Tag-It People! 

Bread, fruit, or veggie bag closure tags have an interesting flat shape. They are easy to come by and make cute little "Tag-it People." The best part is--they're free! Collect some tags and get some fine-tipped permanent markers. The tag points can be used as the "legs" of the Tag-it. Or, turn it upside-down and make the tag points look like pulled up pigtails. Look at some of the examples on the green board below and come up with some interesting Tag-its of your own. Tag-its are cute and positive little people you can use to "tag" someone and show them you care. Because of their shape, Tag-its will hook onto the bottom of a T-shirt, a belt loop or edge of a garment.

1. Most tags are plain. This one had a
paper attachment so I used it. 

2. Color both sides of the paper .

3. Cut the strip from edge to tag.

4. Add details to the tag to make a Tag-it Person.

5. Curl the strips to make "hair."

6. Just a few of my collection of Tag-its along with plain ones ready to be inked. 

Tag-its are not intended for small children. Keep small items like this away from children under 3 yrs. of age. 

If you create an especially cute Tag-it, please send it to my blog so that I can post it. 

Mini Picture Frames

Recently I received a piece of jewelry and hated to think of throwing away the cute little hinged box it came in. (Okay, I have "recycling" in my blood. It must be part of my DNA. I don't like to throw things away--especially if I can find another way to repurpose them.)

Anyway, I turned the hinged box over in my hand a few times and then realized that when it sat sideways it looked like a little picture frame. I removed the inside silky lining and cut a picture to fit in one side and made up a little verse for the other side. Of course, two pictures inside would have been nice too. Once the box is turned over on its side, it sits nicely on a flat surface. Kiddos will especially like that the box can close on its hinge and hide the picture(s) inside. That makes for even more fun. Decorate the outside with markers, or glue on plastic "gems" or foamy pieces to make the picture frame unique.

Time Capsule News

There are a lot of fun and historical things happening around the state of Florida in celebration of our 500 Birthday. 

My book, Happy Birthday, Florida! (1513-2013) was honored recently with inclusion in the time capsule event at the Seminole County Public Library System, East Branch. I was able to read a poem, "Florida's Name" from the book.  Now, if I can just live long enough to be at the "unearthing" in 50 years! 

Newest Book

It's here! I finished Happy Birthday, Florida! in time to have it available for the many festivities happening in and around the state as it celebrates its 500 "birthday."

When Ponce de Leon arrived and called the lovely land "La Florida" he was referring, no doubt, to the budding spring that surrounded him and his crew.

As the ending of "Florida's Name" states:

It's good he came in springtime
And not during torrential rain,
Or else our lovely Florida
Might have been named--
    "La Hurricane."

This book is loaded with zany and thought-provoking poems intended for the 3rd gr. to middle-school audience. But, as always, adults tell me they love the poems as much as the kids.
Happy Birthday, Florida!
1513-2013

Christmas Trees (Dynamic Dioramas)

 Once the holidays are here--they're here! Time to think about Christmas too. My last post talked about Halloween trees from tomato stems. Why not consider a Christmas tree from grape stems! One of the fun things is you get to eat some yummy grapes before you do this craft. (In fact, the eating needs to be done a few days earlier.) This craft is a great way to show kids how things dehydrate. Enjoy some grapes with your kids, save the stems, and put them on the window sill to dry out. Let the kids check out the dehydration process each day to see how the moisture leaves the stem. When the stem is dry, take it outside and spray paint it white, silver, gold, etc. (Remember, the adult needs to do the spraying.) Once the paint is dry, cover your work area with newspaper. Hold the bottom of the stem and apply small amounts of non-toxic white glue with a paint brush to the areas you want sparkly. Before the glue dries, place the stem in a clear baggie, and shake glitter onto the stem. Or hold the stem, close the baggie with the stem in the "zipper" and softly shake the glitter onto the glued areas. Prepare a small white paper plate with a clump of pliable, inexpensive clay. (I like to also add a little spray painting to the plate ahead of time.) Push the bottom of the stem into the clay and tighten the clay around it. Hide the clay by applying pulled cotton balls to the base of the tree. (Sprinkle a little glitter on the cotton balls too, if desired.) Maybe you'd also like to add sticker stars or something to the tree. Make it fun! Make it your own.

Enjoy some grapes. Let the stems dry out.

This is how to hold the stem in the baggie.

This idea was in my book Little Hands-Create!

The finished product! 

Halloween Spooky Trees (Dynamic Dioramas)

Halloween is almost here. If, like me, you've been nibbling on the fine harvest of small, on-the-vine tomatoes available this time of year you also have been taking them off the vine and noticing what intricate stems they have. Not only are the tomatoes delicious, but the stems, when left to dry and get gnarly, make for great miniature diorama-type trees.

Simply allow the stem to dry on a window sill for a few days. Once it seems dry and looks kind of gnarled, paint the stem black (preferably outdoors) using your favorite brand of spray paint. (Note: Spray painting is an adult activity. Children should not use spray paint.) Hang a bat or sit a black cat or witch on a branch. (I used the bat from the Snipper Critters book I mentioned in my last post, but any free, hand-cut bat or animal cut from construction paper would do.) Push the stem bottom into a wad of clay that you've placed in the center of a small paper plate. Then, cut a black piece of construction paper to fit over the clay leaving a hole big enough to go around the stem piece. Decorate around it any way you choose. 

Use it in a Halloween centerpiece or diorama.

Florida Reading Association News

I just returned from doing a workshop session at FRA. Yes, it went well and the attendees were great, but as always, I failed to get in everything I wanted to in the hour allotted. There are so many ideas to share! My worst "no-no" was failing to send around an 'email gathering list' so I could alert the attendees to when, Happy Birthday, Florida! Celebrating Poetry that Fits in Your Pocket, my new book of poetry, comes out next month. I had a list made up and attached the proposed cover, but somehow it stayed near my podium until someone-after the workshop-asked me to email her when the book came out. I think an hour workshop just doesn't work for me. I need more time to "get it all in."
Still, all in all, my session went well. Meeting the new young teachers and "soon-to-be" teachers is always one of the most rewarding experiences of these FRA events. Stephanie, Tara, Jessica, Jennifer, Hangie, and so many others made me smile and know that the education of the next generation is in good hands. Thank you teachers!

The general craft.

 I try to do "open-ended" crafts at the workshops. I present an idea and a craft adaptable to many uses. This way, no matter if a teacher has K, middle-school/HS or any grade in between, there will be a way to use the craft for their specific need. One craft we did represented a kind of "Webbing" where students

Book of 80+ animals, 40+ activities
and teacher "help section 

are able to visualize connections. This craft is accomplished by having one paper plate in the center and four (or more or less) connected to the center plate with yarn. The center plate becomes the "main idea" or the "topic" and the outer plates break the main idea or topic down into smaller pieces. In the example I give, I have the workshop participants cut out a critter from my Snipper Critters book (Maupin House Publishing). Then, we place the critter on the center plate. The outer plates hold the content the students discover about the critter. In this case, I chose kinds of, traits, habitat, and future, but a teacher might want to add more plates or connect even smaller plates to one, or more, of the secondary plates.

A teacher may wish to not use a critter and instead put, KINDS OF SENTENCES on the middle plate and then declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory on the secondary plates. Or, ANGLES on the middle plate and examples of angles on the secondary plates. HS and middle-school students, just like younger students,  benefit from unusual visuals that stay up in a classroom and reinforce what is being taught.

Open-ended is just that. YOU use it how you want to use it.