Making my own Christmas ornaments

Those Christmas ornaments, they are so expensive! Sure you can store and use them for more Christmases to come but still.... So I fixed this problem by making my own ornaments. Below are some products of my "creativity." Anyone is welcome to copy. :)

The wreath. I just wanted something simple and cheerful hanging on our front door. The simpler it is, the more expensive it gets. The cheapest I found was for over 200kč and they did look cheap. So I bought the materials and made one myself. The damage? One hundred and nine crowns. Only.

The wand. Just look at them, any 5-year old can do them. I bought the red one from Obi for 27kč. Later I made some with my kids at school. The gold one is my example. I took it home to give the red one a partner. Really it doesn't look inferior at all next to the professionally made one considering I didn't spend a single crown for it.

Our fridge is no longer lonely as its whiteness is no longer unadorned. I made the star. M, my co-teacher, one day thought of making stockings with the kids. She made one as an example and later decided it was too nice or too complicated for them. She ended up making one for me and one for A, another co-teacher.

The "ball." This idea just popped out of nowhere. Last week we had to decorate our Christmas tree at school. I made my kids choose pre-cut shapes from a cardboard paper. They had to cover them with aluminum foil then glue green and red small pieces of colored paper to look like a poinsettia. One tiny piece of yellow paper completed the look.

Making ornaments is fun. I enjoyed it so much I may quit teaching next Christmas and start a career in it. :)

The week in photos

I was in a spring camp with 23 kids. I thought I'd lose my mind being surrounded with them 24/7. I was totally exhilarated when I got off the bus which took us back to Prague this morning. Finally, I have my life back.

This is where I lived for a week, from May 19-25. The place is called Pilnuv Statek, which is in a town called Libice nad Doubravou.

We missed the dandelions because they bloomed too early this year, but the daisies were a delight for everyone. We picked a lot and used them for some potpourri we made for my kids' Moms.
You think life is uncomplicated for her. Not when she thinks she doesn't cycle too fast to catch up with the rest of her friends, and not when her friends tell her she's right. Nevermind, she bounced back and won the race in the end.

A trip to Vesely Kopec on Thursday broke the routine. It's an open-air museum that is worth a visit. We took a 5km hike from this place to catch the bus that would take us back to the camp. It was probably the best day of the camp for me.

Didn't I tell you before that I'm a terrible tourist? I don't know what this building is. It's right in the middle of Libice n/D, across the restaurant where we ate everyday. I didn't see a single soul going inside the building so I don't know if it's abandoned or used for tourism, but it surely looked interesting.

I'm not kidding- this WC really exists and it's behind the place where we were staying. I took a double take when I saw it-- I thought I was in a remote barrio in PI. When we went cycling the first day one kid told me he had to go wee. I told him to run back to the house for the bathroom. Guess what he said? "But that is a toilet," pointing to this version of WC and ran to do his business inside.

My boss thought the place we were staying was probably a graveyard years back because of the trees lined like a pathway leading to the church at the other end. Whatever, I really loved it when we did our lessons under these trees.

This photo will never win any prize but it will always remind me of my last night at the camp. I took this past 8pm when my kids were already in bed. I never thought I'd survive it there because I didn't last year. I've never felt such an extreme desire for the night to be over so I can be back home at last.

Butterflies

The original idea was to use coffee filter for the wings. I went to school thinking we had a pack of them but when I opened the cupboard, nothing, nic, nada. I had to think quickly what I could use as a substitute because in no way I would change my plan of making butterflies with kids that day. The next cupboard provided the answer. It was filled with a stack of colorful paper napkins.

How To:
1. Kids draw on paper napkins using markers.
2. Tie the napkin in the middle using a string or a thread.
3. For the body and antenna, glue pipe cleaners on a lolly stick.
4. Glue or tie the wings to the lolly stick. Now you can spread your wings and prepare to fly coz you now have a beautiful butterfly. :)

Just so my fans would know (yeah, I do have some :), I wouldn't be blogging for a week. I'm off to the countryside with the kids tomorrow for our annual spring camp. Catch you, guys, soon.

Wild spots and stripes

Didn't I say I love it when we have Animals as a topic at school? There are a million and one things you can do with kids. Making masks is one of them. This activity is an all the time hit because not only they love sounding like their fave animals, they absolutely love "looking" like them.

As simple as painting the paper plates orange or yellow and then painting black stripes or spots on them and your kids will now have a tiger and leopard/jaguar masks. For the zebra, kids will just paint the black stripes directly on the paper plate. Pre-cut the eyes for them. Glue on lolly sticks for the handle. Have lots of fun!

The quick fix Queen

Yup, that's me, the self-proclaimed Queen of easy to do and easy to prepare stuff to right away silence the want and the need. I'm talking about food here, or were you thinking otherwise? Hehe.

We've been living in our new flat for a week now. I should be jumping up and down with joy for finally living in a place and be surrounded with things we call ours but maybe I'll save the jubilation later when we finally have our kitchen unit installed. It takes six weeks the earliest for the shop to deliver the materials. We've been washing dishes in the bathroom sink, and the thought of greasing it with a dirty pan doesn't appeal to me at all. Maybe I'll only resume experimenting in the kitchen when everything is installed to my heart's content.

Still, eating outside is unhealthy for both body and pocket. Our quick fix to this is to eat salads in the evenings. A likes his vegetables without any dressing but I sometimes like mine to have a bit of this and that. My co-teacher showed me how to prepare a really tasty and easy to prepare dressing when one day we made "farm salad" with the kids at school as an activity for the Farm theme. Here it is:

"Pepřová omačká s korením," which means pepper sauce with spices, and (nevermind the Czech version) garlic-flavored vinegar. Two spoons of this pepper sauce plus a few drops of this vinegar (or according to your taste) really makes a good dressing.

You can also add cheese in your salad if you feel like it. We used this Chevre du Poitou goat's milk cheese. It's so good I dumped several slices on my plate. It's a bit expensive though, a small pack costs more than a hundred crowns, but it's certainly worth it.

This is one of our cuties who carefully selected the veggies and fruits to bite. Me? I right away stuffed my Hruška (or pear as what A likes to call my stomach) with big bites of lettuce, strawberries, almonds, cheese and whatnot, along with suitably agreeable noises...hmm...hmm...this is good...the dressing is excellent...Can I have some more, please?

LP: "Edible lion"

Animals -- I love this topic. It's so easy I don't have to stare at the ceiling for long when I do my lesson plan. This is one of the most-loved topics, too, as kids love to imitate the noises animals make. Mind you, they can snort better than horses or pigs.

Arts and crafts can sometimes be tiring and boring. Eating can never be boring (at least for me) so one day we decided to make an edible lion for our activity. Though most of them didn't eat their lions, they definitely enjoyed making them. It was messy with lots of shredded carrots ending up on the floor but it was a real winner nonetheless.

" Edible lion" - shredded carrots for mane, a slice of pineapple for head, raisins for eyes and mouth, a cherry for nose.

"Happy Feet"

I remember my co-teacher did this activity with the kids last year. It came in handy last month when we talked about Antarctica and the animals that live there. The kids got tickled about the idea that penguins go skiing so they were enthusiastic to do it. Well, anything to keep their attention and interest going.

I told them to draw their penguin a face. Three year old kids still have difficulty to do it so most of the time we help them. Our little Annie, the youngest in the group, insisted on doing it all by herself. You bet, the one with the "Scream" face is hers.

You need:

black cardboard paper, white paper, lolly sticks, markers and glue.

1. Cut out two penguin shapes, in black cardboard and white paper. Glue them together.

2. Fold the bottom part of the cutout and glue it on two lolly sticks.

3. Draw a face.

Tacos: another quick fix

As you might have noticed, I'm a fan of easy to do stuff. The quicker, the better....well, in cooking, that is. Why, what were you thinking? He-he.

March was international month at school. One of the countries we talked about was Mexico. We prepared tacos with the kids to give them the feel and the taste of the country. There were mixed reactions; some liked it, some refused to eat a bite. I was one of those who really liked it so I decided to include it on my growing "quick fix" list.

TACOS:

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. boneless chicken breast meat, cut into small, bite-size pieces
3/4 c. water
1 package (1.25 ounces) Vitana Taco Seasoning Mix (or any other brand. Vitana is the only brand I found at Tesco)
1 package (12) Vitana Taco Shells
Vitana salsa
Cheese (grated)
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Red Onion
Red or green bell pepper

1. Heat vegetable oil in a pan or wok over medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken and stir occasionally until meat is no longer pink.
3. Add water and seasoning mix. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is thickened and the meat is cooked.
5. Chop lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers.
6. Fill taco shells with chicken mixture and top with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, cheese and salsa. (in any order you like)

LP: Tissue paper flowers

This activity is very handy, not to mention that it's so easy to do. You can use this for several topics like Spring, Summer, Gardens and also for International week/month especially if you talk about Mexico as Mexican girls are usually featured to have colorful flowers on their ears.


You need:

-colorful tissue papers
-pipe cleaner

Tie a knot at one end of the pipe cleaner. Cut out pieces of colorful tissue papers and stick them one on the other end. Pull them up to the knot and twist the pipe cleaner to hold the tissue paper together. You now have a very pretty flower!

Choco-Chip Cookies

Cooking or baking is one thing the kids really love doing. It's also a great learning experience for them. Lots of discoveries take place during cooking activities. They learn about math when they measure something or science when they see a dough rise. They also develop small motor skills by peeling, mixing or any other actions required in cooking.

I have to say again that I've never baked anything in my life until I came to Prague. The first few times we baked bread and cookies at school I was like one of the kids, amazed at how an unassuming flour can turn into such a delectable snack. I was one of the pupils. I still am but one that is gaining confidence in the subject.

Today my co-teacher and I baked choco-chip cookies with the kids. This is such an easy recipe, given by another co-teacher. A no-sweat one like this is what I like best.

CHOCO-CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven at 200 C.

1. Cream: 125 g butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
1 cup crystal sugar

2. Add: 2 whisked eggs. Mix. (the orig recipe only had 1 egg but the dough was crumbly)

3. Add: 2 cups of very fine flour
1/2 sachet baking powder (or a spoon)
1 cup coconut (shredded)

4. Mix.

5. Add: 250 g. choco chips. Mix.

6. Roll into small balls. Gently press and place on a baking paper covered tray.

7. Bake for approximately 15 mins or until they begin to brown.

8. Cool for 10 mins.

Dobrou Chut!

Preschool LP: Painting with cars

Topic: Transportation / Colors

I already posted this on my sidebar a few months ago. The downside of a sidebar is that when you change the texts you can't retrieve them so I'm posting this here to save me from juggling my memory later.

One thing I notice is kids love to play with toy cars, boys and girls alike. As for painting, some of them like it but some also get disgusted with the mere sight of paints since they don't want to have these sticky stuff messing with their already dirty fingers. Having them paint with cars instead of the usual brushes entices them to join this activity.

My co-teacher did this activity with the kids so I don't know if this was her original idea or if she got it somewhere. Anywho, you need toy cars, a big sheet of white or brown paper, and paints for this. If you use this for transport topic, you may explain to the kids first that cars leave tracks when the ground is wet, muddy or when there's snow on it. Then have them dip the wheels on the paint and make their own tracks on the paper. If you do this for theme to recognize colors, you may ask them to dip the cars on a particular color at a time.

Happy tracking!

Lesson/Record plan

I've been attacked by this illness I call blogging malaise for weeks now. A few months ago I was so into it (blogging) but now I can hardly update my page. This is so like me, burning with passion for something right now then having cold feet about it the next. This passion is apparently resurrected at this moment, albeit temporarily, so might as well use it to the max.

Preschool teaching means you gotta be creative. I can't count the times I "invented" some arts and crafts activities which turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, I can't also remember them since ( this is a confession of sorts) I don't keep a record of things I did that worked well with kids. It's my second year at the school now and some topics are the same as that of last year's yet I still spend time planning my activities because my memory simply deserts me when I need it the most. I gotta change this awful habit. Right here, right now.

TOPIC: NATIVE AMERICANS (International Month)

The talking stick - has been used for centuries by many Native Americans to designate who has the right to speak. We explained to the kids that only the one holding the stick can talk and the rest will have to listen. This is a great tool at circle time since they want to talk at the same time.

For activity we went for a walk so the kids can look and pick for their own sticks. When we went back inside the classroom we decorated their sticks with feathers and beads. An easy activity but lots of fun for them.

Native American bags - Materials needed are lunch bags, strings, colored papers and a glue stick. Simply cut a part of the bag to make a fringe then glue it at the bottom. Kids can cut the colored papers (or pre-cut them) to the shapes they like and glue them on the paper. Punch holes on the upper sides of the paper to attach the string for the handle.

There, I surely wont need my memory next time. If there will be a next time, that is.

The Gingerbread House

One thing about blogging is that you have to be sure about the facts of what you’re writing. With that said, I have to warn you people that my once infallible memory couldn’t be trusted 100 percent anymore since I reached the big three-oh, so I'm not really sure if I could remember this particular experience in detail. I was just viewing our picture files when I remembered about this trip we made with my kids at the preschool during the summer camp barely two months ago and thought I should share this.

The place is called "Perníková Chaloupka" which means Gingerbread House. It is in a small village called Ráby in the district of Pardubice, a two-hour drive from Prague. This is a place best for children as it is inspired by "Hansel and Gretel," the immortal duo who came upon the witch’s house made of gingerbread in the middle of the woods....oh you know the story, don't you?

There is a guided tour inside this big house (no, it's not made of gingerbread at all) which has the following stops:

-the steel bars with attached holes to measure if your fingers are fat enough for you to unfortunately become the witch’s yummy dinner.

- a miniature house made of gingerbread. In this room the children will be told stories and be asked some questions though I didn’t understand anything because it was in Czech. But judging from the kids' expressions and enthusiastic replies, I knew they were having a grand time.

- the witch’s lair. This room is pitch-dark with skeletons and dead people everywhere... Oh, not for real. Just dummies he-he. If your kid is afraid of the dark, better skip this room but none of our kids cried so go ahead, have fun with this one...

- the baker’s room. They will show you how to make the gingerbread with all those intricate designs. I remember the smell of this room. It was heavenly.

- the showroom. Amazing how they could turn a gingerbread into a winter wonderland.

- Heaven and hell. When we went there heaven was still under construction but hell has long been finished. Fabulous. It was soo hot inside this room with red lights and scary-looking "people." My kids' reaction? "It’s not so bad at all."

After the tour each of us was given a gingerbread to eat. What’s good about this place is there is a castle or ruins of a castle on top of a hill which is just a few minutes walk through the woods. There is also like a farm where goats and some ostrich are roaming around. I have to admit it wasn’t just the kids who enjoyed this trip, I had a fantastic time as well.

For more info about this place, visit http://www.pernikova-chaloupka.cz/.