Keeping up with the Kiddos

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Girl Scout BINGO

Hi everyone! It's been a while! I always thought that when my kids became school-aged I would have more time on my hands, but it turns out I was wrong. Life just gets busier the older the kids get. But it's a "good-busy". The bottom line is that I'm busy keeping up with my kiddos and don't have time to keep up with my blog :(

Until today! I'm always trying to come up with new, fun activities to do with my daughters' Girl Scout troops. Based on the response from my Drops in the Bucket Daisy activity, I get the feeling that may be looking for ideas too! I came up with the idea to make Girl Scout BINGO cards for an end-of-year party activity.

I made 20 unique BINGO cards and a set of Caller Cards.

I laminated our cards so that we could use them year after year.

Caller Card 1

Caller Card 2

Caller Card 3

If you would like to purchase the PDF copies of the BINGO cards and Caller Cards for $5 you can pay my PayPal account and I'll email them to you.

Click this link to pay via PayPal: www.paypal.me/CReeves/5

Be sure to leave your email address and the files you are requesting in the comments section too. My turnaround time is 1-2 days :)

Hope you all have a fun summer!

Friday, June 2, 2017

Bridal Shower BINGO

My daughter's teacher is getting married in July and before the end of the school year I threw her a SURPRISE bridal shower with a couple other moms. First, I've never thrown a bridal shower and second, I've never thrown a surprise party. Especially one that involved 40 kids! I was a bit nervous. Long story short...It was a successful surprise and a GREAT party!

I looked all over Pinterest and didn't find a lot of ideas for throwing a bridal shower that involved kids so I had to get creative. Kids love games so we played two games to start: Bridal Shower BINGO and Pin the Veil on the Soon-To-Be Bride.

I looked everywhere online and couldn't find a Bridal Shower BINGO game that I liked and could afford on our limited budget. So I made one instead. It took some serious time but in the end I was so happy with how it turned out! I made 20 unique BINGO cards using 24 different wedding images.

BINGO Card

BINGO Caller Cards

We used BINGO Cover Chips but you could also cut up small squares from cardstock to use as covers. And I bought a few prizes from Dollar Tree for the winners too.

If you'd like to purchase the PDF BINGO files for $5 you can pay my PayPal account and I'll edit the name on the files and email them to you.

Click this link: www.paypal.me/CReeves/5

Be sure to leave the following information in the comments:
1. Your email address
2. The files you're requesting (i.e.; Bridal Shower Bingo)
3. The bride-to-be's married name (to personalize the BINGO cards)

My turnaround time is 1-2 days :)

Next we played Pin the Veil on the Bride-to-Be. We enlarged a picture of the bride-to-be, gave her a sticker tiara, and laminated the picture. Then we made small tulle veils to "pin". Sorry I don't have pictures of the veils.

Lastly, we had the kids write their words of wisdom for the soon-to-be bride and groom.

We also put together these cute centerpieces. I can't take credit for any of it. Another mom who's super talented did all the flowers and Ring Pops and they looked amazing! We were allowed 30 minutes to set up for the party so this was no small feat! PS - She also made the "Pin the Veil" game :)

If you want to see some of the other ideas I considered, check out my Bridal Shower Pinterest board. There are some cute Wed-Libs printables and coloring pages.

Best of luck!

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Valentine Bucket Fillers

I've had such an amazing response to my Bucket Filler post that I decided to update it for classroom Valentine's Day / Friendship Day parties! We are doing this activity in my 1st graders classroom at their Valentine's Day party. If you are a fan of Bucket Fillers, you have to check it out!

FIRST we will read the book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud.

Have you heard of Bucket Fillers? Bucket filling is using actions or words to show someone kindness and respect, as opposed to Bucket Dipping which is saying or doing something unkind to another person. This concept is being incorporated in classrooms across the country, seemingly in response to the bullying epidemic.

SECOND each child will get a "bucket" (red Solo cup) to decorate with Valentine stickers and Sharpies. They'll put their name on the outside of the bucket.

THIRD the kids will cut out their heart compliments.

FOURTH the kids can sign their name on the back of the heart compliments. We will also pass out blank hearts for the kids to make their own compliments. The paper is red but the scan makes it look pink for some reason.

Small Hearts

Large Hearts

Now they're ready to fill each others buckets by selecting a compliment to place in their classmates' buckets. Afterwards, they can look through the "drops in their buckets" that they received and read the compliments from their friends. We will talk about how when you fill someone else's bucket, it makes you feel good and you end up filling your own bucket as well!

If you would like to purchase PDF copies of the "heart" files for $2 you can pay my PayPal account and I'll email them to you.

Click this link: www.paypal.me/CReeves/2

Be sure to leave your email address and specify that you want the "heart files" in the comments too! My turnaround time is 1-2 days :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Grinch Dust -- 3rd Grade Christmas Party!

I'm knee deep in planning classroom Christmas parties for my 1st and 3rd grader but I just had to share this fun holiday idea. Be sure to read to the end! We are planning a Grinch themed party for the 3rd graders. Here are the details:

Pin the Heart on the Grinch

We found some free printable Pin the Heart on the Grinch games here:
Free Printable #1
Free Printable #2

Grinch Ornament
We are using clear plastic ornaments and filling them with green tissue paper, red hearts and jingle bells. The hanger is a sparkly green pipe cleaner. And the kids can write their name on their ornaments with red and green paint pens.

Christmas Coal and Grinch Juice
The snack will be Christmas Coal made from Cocoa Krispies and marshmallows and green "Grinch Juice".

Grinch Dust
My favorite part!! The kids will get to take home a bag of Grinch Dust. I made these using a lot of sugar and green food coloring. The Wilton Icing Colors has the best color green. I also threw in some green sprinkles.

I used Wilton 3x4 Treat Bags (you can find them at Walmart or Michaels).

And I made these fun tags for the bags.

(this bag has all green sprinkles in it)

If you'd like to purchase the PDF file for the tags, you can send $1.50 to my PayPal account and I'll email them to you. Be sure to leave your email address and the files you're requesting in the comments too! My turnaround time is 1-2 days :)

Click this link: www.paypal.me/CReeves/1.50

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Clara's Paw Patrol Birthday Party

Hi! I'm still here! I've been too busy to blog lately, but Clara just celebrated her 4th birthday and the Paw Patrol party was a HUGE hit so I thought I'd share. PS - I was not paid by Nick Jr for this post. I just loved all their free stuff!!!

PART 1: GAMES

Pin the Badge on Skye

This free poster came from the Nick Jr. Paw Patrol website. I taped the poster together and also taped it to a piece of pink poster board, then laminated it. I cut out the badges and laminated them as well so everything could be reused.

Clara's first attempt was a little bit off ;)

Photo Booth Props
The photo booth props were also free printables on the Nick Jr. Paw Patrol Website. I cut out and laminated the Skye masks as well so that they wouldn't tear. I found the pink elastic cord at Michaels.

I didn't laminate the Paw Patrol face cut out but I did tape it to white poster board.

I made the backdrop for the photo booth using brown craft paper and circle punches to make the paw prints.

(see Part 6: Templates for info about signs)

PART 2: DECORATIONS

Table Decor
The Paw Patrol confetti on the tables came from a Nick Jr. Paw Patrol Potty Chart free printable. I made the table runner using the same materials from the photo booth.

Birthday Wreath
Click here to see how I made our birthday balloon wreath.

PART 3: FOOD

Snacks
I found these cute dog bowls at Dollar Tree.

Cake
I had a local baker make this cute cake based off a picture I found online. We used Clara's toys as cake toppers.

PART 4: BIRTHDAY OUTFIT

I found Clara's outfit (pants, shirt and bow) on Etsy. Unfortunately, when I received the outfit two days before the party the shirt had been made incorrectly! She's only turning 4!!!

The Etsy shop couldn't send me a replacement in time for the party so they just refunded my money. Luckily I have wonderful friends who came to my rescue. One friend loaned me a Paw Patrol shirt to match Clara's outfit.

And another friend had this cute matching shirt made at Zoey's Attic in time for the party!

I'm so grateful to have awesome friends in my life :)

PART 5: ACTIVITY STATIONS

All of the signs that you see can be tailored for your party and purchased. See Part 6: Templates below.

Station 1: Clara's Pet Adoption Store
I wrapped a cardboard box in a green plastic table cloth. Then I used white card stock to make the fence. The Adoption Certificate and Pet License came from the Nick Jr. Paw Patrol website.

The girls are obsessed with Beanie Boos!

I cut out the Adoption Certificates and Pet Licenses and taped them to card stock.

Station 2: Clara's Animal Hospital

Station 3: Clara's Pet Grooming

I found the Paw Patrol lanyards at Party City. I used elastic hair bands as a pet collar to attach the lanyard like a like a lease.

Station 4: Decorate a Dog Bone
I used a template to make the dog bones and found the stickers at Dollar Tree. I used white card stock to make the bones.