Every day, our moms do everything for us.

And to be honest with you, this isn’t news to you.

Because if you’re reading this, you’re probably a mom yourself.

And you do all the things. You pack the school lunches, and help with homework, and know when the next spirit day is at school.

Moms juggle it all and even if our spouses are hands-on co-parents, we still take on the lion’s share.

The mental workload of moms can be shockingly overwhelming.

And hopefully, you’re doing it without mounds and mounds of mom guilt.

There aren’t many days that celebrate all the hard work we do.

But we do get one day.

Mother’s Day.

But because we only get one day, to make it truly our day and spend it the way we want to, sometimes we have to ask for what we want.

What to ask for as a Mother’s Day Gift:

Every mama wants something different to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Some of my mama friends want time with their kids, time with their families and breakfast in bed.

Some of us want time off, time away, and a bit of a break. Preferably with a cocktail and a massage booked at a spa.

But I think all of us would be super happy if our kids took a second and told us how much they appreciate us, how much they love us, and show us how well they know us.

Related: Read our I am Kind to Mom Emergent Reader

So we have to ask for what we want.

And we could ask for a nice piece of jewelry, or a massage or a new bag.

But we can also ask for the sentimental stuff.

We can encourage our kids to show kindness to moms. Even if that mom is us. 

So we can ask our husbands or family members to help our kids fill out a Mommy Is Poem (or Mama Is or Mum Is or Mother Is or Mom Is).

Because it’ll be a snapshot of how our kids see us.

How they think we think.

And how well they know us.

Educators- These make great Mother’s Day cards and gifts! Just ask your students which version works best for them (What do they call their mom?)

How to Use the Mommy Is Poem to Show Kindness to Moms:

1. Download and print the Mommy Is Poem (download it below).

2. Choose which version poem fits best: Mom, Mommy, Mother, Mum, or Mama.

3. Ask your kids to fill out the poem/have your students fill out the poem.

If your kids aren’t readers or writers yet, they can dictate their answers to an adult, to an older kiddo or to you.

For the line, “My Mommy is…” they can write a different line each time or repeat the same line to make it more of a poem.

4. Encourage your kids to color in anything they want.

This can be given as a Mother’s Day card or can be a Mother’s Day present.

I don’t need another Mother’s Day mug or frame or homemade pasta necklace.

But I can always use sweet words from my kids. 

That beats a cocktail and a day at the spa any day.

Download the My Mommy Is Poem here (and all the versions!)

The post How to Show Kindness to Moms on Mother’s Day appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

As an elementary school teacher, I always looked forward to the holiday gifts and teacher appreciation gifts my families would give me. I got every teacher gift under the sun, from a gas station card gift certificate to plates of cookies, to a bright red mouse candle glued to a real mousetrap.

Seriously, I could not make that up.

It was the weirdest gift I ever got.

And with the list of everything moms have to do in December, purchasing teacher gifts can often get forgotten until the last possible second.

Between planning classroom holiday parties and practicing songs for the holiday performance with our kids and remembering to make the dish you promised for the PTA potluck, it’s hard to add one more thing to your to-do list.

But let me tell you, teachers love gifts.

Teachers are clearly not in this profession for the money.

They teach because they love making a difference in our kids’ lives.

So it’s nice to shower our teachers with gifts at the holidays and during the first week in May which is teacher appreciation week because it’s a simple way to tell them:

• thank you for everything you do to help my child learn and grow and thrive.
• thank you for being another adult who deals with my kid because I kinda need a break for a few hours
• I want you to know that I know you don’t get paid nearly enough money for what you do and since I can’t fix that, here’s a gift.

So here is the gift every teacher really wants.

5 of the Best Teacher Gift Ideas that All Teachers Want

It can be hard to know what teachers really want when you’re picking out holiday gifts for them or teacher appreciation gifts.

But I have a secret to share.

There is one major thing all teachers really want. What they get super excited about.

And I’ve polled every teacher I know…friends, colleagues and my kids’ teachers.

They all agree.

So to make your shopping easier in December and early May, and to make teachers happier, I’ve compiled a list of teachers’ favorite go-to gifts that we give to my kids’ teachers.

1. Gift Cards Make the Best Teacher Gift:

I can not state enough how much teachers love gift cards. They are seriously the best.

Want to make it cutesy???

Starbucks gift cards– pop it into a to-go cup (Starbucks will happily give you a clean cup and lid) and write, “Thanks a Latte” on the lid.

Target and Amazon gift cards– teachers spend their own money on almost everything they need for their classrooms.  It’s so nice when they can shop with someone else’s money. You can pair a Target card with “I’m right on Target because of you,” and  on an Amazon gift card you can write “You’re an amaz’on teacher!”

Barnes and Noble or a local independent bookstore gift card– most teachers, me included, have a serious book addiction. We can’t pass a bookshop, a book fair, or a thrift store without searching for a new or old book. Help your teacher add to her library with books she really wants.

Purchase a gift card (or a gift) off their favorites list (get it below)- ask your child’s teacher what their favorite things are… favorite restaurant, favorite dessert, favorite candy, favorite hobby and get them a gift card for that. I’ve purchased a frisbee golf disc for a teacher who loves playing frisbee golf, and a gift card to the Olive Garden.

If they like it, I’ll buy it.

Download the Teacher Favorites printable down below. You can literally ask your kids’ teachers what they want. No more guessing.

2. Favorite Drink:

One of my favorite teacher gifts to give is to find out their favorite morning beverage.

Instead of a gift card, my kids roll up to school with their teachers’ favorite drinks to hand them.

We’ve dropped off fresh squeezed oj, Starbucks drinks, and an extra large McDonald’s diet coke.

All it takes is a quick email to find out their drink of choice and leaving the house a few minutes before school to hit up the coffee store. Or the McDonald’s drive-thru.

Use this to help decide what drink to get your kids’ teachers.

3. Teacher Gift for their Classroom:

Another easy gift is to ask teachers what they really want for their classroom. Ask them what the next thing they were going to buy is or what’s on their wish list.

We’ve bought a class book for an upcoming lesson, a rainy day board game, and craft supplies for a project they really wanted to try.

We’ve added money to a teacher’s Go Fund Me Page,  a DonorsChoose.org page, and bought Teachers Pay Teachers gift certificates.

Again, teachers spend their own money every single day on our kids.

This is a simple way to let them keep a little more money in their pocket.

4. A Sweet Handwritten Card from Your Kids:

I know money can be tight, especially when you’re purchasing something for each of your kids’ teachers.

With three kids, it can add up fast. Plus, we have specialists and religious school teachers to shop for.

I loved getting handwritten cards from my students letting me know what they love about me or our class. I still have many of them. My favorite is one that announced how beautiful I was because I wear pretty lipstick.

You know what? I’ll take it. It’s better than a #1 Teacher Mug.

You can use these sweet Teacher Note Cards. 

5. Did I mention Teacher Gift Cards?

Seriously, when in doubt, go with a gift card. Teachers have enough mugs, and lotions and ornaments. They get frames and bath gels and red mouse candles on real mouse traps. pping in the Target dollar bin or go frisbee golfing with their new disc.

And those are the gifts I’m more than happy to give.

Download the Teacher Favorites Printable here. 

If you’re looking for something more personal or crafty or more cutsie, you’ll love these 22 Sweet Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas That Teachers Will Love. 

The post How to Pick Out a Teacher Gift They Really Want appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

When I taught third grade, I had a room partner who was super generous and thoughtful. Randomly, she would bring me an orange juice or a bagel or a coffee when she got one.

And it always came with a smile and a reminder that I deserved the treats because teaching is one of the hardest jobs out there. 

That little treat always made my day so much better. It put me in a better mood. And it made me feel appreciated.

And now that I’m a parent and no longer in the classroom, I make sure to return the favor by paying it forward to my kids’ teachers.

I encourage my kids to take the time to appreciate their teacher and thank them each day…because teaching is often a thankless job. They get paid too little to do too much with too few resources. And that’s in a normal teaching year. Teaching in the middle of a pandemic proved even more how valuable our teachers are.

But teachers don’t often feel valued. 

So a simple way to let our teachers know they are valued and appreciated is to take the time to value and appreciate them.

One of our favorite ways to do that is to drop off their favorite coffee drink on a random school day to brighten their day and start them off on the right foot. 

Other Ways to Show Teacher Appreciation

Official Teacher Appreciation is the first week in May every year.

And Room Moms and PTAs go big during this week…which is great. Teachers get flowers and cards and parent-sponsored lunches.

But it’s also important to let teachers know they’re appreciated way sooner than May. 

We love these 22 Sweet Ways to Show Teachers Appreciation. 

You can gift them with these Teacher Appreciation Notes.

We also love sending them this Teacher’s Favorites Sheet for them to fill out so we know what they love and can give more personalized gifts.

Here’s how we appreciate teachers during a pandemic while social distancing.

And this is the Number One Gift All Teachers Prefer. 

But we also love randomly dropping off their favorite drinks to them throughout the year.

I tend to drop off drinks on the day after Halloween, which is the worst day to teach.

But before you can send a drink to school, you have to know what their favorite drink is. 

One year, I asked my son’s teacher what she wanted and she gave me her Starbucks order. I assumed it would be a similar Starbucks drink for my daughter’s teacher. When I asked him, he shyly said, “Actually, I don’t drink coffee. But I love Diet Coke from McDonald’s.”

So we made two stops the next morning on our way to school…the Starbucks drive-through and the McDonald’s drive-through.

But our thoughtful gift of appreciation would have fallen flat for my daughter’s teacher if I hadn’t asked what he wanted to drink.

How to Use the Favorite Drink Order Printables:

1. Since we don’t know what our kids’ teachers like until we ask, download and print out the Favorite Drink Order Printable (download it below).

2. Cut out the order form and send one with each of your kids (or if you have a middle or high schooler, have them choose their favorite teacher). You can use the Starbucks order form or if you have a local coffee shop you prefer or another coffee chain, send in that order form.

3. Once you get the drink order forms back, choose a morning when you have a little extra time and can get through the drive-through line before school drop-off.

4. Encourage your kids to fill out a little notecard to go with the drink. There are coffee ones and tea ones, depending on their teacher’s drink of choice.

5. Drop off the kids, the coffee/tea and the notecard when you can.

6. Next month, fill their drink order again or send in a drink order form to a school staff member who rarely gets appreciated or thanked: a teacher aide or the school nurse, or the school custodian.

7. Know that a $4 coffee and the time you took to get it will make a teacher feel appreciated. There’s no need to wait till May’s official Teacher Appreciation Week.

The first time my kids climbed out of the car with their backpacks and their teachers’ coffee and McDonald’s Diet Coke, I knew their teachers’ days would be slightly better…just like mine was years ago when I got my orange juice and bagel.

Download the Teachers’ Favorite Drink Order Printable here.

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Teaching can be a thankless job.

Most things teachers do go unnoticed and unappreciated by their students and their principals.

It definitely goes unnoticed by the person calculating their salary.

But at the end of the day, teachers are in it for the kids. They want to help our kids thrive and learn and grow.

Because honestly, why else would they still be doing what they’re doing?

So there is one time during the year when it’s our turn—the parents’ turn—to ensure our teachers know how much we really do appreciate them. Value them. Kind of revere them.

Because let’s face it: could you be locked in a room with 25 five-year-olds all day long and live to tell about it?

Probably not.

How about a room full of moody pre-teens for 56 minutes? Most definitely not.

As a former teacher and a current parent of three school-aged children, this is my public service announcement: MAY IS TEACHER APPRECIATION MONTH.

But in case you do miss it, a teacher appreciation gift is very appreciated at any time during the school year.

Trust me.

But what to give them as a thank you?

Know you can always buy a gift card. When in doubt, always buy a gift card. It’s what most teachers really want. 

But if you have your heart set on something more personal, or want to add something sweet to the gift card, here are my go-to ideas I’ve used in the past, or plan to use this May.

This list of teacher appreciation ideas ranges from Martha-Stewart-level-crafty on down to pulling something together the night before.

Teacher Appreciation Ideas and Teacher Thank You Present Ideas:

1. Did one teacher teach all of your kids? Create something that includes all of your kids to showcase their years of service.

2. Feeling organized? Send an email to each parent and have them send in one flower from their garden or the store. Stand outside the classroom in the morning and put each of the flowers into a vase for a sweet, but kind of disheveled bouquet.

3. Use their handprint on a potted plant, an apron, a canvas, or a poster board. Cute little phrases like, “Thanks for Helping Us Grow” and “Thanks for the Helping Hand” make most teachers smile. Or you can use these free teacher appreciation printables to create gifts.

4. Feeling creative and have lots of patience? Spell out “Thanks” with the kids’ bodies.

5. Not feeling crafty? Did I mention buying a gift card? Craft stores, movies or restaurant cards are all perfect. It really doesn’t matter. A colleague of mine once got a gas card and swore it was the best teacher gift she ever got. And it doesn’t need to break the bank. A $5 gift card so they can go get coffee would be perfect. Put it in a paper to-go cup and write “Thanks a Latte” on it.

6. Buy a gift for the whole class… a new book, an educational game, or craft supplies. Ask the teacher what they could really use in their classroom. My daughter’s first-grade teacher wanted tissue boxes and hand sanitizer because she was tired of catching their colds.

7. Have a class pet? Make a cute sign for the animal’s home to spruce up the cage.

8. Gift them Margaret Wise Brown’s The Important Book and have your child tell you what they think the most important thing about their teacher is. You can create a poem similar to the ones in the book and glue it to the front page. My daughter’s Kindergarten teacher told me she cried when she read it!

Edited to add: my daughter is now in 5th grade and her Kindergarten teacher seeks me out once a year to remind me how much she loves this book. She reads it to her class every year and they write their own Important Poems.

9. Have your child draw, dictate or write them a card. Sweet words from students are always appreciated. I still have one from a student who thought I was beautiful because my lipstick was pretty. You can use these printable Teacher Appreciation Notes. 

10. Find out what your teacher loves…their favorite sweet, favorite color, favorite book genre, favorite hobby, favorite drink. Get them something you know they’ll love. Get this FREE printable and find out what their favorites are so your teacher appreciation ideas are perfect for your kid’s teacher!

11. Write them a letter from you and tell them how important they’ve been to your child and to you. It feels good to hear it sometimes.

12. Bring in fresh juice and a bagel and set it on their desk. That will make any teacher’s morning better.

13. Have lots of pictures? Make a collage they can hang in their classroom.

14. Let your child pick something out they think the teacher might like and attach a note explaining why they thought it was the perfect gift. One year I got a bright red mouse-shaped candle glued to a real mousetrap. Looking back, I really would have loved to have heard the story on why that was the right gift for me.

15. Ask them what their favorite morning beverage is and make a coffee run before school. When I handed a teacher her green tea before the morning bell even rang she had this look in her eye that might have been true love.

Use this Favorite Drink Order form to bring them their drink of choice. 

16. Buy their initial at the craft store and glue on cute clothespins. It’ll be an instant desk organizer or picture holder.  You can add a sweet note or one of these teacher appreciation idea quotes.

17. Feeling super organized? Send an email to the other parents and have them ask their kids what they love about their teacher. Older kids can email you one adjective that describes their teacher. Collect their responses and write it down on poster board.

18. Glue crayons or pencils onto a frame and stick in a picture of the whole class. Print it from their class website if you need to.

19. You can rarely go wrong with potted plants, flowers from the store, or flowers straight out of your garden with the roots still hanging on. Teachers keep jars in their classes for this purpose.

20. Donate money towards their GoFundMe or Donor’sChoose.org projects. Get them one step closer to their iPad or whiteboard or PE equipment.

21. Bake some cookies and send them in with a note about how sweet they are or how your student is becoming a “Smart Cookie” because of them. Or buy some cookies from the store. A sugar pick-me-up is always appreciated, no matter how it was baked.

22. Bring in a box of donuts for the staff lunchroom with a note about how you “Donut what you’d do without them.” That’s a recess the teachers will especially look forward to.

The bottom line is, you can’t go wrong when you’re thanking a teacher.

This is the time to show them how much you appreciate how hard they’re working to teach your kids.

And it really truly is the thought that counts when you thank a teacher. Unless you’re buying them a bright red mouse candle attached to a real mousetrap.

Then, they might also need a cookie.

Get the Teacher Favorites Survey here to find out what your kids’ teachers really love.

The post Teacher Appreciation Ideas: 22 Thoughtful Gifts Teachers Will Love appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

As a kid, I loved Valentine’s Day.

I loved collecting the valentines my classmates brought in to school. The My Little Pony cards. The Lisa Frank unicorn cards. And the cute little kitten cards.

The only problem was, they all had to go in the trash after the holiday. If they didn’t, they would end up piled on my desk, or tucked in a desk drawer, or shoved under my bed.

Valentine’s Day cards seem to multiply on February 15th and 16th.

So when my eldest came home with her first mailbox of valentines, we needed to come up with a plan. She was way too attached to her valentines for me to make her throw them out. She would have been devastated.

And now that I have three kids in school, they come home with roughly 70 little cards from their classmates. The clutter of all those cards on my table and floor and couch make me cringe.

There had to be a way to reuse all of their cards without throwing them away or cluttering my counters.

Other Valentine’s Day Crafts You Will LOVE:

Since my kids love holidays we lean in and really enjoy February and Valentine’s Day:

To help my kids share love and kindness, we use these Kindness Love Notes for the 14 days leading up to the holiday. It’s perfect for families with siblings.

We also help them spread kindness to their classmates and teachers with these Kindness Valentine’s Day Notecards. 

Use these free printable Valentine’s kids can give to friends and classmates.

Countdown to Valentine’s Day with one act of kindness each day with this Kindness PaperChain Countdown Calendar to Valentine’s Day.

Use these Kindness Role Playing Cards to help kids practice being kind before Valentine’s Day.

Encourage more kindness in the month of February with this Valentine’s Day Kindness Challenge.

We also love to encourage our kids to volunteer with our Monthly Volunteer Challenge and the February Challenge is perfect for Valentine’s Day. It takes less than 5 minutes, costs zero dollars, and helps kids who are sick and stuck in the hospital. Get the directions here. 

We have the Kindness Elves bring them Valentine’s with ideas of how to spread kindness during February. 

We also love doing Valentine’s Day crafts like this Valentine’s Day Pointillism and this Valentine’s Day Countdown Calendar. 

Our Favorite Valentine’s Day Books:

My family’s other favorite Valentine’s Day tradition is reading good books.

Here are a few of our family’s favorites:

The Runaway Valentine 

You Are My I Love You

The I Love You Book

Where is Baby’s Valentine?

Lilly’s Chocolate Heart

The Valentine Bears

Lego City Wrecking Valentine’s Day! 

Valentine’s Day

How to Reuse your Kid’s Valentines Cards to Make a Placemat

To combat the clutter of the cards–and my desire to have them gone–and my kids’ attachment to them, we’ve started a new Valentine’s Day tradition that my kids love.

I purchase clear contact paper and turn their Valentine’s cards into placemats.

They get to look at their Valentine’s day cards and ooh and ahh over the princess cards and the Star Wars cards they got, and I’m not constantly picking them up off my floor.

Valentine’s Day Craft: Placemats

1. Lay out your kid’s valentines in a rectangular shape, without exceeding the size of the contact paper you purchase.

Some cuts to their collection may need to be made so the placemat isn’t gigantic….they may have to choose between keeping the Mulan or the Belle valentine.

2. Add in a small piece of paper with their name, year, and teacher’s name and stick it somewhere between the cards.

3. Measure out the contact paper, making sure you have a small border around the outside of all the cards.

4. Use the first sheet of contact paper as a guide, and cut an identical sized piece.

5. Peel off the backing of one piece of contact paper and lay it on the Valentine cards.

This is a two-person job, with one person holding two corners and one person holding the other two corners.

6. Firmly rub the contact paper on the valentines to make the contact paper stick.

7. Lift up the contact paper and flip it over, so it’s sticky side up.

Replace any valentines that didn’t stick.  This is also a good time to readjust any cards that aren’t straight.

8. Peel the backing off the second contact paper and lay it on top of the other sheet, lining up the corners.

9. Smooth out the contact paper with both hands to roll out any bubbles.

10. Trim the edges of the contact paper to make the edges line up.

Now all you have to do is convince your kids they don’t need to keep their placemats for the next half-decade.

We still have my fifth-grade daughter’s Kindergarten placemat she excitedly eats on every February.

And her first grade placemat too.

 

The post Valentine’s Day Craft to Let Kids Keep Valentine’s Day Cards appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

Every year when the holiday decor rolls out, the adorable Christmas decorations fill the stores. And I can’t lie, I love them. I love Christmas.

But since we’re an interfaith family, I’m also on the hunt for cute Hanukkah decorations.

I’m almost always disappointed.

We live in a community where there is a large Jewish population, but still, the stores only give us a shelf. Or if we’re lucky, an endcap of Judaica decor and gifts.

And often, it’s not really all that cute.

Related: 70+ of the Best Hanukkah Gifts That Are Actually Cute

Or they just gathered all the blue and gold and silver items and put them together.

It’s a valiant effort, but still not good enough.

So over the years, I’ve decorated our home with Hanukkah crafts my kids and I have made together instead of the store-bought decorations that can’t compete with all the Christmas decor.

And since we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, and Christmas is always going to be bigger and more popular, we really try to “protect” Hanukkah.

Related: What every interfaith family needs to know about December holidays 

We focus on Hanukkah and make each of the 8 nights special, kind, and meaningful like when we focus on kindness for each of the 8 nights or when we role play different ways to be kind during Hanukkah, or when we read about different ways to be kind on Hanukkah. 

We also play this Hanukkah kind or unkind sorting game. 

Related: How to Make Hanukkah More Meaningful 

And we make Hanukkah more special with Hanukkah crafts. 

So I’ve gathered the best Hanukkah crafts you can make with your kids this December.

Hanukkah Crafts for Kids:

One of the best crafts we make is our 8 Nights of Kindness Paper Chain. It’s a simple craft that also encourages more kindness into our lives.

You can download the 8 kindness printables for Hanukkah down below.  

Teach your kids how to sew with this dreidel beginning sewing project:

Make a Pointillism menorah with q-tips that is perfect for a Hanukkah card or a decoration:

Make a lego menorah from What Do We Do All Day? 

Make a menorah in a window craft from 3Dinosaurs

Make a paper menorah from Nurture Store

Create this super cute hanging dreidel craft from Nurture Store

Make these kid-safe Chanukkah candles from Jewish Mom and Crafters

Make these paper dreidels with your kiddos from Jewish Moms and Crafters

Make this Hanukkah garland with dreidel and Star of David origami from Moms and Crafters

Make a Hanukkah bath craft your kids can play with in the bathtub with foam pieces cut out.

Make this personalized dreidel for each of your kids using their pictures and gluing them onto each side of the dreidel.

Related: Help your Kids combat the gimmes this Hanukkah season with our Things I Want/Things I Want to Give

Get our 8 Nights of Kindness for Hanukkah Printable here:

The post 12 Hanukkah Crafts for Kids to Make Hanukkah More Meaningful appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

I was tasked with creating a holiday party for my children’s entire school.

Instead of each room parent creating very different parties, our PTA throws the party. So one parent…me… has to design a winter-themed party that’s suitable for the younger grades and another one for the older grades.

Nothing too Christmasy was allowed because our student population is extremely diverse. Which is fantastic.

So we needed winter, snowmen, and snowballs.

I needed something fun, unique, low cost, low prep, and low mess.

I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I created it.

This Snowman glyph craft is perfect for homeschoolers, teachers, and room parents who need a winter-themed class activity.  

A glyph is made out of smaller pictures that tell a story, similar to hieroglyphics.

It is a following directions activity that is simple enough for a Kindergartener, but fun enough for fifth graders.

And there is no right or wrong way to create this snowman craft because kids are answering about themselves.

The kids already know all the answers to the questions in this snowman activity because it’s all about them!

More Winter Activities You’ll Love:

Here 24 of the Best Snowman Crafts and you’ll also love this snowman handprint ornament.

Snowmen Kind or Unkind Sorting Game

16+ Best Winter Holiday Party Ideas

Winter Kindness Bucket List

Winter Kind or Unkind Sorts and Craft and Writes

Snowman Kindness Craft and Write

I am Kind in Winter Emergent Reader

And we use this Snowman Glyph Activity.

Snowman Glyph Art Supplies Needed :

1. Print out the blank snowman template and print it on paper or cardstock for your snowman project. You need one for each student (download below).

2.Print out the glyph chart instructions. You only need one you read off, or you can print out one for each student/ group if they’re older and can read independently.

3. As an added bonus, print out this fun Name Your Snowman Chart.

4. Crayons or markers or colored pencils

Snowman Project Instructions:

1. After each child has their snowman, explain how a glyph chart works.

You will read off the first instruction, and instead of answering out loud, they will show their answer by the way they draw on the snowman.

Remind them that this is a follow directions activity that focuses on listening first, then doing. 

Related: Gingerbread Glyph and Name Your Gingerbread

2. Read the first glyph for the snowman’s eyes.

If they have no siblings, their snowman will have green eyes. If they have 1 sibling, their snowman will have brown eyes. If they have 2 or more siblings, their snowman will have blue eyes. (This child has two or more siblings because their snowman has blue eyes).

3. Continue through each of the snowman’s body parts until they finish with the background. Remind students there is no right or wrong answer…this snowman project will be a little glimpse into who they are and what they like.

Based on this glyph chart, this student has 2 or more siblings, 3 or more syllables in their name, loves reading and cake, drives to school, has zero pets, is a girl, and prefers sledding.

4. With help, the kids can determine the name of their snowman using their own first names and the month they were born. They can then write their snowman’s name on the line provided or an adult can write it for them.

The best part about these glyph snowmen is that no two will ever be the same. And you get to learn a little more about each child as they complete their art project.

You can hang up these snowmen up without student names on the front and let students guess using the Glyph Chart, whose snowman is who’s.

Download all three free Snowman Project printables here.

And this:

 

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Mama, how many more days until Christmas?

Um, Halloween was yesterday. I have no clue how many days are left.

But Mama, how many more days until Christmas?

I really don’t know. Please for the love of everything, stop asking.

We clearly needed a quick and easy way to countdown to Christmas without my kids asking me every day.

My family loves all things Christmas. We have this ornament tradition, we make these DIY light up Christmas cards, we have the Kindness Elves visit us, we make Pointillism Christmas trees and we do sibling gift giving which is my absolute favorite Christmas traditions.

And because my kids love to count down to Christmas, we make a Kindness Countdown Calendar every December so our kids do 24 acts of kindness as they countdown to Christmas. 

But my kids are always desperate to know how many days were left until Santa would come.

We needed to make this Snowman Calendar Countdown.

And it was a Christmas craft that was fun to do with my kids… and was perfect to make over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

 

Materials Needed for the Snowman Countdown Craft:

• Sturdy paper plate- I used these Chinet plates.
• Construction Paper Cut-Outs:
• 2 large black circles,
• 5 smaller black circles,
• 1 carrot nose,
• 1 black top hat
• 3 small circles and green leaf (optional)
• glue stick
• brad 
• sharp pair of scissors
• black sharpie
• hole puncher  and string (optional)

Related: Want an easy snowball painting with this Easy Snowball Painting? OR Want more Snowman Crafts?

Even More Christmas Ideas and Christmas Activities Kids will LOVE:

Want to really keep the celebration going for December? You’ll LOVE these ideas:

Christmas Kindness Advent Calendar- get 24 kid-friendly ways to be kind each day of December.

Christmas Kindness Role Playing- practice being kind before Christmas by talking through these scenarios or acting them out.

Christmas Kindness Writing- Sneak in some writing with these adorable elves who will help showcase all the ways kids will be kind in December.

Christmas Tree Kindness Challenge- Encourage more kindness this December with this positive reinforcement challenge to make kindness a habit.

Christmas Handprint Crafts– Make a few as gifts then give the rest away to a nursing home or retirement home to decorate their halls.

Christmas Kindness Bundle- everything you need to focus on kindness this December, including books, writing, games, and activities to make focusing on kindness fun!

Christmas Random Act of Kindness- this is perfect for families to spread a little kindness to neighbors this holiday season.

Christmas Kind or Unkind Sort– This Christmas-themed kindness game will help kids sort what is kind and what is not this season.

Christmas Kindness Lights- Light up someone’s day with compliments with these kindness Christmas lights1

How to Make the Christmas Countdown Calendar:

1. Precut the construction paper shapes (2 black circles for eyes, 5 smaller black circles for the mouth, an orange carrot nose, a black hat, and red berries with green holly to add to the hat),

Or if your child is older, have them draw them, then cut them.

2. Start by having your child glue on the eyes and the mouth into the shape of a smile. (Leave plenty of room for the nose!)

3. Glue on the berries and the leaf to the hat, then glue the hat to the top of the snowman.

4. Write the numbers 1-25 on the outside of the paper circle with a Sharpie.

4. With a sharp pair of scissors, poke a very small hole through the paper plate in the center and through the fatter end of the carrot nose (adults only step!)

5. Stick a brad through the carrot and the plate, then fasten it in the back by opening both the prongs.

6. If you want, hole punch the top of the paper plate (not the hat), and thread the string through to make a loop so you can hang up your snowman.

How to Use the Christmas Countdown Calendar:

You can start on December 1st at ’25’ and count backward, moving the carrot one number each day so your kids will know how many days are left before Christmas.

OR

You can start December 1st at ‘1’ so they count forwards to see what day of December we’re on.

Either way, you won’t have to answer, “How many more days until Christmas?” anymore.

Now you can just point to the Snowman who tells time.

Want to add kindness to the December countdown?

Get the 24 Kindness Activities to Countdown to Christmas here

Need holiday gift ideas for your creative kids?

Here are over 50 gift ideas that will inspire your kids to be more creative.

Here are 50+ holiday gift ideas to encourage kids to be more active outside. 

Here are 50+ holiday gift ideas to encourage kids to love science. 

The post Christmas Countdown Calendar Snowman Craft for December appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

My husband’s company often moves its employees and their families around the country for job opportunities.

One family moved to California for a year, and in order to make the most of it, they ate at In-n-Out and went to the beach every weekend.

And when it was our turn to move across the country, we made sure to make the most of our time too, while making sure that we connect with each other in more meaningful ways.

So we became tourists in our new hometown and made lists of things we wanted to do, try, and visit before we moved again.

We embraced adventure. We tried things we would never have experienced if we didn’t intentionally want to spend time together.

And now that we’ve moved back to the hometown we grew up in, nothing has changed.

We’re going to be tourists again with our kids so they can discover what is so great about living in our town and our larger city.

To figure out what we want to do with each other, we created a Family Bucket List.

The Importance of Creating a Family Bucket List to Connect with Your Family More:

First, what is a Family Bucket List?

The term became famous from the movie, The Bucket List, and it’s a bit morbid for kids: it’s things you want to do or try before you “kick the bucket.”

So we describe it as a list of things you want to do or try before you forget to.

The concept is fantastic because we want to instill in our kids a love of adventure and a desire to be lifelong learners.

We can’t make that happen sitting on our couch and staying in a five-mile radius of our home.

And we’re tired of having whole weekends pass us by and then wondering, what did we do for two days?

We want our kids to try new things. Eat new foods. Explore new places.

And we want to do it with them.

So as an added bonus to creating memories and sharing experiences with our kids, we’re also spending quality time together as a family.

And spending time together doing meaningful, fun activities allows us to connect on a deeper level with each other, which helps us build a strong family identity.

RELATED: How to Create a Strong Family Identity

How to Brainstorm Items for Your Family Bucket List:

1. Use a guidebook of your city.

What would a tourist do if they came to visit your city?

If a friend from out of the country came, where would you take them?

Check out a local guidebook or purchase one so you can circle things that look intriguing.

Here are some of our absolute favorite guidebooks for each city we’ve lived in:

The Kids Guide to Series: (they have most major cities)

DK Top 10 Travel Guides: (they have major cities and all states)

Kids LOVE Series: (They have most states and 1-75 route):

Fun and Education Places to go with Kids and Adults in Southern California

The 10 Best of Everything, Families 

1000 Places to See Before You Die

2. Scour local magazines and newspapers

Local papers and magazines always have a calendar section of fun things to do on the weekends like festivals, fairs, outdoor concerts, and museum exhibits.

Your town’s local Facebook page (and neighboring towns’ Facebook pages) are also a great place to discover new things to explore near you.

3. Plan a family meeting

Sit together during dinner and start a discussion about places you and your kids want to visit.

Ask them probing questions:

• Is there something you’ve always wanted to do?
• Is there something you want to learn?
• Is there somewhere you want to go?

Ideas for Your Family Bucket List:

If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for your family’s list, try some of these ideas to get you going.

1. Factories with tours

Factories are super fun to visit because kids and adults love to see the behind the scenes of foods and items they love.

We’ve visited the Jelly Belly Factory in Wisconsin, the Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Factory in Vermont and the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Check here for local factories that offer tours.

2. Destination Restaurants

My kids are dying to visit Medieval Times where they watch jousting while they eat dinner.

Dinner with a show or a gimmick makes meals memorable.

There are also 50’s diners with jukeboxes, Japanese teppan grills where they cook in front of you, restaurants that deliver your food by train, and fondue restaurants where you cook your own food.

When we visited New York, a bucket list item for us was Ellen’s Stardust Diner, where your servers sing Broadway songs as you eat.

3. Take the Train or Subway somewhere fun

When we lived in the suburbs close to Boston, we would take the commuter rail in and visit the city library or a new park.

We have taken the train from the suburbs into Chicago’s Union Station then walked the city on a scavenger hunt and to a museum.

We’ve also taken a train to a local Kid’s Museum for the day.

Kids almost always ride free on public transport.

4. Visit Somewhere Historical

If you live close enough, explore historical buildings and landmarks in your area.

Look for missions, adobes, plantations (if they have an enslaved people’s tour),  covered bridges, Indigenous American sites, or American landmarks from the Revolution or Civil War.

One of our favorite things to do was walk the Freedom Trail in Boston.

5. Fairs and Festivals

I’m a sucker for fairs and festivals. I love country fairs, county fairs, and state fairs.

We’ve visited the Renaissance Fair, the Lemon Festival and are looking forward to the Strawberry Festival.

6. Sporting Events

Visit your local team and cheer them on.

If the professional team’s tickets are too expensive, get tickets to a women’s team, a minor league team, or a professional team practice during Spring Training. Those games tend to be more fun and kid-friendly.

7. Get Outside

Taking in the fresh air and connecting outdoors is a great way to spend family time.

Go camping, hiking, geocaching, or letterboxing.

Visit a u-pick farm, go to the beach, river, or lake. Climb a sand dune, canoe, or kayak.

Or keep it super local and take neighborhood walks, bike rides, or have a campout in your backyard.

8. Visit Museums

Visit your local zoo, aquarium, planetarium, kid museum, art museum, or Presidential library.

Look for special days when they have scavenger hunts, special exhibits, and kid-friendly sections.

It might be cheaper or at the very least cost-effective, to purchase a yearly pass to come back over and over again.

9. Tourist destinations

Be a tourist and visit things that only tourists do.

We live in Los Angeles now, so for us, that’s the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, and the Santa Monica Pier.

When we lived in Boston, we rode a Duck Boat, visited Plymouth Rock, and threw “tea” overboard at the Boston Harbor Tea Party Museum.

When we lived in Chicago, we visited the Wisconsin Dells water parks, took an architecture boat tour on the Chicago River, and rode the Ferris Wheel on the Navy Pier.

10. Volunteer

Volunteering is a great way for families to spend time together.

It can be tricky to find local charities that allow kids to help, but the research will be well worth it.

Here are our best family volunteering ideas for each month of the year. 

11. Regional/Seasonal Activities

Depending on where you live, the seasons will offer up some incredible opportunities to explore.

We have gone maple syrup tapping, apple picking, tubing, skiing, digging for crabs, and have watched movies under the stars.

12. Share Something From Your Childhood

I love connecting with my kids by sharing something special from my childhood with them.

It can be anything special you and your family did when you were young, but for my husband and I, we love to share the magic of drive-in movies with our kids.

There’s nothing better than being slightly uncomfortable and barely able to hear the movie, but being outside to watch a movie on the hood of your car.

13. Get Creative

See a random local place advertised or reported on in the local news? Go visit!

That’s how we found an alpaca farm where we fed and helped take care of them, and a horse farm where my daughter rode for the first time.

It doesn’t matter what you pick. As long as it’s interesting to you all.

You’ll get the memories and the experiences.

But the magic really comes when you spend time together and connect with your family more.

Ready to get your Family Bucket List Free Printable to Connect with Your Family More?

Get your Family Bucket List here to connect with your family more:

The post How to Connect With Your Family More with a Bucket List appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.

This afternoon, I told my daughter she could have a cookie.

She immediately countered with her, “Can I have two cookies?”

So I reminded her to be grateful that I offered her a cookie in the first place by giving her a new choice: she could have one cookie or zero cookies.

She quickly chose the one cookie option.

And then I just looked at her.

We locked eyes for a moment, and then she said, “Thank you for the cookie, Mama.”

We have to purposefully teach our kids to be grateful for what they have in life.

Related: How to Teach Our Kids to Be More Grateful 

And while teaching them to be thankful and grateful is a year-long activity, November and Thanksgiving is always a perfect time to really focus on gratitude. 

Related: 10 Most Meaningful Year-Round Gratitude Activities (Gratitude isn’t just for Thanksgiving!)

So our family has a daily November tradition where we talk about, celebrate, and write down everything we’re thankful for on our Gratitude Pumpkin…which then becomes the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving table decor.

Why Gratitude is Essential:

When our kids (or us) are feeling low, depressed or just like the world is “unfair,” the quickest way out of the slump is to focus on what we do have. What we are grateful for. What makes our lives great.

Of course, someone will always have more than us. But we will also always have more than others.

Focusing on the good things in our life is essential to a happy life. Related: How to Help an Unhappy Kid Find Inner Happiness (hint: one of the steps is gratitude!)

And in our family, we love to focus on the little things we’re grateful for like Daddy’s chicken and rice dinner, and going to Disneyland, or ice cream.

During a pandemic, focusing on what we’re thankful for is even more essential. So much has been taken away from us. When we focus on the things we’ve lost–time with family, school, time with friends, sports, playdates–we can easily spiral into unhappiness.

And because we’re intentionally raising our kids to be kind, empathetic, and compassionate, we have to start by focusing on gratitude.

Kids who are ungrateful and view the world from the point of view that they don’t have “enough,” will never be able to give away kindness and empathy, and compassion.

They’ll instead be searching for this elusive “enough” and won’t be able to be their best selves or share their best selves with those around them if they’re devastated because they don’t have a Nintendo Switch or the newest bike or the shiny new toy their friends have.

So when my kids are low, and when I’m feeling low, and we’ve had a no good, terrible, awful, very bad day, the first thing we turn to is gratitude:

What is working right?

What do we have?

What about today was amazing? 

And in November, every night, we turn to our Gratitude Pumpkin to write down what we’re grateful for as a family.

It’s my favorite November Tradition. 

Related: Thanksgiving Kindness Activities 

Educators: Want to do this gratitude pumpkin without a real pumpkin?

You will LOVE our printable gratitude pumpkin that students can do in class or at home with their families so you can remember what kids are grateful for years later.

Supplies Needed for a Gratitude Pumpkin:

1. Pumpkin (Be sure to buy one before Halloween!!! After Halloween, pumpkins are scarce and pretty hard to find).

OR a fake pumpkin (if you have the room to store them) because then each year you can see what you were grateful for in previous years.

2. Sharpie 

How to Make a Gratitude Pumpkin:

1. Keep your (non-cut) pumpkin on your kitchen or dining room table with a sharpie so it’s easy to remember to write on it.

2. Every evening when you eat dinner, discuss with your family what you’re grateful for.

Related: Want to encourage more gratitude? You’ll love our Gratitude Bundle

3. Start at the top of the pumpkin and write, “We are grateful for…” or  “We are thankful for…”

4. Every evening, add a few things you’re grateful for, writing in a spiral around the pumpkin. In our family, we each add 1-3 things every night.

5. We start with the super important things we’re grateful for like our family members. 

6. After we get through the important things, we start adding the fun and silly things we’re grateful for like coffee, Alexa, and family movie nights.

7. By the end of November, the whole pumpkin will be filled up with everything we’re thankful for. 

8. We place our Gratitude Pumpkin on our Thanksgiving table as a centerpiece.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving with several families, invite them to join you in this November tradition and bring their own Gratitude Pumpkin to decorate the table too.

If you can only find smaller pumpkins, your kids can each make their own Gratitude Pumpkins.

Want more Thanksgiving Activities?

Focus on kindness with this Kindness Pumpkin Challenge.

Let people know you’re grateful for them with these Gratitude Kindness Notes.

Sort what is kind and what is unkind with this Pumpkin Unkind and Kind Sort.

Focus on kindness and writing with this Pumpkin Craft and Write.

Make Mayflower cups like the one on our table.

Make a pointillism pumpkin or sew a pumpkin.

Get our Printable Gratitude Pumpkin:

Get the printable Gratitude Pumpkin here. 

Help Kids Show Their Gratitude by Teaching Them How to Write Thank You Notes:

The post Gratitude Pumpkin to Celebrate Thanksgiving appeared first on Coffee and Carpool: Intentionally Raising Kind Kids.