DIY: Fish Costume for Kids

The school year is about to end and we are already in the preparation stage of the activities for our Moving Up Day. This will be the first moving up ceremony that our school will have so it will be one memorable event for us educators and of course, our pupils.

We decided to have an Animal Theme this year and I have been scouring the internet for ideas to organize that will work with our theme. Having a puppet show is one of my goal this year so I am planning on making some stick puppets and assign some kids to narrate the story of The Little Red Hen. What I like about staging a puppet show is the fact that it will help those extra shy kids to perform on stage. By being a puppet handler, one must hide under the puppet stage or theatre so the child wouldn't exactly perform for the people, KWIM?

Anyway, since there are more than a hundred kids who will finish their kindergarten program in our school this year, we have to maximize each presentation so that all the children are able to perform. So we thought, why not make an Under the Sea dance presentation instead? So we presented the idea to the parents and they all liked it so our main dilemma is the costume. A mermaid costume is easy to make, a starfish outfit can be drawn, seaweeds are not a challenge for us, but a fish costume is hard to imagine.

Or so I thought.

So I searched and searched and found this cute fish costume somewhere.

Photos lifted from  mightygirl.com   

I thought we could buy cheap fabrics and have it sewn like that on the photos and after which I will cut out some foams or felt and glue everything on the fabric. This idea might do the trick. I will try making one fish outfit for my pupil and definitely I will be back to tell you whether it's easy or not.

Wish me luck!

Happy Valentine's!

Happy Valentine's Day! A lot of things happened today because I just have to make it special at least to the kids. I received a number of flowers and cards from my pupils but I forgot to take a photo of them. As a way of making this year special to the kids, I made these "lolli-hearts" which I gave to all of my pupils.  I also gave some to my previous pupils who are now on higher grades who didn't fail in giving me their cards or letters. 

My son and I had a lunch date at our humble mall so after we finished eating, I went to the school supplies shop and bought some of these.

I was battling with myself in joining Pinterest for the past months because I don't want to get hooked on it.  However, I lost my own battle and gave in, which of course, is a good idea because I got inspired in doing crafts. I have posted this pin three days ago and have always been curious and eager to make my own so when I had the chance this afternoon, I made my own craft foam stamps and here is my output.

So thanks to Pinterest for bringing out my creative side. I also made some greeting cards to give to my friends but I am not that confident enough to take a photo of them yet. Besides, I only had my camera phone today so all the images posted above really looks crappy.

Anyway, here's hoping that I get to create more crafts in the coming weeks. Have a Happy Day of  Hearts!

Heart Mosaic

One of my favorite activity during this month of February is the making of Valentine's Day card. Each year, I see to it that my pupils are able to give something to their parents for Valentine's Day. I teach them how to write short but sweet letters to their parents and personalize each card by providing them the spelling of how they call their parents.

We have made a lot of mosaics and collages this year so I am planning to teach the kids on how to make a heart mosaic. I have made pre-cut heart shapes of different sizes and had put those in plastic cups. I call them jar of hearts... errrrr.... cups of hearts. 

Pre-cut hearts in different sizes

So all you have to require the kids to bring (wherein they will ask their parents to buy) is the short sized folder and glue.

Instruct the kids to design their card to their own liking and make a sketch/draft before anything else.

Check to see if each child knows what he/she is doing and make suggestions to make his/her card look better.

And the finish product will be something like this.

But of course, when you are dealing with kindergarten or preschoolers, creating such an output will be time  consuming so you can either cut the folder into two or suggest simple designs for them to follow. Most importantly, remind the kids to put lots of love in their work and tell them to give their parents a kiss and a hug when they give their cards to their parents or loved ones.

Hong Kong Wishing

Last May 2010, I went to  Hong Kong with my first born, my mother and other relatives. It was our first time to travel out of the country and surely, we had the time of our lives.

I was not able to bring the twins because they were too young then to enjoy walking but I promised to bring them there in the future. A couple of weeks ago, I was already on my planning stage in going back to Hong Kong. I am actually planning to go back there with all of my three kids and when my mom learned about my plan, she too wants to tag along. It would be a great family trip! I haven't finished our itinerary yet since I cannot decide on the length of our stay there but surely, I would like to have a day trip in Macau since we weren't able to go there in 2010. Good thing I have PEX to back me up and support my plans in going back to Hong Kong.

Call me excited but we're not actually going out this year. Ha! I am not a millionaire nor am I rich so I have to save money for our trip which will happen NEXT YEAR. My point of focus this year is to process my kids' passports, plan out itinerary carefully, save money, buy a DSLR camera for saving memories, save money, save money and lastly, did I say save money?

So far, I haven't dined out or bought anything silly so the saving money part is kinda working. I applied for my son's passport recently and we're still waiting for the clearing time from the DFA since his passport was stolen by a jealous and immature freak.

Anyway, I'm praying for this trip to push through because I want to bring my kids to the happiest place on earth. :)

A Greeting of Sorts

Christmas Traditions

Everyone has one. Some has cookies and milk while waiting for Santa to come while others have a story telling session by the Christmas tree. My family and I sleep. Just sleep. Sweet. But that is after we attended the 7pm mass and have dinner right after. No drinking session, no Santa Claus, we just bond and sleep.

It is during Christmas day that we do our traditions though. We go to our relatives' houses to pay respect to our elders. That uses up most of our time; and when we go home, we find presents flowing under our tree. Today, while my mom brought my kids to do the usual rounds to our relatives' houses, I decided to have my hair cut -which was okay except for the bangs. After that I decided to play Santa because I feel so sorry for my kids after the scam that happened to me earlier this week (which I don't want to elaborate further). I was supposed to buy goodies for them and have those wrapped but when I was at the gift wrapping station, I told myself, what the heck, my kids deserve to have some toys too! So I bought them toys, have those wrapped, wrote their names, and then said it's from Santa.

When I went home I hurriedly put the gifts under the tree. My mom told me that Santa left money under the tree last night since he was busy attending to the kids in the evacuation areas in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City. But of course that was just an excuse. So the kids had gifts from my parents and me, aka Santa Claus. We were so excited to see the kids open their gifts that I wasn't able to take photos. But yeah, the three of them were screaming with excitement.

I love Christmas!

And oh, at the church today, my mom asked my son what he wished for. While every kid wished for a gadget or a toy, my 7 year old son asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to keep us away from harm and other natural calamities. That made my mother cry. That made me proud.

Lake Sebu: 7 Fall ZIpline

It has been my dream to go ziplining at Lake Sebu. Okay, not really a dream but a goal. My friends and I were always planning to go to Lake Sebu just to try out their zipline. The 7 falls zipline boasts of a 720 feet (the highest in Asia) and 779 meters long where one person has to pay a flat rate fee of Php250.00 during weekdays and Php300.00 on weekends in able to experience the amazing fleet. 

I was with my relatives along with my 2 boys aged 7 and 5 and we all had the time of our lives! Well of course at first the kids were apprehensive because they're scared of the thought of them hanging on air but upon major convincing and motivation, they agreed to go with it, with tears from my boy that is. 

Where the fun begins

My apprehensive kid before our fleet.

I got nervous too but I told myself to just enjoy the view, and it was a sight to behold. My son ziplined through a rainbow but I didn't notice that because I was busy looking down at the falls.

Having resided in Iligan for four years, waterfalls don't amaze me anymore since it's a common sight there. However, it was still breathtaking.

My son and brother.

Dear Santa, Help me decide

Dear Santa,

If you ever exist, and I am sure you do, there are things that I am confused of as of the moment. Last December 1, my son asked me if he could write you a letter and ask for his Christmas present in advance. I asked him what he would like to ask from you, he said he wants a Nintendo Wii. I choked.

Being a single mom with my own whims at that, I find it hard to grant his wish because in order to fully appreciate playing with the Wii, we need to have a decent tv that's at least 32 inches in size. I am so torn, heartbroken, and in a financial constraint. I tried to explain to my son about the dilemma and he thought for a while and asked, "Can I ask 2 presents for Santa instead? A 32 inch television and a Nintendo Wii?" I wanted to faint.

But Santa, you see, God is so good that He gave me so much blessings and I was able to buy a new television yesterday. The kids were ecstatic because they knew what will come next. But I am still torn. Will buying them a Nintendo Wii a good decision? Am I not spoiling my kids? My only fear is that they will grow up to be spoiled children where they will throw a fit when I don't give them what they need.

Even though the gift will come from you Santa, I still want you to help me decide. Will it be a good decision or not?


Love,
Mars

Recycling Papers

Teachers have this paper problem wherein we don't know how to dispose those test papers from the previous school years or any paper that we try to save for the future. Teachers are paper collectors and more often than not, those papers eventually go to waste. 

However, not only teachers are paper collectors. My dad reads the newspaper everyday without fail and there will always be a massive pileup in our house. Add those magazine subscriptions he has, our yard is filled with papers. Though we sometimes sell our stacks of newspapers in the market to the mango vendors, there will always be papers in our house, and in my classroom.

Good thing I learned about solid waste management as I don't know what to do with those junk papers we have. Take a look at this..

Those are paper balls! Those paper balls can be used as a charcoal alternative and charcoal is used for cooking. All you have to do is tear the paper in medium sized pieces, soak them in water for a while (10-20 minutes), form them into balls and let them dry. Remember that paper is made from wood pulp so the effect it has in cooking is the same as to that of wood charcoal. We sometimes cook using charcoal because we have this cooker that has a blower in it (that way we don't have to fan the coal when we put it on fire). Cooking using paper charcoal is not only economically efficient, it is also earth friendly. So start recycling now!