Princesses Are Not Perfect

I am in love with books, particularily children's books. Sometimes I think I became an elementary teacher as an excuse to be able to read children's books all day. I have three girls who are obsessed with princesses, because of this I am always looking for princess books that teach about becoming a real live princess. One that will be kind, confident and real. Princesses Are Not Perfect by Kate Lum is just that kind of princess book and my girls love it.

Puppet Show Tutorial

1. For this project you will need three colors of thread: black, red and white.
2. You will also need 1 yd of black fabric, 1/2 yd of thicker home decor fabric (we used a black and white design), and 1/8 yd red fabric.

3. You are going to make a ribbon out of your red fabric. To do so, iron both long sides of the red fabric down a 1/2 inch. Repeat and iron down another 1/2 inch. When finished ironing your ribbon will measure 2 1/2 inches.

4. Pin your red fabric onto your black and white home decor fabric. Your red fabric should be positioned so that the bottom of the red fabric is 4 1/2 inches from the bottom of your black and white home decor fabric.

5. Sew your red fabric onto your black and white home decor fabric.

6. Hem both of the short side of your black and white home decor fabric. You do this by ironing down the sides of your fabric by 1/2 inch. You then repeat and iron down both sides by another 1/2 inch. Following your ironing sew down your hems.

7. Once you've hemmed the sides of your home decor fabric, hem the bottom. Again, iron the bottom up a 1/2 inch and then up another 1/2 inch. Finish by sewing your hem down so that your edges and corners look like the picture above.

8. Now we will move onto the top of your black and white home decor fabric. Iron down the top of your fabric a 1/2 inch, but ONLY ONCE this time. Once you've ironed, fold the top of your fabric down until it is lined up just above where you sewed your red piece of fabric. Once folded, sew the flap down.

9. Sew another straight line about 2 1/4 inches above the line you just sewed. This will create a hole in which to place your curtain rod through. The top of your puppet show is now finished.

10. Now grab your 1 yd black piece of fabric. Hem the two sides of your fabric the way we did before, iron a 1/2 inch, repeat ironing another 1/2 inch, then sew down your hem.

11. Hem the bottom of you black piece of fabric; iron a 1/2 inch, repeat ironing another 1/2 inch, them sew down your hem.

12. You will create another hole for your curtain rod in the top of your black fabric. Do this by ironing the top of your fabric down a 1/2 inch ONLY ONCE. Then fold your fabric down 2-2 1/4 inches, iron and sew to create a hole for your curtain rod.

13. You are DONE! I used spring loaded curtain rods I purchased at Walmart for about $3.50 a piece to hang my puppet show in the doorway of my kids' playroom. For a more sturdy option, you can use a spring loaded shower curtain rod for the bottom of the puppet show. If you do so, you will want to fold down your black fabric 3-3 1/2 inches so your rod will fit through the hole you create.

14. Here are a few links to fun puppet making so your kids can put on their own productions.

Script Ideas:

Plays

Legends and Lore

Scripture Stories

Nursery Rhymes

Make scripts out of Children's Books

Tons of Different Puppet Making Ideas:

Family Fun Puppets

*If you know of any more fun links please leave them in the comments so we can all enjoy your fun finds! ENJOY!

Spelling Game

This is a really fun group game we played with our extended family over the holidays.

DIRECTIONS:

• 12 players, one reader, and one ref/score keeper are needed
• Divide players in to two teams: 6 players each team
• Copy the following letters onto sheets of copy paper. One letter per sheet of paper. T S R L D M E N E I O A
• Create 2 sets of letters. One for set for each team.
• Pin the letters T S R L D and M on the front of team players.
• Pin the letters E N E I O and A on the back of team players.
• Teams will race to spell words given to them by the reader.
• Team members who’s letters are not being used must sit down for that word.
• The first team to spell the word correctly and have all team members in their position wins the word. The ref/score keeper judges which team completes the word first.
• The team to win the most words at the end of the game WINS.

Word List for Reader

ALOE

ALTO

DAIS

DALE

DANE

DARE

DART

DEAL

DEAN

DEAR

DENT

DIET

DIME

DIMS

DINE

DIRE

DIRT

EARL

EARN

EASE

EAST

EDIT

IDEA

INTO

IRON

ITEM

LANE

LARD

LAST

LATE

LEAD

LEAN

LEND

LENT

LOAN

LOST

LOTS

MELD

MELT

MIND

MINE

MINT

MIRE

MIS0

MIST

MITE

MOLE

MOLT

MORE

MORN

MOST

MOTE

NEAT

NEAR

NEED

NERD

NOTE

OATS

OMEN

OMIT

RAID

RAIN

RANT

RATS

READ

REAL

RIDE

RIND

ROLE

ROME

SAID

SEAL

SEAT

SEED

SIDE

SITE

SLED

SLOT

SOME

SORT

STAR

TALE

TEAL

TEAR

TEND

TIDE

TIME

TINE

TOES

TOLE

TONE

TORN

Words with more letters

STORM

MELTS

MOTEL

DENAR

DARTS

MOLES

MOIST

TRAIN

MINOR

DRAIN

DEALS

DELTA