Calendar Numbers Freebie

Well have you ever gone to set up the monthly calendar and you don't have all of the numbers?

Where do they go?

I usually use the same set for August and September....they were cute little kid faces that I bought a long time ago....but not this year because somehow I lost two of them, lol. I also 'lost' my camera (but actually I am hoping I left it in my classroom). We set up the 3 main bulletin boards and took pictures but now I cant find the camera. We (my daughter and I) were there a long time and we were pretty 'pooped' when we left so hopefully it is there!
I think I will go there tonight or tomorrow to get it so I can share the pics. Everything looks so bright and fun with new backgrounds and borders!!
So back to the calendar numbers....I gave up searching for the numbers and decided to just make new ones. I used the new digital colored crayons that I drew and they turned out great. There is also a page of blank labels (sorry not editable) that you can use.

I put this one up through my FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/JoyofKindergarten

To grab your free set, click on the Fan Freebie tab. It will take you to the site to download your free set. I will likely make a new set for each month as some of my numbers are REALLY old!!

 

I'm still not counting down, but if I were it would be 10 days....

 

 

Binder Covers Freebies, Washi Tape and Ribbon

Well my back to school pile continues to grow, but guess who is procrastinating going back to set up? I bought a few more things yesterday at Walmart...these cute borders were only $.97...that's a good deal!!

About 2 weeks ago I covered this composition notebook with Washi tape. It was my first project using the tape. I was surprised with how thin it is. You can easily reposition it if you make a mistake. I guess I should have somehow made the area I was going to cover white first because you can see the cover through the tape. I added a ribbon loop for a pen. The paper clips are just scraps of ribbon tied on

. 

Then on my trip to Walmart yesterday I treated myself to a new fun clipboard. I gave it a little bit of extra cute this morning.....cuz that's how I roll.  :)

VERY inexpensive and fun!! You can find cute ribbon for less that $1 a roll! Fran Kramer from Kindergarten Crayons had very cute and clever washi tape teacher gifts on her blog. You can see her cute gift ideas here.... Kindegarten Crayons:Do-you-know-about-washi-tape?

I had a request for some extra items for the Monster Classroom Set. I'm sorry I don't have time to add all of the elements requested, but I did make 2 editable folder or binder covers. You will need to open this file in PowerPoint and then 'insert text box'. Add names using your favorite fonts and print.
You can grab a free copy on Google docs (link under the image).

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_A4ylISiFIjTFFFN2JzRlNybkU/edit?usp=sharing

I have a Monster Classroom Set for decorating and creating labels available o TPT. All of the labels in the entire set are now editable. It is 80 pages and only $4.  Editable Monster Classroom Set Here is a little preview:

 

 

Have a great day!!!

Final Four Freebie Colored Pencils

Here are the last of the colored pencils set. If you need any different colors let me know and I will try to add them.

I learned how to make files editable in a quicker way so I was able to make two sets from last summer now have editable labels.

/Bee-Happy-Classroom-Design-Set-EDITABLE

Monster Classroom Set EDITABLE

They are both priced at $4.00 for a few days.  When I make my classroom labels, I use the heavy lamination sheets (is that 5ml??) I write on them with a sharpie and place where needed. At the end of the year I clean them using nail polish remover. They will hold up REALLY well. I have some labels that I am using for the 3rd year this year and they still are in excellent shape....they look new.
If you have any goo from tape just use a little Goo Gone and it will come right off.  I use a personal laminator from my mybindings.com. I bought my lamination pages through Amazon. Oh, one more trick I found is to always run everything through the machine twice...I always do this even if they look ok with just one time.
I will not count down my days of summer until it is 10.....or maybe 7.....or 5, LOL!!

Have a wonderful week!!!

Monday Clip Art Freebie

Come back each day this week to grab your colored pencils.  Tomorrow's color is yellow.  I have a one day sale today on TPT for my birthday.  Have a great week....and if you are back to work already have a wonderful time meeting your new kiddo's!!

Insect Art Ideas and More

This week I took a lot of pictures around my building of all the springtime art decorations. We also had a great field trip to the zoo!!

Beginning at the top left and going clockwise....

1. The teacher made her door into a giant beehive and if you look really close you can see the paperplate bees that are hanging from the ceiling. The students painted the stripes and then their photo was the head of the bee....super cute!! 

2. (top center) Another cute paper craft...ladybugs with paint dauber spots. The ladybugs decorated the bulletin board on the bottom middle row. 

3. (top right) Colored strips of paper glued to a leaf shape cutout and voila...it's the very hungry caterpillar. The children then worked cooperatively to paint the wings. The center picture is our bulletin board in the hall. It's super cute and all 'kid-made'. We get compliments every time a class passes our room. 

4. (bottom right) You can't completely see it but those are 'word family' caterpillars. Each oval has a different word family. Super cute and colorful aren't they?

5 (bottom middle) Ladybugs and flowers made with colored paper and paint daubers.

6. (bottom left) Honeycomb cereal bee hives with a "BEES' poem.

I made a few more fonts this week and I will get them loaded onto my FB page as this week's Fan Freebie. Here's a peek at how they look.

You can grab a copy for free just by 'liking' my Facebook Fan Page.

If you are a fan of backgrounds I will have this freebie available on my Uniquely Yours Blog Design page.

Have a great week!!!!

Free Fonts and Flower Clip Art

My school is having 'Right to Read' week this week and the teachers were all busy changing their bulletin boards and classroom decorations for all of the fun activities that are planned for the children. My camera is all charged for LOTS of pictures I will take tomorrow. I will share them with you later in the week.

Are you all ready for summer? Things sure do get crazy at the end of the year don't they? I have been busy working on my graphics and blog designs. You can check out my newest blog makeovers on my design blog, Uniquely Yours Blog Designs. My daughter and I made some free fonts using the iPad and they are available there as well.

FREE FONTS

I would LOVE for you to follow me there and leave a comment if you grab the free fonts.

I also drew this little cutie for my friend Maggie. Isn't she adorable?

I made this new set of clip art. It includes all 3 sets shown:

Oodles-of-Doodles-Spring-Flowers-Snails-and-Turtles-Clip-Art

I priced it on sale today for $2.50. It includes 27 colorful clips!! Oh, and did I mention? If you follow my Facebook Fan Page you can grab the Flower Clip Art for FREE!!! Yep, it's true!! Click on the 'Fan Freebie' tab I just added to my Facebook page and it will take you to the free clip art link. 

Have a WONDERFUL week!!

Friday Freebie.... a Day Late

So I made a personal goal to post 3 times a week.....and I have made it to 2 this week. To spark my motivation I made this cute sign.....

Well one of the babies ended up in the hospital this week for 3 days so that put a hold on everything. He is out of the hospital for now, but there is a new specialist we need to go see. I did get to make a few freebies this morning. First up is a cute blank newsletter template for the month of March.

The frames and artwork are drawn by me. Sorry, I have no idea how to make editable text boxes so you will have to fill it in my hand.....does it work to try 'insert text box'....not sure but it might.

You can download it for free on TPT here Blank March Newsletter Template.

I also made these....

These are also a freebie!! There are 16 files in the packet: 8 png files and 8 jpeg files. You can grab them here Scribble Frames Freebie. 

If you use these items for anything beyond personal use in your own classroom, please link credit back here to my blog, or to my store. An icon is included in the zip file.

I used the random number generator for my Math Story Problems giveaway and it picked numbers 3, 11 and 20. I will email the file to you today!!

Thanks so much for following my blog and for all your sweet comments!!

My Blogiversary Reflections...How I Create Clip Art...and a Freebie

Hi Teacher Friends!!
It has been nearly a year since I decided to begin blogging. Shortly thereafter I began posting free items on Teacher's Pay Teachers. It has been an adventure and big learning experience for me. I have made so many wonderful friends along the way... teachers that I never would have 'met' any other way.
I have learned a lot from this experience and it truly has made me a better teacher for my students. I have two things I am especially proud of. First is a childhood dream that is now a reality. When I was little I LOVED to draw. I actually initially went to college to become an art teacher. I realized after two years that this might not be the right path for me....although I still loved to draw.... and switched majors to early childhood education. Twenty plus years later this childhood love has become a reality for me as I create and sell my clip art, which I call 'Oodles of Doodles'.
How do I make the clip art you might ask?
I began many months ago just drawing in ink and scanning the images into my computer. I then digitally colored the images using an art program. This was fun and exciting for me. I got great advice and support from my friend and artist Michelle from The 3AM Teacher. She is an amazing artist and wonderfully kind friend. She was and has always been a great cheerleader for me! It was such a thrill when people complimented my little doodles and wanted to use them in their teacher products. I continued along this learning process and watched every tutorial online that I could (and there are a lot!!). I took the next step a few months ago and purchased a Wacom board. I can best describe this as a board about the size of a mouse pad that you draw on with a special pen. Silly me thought this would be so easy.... I mean I already knew how to draw right? Oh my goodness..... I was SO wrong. I spent about a month just playing with it, trying to master drawing digitally.  There are a variety of different boards available in different price ranges. If you are a beginner and interested in just trying it you can pick one up for less that $100. I bought mine at Best Buy. The board plugs into your computer via a USB plug. Through trial and error I figured it out...although early on I really wanted to give up and go back to paper, ha! I watched MORE tutorials and figured out how to add different effects. And now, I am selling my doodles pretty frequently. I LOVE opening Pinterest or TPT and seeing a fun teaching activity with MY artwork on it! It is still a slow process for me. Each little doodle might take me an hour or more to create, but I am enjoying the journey.!!

I enjoy creating and sharing activities on Teacher's Pay Teachers as well. This is another slow learning process. My advice to you is to create unique and carefully crafted activities and products for your own students. Don't try to copy the work of others.... find your niche, try it with your students and make it your own. Which leads me to the second thing I am proud of... my Kindergarten Homework Packets. I began creating them for my students as a method for parents to see on a daily basis what their children are working on and learning about in school. These have become very popular. It is amazing to me to think that I am touching so many young learners in classrooms across the US. Each packet takes me a LONG time to make....probably an hour or more per page. I wanted the packets to be fun for the children, and helpful to teachers and parents as we take this common core standards journey. Parents appreciate them as it gives them access to the skills their child is expected to master during the kindergarten year. I have created monthly packets for September thru January. I receive great feedback and so many kind words of thanks! This is my most recent packet....

January Kindergarten Homework Packet

So I will leave you with a little freebie I created with my clip art. It is a roll and cover. You can find it by following the link below the picture. There are a few other freebies in the same google file. If you take a copy I would love for you to leave a comment!! 

Snowman Roll and Cover

Thanks for following me and sharing this blogging journey with me. I feel very blessed for the people I have met the past year!

Happy Halloween Sale and Clip Art Freebie

Hello Kinder Friends!!

 I created a cute mini clip art set of a turkey with feathers... And guess what??

This little goodie is FREE!!! Yes!! Just a thank you from me for following my blog!!

I have a really great giveaway planned when I have 300 followers with fantastic items from top teacher bloggers. Just wait and see, it will be FABULOUS!! 

The turkey freebie is available in my dropbox file. It is in zip format. There are 2 turkeys and four feathers in the file.

Free Turkey Clip Art Set

I also have decided to participate in a mini sale this weekend. 

Selected items are on sale this weekend in my TPT store. Items on sale include the following:

 A GREAT BIG Thank YOU to everyone who entered my previous giveaway. Congrats to Yvonne G. You won the October Homework Packet from my last giveaway!! I emailed you your prize. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

Hi Kinder Friends!!

I'm here to share a fun lesson and positive behavior idea with you. Last week we watched a video of the book Have You Filled A Bucket Today?. I found it on YouTube. 

After we watched the video the kiddo's brainstormed ways to fill someone's bucket. We talked about how filling a bucket does not cost any money, etc. As the children gave examples I wrote them on green post-it notes. They placed them on a giant bucket that I had drawn and painted. We also talked about being a "bucket dipper"...those not so nice actions and words that hurt others. I wrote those onto blue post-it notes. As we wrote a 'dipper' the child crumbled it up and threw it in the garbage can! They loved this activity! 

The children all agreed to be 'bucket fillers'! 

To encourage this behavior, as the children are seen being a 'bucket filler' they will get to add a shiny plastic coin to their classroom bucket. If another child sees someone being a 'bucket filler' they can add a coin as well. When the class has 100 coins we will have a popcorn party.

This is a simple, fun and empowering activity that encourages being kind to others!

There is a fun new blog on the block! A group of great Kindergarten bloggers has united together to write a collaborative blog titled "Top Teacher's Kinderland". It also includes some great freebies!! Be sure to stop over and check it out!!

Now for a freebie... I have finished a new collection of colored clip art. It is a set of 50 football and cheerleaders in seven colors. I am offering one 'team' as a freebie. It is available now in my TPT store.

Oodles of Doodles: Team Freebie

Have a great week!!

ESY & Free Yellow Polka Dot Word Wall

I went to orientation for ESY which I will begin teaching in a few weeks. Should be interesting. I know 3 of the 4 aides working in the room with me but I have never worked 'directly' with them...does that make sense??? And yes, that does say 4 aides. I have 4 aides, me, and 9 students. I know aide #1 will be very easy to work with, #2 seems so-so....might be ok and #3...ding, ding.... getting my boxing gloves positive attitude ready. Oh and #4 is the mystery aide. She does not work for our district during the school year and she did not attend orientation.

I finished a new word wall as a request and I am offering it as a freebie in my store. You can grab a copy here Yellow Dot Word Wall.

I am also having a giveaway on my new blog, as I just finished a new set. It is over 100 pages with a 'BEE' theme. Classroom Design Collections

:) Nancy

New Classroom Design Giveaway - Monster Set

I finished the aqua and green classroom set and decided to make it a monster theme. I am giving away one set here on my blog on Sunday. I used the rafflecopter the last few times but then I got to thinking about making you follow me all around cyber-land to have an entry. That is not really my style....so while I am very appreciative if you follow my blog and stores your entry will just be made by leaving a comment below...sound good?

I had a special request for a 'bee' theme classroom set so that will be next. Then I will do a safari/jungle theme. I am also drafting out a year of homework packets for Kindergarten. Busy, busy, I'm just full of ideas, lol.

We have a brand new math curriculum for next year so I need to make sure the activities align with the lessons being taught. I went to an in-service today and I go back tomorrow. It is all about the new math curriculum.

I also spent 3 days cleaning out my classroom cupboards getting everything organized. My classroom is super organized and tidy but I had secret hidden stashes of clutter...shhh don't tell. Now every cupboard is organized too and my file cabinets are all cleaned out. My recycle bin was brimming! I think I had saved every extra copy of papers since dinosaurs walked the Earth, very outdated and things I will never ever use again! They are gone now! I also changed all my bulletin boards for next year.

What changes will you make to your classroom for next year?

Make sure you leave your email address if you are entering to win the Monster Set. I will email it as a PDF file attachment. Have a great week!

Nancy

I'm Having a Giveaway!

I am having my first giveaway and you have two chances to win.I am giving away a copy of my new Classroom Design set titled 'Let's Get Hoppin'. I am very pleased with how this set turned out. My teacher friends at work LOVE it! Here's what to do...
1. Follow my blog and leave a comment including your email (so I can email you the file).
2. Follow my store on Teacher's Notebook.
3. Follow my store on Teacher's Pay Teachers.
I am also giving away this set to one winner through the Teacher's Notebook site so you have an extra chance to win there. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I set this up right. Have a wonderful weekend and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

May Calendar Numbers Freebie finished

This will be a super short post as I feel very behind with everything...and I have a big meeting to get organized for. I finished my May Calendar Numbers with a zoo/safari theme. Of course May starts in 2 days so you are likely already set. Hope you can use these or save them for another month. let me know if you need a different month label, I can make it for you. Just like the April set I made three complete number sets so you can practice a variety of patterns.
I am going to start offering all new items at a discount for the first 48 hours so please consider following my store. Thanks so much!! Have a fab week!!Safari/Zoo May Calendar Freebie

I'm back and a freebie!!

LOL, that picture makes me laugh. Well it has been a long two weeks for me. Two of my daughter have pneumonia now, and one spent 6 days in the hospital. Another had a trip to the ER with a burn on her arm from the lawn mower and Mr. Hubby still has an infection in his elbow and may need surgery. That is just enough on my plate.
I am thinking ahead to next year and trying to decide the theme for my classroom. Although, at this point I am not sure what grade I will be teaching. There will be a lot of changes at our school due to retirements and smaller class sizes moving up through the grades, also fewer children identified with special education needs. I am not good with uncertainty, for some reason it is very stressful for me.
I am going to try to create a completely color coordinated room. Once I have everything done I will share. But for now I am sharing my "words of praise". You can get them for free here Teacher's Notebook

I hope everyone had a better week than me, lol.
:) Nancy