Which Girl Scout Cookie is your Favorite: It is National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend

What is National Girl Scouts Cookie Weekend and the Girl Scout's Cookie Championship?

It's cookie time! Girl Scout Cookie time that is. All over the nation girls are selling cookies and setting goals for the National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend Championship.

Every year, the Scouts set their New Year resolutions, but the scouts are far more likely to stick to their goals than everyone else.

Our scout loves cookies so much, she bakes them as a community service project!

Why is that?

Did you ever wonder what your cookie money goes toward? You may have seen a note about the personal goal for the Girl Scout that sold cookies to you, but that is not the only purpose the money serves. 

This post is sponsored by the GSUSA, but the words and stories are our own.

Samoas our a favorite Girl Scout Cookie.

Each troop gets a portion of the money. Depending on how the troop runs, it could go toward a pooled troop goal or the individual scout's goal. When the girls start as Daisies and every year on up to their Senior year, they set goals.  Some girls are motivated by the prizes that they will earn.  Other girls are motivated by a trip or special event.  

One of our local troops does a Powder Puff Pinewood Derby. 

The Girl Scouts have set up fun ways to help each girl achieve their goal. The girls can log into a program and track their goal along the way. They also learn about safely using social media to pass along the word about cookies.  #CookieBoss

Have you seen the poll on Facebook? Like the post if you are a fan of Thin Mints or Share it if you are a Samoa's fan? Vote for your favorite Girl Scout cookie! Which will be the National Champion Girl Scout Cookie? Check the GSUSA Facebook page to find out. 

Girl Scouts have four different bakeries in the country.  Depending on where you are, you could get cookies from two different girls and get two different cookie flavor choices. But, never fear, the past champions Thin Mints, Samoas, and Do-Si-Dos are produced nationwide.

 Trefoils- another top seller for our troop.

This year, our girls are spending some of their troop money to go to the local local SkyZone, another part of the money will go toward a troop goal for a trip, and the last of their hard earned money will go toward a community service project.

Our troop numbers and unit.

Our girls are in between the Silver and Gold awards so they are talking about a helping an animal shelter as a community project. The Girl Scout Gold Award is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award. The girls have to choose an individual project and plan and work over 100 hours on something that will benefit their community. A pretty lofty goal, but they are willing to spend the hours needed to make a difference in the community. Planning will start at the end of this school year. Check back here for updates on their projects and if they meet their goals. 

The girls would love to hear about what other scouts are doing around the country. So, if you have a scout (boy or girl) please comment and let us know what your troop has done.

If you want to keep up with GSUSA happenings Follow them on Pinterest or Like them on Facebook.  #CookieBoss

Sign up for our free newsletter!



Recommended Reading:



Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette 'Daisy' Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure*


Girl Scouts: A Celebration of 100 Trailblazing Years*

8 Party Planning Tips to Make your Next Kids' Birthday Celebration Stress Free

8 Tips and Tricks on Planning Parties for Kids

Nadia of Teach Me Mommy blog shares some tips and tricks to help you plan a stress free birthday party for kids. Enjoy!

Party Planning- it could get you all excited or just stressed out! I will share a few Tips and Tricks on how to plan a party: stress free (or almost)! I am no expert, but have done a few parties myself and found I just love it!

Stress Free Party Planning Tips.

Here are some things to think about:

1. Start early: the earlier you start planning, the more time you have to get everything together and you don't have to rush. (This year it was my baby boy's first party, and because his birthday is in the beginning of January, I, sort of, forgot about it! Realizing the 1st of January, it is January! Next year I will plan his party in November, that way, in spite of the Holidays and Christmas rush, this mom will be more prepared!)

2. Choose a theme. Older kids will probably tell you what theme they want for their parties, but for the younger ones, you have to choose something. For a 1st birthday, you can go with anything you'd like, but from the 2nd birthday, think what interests does your child have. I chose a Story Book Party Theme for my girls 2nd birthday, because at that stage(and still) she loved books and storytelling. Her 3rd birthday party was a Zoo theme, she just loves the zoo and the animals.

3) Invites: Get the invites out early,but not too early so people will forget about it! 2/3 weeks before the RSVP date (this date should be no closer than 1 week until the party,so you can plan accordingly). Evites are so much easier to send these days, and you could still print one for yourself as a keepsake.

4) Keep the weather in mind: For us,my daughter was a winter baby,so we rather plan everything inside. My son was a summer baby,but it is also raining season. I plan everything for outside, but have a back up plan inside. You don't want to have to jump around when the rain starts with an audience; )

5) Delegate: this is very important (note to self)! You can't do everything well yourself,sometimes you need help! If help is offered, take it. The trick here is: Make an example of how you want something done,that way it will still be just the way you imagined.

6) Activities: think of activities for all ages. Make it interesting for the kids,this helps that they will not cling to their parents when dropped off, or if the parents stay,they can too enjoy the party. I like to plan the activities so it will fit into the overall theme, for example: with the Zoo theme the kids made masks of zoo animals.

7) Eats: it is up to you whether you want to go with a sweets only party,or want to include food too. A good cue is the time of the party: if it falls on lunch/supper time, you will need to offer some kind of filling snack. Do keep in mind the age of the kids attending too. If it is a party where the parents stay,you could have finger food for them,and drinks. But this is up to you. Leave all the "fresh" preparations for the day of the party, but try and do all other preparations that can be done a day or two beforehand, in advance. This will avoid a rush on the party day.

8) Party Favours: this is totally optional. Again, I like to include favours that fit with the overall theme. These need not be expensive, you can give something small or homemade, it is the idea that counts. I always send the extra sweets home with them too, that way you won't have too many temptations left over;)

I hope you find these few tips helpful and that the next party you plan will be less stressful!

Recommended Reading:

Birthday Party Tips*

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss Book*







ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

20 Ideas and Activities to Plan and Decorate for a Balloon Birthday Party Theme for Kids

Here are 20 Fantastic Things to do with Balloons for your next Kids Birthday Party

Do your kids love balloons? Do they have to get a balloon in every restaurant or beg for balloons at the Dollar or Party Store? Shower your child with these ideas for balloons for a birthday party they'll never forget. We've got some great ideas from our own blog, and we've found several ways to decorate for a balloon birthday party from Pinterest. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Five easy ways to throw an eco-friendly birthday party for kids

You can have an Eco-friendly, Up-cycled Birthday Party for Kids and save money too!

This guest post is from Kara Carrero at ALLterNATIVElearning. She and her family are passionate about the environment and conservation. In this post, she has ideas on how to throw an eco-friendly birthday party. Enjoy!

The modern birthday has lots of cake, plenty of decorations, and almost always disposable plates and utensils. However, our family strives to find a balance in making birthdays both special and environmentally sustainable. Birthdays don’t have to lose their luster by choosing to not waste or spend a lot of money.

My daughter’s first birthday was this past fall. Like many first time moms, I had anticipated the day it would arrive since she was about 3 months old and planned little bits here and there throughout the year. But my main goal was to throw an exciting and memorable party without trash or excess.

Eco-Friendly  Birthday Party Ideas

1. Use real dishes or compostable paper plates. If you plan it right, it doesn’t have to be a hassle to use real dishes. In fact, having some small Corelle dishes on hand easily pays for itself. They do not break as easily as regular dishes and are easily replaceable or you can add to them. We grew up with them and rarely broke anything and it’s still what my parents use. My 15 month old has thrown one and it didn’t even chip. If you just can’t do that, use real silverware with basic paper plates that break down in the compost or can be recycled. Even here in Oklahoma (not very eco-friendly) we have options for community compost and recycling.

2. Re-use old décor and don’t throw any away. Up-cycle old material for new decorations. We made bunting from old magazines and used paper, and it was really cute! I had a few things from parties from several years ago, so I reused a couple of things. I also had some SOLO cups that I re-wash and use for the kids while adults use our glass cups.

3. Make the birthday about the experience and not the decor Birthdays are about the fun and not about having perfect decorations. We threw a carnival with fun homemade games instead of investing a lot of time and money into party hats, balloons, and streamers. Even growing up, I don’t remember how my parties were decorated, but I definitely remember the fun I had or the silly things that happened. Focus on making the most of the brief time given rather than stressing over the things that won’t be remembered.

4. Make party favors about memories, experiences, and sustainability. We had two different party favors. Her birthday party was specifically a grow theme, we provided small bio-degradable pots to decorate and soil and seeds to grow a small garden. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!

We also had a a photo booth. We asked everyone who attended to make an up-cycle costume and take a picture with the frames we provided. They left us their email address so then we emailed them a picture when we sent them an e-thank you card for coming and for gifts.

5. Make the gifts count. I know this sounds a bit presumptuous, but in reality it doesn't have to be. Be clear with your attendees because I have never met someone who didn't appreciate knowing that their gift was well-received. For us, we put a line on the e-vite that read “no gifts necessary, but if compelled to bring something we needed x,y,z”.

These are five easy ways to throw and eco-friendly birthday party, not break the bank, and still have awesome memories with friends and family. For us, it’s just one more step in doing better in making conscious decisions about what we need vs. what we want which has become increasingly important with kids.

For more from Kara visit her site at ALLterNATIVElearning.com

Recommended Reading:

Your Birthday Book: A Keepsake Journal

Birthday Monsters!

 
 -->

Make a Snowman Craft and Work Fine Motor Skills into your Lesson Plan

A Snowman that works Fine Motor Skills is the Perfect Winter Craft Activity for Preschoolers

This post is a special guest post written by Leanne from Sugar Aunts. This project focuses on fine motor skills for children ages 2-7 yrs. It is the perfect winter craft activity for preschoolers.

We love creative crafts that focus on Fine Motor Play.  A craft that pulls in developmental skills is much more than a fun activity.  While the kids are cutting, gluing, and creating, they are also working on so many skills essential to self-care, handwriting, and scissor skills!   
This Multi-Textural Fine Motor Snowman craft was a ton of fun to create and worked on many fine motor skills. The multiple textures added a sensorial bonus...and a great texture to our snowman!

This Fine Motor Snowman craft was a big hit with my daughters.  We started with a snowman cut from white contact paper.  This was glued to a sheet of blue construction paper and then taped to the wall.  I wanted the task to be done on a vertical surface to further challenge the fine motor dexterity. Working on an inclined surface such as an easel or wall encourages a tripod grasp when manipulating small pieces. An extended wrist (wrist bent back in the direction of the back of the hand) and a tripod grasp is necessary for an appropriate grasp on writing utensils. 

Big Sister (age 6) is in kindergarten and developing her scissor skills.  I pulled out a variety of textured materials.  We had strips of thin Styrofoam, foam packaging sheets, and tissue paper.  Strips of the materials had marked lines for her to snip.  Cutting small snips along a line is a great way to work on scissor skills and line awareness with a new scissor user. 

Snipping these different textures with scissors really encourages line awareness.  A thick bulky material like the Styrofoam requires was easier to cut.  Cutting the foam was very easy for Big Sister. (She asked for more foam to snip once we were finished!) 

 

Tissue paper is a very thin and flimsy material and requires great scissor control.  This was a fun material to try and the short cuts were just right for Big Sister!

Once all of our materials were snipped into little squares, we sorted them by texture. This was a fun way to explore the differences.

Next, we stuck the different materials onto the contact paper snowman. 

This part of the craft was fun for Baby Girl (age 2).  She loved sticking the different materials onto the contact paper and worked for a LONG time to fill up the whole snowman. 

Our multi-textural snowman was a fun way to practice scissor skills and work on some fine motor areas while creating a winter craft for kids!

 

The Sugar Aunts are three sisters who blog about all things creative in motherhood. They love playful learning, creative kid's crafts, sensory and fine motor activities, kid's party themes, DIY, and so much more. Between the three Aunts, there are 6 cousins (with more on the way!) who are around each other so often, they are more like siblings than cousins! You can see the action at www.sugaraunts.com.

Recommended Reading:

Hibernation Station Companion Book for Winter Crafts

Drama Activities for Kids


Sign up for our free newsletter! -->

February Holidays Calendar for Special Days to Plan Activities

February 2017 Holidays Special Days Calendar Helps Plan Winter Activities Curriculum

Our Pin it! Preschool Scavenger Hunt on Pinterest has ideas for crafts and activities to plan your 2017 February classroom or homeschool monthly curriculum calendar. Check out the special dates here and then hop over for fun ideas. Click here for January Holidays? Scroll down for free printable February calendar. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

February Holidays printable calendar.

February 2 isn't just Groundhog Day - nope, it is also Hedgehog Day - actually, the Hedgehog had it first! Groundhog Day History

February 7 is Bubble Gum Day. Chew some gum for a charity.

 February 12 is Charles Darwin's and Honest Abe's Birthday.

February 14 is of course, Valentine's Day! You should have a great time with your Classroom Valentine's Parties, but don't confuse the good time you have and call it ValentiMe's Day. 

 February 15 is Gumdrop Day. Goody Goody!

February 17 Washington's Birthday. Abraham Lincoln's birthday is February 12.

February 20 is  President's Day and Toothfairy Day.

.

2017 Calendar Printable

Recommended Reading:

The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun*

Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum*

The Night Before the Tooth Fairy*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Snowman Activities for Preschoolers

These Snowman Activities will fill your Preschooler with Joy

Snow is beautiful, but some never get it and others get far too much! Whether you have none or tons, stay inside with your preschooler and make your own snowman projects. We've linked several snow ideas and activities from our site as well as a few of our favorites from Pinterest. Enjoy being warm while you build a snowman. Enjoy!

• How to make a snowman from a peanut.

Mini Peanut Snowman from Kids Creative Chaos.

• Make ice cream snowballs and build a yummy, cute snowman.

Edible Snowman from Kids Creative Chaos.

• Make your own Snowman Soup Recipe From 3rd Grade Thoughts.

Snowman Soup Recipe from Third Grade Thoughts.

• Make a snowman in a jar and keep him forever - no melting ;)

Snowman in a jar from Kids Creative Chaos.

• Printable Snowman Activity

Snowman Valentine Activity.

• Easy Snowflake Snowman 

Easy Preschool Snowflake Snowman.

Looking for Snowman Ideas for Winter Activities for the classroom? How about a companion snowman story by Mercer Mayer.



Recommended Reading:

Snowman Classroom Door Decoration

The Snowman Children's Book*

The Biggest Snowman Ever story*









ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

15 Obscure, Unusual, Unique Holidays January Calendar

January Calendar of Special Days and Holidays

We're always looking for obscure holidays to plan our blog ideas. Here is a list of January holidays to theme your classroom boards or craft activities. Scroll down for a free printable January calendar of holidays for the classroom. Enjoy!

Pin it! Preschool Scavenger Hunt is full of great theme ideas for special holidays and seasonal activities for preschoolers. Hop over, and check it out. Our Pinterest profile also has ideas for classroom bulletin boards and elementary room doors plus great ideas for homeschooling. No matter the special day, I hope you'll look around my site for more ideas for kids' activities.

January Holidays and Special Days Calendar 
to plan activities to do with kids.

• January 1 - while this day is known to everyone around the world as New Year's Day, it is also the birthday of America's beloved Betsy Ross maker of our U.S. flag. (1752) Click for Free American Flag Coloring Page Printables.
• January 7 - Harlem Globetrotters started as the Savoy Big Five. (1926)
• January 8 - National Clean Off Your Desk Day. Maybe if you tell the kids that, they will find it motivating?
• January 9 - National Apricot Day. So find some dried apricots or dry your own and make an apricot doll. Wait. They do that with dried apples. Well, do it anyway - invent that!
• January 10 - Volunteer Firefighter's Day, now that's a good day. It honors some brave folks. How about a little fireman appreciation. Do some crafting with Dalmatians or maybe make some hats or play fireman with an old cut up hose.
• January 11 - Got Milk? Well, you better get some because today is Milk Day. If you want a really obscure special occasion it is also my parent's anniversary!
• January 13 - The Frisbee was invented in Connecticut, because what would we do without the Frisbee really? I mean it was the original boredom buster, right. Dogs love it. I had a boyfriend once who loved it. And then, he got a dog so...
• January 14 - Speaking of dogs, the 15th is Dress up your Pet Day. You could dress your pet up as a Volunteer Firefighter or a Dalmatian; that'd be a hoot.
• January 14 - Speaking of hoots or birds anyway, It is Bald Eagle Day. Do not dress up your bald eagle today. I repeat, do not dress up your bald eagle today. Have you seen their talons. Yep, this is a bad idea.
• January 15 - National Hat Day. Hello, I've got some hat crafts. I can help you with that day! Peruse these walls or these frames, you will find many more hats for holidays.
• January 17 - Ben Franklin's Birthday. How about a fun science project for preschoolers to celebrate.
• January 19 - It is Archery day. No, kids it didn't start with the Hunger Games, it has been around a long, long, time. Why not paint a bull's eye in color wheel colors so you can learn two things at once. You know, kill two birds with one stone. Ahem. One arrow, I mean.
• January 20 - Penguin Awareness Day, although Penguins are birds please don't go throwing rocks or shooting arrows at them. You could color a coloring page for the letter P though.
• January 24 - Global Belly Laugh Day. Celebrate the gift of laughter! 1:24 p.m. (your time) Smile! Throw your hands in the air and LOL for real!
• January 28 - Daisy Day. I have a Daisy Hat Craft, so you can choose do you use it for Hat Day or Daisy Day? Maybe plant a flower seed instead.
• January 29 - National Puzzle Day. Put together a puzzle, glue it onto cardboard, and frame it. That sounds fun. Not. I dislike puzzles. #dislikepuzzles Have the kids draw a picture, glue it to a cereal box panel, let it dry, and let them cut it up. That sounds better; yeah go do that. Give them a baggie so they can take it home and show their Mom. I sure hope she doesn't feel the same way about puzzles that I do.  ;)

Click here to download: Free Printable January Calendar of Holidays.

Add some cool kids' books about snow to your winter activities curriculum. Well, that's all I've got. Want some February Special Days ideas? Oh. Try this page for companion coloring pages and free printables - that will help for now.  See you back in month!

Recommended Reading:

February Calendar of Special Days and Holidays

Children's Book-a-Day Almanac*

January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco*

Buy a Puzzle for National Puzzle Day:
Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards Puzzle*






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

What Year is 2014 in Chinese New Year?

It is the Chinese New Year, Year of the Horse 2014

Looking for a meaningful horse quote for Pinterest or Facebook for the Chinese New Year? It is the year of the horse! When is the Chinese New Year? The new Moon on January 30, 2014 begins the year of the Wood Horse. Chinese New Year is a spring festival that begins on the second new Moon after Winter Solstice, with the Sun and Moon are in Aquarius. Last year, 2013, was the year of the water snake. Enjoy!

Horse quote by Ovid for the year of the horse.

In Chinese astrology, this year is considered fortunate, bringing luck and good things. The Magical Horse has supernatural powers, is heroic, strong, and can even fly! The horse is a hero in China because important battles were won due to its power and strength.

Here is a fun horse word search from homeschoolhelpersonline.com or how about a horse coloring page printable from onlinecoloringbook.net. We have a Chinese Dragon New Year printable.


Recommended Reading:

Sign up for our free newsletter

Year of the Dragon

Bringing In the New Year (Read to a Child)*















ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)