We're moving folks!!!

I've separated our school and home life into two different websites.

Jungle School now has a new home at www.jungleschooladventure.com.  I am still cleaning house and adding lots of material, so I have not moved the subscription over quite yet.

To find out what's new in our home (including recipes, green living, organizing and more) stop by www.casacrizon.com.

Hope to see you soon!!

Handprint Art - Native Americans

I was trying to think of an easy way to make Native Americans for our new book, and this idea just popped into my head.  I still can’t believe it worked!!  I'll update this tomorrow after we add the details, but had to post now in case it would help someone else.  ;-)

For the boy, paint each finger (not the thumb) a different color.  Paint the entire palm brown.

For the girl, paint the index and pinky fingers black, then continue those lines down to form a U.  Paint the rest of the palm brown.

Note:  The girl is made with fingers pointing down, while the boy is made fingers pointing up.

Here is the finished product:

Handprint Art - Fall Trees

For Fun Friday this week, we turned some broken crayons into a wonderful fall keepsake...Handprint Trees!

Begin by tracing your child’s hand and arm on brown paper.  Cut it out, and set it aside.  Next, give each child a piece of waxed paper and a few crayons in fall colors (with the paper peeled off).  Give your chid an old pencil sharpener, and have them make a few crayon shavings onto half of the wax paper.  

(We used a fine grater for this step, and I’m still trying to figure out how to clean the wax off!  So, ignore the picture and skip the grater!)  Another option is to have another JungleMama make a bunch of shavings for the children to sprinkle on to make their creation.  Thanks Jen!

Next, fold the wax paper over and place a sheet of copy paper or an old T-shirt over the top.  (I tried it with a towel and it was too thick to work well.)  Use an iron on medium heat, to go over the top.  This is the most fun part, so make sure the children are gathered around!  The finished result will be something like this... 

The colors sometimes bleed through the wax paper, which is why you want a thin layer of paper or fabric to protect your iron.

Cut the wax paper into a cloud shape to resemble the leaves of the tree, then glue on the handprint trunk.  Simple, and beautiful in a window.  ;-)

Jedi Spelling

I had to post this today in honor of my favorite Jedi's birthday!  Levi is officially in the Star Wars phase.  As soon as he wakes up, he dons his cape and lightsaber to conquer the world.  Rather than fight it, I decided to use it to our advantage and do a little spelling practice in the meantime.  

Simply give your child a word to spell (verbally, on a flashcard, written on a whiteboard, whatever) and let them swoosh away.  Of course, speaking in a crazy accent at the time makes things much more fun.  ;-)

Visit 1+1+1=1 for more word play ideas...

PDF Calendar Site

I stumbled across an awesome site for creating customized printable calendars.  I like to look the big version of my school year when sketching out unit/thematic plans, and this site makes it super easy!

I forgot to post it in my back to school stuff, but remembered as I flipped the page over to work on our 2nd quarter plans today.  Oops!  If you would like a copy for yourself (for lesson plans, blog posts, menu, whatever)...

- Click on this link

- Make sure the date is October 23

- Click on the icon of the PDF, or click at the bottom where it says “Download Calendar PDF”

Then you’ll get  an overview from now to the year end all on one page!