Some of you know how obsessed I am with gathering free homeschooling resources. On our desktop computer, I have an intricate system of files, separated by subject and grade level (and anything else that helps me find things). The vast majority of my digital stash has come directly from the daily email sent out by Free Homeschool Deals. The owner of the site is meticulous about publicizing free resources, free samples, free promotional materials . . . you get the idea.
Any time something looks like I would ever even remotely consider using it, I download it and file it. Copywork (cursive and manuscript) on holidays, hymns, Bible verses, historical speeches. Templates for reports on biographies, mammals, constellations. Unit studies on plants, blood cells, ancient Egypt. Preschool and kindergarden packets full of tracing, cutting, matching, do-a-dot marker work in any theme your heart could desire. Letter-of-the-week activity bundles. Printable planners in various colors and styles. It's really incredible what you can get for free, if you're willing to spend a (very) little in printing costs later.
Which brings me to a day last week, when I intended to go to the park but got stuck inside by an unexpected (to me) downpour. "We should do an art activity," I thought, and went straight to the computer to pull up Marcia Washburn's Hands-On Art Activities (it's $2.99 on the website right now, but I'm sure I got it for free somehow, at some point).
Ten minutes later, the boys are scattered around the kitchen table, furiously coloring as hard as their little muscles could handle. I knew Toby wouldn't be able to color hard enough, so I set him to work painting a paper plate for this handprint fishbowl craft (scroll way down to see the example). Silas gave up after a few minutes, preferring to paint with water colors instead.
A perfect half-hour activity to pass a rainy morning, not to mention learning something about art. Score!
Any time something looks like I would ever even remotely consider using it, I download it and file it. Copywork (cursive and manuscript) on holidays, hymns, Bible verses, historical speeches. Templates for reports on biographies, mammals, constellations. Unit studies on plants, blood cells, ancient Egypt. Preschool and kindergarden packets full of tracing, cutting, matching, do-a-dot marker work in any theme your heart could desire. Letter-of-the-week activity bundles. Printable planners in various colors and styles. It's really incredible what you can get for free, if you're willing to spend a (very) little in printing costs later.
Which brings me to a day last week, when I intended to go to the park but got stuck inside by an unexpected (to me) downpour. "We should do an art activity," I thought, and went straight to the computer to pull up Marcia Washburn's Hands-On Art Activities (it's $2.99 on the website right now, but I'm sure I got it for free somehow, at some point).
Ten minutes later, the boys are scattered around the kitchen table, furiously coloring as hard as their little muscles could handle. I knew Toby wouldn't be able to color hard enough, so I set him to work painting a paper plate for this handprint fishbowl craft (scroll way down to see the example). Silas gave up after a few minutes, preferring to paint with water colors instead.
It's quite simple: color hard with bright colors, color over it with black (I had to help, to get it dark/thick enough), use a sharpened pencil to etch a design and watch your colors appear!
Owen's (obviously)
Levi's
A perfect half-hour activity to pass a rainy morning, not to mention learning something about art. Score!
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