Airplane Crafts for Kids

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Airplane Crafts

Toilet Paper Roll Airplane

Kids love toilet paper roll crafts.  They are usually simple and versatile.  Instruct your kids to paint or color the paper roll.  For smaller planes, use a toilet paper roll or cut a paper towel roll in half.  For larger planes, use the entire paper towel roll.  Remind the kids that too much paint will make the paper roll soggy so only use a little bit of paint.  After the paint dries, glue the tubes together so that one is perpendicular to the other.  Then, split the tail end with a pair of scissors.  Add a strip of paper through the slit.  You might have to glue or paper clip the strip of paper in so that it stays in place while in flight.  If weather permits, take the kids outside to enjoy their planes.

Laundry Pin Airplane

Use wooden laundry pins and tongue depressors to make this cute wooden airplane.  Allow the children to paint the wooden pins and depressors in whatever colors they like.  After the paint dries, glue the pieces together.  Cut tail spikes out of craft foam and let the children paint them to match their planes.

Play-Doh Planes

Get out the Play-Doh and allow the kids to craft their own planes.  They can mold and shape small planes, large planes, various shaped planes, and unusual planes.  Don’t expect aerodynamically correct planes.  Allow the kids to use their imaginations and create whatever sort of plane they want.  The purpose of this activity is to exercise fine motor skills as they work.

Field Trip:  Air Show

If possible, schedule a field trip to an air show.  The kids can see the planes in motion.  They might even get a chance to climb on-board a grounded plane and learn about the inside and how pilots fly planes.

Read Books about Planes

This one should have been at the top of the list!  Read, read, read.  Go to the library, download books on your eReader devices, iPads, etc.  Find all the books you can find about airplanes and read them with your kids. (See Suggestions Below!)

Airplane Snack

Obtain the old fashioned pre-wrapped Smarties candies, sticks of gum, Life Savers or any kind of mint with a hole in the middle, and a rubber-band.  Glue the gum stick onto the Smarties candy so that the two snacks are perpendicular to one another.  Then run the rubber band through the Life Saver holes and wrap them around the candy.  Secure the Life Saver wheels in place by hooking the rubber-band around the ends of the gum-stick.

Just Draw

Give the children crayons, pencils, colored pencils, pens, and a lot of paper.  Allow the children to draw planes.  Allow them to use their imaginations and draw, draw, draw.

Airplane Books from Usborne Books

100 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly

This item is available here.

Packed with brilliantly designed paper planes to make and fly, ranging from fighter planes to space rockets and creepy flying bugs. This book features four different models to perfect, each with their own concise instructions on how to best fold and fly them. Printed on special tear-out pages, each of the 100 planes features a unique design.

100 More Paper Planes to Fold and Fly

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Form a squadron and fill the skies with spectacular paper planes! Choose from 100 colourful versions of four unique designs including rockets, fighting tigers and speedy shuttles.

• Includes clear and concise instructions on how to fold and fly your plane and precise guidelines to master different flying techniques.
• Also includes advanced tips for high flyers!

200 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly

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Hours of interactive fun for the whole family, this pad includes designs from 100 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly and 100 More Paper Planes to Fold and Fly. With tips to improve your flying skills at the back of the book.

Put your flying skills to the test with these spectacular paper planes. With 200 tear-out sheets to choose from, make your aircraft into rocketing robots, squirming squid, supercharged engines, or alien invaders. 

Lift and Look Planes

This item is available here.

• Which plane can land on water? What's happening at the airport?
  Find out by lifting all the flaps in this delightful board book.
• Busy scenes provide lots to see and talk about,
  helping to expand vocabulary and develop observation skills.

On the Plane (A Shine-A-Light Book)

This item is available here.

What can you spot at the airport today? Shine a light behind the page and see … From the airport staff who X-ray the baggage and check passports, to the pilots who fly the planes, each page-turn takes you behind the scenes of an exciting plane trip.

Planes

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How fast does a plane move along the runway? What happens to your luggage? How does the captain know which way to fly the plane? In this book you'll find the answers and lots more about planes.

Planes is part of an exciting new series of books for children who are beginning to read on their own. The easy-to-read text has been specially written with the help of a reading expert.

This is an Accelerated Reader title.  Accelerated Reader (AR) is the world's most popular reading management software.  Used in nearly 60,000 schools, Accelerated Reader provides teachers with an easy and effective way to monitor all forms of guided reading practice.

Wind Up Plane Book

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Wind up the plane and watch it whiz around the tracks in this delightful interactive book.

 100 Things to Do On A Plane

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Includes individual activities such as drawing, mazes, and anagrams as well as group activities including battleships, hangman, and 4-in-a-row; sure to keep children (and adults!) amused for hours.

That's Not My Plane

This item is available here.

This delightful series of board books is aimed at very young children. The bright pictures with their patches of different textures, are designed to develop sensory awareness and language awareness. Babies and toddlers will love turning the pages and touching the feely patches.

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Lesson Ideas for Water Quality Month (August)

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Lesson Ideas for Teaching Children About Water Quality

The month of August is known as Water Quality Month. Include lesson plans, activities, and crafts into your daily lesson plans which encourage students to appreciate the environment in which they live and help them learn the importance of good water quality.

Field Trip

Take students on a field trip to a nearby water treatment facility. Students will learn how water is filtered and recycled into the environment.

Crafts 

Include games, activities, and crafts that help reinforce your lessons. Encourage children to create habitats, build aquariums, and develop poster board presentations which demonstrate the water cycle. Instruct students to create seashore collages, construct rainbows from melted crayons or tissue paper squares, and “paint” with colored sand.

Test Water Quality 

How clean is the water in your home or classroom?  Test your water quality using a water test kit.

This item is available here.

Videos 

Show videos which teach children the importance of good water quality. Check in your local libraries, school media centers, and online for good quality videos. PBS Teacher provides great teacher resources.

Websites: PBS Teacher and Lesson Planet 

PBS Teacher provides a wealth of resources for teachers and students. Teachers will find complete units containing detailed lesson plans which outline learning objectives. The site provides a complete list of materials, class organization tips for teaching the unit, a detailed lesson plan, student hand-outs, rubrics, and assessments. The unit on water quality provides teachers with eight separate lesson plans and links to great videos to aid in instruction. PBS Teacher provides everything teachers need to develop complete instructional units which satisfies state standards and provides quality instruction which makes learning fun for both students and teachers. The site is free to use.

Lesson Planet is another site which provides teachers with good quality lesson plans. Teachers can access state standards from the site. Simply click on “standards”, and then choose a state. Lesson plan ideas are provided for all grade levels from Preschool through higher education. Lesson are ranked based on the “five star” system. Teachers may browse the site for ideas, but membership is required to access complete units and lesson plans. The cost is low and Lesson Planet generally offers the first month or two for free. Teachers can easily cancel their subscription at any time.

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Watermelon Activities for Kids

Watermelon Activities for Kids

Watermelon Activities for Kids

Summer season is watermelon season.  Besides eating it, here are several watermelon activities you can do with your kids.

Make Watermelon Shakers

Provide each child with one paper plate, dried beans, red paint, green paint, and dried watermelon seeds. Instruct the children to fold the plate in half. Staple the plate together. Leave enough space for children to add beans to make the shaker. Then, finish stapling the plate together. Tell the children to paint the rippled, stapled portion of the plate green to resemble the rind of a sliced watermelon. Then paint the rest of the plate red to resemble the watermelon fruit. After the paint dries, instruct the children to glue watermelon seeds to the red portion of the plate. After the watermelon shakers are complete, allow the children to shake away!

Watermelon Seed Letters and Counters

Save and dry watermelon seeds. Give each child a piece of writing paper with the first letter of their names already written on it. Instruct the children to glue the watermelon seeds on the letters.

Make water melon name plates. Give each child a short sentence strip with their names written on it. Allow the children to outline their names with watermelon seeds.

Give the children laminated mats with several circles drawn on it. Provide each child with one slice of watermelon and instruct them to save the seeds. After eating the watermelon, dry the mats with a paper towel and tell the children to count their seeds. Then tell them to place two seeds in each circle and count by twos. Do the same activity with five seeds in each circle and count by fives, and so forth.

Measurement

Make watermelon rulers. Cut poster board into strips measuring approximately one half inch wide and several inches long. Glue on watermelon seeds so that they touch end to end. Use the ruler to measure “watermelon seed length” of various objects around the classroom. Students might determine that a crayon measures ten watermelon seeds or the length of a book measures 40 watermelon seeds.

Watermelon Circle Time

Sing watermelon songs and play watermelon games. Before slicing into a watermelon, ask students to guess how many seeds are in the watermelon. Ask the children to save the seeds from their slice of watermelon and then count the seeds. Offer a prize to the student with the closest estimate. Have the children make up a watermelon rhyme using each letter in the word “watermelon.”

Watermelon Snacks

Either bake watermelon cookies at home and bring them to share with your students or ask a parent to bake the cookies and bring them in for a special watermelon snack. Students might also enjoy watermelon flavored lollipops and watermelon punch. Ask students and parents to share their favorite watermelon recipes and make a class “Watermelon Recipe Book.” Send a copy of the recipe book home with each student and don’t forget to keep one for yourself.

These activities not only teach children to appreciate watermelon, but they also provide children with opportunities to learn letters, numbers, counting, measurement, and develop small motor skills. Such basic skills will provide a foundation for academic success. 

Image Credit:  Abundant Family Living (Tina Truelove)

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To Save A Life (Movie Review)

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  To Save a Life

Every teenager should watch the movie To Save A Life. To Save A Life deals with faith in God (and the struggle to keep it) in the midst of the challenges teenagers face today: drugs, sex, alcohol, teen pregnancy, divorce, and teen suicide. To Save A Life teaches that every life matters – the unborn, the outcast, the popular, the young, the old – every life is valuable.

The movie is a Samuel Goldwyn film and New Song Pictures production with Outreach Films in association with Accelerated Entertainment. The movie features Randy Wayne, Deja Kreutzberg, and Joshua Weigel. The movie is rated PG-13.

Jake Taylor is a popular teenager with a future including a basketball scholarship. He is a popular athlete who dates a popular cheerleader.

Jake grew up with Roger, his childhood best friend. Roger’s young life is very different from Jake’s. A childhood injury hindered Roger’s athletic abilities. His skin is a different color. He has no girlfriend and fewer friends in general. Shortly after entering high-school, their lives take different turns and their friendship fades into the past. While Jake is living the dream of every teenager, Roger is pushed aside into a life of rejection and loneliness. Roger eventually makes a drastic decision that changes Jake’s life forever.

In the midst of many teen struggles, Jake cannot shake the question, “Could I have helped Roger?"
Jake makes a new friend, Chris, a local youth minister. Chris shows Jake that there is meaning to life and that every life is valuable. As Jake reaches out to others who are outcast, lonely, and rejected ,he finds himself placing his faith in God. Jake’s new friend and his new faith gives him the support he needs to endure the effects of a life spinning out of control.

Will Jake’s new-found faith cost him his girlfriend? his popularity?

Will Jake be able to help another new friend, Johnny, who was also a lonely outcast?

Will Jake be able to get control of his life?

How will Jake’s decisions affect his future?

To Save A Life places all the challenges and temptations our teenagers face on a daily basis into perspective. Teenagers make decisions every day that can change their future and the future of others around them.

Teenagers and adults struggle to keep their faith in God when things are not going well. Teenagers and adults question why God allows bad things to happen to people.

Worlds fall apart. Faith is shaken. Lives are changed.

God’s love for every life remains steadfast, but not everyone knows that. It is up to those who know the value of human life and the importance of faith in an unfailing God to let others know how valuable they are.

Every teenager and every adult should see this movie.

Getting Help

• Find Christian Counselor - Masters Level and PhD Christian Licensed Therapists in Your Area Locates Qualified Christian Therapists Nationwide
• Teen Suicide – Adolescent Suicide Statistics and Prevention - Teen suicide statistics and articles on adolescent suicide prevention as well as teenage suicide warning signs. Get the stats on teen suicide today and related issues like teen depression.

Get your copy of To Save a Life here.

Click the image or click here to purchase To Save a Life.

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Lesson Activities About Inventors and Inventions

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 Lesson Activities About Inventors and Inventions

Here are 4 activities that will enhance science lessons involving both historical and newer inventions. Encourage children to use their imaginations and think about their futures and inventions that might make their lives easier or more productive.

1. Divide the children into groups of three or four per group. Give each group a piece of poster board cut into strips approximately 8 inches by 12 inches. Assign each group a time period. Instruct the students to choose an inventor and invention significant to the time period assigned to them. Tell them to either draw, print, or cut out pictures of the inventor and the famous invention. They must also include a few paragraphs describing the inventor and his or her invention. Tell them to include information explaining why the invention was needed or why it was important. How has it shaped the world we know today? Include the time period on the poster strip.

After each group has completed the assignment. Attach the poster strips in chronological order to create a detailed, colorfully illustrated timeline of inventions and their inventors.

2. Instruct students to choose a famous inventor and create a poster display describing the inventor and invention. If possible, have the student include props and/or demonstrate how the invention works. Allow each student to present his project to the class. Display the projects somewhere in the school for others to enjoy such as the media center.

3. Develop a lesson plan around Louis Braille. Louis Braille is responsible for the “Raised Dot Alphabet” that we know as Braille. Provide students with sentence strips and paper clips or another object sharp enough to create holes or raised bumps in the paper, but safe enough for students to use. After studying about Louis Braille, provide students with samples of Braille material. Contact a local media center or The American Foundation for the Blind for materials. Allow the students to explore the materials with their fingers. Have them close their eyes and run their fingers across the Braille pages. Then, ask them to create a sentence in Braille using the materials provided. When their sentences are complete, have them switch with other students and attempt to read the sentences with their eyes closed as the run their fingers across the sentences.

4. If possible, take a field trip to a museum featuring inventors and inventions. After returning to the classroom and discussing the experiences at the museum, instruct the children to imagine themselves as inventors and work on a few inventions of their own! Allow them to share their inventions with the class. You never know, you might be inspiring a future famous inventor right there in your classroom!

PIN ME!

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How to Teach Scripture Memorization to Children 

It is never too early or too late to begin teaching children to memorize scripture. Scripture memorization is a learned skill which benefits the youngest of children to the oldest of adults. Some find memorizing scripture much more difficult than others, but some creative memorization methods might help make scripture memory a little easier. Scripture memorization doesn’t have to be dull and boring.  It can be fun.

 Make Scripture Memory a Family Routine

Make scripture memorization part of your daily family routine. Sit down together and decide on a few shorter Bible verses which are easier for children to understand. You might choose from the following suggestions:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life.  John 3:16

Children, obey your parents in all things for this pleases the Lord.  Colossians 3:20

Wherever your treasure is; that is where your heart will be.  Matthew 6:21

Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 4:32

But the fruits of the spirit are these: Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. There is no law that can say these things are wrong.  Galatians 5:22-23

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

Once your children memorize a few shorter verses, they will feel successful, realizing that scripture memorization is not as difficult as they might have thought. Then, you can add a few more challenging memory verses to your family scripture memory list.

Make Scripture Memorization a Game 

Children love games and the matching game of concentration is a favorite.

 Make a Scripture Memory Concentration Game

Choose a scripture memory verse. Cut several index cards in half. Write the words onto the index cards, one word per card. Don’t forget to include the scripture “address,” the place in the Bible where the scripture is found, such as “John 3:16.” Write several other random words onto extra cards so that you can mix up all the words and lay them all out face down to create a square. For example, you will have four rows of cards with four index cards in each row – or more, depending on the length of the verse.

Tell the first child to flip over a card. If the first flipped card reveals the first word in the Bible memory verse, he may leave the card right-side-up and then flip over a second. If the second card reveals the second word in the verse, he may leave it right side up and collect two points, one for each card flipped. Then, the next person gets a chance. If the first person flips over a card which does not reveal the first word in the verse, he must turn the card back over, collect no points, and let the next person try. The game continues until all the words are revealed in order, but each child can only turn over two cards at a time and collect no more than two points for each turn.

If your children are memorizing longer, more challenging verses you can opt to write short phrases on the cards instead of individual words.

Both adults and children can get their creative juices flowing and create other scripture memory games. Some games might be based on already well-known games and some games might be completely made up from scratch. Either way, children will love the games and memorize scripture verses while they play.

Use Music to Teach Children to Memorize Scripture 

Add music and movement to your scripture memory routine. Check your church library for DVDs and CDs which use music to encourage scripture memory.

Encourage children to make up their own memory verse songs. They can use the tunes to songs they already know, substituting the words from their Bible memory verses. They might even like to make up a dance or movement routine to go along with their memory verse song.

Make Scripture Memory Booklets 

Help your child create a scripture memory booklet. Create a booklet which suits your child’s personality. Your child might benefit more from a small booklet made from index cards with only a few simple embellishments and bound with a single ring.  If you have an especially creative little Bible scholar, she might like to create her Bible memory booklet from a full sized three ring album or scrapbook. She can write her memory verse on each page and then decorate the page to correspond with the verse. The process of creating the pages, whether simple or elaborate, will help children memorize the verses. Then, get out the books each day and spend time going over the verses together. Encourage your child to share her booklet with other children, family members, and friends. The more often she reads and shares her memory booklet, the better she knows the verses.

Add Scripture to Crafts

Add scripture verses to your child’s artwork and crafts. When your child draws a picture, write a favorite Bible verse at the top. Choose one that relates to the picture in someway. Display the picture on your refrigerator or in another visible location to aid in scripture memorization. When your child completes a craft project, choose a scripture verse that goes along with the craft and write the verse somewhere on the project. 

Bathe Your Home in Scripture 

Posting sight words around the room is a good way to teach children to read. For example, write the word “chair” on an index card and then tape it to a chair. Write the word “book” on a card and tape it to a book. You get the idea. Use this method to teach children to memorize scripture. Once you pick out the verses you want your child to memorize, write the entire verse on several cards. You can decorate the cards and make them all cute or you can just write the words. Then, tape the cards all around the house. Tape a card to the bathroom mirror so that your child sees the card as he gets ready for school in the morning. Tape another one to the breakfast table, the refrigerator, the snack cabinet, his bed-post, and any other place he might look during the day. The more often he sees the scripture memory card, the faster he will memorize the verse and the more deeply he will know it. Learning to memorize scriptures gives children a solid Bible-based foundation on which to build their faith into adulthood.

Illustrated Bible Stories

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A fully illustrated collection of stories from the Bible, retold for young readers. Including Joseph and the Dreams, The Story of Baby Jesus, The Easter Story, Jonah and the Whale, Noah's Ark and more. A beautiful gift book that children will love to receive on any special occasion..

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You'll find this post and others here at the Faith 'n Friends Friday Link-Up.  Come check out all the great posts!

Things To Do With Your Daughter On Daughter's Day

You have heard of Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. Well, daughters get a day too! Daughter’s Day is in August. Plan a special day for your daughter.

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  Things To Do On Daughter’s Day

See a Movie Together

My daughters love movies.  If we aren't interested in any of the movies playing at the theater, we can usually find something on Netflix or we rent one from Redbox.  Pick something your daughter will love and enjoy spending a few hours together watching one of her favorite films.

Mother-Daughter Crafts

Crafting is a fun way to spend time with your daughter.  When I was a young girl, my mother and I used to make ornaments using Plaster of Paris.  We had so much fun painting the ornaments.  My grandmother taught me to crochet.  I loved the time I spent with her as she showed me how top make granny squares, crocheted ornaments, and afghans.  My other grandmother used to make hairbows from ribbons and buttons.  Sometimes she let me help and I treasure those memories.

Plan a Shopping Trip

Plan a shopping trip that includes much more than just shopping. Begin the day with a nice breakfast. Get your hair and nails done. Younger little girls still enjoy mother-daughter dresses. Older girls prefer to sport their own style, but you can still get away with coordinating colors and go home dressed in the latest fashion styles.

Attend a Class Together

Think of a skill both you and your daughter would like to learn together. Check with your local school system to see what evening community classes are available. Check local newspaper and magazine listings. Choose a class you both enjoy such as crafting, sewing, painting, sculpting, cake decorating, or card making. If you and your daughter tend to enjoy more adventurous activities, choose a class such as water skiing or sky diving.

Enjoy a Relaxing Day

You don’t have to plan trips, shop, or spend any amount of money to give your daughter a special Daughter’s Day. Just spend time with her. Let her know how important she is to you. Let her know you love her. You can stay home and enjoy a long conversation with her, spend a quiet day out by the family pool, or just watch television together. The important thing is that you take time to spend with her and make her feel special. Relax and enjoy Daughter’s Day together.

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