Showing posts sorted by date for query chickens. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query chickens. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query chickens. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query chickens. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Back to School Life Lessons from a Dyslexic's Mommy

Life Lessons for Homeschooling

Back to homeschooling dealing with brain drain. By now, most kids are back in school full-time.  As homeschoolers, we officially started August 12 with Connections Academy, since there were no scheduled live lessons we eased back into it.  Life lessons for homeschooling quickly ensued. Enjoy!

Brick and mortar schools have late start Monday, so why can’t we?  We started late (10:00) did a lesson, took a break, did another lesson, ate lunch, did another lesson, went swimming (hey, it counts as P.E), and then called it a day.  Although, it sounds easy- it wasn’t!  I’m great at giving advice, remember this post on summer brain drain?  Well, turns out, I didn’t follow my own advice.  How much brain power can one lose in a few weeks, right?  

W-R-O-N-G!

back to school homeschool: Back to School Life Lessons from a Dyslexic's Mommy
School is back in session.

Jake is doing great, on task, a little hurried so he can get back to his video games, but overall excellent.  He had a perfect spelling test, near perfect Math homework, and he was all smiles and ready to roll.  He hates school, but it comes easy.

Mayhem.  Mayhem.  Mayhem.  That’s not her given name, but that’s what we call her, Mandy Mayhem.  We woke up, brushed our teeth, freed the chickens, collected eggs and tomatoes, took a walk to the pond, and then made scrambled eggs and toast.  Everything was fine. She was excited to start school- and then we started school.  GRR.  “I can’t make this work- the page disappeared- do I have to read this?”  AND  “I can’t find my Notebook- where is a pencil? –You wrote in my sketchbook!”  On a positive note, reading her assigned story, Iris and Walter went well.  It seemed she’d retained more than I thought.

AND THEN…It was time for written work.  “Number your page for a spelling test”, Mommy politely said.  “Are you ready? This is just a pre-test”, Mommy smiled ignoring the tantrum.  “Don’t worry, it is only practice.”  There was much complaining, whining, and pencil pounding. “I’m sure those letters are backwards!”  “I can’t remember how to spell that word!”  “Which letter comes first?”  And so, it resumed.  All the work, we’d done last year, on the “it’s probably not dyslexia just age appropriate transposition of letters and numbers” was lost.

The paper wasn’t numbered from 1-15.  There were big words and small words scribbled all about, there were capital A’s and small a’s intermixed in the same word.  There were words, that had just been practiced in a worksheet, spelled on tiles, and read in the story.  Not one word was written correctly.  Although, if  you paid close attention and understood the common transpositions, backward or upside down letters, you could decode the correct spelling word.

DeKs, backward J-oB, sAD, LTis, S A backward C- K, DutS, and pockt.

I think its interesting, that the only misspelled word is the only one written in appropriate all lowercase letters.  Did you need a translator?  Desk, job, sad, list, sack, dust, and pocket.  A teacher would have taken one look at the sloppy mess and given up.  Mommy took the time to decode it.  Then, I wrote lines in pink highlighter, filled in the word 'desk' written correctly, and asked her to recopy her words with proper capitalization.  

Dust, chop, Desk, Durm, backward j-ob, t- backward a and g, letts, snack, rook, Rib, engine, mess, and list.

 She did a great job on chop, engine, mess, and list, but snack and rook aren’t on the list.  I will have to decode those later. The good news is the words are written within the lines with appropriate letter size, and numbered from 1-15.  We’ll focus on that for now-  2nd grade.

Teacher asked if I wanted to pass her last year.  “What kind of question is that?”  She had straight A+’s in first grade.  She hated it.  It was “boring” and too easy.  Except, if the teacher and I hadn’t taken the time to decode the hand-written work…  Did you see that?  Handwritten work?  That’s right, she doesn’t transpose when typing!  Unfortunately, in second grade, she is required to turn in handwritten papers in preparation for academic testing. Bummer, next year I won’t waste those summer months.

In the meantime, she’s going to relax with some art and sensory play with her favorite medium, clay.  This is a great fun dough product perfect for sensory play for children with autism or other processing disorders.Crazy Aaron's Putty World Super Scarab Putty  is unique.  It has thermodynamic and phosphorescent properties perfect for science exploration. Thermodynamics explores the relationship between heat and other forms of energy. The putty changes colors when touched.

thermodynamic putty heat sensitive
Thermodynamic putty.



Recommended:


Homeschool Projects for Elementary

The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain*



Healthy Living Tips and Ideas on Pinterest: Why I'm Taking Baby Steps to Change my Life

A few weeks ago, I published a post with a BMI calculator asking you to join me in my weight loss endeavor. I've been trying to shift my focus to healthy living. For me, eating isn't really the problem, but I'd like to get the entire family on a healthy schedule and diet. So, I've been visiting lots of healthy living websites looking for tips and ideas and pinning healthy lifestyle pins on Pinterest.

organic gardening healthy Living Tips
Tomato plants in our organic garden.
I'm too young to be a hippie and too old to be a hipster, so I guess I'll just become a crunchy mama. I lean that way for sure, but it isn't always practical for me. I am into attachment parenting though, so I am well on my way. Only... I don't look the part. I lost my way, and I am struggling to get back to an appropriate level of fitness.

Fake it 'til you make it. That's what I intend to do.

Yep, I have a little garden patch, some chickens, and a few ducks. I've been building a coop and a barn for something else. Maybe a goat or a llama? It popped into my head this week that I need to build a greenhouse for my plants. I kill Rosemary every year. This year, I didn't even bother with her!


Healthy Living Tips and Ideas Pekin, Roane, and Wyandotte Chickens at 3 months old Organic Gardening
Wyandotte Chickens and Pekin Ducks at 3 months old.
If you follow this blog, you probably know we're kind of Pinterest superstars. As a visual person, I love Pinterest. No, I probably won't get back to any of the things, but I sure like to look at the pretty pictures and dream. So, what are my favorite boards for healthy living?

  • Crum Creek is a health food company with the motto "indulge in healthy".  They have great Pinterest boards with lots of ideas for making healthy choices.


  • Vegetarian Zen is a blog about a family learning to become vegetarians with the motto "happy body, healthy mind".  This is a great place to learn all about how to be healthy. Vegetarian Pinterest Boards.

  • Pure Health Girls this is a site focused on raising awareness on how to take control of your health and longevity. They provide valuable information about the dangers of pesticides, hormones, and GMO's. See the Pinterest Boards here.

For great healthy living tips be sure to hop over to Pinterest and check out all of these great pinners :)


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Purple Tutu, Pink Leggings, and Combat Boots: She's back! What's She's Wearing Wednesday to Build a Chicken Coop

What she wore to work on our Chicken Coop

Chickens! Who doesn't love a good purple, Target tutu with a pair of combat boots? Pink leggings and a fancy shirt (worn backward) tie it together. This pairing was planned to help the Daddy build the chicken coop/duck pen. "Cause, it's cold and I need pants and boots."


What she's wearing Kids purple tutu fashion Mayhem
These don't look very heavy.  I can help build a chicken coop and duck pen.  I've got my boots! (Okay, Jake's boots.)
Later, she added a pair of grippy work gloves. No diva can be without fancy work clothes, right? There's nothing quite like Mayhem fashion. We need to start our own kid's clothing line, don't you think? Maybe, she'll make the pages of J. Crew someday?


Carrying blocks for the coop's foundation.
Oh! That's heavier than I thought.
"Mommy, Grandma doesn't know that I'm not a girly girl who  likes to wear fancy clothes and keep clean." -Mayhem


Construction of the chicken coop begins.
I can do this!
Our coop is up, but it isn't ready to been published for the world to see. In the meantime, read about a beautiful chicken coop my friend built: Red Barn Chicken Coop.

Recommended Reading:

Backyard Chickens for Beginners

Building Chicken Coops For Dummies

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Hey, What is the name of the Cartoon Chicken that...

Famous Cartoon Chickens: What are their Names?

I heard you were wondering what is the name of that cartoon chicken in that funny cartoon show. You know, the silly, little, cute, tall, fat, cocky, cock-a-doodle-doo, rooster or hen? Well, I know the chicken cartoon you mean. Enjoy!



What's the name of the cartoon chicken that says, "I say, I say, I say boy"?  Well, my friend, that chicken is a rooster. 


His name is Foghorn Leghorn, and he's often referred to as the Looney Tunes Chicken. He appeared on the Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show, Merry Melodies, and he even won an Oscar. Well, one of the cartoons he starred in won, "Walky Talky Hawky" in 1946.  His buddy is a Rhode Island Red, aptly named, Red.


What's the name of the Superhero Chicken? He's also a rooster, and his name is Henry Cabot Henhouse III. He says, "Bawk for Super Chicken." He played on the "George of the Jungle" cartoon series. He drinks super sauce out of a martini glass to transform into a hero.

What's the name of that little chicken with big glasses on the Foghorn Leghorn Chicken Cartoon? His name is Egghead Jr. He first appeared in 1954 on "Little Boy Boo".  His mother's name is Miss Prissy. Foghorn liked to say, "That boy, I say, that boy..." often  in reference to the little chicken.




What is the name of the chicken in Chicken Little? Little Rooster, again. Chicken Little was his name, but they often called him "Ace".  He had glasses too. This Disney cartoon came out in 2005.


What is the name of of the chicken in that cartoon?
Photo from Wikipedia for the movie soundtrack.


What is the name of the chicken in the Barnyard movie?
In 2006, Rob Paulsen played a silly chicken in the movie Barnyard.
His name was Peck. Again, a rooster.


Rock-A-Doodle.
What is the name of the chicken in Rock-A-Doodle?  The movie came out in 2004. His name is Chantecler. His name refers to a breed of chicken originating in Canada. 

In the 2000 movie, Chicken Runthe Rooster's name is Rocky. Hey, hey, hey... the girl got a star. The hen in this one is named Ginger. In the end, they want to know which came first, the chicken or the egg, so they can start a chicken farm.


There is a new cartoon the kids watch on Netflix, "Chicken Town".  The rooster is named, Zino. Polly (the landlord) is always after his chickens.



What is the name of the rooster chicken in that cartoon Chicken Town?
The French cartoon, Chicken Town is on Netflix. Picture from Animation Magazine.


                             Real Baby Chicks Picture

What do you call a baby chicken? 


Adult male chickens are known as roosters or cocks and females are called hens. Cock-a-doodle-doo! However, in  baby chicks under 1 year old, females are called pullets, and males are sometimes referred to as cockerels. 

If you are purchasing one at a feed store, straight-run means they haven't been sexed so you can have boys or girls. Sex-link means the chicken is from two different breeds of parents. The male and female chicks show  different feather colors at birth, so they are easier to identify.


What is the name of that duck baby in those old movies? Pick me, I know!
Baby Huey is not a chicken.

Which brings me to my favorite chicken! But wait, he's a baby duck or duckling. He first starred in "Quack-a-doodle-doo" in 1949. Huh? I always thought he was a big chicken. Anyway, his name is Baby Huey. You know the one... so silly, so duh-y.

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Recommended:

How to Make a Chicken Paper Bag Puppet and Pattern

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd Edition*

Chicken Little*

Rock-A-Doodle*









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How to Make a Rooster or Chicken Hat Band Mask or What She's Not Wearing Wednesday

Looking for an Easy Chicken Hat Tutorial?

Chickens: Rooster, Hen, Pullet, Cockerel or Cock. Whatever you call them, we're on a kick. Our baby chicks are six-weeks-old, and we adopted three duckling companions for them. We're still waiting to see if they turn out to be girls or boys. The waiting is the hardest part. Enjoy!


In the meantime, we are crafting chickens. We've made a chicken hat/ mask for the littles. It's an easy craft for preschool kids. Pair it with The Little Red Hen for a fun companion class lesson. Hopefully, they'll be happy to wear their new cap. You could even perform a little chicken play skit.



how big are 4 week old baby Pekin ducks ducklings
Baby Pekin Ducks, four weeks old. 
They don't want to wear a chicken hat.

Mayhem was not in the mood to wear a chicken hat. So, this post is what she's not wearing. Shh... I'll tell you what she is wearing. She marched upstairs and found a pair of hand-me-down khaki shorts which she paired with last year's favorite rainbow striped dress. This year, it is more like a polo shirt. Maybe she'll be back to her DIVA self next week. In the meantime, hope you enjoy crafting construction paper chicken or rooster hats with the kids.


How to make a rooster chicken hat band mask preschool play costume
Chicken hat for Little Red Hen play skit.
  • Cut two, two inch strips down the length of the construction paper. 
  • Measure one strip band to child's head. Glue ends together. 
  • Now fold the other strip in half to form the chicken's beak. 
  • Bend in half until ends meet, glue together, and attach beak to hat band strip. 
  • Cut out the comb and wattle as pictured 
  • Paste wattle to beak, draw two black circles for nose holes. We cut out two paper "chicken combs" and glued to a piece of cardboard to make the comb stand tall. 
  • Score a slit in each end of the comb and slide into hat band. Ta da!
You've got a preschool chicken costume in less than 15 minutes! 

Here's an idea for a kid's flower hat band or did you ever wonder how to make a chef's hat for kids? Or maybe a Phineas Birthday Party Hat for kids...





Recommended Reading:

Big Red Barn Chicken Coop Idea

How to Raise Chickens

Kids' Crafts: Crochet



Elizabeth, our "marches to the beat of a different drummer, "Wyandotte Chicken - 4 months old.

Learn How to Draw: Trace The Pictures of a Cartoon Chicken, Chicken Hawk, and Duck Clipart Printables

Looking for a Chicken Cartoon? 

Save these traceable images to your computer to print, or click on the pictures for a free printable pdf version. You can learn how to draw a chicken, duck, or other birds by practicing! Trace these pictures or print them out as chicken coloring sheets. We've just become the proud parents of six baby Wyandotte chicks. You'll find lots of chicken art ideas. Just type "Chicken" in the sidebar browse us search bar. Enjoy!

Chicken Joke and Clip Art Cartoon



Learn How to Draw: Trace The Pictures of a Cartoon Chicken, Chicken Hawk, and Duck Clipart Printables
Cartoon Chicken Picture Traceable.


Real Red Barn Chicken Coop

How to Draw Birds Traceable Cartoon Chickens
Traceable Cartoon Chicken Images.



Can you freeze eggs?
Cartoon Duck Clipart
Cartoon Duck Traceable Pattern.




Homeschooling Art Lesson: Folk Art Chicken Quilt Squares
Cartoon Chicken Clip art Little Red Hen
Draw and Color a Cartoon Chicken.






Baby Chicken Hawk Coloring Sheet Clip Art Image How to Draw a Bird
Trace a baby chicken hawk clip art.


Recommended Reading:


Duck at the Door*

How to Draw: Farm Animals Cute Free App*

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens*

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Preschool Sensory Play Activities: How it all got started!

Sensory Messy Play and Preschool Activities

We've had many great years teaching messy play and preschool classes for The Play Connection and hope the future will send even more blessings our way. Here are our top sensory and messy play preschool activities from 2013. What a blast from the past!


This post contains affiliate links.

Sensory Messy Play and Preschool Activities


Here is a listing of our top posts of 2013. Many offer great ideas for fun, preschool activities, clip art, and lots of fun for kids! Enjoy!


  1. Christmas Eye Candy: Photos of Christmas Trees in Snow Clipart
  2. Angie's Homemade Artisan Bread Recipe
  3. New Year Preschool Party Ideas and Activities for Kids
  4. Lots of Snowmen and Marshmallows Christmas Crafts and Activities for Kids
  5. Fun for Kids with Phineas and Ferb Printables
  6. Lots of photos of Bread Clipart
  7. Cute Valentine Clipart and Free Printables for Kids Classroom Valentines
  8. 9 New Year Activities for Kids with games for kids too
  9. Marshmallows: Fun for kids SENSORY game great for preschoolers
  10. The Tooth Fairy Sagas: Free Toothfairy clipart and true Mommy Drama
  11. Activities for Kids: Make your own snow for Sensory play fun for kids
  12. Birthday Party games for Kids and Moms on a budget
  13. Our new Series Made the cut! Creative Country Sayings and Inspirational Quotes

Activities for pre school Pre K Kids Creative Chaos Lora Langston Edible Crafts fun for kids
Memories from 2008 - 2012.

Here's my favorite Homeschool Lesson from 2013.

Primary and Complementary Color Homeschool Art and Science Lesson.
Primary and Complementary Color Homeschool Art and Science Lesson.


(Pre K to Elementary)
There are many Homeschool Lessons in this series, so make sure you click the labels under each post. (Still Life, Water Coloring for Kids, Weaving, Self-Portrait activities, Building Models for Science, Christmas Gingerbread House how to diy, Color Theory Lessons, Primary Colors, and even some History  along the way - it's art to me how we've designed our lives throughout the years. I hope you will follow along on the journey.)


We published a Kitchen Kids Cookbook with mix and make recipes for kids. We helped fund raise for Santa's Elves of Indy, we started Homeschooling through INCA (Indiana Connections Academy,) and we moved to a house in the country. 


2013 holds many dreams as we look forward to gardening, raising chickens, goats, and hopefully bunnies and alpacas, get that YA novel published, and share a few of the many stage plays and skits for kids I've written over the years. Bring it! I am excited to get started :-) 


What does your future hold? Leave a comment and let us know.



Follow us on Pinterest (Kids Creative Chaos and Pin it! Online Scavenger Hunt for Pre school Curriculum) and Google +  Can't find us on Twitter? Check the right sidebar for a link we're @playconnection


Recommended Reading:

Fun with Messy Play: Ideas and Activities for Children with Special Needs

Play Out: How to develop your outside space for learning and play


Creative Country: Big Red Barn Chicken Coop Ideas

Here is a fun idea for a Chicken Coop

Beware! Chicken Coops they sell at the store are not safe for your chickens. They aren't raccoon, opossum, weasel, or mink proof. 

I've heard awful stories of raccoons pulling the animals right through the wires and of minks squeezing through and, like a vampire, sucking the blood from every last animal and then lining them up in a row! 

We had a "friendly" possum and learned the hard way that "opossums sometimes eat sleeping poultry". Did  you get that part, eat? They eat them alive starting with their abdomen. It is very sad. It also ate part of our little girl duck's beak, poor thing. Please don't let this happen to you. The guilt is unbearable.

A friend of mine had some materials left over after building their barn, so they made a Chicken Coop to match! I am jealous! Don't you think they should market these? 

Here's a fun Big Red Barn Preschool Activity to make.


Big Red Barn Chicken Coop Ideas
Chicken Coop Barn. 





Recommended Reading:

Guide to Raising Chickens

8 Cheap Ideas to House Your Backyard Hens and Save Money

Backyard Chickens for Beginners

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Jake's Jokes for Kids: Chicken and Slide Clip Art Images

Need a Good Chicken Joke? Wonder why the chicken crossed the road?


A couple of silly jokes for kids from Jake. Why did the Chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide! Enjoy these funny chicken jokes for kids. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links.


Chicken Memes Quotes Quote Chickens Meme Joke
Chicken Memes Quotes Quote Chickens Meme Joke.




Jake's Jokes: Chicken Jokes Memes Quote and Picture Clipart
Chicken Joke: Why did the chicken cross the playground?


To get to the other slide joke with picture
To get to the other slide...


  • Why did the chicken cross the road?
To show the possums how it is done.

  • Why did the gum cross the road?
It was stuck to the bottom of the chicken's foot.

  • Why did the egg hide?
Because she was a little chicken.

  • Why did the duck cross the road?
Because it was the chicken's day off.


Around our house, the duck crosses the road to follow the chicken's to the other side. The chickens cross the road to eat the neighbors bird seed and drink from his bird bath. Don't worry, it isn't a real road!