adminThe 2017-2018 school year has just begun here around Ft. Stewart, Georgia! It was a bumpy start but our mornings are becoming more and more organized… we aren’t early risers in this family so besides the first 15 minute fight with trying to wake everyone up, I’d say we are making our way towards successful preschool and middle school adventures. 🙂 All Posts
Adventures, yes. Preschool is the fork in the road where you leave Mommy and Daddy and begin the lifelong path to learning the skills you need to become your own little adult one day. And middle school is where, as my 6th grader would say, “stuff gets REAL!” The excitement of having a locker, taking elective classes, and switching teachers all day is wearing off as she realizes 7 periods = 7 different homework assignments. “Yes honey,” I tried to warn her, “there is more to language arts than writing in a journal and unfortunately, math doesn’t stop at dividing decimals” (her nemesis!) But when “stuff gets REAL” I’ll be there every step of the way to help her work through it.
Sending your kids off to school after a long summer break can be bittersweet. I’ll be the first to admit to mixed emotions – a little bit of jubilation, a fraction of loneliness, a lot more relaxation (you don’t realize how relaxing walking through the grocery store ALONE can be! HA!), and a fair amount of nervousness for your children’s sake. I just want to bottle up every memory of them, every cuddle and laugh we share, because it all happens way too fast. Next thing I know we are going to be filling out college applications. So I’ll enjoy shopping at Target with my cup of iced coffee, picking through the clearance racks as slowly as I’d like, but once my little ones get off that school bus I am going to soak in as much as I can. Speaking of school buses and memories…
I love documenting these different phases of life. I keep little notes my children write, meaningful projects from school, I have them fill out self-interviews at every birthday, and I have a collection of little hand and footprints from their birth up until now. Those little hands and feet will never be this small again! So as we kicked off this new school year… you guessed it! I had to put together a footprint craft to mark the occasion.
This was a craft for my preschooler – I have another hand print craft for older ones that I will be sharing in the near future. But there’s nothing wrong with slapping some paint on those adult-sized feet (my 11 year old wears the same size shoe as me!)… you will just end up with a much larger school bus. 🙂
This is the material you will need:
- thick, white paper (I used acrylic paper, or card stock would work)
- yellow paint and paintbrush
- black and red permanent marker
Step 1) Paint that lil footsie and plop it down on the bottom portion of your paper.
Step 2) Allow the paint to dry and then add 2 black wheels with your permanent marker (photo 1) and a set of doors and window (photo 2).
Step 3) Add a red hexagon or octagon for the stop sign. I couldn’t draw 8 sides without my shape looking like a red blob, but I am aware that a true stop sign is indeed an octagon, thankyouverymuch. I did end up making it through middle school myself! 🙂 Then add an additional 4 or 5 black windows down the length of the footprint (photo 3).
Step 4) Add the year and your child’s name, or “1st day of ____” as I did (photo 4).
The next step is totally optional but I chose to laminate our craft so it would last a while. At least through all of my tears as they are leaving for college, anyway.
And there you have it! If you are interested to read how we made that name tag pencil that you also see pictured, click here for my tutorial!
I hope everyone has a smooth start to the next school year. Remind your children:
“You’re off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!” – Dr. Suess
For more fun, family crafts visit MyMilitarySavings.com
Kate
Sheena
