Kwik Stix Giveaway

In our classroom we LOVE directed drawings and to use paint to complete our masterpieces.  In my many years of teaching I have tried several different types and brands to paint with my kiddos. I have used the powder tempera paint, powder tempera paint mixed with dish soap, liquid tempera paint, and acrylic paint. Fact is if you name it, I have more than likely tried it, and we always get the same dull color, dripping paint trays, and the inevitable spill of the water cup at at least one table that gets ALL.OVER.ALL.OF.THE. PAPERS! Well, I am soooooo excited to share with you what I found. It solves everyone of those problems. Are you ready for this? It will blow your mind............ Kwik Stix (BOOM! Drop mic here). 

These are true tempera paints but in glue stick form. No water, no paint brushes, just the stick! This wonderful product comes to us by The Pencil Grip, Inc. I had the honor of testing these out  in my classroom with my kiddos. They are AWESOME and will definitely be on my supply “wish list” from now on.

1. There is NO more paint tray mess. Students just remove the lid, use it like a glue stick, then put the lid back on.
   
2. The colors are soooo much brighter as you can see in the pictures.
   
3. There are NO more water spills because you don’t need water to activate the paint.
   
4. The paint dries in about the same amount of time as traditional water colors.
5. The kids LOVE them.

Look at the difference between the finished products:

**The only negatives I could find:

1. The Kwik Stix are fat making it hard to get into small corners or circles in the drawings. This could easily be fixed by just rubbing the top of the Kwik Stix with a paint brush and then onto the paper. OR if the company reads my review, maybe they will create different sizes/widths of the Kwik Stix (pen width, marker width, etc). That would be awesome.
   
2. You can get a 6 pack for 5.99. So to have enough for lets say 20 kiddos you would have to spend about $119.00 OR you could purchase their 96 pack for $96.00 (That seems quiet pricey to me.) - Maybe you could just purchase 4 of the 5.99 pack and switch out which teams get to use them.............
3. They don't come in multiple skin colors. (Maybe that is something the company will add...)

I firmly believe that students should be learning how to use all different types of mediums when creating art so this will by all means not replace the watercolors and other paints in my classroom but it is definitely a fun new addition to our art tools.

AND Guess what? You could have these in your classroom too! I have been given permission by this company to have a giveaway featuring their awesome product. The giveaway prize will include a 12 pack of their Kwik Stixs. 

All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter below! I just know you will love these as much as I do. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Earth Day Sale

I am joining my #kinderfriends in an Earth day sale.  My ENTIRE store will be 20% off from April 22-23. Just click Kindergarten Boom Boom to find some great deals! Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day Blog Hop FREEBIE

Welcome to the #kinderfriends Earth Day blog Hop! Earth Day is a day that is filled with ton of fun and learning for us. We take the whole day to read, write, graph, and help our Earth.  Here are a few classroom ideas and a FREEBIE (at the end **It will only be a freebie until April 30, 2016) that you can put to use in your classroom.

First, I like to read the book It’s Earth Day by Mercer Mayer. 

It is a great story that teaches kiddos how to conserve energy, reduce, reuse, recyce, and to take care of our environment. It has wonderful words to extend vocabulary like: climate, energy, reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

We gather on the carpet to read and discuss this story and why it is so important to take care of our Earth.  While I read the kiddos are taking notes on vocabulary words, learning what can be reduced, reused, or recycled, and how to help our Earth. Here are some of the Earth Day Activities found in my FREEBIE at the end of this post:

A second fun activity is to take a “Trash Hunt” and walk around the school armed with several different types of bags for different objects we find. The students each get a plastic grocery store bag and then use permanent marker to label the bags plastic, trash, food, plastic, etc. Then they decide who is going to work together to find the most of whatever waste is written on their bag.

A third fun activity is to watch a brain pop video clip. The characters are great and kiddos can really follow the story lines. They have a great one on Reduce, reuse, and recycle. You can find clicking here.

Finally, my favorite thing of all is to make seed paper. This paper when made and used properly can be planted in pots or the ground and as the seeds grow the paper composts away leaving nothing behind but a beautiful flower or vegetable garden and no waste. You can also cut the paper into any shape and give as gifts to others to spread the word on helping our Earth. Here is how you do it:

First shred some paper into strips. (The kiddos love doing this part). The smaller the strips the better. Then soak the paper for at least an hour in a bowl of water. The longer the paper soaks the better it will turn out. (So if you can leave it overnight, it is probably the best way to go.) Then gently pull the paper out of the old water and put the soaked paper in a blender. Fill the blender half way with fresh water. Then blend the paper until you get a paper milkshake like looking material. Pour that mixture into a bowl or a pan and add the seeds. (You can add whatever kinds of seeds that you want to add. I like to use flower seeds.) Make sure that you have added enough seeds throughout the mixture and stir it well. You should be able to see the seeds clearly and all over the mixture. Next you need to use an old window screen or something similar. Pour the mixture into the screen and press it flat. You want it to be a very thin flat layer laying on top of the screen. This will allow all the access water to drain out. Let the mixture dry in the screen for a day or two.  Once it is dry you can pull it out and cut into any shape you want. Finally, you can plant the paper just under the soil in a planter, pot, or in the ground.  All you have to do now is keep the area you planted moist and watch the recycled paper grow into something beautiful!

If you are interested in trying out my Earth Day Activities, You can download the FREEBIE in my TpT store. Just click Earth Day FREEBIE!  

Have fun and thanks for helping to keep our Earth healthy! 

Now you can head over to the next stop Mrs. Byrd's Learning Tree on our blog hop!

Get A Grip Give Away

I have several students in my classroom who have struggled with their pencil grip all year.  I have used tons of different grips with them this year before I finally found some grips that actually work! Have you heard of the new Pencil grips from The Pencil Grip, Inc? 

I had the honor of testing out a few of their new products in my classroom with my kiddos. After two weeks of use the letter formation was no longer loose and letters were not floating off the page as much.  Just imagine the gains they could have been making if I had these grips at the beginning of the year.

Pinch Grip

Crossover Grip

My favorite grips are the Crossover Grip and the Pinch Grip. The Pinch grip allows the fingers and hand to rest in the proper position while giving even more control. The Crossover grip has everything the Pinch Grip offers but also includes these little wings that stabilize students’ little fingers and keep them from overlapping each other. This company also has a 3 step training kit. 

This kit includes the stage 1 Crossover Grip, stage 2 Pinch Grip, and stage 3 Pencil Grip. The kit allows students to gradually learn how to hold a pencil and improve their handwriting. I also want to add that ALL of the grips are made out of a very soft material that won’t cause indentions or blisters on those sweet little hands.

I have been given permission by this company to host a giveaway featuring their awesome pencil grips. The giveaway prize will include the above mentioned family of grips along with a User’s Guide.  There will be 2 winners. Just enter the Rafflecopter below to have a chance at winning these for your classroom. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway