Donated Easter Baskets

                    Donated 
      Easter Baskets

      Every year  my 5th graders begin a collection of empty clementine boxes.  In the spring the boxes are taken home by the students to paint and decorate. All families have a can or two of interior wall paint left over from a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, or  family room.  The kids paint the boxes and with smiling faces bring them back to school.

                       

  
          During Lent we begin to collect donations of candy, plastic eggs, Easter grass, stuffed animals, books, toys, school supplies, toothpaste and tooth brushes, just to name a few items. 

      The kids set up an " Easter Basket Store" in my classroom. Baskets are chosen and filled with Easter grass. Each child decides who they are shopping for, little boy or girl, older boy or girl.
             

        

The shopping begins!
                 

           

After shopping, each student made a tag for a boy or girl.

              As you can see, every basket is completely different.  Here is a small sample of the 104 Easter baskets that were filled by my outstanding students and their generous families.

      The baskets were wrapped in plastic bags and loaded  up to be delivered.  Parents have also volunteered to deliver all the Easter baskets to a local food pantry just in time for Easter!

 Everyone has realized

 that it is definitely better to give than receive.

             This is a wonderful Lenten project for children to understand being charitable.
           

 


Please feel free to leave a comment.  I always enjoy hearing from you.

Beti

Happy Easter

Happy Easter   

 Hello from the Easter Bunny!

     I saw the Easter Bunny today.  He wanted me to pass along his Easter greetings.  This friendly furry fellow always has a twinkle in his eye. When we see him we know that Spring is here and the flowers are beginning to bloom. 

        I guess the Easter Bunny has an assistant this year! You never know who will make an appearance at the Easter Parade !

                    Here are a few of his friends ready to hide their eggs.

    When we are outside the air is fresh and clean. The birds are very busy flying around looking for worms in the fresh grass.  Robins are tweeting and making their nests.  They will lay their eggs very soon. Take advantage of the nice weather and get outside and enjoy our beautiful world. 

Happy Easter!

Beti  

 

Easter Basket Envelope

          Now that we are working with our children at home, this is an easy project you can do at home with a white business envelope. 

         A simple business size envelope can easily become an Easter Basket envelope for your kids to make.

        I started with a standard business size envelope because local businesses had donated their old, out dated envelopes to our school.  Why buy new when you can reuse?  As you can see, I drew a dashed line about 3 inches from the left hand side of the envelope.  In this way the printed return address can be cut off  and discarded.

      That section was cut off. 

         Then I found the center of the remaining envelope and cut the flap into a triangle.

         A triangular section was cut out of the middle of the flap to create a handle for the basket.

          Finally, the left side of the envelope  is glued.  Now the decorating begins. As you can see, these were given to our 1st grade buddies.  So names were written on the front or back of the envelope to ensure delivery. As you can see we tucked our Easter cards into the completed envelope Easter baskets.

           A very easy  project for 5th graders to work on. If you are making these with younger children, an adult might have to do the cutting and gluing ahead of time to get the size correct. Then, have the kids do the decorating.
          
          These could also be used as place cards for your Easter dinner table. You might even fill each with a little Easter grass. Grandma and aunts will be impressed with their personalized name cards.  Let your children be creative and help decorate.






          Today I linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching   
 five for FRIDAY weekly linky party.

www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com 

          Please leave a comment.  I'd love read your thoughts and ideas.

            
   Enjoy Spring!
Beti  
          

Knitted Bunny

              Knit Bunny

    I was browsing Pinterest the other day when I ran across a post that gave free instructions on how to made a cute little  bunny from a knitted square.  I was so intrigued that I had to try my hand at this simple project.
     I want to give credit to www.gina-michele.com

http://www.gina-michele.com/2016/05/one-square-stuffed-bunny-knitting.html 


     She called it "One Square Stuffed Bunny" knitting pattern.  And it was Free! 
 Thank you Gina Michele!

        To begin, use size 10 needles and cast on 24 stitches.  ( The pattern said to use size 13, but the largest I had were size 10).  Knit one row and pearl the next row. Continue the pattern until you have a knitted a square. ( Gina Michele wrote instructions to cast on 24 stitches and knit 24 rows. ) Please go to her blog because her instruction are much better than mine.

   
       Using a yarn needle baste a line across the middle of the piece and then up to the top and back to where you began.  You should have a triangle that looks something like this. I used a contrasting color so it would stand out in the picture.  You can use the same color yarn so it doesn't show in the finished bunny.

  
   When you begin to pull the ends of the yarn the bunny's ears and head will take shape. This is the view from the back of the bunny.  Before I stuffed the head, I added the eyes and nose. He looks a little sleepy!  ( It was easier for me than sewing it after the bunny was completed.)

  
       The bunny is beginning to take shape and getting a personality. Stuff the head.  Pull the basted yarn tight and stitch the back of the head and down the back.


      After the back is stitched, stuff the body. Now run another basting stitch around the bottom of the body.  You may have to add more stuffing as needed.
Pull the basting stitch to tighten up the bottom to close the body. Make a knot to ensure the stuffing is enclosed.


   

      This little guy needed a cotton tail.  I used a white pom pom which was stitched to the backside of the bunny.  You could make your own pom pom if you are so inclined.

    Here is a great and quick little knitting project that is fun to make and just as much fun to give away to a child this spring or in an Easter basket.  I hope you enjoy making these bunnies as much as I did.

     Today I have linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching on the Five for Friday weekly linky party.
www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com 
Please follow the link to check it out.


It is never to early to Think Spring!

Please leave a comment. I enjoy reading your messages.

Beti

Bunnies and Eggs

Paint Chip Bunnies

   
      In Spring I need to engage my students in thinking about our Easter service project.  My students make and fill  Easter baskets for a local food pantry.  Here are some of my students with the Easter baskets that they have stuffed full of candy, toys, books, school supplies, and of course a stuffed animal.

      The baskets all need to have a tag.  The tags identify if the baskets is made for a "Little boy" , "Little girl",  Older boy", or "Older girl".  I went to the paint department of local stores to collect paint swatches to make these tags. Large tags were used for the bunnies and small swatches became the eggs. Bunny and egg templates were made from tag board for the students to trace before cutting.

         This young man is working on cutting out a bunny shape the he traced on the yellow paint swatch. You can see a completed purple bunny along with a pile of egg shapes on his desk. He has been very busy.

    A large pile of eggs has been finished by this young lady.

   One more purple bunny is coming soon.

   

            These paint swatches have such wonderful colors.  I try to pick Spring colors. There are so many colors and shades to pick from. The paint departments always have an unending supply.  My students are very diligent when cutting out the eggs and bunnies.  I am so very proud of my 5th graders because they are kind and generous. They enjoy making things to give to others.

Think Spring!
Beti 

Cracked Egg Cards and Envelope Baskets

 

Cracked Eggs  

  I found this cute cracked egg design to make an Easter card at 
http://www.sundayschoolkids.com/activities-lent-easter/1-cracked-egg-instructions.htm 

        My 5th graders made these cards for their 11st grade buddies.  They turned out quite cute.

     The directions were quite a challenge for some of the students.  First you had to read the directions from the bottom up. That was confusing for some.

The directions to reverse fold also stumped a group to children.  But the end result was very cute as you can see. 

 

    Envelopes came in handy to make a basket envelope for the Easter egg card.

          First, we took a legal size envelope and cut off the end with the return address. ( Our school gets donations, boxes of old recycle envelopes from local businesses).  

         Next, the remaining part was folded in half. The top flap was cut to match the curve.  Then a cut was made along the fold and following the curve to make a handle.  

        Finally, the open side of the "basket" was glued and decorated.  

       The cracked egg card fits nicely into the basket and ready for delivery. 

  Check out the Forever in 5th Grade Linky, SHOW and TELL.
www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com
    

 A joyous Easter to all!

Please leave a comment if you have the time. 

Beti