DIY Reindeer Manipulatives

 Today, I am blogging at The Primary Pack to share a DIY project that will get your kiddos rockin', rompin, adding, and subtracting!  There will be some FREE festive singing to accompany the project, too!  You don't want to miss this!!!

 

I want to share a simple DIY project to get you ready for the "Reindeer Romp"!  I love using finger puppets as math manipulatives.  It is very simple to create sturdy manipulatives with Velcro out of plastic finger puppets.

 

Materials:

-  Finger puppets

- Cotton balls

- Hot glue

- Velcro

 

I got my reindeer finger puppets from Oriental Trading, but they seem to be sold out for the holiday season.  You can get a different set on Amazon or Oriental Trading.

 

First, stuff each finger puppet with 2 or 3 cotton balls.  Enough to make the reindeer firm and easy to use as a manipulative.

Turn your reindeer upside down and apply hot glue evenly over the entire opening of the finger puppet.  While the hot glue is still soft, gently push the Velcro onto the middle of the reindeer.

Prop the reindeer upside down to let the hot glue dry evenly.  This will give you a very durable manipulative.

Once they dry, you have reindeer manipulatives that will stick to Velcro on your roof top!

Have fun with your reindeer!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

The holiday season is a great time to reflect on all of the wonderful things you have in your life.  Many of us are so fortunate to have a roof over our heads and food on our tables.  I feel so blessed to be able to have these things for my family.  I got together with a bunch of other bloggers to bring a huge giveaway with a ton of our favorite things. 

Before I get to the amazing giveaway, I wanted to share some things that I am so thankful for this season!  Some are silly and some are more serious, but I am thankful for all of them!!

#1- Dr. Pepper.  I am not a coffee drinker, but seriously need some caffeine in the morning.  My brain will NOT function until I have that first sip of bubbly, sweet, and almost painful burn of the carbonation.  It wakes me up in so many ways.  I love it!

#2- Every holiday season since my kids were born, we create ornaments together.  When they were little, they would get down to their diapers and get covered in tons of paint.  We've done cinnamon dough, ceramic ornaments, and foam ornaments.  It doesn't matter what type, we just love to create together.  We put on Christmas tunes and sing along, as we get messy and laugh.  It is a priceless experience that I treasure.  You can see the fun salt dough ornaments that we made here.

#3- I do love shopping, especially for teaching gems.  One of my favorite teaching idea stores is The Dollar Tree.  You cannot beat this store for wacky and wonderful teaching supplies AND the price is right!!  Here are a few of the amazing finds that I've found at the Dollar Tree: lip gloss boots (you need to check these out), fun tongs for centers, foam to create my own two sided magnets that created my subitizing freebie!  This is just a tiny fraction of the amazing deals that I find there.

#4- One of my most treasured teaching supplies is my personal laminator.  Since I started teaching, I have tried out MANY different laminators.  I have gotten really expensive types, and cheaper ones.  About 8 years ago, I decided on my favorite laminator.  It is a cheap, but wonderful power house.  I put my laminator through a lot of work and it is up to the job.  I chose to giveaway a Scotch Laminator for "A Few of Our Favorite Things Giveaway".  You can see the laminator that I will be giving away here.

I also have some of my favorite products on sale for the week of this blog hop.  They will all be 50% off!  Search my store for #myfavoritethings2014 to get all of the amazing deals. I can't wait to share these exciting surprises!!

You can scoop up:

Romp and Stompin' Letters usually $12 for ONLY $6!!

Super Hero: "Roll, Say, Keep!" Pre-Primer Dolch Sight Word Center + Extra usually $3 for ONLY $1.50!!

 

Delicious Donuts: Addition to 20, Number Lines, Missing Addends, & Printables usually $7 for ONLY $3.50!!

My ABSOLUTE favorite!! Bundle of 8 Interactive Play Dough Mat Sets!!  Full Price $32, get it for $16!!

Because we value our followers and wanted to treat you to our favorite things Oprah style, we have put together the best giveaway of the season! My bloggy friends and I welcome you to the best, biggest, most cheerful event of the season:

7 winners for 7 prize packs!

Come and enter the giveaway and check out my bloggy friends' favorite things:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

 

12 Days of Christmas GIVEAWAY!

I am so lucky to be part of an AMAZING giveaway put together by a phenomenal person- Zippy (of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs")!  She is such a giving and generous person.  It inspires others to pay it forward.
This giveaway is fun and is 12 days long.  It gets everyone in the spirit of giving!  I am part of Day #2.  I am paired up with 3 wonderful teachers.  You can win a $30 Amazon gift card AND the featured items below!
1- Faith Wheeler: She donated an amazing fairy tale pack for her featured item.
2- Laura Surratt Schachter: I donated $5 credit to my store.
3- Rachelle Gunderson Smith: Donated a take-home reading folder pack for her featured item.
4- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs: Zippy donated $5 credit to her store.

This contest is open world wide, because the gift cards will be sent over email :)  Make sure you don't miss the chance to enter these amazing giveaways.  Below the Rafflecopter are a few freebies for your winter days!  I would love to hear how they work for you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I wanted to share a few fun winter freebies to brighten your day!

Scoop up "Count the Mittens: Write the Room"!

 And "Count the Elves: Write the Room"!

Get your kids moving and learning!

 

Hop back over to ZipADeeDooDah's facebook page to enter each day's giveaway!  I love exploring all the wonderful stores and the chance to win some awesome prizes!!

Day #7- Click here!