the picture above is an example of beautiful glass art. It’s by Steve Immerman of Clearwater Glass Studio. His vast experience working with glass has given a library of knowledge that he shares with you on his tutorial page. Today we’re looking at devitrification. No one wants devitrification on their fused glass. Over at Clearwater Glass Studio Steve has a tutorial that goes over what devit is, how to prevent it and options for what to do if it does occur. For those that don’t know what devitrification is, it’s a crystalization on the surface of the glass that creates a kind of haze or what looks like a film over your pretty glossy glass. Not good. And not easy to get rid of. I know I’ve taken pieces out of the kiln and had my heart sink when I’ve seen the tell-tale signs. It’s not pretty and more important it’s not professional. So here’s the information you need to overcome this glass fusing problem.
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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.