Thursday, May 14, 2015

New Product: Flexible Magnetic Felt Board


We recently started making an educational product that takes a familiar item and extends its use.

The flannel board has been used for years for teaching and play. By adding a magnetic backing, the flannel board can be put on any surface that holds magnets--a refrigerator, a filing cabinet, or a magnetic white board.

The flannel is large enough (24 inches by 22.5 inches) to hold many felt pieces, and it can be easily rolled up for storage. It is made of quality flannel and magnetic backing.

It can be purchased on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Community Giving Article published in Seton Magazine

Seton Magazine has published my article about our community giving project. My wife had the idea of a community giving project which involved choosing three different areas for giving and planning to give to one area each month through a creative project or idea.  The monthly projects have been varied and a great experience.

The article chronicles some of our ideas based on her ideas and the fun things we have done in giving back to the people in our community.

The article can be read here.

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Friday, January 02, 2015

Art Friday: Two Trees

Merry Christmas! 
and 
Happy New Year 2015!

This Art Friday post contains two pieces by LG.  One from the last Art Friday of 2014, and one from the first Art Friday of 2015.

First, a scratch art project with an Advent and Christmas flavor.  The idea is from Art Projects for Kids.


Second, a tree in winter.  Again, the idea is from Art Projects for Kids.


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Thursday, December 11, 2014

Celebrating the Season of Advent, Part 6: Names of Jesus Tree


The season of Advent is focused on preparation. Often it can be an overwhelming season of preparation as Christmas events and activities make it more about Christmas "now" rather than Christmas "almost". We have found that the addition of Advent activities helps us prepare for Christmas by providing us with reminders of what we are preparing for during this time.

The names of Jesus tree is one of these Advent reminders. The idea and the attractive ornaments come from here. We attached the ornaments to card stock, punched holes in the top, and use cut pipe cleaners to attach the ornaments to the tree.

LG and I made the Christmas tree on poster board. We have made adding an ornament one of our daily activities during Advent. Each day, LG adds another ornament to the tree which has a special name for Jesus. There is a verse associated with the name. (The reference is written on the back of the ornament.) Sometimes we look up the verse, but even if we do not make the reinforcement, we are reminded of the many names of Jesus that help us in some way to grasp the mystery for which we are preparing during this season of Advent--the birth of Jesus who is fully God and fully man.

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Sunday, December 07, 2014

Sunday Art: Drawings and Origami

This morning, LG and I drew pictures and made a couple of origami pieces.  Although arts and crafts take place fairly often around here, this might have been to make up for there being no planned art project on Friday.

Forest Path


Cardinal

Heart

Christmas Tree

Information about how to fold the origami pieces can be found here.

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Friday, December 05, 2014

Celebrating the Season of Advent, Part 5: Wiseman Whereabouts

One of the important themes of Advent is preparation. Over the centuries, God was preparing His people for the arrival of the Messiah. He sent kings and prophets and lay people to help prepare His people for the perfect moment when He would take on flesh and dwell among us. We, too, are called during Advent to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus on Christmas. It is a journey of faith that has ups and downs, ins and outs, but always an overall movement forward toward our Savior.

Scripture does not tell us much about the wisemen, but we know that they journeyed from the east to Bethlehem. We do not know how many there were, but tradition, based on the three gifts they brought has suggested that there were three magi.  They followed a star, but they did not know to who or what it would lead them. Nonetheless, they came in faith.

Wisemen Whereabouts: The Three Wisemen

Wisemen Whereabouts: The Clue Board

As a fun reminder of the magi's journey and our own journey during Advent, we came up with Wisemen Whereabouts. The idea is very simple. Each morning the wisemen are in a different place in the house. There is a clue to help LG find them, and almost first thing, after she comes downstairs, she tries to find them. They begin their journey at the start of Advent, and they will continue each day until Epiphany.  The idea for Wisemen Whereabouts is a rendition of what I learned about from here.

It is very easy to prepare this.  LG made a picture on card stock of the wisemen, and I simply use masking tape to attach the picture of them somewhere in the house. I added the clue board which allows an index card to be slipped in and out for the clue.

This is our second year of Wiseman Whereabouts, and to date, this year, the wisemen have been on the sideboard, on the dryer, near the television, and on top of a helium-filled balloon.

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Wednesday, December 03, 2014

The Rabbits Celebrate Advent and Christmas eBook is now Available


Last month saw the release of the first Bear and Rabbit Reader series eBook--The Rabbits' Thanksgiving.

Just in time for Advent and Christmas, the second book in the series has been released--The Rabbits Celebrate Advent and Christmas. The story follows Tom and Martha Rabbit and their family through their preparation during Advent and their fun Christmas Day.

The Bear and Rabbit Book Series is for story time, bedtime reading, and for early readers. The stories include fun illustrations on every page.

The story is available in virtually any type of eBook format.  If you are looking for a fun story to read to your children or for one of your early readers to read to you, you can get a copy of the eBook for Kindle, Nook, or Kobo.

For more information, you can visit the the Bear and Rabbit Reader Series Facebook page.

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