included 10 different boards so you can have multiple players.

We used Valentine M&M's for markers and have fun eating them as well!  I printed mine on cardstock for durability.  Laminating would be a good idea if you have that option so they will last for years.

There are 2 pages of calling cards as well.  Print on cardstock, cut, and your ready to play.

As a bonus you can always print 2 sets of calling cards for an adorable Match Game.

Download your copy here.

Adorable graphics from My Cute Graphics, Z is for Zebra, Creative Clips, P4 Clips Trioriginals, and Hello Literacy