Chalk Drawing

This is our first chalk drawing inspired by Waldorf artwork, specifically the beautiful work that we see on this blog.

Fairy Cottage

We spent the day at the beach today making this sweet little beachy fairy cottage. I built the cottage itself from pieces of coral. The thatch is ironwood needles which are like pine needles which are built over a lattice of sticks. We used more coral for the stepping stones, sticks for the picket fence and gathered plumeria flowers from the ground to plant a garden. A seed from a pandanus tree made a cute little gnome with spiky hair. This toy is a three-year-old's dream.


Check out these links to other fairy house web pages:

How to Build Fairy Houses
Disney Family Fun Fairy Houses
Bluebird Baby
Gypsy Magic

Free Word Search Maker

Check out this free word search maker by Lakeshore. Just input your words and it will create printable word search and key pages.

Faux Butterfly Collection

I am floored by this faux butterfly collection by Paper View. I like the idea of changing her craft up a bit and using it as an educational tool. Just go online and download some butterfly clipart. Then print it out on a color printer and cut out the butterflies. (The most precise way is to use an Xacto knife, so parents may need to do this part.)

Print out the butterfly names separately and have the kids look the butterflies up in a field identification guide. After matching the butterflies with their name, they can glue them to a board or frame with the appropriate name underneath. These would make a great educational project that is also decorative.

Dover Coloring Books

I just can't say enough good things about Dover Publishing. Their products are very affordable, the highest quality and they are made in the USA. I highly recommend them. They have a very extensive line of educational products that range from coloring and activity books to paper dolls, stickers and removable tattoos.


My current favorite is their Audubon Birds coloring book. The price is only $3.95 for a full-sized coloring book. Plus, if you order from Amazon, they are eligible for free Super Saver shipping. We aren't talking about cheap brown newsprint pages, either. Each coloring book features heavyweight white paper with good grain and clear, dark black print.


We purchased the Audubon Birds coloring book mostly for the beautiful images, but it also contains informational text under each image that describes the species of bird. There is also a guide inside the cover of the coloring book that shows all of the original paintings in full color so that you can use the true colors if you like. These are excellent for both older and younger children ranging in age from about two to adult. Even I can't seem to keep my hands off of them!

Tide Pools

This series is from a trip our homeschool group took to some local tidepools. The kids took a bucket and some fish nets and used them to collect any type of sea life they could find.

Holding a live sea urchin

There were sea urchins, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, a worm and a coneshell. The coneshell was an excellent lesson in beach safety as they are venemous and can be deadly. The children learned how to identify and recognize several marine species using identification guides.

Handling marine invertebrates

The kids also had a lot of fun handling the non-venemous animals. Sea cucumbers are slimy and will expel their guts when threatened. Unfortunately for the poor sea slug (who was not harmed) the kids got a first-hand look at how this happens and why.


A couple of the older boys made drawings of the animals that we found and wrote down key information about identifying them as well as their habitat and lifestyle. Printout sheets are a great way for the kids to keep records of what they learn.

Of course, once the lesson was finished, the animals were returned to the tidepools where they were found.

A Lesson in Civil Disobedience

I love this article that my sister-in-law shared with me entitled Father: Why I Didn't Let My Son Take Standardized Tests.

The writer discusses his experiences with taking his son out of school and embarking on a test of self-teaching and real-life lessons.

62 Ways to Decorate Eggs

If you are looking for some more beautiful and unique ways to decorate Easter eggs this year, forget the PAAS kits and try some of these amazing egg decorating techniques at Martha Stewart's Everything Easter. Oh my gosh! This website has me crying for joy! Egg decorating is one of my most favorite things in life.

What Kind of Glue Do You Need?

Do yo want to stick something to something else but aren't sure what kind of glue you need? Plug your items into This to That and it will tell you! This is a super easy way to find the right glue for all of your crafts and projects. Today my daughter's metal clip fell off of her felt mushroom hair accessory. Fixed!

Free Printable: "Ten Things I Love About You"

Looking for some great Valentines day activities to do with your kids? Check out these cute free "Ten Things I Love About You" printables by Crafty Carnival. The artwork is adorable and if you have a child who can't yet write, you can make it a collaborative effort where you fill in the blanks and they can color.