RoseArt Contest & Give-a-way: Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk

Want to win $200 Visa Gift Card, while having fun with your children and being creative? RoseArt has a new product out called "Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk." They are sponsoring a fabulous contest with this new Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk.

The Product: Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk comes in many different varieties. Would you like to win one? LEAVE A COMMENT suggesting an IDEA for a NEW SURPRISE INSIDE and I'll send you one of these sets!

OR- want to win a $200 Visa Gift Card, by trying out this chalk and creating a drawing? Read on for details....

  RoseArt challenged us to make use of this chalk, and come up with something creative using it. We used this one for our Chalk Art Drawing:

 Since Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk is for children ages three and up, my 7, 5, and 3 1/2 year olds all participated in making our drawing.

 Our Chalk Art was much more than just a drawing! We had the idea to put the surprise inside to use with our chalk art. My kids were so excited to see the prize inside! It is a lot of chalk to use to find the prize! Finally we got to the prize!

 Here is the prize inside!

Here is the prize inside of our Chalk Art:

 After a lot of work and fun, we were almost done with the drawing and ready for the best part of all...playing our GAME using our drawing that we created, and the Surprise Inside!

 Here is what we did with our Surprise Inside Chalk: We created a game board by drawing a path of squares. Next the children, added any kind of "lands" that they wanted. We needed something to help us move our game pieces along the board. So I drew a square of colors, as seen below. We used a small rock to roll on the board, and that told us where to put our playing pieces. For playing pieces, we used the Surprise Inside, and a car, action figure, etc.

 A GREAT IDEA- for this Surprise Inside Chalk, would be to  have your kids invite some friends, and have the game path already drawn. Give each of the kids a pack of Surprise Inside Chalk. You can pick these up for around $3 at K-mart, Target, and Walmart. (However I could not find it at my local Walmart.)  Let them use it to create their own lands, city's,etc. around the game board. When they get to their surprise inside, they can use that as their playing piece and play the game!

Here is our drawing! It was so large, that even standing on a ladder, it was hard to get it all in one photo.

 Here are the boys playing the game! They had so much fun and absolutely loved creating it themselves. They even names some of the lands after themselves- well one of them did. Can you see the surprise inside? It is moving along the game board...trying to get to the finish line!

 So here is how you can win:
1. Leave a comment suggesting an idea for a new hidden collectible surprise inside toy. 2 winners will get their own Surprise Inside Chalk, which I will send you. Please submit your ideas by March 28th. I will pick a winner after March 28th and send you a package of chalk-pictured above. Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you!!

OR...to win a $200 Visa Gift Card...
2. Go purchase RoseArt's Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk- at Walmart, K-mart, or Target. (I did not find it at my local Walmart, so you might want to try Target.) Create your own sidewalk chalk art. The contest is judged on "The Best Use of Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk".
3. Take a photo of it, and email it to me at littlegemscrafts {at} gmail {dot } com.
I will pick the best ones to send to RoseArt. You will then be eligible to win a $200 Visa Gift Card from RoseArt!
4. Contest ends on APRIL 8th. Please submit your drawings by that date. Winners will be picked by RoseArt. Visa Gift Cards will be sent directly from RoseArt to the winners on April 12th.

THANK YOU ROSEART! We really loved this product, and will use it all spring and summer long!
NOW it is your turn! Don't forget to purchase the chalk, for $3 at K-mart, Walmart, or Target. Create your own drawing, and email me a photo of it at littlegemscrafts {at} gmail {dot} com. I will pick one to send to RoseArt for a $200 Visa Gift Card!! Or leave a comment on an idea for a new surprise inside, and I'll send  out a package of this product to 2 winners!

Good Luck!

As a blogger, I was entered into a contest for a $500 gift card for my chalk art creation, "Best Use of Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk." . I was sent a package of Surprise Inside Sidewalk Chalk to try myself.

Lego Jack on a Ledge {A Halloween Game}

I made up a fun little Lego Halloween Game you can play with your kids! Whoot whoot!  My kids are loving it, and I am loving it too! It makes me happy to think up something original for my kids that they love-especially since I feel like Pinterest has zapped my creativity.{Anyone else feel like that- seeing all that creativity makes me feel very uncreative....} Well I think I might still have a little bit left...somewhere. Anyway...so this is a fun game you can play all month long- using a Lego Jack-O-Lantern that you make. {Think a little bit of Elf-on-a-Shelf- but for Halloween} instructions below 

Here is how you play:

Lego Jack on a Ledge {A Halloween Game}
1. Build a Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin from your legos. Make sure the mouth is made of small enough pieces so that they can be moved. We used legos that were 1x2 or 1x3 for the mouth.
2. Hide Lego Jack on a ledge somewhere in the house- we put it in plain sight- not hidden out of sight.
3. Each morning the children look for Lego Jack. The person who finds him gets to change his mouth to a different shape. (see photos above)
4. Hide Lego Jack again and do it the next day.
The kids LOVE this game! It is really fun because they get a kick out of getting to change the mouth shape! Plus - they can really come up with some great shapes!

Happy Halloween!
p.s....this is my 900th post! Is anyone still reading this blog? Blogging isn't what it used to be... I miss that time-back when it was a lot more interactive-with comments, connecting with other bloggers, etc. Now if I want to do that, it is like having another job. Well I'm still here. And I'm still trying to post a little. So thanks- Thanks for reading this little blog. And especially thanks to those who have left kind supportive comments over the past 900 posts!

Scrambled Face Puzzles

 This activity was so fun! We did this in preschool for one of our centers. {I found this idea in one of my teaching magazines.}  It would be fun to do with your own kids or family. I think it would make a great family reunion activity.
Here is what we did:

 Put all the photos in one container. Then let the children make silly scrambled faces with them! They will have a blast! I am thinking I'll do this one with my own children!

HAVE FUN!!

Olympic Ring Edible Bracelet {Crafting with Kids}

 Several weeks ago, I bought all these round things with holes- in hopes of coming up with some fun Olympic craft. Well....the Olympics are in full swing- so it was time to make a little something. My boys were loud and crazy, until I pulled this stuff out. And they thought I was the best mom- at least for today. And they were quiet for a few minutes. And pleasant. And saying nice things to each other.
That was a nice moment.

We used simple things to make a simple edible bracelet.

I like simple crafts for kids- no prep for me- no fancy stuff- just good and simple fun.

So if you need a simple craft, the calm down the kiddies, and give them something fun to do - have them make one of these- while you watch the Olympics.

Happy Summer!

Summer Fun: Edible I SPY Five Senses Bottle

 This is an activity we did in preschool WAY back in October. Yes I am just getting around to posting it. This would be fun for summer too-especially to take on a road trip and need to keep the kids busy. We do lots of fun activities to learn about our 5 senses in preschool. This is one of my favorites.
Here is what you need to make your own Edible I SPY bottle:
EDIBILE I SPY BOTTLE:
Clean out a plastic water bottle and make sure it is completely dry.
Fill it about 2/3 full of Rice Krispie Cereal. It helps to use a funnel.
Next add several small items. (See printable link)
I tried to use one thing from each color of the rainbow.
goldfish cracker
red gummy bear
raisin
candy corn
fruit snack
chocolate chip
green jelly bean
blue M&M
Give the kids the attached print out to take home with their bottle. (I added pictures to mine.)

you can get this printable HERE
(sorry there are no pictures on it, but you can add them easily)

Have fun! This would be a really fun thing to make and take on a road trip!
If you needed, you could keep adding things to it as you traveled.
Happy Summer!

Summer Fun: Make A Solar Oven and Pita Pizza

 Do you remember making solar ovens in elementary school? I did. And when I taught 6th grade we made them. It is so much fun. My husband and I have been talking about making them since moving to the Arizona heat. It is so hot here- we were curious to see how it worked. Our boys got a kick out of it too! It is pretty easy to do. We saved a few pizza boxes. We lined them with foil on the inside, and used some skewers to prop up the lid at an angle. I sort of made holes in the box with the skewer so it wouldn't move.

Since the sun moves, you will have to turn your solar oven slightly, as your food cooks, depending on where the sun is. We preheated our ovens by leaving them out in the sun for about a 1/2 hour.

S’mores work really well in these. So do little mini wieners. We decided to make pita pizzas. The cheese had to melt and the pepperoni was frozen-so it had to cook also. We set a timer so we could see how long it took. The time it takes will depend on where you live and how hot it is.  I took photos of this in progress, but my card was not in my camera so I do not have those photos- oops. But here it is almost done:

After 37 minutes- we had cooked pizza! The kids were very excited- they had made their own lunch- in an oven they made! The best part is we did not have to heat up the house by turning on the oven. When it is over 100 outside....the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven.

Next we tried cookies. We had some homemade cookie dough in the fridge.

Here are the cookie dough blobs after about 10 minutes or so. Obviously, it will take a lot longer to cook than the conventional oven.

So what happened to the cookie dough??

I can't tell you....because "someone" got to them before I could see and ate them right up.... that would be my 4 year old.  He said they tasted good, but from what I saw, he enjoyed some cookies that were not quite cooked.  We will definitely be doing solar ovens again!

Happy Summer!

My {DIY} Car Play Mat + cute car mat links

I think I may have finally convinced my husband that I NEED a Silhouette.   Here is my big fat sewing project for my boys- which might be a more appropriate title for this post.  Drum roll please...

This was seriously a huge undertaking and a labor of love. I had to recruit my husband and my mother-in-law to help me cut out the letters a few days before Christmas. And then I was up until 3:30 A.M. on Christmas Eve working on it. Since I originally started this TWO years ago, I decided it was time to just get it done! I would estimate I spent around 30-40 hours on it, possibly more.
You can see when and where I started on this thing HERE and a shower curtain version I made years ago here.

I orginally intended for this to be much larger, but it ended up being about 60 inches by 50 inches. I made 4 panels, and pieced them together with my road, which is 5 inches wide, finished. I used felt for the panels and flannel for the roads. If I were to do it again, I would use the same fabric for roads and panels but I would probably NOT use felt. Felt is not really washable, so I think I would use a canvas or denim fabric,  something washable. Flannel tends to stretch slightly so that is why I would use the same fabric for both the panels and the flannel. Since I already had a lot of it done on felt and flannel, I decided just to keep it the same. It was a learning experience!

I cut out all of the buildings, mostly designing them myself using basic shapes and also looked at some photos when I wanted something more than just a square or rectangle. (Many thanks to the wonderful people who share their great photos- which gave me lots of inspiration.)  I also used Wonder Under on just about everything to iron it to the main fabrics, and then I stitched around the buildings after that. To cut out the letters, I printed them off from the computer, then traced them onto Freezer Paper, and then ironed that onto the felt. From here, I cut them out, and then cut them out of Wonder Under. Yep, that is how  I do it when I don't own a fancy cutting machine. The freezer paper peels right off the felt when you are done cutting and you don't have any marks on your fabric/felt.

 I backed this with the same car fabric  that I used over the gas station. I also added a piece of white flannel between the mat and the backing, which acts like a thin batting. I stitched in the ditch around all the roads, after safety pinning the thing together, trying to avoid any wrinkles or bumps in the fabric. Next time, I would use spray adhesive, as in the kind for basting quilts...but I was tired so we just pinned it.   I then made some binding and quickly machine stitched it on--so it is far from perfect. When you are up on Christmas Eve sewing in the middle of the night, you just want to finish!

Since my boys spend a large amount of time on the floor pretending with their cars, I knew they would love it. And I think I was right. I love seeing my children so happy about something I created for them. I love seeing them happy, period.

Here are some fun links to some super cute car mats out in blog land. Some of these ladies used glue guns to make theirs. Since I am the queen of glue gun burns, I opted to sew mine. But these are all super cute-so take a peek at some amazing cute car  play mats.

Girl and a Glue Gun
Homemade by Jill
Living the Sweet Life
Just Sew Sassy
Oopsey Daisy

Happy Holidays everyone! I'm spending mine taking car of sick children....but at least they can play with their cars inside while they recover! Thanks for reading.

Christmas Scented Playdough

 Last night I started out making Peppermint Playdough from the Idea Room for my preschoolers. I originally had the idea to make it 1/2 red and 1/2 plain, and twist it into candy canes and wrap it up in cute bags for 10 little ones. Well, I found an easier idea in the process. I ended up making  3 colors, and formed it into "Christmas ornaments"- as in the above photo. I cut a piece of a sparkly pipecleaner and inserted it into each one to make it look like those pretty ball ornaments.
Here is the what I did:

Christmas Playdough:
For RED:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 TBSP. Cream of Tartar
1 1/2 TBSP extract (peppermint for red)
Red food coloring (quite a bit to get a red color)
1 cup water
Combine dry ingredients in a sauce pan. Add liquid ingredients, except for food coloring and stir over medium heat until a soft ball forms. Add the food coloring and knead the dough until the color is distributed evenly.
FOR GREEN: Add MINT EXTRACT instead and green food coloring
FOR WHITE/PLAIN: ADD PEPPERMINT EXTRACT and no food coloring
Extracts can be found in the spices aisle at your grocery store. I found mine at Wal-mart for a good price.

This was my Christmas gift for my preschoolers. Playdough can be a mess, but the thrill for the children is worth it to me. My kids had too much fun making "Christmas pancakes" with it. And yes, there was a big mess to clean up. My sweet husband took care of that part!

Give-a-way: Shrinky Dinks Monster Lab {creativity for kids}

  Creativity for Kids has done it again! They have created another great craft kit for kids. This one allows you to color, bake, and shrink your most creative creations ever. Everything you need is included in the kit. Two winners will receiver a Shrinky Dink Monster Lab Kit from Creativity for Kids. (Retail value: 19.99)

We had the opportunity to try this kit, and my boys could not have loved it more!

They love coloring and creating and this kit brings those two things to life.

This kit has a 3-D playscape to display everything you colored and created. My boys have spent hours using their imaginations and playing monster with this, after creating it.

Here is how it works:

First you color the shrinky dinks.

 When you have all the shrinky dinks colored, you lay them out on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil and put them in the oven to bake.

  If you have never done shrinky dinks before, here are a few tips: They curl while baking and that is part of the process. But if they curl up too much and touch themselves or each other, you need to separate them right away while still hot. Just pull the cookie sheet out of the oven and use a flat metal knife. Then put them back in and continue baking. We also learned that these can be reheated if they get bubbly or have a part that just doesn't seem to shrink right the first time. If you follow the directions and space them out and watch carefully, they turn out great. Sometimes they need a little more time to bake, so have patience but don't leave oven unattended. Of course when using a hot oven this part is for adults only. But the kids really get a kick out of watching these shrink through the oven door!

 After they are done and cooled, you get to add all kinds of things to them and place them in the 3-D Monster Lab. So fun! This would be a really fun activity for kids to do for a Halloween Party!

 

Shrinky Dinks Monster Lab includes

      3-D Pop-Up Playscape 6 1/8 w x 7 3/4 h x 6 d inches·         50+ pre-cut Shrinky Dinks·         Assorted Chenille Stems·         Assorted Foam Character Stands·         Clear Plastic Character Stands·         Craft Glue·         Jump Rings·         Wiggly Eyes·         Double-sided Foam Squares·         Double-sided Sticky Dots·         Brads·         Pencil Sharpener·         11 Faber-Castell Colored EcoPencils

Want to win one? LEAVE a COMMENT!

Give-a-way is open until Tuesday October 18th at midnight P.S.T.

Two winners will be selected and notified at that time.

After 48 hours, if I have not heard from you, I will pick a new winner.

Thanks and good luck!

(All opinions in this post are 100% mine. I received no compensation. I did get a Shrinky Dink Monster Lab kit of my own to try.)