Last week got weird quickly, but ~meh~ Today is Valentine’s Day and I’m certain I am the only mom in the world who put off making classroom valentines until the last minute, wanted them to be unique AND had to – just HAD to – work a pencil into the plan. No store boughts for me, thankyouverymuch. I have entirely too much paper to justify that one!
Since the “no candy” rule foiled my original plan AND plan B (future blogs, I promise), I had to dig deep down into plan C. Plan C did not choose to manifest itself until yesterday morning.
Third graders like paper, right? They write and draw and whatnot constantly. At least the Khan does. And his classroom is always crying out for pencils so I wanted to do something useful, cute, you get the idea. These are variants of the classic notepad folder using supplies from my stash, my mother’s stash and the dollar store.
The one on the left involves a 3×5 notepad (from a pack of five costing $1), double sided tape or a tape runner, and scrapbook paper. The paper is cut to the height and three times the width of the notepad. Tape the notepad down to the right edge of the wrong side of the paper. Fold the per at the edge of the notepad, fold the remainder in half (it is really folded in thirds). Trim the corner out of the left hand edge – with a decorative edge scissors if you have one but a clean straight edge is just fine. Attach the ribbon with tape (I switched to glue dots for this) and tie the bow with the pencil inside.
The option on the right is with preprinted cards – sold by the box at any craft store. Just trim the card down to the size of the notepad (or skip it if it’s close), attach the notepad with your adhesive of choice, stamp the front. Lazy? Yep. But it was getting late and I got in a hurry. I attached the pencil with a glue dot to the envelope.
The Khan was happy with them so I’m hopeful the rest of the third grade will too. This is also a nice idea for a card party / game night favor, teacher gift or just a nice little “thinking of you” gift. If you use the the preprinted cards and embellish them, they’ll have an envelope all ready for mailing, but you will pay extra postage.
Would you like to see a step-by-step tutorial? Leave me a comment and I promise to make it happen.
got a serger. Who knew what I was missing? I certainly did not. But in order to try to match 
I don’t know what came over me.
: I believe serious gamers call this a “Deck Building” game. You use the cards in your hand to buy other cards that are either money, victory points or action cards. It is a very simple game, suitable for kids around eight and up, to learn; but it does require critical thinking skills and a good bit of strategy. It may be my favorite game in the world because it sets up quickly and plays quickly as well. Games can go long, but 30-45 minutes is typical. This game gets a five pizza score from me.
: This is a fabulous, fabulous game. The pieces consist of 13 dice and a can small enough to fit in your purse or pocket. It can easily be played while waiting for an appointment. The object is to get Brains, Brains! (duh) and avoid the shotgun blast. Players roll 3 dice at a time until they have three shotgun blasts or choose to stop. The first to 13 brains wins. Things to love about this game: it takes no time to set up, can be taught in under two minutes and is a complete blast to play. Another 5 Pizza Score for me.
: This is an easy word game suitable for up to 8 players. Players simply draw tiles to create words in a similar fashion to Scrabble, but each tile scores one point making it much more straightforward and easier for younger players. Again the game is very compact (packaged in a bag only a little bigger than a banana) making it great for travel. It is a very fast- paced game so it makes a great another great time passer while at appointments, etc and to toss in the camper. Since word games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, I’ll cut it back to a 4.5 pizza score.
: This is a dice game similar to Yahtzee, but happens to be the one I grew up with. I remember many, many hours of Kismet with my grandmother while I was growing up. Dice games like this are a great way to teach younger kids basic math and reasoning skills. The youngest kids can be taught to count, add and multiply with this game. 5 pizza boxes for pure entertainment and educational value.
: This is an oldie and a goodie. In fact, while not my favorite, it is my kids’ favorite game and anything that brings them together without a big, black screen is great in my book. Fun, easy to learn, requires a good deal of critical thinking to play means it gets another 5 pizza box score from me.
is a fantastic game for older kids and adults. Each player assumes a role from the TV series (good or bad) and the forces of good collaborate to defeat the forces of evil. This game probably appeals more to Sci-Fi nerds (which I am not, but I love a challenge and this game is!) and is suitable for older kids (10-12+) and adults. I’ll score it at Four Pizza Boxes. I could make it 3 because it’s spendy, but it’s totally worth it.
may be the greatest game you’ve never, ever heard of. The object of the game is to destroy your opponent in the manner of Godzilla! Players roll dice, do damage, earn energy to buy cards that enhance their skills and hopefully, sometimes, heal themselves. It is Tokyo vs. Not Tokyo in classic fashion for kids 8+. Remember I said that I love Dominion. This game may be a close second and closing fast. Why? I have boys. Boys love monsters, robots and battles. This game has all of those things plus is taught in under five minutes and plays in well under an hour. 5 pizza boxes for King of Tokyo as well.