As pretty as all the glittery Christmas ornaments you can buy at the store are, I have an appreciation for hand-made ornaments, especially if my kids make them. I also really love ornaments made with nature, so the kids and I have been busy making lots of nature themed Christmas tree ornaments recently. Here are instructions for a few of our favorites: Pressed Flower Bulbs You can make really simple but beautiful Christmas ornaments with some pressed flowers, Modge Podge, and plain glass Christmas bulbs. Just brush a thin layer of Modge Podge on the bulb. Stick a few pressed flowers onto the bulb, and brush a layer of Modge Podge over them. Then set it aside to dry. Another way to make pressed flower bulbs is just to fill clear plastic or glass bulbs with small pressed flowers or pressed flower petals. These turn out really beautiful and even really young children can make them. Stick Stars To make stick star ornaments you will need: - 5 dry sticks that are the same length and tha...

As a homeschooling mom, I tend to look for gifts that have some educational value to give my kids for holidays and birthdays. Educational toys make learning fun and help kids dive into their interests and passions in a way that doesn't feel like school. With Christmas just around the corner, I thought I'd share some of my favorite educational gift ideas for kids. Microscope -  Introduce your kids to the microscopic world with a microscope! There are super affordable toy microscopes designed for very young children like the one my 4-year-old has: the  PBOX Beginner Microscope Set . It's technically a "toy" but it works great. It's a little blurry at it's highest magnification, but for the price, I've been fully impressed with it.  If you're shopping for an older child, check out the  Cassini LCD Digital Microscope or the   Bebang Ultra Power microscope .  We have both and really love them! To hear more about these particular microscopes, check out ...

Basic Information Tanzania is a country in eastern Africa. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia to the west, Malawi and Mozambique to the south.  The terrain is mainly grasslands and the climate ranges from tropical along the coast to temperate in the highland regions.  Population:  around 61,000,000 Size: 365,755 square miles Capital: Dodoma Type of government: republic Currency: Tanzanian shilling National Anthem:  Mungu ibariki Afrika (God bless Africa) National Language: Swahili National Animal: the Maasai Giraffe Famous Places The Serengeti: The Serengeti is a large grassland in northern Tanzania that includes the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. It is home to a vast amount of wildlife including lions, zebra, cheetahs, giraffes, wildebeest, elephants, hyena, over 500 species of birds, and more. Learn more about the Serengeti with this do...

We had so much fun and found so many cool things to learn about during our counties of the world study last year that we only ended up getting through about half of the countries that we had planned to. This year we're picked up where we left off and started with Egypt!  Basic Information Egypt is a country in north eastern Africa. It's bordered by Libya, Sudan, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, Israel, and the Gaza Strip. Egypt is almost entirely desert, with a narrow fertile plain along the Nile River. Population:  102 million Size:  390,000 square miles Capital: Cairo Currency: the Egyptian pound National Anthem:   بلادي لك حبي وفؤادي National Animal: stepped eagle Flag:  Famous Places and Landmarks The Giza Plateau-  Located just outside of Cairo, the Giza Plateau is the site of the ancient pyramids of Khufu, the Sphinx, and the remains of an ancient industrial complex. You can learn more about the Giza Plateau with this short video from FreeSchool:...

My kids are always collecting and bringing home cool sticks that they find. I thought we would put a few to good use by decorating them and using them as walking sticks while we're hiking. They ended up turning out pretty cool, and my kids love bringing them with us on our outdoor adventures! For this activity you will need: -Some sturdy walking stick sized sticks -Yarn -Beads (make sure they're the right size to string on yarn, pony beads and large wooden beads work well) -Craft feathers Start by cleaning up your sticks a bit. Scrub off any dirt and insects. Sand down any sharp edges. Cut a piece of yarn several feet long, tie it to the top of your stick, and start wrapping. When you run out of yarn or are ready to stop wrapping, tie it again, and trim off any extra yarn. Get creative, try using several colors, make a pattern, whatever you think will look cool.  After your stick is wrapped, tie some pieces of string at the top (or wherever you want) and string on some beads or...

  What is a Snail? Snails, along with slugs, and whelk belong to a group of invertebrates (animals without backbones) called gastropods, and gastropods belong to a larger group called mollusks, which includes snails, slugs, clams, muscles, squids, and octopuses. Snails live through out the world. They can be found from the far northern and southern oceans to the equatorial regions. There are snails that live on land and snails that live in fresh and salt water.  Snails have a hard outer shell that is big enough for the entire snail to hide inside. They slide around on a muscle like foot and most of their organs are found inside the shell. Land snails have two sets of tentacles on their heads. The upper set has eyes at the tips. The lower set is for olfaction (smelling). Fun Facts About Snails -Snails are related to shellfish. -The world's smallest snail is .03 inches tall, small enough to fit through the eye of a needle. -Garden snails move at a top speed of about half an inch...