Clever Ways to Inspire Reluctant Readers (or how Anansi Mommy tricked Jakey into Loving Books!)

Hello my friends of the Omschool! So teacher Omi hasn't always been an Omi (grama). First I was a mommy (isn't that nice how that works?) And one thing that is very important to me as a kid, teen, adult, mom AND Omi is reading. I love books and have a massive (like in the thousands) collection. Omi and Opie (grampa) have been reading to our four children and their children since they were infants.

But there was one member of the family who did not like books or reading or sitting on laps to read for any length of time. And that member was Jakob. It was boring to read and he had better things to do, like getting into mischief.  It took precious time away from playing with light sockets and other such dangers that he routinely terrorized his parents with.  He wasn't just a reluctant reader, he was recalcitrant, resistant and rebellious. 

Now I know this will worry you and it sure did me. You all love books and listen attentively to stories, I'm sure. Well, I was worried that Jakob would grow up to be illiterate and how embarrassing would it be for a TEACHER who loved books to have a son that did not. Not to mention how terribly sad it would be for him not to know the joy of reading. 

But don't you fret. Because this would-be sad tale has a very happy (and funny) ending. Our little book antagonist grew up to be their biggest champion and to delight in reading. He reads to his children now and they have many favorites too. But it didn't happen by accident. How it happened requires a story in itself. And one of my other favorite things to do is tell stories. So get comfy and we'll begin it. 

Now, there is a character in African folklore who is called Anansi. Anansi the spider by name and trickster by trade. All the great oral traditions of fables have one such character. Loki, Coyote, B'rer Fox to name a few. These characters love to play pranks. And as you may know, pranks can be hurtful if meant in a mean way. And Anansi the trickster is no exception. Some of his tricks are not so nice. Some also come back to bite him. 

But some turn out to be a good thing such as when he conned the sky god Nyame into giving out his stories to us. What does this have to do with Omi and Jakob? Well, Omi had to play Anansi and trick Jakob into listening to a story and thereby finding that he liked them. Here's how she did it. 

The other children were listening to Dr. Seuss stories and Jakob was, of course, monkeying around when he should have been paying attention. The other kids went off to play having enjoyed the books. And Omi decided that enough was enough. Jakob was going to sit and listen if it took me all day. I tried begging. And bribing. I tried to interest him in book after book to no avail. Finally in desperation, I pretended to give up and just read to myself. And I said so.

I picked up a random storybook, "Milk and Cookies" (Frank Asch) as it so happens and read "silently" but making as much noise as possible. I gasped! And yelled "OH NO NOT THAT!" I acted afraid and then laughed really hard. And then shrieked in alarm.  Jakob, being very curious, came scurrying over to see what the commotion was all about. As he climbed up on my lap and demanded to know, I snapped the book closed and wouldn't let him see. 

I said (very dramatically) "Oh no, this is far too scary for you to hear!" And went back to noisily silent reading. He begged and pleaded to hear it. And finally I relented and read him the story. He listened with bated breath (never catching on that it was not scary at all). He demanded to hear "Mach and Cookies" three times in a row.  And from then on, when story time was announced, he was the first one on the lap. Our little rebellious reader who had turned up his nose at books could now always to be found with his nose in one!  

So I can take some of the credit but not all. Mr. Frank Asch and Baby Bear deserve their fair share for helping me convert a sweet little rebel to bibliophile! 

Helping grownups find joy in difficult or sad times (yes you can, children!)

Hello my friends of the Omschool! I'm talking specifically to my young friends in this post. You have probably heard growups talk about all the bad news in the world. And that can be very scary. I remember when I was 5, in 1969, hearing about terrible things that happened to some people in a place called L.A. (Los Angeles, California). It was extra sad because it happened very close to my birthday. 

I felt scared then and sometimes even as an adult I feel scared, especially for my dear grandchildren and you who I think of as my friends too. I think lots of grownups feel scared and worried sometimes. They probably feel sad, like Teacher Omi, that we can't fix all bad things. And neither can you. But it's okay, my dear children. We don't have to. All that is asked is that we try and do our best to be kind, helpful, loving and joyful. And when we can't be those things, to say sorry and keep trying. 

Did you know it's okay to be happy even if bad things are happening? It is. I promise you. We're not happy ABOUT the bad things. We are happy just because, in spite of bad. If you believe that God loves you and I do, we can feel good to be alive. Not everything in your life is perfect. I know each of you lives with some things that are hard or sad or maybe even bad. I'm sorry for that. I wish I could fix it for you. I hope it  helps to know that you are not alone. That someone cares. I care. 

So today, just for today, let's look for things that make us smile. You could go for a walk. Teacher Omi and Opi (grampa) went for a walk on the beach yesterday. It was cold and rainy and so pretty. I took  my shoes off and ran through the wet sand. I admired a dog's big paw prints. I watched a grownup swing on a swing.  I dipped my toes in the very brr-chilly Lake Michigan water. It made me smile and then laugh! 

It made Opi laugh too! And that's another fun thing about finding joy. You can spread it to other people. You don't HAVE to make them smile, it's not your job. But you CAN share what makes you happy. And maybe it will make them happy too. When I was little, I liked to go for walks to the same beach with  my Opi Kinney. We would collect rocks, shells and driftwood. This made us both happy. 

It makes me happy now, and cry a little to remember times with my Opi and Omi now that they have gone to be with Jesus. It's okay to cry too. Sometimes, would you believe adult's tears come from joy. We're funny like that, aren't we?  So today, wherever you are, I hope you find some time to dig up some  joy treasure in your world. Whether you live in a hot desert in Israel or a cold tundra in Russia or an apartment in a big city or on a bayou in Louisiana. Or a farm. Or in a subdivision. There are wonderful things for you to discover, just for the looking.  

I would love to hear about the things you see and hear and find on your walk. You could leave a comment and picture if you like. It would make me smile to see you smile. Love is a circle, like that. What goes around, comes around and back to you! Here is a song about that explains this beautiful process, which you might like to sing on your walk. It was written by Carol Johnson a very nice lady I was lucky to meet. It's called "Love Grows One by One"

Blessings and peace to you, dear children! The picture is Omi and Opi exploring a pier and lighthouse! 

Catholic Christian Holy Week devotions with free printable Easter and Lenten activities

Hello friends! In the Omschool, we are Catholic Christians. We observe the Lenten season, which begins after Ash Wednesday and goes up to Easter. It's a journey with Jesus. A Catholic follows the Lord through the desert. The Catholic Church prays the Stations of the Cross Lenten devotions and goes with Jesus on his way of sorrows to the cross. During Lent, a Catholic tries to imitate Christ in humility, prayer and sacrifice. Lent culminates at Palm Sunday and Catholic Holy Week which ends in the Passion, death and resurrection of Christ at Easter. To teach kids about the significance of a Catholic Holy Week and the importance of Lenten devotions, here are Bible object lessons using Easter eggs. In these Easter egg crafts, children explore the Easter story in hands-on Bible object lessons.

Holy Trinity Bible object lessons. Decorating Easter eggs is a great time to teach Bible object lessons. Use Easter egg crafts to teach children about the Holy Trinity. Show children that the eggshell is white, smooth and pure. It holds everything together and so represents God the Father. Hidden inside is the yolk, the source of life. The yolk represents God's most important gift, His son Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, the intercessor, the go-between. So the egg white represents the Holy Spirit as it is in the middle.

Here are free printable Lenten and Holy Week crafts, lesson plans and activities for kids from DL-TK.

New life Bible object lessons. Easter eggs symbolize fertility and rebirth. In Lenten devotions, teach children that Easter eggs represent eternal life. Just as birds care for their young in eggs and rejoice when newborns emerge, a Christian experiences new life or rebirth from old sins in Jesus. Hiding Easter eggs simulates how a Christian should seek God. Easter baskets simulate nests which shelter baby birds. God shelters his children in safety of his love. Children might decorate their Easter egg crafts with images of birds, nest, chicks, spring, the cross or Jesus.

Ministry to Kids has free printable religious Easter coloring pages. 

Catholic Mom has free printable Holy Week activities for kids and Sunday Mass gospel reading printables too. 

Lenten devotions: Catholic Holy Week countdown using Easter eggs. For these Easter egg crafts. you'll need 8 plastic eggs, a basket and Easter grass or green construction paper. For Bible object lessons, place one item in each egg that relates to the Easter story and a slip of paper with the Bible verse that mentions the item. You'll find the Easter story in the Gospel of Luke chapter 22, 23 and 24 (verse 1-12), or Mark chapter 11 (verse 1-11)chapter 14, 15 and 16 (verses 1-8). It's contained in the other two gospels as well, but Luke and Mark are the best retellings.

Label each egg as follows and place these items inside:

Palm Sunday--a piece of palm, dry grass or a plastic donkey (to remember Palm Sunday, when Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem)

Monday of Catholic Holy Week--a piece of cracker or crouton (to remember Christ's institution of Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper)

Tuesday of Catholic Holy Week--a dime (the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid to betray his friend Jesus)

Wednesday of Holy Week--a tiny piece of branch with thorns (Crown of thorns)

Holy Thursday--a nail (to symbolize that His hands and feet were nailed to a cross)

Good Friday--a cocktail sword or toothpick (to remember that Jesus was pierced with a sword in his side, from which poured water and blood)

Holy Saturday--a stone (the stone that was placed in front of the tomb of Christ and later miraculously removed)

Easter Sunday--Nothing! This reminds us of the empty tomb on Easter morning.

Open one egg each day from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Light a candle for this special time. Ask a young child to explain to the family or group what this item could mean. The family can share their ideas, experiences or scripture references to the item. You might all sing a hymn or chant to remember this part of the story. Sing Crown Him with Many Crowns, All Hail the Power of Jesus's Name or Te Deum. Extend Easter egg crafts, by having children to illustrate Bible object lessons they've learned. Combine illustrations in a family memory book and use for Lenten devotions in years to come.

For the love of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, thank you for making each day special

 Hello my dear children and adult friends of the Omschool. Today I'm thinking of one of my most beloved television performers and that is Fred Rogers" of Mister Rogers Neighborhood and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. I was a little older by the time Mister Rogers came on TV and we didn't  have television anyway. But quite early on I must have watched an episode because instantly I was enamored with this gentle man and his friends in the real people neighborhood and the one of his imagination. 

When I became an adult and a teacher (and had an old B&W TV finally) I'd turn on the show and watch it to relax after a long work day. It was a sort of spiritual experience, like doing daily devotions going with Mister Rogers to meet his neighbors and the lovable characters who inhabited Make-Believe. When children came along they were introduced to and loved "Missa Rowie" in their turn too. 

There's nothing very fancy about the show. Just a pretend house, a trolley, puppets, props and some people to visit. Sets for TV shows were different back then. Some were even set all in one room, like the Honeymooners. Mister Rogers had a table and a few chairs where he'd talk with people or do simple craft projects. He was so affirming and positive. Always smiling. I'll bet he smiled in his sleep.

When I was younger, I didn't live in any  house or  neighborhood long enough to consider it mine. I spent a lot of time alone. I just read that Mister Rogers did too.  Though his family had a nice home. I guess that just shows that people can feel lonely in a variety of circumstances. 

I can relate to his experiences of being teased for weight problems. By people who were lonely and miserable themselves and who needed to hear the message Fred would grow up to tell the world. I identify with being unable to participate in sports because of health issues and being misunderstood for that. His make-believe world has extra special significance. I love how he turned misfortune and misunderstanding around to create puppet friends for himself and for us. This resonates. 

I created worlds in my head. I recall playing alone down by the fishing docks in Alaska and making a homemade fishing pole. It didn't work but I persevered despite teasing from the fishermen. It still didn't work.  But that didn't stop me pretending it did. I didn't have any toys so I mentally repurposed a stump into a rolltop desk with acorns and bits of moss as office supplies. 

I read about fantastically beautiful places called Tashkent and Samarkand when I was five. I thought they were only pretend and that magic carpet was the only way to get there. Well, 53 years later, I discovered, wonder of wonders, they're real! And I can visit! I don't need a magic carpet (but it's still fun to fly that way). 

I would sit behind a chair at the babysitter's and envision a ballet studio. I had an entire routine worked out in my mind. I didn't have any dolls just mental images. I might have seen a book on Juilliard. And didn't know any of the words. Those would come later when my own daughter danced. And for so little knowledge, my imaginary ballet was pretty accurate. 

Maybe that's why I liked Mister Rogers' community. And I liked him for peopling it with kind people. When life hands you bullies, make neighbors. And maybe why it made me a little sad too. A yearning for something I would have liked to be part of. But you know, that's where imagination and a pay-it-forward spirit comes in handy. I have a never met a person I couldn't befriend. I cherish them all and you can never have too many. 

I think Mister Rogers felt the same way. He wanted us to feel welcome. When I'd watch TV at Grama's house I thought the people were talking to me. They weren't of course. Except for Mister Rogers. He talked to us. He made us feel seen and heard. He made up songs to help us with challenges we might be facing alone. Even if you were an adult. He risked ridicule and censure to get the message across that kids, that we, were important and that he cared. I don't know about anyone else but I believed him. 

Mister Rogers was the patron saint of my classroom and then later homeschool. And I appreciate his kindness and warmth. I want to spread some of that in my own way, through this website. I don't know who reads it but I want you to know that I don't need to, to care about you. This world is a better place with you. 

So celebrate the wonderful world of your imagination! Build your oak tree rolltop desks and barnacle fishing poles. Or whatever YOU want to build!  Go to Uzbekistan or wherever YOU want to go. Dance your arabesque or whatever YOU want to do! Do it for it for us all!  

And because this blog is about free stuff too, here are some free printable Mister Rogers Neighborhood coloring pages! And here are some coloring pages of his best-loved character Daniel Tiger. Blessings and peace to you from the Omschool. You really do make each day a special just by being you. 

Free kids trash craft projects with recyclables and printables

 Hello my friends of the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grandma) here with some easy, free trash craft projects to make with your recycle bin and some free printables. So I call these trash crafts because we reuse items that would probably get tossed in the trash. These are just right for Earth Month with an environmental focus on reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose.

Today's trash craft projects feature ways to reuse plastic milk jugs. Here are ideas to make recycled milk jugs into sand toys for the beach and garden tools. Make a set of eight recycled sand toys and garden tools, just in time for spring break and summer fun. Homemade kids trash crafts from recycled materials are great for beach play. If they get broken, you're not out any money!

Repurpose and reuse recycled milk jugs for preschool, school, scout troop, 4H group, camp and day care kids crafts. These recycled kids crafts work well for small hands. And because you know I'm all about Montessori and homeschoolers, these activities are geared for the multiage classroom. 

 You'll need

-two clean plastic milk jugs per child 

-permanent marker 

-scissors (children's Fiskars scissors work great) 

These crafts projects allow kids' to make a gardening bucket or plant starter with garden tools and a sand pail, strainer and sifter sand toys 

To begin, draw a line around the base of your recycled milk jugs, about three inches from the bottom. Poke a hole anywhere in the line with sharp scissors. Cut along the line to remove the top half (set aside for later). Now you have a sand pail or gardening bucket or plant starter. 

For sifter or strainer sand toys or garden tools, poke holes in the bottom of recycled milk jugs.  Repurpose and reuse the remainder of recycled milk jugs for other sand toys and garden tools. Draw a circle around the top of the milk jugs, about two inches down from the mouth. Poke a hole and cut around the circle. Now you have a funnel or sand castle mold for beach sand toys. 

With the leftover piece, you can make a trowel or shovel. To make a trowel, draw along the indentation on the jug where the handle is. Snip the lower end of the handle to separate it form the jug. Poke a hole on the line and cut along the line. Trim the top part above the upper end of the handle to a v-shaped point. You will have a flat surface with a handle to smooth out surfaces and a corner surface for edging. These garden tools make great hoes or trowels for a small garden or potted plant. 

If you cut it with a zigzag edge it can be used as a garden rake. These simple kids crafts provide excellent scissors skills practice. Make a shovel by drawing a circle around the part where the lower end of the handle attaches to the jug, about an inch or so from the handle. Snip the top end off from the jug. Cut along the circle you've drawn. Now you have handled shovels to use for sand toys or garden. 

I'll add pictures later when Omi and Opi finish the milk in the milk jug. 😀For more super easy, cheap or free kids trash crafts visit FreeKidsCrafts.  You get free printable craft project patterns for all the crafts shownd. 

Mousekin children's book series lesson plans for life science

Hello friends of the Omschool! Teacher Omi here with some beloved children's literature classics from my childhood! Just in time for Children's Book Week and Earth Month in April, here are kids books that for preschool and emergent readers on nature. And these books star a little creature named Mousekin in his many woodland adventures. 

Using the Mousekin book series, by Edna Miller, you can teach complete units in life science. With Mousekin, childrean explore camouflage, hibernation, ecosystems, habitats, symbiosis and more. Edna Miller, a naturalist and children's book author introduced us to Mousekin, a white-footed mouse, with her first book Mousekin's Golden House, in 1964. 

Here are lesson plans using the Mousekin books in preschool and elementary life science activities. Each Mousekin book contains a glossary of science terms and animal species, as well as suggested reading and further reference.

Mousekin's Golden House (1964) Perfect for Halloween, fall and autumn harvest lesson plans. Looking for a place to hibernate in winter, Mousekin discovers how other forest animals prepare for winter. When Mousekin finds a discarded carved jack-o-lantern pumpkin, he makes it into a cozy winter den. Children will learn about how eastern woodland habitat creatures ready themselves for winter.

Mousekin's Christmas Eve (1965) Our furry friend finds another cozy nest when he finds himself unexpectedly indoors for the holidays. 

Mousekin Finds a Friend (1967) Seeking safety yet again, the little white-footed mouse discovers an ally in s surprising way. He learns more about predator, prey and also community relationships in the animal kingdom. 

Mousekin's Family (1972) Through the eyes of a young mouse, we see how different animal species raise their families in the wild. 

Mousekin's Birthday Lovely story of gestation, birth and care of a family of white-footed mice. Beautifully drawn images. 

Mousekin's Woodland Sleepers  (1970) Companion book for Mousekin's Golden House, Mousekin's Woodland Sleepers explores in more detail how different species hibernate, including where they hibernate and how winter sleep cycles work. Mousekin meets a hibernating woodchuck, bear and chipmunk. Mousekin also learns about predator/ prey relationships in winter, including the predatory screech owl, skunk and fox who do not hibernate. Excellent book on habitats.

Mousekin's ABC (1972) Excellent forest field guide and reference book.

Mousekin Takes a Trip (1976) Mousekin ends up in a new environment with new creatures when the house he's wintering in migrates south! 

Mousekin's Close Call (1978) While eluding a hungry weasel, Mousekin explores how different creatures protect and camouflage themselves and their young. Mousekin's Close Call shows different predator/ prey relationships, habitats and how the food chain works in an eastern woodland forest.

Mousekin's Mystery (1983) A forest fire leaves Mousekin homeless and fills the forest with an eerie glow. Mousekin discovers bioluminescence from the fox fire fungus. This book explores habitats and symbiosis also.

Mousekin's Thanksgiving  (1985) In his quest for winter food stores, Mousekin discovers that some creature is eating his winter stores, but in the process, making more winter food stores available. Mousekin's Thanksgiving explores how creatures rely on each other in a symbiotic relationship within habitats.

Mousekin's Easter Basket (1986) Perfect for spring lessons, Mousekin explores different nests and eggs in his search for shelter. Perfect book to help children identify how birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles design their nests and protect their young.

Mousekin's Lost Woodland (1996) Mousekin's beloved home is destroyed when the shared pond is drained to build a new house. Teaches children about deforestation, wetlands protection and ecology. 

There are a few I may have missed as Edna Miller was a prolific writer, penning Mousekin stories for over 30 years. 

Kids Book Party Planner with Children's Literature Book Crafts, Games, Snacks, Printables

Teacher Omi coming to you live from Grand Haven, Michigan, where it is raining and wet! So at least its not snow, BUT it's also too cold and wet to play outside. And you know what bored kids turn to, when they're rainy-day-bored: mischief! Did we learn nothing from the Cat in the Hat? The kids are the well-behaved ones and it was the cat who is the troublemaker! Why not stir up a little fun instead of trouble, with a cheap (mostly free) afternoon of fun, compliments of your storybook shelf. 

 

Here's a snowbound or rainy-day book party planner for kids, with children's literature crafts, snacks and storybook games. I've included free printable kids' book coloring pages to help keep youngers ones busy too. These book based activities are perfect for all ages. They're just right for Children's Book Day April 2 and Earth Month in April! 

What I do in the Omschool is to first, announce a book party. Stay-at-home parents, if at all possible, take the afternoon off and read to kids. Homeschoolers this is perfect for you! Turn off the phone, computer, music and television. Set younger kids to work creating book party decorations with these free printable book crafts links.

Next, pile the couch and floor with squishy pillows and cuddly blankets. Invite stuffed animal friends. And make a pillow pile. Make it the youngest toddler's job to collect supplies and create the atmosphere. Grandsons Emmett and Remus, I spy you for this task! Everyone gets to select his or her snuggle spot. You can even tell the kids to put  PJs on or do the book based costumes activity listed below. 

Now, choose a snowbound or rainy day book party theme--adventure, mystery, spring, fantasy, animals-- and let each child, including the baby, choose several of their favorite books on that subject. Our youngest Maximus loves his tail book from Omi and Opi so this would be a must-read. Or just keep it open-ended. Rotate reading one of each kid's chosen children's literature books. Parents, you get a pick too. 

Warning--be careful reading scary kids stories. Even books you didn't think would frighten may scare kids silly if read by a talented storyteller. I chose Sherlock Holmes "The Devil's Foot" one of my favorite scary stories) for one snowbound book party. I thought the children might be bored by Arthur Conan Doyle's Victorian English. After reading a bit, I looked up to ask if they enjoying and saw eight bulging eyes and four mouths gaped. In unison, they commanded, "READ!!" At bedtime, four tired children insisted they couldn't sleep it was that scary. They're in their 30s now and still fondly remember being scared to pieces and loving it! 

Decorate the house for the snowbound or rainy day book party and wear costumes. Put energetic kids to work making storybook based decorations and costumes of their favorite characters from kids stories. Themes might be nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fantasy (even older kids will love this). Kids who are -10, like my older babygrands Silas, Moses, Lola, Lucian, Henry, Milo and Juno will love this part. Anyone who can't participate fully due to limitations, such as my grandson Ezra who is laid up with a broken leg, is the automatic Party Commander-in-Chief. All decisions must go by him! (But do involve them as much as they possibly can.) Here are free printable spring coloring pages from Crayola to help. 

This should be completely DIY. Don't buy anything: set out the recycling bin, dress-up clothes, bedding, towels, boxes, camping furniture and craft supplies. Make bored children put their vivid imaginations to work. Our granddaughter Flora loves her trampoline, so that would make a marvelous setting for the party. 

Good children's literature kids stories to use are: "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Aesop's Fables", "Grimm's Fairy Tales", "The Hobbit", Beatrix Potter, Dr. Seuss or children's literature about the Bible, cars or animals. This will keep kids busy for hours, which is good if you have to do the book party on another day. Edupics has a gazillion free printable coloring pages on pretty much any subject you come up with. 

My oldest son did this with his college roommates for a going-away party. They decorated rooms in different biomes: mountains, desert, rainforest. They made treasure maps, games, and choose-your-own-adventure activities. Again, let creativity and ingenuity, not Internet or wallet dictate activities! We're going for cheap. Think leftover cardboard, recycle bin, foil scraps and things like that. Here's a Pinterest board with all kinds of free printable kids book based games and another with free printable library books scavenger hunt games. 

Make snacks. Inventive children will enjoy creating festive treats from children's literature. Again, don't buy anything special: use leftovers and let them experiment. Serve tea, coffee, cocoa and cookies like grownups do at their book clubs. Kids love pretending to be adults. One of our family favorite books parties consisted of reading Paddle-to-the-Sea and eating a gallon of pickles! Last Sunday, our son reprised this book party with our grandkiddos! 

Use your storybook selections as springboards for ideas; Make foods listed in kids stories. Some, like American Girls, have accompanying cookbooks or recipes listed in the back. We once had a vintage Winnie-the-Pooh party and made Pooh recipes of haycorn pie, succotash and honey cake. Engage kids.

Children who like writing might write a journal entry about the storybook. Preschoolers and special needs children might illustrate kids stories they hear. Let kids draw and color while they listen. This keeps fidgety ones busy. Don't make is too schoolish. Keep the focus on fun.

Free poetry month lesson plans, poem templates, activities for young poets with printables

Hello and welcome to Teacher Omi's (grama's) favorite month or one of them! April celebrates many things including National Poetry Month. And April's other hat of Earth Month  nicely matches her poetry dress! So from the Omschool, where everything's coming up crocus and daffodil, here are free poetry month lesson plans, poem templates and activities for young poets. And you know that everything Omschool comes with free pintables! And, since the Omschool originated as a homeschool (33 years ago!) these poem activities will be geared to all ages, right down to the newest of my dynamic dozen babygrands, Max and Flora (Omi loves you all so much💕)

Acrostic name poems and All about Me poems The best place to begin is with what the child knows. So make an acrostic with his or her name. Juno- Jumping joyfully UnderNeath and Over. All about Me features kids filling in blanks with words to describe themselves. Bonus added use opposites, like " I am____ but I'm also _________. I  like ______ and I don't like ______. 

Nature Wander and Write. You get the best April has to offer with a BOGO nature walk and poetry slam! The concept is simple and the materials are few. (Mothers of many and teachers of crowds, rejoice!) You basically just find a pretty spot to wander, a meadow, field, by a brook, at the beach, in the woods. Equip each student over 7, Silas, Moses, Lola, that's you, with a pencil and notepad. Or for youngers, Lucian, Henry, Milo, Ezra, Juno this means you, each gets a box with crayons and paper. The mobile newbs, Emmett, Remus and Flora, get a box to collect samples. Max, your task is to supervise and provide commentary. The idea is to note down or draw interesting things you see. Once indoors you can complete your poem or poem drawing (art is poetry just with pictures, just like poetry is art with words). 

Gestalt Poetry Ponder Gestalt is a German phrase meaning that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Nowhere do we see this so clearly as in nature. So for this type of poetry, simply bring in one natural element. Might I suggest the humble yet regal pussywillow (called kitty toes, by son Jake) Or Omi's personal favorite, a sprig of dogwood? Arrange it in a simple vase. Or give each his own to explore VAKT (visually, auditorily, kinesthetically and tactilely). Students should note down or draw observations. They should experiment with different descriptor words. This makes a nice language arts-science connection. 

Adverbs and Adjectives Adventure After collecting your nature observations, begin your poem by creating a chart. List what you see, hear, taste, smell and touch (nouns) and words to describe those nouns (adjectives). Then list what happened or what the nouns did (verbs) with words to describe how it happened or how they did it (adverbs). Use my poem (free printable, btw) Achy-Lake-y Michigan Scent at the Grama-Grampa House  for examples. This is basically just my list of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs about a walk to the lake. 

Haiku for You The humble haiku is a perfect poem starter activity for kids. Instead of rhyming, it relies on pattern of syllables. The 5-7-5 pattern is pretty easy to master. But don't let kids get bogged down by strict adherence, either. As with rhyme poems, haiku can be flexible too. It's more important to get a rhythm that flows. And sound byte is king. If kids have a juicy word they just have to weave in, let 'em do it! 

Making noise with Edgar Allen Poe-etry Mr. Edgar Allen Poe might have had his dark side but I think he was a kid at heart because he was all about the sound poems called (delicious word!) onomatopoeia! Simply, it's words named from the sounds they make: bang, crash, boom, and such. The Bells and The Raven being two famous poems. So, how to begin? By listening. Even the silence makes sounds of a sort. Describe, in words or by drawing what you hear. What is the wind saying? Or the waves? Or your cat? Use my poem Campfire Songs and Lightning Bugs or Fireflies to explore how sound is used in poems. Look for all the onomatopoeia examples you can find. 

Assonance and alliteration in verse Not all poetry rhymes or has a certain number of syllables. Some, like onomatopoeia, relies on sound to create a rhythm or cadence. One way to achieve that is by using repetitive vowel sounds (assonance) and consonants (alliteration). In Campfire Songs and Achy-Lake-y, I used moan-groan, thunder-crumble crunch assonance and "endlessly tameless" alliteration to generate a sound pattern. Can you find other examples? Now write some letter matches of your own.  

Farad-ing Poetry Michael Faraday was an inventor who discovered the Farad (electrical unit) which was later named for him. That's what happens when a word is lacking. We make one up. I don't know if Poe invented some of those onomatopoeia,  but I do know that I have and you can if you can't find just the write word for your poem. In my Campfire Songs poem I made up (or at least I think I did) the words sklush and sklish. Others like crickle-trickle and worry-hurry I combined from others words. And Dr. Seuss, if the man gave us anything, it was permission to make up fun words! Gardinker and hakken-krakks being two of my favorites. 

Rhyme-time So of course, rhyming uses sound to creates poetry. I like writing this kind and you might too. But I prefer the other kinds best. Having to create rhymes can cramp your word choices. You end up discarding words you'd like to use to fit the rhyme. And it takes practice to write in rhyme too. Begin by generating a list of rhyming words and patterns. Use my poem For the Love of Alyssum to go by. You'll see what I mean about how I had to sacrifice certain words for ones that fit. It's good to practice on rhyme poems but the other sound kinds will likely be more satisfying. And then there's

Free verse Fun My grandkids know that I love the poem "This is Just to Say" What they don't know is why. It's just a note on a refrigerator. What's poetic about that? And I think therein lies the crux of poetry. It's a state of mind? Just like how do Jackson Pollack's pain splotches constitute art? Is it okay to just write a list of stuff and call it poetry or throw paint at a wall and call it art? I don't know. But I think with children and new poets especially, it helps establish the habit if there aren't a bunch of rules to bog you down. So for this exercise, just have kids start writing, anywhere. Put a word in the middle of the page and write words around it. That becomes a shape poem. Make a grocery list and look for sound patterns. 

"twelve yellow lemons" 

"squash to nosh"

"ruby red grapefruit"

"green beans" 

It's all about the celebration of words. Oh and for the littles, sorry, forgot to list activities for them. The best exposure is to give them brightly colored and musical toys to explore with all their senses. Not the electronic ones, please. Avoid those. Toys with real bells, shakers and noisemakers that's the kind I mean. Oh and give them cloth books to touch and feel. Mr. Max loves his fuzzy tails book from Omi and Opi. 

Ken Nesbitt Poetry4Kids has free printable poetry templates, poem patterns and poem lesson plans. Red Dragonfly on My Shoulder is a great Haiku read-aloud. We are teachers has more free printable poetry frames and templates. 

Free Biomes and habitats lesson plans with activities, worksheets and printables

Hello my Omschoolers! Teacher Omi here with another batch of free geography and science lesson plans, this time featuring biomes and habitats. These are biological ecosystems (habitats) of plant and animal life that grow up around the temporal zones created by geological and geographical land and water formations and the weather and climate conditions they create. It's all down to the water cycle, my dears! 

So to begin with, what in the world are biomes? A better question might be where in the world are they? And the answer is, everywhere! Each region of the world has a biome (flora and fauna) that has developed in response to the geographical and geological features of the land and its water sources. These have created weather patterns and climate conditions which have in turn surfaced that land and caused certain vegetation to grow or not grow. And that in turn has caused animal life to develop certain features. Even the people that originally inhabited a place had to adapt to their environment. 

Here are the OG biomes that came into being: forests (tropical, temperate, and boreal or taiga), grasslands (savannas and temperate grasslands), deserts, tundra, and freshwater and marine ecosystems.  Each requires certain amounts and kinds of precipitation to maintain it. And the creatures that live within these do so in remarkable symbiosis.  

Unfortunately, human development of (aka building on) land has changed it. Plant and animal life has been deprived, driven out and eradicated by plowing under, draining, drying up, tearing apart, deforesting, polluting, filling up, drilling into, concreting over homes and biomes and stripping of resources. We see in The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss a parable about the outcomes of environmental destruction. So where creatures live now and what vegetation grows there has radically changed in many areas. But that's content for another day. 

Here are free biomes lesson plans from Lesson Plans that Rock. I checked all the links included and they work great! And here's a printable biomes lapbook pattern and tutorial to create it. Here are free biomes coloring pages to print from Ask a Biologist. And you can still count on EdHelper for great preschool animal science lesson plans. I'm also delighted to see that Mr. Donn is still around with free geography lesson plans, activities and printables galore. Plus every other subject in the curriculum! Has it really been 15 years since I discovered this site??

Interactive Geography games, landforms definitions and printable geography lesson plans

Hello Omschool friends! Teacher Omi (grama) here with free printable geography games, crafts and lesson plans. In the US, geography has been absorbed into broader social studies lesson plans. Many older people who were drilled in geography and history fault modern educators for not continuing this. How many times did I hear my grandparents complain that us kid knew so little about US history and geography, let alone world history and geography. And they were right and wrong. Social studies broadens the study to include world cultures, civics, government and other related topics. We learned to connect events in time and place, instead of just memorizing dates and battles. We learned about people of the world not just where places were. 

But critics are correct to an extent too--when subject scope is widened some specific content falls through the cracks. And a thorough understanding of world geography is content that should not. So here are easy, hands-on geography lessons to teach not only where in the world but how the world is made up. These activities to  show how people of the world adapted to regions of the world and how cultures differ by climate, landforms, water sources, biomes and animal habitats they inhabit. 

Make hands-on landforms and topography maps for social studies. Begin by mixing up a large batch of play dough. Make the play dough in class and use it for interactive math measuring lesson plans. Here's an easy play dough recipe. This recipe will make enough for one student. Multiply ratios to make enough play dough for your class size

1 cup hot water 

1 cup white flour 

1/4 cup salt 

1 teaspoon vegetable oil 

teaspoons alum or cream of tartar 

food coloring 

Mix ingredients with fork till play dough cools enough that it can be worked by hand. Measuring and mixing play dough in class gives students practice in ratios, fractions and measurement. When mixed, separate play dough into balls. Color one ball blue (or green) for water. Leave one ball plain white color for land. Give each student a paper plate, a plastic knife and two zippered bags to separate play dough colors. Students will use these in hands-on geography lessons. 

Introduce geographical terms and definitions for landforms. Demonstrate shapes of landforms using play dough and then by drawing landforms on the overhead projector. Use black pen for land and blue for water. Students will use their blue and white clay to create landforms based on drawings from the board or overhead projector. 

Landforms scavenger hunt. List different landform, types of bodies of water and geographical features. Students should locate examples of landforms on topography maps or globes with 3D terrain landforms. Here are free printable landforms coloring pages and worksheets for geography lessons. Mr. Nussbaum has free printable geography maps, landforms coloring pages and more. Edupics has free printable outline maps to color and label. 

Geography landform terms, definitions and examples for topography lessons. 

Water formations:

strait: narrow strip of water, separating two large land masses and connecting two larger bodies of water, inverse of an isthmus (Straits of Mackinac, Straits of Magellan, Bosporus)

gulf: large inlet of ocean near a land mass (Gulf of Mexico)

bay: smaller inlet of coastal ocean near a land mass that connects to another body of water(Kotor, Fundy, Maya, San Francisco, Botany)

fjord: narrow, deep glacial valley flooded by ocean 

bight: broad open slightly recessed curvature of coastline that creates a bay

sound: ocean inlet near a coast deeper than bight and wider than fjord. (Puget Sound)

lagoon: (Laguna) shallow pond cut off by reef or sand bank, that surrounds an island, such as the Venetian Lagoon or is coastal.  

lake: body of water larger than a pond, but generally smaller than an ocean. Largest ones by square mile are Caspian Sea, Superior, Victoria, Huron and Michigan. Deepest are Lake Baikal, Tanganyika, Caspian, Viedma, Vostok) Some are also called seas. 

ocean: largest named bodies in the world (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic)

river: narrow strip of water flowing in one direction from a higher elevation to a lower elevation (Nile, Amazon, Mississippi) 

waterfall: created a river flows over a cliff

tributary: branch of a river 

delta: area at the mouth of a river where the river fans out in muddy marsh, silt or tributaries to meet a larger body of water (Mississippi Delta)

river basin: area along river that is drained by the river. 

bayou: slow-moving marshy inlet, arm or outlet of river or lake. 

swamp: forested wetland 

marsh: like a swamp with grass being primary vegetation

mire or bog (peat moss wetland)

Land formations

peninsula: piece of land that juts out into a body of water (state of Florida, Indochinese, Arabian,  Iberian in Spain, Crimean, Scandinavian peninsulas) 

island: small land mass in a body of water

key: island in a chain (Key Largo)

chain of islands (state of Hawaii)

atoll: a circle of islands (Bikini Atoll) 

archipelago: a collection of islands in no formation. It resembles a puzzle broken into pieces because that's pretty much what it was. The Greek islands for example came from the solid land mass of  Aegeis. (Greece, including the Cyclades, Dodecanese, Ionian, Saronic, Sporades, and North Aegean island clusters). 

isthmus: narrow strip of land separating two large bodies of water and connecting two larger land masses, often bisected by man-made canal (Isthmus of Panama, Panama Canal) 

mountain: area of increased elevation rising to a peak 

cliff: the edge of a piece of land that cuts away to land of lower elevation 

dune: sandy beach that rises to an elevation along a lake 

bluff: a rounded area of land overlooking a lower elevation 

hill: an area of elevation smaller than a mountain with rounded top 

mesa: steep narrow elevation, similar to a hill or mountain with a flat top 

butte: an isolated rocky hill with steep, vertical sides and a flattish surface (Monument Valley, Death Valley, Grand Canyon) 

plateau: wide, high area of elevation with flat top 

canyon: narrow corridor or pass between rocky elevations 

gorge: similar to a canyon with a river bed at the bottom (Snake River Canyon) 

I've not included geographical surface types, or biomes, like tundra or savannah. These are biological plant and animal communities that develop in response to environment and climate which is created by water and land formations. That's subject matter for another lesson plan and Omi's tired! 😁

Real-life, Interactive geography games, globe and map activities with printables

April is Earth Month and it's a good time to explore earth science and world geography. Here are hands-on, real-life social studies lessons, map activities and geography games with globes. No computer or internet needed. Playing geography games with globes helps students visualize the big picture better than with maps. Use map activities to locate specific places and use globes for accurate placement of countries in the world at large. Use maps and globes in science lesson plans to explore biomes, habitats, temporal zones and climate. 

Race Around the World map activities: Divide students into teams of 2-4. Give each team a globe and attach a world map to the wall or bulletin board. Here are free printable outline maps. Call out countries, cities and provinces for teams to locate their globes. The first team to find the location wins a point. After the location is found indicate it on the wall map with a pin or sticky note arrow (available at most office supply retailers). 

Earth Science Jeopardy: Students may play individually or in teams. Draw a Jeopardy grid on a Dry Erase board, overhead projector or chalkboard. Label five categories across the top of the Earth Science Jeopardy board. Here are some suggested earth science categories: Rivers, Mountain Ranges, Africa, Asia, Islands, Europe, United States, South America, Bodies of Water, Northern Hemisphere, Locations that begin with ____ (fill in letter). Fill in dollar amounts as in regular Jeopardy. Players select a category and value. The geography games leader calls out a place and team members must locate it on globes. Give teams buzzers or bells to sound when they find the answer. 

Latitude and Longitude Hide 'n Seek map activities: Use the free printable longitude and latitude maps and time zone lesson plans to explain the how lines and degrees of latitude and longitude work. Official latitude lines--also called parallels--go east to west and longitude lines go north and south. There are 180 latitude lines--90 above the equator (north) and 90 below (south). There are 360 lines of longitude (180 in the eastern hemisphere and 180 in the western hemisphere). They are divided into 24 groups which define time zones as well as geographical locations. 

Plotting those coordinates and other graph math activities. Use coordinate geometry to place cities and landforms in lines of latitude and longitude. Ask students to list different earth science landforms located with the latitude and longitude markings. Ask students list cities and locales based on latitude and longitude coordinates or bearings. Here are free printable graph math activities. 

Time zones bingo map activities: Using the small dial attached to the top of the globe, teach students how read lines of longitude to determine time zone. Call out a time zone. Students fill their card by locating and listing a city or province in that time zone. Require older students to calculate what time it is in different countries by giving the time in another time zone. Explain the Greenwich Mean Time system. Here are free printable globes and longitude and latitude maps to help. 

Multicultural activities for world social studies lesson plans with free printables

 

Hello friends of the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grama) has been having big fun creating a welcome montage in many  languages on her front door. And it got me thinking that these would make excellent multilingual activities and interactive bulletin board displays for social studies lesson plans. So here are cross-curricular multicultural lesson plan ideas to build global understanding of different languages and cultures. I've included free printable around the world, world flags, language and alphabet charts as well. This is part one of a series of global lesson plans beginning with greetings and flags. 

Welcome Wall: Purchase magnetic letters in English, Russian, Hebrew and Greek alphabets and any other alphabet you wish. Or use free printable alphabet charts. Here a free printable Greek alphabet from It's a Greek Life. Ben Crowder offers free printable Russian (Cyrillic) alphabets, plus printable language activities for Thai, Coptic (Greek alphabet of Copts in last-stage ancient Egypt), Ugaritic (ancient Phoenician cuniform) , Greek, Hebrew and Ogham (ancient British/Irish) alphabets. Here are free printable Chinese alphabet lesson plans. Use letters to write greetings in different languages. If using magnetic letters in classrooms, arrange these on a white board or metal door or window frame. Or print cards to affix to any window or wall.

 You might say "hello", "welcome" or any greeting native to the country. Mine says: 

Konnichiwa-Good Day (Japan)

czesc- Hi (Polish)

liefdt-Love (Dutch, didn't have enough letters to do Welkom) 

Добро пожаловать (Dobro pozhalovat) Welcome (Russian) Other former USSR nations use variations of this.

Wilkommen- welcome (German)

Shalom- Hebrew (Jewish Israel)

Ola-Hello (Spanish)

Cead mile failte-a thousand welcomes (Irish)

Pax-peace (Latin)

Howdy-(American slang)

Jambo-Hello (Swahili)

Bonjour-Good Day (French, Belgian)

Xush Kelibsiz-welcome (Uzbekistan)

Kalimera-Good Morning (Greek)

Assalamu alaikum or Inshallah- peace be unto you or if Allah wills (Muslim greeting used in many areas in the middle east) 

Interactive bulletin board or white board lesson plans. Create a hands-on bulletin board/white board activities by placing a large world map in the middle. Write greetings from list above on individual index cards and place in an envelope half attached to bulletin board. Then attach lengths of yarn to stickers affixed to countries on the map, from the list. Attach the other end to empty zippered bags that you've attached around the map. The student selects the greeting an places it in the corresponding bag. For the white board variation, use magnetic letters to spell the greetings and match them to the country. 

Flags around the world: Print these free printable world flags to match each one to the country or greeting on your welcome wall. Make a bingo game out of it. Or get a world map puzzle with each country being a different piece. Match flags and countries. 

World Map puzzle. You can turn any map into a puzzle by cutting out the different countries, states, provinces or oblasts (regions or Russia) or federal subjects (like states, in Russia--there are 85!). Have students memorize countries by their shape. They can then reassemble them. Or you can provide blank maps for students to color and label by country. They can then create map keys to indicate colors represent which region, country or state. Good luck with Russia!  

Hello and Goodbye. Teach students pronunciations for basic greetings, salutations and farewells in various world languages. Have them role play the greetings and responses to each other .

Make sure students know this is only a sampling and you've just taught the dominant language. Very few countries are like the USA, speaking one main language. Many countries are made up of people from various groups who speak different regional and cultural dialects or completely different languages. 

How many countries you cover will depend on age of students. Don't worry about getting every one. You'll only kill the joy of the lesson. This is about helping children learn about different countries and how they speak. It's not meant to be exhaustive, just fun and horizon-widening.  

Best I Can Read! early reader books, authors and illustrators from my childhood

Hello my friends of the Omschool! I have good news! Remember my post about how to find kids books you had loved and lost? I told you about a book I'd been hunting for, for probably 56  years. All I could recall was that a boy wanted to get his mother green lipstick for her birthday. Well I unearthed it along with another book my best friend Heather had that I had loved. I couldn't recall the title just the beautiful medieval pictures. That one is called Shadow Castle and the other is The Happy Birthday Present. 

Now, something especially wonderful about The Happy Birthday Present is that it is one of the earliest offerings from the I Can Read! Book Club which is probably the oldest book club for kids. It began with Little Bear (Else Holmelund Minarik) which featured early illustrations by Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are). 

I wasn't in the book club but you often found the books at doctor's office waiting rooms, along with Uncle Arthur which I'll write about later. Anyway, I must have been about 4 when I read the first one, The Fire Cat. And I was so proud because I read it myself. Here are my favorite books and authors from the I Can Read! series. 

The Fire Cat (Esther Averill, 1960) I just learned that this is part of a Cat Club series I'm going to explore. 

The Happy Birthday Present (Joan Heilbroner, 1962) I'm really taken with Mary Chalmers illustrations which left an indelible image in memory, particularly Davy's green lollipop. 

Danny and the Dinosaur (Syd Hoff, 1958) Actually I liked all of Syd Hoff's I Can Read! books. You might mistake his work for H.A. Rey of Curious George fame. 

Frog and Toad series (Arnold Lobel) Lobel won the Caldicott Medal several times as well as a Newbery Medal, the highest honors in children's literature. His other works are Fables, Mouse Soup and Owl at Home. I still recall my anti-book son Jakob being lured into reading and loving it with books like Owl at Home. "Tear Water Tea" being his most favorite (mine too!)! 

Hurry, Hurry Edith Thatcher Hurd and her illustrator husband Clement Hurd (and then their son Thatcher Hurd) gave us some of the best in children's literature. You'll know Clement Hurd for his illustrations of "Goodnight Moon" (Margaret Wise Brown) She studied at the prestigious and very lateral thinking school called Bank Street College of Education (where I had aspired to go in the early 1980s, but let fear of failure stop me). Many of Edith's books are of ships, the ocean and creatures that live there and that resonates too. 

Emmett's Pig (Mary Stolz, a favorite author who's book The Noonday Friends is one of my top picks for unconventional and relatable girl sheros. I will be hunting this up for my grandsonny-son Emmett. 

And last but by no means least is the Mrs. Malaprop of the housekeeping domain, the one and only Amelia Bedelia. Peggy Parish wrote the first and there have been many more, thankfully! 

I hope you'll find as much joy in these delightful stories as I have! 

Earth Month STEM lesson plans using recycled egg cartons activities with printables

Greetings from the Omschool! Teacher Omi is loving the longer and warmer days of Spring. And right around the corner, is Earth Day, part of Earth Month in April. There are so many ecological ways to celebrate the coming spring and the new life of Easter. One of my favorites is to practice reducing, reusing and recycling. 

As a teacher and homeschool parent (now grandparent) I try to model good Earth Month habits all year long by recycling materials, reusing them as classroom materials and reducing landfill waste. Here are STEM and science experiments and science crafts made from recycled egg cartons. Repurpose recycled egg cartons into homemade science crafts and hands-on science games to save money and the environment. I've included links for free downlands and printable science lesson plans too. Print on recycled paper for the win! 

And you know how I work: lesson plans are written for all ages (Yes, my newest little grands, Flora and Max, you too! can't leave our precious babies and toddlers out!) These can be used in preschool, elementary and multiage classrooms and in a home school) I'll label the activities for babies and toddlers (MF Max and Flora!) 

Attribute sorting science games. Sensory exploration is the core of science. Students can practice exploration in hands-on science games. To play, pass out clean, recycled egg cartons with each section labeled with words or pictures of attributes. Attributes will depend on materials being sorted and science subjects being studied. Items may be sorted by color, shape, size, living/non-living, wood/metal/plastic, anything you want. (MF give them plastic eggs to sort and just touch and feel)

You can play this as a scavenger hunt in which students search for objects to fit each attribute category. Labeling and sorting materials into recycled egg cartons builds science vocabulary, adjective usage and descriptive powers. It has tie-ins to math, language, writing, even social studies. (MF activities: have older kids make a sensory activity for littles by creating homemade windchimes from trash. Baby will love laying and his back and listening to the pretty sounds. Or give a toddler a pile of empty boxes to stack and knock over.

Egg carton Sensory Exploration sorting STEM games for Earth Month. Sort by

Taste: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, metallic, tart 
Smell: spicy, bitter, sour, soapy, flowery, fruity, moldy
Touch: furry, fuzzy, smooth, cool, warm, hard, rough, scratchy, bumpy, squashy (malleable), sticky
Sound: squeak, ring, buzz, beep, pop, clang, snap, crackle, scrape, scratch

(MF: give the littles "chewable" sensory items to manipulate. Children learn first about their world by taste, smell and touch. They "braille" their world as Dr. Leo Buscaglia called it.  You can make a simple rattle with a plastic vitamin bottle with some jingle bells or blocks in it. Seal the lid super tight and let the little shake away!  They can find endless entertainment in crinkly paper, too! 

Ecology STEM experiments using recycled egg cartons.

Paper or Plastic? Use cardboard and Styrofoam recycled egg cartons to demonstrate what happens to both in a landfill. Place a piece from each carton in water and soil put them in the window. Note any changes to each over time. Use this to explore biodegradable materials and renewable resources for Earth Month. Discuss how pollution is an environmental hazard and harms plants and animals.

Geology STEM science experiments for Earth Month: Use recycled egg cartons to classify and identify rocks and minerals. Here are free printable rock identification worksheets and online rock identification guides to help.. Students should label the sections of recycled egg cartons and sort by:

hardness on the MOHs scale here are free downloadable MOHs scale printables to help. 
rock type (metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous)
mineral composition (calcite, silicate, carbonate, etc.)
uses (building, abrasion, decoration, chemistry, etc.)

(MF-find tactile stem rocks or fidget stones for them to explore. They will enjoy exploring the safe, non-toxic toy animals too). Or reuse a large clear plastic container from the recycle bin and place various items inside, like a terrarium, for baby to study. 

Biology science games. Label the sections of recycled egg carton science crafts with taxonomy classification guide from the kingdoms (plantae, animalia, etc). Here are some more free printable animal classification activities too. Students might sort by subcategories KPCOFGS (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species). Students cut pictures or make tiny cards with names of members of various groups. They sort pictures or words into categories. They can test each other in partners or in groups. Label the bottom of the egg carton with answers for self-checking. This can be adapted to any age or grade depending upon what you are studying. Animals classification is the perfect social studies-science cross-curricular activity! MF activities might include reading touch and feel or noisy books about animals. Max recommends the Jungly Tail Book with softie animals tails to explore. 

Systems science crafts. Most all science experiments are based on a system or cycle. Use recycled egg carton science crafts to make 3D flow charts, anchor charts, Venn diagrams or graphic organizers Places objects in each section to represent parts of the cycle and draw arrows to show how they interact. Demonstrate electrical current, the water cycle. food chains, human body systems, habitats, plant development and insect metamorphosis. Here are free printable charts and graphic organizers from enchanted learning. Graphic organizers make great cross-curricular lesson plans. 

Science Timelines. Use recycled egg cartons to demonstrate how things change and develop (or regress) over time. Make timelines of science inventions, transportation, etc. Use this with any area of science that you teach.

Respect Earth Month and make your STEM lesson plans POP! with hands-on science activities from your recycle bin. 

Free Printable Catholic Lenten coloring pages, Bible activities, Christian crafts

Hello my Omschool friends. Our family is Catholic and when I homeschooled our children, we followed the liturgical calendar and based our lesson plans around that. Our high holy day is Easter. For Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Easter is about more than just Easter baskets, bunnies and candy. Easter celebrates the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Lent, which is the 40-day period prior to Easter, Christians ready themselves for Jesus's coming with prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent begins in the Catholic liturgical calendar, on Ash Wednesday, following Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (also called Shrove Tuesday) The date of Ash Wednesday changes each year as Easter is a "movable feast." In 2025, Ash Wednesday was Mar 5.  

Lent "follows" Jesus's during forty days of fasting in the desert when He was tempted by Satan. in preparation for His sacrifice on the cross. During Lent, we try to imitate Jesus. We follow the "Way of the Cross" or Stations of the Cross and pray the rosary. To help children learn about their Catholic Christian faith and observe Lent, here are free printable stations of the cross, rosary, saints and Easter bible story coloring pages. Use these for Lenten devotions.

The Catholic Kid has dozens of free printable Catholic coloring pages for Lent. There are free printable Catholic saints coloring pages too. 

Catholic Mom has an entire liturgical year of free downloadable and printable saints feast day coloring pages organized by month. This site also has 200+ free printable Sunday mass worksheets and activities, gospel Bible story coloring pages and devotional guides that follow the Catholic liturgical calendar. 

St. Anne's Helper has free printable Catholic activities and coloring pages for Lenten devotions. Catholic Icing is a homeschool mom blog with all kinds of printable Catholic activities, games, crafts, lesson plans and coloring pages. Clip Art Library has even more Catholic Bible printables and religious coloring pages. Edupics also has a big assortment of free printable Christian coloring pages. 

Between these sites, you'll free printable and downloadable Catholic Lenten coloring pages across all categories related to the faith, plus Christian games, activities, crafts and lesson plans. Some images are cartoons but others are beautifully drawn stained glass windows in various churches. These would make good adult coloring pages as well as challenging coloring pages for kids.  Categories include: 

free printable rosary coloring pages--Joyful Mysteries from the Bible story of Jesus's life: the annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus, the Presentation and Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple--Sorrowful Mysteries from the Bible story of Jesus's life: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, Carrying the Cross and the Crucifixion--Glorious Mysteries (heavenly events) in Jesus's life include the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption and the Crowning of Mary Queen of Heaven.--Luminous Mysteries: the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana (Jesus's first public miracle), the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. These are Bible events from the life of Jesus. 

free printable Stations of the Cross coloring pages, one for each of the 15 stations

free printable Apostles Creed coloring pages

free saints coloring pages of St. Patrick, Mary Mother of God, St. Joan of Arc, St. Philomena, St. Tarcisius, St. Clare, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Valentine and other saints. There are several of Pope Francis. 

Use these free printable Catholic Easter coloring pages for Ash Wednesday, Lent devotions, Holy Week, Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and finally Easter Sunday. Make a Stations of the Cross coloring book for mass and to keep little ones quiet during devotions and to reflect during your stations prayers. These coloring pages make great lent devotional activities to prepare children for Easter.