Mini- Water Cycle

I love this idea for a Mini-Water Cycle from Laura Candler.  I am going to try it with the boys the next time we have Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store (meal plan idea!).  All that you need to do is fill an empty and cleaned container with  a rock to represent a mountain, grass for the vegetation, and a small pond made from aluminum foil and filled with water. To power up the water cycle,  you close the container and put it in the sun. If you have bad weather or just want to keep it an indoor project you can use a lamp as well.

To learn more about the water cycle, try these worksheets:

Water Cycle Worksheet

Water Cycle Comic Strip

Handwriting Tracing Rings

Here is a fun way for your kiddos to practice writing the letters of the alphabet!  Simply print out the cards below, laminate, punch holes, and add to a binder ring.  Your child can re-use them if they use a dry erase or wet erase (vis a vis) marker to complete them.  I am having Luke practice these each day.

Uppercase Tracing Cards

Lowercase Tracing Cards

Teaching Your Kids About Money - Credit Cards?

To say that I was a bit shocked when this arrived in the mail for my nine year old (yes you read right, my NINE year old) would be a bit of an understatement.  It is an actual Visa Debit/Credit card.  Although you have to add money to the card to use it, I was very surprised that this would be mailed out to a child.  Even worse, Cody was chomping at the bit to use his credit card.  We had to explain to him that credit cards are NOT free money.  It was an important lesson for him to learn.

I had actually been thinking about getting similar cards for my older boys (the teenage ones, the ones who are 15, 16, and 18) through a service called BillMyParents after learning a little more about them when I attended BlogHer. I got to watch a funny video that explained more about the service which I've included below.

But... all of this got me thinking about how important it is to teach our children about money, especially about credit cards.  Many people do not learn how to use credit wisely, and then when they get their first credit card it is after they have already left home and have no one to teach them about the benefits but also the pitfallls of purchasing things using credit cards.

I am planning on incorporating some lessons on handling money for all of my children (yes even the little ones).  Although I don't think I will be getting them their own credit cards, I think it is important to start teaching even the youngest ones about the value of money.

What things do you do to teach your kiddos about money?  Have you had these conversations?

Mabel's Labels Review and Giveaway!

When you live in a house with 6 boys you hear lots of things such as:

"Those are mine."
"He took my _____" (fill in the blank with any possible thing that a kid could own that their brother would covet).

Not to mention when you go to one of those indoor playgrounds with your kiddos and when you go to retrieve their shoes from the shoe cubby you find that there are 3 identical pairs of shoes to your child's and they are all the same size!

Needless to say, I needed a way to identify what items belong to what child. Enter Mabel's Labels. 

Mabel's Labels sent me this box which is filled with their Ultimate Back-To-School Combo to try out.  The first thing that you probably noticed in the picture above is that the labels come in the most adorable easy to store box.  I heart this box.  I had to take two pictures just to share my love with you and to show you how it opens.  I love that the labels are packaged this way because I will be able to easily find them when I need to label something, and the labels will be protected from the destruction that often befalls items that come into a house of 6 boys.

I chose to have labels made for my youngest, Luke, who is 5 because I didn't know if the older boys would think they were "too old" for the labels.  I didn't have to worry about it because as soon as Tyler and Cody saw the box full of "Luke labels" they were begging to get labels of their own. And after seeing the quality of their waterproof labels, I will have no problem obliging them. 

The Ultimate Back-To-School Combo is filled with:

 ■50 Tag Mates™


■40 Skinny-Minis™

■16 Shoe Labels

■2 Teeny Tags™


so, we will have many opportunities to use them all over our house.

These are the teeny tags which also come with small circle hooks to link onto backpacks, lunch boxes, etc. I plan on putting one of them on Luke's football equipment bag when we get it. The team all gets the same exact bag, so this is going to make it so easy to find his equipment bag after a football game. Yeah! No more guessing games or worry that we took the wrong bag home.

The tag mates and the skinny- minis come in a little booklet that you can peel off and place wherever you need them. The tag mates are washer and dryer safe, so you can label all of your kiddo's clothes. We have already put these in Luke's football jersey, and I can think of so many other uses - when ski season comes around, I will be putting them in his sweatshirts (that always come off when he gets too hot and then we can't find it), his coat, his gloves, etc.

The skinny-minis are dishwasher safe - which I love!  We have put Luke's on his water bottle, but we plan on putting them on the other boys' water bottles as well when we order some for them.  No more worry about sharing germs with labeled bottles!  My nephew goes to daycare, so my sister in law is going to order these to put on his bottles and sippy cups.

One of my favorite items in the box are these:

These are the shoe labels and in my humble opinion are genius!  You place them in the bottom of your child's shoe.  No more worrying about what pair of shoes belong to your child.  Love it!  Because seriously, am I the only mom who does not know how kids manage to always lose their shoes?

Mabel's Labels was the brainchild of four moms who were frustrated by all the frequent visits to the lost and found when their kids' items would leave the house never to return.  You can tell by the quality of the labels that these moms really thought of everything!  After visiting their website, I can tell you that the wheels in my head are spinning with all of the things I can do with their products.  A few that I am really loving are:

These household labels (because I just love the idea of having my pantry neatly labeled and organized!)

These lootbag labels (these are going to be a hit with both moms and kids at Luke's 6th birthday party in January)

And although I thought the older boys might be too "old" for the labels, after seeing this, I am seriously thinking about getting a few for my teenage boys as well to label all of their electronic "toys".

I am sure that you can think of a million (if not a billion) ways to use these labels!  You can order any of these (or many other items) at their website, Mabel's Labels. AND... one lucky Homeschool Parent reader is going to win the Ultimate Back-To-School Combo (a $42 value!).

One Ultimate Back-To- School Combo from Mabel's Labels. ($42 value)

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Comment below with your favorite item from Mabel's Labels and what item you would label with it.

Each entry below is worth 1 entry, please leave a separate comment for each method of entry.

1. Follow me on Google Friend Connect.
2. Subscribe to Homeschool Parent.
3. Like Homeschool Parent on Facebook.
4. Like Mabel's Labels on Facebook.
5 Follow Mabel's Labels on Twitter.
6. Follow me on Twitter.
7. Tweet about this giveaway. (Up to 2 times per day) You can copy and paste below:

Enter to win Mabel's Labels Ultimate Back-To-School Combo from @kellys3ps and @mabelhood  http://t.co/PZBdn5K #contest #giveaway





Contest ends 8/26/11 11:59 PT.  Good luck!

Disclosure: I was provided the Ultimate Back To School Combo to facilitate the review, and Mabel's Labels will be providing a set for the winner of this contest.  I received no other compensation, and the opinions in this post are my own.

School Supply Sales

It is that time of year again!  The time to get stocked up on all of your school supplies for the upcoming year when prices are super low!  Here are some deals I've got my eye on:



Office Max

Office Max Filler Paper $.01 Limit 2

Just Basics Ball Point Pens $.50, Limit 3
Clear Zippered Binder Pouch $.25, Limit 3
Hammermill $6.99, Get $5.99 back in Max Perks Rewards (you must be a member)=$1

Boise x-9, 10 Ream Case $41.99, Get $27 back in Max Perks Rewards=$14.99
Paper-Mate 3 pk. Erasers $1
Expo Markers 4 pk. $2.50  (we go through these like water! LOL!)

 

Office Depot

$.25 Deals

Office Depot Stick pens (10 pack)
12 inch plastic ruler
Crayola Crayons
Office Depot Notebook Filler Paper

Other Deals
Sharpie Permanent Marker Singles: 2 for $1
2 pocket Folders: 10 for $1



Wal-Mart

Elmer’s 2-pk. Glue Sticks or Elmer’s Glue Bottle, $0.40

Ruled Index Cards, 3x5, 100-count, $0.44
Dixon #2 Pencils, 10-pk.,  $0.47
Composition Books,  $0.40
Notebooks, 1-subject, 70-sheets,  $0.20
Poly Folder, assorted varieties and colors,  $0.50

School Supply Sale at Staples for Week of July 17, 2011

Looks like Staples has some more great deals on school supplies.  Here are a few of the items I will be stocking up on:

Freebies

Pentel RSVP Ballpoint Pens, $4

Buy 1, Get a $4 Staples Easy Rebate at Checkout
FREE after Rebate!



$0.01 Deals



Sharpie Accent Highlighters, $0.01 each with $5 Minimum Purchase

Yellow Pencils 8/Pack, $0.01 each with $5 Minimum Purchase

Index Cards, $0.01 each with $5 Minimum Purchase


$1 and Under!

Avery Insert Tab Dividers, $0.50 each (Limit 2)

Avery 1″ Binder, $1

Dry Erase Board with Marker, $1

Hammermill Copy Plus Paper, $5.99
Buy 1, Get $4.99 Easy Rebate
$1 after Rebate!

Bic Click Stick Ballpoint Pens, $1

$1/2 Bic Pens Coupon

$0.50 ea. after Coupon

Papermate Profile Ballpoint Pens, $1


For more great shopping and couponing deals, check out my other site, Fernley Family.