Age 9-11 - Always Learning

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If you are looking for a great homemade gift to give out on behalf of yourself or your children, consider Sand Art Brownies. They are a practical gift which don't necessarily cost a lot and they make fun gifts.

You will require one wide mouth quart jar with lid.

Add the follow ingredients in this order.

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts

This should pack nicely into the jar.

Include a decorative tag with the instructions for making the brownies with the following text:

Combine contents of jar with:

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Pour into a greased 9x9pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 27-32 minutes. Enjoy.

These taste delicious but don't just take it from me. My recommendation is to make a jar or two to give away and make another batch for yourself to consume at home.

To finish up you can add a circular piece of material to the top of the jar to make it appear more festive.

(Note: Photo was borrowed from The Best Homemade Gift Ideas website as my batteries decided to die on me just as I went to take my photo).

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Cooking, Craft

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The Gift of Giving

December 16th 2009 17:51

For many children, Christmas all too often focuses on the gift of receiving rather than the gift of giving.

As my daughter is starting to understand more what Christmas is about, I set her a couple of easy tasks. The first was to make some Christmas cards for some of the children in her class. We purchased some blank cards and envelopes and some Christmas themed stickers. She combined the stickers with her artwork and my handwriting and between the two of us we had some Christmas cards which she felt very proud of.

Secondly I purchased some paint and paintbrushes and we decided to paint two projects for her father. The first was a painting of herself as a princess painted directly onto a canvas and the second was a plain wooden box which she is going to decorate for him.

Receiving gifts, don't get me wrong, is great but often giving gifts, particularly when they are done by your child's heart, is worth far more.

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Craft

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A Pair of Snowmen

December 14th 2009 09:41

This delightful pair of snowmen are adorable and will have you in the festive spirit in no time at all. They are made from a pair of mittens and while it is a great craft for the older children, it can be suitable for the younger child with more parental supervision.

Visit All Free Crafts for the full instructions on how to make your snowmen - namely Mr and Mrs Mitten.

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Craft

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Coraline

November 20th 2009 01:26

My daughter loves the animated movie Coraline so loudly announced that it is Coraline week in our house giving me about five minutes notice to organise some activities for us to do.

Thankfully Coraline.com came to our aid and we were able to button eye images of both myself and my daughter as well as create online button flowers. There was also a fun print image in which the circus mice could also spell out my daughter's name.

We sat down to watch Coraline the movie for about the tenth time and if she was a little older I am sure she would enjoy the original novel from which the film was adapted from.

We also discovered a website which featured numerous Coraline pictures to colour and set out on a counting exercise to find out exactly how many windows and doors we had in our house.

Luckily I had some buttons set aside for just such a crafting exercise and we drew some dolls and created our very own button eyed dolls and button gardens.

It is amazing what you can come up with in five minutes if you put your mind to it!

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Books, Craft, DVDs, Reading

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Cranberry Thanksgiving

October 2nd 2009 18:39

Cranberry Thanksgiving written by Wende and Harry Devlin in 1971 is one of those time honoured books that lends itself to family traditions - in the case of Cranberry Thanksgiving it is Cranberry Bread.

Cranberry Thanksgiving is the story of a young girl named Maggie who lives with her Grandmother near a cranberry bog in New England. The book includes some interesting characters and colourful illustrations and the story takes some interesting twists and turns, demonstrating that looks can be deceiving. It even includes Grandmother’s Famous Cranberry Bread recipe for you to bake at home.

DLTK features a fun Thanksgiving mini book for kindergarten children to colour as well as Thanksgiving crafts to do including pilgrims, turkeys and pumpkins. And those in need of a pumpkin template then look no further - Preschool Express features pumpkins in three sizes for you to copy and cut out for your crafting needs.

Crayola features a Happy Thanksgiving page to colour as well as a fun turkey craft.

The fun dolls Eddie and Amy which often come to our aid also feature Thanksgiving clothing and for those doubly organised, Halloween costumes as well.

It is is a time for giving thanks and hopefully the poems over at Thanksgiving Day manage to convey the spirit of the holiday.

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Books, Computer Based, Cooking

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Don't Discount Second Hand Stores

September 18th 2009 17:35

Investigating a new area to live, I started checking out all the stores - second hand stores included and noticed what bargains they had to offer particularly in the way of kids educational computer games and books. We managed to make some great savings and many of the books and cds were priced at $2 or less!

The Little Bear Preschool Thinking Adventure normally sells for between $10 and $15 and we picked it up for $1. A definite bargain

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Books, Computer Based, Reading

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Certificates and Awards

June 11th 2009 06:03

Giving children acknowledgement and praise for their hard work and achievement is all part and parcel of their learning process. If you are not skilled in graphics or even know where to start in creating an award then School Express can come to your aid.

They have an easy seven step award making process which even I cannot get wrong. The awards offered cover such topics as Achievement Awards, Acting Awards, Character Awards, Reading Awards and Sports and Fitness Awards just to name a few. The site will ask you to select the graphic and border as well as the specific text and name of your child

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11

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Speakaboos

June 2nd 2009 02:38

The Speakaboo website served a great purpose this week as it gave us an online version of The Ugly Duckling to read and view as well as a follow on activity, but the site itself holds an interesting premise.

Coming soon, as the site announces, is a record your own story section which will allow kids and parents to record their own voices reading (or singing!) their favorite story, song, or nursery rhyme. Anything that aids in the improvement and creation of kids wanting to read or listen to stories is a great idea.

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Books, Computer Based, Reading

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No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

April 23rd 2009 01:59

Here in an easy recipe which children can help to make which requires no baking.

1 cup light corn syrup

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Cooking

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Speckled Bubble Bars

April 14th 2009 11:26

Taking advantage of my daughter's up and coming birthday party, we are going to attempt to make this simple recipe together courtesy of Minti.

Speckled Bubble Bars
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Cooking

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Free Online Children's Books

April 13th 2009 02:26

As an expat abroad, I am always searching for new stories to share with my daughter.

The Children's Library is a non-profit organisation offering a wide variety of free paper books to be read online including stories such as Axle The Freeway Cat, Blinky Bill, Cinderella and Mother Goose

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Books, Computer Based, Reading

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Five In A Row

April 1st 2009 01:49

Five In A Row is a unique program which is ideal for home schooling or extra learning and combines children's literature with creative lesson plans involving social studies, language, art, applied maths and science.

The main program is designed for young children from 4-8 although the Before Five In A Row, Beyond Five In A Row and Above and Beyond Five In A Row caters from 2 up until the ages of 12 onwards

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Books, Reading

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Homeschooling

March 11th 2009 04:18

As parents we have a lot of responsibilities in regard to our children and one of them is our educational responsibilities. At what age should we send them to kindergarten, which school should they attend or indeed should we even send them to school as homeschooling is on the rise all the world over.

Homeschooling or home education is on the rise with a reported statistic of between 20,000 and 30,000 children homeschooled in Australia, 50,000 in UK, 60,000-80,000 in Canada and a staggering 2,000,000 in USA. These figures are approximations but it is clear that many people are taking the subject of home learning very seriously and looking to it as a viable educational option for their children.
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11

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Word Search Creator

March 3rd 2009 02:09

I used to love word searches as a child and use them often in my ESL teaching classroom but they are also a great activity for the children at home during work time or play time.

For a free and easy to use word search creator, I recommend the one at Design Your Home School. It really doesn't get any simpler than this.
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Age 9-11, Computer Based, Reading

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