Sharing Interest for Valentine Celebration

Valentine celebrations are a great time to invite children to share their interests with classmates.  It's a great way to personalize a holiday that becomes more and more homogenized.  My son, Sam, is a total little science nerd.  He also makes valentines for his classmates.  We talked about a couple options, and I told him I thought this one would be really cool.  He had to see a demonstration before he was convinced!

This year Sam and I are making Borax Crystal Hearts for each of his classmates.  My greatest contribution is adding the boiling water to the borax powder and helping form hearts with the pipe cleaners.

We started adding Borax to a container.  It takes more than one might think!  {Add about 3 tablespoons per object.}
Then an adult fills the container with boiling water and stirs.

Twist pipe cleaners into any shape.  These make stunning snowflakes!

Suspend the shapes in the solution.  We hung ours from chopsticks.

Take them out the next day and let them dry.

When they dry they look like they're covered in gems.  They sparkle in a window when the sun shines!

HERE is a great site for specific directions and the science behind it.

What ways do you encourage your children or students to celebrate their individuality for Valentine's Day or other holidays?

Holiday Preparation and Countdown

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just one week away. We have had another packed weekend of graduation celebration (Congratulations, Tim!) and making holiday gifts. All three of the people in my little family have been working on gifts this weekend--especially putting the final touches on things that we've been working on for weeks. Next week I will share the adventure of making gifts with little people when the gifts have been revealed!

I often reach this point feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. (Why didn't I just buy something? Will they like this or use it? And all the other lurking questions in my internal dialog.)

That's there this year, but it's more of a whisper than a shout. I'm recognizing that what I'm really gifting people with is an intimate look into my values--consideration for people who are less fortunate than we, practical gifts, some traditional nibblies, and so on. I can let go of guilt and shame and fear and hold some of my time in a sacred space to look at lights and pretend to be Santa and making new memories. This is all a surprisingly uncomfortable shift.

I'm also reserving energy for three more days of school before Winter Break. There are so many unpredictable and uncontrollable factors on those last few days. We are going to attempt to maintain some decorum and civility and maybe some learning, too! I also have some cool books to share with my students this week, too. I'll try to share that through the week, too.

How are your preparations going? I hope you will try to carve out a little sacred space to sit with yourself. Sending you good wishes.

Fun Decorations

Have you ever seen the floating eyeball watching you? There are 26 floating eyeballs hanging from the ceiling of my classroom. I don't even remember where I saw this idea, but I can't take credit for it. 4th graders love anything gross or disgusting. That makes this an ideal decoration for our Fall Party.

It's very simple to create, so it doesn't take much class time. Kids can just pull them down and take them home after the party, too. Here's what to do:

• Blow up white balloons


• Use a compass to make 2 circles for the iris and pupil


• Tape the paper circles onto the balloon


• Use a permanent red marker to add bloodshot veins


• Attach yarn or string and hang from the ceiling

What simple party decorating ideas do you have?