Christmas is the perfect time to dig out the glue and scissors and get crafty. There are so many things that you could make over the festive season that you will never run out of inspiration. Christmas crafts are great for the whole family and provide a great opportunity of spending quality time together whilst doing something fun. Here are a few ideas for Christmas craft projects.

Homemade greetings cards

Why not break away from generic shop bought cards and make your own this year. Make the cards that you make extra special by personalising them with names and special messages. Buy a pack of rub on alphabet letters in a colour that matches your designs. This way you can spell out each name really professionally on each card. Your friends and family will love receiving cards like this and they are sure to treasure them long after the festive season has passed. There are lots of great Christmas paper craft supplies available such as tree shaped punches, packs of Christmas themed papers, stickers and ribbon.

Paper wreath

Wreaths are very traditional and are usually found hanging on doors and in windows during the Christmas period. You can buy traditional wreath bases from craft and floristry shops if you want to have a go at making an outdoor wreath. If you don’t feel brave enough to try your hand at that then you should consider making a paper wreath for one of your internal doors. All you need to do is cut a ring from a large piece of red or green card. Use large flower punches to cut out flower shapes and then layer them together to create beautiful 3D flowers. Mount these flowers on to the ring base. Finish the middle of the flower off with a button or sticky gem for extra embellishment.

Hanging tree decorations

There are so many possibilities when it comes to hanging tree decorations. You can buy the pre shaped polystyrene balls and either paint them or cover them with fabric. Pin a length or ribbon in the top in order to hang them from the branches. For something a little bit different try making decorations from lolly sticks. Decorate each stick as a Christmas character, such as Santa, using paper or paint and again attach some ribbon. You could also try bending jewellery wire into stars and threading beads down the wire.

For lots of crafty card making ideas click the link.

In order to make easy Halloween crafts for kids one only has to use their head. Do you remember when you were in the scouts or other group of friends and you use to make crafts for Halloween? In does not take a lot of money to accomplish this.

We would make them and take them home and hang them in the window or on the storm door. We would also tape them to windows around the house. The same thing applies today but we also tape these crafts to ceiling fans to make them look like they are flying or give off some mysterious colors.

Pop Ghost – To make a pop ghost you will use a piece of tissue paper. Preferred colors for Halloween would be black, orange, and white but, any color of tissue paper will add to the creativeness of the individual. Center the tissue paper over the pop and then tie off at the base of the pop, and there you have your pop ghost.

Paper Bag Creature Puppets – Cut out ears, eyes, lips, mouth, scars, stitches, beard, mustache, and hair from construction paper. Glue these to your paper bag to make your creature. You can also use yarn to make your beard, mustache, and hair. Put your creation on your hand and make creature sounds and move its mouth.

To make more easy Halloween crafts for kids you can use black, orange, and white construction paper. Black paper can be made into witches and cats. Orange paper can be made into pumpkins. White can be used to make ghost and mummies. Draw the picture on the paper and cut out. Tape to windows so they can be seen day or night.

Chalk pictures on black construction paper will stand out and you can tape these to your door at home. The black construction paper gives you the idea these adventures happen at night.

Moms and Dads, Teachers and Teachers Aides, Room Mothers and Fathers, Brownie Leaders, Cub Scout Leaders, Girl and Boy Scout Leaders, and Camp Leaders who are looking for more craft ideas need to go to http://easyhalloweenkidscrafts.blogspot.com/ to find many craft options.

There are so many different Halloween craft ideas that can be done at Halloween and many can be created out of simple materials like paper, egg cartons and paper plates. The kids enjoy making them and best of all you can also use them as decorations for the classroom or at home.

Here are a few different Halloween crafts that won’t cost you a fortune.

Spider Webs
These webs can be used in the window where they will look great catching the sunlight during the day or indoor lights during the night. Start with a large sheet of wax paper or thin white paper. With a pencil draw a spider’s web on the paper. Use curving lines to make a pleasant design. Next go over the lines of the web with white glue then sprinkle with glitter. When the glue is dry it should be invisible and only the glitter will be seen. Hang in the window or in a corner somewhere. They also look good hanging in a doorway.

Egg Carton Bats
There are also some great Halloween craft ideas the only require egg cartons. Bats are easy to make and will look effective especially when several are hang together. Use three egg cups still attached in a row. Cut out the fronts and backs of the two end cups to simulate wings. Paint the bat black and add some googly eyes. Then hang your bat from the ceiling or in a doorway. Add a few friends for him and you’ll have an effective display.

Halloween Masks
Here are a few Halloween craft ideas for using paper plates. Of course Halloween isn’t Halloween without a few pumpkins and with a paper plate you can make a great pumpkin mask. Draw the pumpkin shape on the plate and trim it up. Cut out the eyes, nose and mouth to resemble a Jack O’ Lantern. Paint your pumpkin orange and add tie string to either side to hold it on as a mask.

There are also many different animal masks that can be made with a paper plate. Add ears and paint in black and orange stripes and you have a tiger. Add long ears and paint with grey and white and you have a rabbit. Be creative and there are many different animal masks that can be made with a paper plate.

If you are looking for Halloween craft ideas the main rule is to keep it simple. With simple crafts the kids will be sure to succeed and you’ll have happy kids and effective decorations all in one. There is no need to go to a lot of expense as you can often use household items for your Halloween crafts. Use your imagination, and almost anything can be used for Halloween crafts.

Teresa Evans is a parent and teacher who has created a collection of Easy Halloween Crafts for Kids. For more Halloween craft ideas visit www.easy-kids-halloween-crafts.com.

Empowering, enlivening, energizing-all words that bring to mind a sense of power and energy-invigorating. The power of homeschooling is all of that and more for our generation of parents, the generation that we are teaching, and many yet to be born. After sixteen years of homeschooling, I thought that it would be helpful to share the some of the lessons that we have learned along the way.

I used to be a typical working mom, employed outside the home, struggling to find any time to catch my breath, while juggling schedules, family demands, finances, and dreams of retirement. With the switch to the amazing position of homeschool mom, I discovered both the rewards and fascination of following our interests, from studying the stars to tracking the ocean tides, from planting a vegetable garden to learning to cook, from following the routes of the explorers to tracking the paths of the men that walked on moon, from learning to quilt like the pioneers to learning how to build a fire, and so much more. No one ever made learning “interesting” for me when I was a child, but I have discovered that this is a powerful gift that I can give our children on a daily basis-a gift that will keep on giving for the rest of their lives.

In the beginning, homeschooling was a nerve-wracking choice-am I doing the right thing, what will I teach them, what books shall we use, will they be able to get into college, and on and on. Then, through trial and error, we discovered unit studies-and the light turned on, and away we went. The choice of homeschooling is a wonderful choice to make for many families, and the combined power of learning and following interests together is a life-changing force.

First, let me tell you just a bit of my story. We began homeschooling in the middle of a school year, so we chose to keep using the textbooks that the children had been using in school. That was an easy enough decision, but it quickly became obvious that they were well trained in the use of textbooks-they read for bolded and italicized words, answered the questions at the end of the chapter, and memorized just well enough to take the test. There was no interest in schoolwork other than getting it done-no joy and certainly no curiosity. Another problem that I became painfully aware of was that there was not much long-term retention of the material covered in the textbooks. If I was going to take the time to homeschool them, I wanted to make sure that the lessons were going to be lasting and useful.

Rote memorization of textbook material is no replacement for thinking skills and logic when it comes to leading a satisfying and fulfilling adult life. If the knowledge is not there to stay, there is no foundation or framework to build on for the rest of their lives. For example, if they memorize the names of the parts of a plant, but never get to take one apart and investigate the pieces with a magnifying glass or microscope, how will the controversy of genetically engineered crops ever begin to make sense? If the framework is not there, the new information isn’t connected to anything, and it is difficult to use new information in a meaningful way.

With unit studies, we found a very powerful tool that has helped build a strong tree of knowledge for our children. Remember, your curriculum should be a shaping tool, not a vice grip. In my opinion, the strength of a unit study approach is that the student looks at a topic from all different directions. For example, when studying gardens, we look at the basics of plant science, the history of gardens, the gardens around the world, the art of Monet and other artists who were famous for their garden paintings, and much more.

To show the difference in textbook learning and unit studies, realize that nothing ever occurs in the vacuum of just being a historical, geographical or scientific event. When something happens, it happens in a particular place (geography), at a particular time (history), involving certain people (biographies), and has an impact on life in many ways (art, science, economics, etc). However, when using a history textbook, events are presented chronologically, in a somewhat condensed and dry format. When we read about the first American landing on the moon, the typical history textbook will not include any information about the exciting scientific discoveries that were made to achieve this great feat. In this same textbook, we probably would not read about the astronauts and their individual contributions and sacrifices. The textbooks usually won’t include the thrilling descriptions of all that has been gained from putting a man on the moon-from the world of computers to the amazing breakthroughs in medicine. These exciting and interlinked accomplishments are not typically included in the brief paragraph on the American space program. See what we would have missed if we had relied on a typical history textbook to learn about the space program? And yet these missing pieces are the ones that open up the universe to our children, showing them how to dream big dreams and understand how all things work together.

So, what do you do next? First and foremost, remember that every child is a blessing, uniquely gifted by God. Unit studies help us to help them discover their own gifts and talents, as they learn about the world while we are right there beside them. I will never forget the time that the chemistry experiment blew silver nitrate all over my brand new white curtains, and just how our daughter looked when it happened! I will never forget the thrill of the kids when they met some of the astronauts in person, and heard about some of their space adventures. To use unit studies is to begin a trail of discovery for both you and your children-a powerful journey of discovery.

Give them a chance to follow their interests and you might just be surprised at the outcome. With unit studies, our children have obtained a better understanding of the way things work, the history of the world, their own abilities, and much more. I am always asked about “holes in their education” if unit studies are used. First, I ask the audience if anyone ever remembers completely finishing a textbook when they were a child-not many hands have ever been raised. I share my personal experience that we never finished a textbook when I was a child, and I was so disappointed-the “good” stuff was always toward the end of the book.

The concept of education is not just to fill their heads up with any and all information available – that would take hundreds of years in these days of ever-expanding information. The concept of a good education, in my opinion, is teaching the child to be able to think, to help them build a sound foundation of learning-a strong tree of knowledge where they can place more information over the course of their lives.

I will never be able to teach my children about all things, but I will teach them how to think, to investigate, to research and dig for answers. In the years ahead, it is my opinion that this will be a priceless education for those who will be successful in a rapidly changing world. Unit studies can do just this, and that is my intention when I write them and use them-getting the child to think and explore, letting curiosity get the best of them. Try to help them develop a love of learning and enjoy the wonder of the world-it is quite an empowering accomplishment.

As powerful as homeschooling can be, it is not a result of all homeschooling families being just alike. Realize that you will never be “just like” other families in your homeschool group or those at your state convention. I have traveled all over the country as a speaker at homeschool conferences, and I have met all kinds of people. I am frequently asked by many parents, “Are we like typical homeschoolers?” I have to smile at this point-I do not think I have ever met a “typical” homeschooler. That would be like having a “normal” day of homeschooling, whatever that is.

Enjoy the uniqueness of your family and your approach to homeschooling. Some families use textbooks, while others use unit studies. It isn’t as important to follow the crowd anymore, now that the crowd is just you and your clan. Our family has done so many things since we started homeschooling-we have traveled all over, met some amazing people, and followed our dreams to all kinds of places, and I can honestly say that we have never had a boring day-and certainly not a “normal” day.

As a former engineer, I am well aware of the concept of having goals and a mission statement. What is my mission statement these days? To help the children discover their own gifts and talents, whether in botany or veterinary science, athletics or orthodontics, who knows what the future holds! Now, as a homeschooling mom, what is my goal? To work myself out of a job by helping them become self-motivated learners-to have them out there, learning and challenging and thriving within the realm of their own very unique gifts and talents. These are the real lessons of homeschooling that we have learned, priceless and powerful, and there for the taking.

Amanda Bennett is the author of more than 30 books, marketing consultant, Christian wife and homeschool mom of more than sixteen years. She speaks at conferences and retreats across the country, sharing her faith, homeschool experiences, and a contagious love of learning. With two that have graduated from college and one teenager at home, she and her husband stay busy on their tree farm in Tennessee. Visit her website http://www.unitstudy.com or find her on Twitter @AmandaBinTN