#random

Ok.  Let's face it.  There are plenty of random (or seemingly random) things all around us, but sometimes it's the random things that make us smile.  =)

I just ran across this "random" photo i took from the 1st week of school, and I still get such a kick out of it every time I see it.

Do you see it?

After my kids got settled in the morning I was making my rounds and started to laugh when this caught my attention.  Totally not what I was expecting to see amongst the bookbags.

These are actually the 3 "Important Things" one of my boys brought in to share on his getting-to-know you day.  I assigned each row a day when they could bring 3 things that were important to them to share with the class.  After sharing I had students write a response in their journals about any connections or things in common they might have had with the students who shared that day.  

When this little guy unpacked his bookbag he knew it wasn't time to bring his important things to his desk, so he lovingly (and creatively) stacked them in the back of the room under his bookbag.  Love it.

It's the random things . . . 

=)

Cute and Crafty

I was flipping through the Parents magazine that just came in the mail last night and saw this really cute idea-

From the January 2014 Parents Magazine

They call them "Jungle Book Ends".  I thought this would be such a cute idea for the classroom, and it's such an easy way to make customized pieces to match your classroom theme!

Basically all you do is attach a plastic to jungle animal to a wood block and paint it.

That's it.

You're done!

How simple is that?  I totally love that you just paint the block and the decorating object the same solid color.  Simple and not overdone . . . and makes it so much easier to fit whatever color scheme you've got going on in your room (if you have one).

You can get the wooden block pieces from anywhere like Lowe's or Home Depot.  I'm sure if you ask nicely they'll even cut those wooden posts to your desired size.  Then you can find the decoration piece at garage sales, Goodwill, craft stores like Michaels, etc.  I've bought those rubbery animals from Hobby Lobby before as decoration for my daughter's birthday party one year and they were pretty inexpensive.  You can use a hot glue gun to attach your decoration, or if you want a really secure hold you might think about drilling up through the wooden block into the decoration and securing with a screw.  That's if you're really, REALLY serious about a good hold!  Then just grab some spray paint (in any color of your choice) and give the book end a good coat.

I rummaged around in my daughter's toy box and found these items as an example of some things you might even use!

This is actually a bath toy we got her from Walmart.  I think it was $1.

Toy bowling ball and pin.  (Do you recognize these, Dana and Katie?  LOL!)

Rubber Ducky

Tea pot and tea cup from her tea set

Uh . . . this is actually my dog's squeaky hamburger to.  I think it was from the Target Dollar section ages ago!

 You get the point.  Have fun!  Be creative!  I'm thinking that a nice coat of silver, gold, or some kind of metallic paint would glam it up if you wanted to do something like this for your office.