DIY Canvas Art- Turn Kid Art into a Personalized Canvas (she: Carmella)
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DIY Canvas Art- Turn Kid Art into a Personalized Canvas (she: Carmella)

Hey there, and Happy New Year!! It’s Carmella back again for another year of fun on OSSS. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays too! My kiddos and I have settled into a nice Christmas break routine of lazy, pajama days that have involved lots of crafty projects too. And if you know me, those are my favorite kind of days. 🙂

Our ten year old is our resident artist, she’ rarely ever seen not doodling something. Do you have one of those too??

Today I am sharing how to turn some of those precious doodles into personalized artwork you can hang on your walls… It’s a DIY canvas art project that’s a lot easier than you may think.

Thanksgiving Kids’ Table Idea – Scavenger Hunt (she: Carmella)
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Thanksgiving Kids’ Table Idea – Scavenger Hunt (she: Carmella)

Hey there! It’s Creative Carmella here to share some fun ideas to make the kids’ table at Thanksgiving fun! Send the troops out into the yard on a scavenger hunt, and they will find everything you need to decorate! This Thanksgiving kids’ table idea is nice because it gets the kids involved, but out of the house. So you can focus on getting all the yummy treats ready for your meal without worrying what they littlest guests are up to.

Kids’ Thanksgiving Table Decor – Lots of Printables (she: Brooke)
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Kids’ Thanksgiving Table Decor – Lots of Printables (she: Brooke)

Happy gratitude month everyone! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. It has been an eventful few weeks here at our house. We welcomed baby boy number four at the end of October, and brought him home to a houseful of the stomach flu. Luckily, it passed him by, but hit everyone else. We’re very grateful to have that long week behind us!
I’ll have more on our newest addition at the end of the post, but for now I have some fun ideas for your kids’ table decor for Thanksgiving. I’ve always been drawn to beautiful table scapes! I love how elegant you can make a Thanksgiving table, but the teacher in me also loves any excuse to decorate for the kids! Here are just a few of my latest favorite ideas for setting up the perfect Thanksgiving table for the little ones:

homemade slime
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Homemade Slime… A Great DIY Kids’ Craft (she: Carmella)

Hello there! It’s Creative Carmella here with you again to share homemade slime with you, which is a simple and fun kids’ craft!

October is here already, and that mean making lots of creepy crafts at our house. This quick kids craft is sure to get lots of oooohhhhs and ahhhhhs!

You will only need a few ingredients to make this super slippery, slime too! To make it even more interactive, I got out a bag of creepy, crawly bugs for the kids to use once the slime was done. Liam has a big fear of bugs of any kind, so I was happy to see him having fun with these. Fingers crossed he realizes that bugs are kind of fun…. well, at least we can hope that he won’t scream whenever he sees one!

mason jar jack-o-laterns
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Easy Halloween Craft… Mason Jar Jack-O-Lanterns (she: Maria)

Hello Everyone! This is Maria from Shopgirl again, and I’m excited to share a super easy and fun fall craft idea with you today! It’s hard to believe that it’s October already, and that the holiday season is just around the corner! These mason jar jack-o-lanterns would be a fun craft to do with kids, and they would also make for great little Halloween party favor containers if you filled them with candy (and not with a lit candle, obviously!) You can make the design as simple or as intricate as you like, and you can use clear or colored mason jars. Just a couple of minutes and a few craft supplies and you have a fun little fall decoration to put on your window sill or to give away! Read on to see how to make these…

family mailbox
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Family Mailbox Fun! (she: Veronica)

Hello again! It’s Veronica from Nine A Plenty. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! It’s such a fun time for families, but I always can count on my kids getting stir-crazy. They do much better with routines and things they can count on. Lately, we’ve had a bunch of craziness, so I thought it was time for a fun activity that brought them closer together. Thus, the Family Mailbox has begun!
What is a Family Mailbox? Well, it really can be anything you would like it to be. That’s the best part. For us, we’ve been writing little notes to each other. These can express love, appreciation, something the other person does to make you happy, something you admire in them, etc. I’ve been surprised at how excited they were to do this for each other. Our mailbox has been full and it’s been fun to “deliver” the mail.

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Personalized Name Art – Creating Meaningful Art (she: Amy)

For the past few months, I’ve been in the process of re-decorating Elle’s room. I want to make a place for her growing book collection as well as create some meaningful art to display in her room.

One of the things I really want to display is her new skill of writing her name.

I know children writing their name is such a simple thing but for me it’s a big milestone. It was only the other day I witnessed my girl write her name all by herself for the first time!

We were at a community event and stopped at a booth where kids can paint their own frisbees. The girl operating the booth gave Elle (almost 4 years old) a white frisbee along with a black sharpie and told her to write her name on the back.At the beginning of the school year, her teachers taught her to trace her name written in dotted lines. Her tracing was everywhere and the letters had a life of their own! Then a couple months later her tracing got tighter and neater. Then she was writing straight lines and later her tracing was right on the dots. Up until a few weeks ago, she was able to write her name if she sees a sample of it.

So you could imagine my surprise when I saw her take the Sharpie from the girl and began writing her name. E-l-l-e she wrote, with the 4 letters filling up the width of the frisbee.

I was so proud of my girl! I cheered and we high fived. I commended her for her diligence which lead her to her accomplishment.

And so as I’m decorating her room and filling up a bunch of empty picture frames with meaning art, I want to frame her name written by her at age 3.8.

children's book and activity
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Children’s Book and Activity… A House Is a House for Me (she: Brooke)

Hey, Or So She Says readers! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. How was your 4th of July weekend? Fun, and festive, I hope!
I’m sure if you’re not sick of hearing it by now, you might be soon, but I pulled this children’s book and activity from my first grade teaching files. I’ve been wanting to share it for quite some time, and finally have gotten around to it. It’s the perfect activity for a lazy (or bored) summer day, and you can actually add to it all summer long!
This is the book you’ll need. It’s called A House is a House for Me (click here to listen to it on YouTube). Have you heard of it? If not, it’s one you need to add to your collection as soon as possible. It talks about all of the different houses in our world. A hill is a house for an ant, a web is a home for a spider, the sea is a house for a whale, a husk is a home for a corn cob, etc. So many clever ideas in this book! It makes your children (and you!) realize how many things house things in our world.

father's day treat
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Easy Father’s Day Treat {Mustache & Tie Edition} (she: Brooke)

Hello everyone! How are you all? It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. Are you in the full-swing of summer vacation mode? We sure are, and I’m loving every minute of it! My four-year-old, and I, are thrilled to have my twins home all day. It’s so fun to plan different activities, or just spend some relaxing playtime at home. I’m just hoping all of our summer vacation weeks go this smoothly!
So, today’s post. I was in my favorite local scrapbook store (Pebbles in My Pocket) a few weeks ago, and they had this adorable Father’s Day treat put together. Mustaches are everywhere these days, aren’t they? And while my husband doesn’t have a mustache, and I don’t know that ties are his favorite, I absolutely loved how they dressed up a simple bag of candy (which my husband does love).

st. patrick's day tic-tac-toe
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Printable St. Patrick’s Day Tic-Tac-Toe (she: Brooke)

How is it already the middle of March? I love this time of year! But I feel that way about every new season. I love the anticipation of what’s to come. The warmer weather, the spring flowers, the green grass, and blossoms on the trees. Such a beautiful, refreshing time of year! And, of course, I love the holidays associated with each season as well.
Along with leprechaun traps, we always love a good St. Patrick’s Day game. Last year I shared our Roll-A-Leprechaun game (still a family favorite) here at Or So She Says, and this year I have a printable St. Patrick’s Day tic-tac-toe game for you. I have a valentine tic-tac-toe game that we use at our house, and my four-year-old loves it! So, I thought I’d make a St. Paddy’s Day version in honor of this Irish-inspired holiday.

goldilocks valentine
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Goldilocks Valentine… A Fun Valentine Story For Kids (she: Brooke)

Your first year of teaching is a lot like having kids. You think you know what it’s like, but really you have no idea until you’re knee-deep in it every day. I was lucky enough to have Mrs. Lewis (my cooperating teacher) take my hand and guide me through every step of teaching my first year. She was so current, organized, loving, and amazingly creative! The Goldilocks Valentines and story I have to share today came from her. I’ve searched the internet for this story, and can’t find it anywhere. I don’t know if she made it up, (I’ve misplaced my original copy) or found it somewhere. Either way, this is one of my all-time favorite things to do for Valentine’s Day! My boys love to hear it year after year, and it would be the perfect activity for any valentine parties you have next week, or just to do at home with your kids.

valentine spin wheel game
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Valentine Spin Wheel Game (she: Darleen)

Hello, hello! My name is Darleen, and I am one of the new contributors here. I stay busy over at Darling Darleen and with my shop Darleen Meier Jewelry. I’m one of those people who likes to go all out for each holiday and birthday. I tell myself I’m doing it for my children, but I’m realizing it might really be for me! So, I’m excited to share with you a Valentine craft, or more specifically, a Valentine Spin Wheel game that your child can hand out in the classroom or as a favor for a V-day party. It’s an adorable Valentine, and it’s interactive! I’ve been wanting to create a spin wheel game for a while. And Valentine’s Day couldn’t be better for it! It brings back childhood memories from spin wheels I used to cut out off the back of cereal boxes. We tested this game out with a little neighborhood valentine party, and all the kids had a good laugh.