Free Printable Vacation Bible School Crafts Activities

Summer brings lots of great family traditions--4th of July, picnics, parades, beach fun. One very popular summer activity is VBS, or Vacation Bible School. Almost every church sponsers a week-long Vacation Bible School. And don't let the term 'school' intimidate you. At VBS, children learn about Christian Biblical teachings in fun-filled interactive ways. Students learn about Jesus, faith, Go, making crafts, singing, playing games. Are you a VBS teacher? You'll want these Free Printable Vacation Bible School Activities

Free Summer Enrichment Activities for Kids from A-Z

School is out and students are rejoicing! But parents are often concerned about a long summer with no study. The problem is compounded If you have a child who is lagging academically. Summer school is an option, but most children balk about school work in the summer. Tutoring centers are costly and many parents lack the time to tutor children at home. How can you ensure that your child's academic progress is not thwarted by three months away from school? Don't despair; here are 26 summer educational enrichment tips from A-Z.  A-Z Ways to Continue Your Child's Education Through the Summer Months

Holy Week, Easter activities for Families

Catholics, Orthodox, and other Christian traditions, follow the penitential season of Lent before Easter. Lent concludes with Palm Sunday which leads into Holy Week and culminates on Easter Sunday. This most sacred and somber week includes the Easter Triduum, with Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday or Easter Vigil. I converted to Catholicism 19 years ago and homeschooled our four children for 10 years. My children tell me that some of their favorite memories center on our Holy Week observances. For families looking for the full Palm Sunday-to-Easter experience, here are activities from my journey to guide you. These activities have merit for non-Catholics, as they help bring families closer together.  Holy Week, Easter activities for parents and children

Lenten Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving Activities for Children

The Catholic Lenten season of Lent is fast approaching. In lent, we practice gospel virtues: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. We seek to draw near God, by imitating Christ's suffering. Those acts in turn help us grow stronger. Here are lenten sacrifice activities for children.  Lenten Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving Activities for Children

Free Printable Thanksgiving Cut and Paste Activities

Want cut and paste Thanksgiving crafts for kids? Or free printable holiday crafts for classroom, homeschool, day care, scouts or church groups? Print turkey, pilgrims, harvest, pumpkins for Thanksgiving cut and paste crafts. Keep busy hands and minds active making decorations, coloring pages, place cards, Thanksgiving greeting cards and thank-you notes.

Here are websites that allow you to print free with the click of your mouse. Nothing to download, no registration or user ID. You can request to be put on free email mailing lists; keep up to date with all the wonderful crafts and cut and paste activities available. You might even have some activities to contribute.Free Printable Thanksgiving Cut and Paste Activities 

Teach Kids Social Skills, Encourage them To Form a Club

Sharing this great idea that my daughter came up with. She writes for Bubblews and this is her idea for a club she'd like to start. She explains "I want to start a club. My friend started one and its time I start my own. At school, one of my teacher has shown interest in starting a club with me. We had considered forming a Star Wars club because we are both massive Star Wars fans. However, there wouldn't be a lot to do in the club so I have created a new idea for a club. A conspiracy theorist club."

Okay first that's just a really cool idea. Second, joining clubs are a great way for kids to connect and get involved. Third, starting a club helps kids learn organization, social skills,  motivational and public speaking and self-advocacy. Fourth, a conspiracy theories club--educational, creative and fun! Does my heart proud to call her "daughter." Conspiracy Theorist Club

Give Back to Mother Nature with Easy, Green Earth Day Gardens

Do you love to garden but find yourself cursed with poor yard soil? Or maybe you're one of those unfortunate apartment dwelling green thumbs. Either way, it seems impossible to reconcile a love of gardening with a lack of basic garden essentials. With spring planting, Earth Day and the lure of summer bounty right around the corner, would-be gardeners long to tend plants even more. If you find yourself in this situation, do not abandon hope of gardening. You can have a flourishing garden right on your patio, deck or porch.  Easy, Green Earth Day Gardens

Lenten and Easter Almsgiving Activity

As Catholic homeschoolers education focused around the liturgical year in our family. Holy Week is the pinnacle of the church year. We practice lenten virtues of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, in solidarity with our Lord and in preparation for our Easter celebration. In our homeschool career, we explored many avenues of sacrifice and service. One simple activity became very meaningful. We are fortunate to live near several mission-type sites which provide immediate care and help to those in need. Our church twins with a parish in Haiti. Many Staples outlets gather school supplies. Using these resources we made lenten care kits.Lenten and Easter Activity 

Teaching Children About Lent and Fasting

In the Catholic church, Ash Wednesday kicks off the penitential season of Lent. During Lent, we fast, pray and give alms to the needy, to prepare our hearts for Easter Sunday. Whether you're Catholic or not, there's a lot to be learned from these disciplines, especially for children. Here are tips to teach children about Lenten fasting. This Q-and-A guide will also help non-Catholic children understand what their Catholic classmates are doing and why.  Teaching Children About Lent and Fasting

Catholic Relief Services Lenten Rice Bowl Activities

Catholic Relief Services is the single largest non-governmental relief agency in the world. Each year at Lent CRS initiates what is called 'Operation Rice Bowl'. Operation Rice Bowl is a program which focuses our attention on the cardinal aims of the Lenten season: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The Rice Bowl project consists of a cardboard box which when assembled, looks very much like the take out boxes that rice comes in. The Rice Bowl is a box which families set up in their homes during Lent to collect loose change and offerings for the poor and hungry of the world. Operation Rice bowl also includes a Lenten prayer calendar with devotional activities, feast days and stations of the cross. Each calendar day has a prayer focus. Specific information about world poverty statistics and needs from around the world are listed also.  Lenten Rice Bowl Devotional and Lesson Planner

Free Printable Valentines for Kids

Kids love to exchange valentines on Valentine's Day. Valentines are going up in price just like everything else. How about a green, creative, money saving option? Free printable valentines for school exchanges? Here are many to choose from.  Free Valentines

Advent Almsgiving, Service Project for all Ideologies

If we're not careful Christmas ends up being more about receiving than giving, with adults as much as kids. It's not that kids are so selfish, it's that marketing campaigns target children and bombard them with images of thousands of 'must-have' toys, gadgets and goodies. Who can blame kids for wanting all that cool stuff? To say a child is selfish is to state an obvious, but not necessarily negative, fact of childhood. Being self-centered is how they learn to care for and protect themselves. But excessive selfishness is taught, not inherent. So do how do we teach empathy? By telling kids not to want things? Nope--shaming is unhealthy. It's also counterproductive. Better to teach positive, proactive sharing and caring.  Here's a printable advent almsgiving activity. And you don't have to be Catholic or Christian to observe advent virtues. I have friends in every faith group and ideology--Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, Wiccan, Bahai, Sikh, Hindu, animist--all practice similar acts of mercy and charity. This can activity can be used with children, no matter what their family creed. Advent Giving

Free Stone Soup Lesson Plans to Teach Sharing

When I was in kindergarten we did a classroom Thanksgiving activity that has stuck with me all my life. We made Friendship Soup, also called 'Stone Soup' (taken from the old legend retold by Marcia Brown). Perfect for schools, scout troops, church groups, day care and homeschool, making Friendship Soup or Stone Soup shows what wonderful things can happen when people share. Here are Stone Soup lesson plans to build community, develop awareness and teach social responsiveness. Friendship Soup and 'Stone Soup' Classroom Lesson Plan Activities for Thanksgiving 

Student volunteer service credit opportunities: Tips for parents

Volunteering is a buzzword in educational circles. To raise student awareness, groups like United Way coordinate student volunteer programs. Many schools require kids to perform a set number of community service credits to graduate. Elementary and middle schools are getting in on the act, too. If your student needs earn community service credits here are some suggestions.  Student volunteer service credit opportunities: Tips for parents

Best Spiritual, Religious Confirmation, Baptism Gifts for Teens

Several Christian denominations, Catholic, Episcopalian and Lutheran most notably, celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation. In confirmation, the 'confirmand' (confirmation candidate) is anointed with oil and 'sealed with the Holy Spirit'. The confirmand is confirmed by the Holy Spirit and becomes a full, adult member of the parish. Most parishes prepare teenagers to receive the sacrament of Confirmation sometime between eighth and tenth grade. Another confirmed adult, other than a parent, acts as sponsor to the confirmand.

A confirmation sponsor's role is similar to that of godparent. It is customary for friends, family and sponsors to give a gift to the confirmand. The gift need not be large or costly, but rather a token of remembrance. Here is a list of reasonably priced gift suggestions for Confirmation. These suggestions work well for any spiritual life event or celebration including baptism, first holy communion and bat or bar mitzvah,  Read more at  Gift-Giving Guides: Best Religious Confirmation Gifts for Teens

Fair Trade Website Provides Food, Health, Literacy, Breast Cancer Support, Animal Rescue, Rain Forest Preservation, Veterans' Assistance

We've seen images of suffering: Japan and Haiti earthquake Darfur, Katrina, tsunami, economic oppression, refugees, war, deforestation, demilitarized, zones, oil spills. Children learn geography by war and disaster zones. Want to help? Here's how. Very few of us have the resources to make a huge difference. Nor can we leave our homes and families to provide physical help. Here are ways to help that cost nothing. How? With 7 clicks of your mouse each day. Be sure to check their breast cancer research and veterans' assistance site, too. Read more at  Fair Trade Website Provides Food, Health, Literacy, Animal Rescue, Rain Forest Preservation 

Lenten Rice Bowl Devotional and Lesson Planner

Catholic Relief Services is the single largest non-governmental relief agency in the world. Each year at Lent CRS initiates what is called 'Operation Rice Bowl'. Operation Rice Bowl is a program which focuses our attention on the cardinal aims of the Lenten season: prayer, fasting and alms-giving.
The Rice Bowl project consists of a cardboard box which when assembled, looks very much like the take out boxes that rice comes in. The Rice Bowl is a box which families set up in their homes during Lent to collect loose change and offerings for the poor and hungry of the world. Operation Rice bowl also includes a Lenten prayer calendar with devotional activities, feast days and stations of the cross. Each calendar day has a prayer focus. Specific information about world poverty statistics and needs from around the world are listed also.  Lenten Rice Bowl Devotional and Lesson Planner 

Parents Benefit Giving, Receiving Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes

Parents Benefit from Giving, Receiving Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes For some parents, the holidays represent more poverty and struggle. For others, it's a time to reach out and share. Here's how Operation Christmas Child helps parents in need and those with resources to share. Read more...

Free Printable 'Stone Soup' Activities to Teach Kids Sharing

The legend of "Stone Soup" is timeless. It's been retold many times, notably by Marcia Brown, Ann McGovern and Jon J. Muth. Stone Soup is sacred text in preschool and elementary classrooms. If you are teaching Stone Soup, here are free printable activities.  Read on

Thanksgiving Lessons for Children in Sharing and Friendship from 'Stone Soup'

'Stone Soup' is a wonderful old legend that has been retold most notably buy John J. Muth, Ann McGovern and Marcia Brown. You can make 'Stone Soup' with children in school or homeschool to teach them about sharing, giving and friendship. Perfect for holidays, especially Thanksgiving when we focus on the Puritan Pilgrims' relationship with the generous Native Americans. Free printable activities and recipes included. Read more