A valentine craft or random acts of kindness craft and a give away

I love children’s literature! I love kwikstix paint sticks and I love making things with my kiddos! So for Valentine’s Day, I combined all of these and also have a giveaway for you!!!!

I saw this cute book online and had to buy it! I love the pictures and the story line! Click here to purchase on amazonClick here to purchase on amazon!!

This is a story about two friends who love each other so much that they create lists telling each other what they love about each other! 

My kids loved it! So since it is Valentine’s Day, I thought what an awesome book to use to introduce our parent gift! This can also be done for random acts of kindness week which is in February as well! 

We read the book and then went back to our seats to write a list of ten things they love about their mom and/or dad!!!

I found white cardstock hearts at michaels and I had them decorate one side using the Kwik Stix paint sticks! I love how vibrant these are! They are amazing and dry within 90 seconds! Painting without the mess!!! What can be better in a first grade classroom?! These can be purchased at michaels  and target! They are also found in amazon! 

After they decorated their heart, they glued it to the front of a larger red heart! 

Then they glued their list of ten things they live about their mom and dad on the back.

Finally, I had taken their pictures and made them into silhouettes. I glued them to the front of their heart!

To make the silhouettes:

1. Take their picture in front of a white background. I used white bulletin board paper.

2. Upload it to google drive and then save to your desktop.

3. Open PowerPoint.

4. Insert photo into a PowerPoint slide.

5. Crop photo and format to remove background.

6. Click on picture. Go to format then color. 

7. Choose black.

8. Print and cut!

There are your silhouettes!! 

I am excited to share this book, activity and product with you! I am even more excited to share that I have a set of paint sticks to give away to one of you!! 

Please enter the rafflecopter below!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!!!!!!

Ornaments made easy and a Giveaway!

I love this time of year! Making things with my kiddos and singing holiday songs! Listening to them chatter about Santa and what they asked for!

We made some beautiful ornaments and they used thin Kwik stix paint sticks to color them! The details were amazing and they were so bright! I found these wooden ornaments at Michaels. They came 12 to a package.

For those of you who have never heard about these paint sticks, you are in for a treat!!! They are paint in a stick almost like a glue stick! They work in all surfaces and the best thing is they dry within 90 seconds!! Paint without water! Paint without a mess!!! No brushes, no towels, no tears because their water spilled on their project!

Aren’t the colors amazing!! They are so vibrant!! The paint sticks my kiddos used were the thin stix! 

These are sold in target, bjs, toys r us, Michaels and online  They are amazing and a must have for classrooms, day cares and homes!!! 

Look one one more time at how amazing they are!!! 

These stix come in thick and thin and they come in brights, metallics and traditional colors!

Please enter below for a giveaway of a pack of thin paint stix!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and happy holidays!! 

2017 French Lick Teacher Blogger Retreat

When and where can we go as educators to become rejuvenated and spark that fire of passion within us? Where can we go to feel appreciated and valued? 

French Lick, Indiana, that is where!!!!

Thanks to an amazing team of educators and companies who worked together to make a weekend retreat that provided educators with an atmosphere of awesomeness, value, admiration, and so much more!

First can I just say the team of educators are amazing! They work so hard to provide us with a weekend that focuses on us, the educator. A weekend that we can meet other educators and just talk and enjoy each other's company. This retreat is not a professional development, it is a bonding experience! It is a weekend where we can get together with the many friends we have made throughout the blogging community and just be ourselves! It is a weekend where we are policy free and we can just be free!!!

For this I thank you!

 

This year we had a keynote speaker! Principal Gerry!! He was amazing! His message was about school culture! Such an important topic! While he was his funny self, the message was loud and clear!!!

Then we had two more amazing speakers that just totally got our hearts beating and our blood pumping! If you were not enthusiastic before hearing then then you were after!!! They really are true  and wonderful educators who are in the field of education for the right reason.... the kids!!!!!! I love how they stressed that you do not need  to be perfect!!!! Who were these amazing educators??? Wade and Hope King from the Ron Clark Academy!!! We sang and we're given so much encouragement!! I know I couldn't wait to get back into my classroom!!!!

 
The sessions were amazing!!! Chris Pombonyo was so informative during his technology talk! Dee Dee Wills was amazing during her writing session and Katie Mense was awesome teaching us about PowerPoint! I learned soooo much!!! 

After the sessions, we had the raffle and then we left to get ready for the big night!! The Red Carpet!!!!! 

ESGI was live at this event!

They broadcasted it live!! It was amazing! First we got to walk the red carpet! The decorations were so awesome! They were from one of the sponsors, Oriental Trading! 

Here are some pictures from the amazing night event!!!

Here are some teachers dancing the night away!!! Who says teachers can't dance?!!!!

 

This event is sponsored by so many amazing companies!!!!

@huehd is such a teacher friendly company! Their products are amazing! Kids love making movies using their animation camera!!!

Oriental Trading is the place where we can get so many amazing things for our classrooms year round!! From decorations to crafts to educational items! 
 

If you love using technology in your room then Seesaw is an amazing tool for you! This is an online student portfolio and families love the communication!! 

 

GoNoodle is every teachers best friend! The kids love it! Brain breaks and learning!!! 
 

Get Your Teach On is an amazing conference experience that is provided to us by some truly amazing educators! This is a must attend event so if you get the chance to go you absolutely must!!!
 

The pencil grip is an amazing company that offers so many things!! The best item they offer are the Kwik Stix!!! If you haven't tried them then you must! These are a must have! Paint sticks that dry in 90 seconds! No mess! No clean up just smiles!!!
 

Math manipulative at the finest!! Visit this sponsor, ETA, for some amazing tools for your classroom!

Scentos are amazing and boy, do we educators just love these products!! The smells cheer you up and your kiddos will love using them!!! 
 

 And last but not least.........

ESGI is an amazing online assessment tool that will literally save you 400 hours a year! 400!!!! Who could use an extra 400 hours?! I know I could!!! Not only does it save you time but your kids will love to be assessed! Isn't that half the battle?!! Go to their site and sign up for a free trial!! You won't be sorry!!!

Just look at the swag we received from these companies!!!

I love the tshirts that were made for this event and I love all of the friends that I have made!!

I can not wait until next year!!! 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 

A Winner and A Discount!!!

Hello, Everyone!!!

Well, it is time to announce the winner of the Kid Stixx Paint Stix!!!!!!   Drum Roll..............


And the winner is..........

But don't worry! Thanks to the awesome people at The Pencil grip, all of you are winners!!! 

Have an awesome day!!!

Kwik Stix- Amazing Paint Sticks!!'

I love art supplies! I love anything that brings out the creativity of my kiddos! So, I have to tell you about these awesome paint sticks from The Pencil Grip! When I went to the French Lick Teacher Blogger Retreat in March, every teacher received these awesome paints! So not only does this company create products that bring out my kiddos creativity but they also support teachers! yay!!!

These paint sticks are amazing! We had indoor recess and my kiddos wanted to paint! You all think you know what I was thinking don't you? You think I was thinking we only have 15 minutes, that's a lot of mess to have to pick up  and where am I going to put them to dry! Well, nope I wasn't thinking any of those because these paint sticks are mess free! Yes I said mess free! No water needed! No bridges needed and they dry within 90 seconds! Yes, you read it correctly 90 seconds! 

 On top of it all, they are so vibrant! I love how they make my kiddos work come alive!!!!!

Another great thing about these is the fact they last a long time! My whole class of 23 used them during recess. They all painted at least 3 pictures a piece and there is still enough left for I would guess 6 more indoor recesses like today if not more!

Here are some more photos of their masterpieces!!!

 So you have seen and read about how amazing these are! Now is your chance to win a set! Just enter the rafflecopter below to win your own set of Kwik Stix from the pencil grip company!!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway