I’ve written about mosaic artist Martin Cheek before and I’m sure I’ll write about him again. This post is a book review of his Mosaics book in The Weekend Crafter series published by Rankin Street Press. It contains 20 projects that can cater to all levels of mosaic enthusiast. There are small and large projects, but most won’t take very long to complete and look very satisfying to create. The basic instructions section is informative and I’ve read about some things that were new to me. It’s never too late to learn something new. Now let me apply it to my mosaic work. Some projects can be done with no grout, which takes away some of the mess factor. But sometimes you do want to make a mess, right? If you’re looking for a good book to inspire you and get you started on mosaic this one is definitely for you. Martin’s your guy…
Have you read?
Groundhog Day Activities for Kids
February 2 is Groundhog Day, the day when a famous groundhog in Pennsylvania “predicts” when spring is going to come based on whether its shadow can be seen that day.
It’s kind of a silly holiday, which is just the sort of thing kids (and teachers) love, so let’s explore from Groundhog Day activities for kids.
Groundhog Day is really a holiday about the weather, so also check out my weather activities for kids, where you can make your own weather tools, felt board and more.
Learn more about groundhogs from National Geographic Kids. Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks (or whistelpigs, though I’ve only heard that on Curious George) and they are herbivore mammals that like to burrow under open areas like fields. They don’t really predict the coming of spring, but male groundhogs do tend to emerge from hibernation in early February.
123 Homeschool 4 Me has some great free printables for Groundhog Day, including a letter tracing page, labeling the parts of a groundhog, predicting the weather and a roll and color page. There are also alphabet puzzles and matching cards, mazes and more.
Make super cute cut and color Groundhog Day hats as a class with this free printable from Simply Kinder.
Homemade Heather has a bunch of cute printables including a coloring page, build a groundhog and groundhog bookmarks to cut out and color. Everyday Chaos and Calm also has free coloring pages for the day.
Practice counting with these printable puzzles from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games. There’s a strip puzzle for counting to 10 as well as a tens frame puzzle with 100 little pieces for counting to 100.
Play with the groundhog’s shadow with this fun paper plate craft from Crafty Morning. Because the groundhog is on a stick he can pop up and down in the scene and you can make him have a shadow or not as you like. I also love this groundhog stick puppet project from Typically Simple, which uses a cardboard tube as his burrow.