Fraction Cards

Teaching fractions to kindergarteners can be a lot of fun!

To make sure your child is ready for the concept of fractions, it is important they know number basics! They should know how to count and do basic single digit addition.

To introduce fractions to my daughter, I would make pancakes and cut one in half. I would show her how two halves make one whole. I did the same with her shoes, or a piece of chocolate that I would share with her.

Whenever we ordered pizza, I would count the slices. If the pizza had 8 slices, I would say that I am going to eat one, so I am eating one of 8 slices.

I didn't use the more formal terms, such as "one eight" because it was more important for her to grasp the concept first.

To help bring the message home, I made my daughter these fun fraction cards!

I made these cards out of regular construction paper. They are simple and my daughter really enjoys them.

We play "restaurant" and I "order" 1/3 of something, or 1/6, and she has to find the right pieces and tell me how many pieces she has left, so she is also subtracting fractions. 

Fun fraction cards to help visualize the concept of fractions!

Mini Hershey Bar Made from Hershey Candy Wrappers!

Another Trash to Treasure Barbie Miniature Project

This was a fun and easy project! Save those wrappers!

I used a Hershey's Mini to make a Barbie sized Hershey Chocolate Bar.

Instructions

1. Eat chocolate.

2. Flattened wrapper. Cut away all the silver part. Then cut the rest in half.

3. Cut a piece of foam or thick cardstock, measured to the size of the lettering on the wrapper. 

4. Cut and glue to foam or thick cardstock. Cut excess from the back. 

5. Bend the edges for a realistic look. 

Miniature Eggs Using Nail Polish, Sunny Side Up!

I made miniature eggs for my daughter's Barbie dollhouse using nailpolish (clear & white) and yellow Play Doh for the yolk. 

You can probably use glue to make it nice and rubbery if you don't have white nail polish. I haven't tried it using glue, but I am a big fan of glue art! I can see it working.

Instructions

1. On wax paper (or plain white paper), dab a white nail polish layer. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle, real eggs aren't.
2. In the middle, add a teeny, tiny piece of yellow Play Doh or clay for the yolk. 
3. Cover everything with clear nail polish. Let dry.
4. Add more white polish around the egg for the yolk. Let dry between layers.
5. Add more clear polish all over the egg, especially over the yolk part. 

Repeat the process, letting dry between layers until you get a nice thick texture and nice clear layers over the entire egg.

After it is dry, cut it from the paper. The white paper or wax paper on the bottom helps keep the bottom sturdy.

My white nail polish bottle looks beige & not white
due to bad lighting.
Use a nice white for a really white egg!

Through the years!

My daughter as the Princess & the Frog, Supergirl and The Little Mermaid!

Both the Supergirl and mermaid costumes were hand made.

The number props were made using foam core board from the dollar store. I just drew the numbers free hand and cut with a box cutter.

 Numbers 1 & 2 were decorated with streamer paper cut into squares and glued on. Number 4 was wrapped in tulle and covered in seashells. I used 4 foam core boards for the Number 4 to make it sturdy.

The Little Mermaid Birthday Party!

The Activities Table


Ariel's Jewelry Boutique: every guest received a necklace.
The DIY necklace, where the children designed their own necklace out of candy.
Temporary tattooes!
Pirate swords, pirate mustache, and pirate patches!

For the cooler, I tried (miserably) to make it look like a treasure chest. We kept the children's juices and water bottles in there, easy reach!

On the bottom right of the table, each child received a set of sand toys for our Prince Eric's Sand Castle Contest!




DIY Snarfblat!

I found a tutorial for this fun bubble maker here, and I thought it looked like the snarfblat, so we had the kids make their own! It was really inexpensive to make and they really loved it!

To make this kid friend photo booth, we took a large folding table, put it on its side and added fun water inspired fabric!

The Little Mermaid Inspired Birthday Photoshoot!

My daughter will be four soon, and every year, we do a themed photoshoot instead of a birthday party.

Except this year. She decided she wanted a party, too! 

Saying she loves mermaids is an understatement. She wanted to be one, so we made my daughter mermaid for a day! It was a lot of fun shooting, the beach was warm, and she got a kick out of other kids calling her Ariel when they saw her!

Photography by Valentin Photography.Location: Leo Carillo Beach, Malibu, California
Costume by me. 
Cuteness by my daughter.

I made the number prop using foam core board and seashells. 

My Daughter Turned 3

Last year, instead of a party, we had a photoshoot with my daughter for her second birthday.

We kept it simple, basically just a costume with a number prop. If anything, the location is what brings it all together!

The Princess & the Frog theme!

We decided to keep it going, so this year we did another one!  This time we did a Supergirl photoshoot.

My mom made her costume, and I made her boots and the number 3 for the prop.

Pictures were done by ValentinPhotography.com.  

These were taken at a train yard.  

DO NOT TAKE PICTURES NEAR TRAINS UNLESS YOU HAVE TWO PEOPLE DESIGNATED TO WATCH FOR ONCOMING TRAINS!  The trains were very hard to hear!

This used to be a rock!

Making sure the playground is free of
bullies!