Holiday Crafts & Activities for the Whole Year

Do your school holidays need a positive jolt? 

 

Something fun, creative, and memorable?

 

Something to keep your kids enthralled all year—with crafts, writing, art, music, dance, and conversation?

 

Here’s a bundle of rich holiday treats you can use every day of the school year.

 

In Holiday Crafts, Activities, & Writing All Year Bundle, you’ll find…

♥     The most adorable leopard- or zebra-paper Father’s Day Cards

♥     A stand-up Lincoln’s Log Cabin—with or without a Lincoln penny in the window

♥     The kinesthetic delight of dancing with your Chinese New Year Dancing Dragons…

 

♥     Creative Writing Bubbles—for Halloween and December-Holiday laughter

♥     Number Chart Robots to perk up Valentine’s Day—and any other holiday—without a sugar rush

♥     The unforgettable action game—NIMBY War—on Earth Day…

♥     Super-cute 100^th Day of School Super Hero Mask

♥     Chic, wearable art medallions for Pi Day

♥     Gorgeous and thoughtful Martin Luther King, Jr. bulletin board projects

♥     A dancing leprechaun puppet, and an old Irish tale to enact, with leprechaun hats and a jig MP3

♥     A “Beautiful Hand” greeting card for any occasion

♥     A Memorial or Veterans Day craft box, for display or gift-giving

On the first day of school, you can teach the rousing chorus of your School Rally Song MP3, personalized with your school’s name—a perfect brain break for any day of the year.

 

In the final days, you can spark thoughtful conversations and reminisce, as you create an End of the Year Craft Box—or a simple one-page version.

 

You’ll find activities to use every month—for you, or for easy substitute teacher planning.

 

There’s enough material for many days of inspired teaching, all differentiated for your kids’ needs and abilities.

 

Students will write keepsake books for Thanksgiving, designing a trip to an imaginary New World; and for the New Year, with children describing their personal resolutions—with beautiful visual and written prompts.

 

The monthly mini-booklets in the Thank You Cards resource will have kids' creativity leaping off the page.

These cards make perfect rewards for your kids to decorate, on the morning you return to the classroom after an absence.

 

You and your kids will be excited about each amazing new project in store!

 

“This resource has been a great lifesaver. It provides so many different options for my social studies lessons, writing, art, and centers, all year long. Fantastic bargain!” (Laura T.)

Oh, wait—my favorite goody.

This one's tucked into the 100th Day of School Package:

Counting Song 1 – 100 MP3 is a fun way to teach kids to count!  It features a soothing voice counting 1 – 100 over relaxing music with a soft beat.  The pronunciation is slow, clear, and correct.

 

It’s also perfect for behavior management, to help kids calm their minds and focus on the task at hand; whether for time out, clean up, transition, stretching, or dance.  This “magic timer” counts like a heartbeat, one beat per second. You can slow your heart rate by breathing deeply and matching your pulse to the beat of the songs.  

 

It’s not just for kids!  If you'd like 4 minutes of relaxation, then cup your palms over your eyes as you listen, and you’ll return to teaching calm and refreshed.

 

The many uses include:

•        Teach kids to count numbers 1-100

•        Follow along on the number chart

•        Teach kids to skip-count numbers (saying only every 2^nd, 5^th, or 10^th number)

•        Dance or stretch between lessons

•        Meditate with heads down or eyes cupped

•        Cool down at the end of recess or gym, lying down and listening to the song

•        Tutor a small group at the listening center or computer

•        Time for a transition or clean-up

•        Celebrate the 100^th day of school

•        Time a task

•        Make 100 poses, 100 facial expressions, etc.

•        Nap time relaxation

•        Slow your pulse rate by breathing deeply and matching your pulse to the beat of the songs

•        Kids take turns commenting about a lesson, one child per count, or per 10 counts

•        Roll a dice 100 times

•        Bounce a ball 100 times

•        Count out 100 Cheerios, M&Ms, chocolate chips, beans, etc., and place them on a 100 Chart, as you sing along

•        Take 100 steps

•        Draw 100 letters, numbers, shapes, etc.

•        Write 100 words (sight words, favorite foods, animals, or activities)

•        Draw 100 objects (10 in a row, and 10 columns)

Wishing you a wonderful new year of magic and discovery! 

How to Create an Editable PowerPoint

 

How to Create an Editable PowerPoint, Step-by-Step:

Good news: you can create an editable PowerPoint.  

More good news: you can flatten the un-editable portions of your images, by saving them as jpgs, then copying and pasting those jpgs back into a blank PowerPoint--page by page.  That way, no one can lift out the clip art and text. On top of those jpgs, you can insert the editable fields.

Bad news: the ppt will not be secure.  Also, the quality of a simple jpg will not be quite as crisp and clear when you print it, as a pdf would be.  

You can go into your systems to increase the dpi of your jpgs. But the printed PowerPoint pages will still not look super-clear.

Or...

For MUCH CRISPER EDITABLE PPTs

You'll need Adobe Acrobat DC Pro.

·         Prep the PowerPoint (ppt): make a copy of the ppt, and from this copy, remove all editable fields including any print with hyperlinks.  

    

    Keep only the backgrounds, borders, graphics, images, and clipart that you want to be flattened so no one can lift them out of the doc.

    Also, keep any text that will be non-editable!

·         Remove page #s if desired, and add one page with a blank border, to add text and a TOC Table of Contents

·         Open ppt/ save as / adobe pdf

·         Tools/ export pdf/ image/ JPG [Select JPG, then click on the settings sprocket icon next to it]

·         Settings/Gray scale quality: maximum/ Color: maximum

·         Format: progressive (5 scans) / [USE DEFAULT SETTINGS FOR ALL OTHERS]

·         OK/ Export/ Select an Empty folder or Create a folder called: [Doc Name] JPGs / Save

·          Next, create a new ppt called: [Doc Name] JPGs AND: Import the jpgs one at a time onto each blank page of the ppt

·         Add editable text fields from original ppt as necessary, including Title page, TOC page text, and terms of use page text--with hyperlinks--which will be inserted into a blank border page

--   Add any text that you wish, that will not be flattened.   Buyers can edit this.

--  Tell buyers that they can add any text they wish, and explain how to add a text box:  Insert > Textbox > [Type inside the box; edit the color, size, font; click and drag the box anywhere on the page.]

·         Shrink borders for proper printing, slim at left and top, a bit wider extra border at right and © at above 1” from the bottom, if necessary for proper printing

·         Save as ppt [Doc Name] EDITABLE w JPGs

I hope this helps you to create editable PowerPoints that will print out super-crisp and clear.

If you'd like to know how to create an editable and secure PDF, step-by-step, it's here!