Tutorial: Circular Perpetual Calendar

For kids of a certain age, the new year is the perfect time to begin a study of the calendar.

My goals for this study are for both kids to memorize the sequence of months and a canonical poem relevant to each season (we've already got "Stopping by Woods" in our back pockets, so there's plenty of time to search for a springly-type poem). The older kid might not be interested in much more beyond that, although I have a list of books on calendar history and calendar cultural studies to sneakily sneak into her library book stash, but for my little kid, who's really enjoying her art right now and who could always use more practice with number sequencing, I have in mind a year-long project, really, having to do with creating a twelve-month calendar, working on one month, well...a month!

For starters, however, I wanted each kid to discover for herself the pattern of the months and the seasons, so together we made each of them her own circular perpetual calendar.

To make the calendar, you need a large piece of paper, the larger the better. We used some professional-quality artist's paper leftover from my partner's days as an undergrad majoring in art, but white posterboard, or a large piece of newsprint, would also be perfect.

Mark the centerpoint of your paper (it's fine to eyeball it), and draw a circle around that centerpoint. You want the circle to be large enough to give the seasons their due, so...a diameter of at least six inches or so? Use a plate as a template, perhaps, but one of the round ones, not the pointy-hat Halloween one that, yes, is STILL in circulation in our house.

Now comes the tricky part: you want the inside of your circle divided into four quadrants, but you want the OUTSIDE of your circle divided into twelve rays that extend to the edge of the paper. Here's a handy trick for dividing a circle into twelve parts without measuring angles.

Draw all your lines in black Sharpie, because you want them to be very visible, and when you decide which of the twelve outer segments will be December and which will be January, make that line very dark--that's the yearly division between December and January.

Only after I had completely finished these two outlines did I invite the kids to make their calendar. Using the black Sharpie, each kid first wrote the names of the seasons in the proper order in the proper space--

--and then added the months in THEIR proper places:

If you use watercolor paper or some other kinds of professional artist's paper (NOT posterboard), I personally think that these calendars would look simply glorious painted using wet-on-wet watercolor (if you check out my tutorial, please note that I've come to prefer wetting huge pieces of watercolor paper section by section with a sponge, as opposed to the dunking that we give small pieces). Neither of the kids were really feeling the watercolor groove, however, but neither was interested in coloring in those large spaces with pointy crayons or marker tips, either, and so I had another reason to be thankful that I went ahead one day and bought a set of Stockmar block crayons, even though I have big kids, not toddlers:

The result of the each kid's hard work is a calendar so special that it gets to live on permanent display, one in their shared bedroom, and one on the wall in our study/studio:

The older kid developed the neat little trick of color-coding her months, so that she could remember what fun holiday each held, such as this red and green December that reminds her of Christmas:

I have to say, however, that barely into January, this is already the season that I, personally, am most looking forward to:

And we haven't even had any truly gigantic snowfalls yet!

P.S. Want to follow along with my craft projects, books I'm reading, dog-walking mishaps, road trips, and other various adventures on the daily? Find me on my Craft Knife Facebook page!

Tutorial: Perfect Paper Snowflakes

Start with a perfectly square piece of paper:

We primarily use origami paper, kite paper, or 12"x12" scrapbook paper; you can also just cut a rectangular piece of paper to size.

Fold in half diagonally:

Turn the paper so that the point is on top (you don't really have to, but it makes the instructions easier to visualize):

Fold the triangle in half from point to point:

Turn so that the triangle again has its top point up top, and fold one corner over by about one-third (my fold isn't perfectly one-third here, which is fine):

And the other corner over where the first fold ends:

If you've done it perfectly, the end of that second fold will come right to the edge there, but honestly, it really doesn't need to be perfect. This is way NOT perfect, and it's still going to work.

Flip it over, and you'll see the flat line where you folded the corners over the middle of the triangle, and below that those two points sticking out. Cut off those points:

Cut squiggles and notches and doo-dads and fancies, being careful never to cut away an entire folded side:

You can cut away the entire bottom if you want, because there aren't any folds there.

Carefully unfold:

And snowflake!!!

The big kid made a couple of paper snowflakes, and I made several, but the little kid? Oh, my goodness, the little kid made--dozens? Hundreds? See all that paper in the background:

Yeah, those are all HER snowflakes, and she clearly isn't done. She learned to do the folding almost independently, had a few tantrums when cuts didn't go the way she wanted (the kid finds dealing with frustration a major challenge, sigh), but mostly happily folded and cut and decorated away:

I like her idea here of drawing a pattern for the cuts she'd like to make:

I don't remember now if it worked for her, or if she still threw a huge fit, but still...clever kid!

Especially if you use thin paper, such as origami paper or kite paper, you can stick these right to the window with a glue stick:

Which reminds me that we need to make some snow-white and Valentine's Day pink and red Waldorf window stars!

P.S. When you're a paper snowflake expert, move on to kirigami!

P.P.S. Want to follow along with my unfinished craft projects, books I'm reading, cute photos of the cats, high school chemistry labs, and other various adventures on the daily? Find me on my Craft Knife Facebook page!

The Santa Saga and the Pogo Stick

Sydney really, really, REALLY loves Santa. Because of this, right before Christmas I signed us all up for a breakfast with Santa session at our local YMCA--lots of Santa time, you can take your own photos, and there are pancakes. Whoopee.

Sydney was so excited to talk to Santa at this breakfast that she had trouble getting to sleep the night before, and when we woke up that morning it was nothing but, "I'm going to say hi to Santa! And I'll ask him what his reindeer like to eat! Do they like carrots? I bet they like carrots!", etc.

So off we trek, the girls in their Christmas finery, the grown-ups in their work-out gear (because after this breakfast business we might as well throw them in childcare and get a work-out in, since we're already at the Y and all). Before we can even sit down to our pancakes Sydney has just GOT to see Santa, so we walk right in, give the elf our names, and...

You know how sometimes you have A Really Big Moment coming up, and you're so excited for it, and you just can't wait, and then the Really Big Moment arrives, and you just...freeze?

Will's not really into Santa, so she had no desire to sit on his lap, and Sydney just...froze. Wouldn't sit on his lap, wouldn't talk to him, would hardly even look at him.

As soon as we left his presence, however, and found our seats at the breakfast table, she suddenly realized what she had done:

Poor kid.

Of course, the good thing about our breakfast with Santa is that there was breakfast, and there was Santa. We could have some pancakes and juice, get our blood sugar up, and then have another go.

While Sydney was busy stuffing her face with pancakes, I had a little murmured conversation with Willow. I reminded her that she was the big sister, and that her little sister looked to her to know how to react in new situations. I told her that I knew that she wasn't really interested in sitting on Santa's lap, but that Sydney really, really wanted to, and was just too nervous. I told Willow that if she did do it, if she walked right up to Santa and sat down on his lap and had a conversation with him, then her sister would see that it was okay, and she would sit on Santa's lap, too, and wouldn't it make her feel so good to see her sister do something that she really wanted to do? Willow agreed that this would make her feel good, so we had a high-five, and we had a plan.

My Willow is an amazing kid. She generally prefers not to speak with strangers, and always needs to be reminded before walking into a relative's home that I do require her to look into their faces and greet them and give them a hug (yes, I'm from the South, and it IS required, and she's lucky that I don't force her to kiss everyone, too, like all the true Southern kids have to). However, knowing that her sister was counting on her, knowing that her good example was necessary to help Sydney be brave enough to do something that she really wanted to do, Willow walked right up to Santa and sat down on his lap and had a conversation with him:

And then...so did Sydney:

Mind you, we do a list to Santa, but it's not one of those "You write it and send it in and then Santa's definitely going to bring it to you" deals. First of all, I don't have enough money for that sort of arrangement, second of all, I reserve the right not to buy crap even if my kid asks for it, and third of all, the only things on Sydney's list this year were:

1. a white kitten small enough to hold in the palm of her hand
2. a robotic unicorn that's big enough to ride
3. the longest hair in the world

Yeah... no. I tell Sydney (Willow doesn't care) that Santa knows what would make you the very happiest, and that's what he brings you. It's a lie, of course, because what would make Sydney the happiest would be a tiny white kitten, a robotic unicorn that she could ride, and to have the longest hair in the world, but what can you do? Science has only progressed so far.

And so, to be fair to what I'm about to tell you, I did know that this particular item was on Willow's list; I just had no intention of purchasing it for her. I'd already bought her professional-quality balloon-twisting supplies, and a big snap circuit set, and some fleece pants, because who doesn't love fleece pants?

Anyway...there we are, Willow sitting on Santa's lap having a little chat, Sydney looking on, absorbing it all and gathering her strength. The conversation between Willow and Santa goes like this:

Santa: "And what do you want for Christmas, Willow?"

Willow: "A pogo stick."

Santa: "A pogo stick?"

Willow: "Yep. I want one a lot."

Santa: "Okay, Willow, then I'll bring you one."

................what?

All I can say is thank GAWD for Wal-mart. It's the only place in town that had junior-sized pogo sticks in stock, and I know, because Matt called them all. We were thisclose to driving to Indianapolis, for pete's sake. Call this Reason #4 why lists for Santa suck.

Except.........

Santa was right. He was absolutely right on target this Christmas. Because of him, Willow received a present that I never would have actually bought her otherwise, and because of that--well, check out this home movie. No, I don't expect anybody except for this child's mother to watch her pogo for two full minutes, but do watch her for a few seconds (the kid's a natural), and then fast-forward to the last ten seconds or so, when I ask Willow how it feels to be the "world pogo champion of the world", and look at her face as she says those words:

Thank you, Santa.

Many, Many Christmas Gifts

We're not one of those four-present families. Truly, it sounds sweet and meaningful and all, but I'll be honest with you--for me, Christmas has got to have more stuff than that.

Terrible, I know. I'm terrible.

I have a sort of unstable homeschool/craft supplies budget, taken entirely from whatever money that I earn from my freelance writing, etsy sales, and blog advertising each month. My tricky trick is that for the couple of months before Christmas, I sneak away the purchases made from that budget into the Christmas stash. Our wonderful family gifts the girls with a few wonderful toys (or science projects, or books, or art supplies, since I send my mother a selection of catalogs in mid-October)--

--and it's very exciting, as you can see--

 --but other than a couple of small, sweet treasures that are just for loving--

--our gifts (and Santa's gifts, too, oddly enough...) are the kinds of homeschool enrichment supplies that little unschoolers love the best:

Look--Santa loves the Clickety Clack etsy shop as much as I do!

Other Christmas treasures included a big snap circuit electronics kit, a magnetism project set, sketch pads and a gigantic box of crayons, a nice new leaf press (from my mother), a miniature cupcake maker for the young chef (also from my mother), an art sticker book, magnetic pattern blocks, real clown make-up, a pogo stick (much, MUCH more on that later) and this most special gift, something that I just knew would be perfect for my big girl:

A thrilling new hobby, yes?

To their credit, my generous girls have always been just as excited about seeing others open the presents they've made or chosen for them as they are opening their own. In particular, this year I let the girls choose whatever they wanted for their father (subtracting their own outrageous purchases from my own budget for him, ahem). Each girl chose for him one ridiculous flashlight, one giant bag of Twizzlers (EACH!!!), and one LEGO set--they know him THAT well. I love listening to the selling points of this pricey LEGO set:

Ah, five-year-olds...

My own favorite part of Christmas morning is witnessing how well those little girls love each other, whether it's spending a very long time decorating a present with an elaborate picture of a dragon, for the girl who loves dragons--

--to the other one spending her own money to buy her sister a very unusual gift that's just right:



And yes, yes it begins crazy with the presents, but from the Game of Thrones box set for Matt (which I immediately stole from him) to the picture book about weather for Sydney to this brand-new book from Willow's Grandma Janie and her Poppa--

--this is always how Christmas morning ends in our family.

At least until the feast!

An Overhead Projector Christmas Tree

Probably anyone who owns an old-school overhead projector knows how much free play they get. Sure, we use the projector for map tracing, copywork of all sorts, and all sorts of math and science activities, but with just the clear plastic sheets and a nice set of overhead markers, the kids dream up all sorts of fun play--during a playdate a couple of weeks ago, one little kid drew at least a dozen scenery pages on the plastic sheets and then projected an entire play that she'd just made up, using her fingers as all of the characters.

If you have any other accessories, such as translucent pattern blocks, then you're perfectly set up. I bring out the overhead projector as an actual party activity, especially for little siblings or friends on the younger side of the guest list, but my own kids will still spend entire quiet mornings or afternoons engrossed in play with the projector.

Only rarely, outside of helping out with some academic activity related to one of their areas of interest, do I set up an actual "activity" involving the overhead projector, but recently I invited Syd to create an overhead projector Christmas tree.

She drew a tree on a clear plastic page:

She set the page on our projector, and decorated it with translucent geometric shapes:

She enjoyed its projection on the wall, and then took it apart and did it again!

Unfortunately, we only have a small amount of wall space suitable to using the overhead projector in our living room, although as wall space it is ideal, since you can tape a large piece of paper onto it and copy from the projector:

One day, however, the finished basement playroom will become a place that the children do not fear to tread (something about a monster with lots of arms, and one of them is really long and has a pincher on it...), and therefore a place where it gets more use than as a dumping ground for out-of-favor toys, and then, I tell you, THEN we'll have tidy shelves of art supplies and books and toys, and plenty of room in the middle for active play, and a TV so that I have room to use my old-school workout videos...

...oh, and a much larger wall space for the overhead projector.

The Secret to Life's Happiness is Baked Doughnuts

Because doesn't this just look like perfection?

Willow has made the baked doughnuts from Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!: The Ultimate Breadmaking Book for Parents and Kids a few times now, and every time I swear they turn out tastier! This time we refrigerated the dough overnight before rolling it out, simply because Willow ran out of time to finish that evening, and I do believe that it made the dough much easier to work with--less sticky, easier to cut, etc.

But of course, who cares about the baking instructions? Everybody knows that the real treat is dunking them in melted butter, rolling them in cinnamon-sugar--

--and munching them up while they're still warm:

Fabulous, yes?

Even better that they're made by the seven-year-old.

Tutorial: Popsicle Stick Christmas Ornaments (or Wands!)

When the holidays become most bustling--to and fro to winter gymnastics camp, to and fro to playdates with schooled children who are temporarily out of school, to and fro for last-minute bits and bobbles, to and fro to the library to appease the child who CANNOT take a major car trip without several dozen novels, back to gymnastics camp for the winter show, shitfire we have to make one more trip to the grocery store for cookie dough and oranges, not to mention, you know, the TEN-HOUR car trip--that, to me, at least, is when simple Christmas crafts are the most magical. Everyone settles down, everyone slows down, everyone relaxes back into the home and back into the process, not the product, of the winter holidays.

While, due to the bustling, some of our most favorite Christmas crafts, such as baking cherry bread with Daddy and decorating gingerbread houses with me, have actually been relegated to post-road trip New Year's activities, we made the time every day to come together for some simple special activities every day, such as these painted and glittered popsicle stick ornaments.

To start, you'll need plain popsicle sticks and glue--yes, you can use plain white glue for these, but you'll have to let them dry for several hours before you paint if you do, and if you use hot glue, you'll be painting five minutes later. A Star of David is two triangles--

 --with one upside-down and on top of the other:

A tree is one triangle and one stick--

--placed vertically from top to bottom:

Of course, after an ornament or two, the girls were done with that nonsense and fully focused on popsicle stick wand-making. This is why we only have a half-dressed tree at the best of times.

After the glue is dry on the popsicle stick creations, paint them--

--and then, while the paint is still wet, sprinkle the glitter right on:


Wait, did I say sprinkle? I meant douse. Liberally.

When the paint is dry, hang up your obligatory two ornaments onto the tree, and then spend the rest of the evening wielding your wand:

She was turning me into something not very complimentary, alas, on account of I had just told her that it was time for bed. Such is life for a young wizard...