Painting with Crayons & Water Colors

Painting with Crayons and Water Colors 1

This was one of those super-simple craft projects that’s nearly free.  You may already have all of the supplies on hand, but this changes things up from a normal painting or coloring project because it mixes the mediums.

It’s also a lot of fun.

What we did was create a drawing with crayons, and then color it in with watercolor paints.  We did some regular pictures (butterflies and flowers) and some that were patterns of lines and shapes.

And don’t mind the ancient crayon box full of mixed crayon types…. this is a “rediscovered” conglomerate of art supplies from my own youth. We use what we can here… it’s part of what makes this craft free, or nearly-free (the water colors are new).   We keep a craft drawer of leftover supplies from other projects, too, and sometimes we have a free-for-all craft with whatever we can find.

The kids love it.

Painting with Crayons and Water Colors 2

We discovered that the crayon looks much better if you draw thicker lines to help it stand out against the paint.  It also creates a neat, smooth texture.

And we experimented with the paint as well.

My older daughter tried painting with her fingers, instead of the brush, and she also would tilt the paper in different directions to see what happened when the excess paint dripped across her picture.

Painting with Crayons and Water Colors 3

My youngest daughter tried different things, like using multiple paintbrushes at one time.  This project gave them both the freedom to be creative in their own ways.

This project was cheap (free if you already have the crayons, paint, and paper) and easy to set up.  It gave them a creative outlet, and it kept them busy for a long time.  It had a lot of benefits on top of the fun-factor.

Plus, I had some beautiful fridge-worthy artwork at the end of it.

Here are a few of the finished products, including one of mine:

Painting with Crayons and Water Colors 4

Happy Crafting!

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Letter J: Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids

Letter J Alphabet Activities FREE Printable Worksheets from Roaming Rosie

If you’re new here, please read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities first!

Here are all of the printable PDFs for the Letter J.  They are free for home and classroom use, but please don’t sell or reproduce them.

J is for Jaguar

J is for Jeep

J is for Jelly Bean Counting

J is for Jelly Beans

J is for Jolly Jesters Juggling

J is for Juice

J is for Jupiter

And here is a picture of the two Jelly Bean worksheets:

J is for Jelly Beans FREE printable Alphabet Activity Worksheets from Roaming Rosie

For the first one, I cut out little kidney bean shaped jelly beans from construction paper.  For the second, we used real jelly beans, which are usually pretty easy to find year round.  I tried to stick with the colors that come in most packages.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our Letter J projects:

Letter J Alphabet Activities

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest to see my latest posts.

Have fun!

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Letter I: Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids

Letter I Day Alphabet Activities Free Printable Worksheets from Roaming Rosie

If you’re new here, please read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities first!

Then make sure to check out all of the Letter I Alphabet Activities too!

Here are all of the printable PDFs for the Letter I.  They are free for home and classroom use, but please don’t sell or reproduce them.

I is for Ibis and Iced Tea

I is for Ice Hockey

I is for Icee

I is for Igloo and Iguana

I is for Iguanas Identifying Ice Cream

I is for Insects Investigating

I is for Insects

I is for Instruments

Here are a couple of the completed worksheets:

I is for Icee Alphabet Activity Printable Worksheet

Letter I Insects and Instruments Worksheets Alphabet Activities with Roaming Rosie

Don’t forget to check out all of our accompanying Letter I Alphabet Activities!  (Where I also talk more about the Icee worksheet too!)

Please follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to see my latest posts.

Have fun!

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Candy Corn Counting Math Worksheets {Free Printables}

Candy Corn and Pumpkins Free Printable Halloween Worksheets 1

Sooo… Easter’s kind of around the corner and I’m over here like, gee… I haven’t posted any of my Halloween stuff yet…

Well, better late than never, right?

Hopefully you agree.  :)

Candy Corn and Pumpkins Free Printable Halloween Worksheets 2

For last Halloween, I made these to help my kids practice counting.  My girls are in preschool and kindergarten, and these worksheets have a variety of activities for them, including counting the shapes, matching the candy to the shapes, figuring out which is biggest and smallest group, and tracing the numbers both as figures and as words.

For the Candy Corn Counting worksheet we used regular candy corn.  For the Pumpkin Patch Counting worksheet, we used the pumpkins out of a bag of mixed mallowcremes, but you could also get a bag of just the pumpkins, or even something like these jelly pumpkins.

If you’re trying to avoid giving your kids any extra candy, you could pick up some Halloween erasers instead, which you can usually find at a dollar store if it’s actually, you know, around Halloween.  Or you could pick up some on Amazon instead.  The erasers are also good because you can keep using them for other math activities afterwards.

Or, you could avoid both the candy and the toys altogether and just color in the shapes.  No toys to lose and nothing to eat.

Even though the eating was, you know, my kids’ favorite part.

Candy Corn and Pumpkins Free Printable Halloween Worksheets 3

Here are the free printable worksheets – just click the names to download the PDF:

Candy Corn Counting

Pumpkin Patch Counting

Enjoy!

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Letter G: Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids

FREE Printable Letter G Alphabet Activities Worksheets at RoamingRosie.com

If you’re new to our Alphabet Activities, please read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities first!

Here are all of the printable PDFs for the Letter G.  They are free for home and classroom use, but please don’t sell or reproduce them.  Click on each link to download or print the worksheet.

G is for Giraffes Gazing at Gardenias

G is for Gorilla

G is for Grasshopper and Guitar

G is for Green Glitter

G is for Green Grapes

G is for Green Grass

And don’t forget to check out all of our Letter G Alphabet Activities!

Follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to see my latest posts!!

Have fun!

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Freezer Crock Pot Meals: Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

With the colors and excitement of Mardi Gras around me, I felt inspired to make some jambalaya.

It’s been on my To Do list for awhile, and I really haven’t been keeping up with making new Freezer Meals anyway, so it felt like great timing.

Technically Mardi Gras had already passed when I made it, but it is a warmly spicy and flavorful dish that’s a comforting {and super easy} meal anytime.

Why is it so easy?  As you can see in the pictures below, everything gets thrown into one freezer bag, and then the contents of that freezer bag later get thrown into a crock pot.  Done.

It’s best with rice, but that’s also something you can make ahead of time and have stored in the fridge.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

I typed up my recipe with the ingredients measured out for one meal:  one freezer bag portion that serves 4.

However, you can see that I actually made two.

And if chicken hadn’t been so expensive when I was in the mood for this, I would have made even more.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Once you put all of the ingredients in the bag, you freeze it overnight while it’s flat.

I like to put mine on top of pizza boxes or baking sheets, or something else smooth, because if you freeze them right on wire shelves, they’ll have little bumps on one side.  That doesn’t hurt the recipe, but it takes up waaaay more space in the freezer.

And the whole point is that you can stack these frozen meals vertically or horizontally without them taking up much space.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

And when you’re ready to eat, you just pull a bag out of the freezer and dump the contents into the crock pot.

I run mine under some warm {not hot} water in the sink for just a couple of minutes, to help break the large chunk into a few smaller chunks.

You can throw it right in the crockpot when it’s still completely frozen, it just fits better in smaller chunks.

Oh, and as you can see in the photos, there’s an excess of broth.  It will look wet when you first put it into the bowl, but once you stir in a scoop of rice, the rice will soak up most of the liquid.

So the finished product is not as soupy as it appears when still in the crock pot.

Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your own taste!  I like my food spicy, and though the heat was strong, I didn’t think it was too much.  But you can just use less hot sauce or a milder sausage if you prefer.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Ingredients:
14 to 16 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast
8 oz. Andouille sausage
1 (28 oz.) can diced or petite diced tomatoes
1 medium to large sweet onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup chicken or beef broth
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Prepare a gallon freezer baggy by writing today’s date and the instructions on it. Set aside.

Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Cut sausage into slices or dice it.

Put chicken and sausage into a one gallon freezer baggy. Add the rest of the ingredients to bag. Seal bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Place the bag into the freezer on a flat surface, like a baking pan, to freeze overnight. Once frozen, you can store the bags upright.

When you’re ready to cook, remove baggy from freezer and run under warm water just long enough to break the contents into a few smaller pieces, about 2 minutes. Pour contents into crock pot and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 hours. Discard bay leaves before serving.

Serve with rice. Serves 4.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BAG: Jambalaya ~ Cook on high 7-8 hours / low 3 hours ~ Serve with rice ~ Date

NOTE: This recipe makes one freezer bag portion but is easily doubled or tripled, making it easy to assemble multiple meals at one time, like you see in the photos.

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To print the free PDF copy of the recipe, click here:  Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Enjoy!

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Valentine’s Day Free Printable Tags for Pens & Pencils

FREE Valentine's Day Tags for Pens and Pencils

I recently posted some Printable Valentine’s Day Tags for Bubbles, which were the treats my kids handed out to their classes for Valentine’s Day.

Then I realized that their teachers may not want bubbles as a present….

And as I browsed the shelves, looking at everything from candy to candles, I wandered into the school supply aisle and spied some colorfully decorated gel pens.

I thought they looked fun, and teachers always need pens…..

Free Printable Valentine's Day Tags for Pens and Pencils

So I picked up the pens and made some printable tags for them.

The tags have an illustration of a pen on them, which is light so you can write over it, and after you cut them out, you just need to use a hole punch to add a hole to the one side.

I made them in both red and blue, so you can pick whichever you like best, and I tied them onto the pens with some bakers twine.

The gel pens actually make a really cute gift for older kids as well, and it’s a great non-candy option.

Here are the two tags in printable PDF form:

Valentine’s Day Printable Tags for Pens and Pencils (Blue)

Valentine’s Day Printable Tags for Pens and Pencils (Red)

Enjoy!

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Letter F: Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids

FREE Printable Letter F Alphabet Activities Worksheets at RoamingRosie.com

If you’re new here, please read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities first!

And you can see all of our Letter F projects at Letter F Alphabet Activities.

Here are all of the printable PDFs for the Letter F.  They are free for home and classroom use, but please don’t sell or reproduce them.

F is for Fast Frogs

F is for Feathers

F is for Ferret

F is for Flamingos and Flip Flops

F is for Flamingos

F is for Fox and French Fries

And don’t forget to check out all of our Letter F Alphabet Activities!

Follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to see my latest posts!

Have fun!

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Letter F: Alphabet Activities for Kids

Alphabet Activities for Kids - Project Ideas - Free Worksheets - at RoamingRosie.com

Welcome to Letter F Day!

If you haven’t read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities, you should start there.

Don’t forget to check out the Letter F:  Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids, too!

F is for Flamingo {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This F is for Flamingo paper craft is really one of my favorite letters.

It must be a Floridian thing.  I have a special place in my heart for flamingos.  :)

Anyway, to make this, I cut out a lowercase F ahead of time and some feet, wings, and a beak, then gave my daughter those pieces and a googly eye and let her assemble the bird.

I also cut out that cute itty bitty flamingo in the bottom corner.  Just ’cause.

F is for Fish Letter Sorting  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

For our letter sorting activity, I cut out two fish and cut out the letters on light blue paper in the shape of circles to represent bubbles.

F is for Finger Flower Puppets  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

These flower fingers were inspired by a similar idea I found in a craft book dating from my childhood.

What I did was cut out some green paper to resemble the shape of uppercase T.  That “top” of the letter T would get wrapped around our fingers and the rest would function as the flower’s stem.

I also cut out some flower and leaf shapes, and we glued them all together to form our flowers.  Then, after letting the glue dry for a few minutes, we taped that “top” part of the T that I mentioned into a circle so that we could slide that part over our fingers.

Of course, the flower petal part of our finger puppets were a little heavy.  They drooped a bit, but, really, the girls didn’t mind.  It was still a lot of fun for them.  To fix that particular problem, though, you could use thicker paper (card stock instead of construction paper) or add a Popsicle stick or something for support.

F is for Footprints  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

Now, this F is for Footprints project was a really, really huge hit.

And super simple.

One of my favorite combinations.  :)

Cornstarch Paint  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

To make the paint for the footprints, you simply combine 1/2 cup cornstarch with a 1/2 cup of water, and mix it together with a fork.  Then drop in a bit of food coloring.

{If you’re using a nonstick pan to make the paint, be sure to mix it with a plastic fork.}

I made two colors in two cake pans, because the cake pan was big enough to hold my kids’ feet.  But they were both pretty young the first time we did this – so be sure to check your pan/bowl against your kid’s feet.

F is for Footprints

Anyway:  throw the cornstarch paint container out onto a driveway or sidewalk or deck, let the kids step in the paint and then trek colorful footprints everywhere.

And to really highlight the letter of the day, I made an outline of a giant F on the driveway with painters tape.  The girls had fun filling the F with messy footprints.

Oh:  and you may need to stir the paint occasionally.  That’s why you see my daughter carrying around forks in the photo.  The paint IS – technically – edible.  But I wouldn’t suggest testing out the taste.  Ick!

F is for Foam Frames

Okay, okay … this was kind of cheating.

We had some foam frames and foam stickers left over from a birthday party craft … so I just let the girls go ahead and make another frame apiece.

I guess you could get really into the alphabet thing and just stick letter Fs all over the frame, but we kinda just added this into our activities as a fun little project, putting their names at the bottom of the frame and going to town with the flower, animal, and instrument stickers over the rest.

Another option, however, would be to just use the foam flower stickers.  Which would also look nice.

F is for Feathers {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This worksheet was really fun for them.

I picked up some feathers at my local dollar store, but they were kind of long.  Longer than the letter F if you laid them horizontally on the paper.  So I cut them into pieces for this project.

That may have something to do with my OCD, though.  You could also just use 3 feathers to make an F.

This is one of the free printable worksheets I made, which you can download at Letter F:  Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids.  If you have feather stickers or a stamp, you could use that instead, but I find that the texture of the craft feathers is part of what made it really interesting.

F is for Florida's Flag  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

As you may have noticed, we live in Florida.

So, coloring Florida’s Flag was a natural for Letter F Day.  But you could also do Finland, Fiji, and/or France instead, if you preferred.

Either way, you can get some printable flag coloring pages at World Free Printable Flags, including the Florida Flag.

F is for Letter F Sound Box {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

We don’t actually make Sound Boxes for every letter.

We probably should, but the reason we did it for F is because F is a big letter for us.  It’s the first letter of my oldest daughter’s name.  So it’s a pretty exciting letter in our house.

Our F Sound Box included flowers, forks, fruit, fish, an F alphabet block, some paper flags, and a Ferrari.

Our Sound Box was inspired by the “Sound Box” books the series by Jane Belk Moncure.  They’re kind of hard to find now, so I’m glad I picked up a couple when I did years ago, although you can still sometimes find them on Amazon:

Sound Box Books by Jane Belk Moncure

F is for Food  :)

F is for Fish French Toast {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

We used the Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Honey Whole Wheat Bread.  You COULD get it on Amazon, which is what I linked to, but it’s kinda seriously pricey, so I suggest checking your local stores first.  I only include the link because it helps me to visualize what I’m looking for if I can see it first.

What I actually suggest is – if you can’t find the Goldfish bread in the store – just use fish shaped cookie cutters to make your own fish shaped bread, kind of like when I made Fall French Toast in the shape of Autumn leaves.

F is for Fruit and Franfurters {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This was a simple lunch.  I warmed up some frankfurters {turkey dogs count!}, sliced them into three pieces, and formed an F with the pieces on the plate.

Then I added some fruit.  A mixture of fruit would have been nice, but the only fresh fruit we had that day was watermelon, so that’s what we ate.

F is for Fish Sticks and French Fries {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

Since we did so many activities for Letter F Day, dinner was also {like lunch} simple.

I threw some frozen french fries and frozen fish sticks on a cookie sheet and baked them up while I made a salad.  {A “fresh” salad??}

Anyway, this particular meal is always a hit with my kids, but before we ate it, I made sure to make a game out of searching for all of the letter Fs on the boxes of the fries and fish sticks.

F is for Fairy Fudge {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This was a pretty dessert, but also super, super sweet.

Why is it called “Fairy Fudge?”  Well, I named it for Fairy Bread, which is a slice of white bread covered with butter and colorful sprinkles.  But what we did here was make white chocolate fudge and cover IT with colorful nonpareil sprinkles.  My kids LOVE sprinkles.

The fudge pictured above was from a rather unsuccessful recipe {waaaay to sweet and not the right texture at all}, but I’ve come up with my own recipe for Vanilla Fairy Fudge which is SO much better!

Vanilla Fairy Fudge Recipe

Okay – that’s it for Letter F Day, except for my Letter F:  Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids, of course!

And don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to see my latest posts!

Have fun!

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Valentine’s Day Coloring Page with John 3:16 Quote

Free Valentine's Day Printable Coloring Page with John 3:16 Quote I made this coloring page not only for my kids to color, but also for my daughter’s Sunday school class.  My mom volunteers in the class and I offered it as an extra project for them to color as they arrived on the day they were going to discuss Valentine’s Day.

I try to incorporate the love that God has for us into all holidays when discussing them with my kids and I like the idea of blending “Valentine” with the Bible quote John 3:16.  I’d seen it done as a poster, but I wanted something that involved my kids a little more in a hands-on way.

Which is why I created this coloring page. It’s free for home and classroom use, but please don’t sell it! To get the free printable PDF, click the link below:

Valentine’s Day Coloring Page John 3:16

Some of my other free Valentine’s printables include:

Valentine's Day Letter Search  Free Printable Valentine's Day Tags for Bubbles

Enjoy!

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