November 2014 - momgineer

Minecraft LEGO Advent Calendar

The past few years I have purchased the LEGO City Advent Calendar, which is great fun for kids. Since I only have two kids, they would alternate days opening the calendar. This year we have a tighter budget, so I decided I would make my own Christmas countdown calendar this year - A LEGO Minecraft Advent calender!
 
LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar
My kids (and probably yours, too!) are obsessed with Minecraft. There is evidence of this all over the house, including on display in the living room:

I figured the least I could do was donate two muffin tins, some LEGOs, and a few hours to create a homemade Minecraft Advent calendar! First, I cut out 3 inch squares out of card stock. Then, I punched circles with the leftover card stock, wrote the numbers on the circles, and glued them on to the squares.

The bulk of time came in designing the LEGO Minecraft miniatures that would fit (in pieces) into the muffin holes. Since my kids are obsessed with the swords and pickaxes, I am going to fill up most of the holes with various combinations (both ones you can build in Minecraft and others that you can't).

For the sword (from top to bottom), I used 4 1x1 bricks, a 1x2 plate with 1 stud, a 1x4 plate, and 2 1x1 cylinders.
For the pickaxe (from top to bottom), I used a 1x2 tile, a 1x4 plate, 2 1x2 plates, and 3 1x1 cylinders.
 
Here are a few of the 20-something swords and pickaxes I put together, along with a furnace my husband made:
LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar Pieces


That pickaxe on the right has an obsidian handle (black LEGOs) and redstone (red LEGOs) for the axe part. Other colors to use: blue for diamond, yellow for gold, brown for oak, tan for birch, gray for stone/iron. With all the color combinations, you could easily fill your calendar with only swords and pickaxes! It is fun to include some other items, such as the furnace, or blocks (just throw in a bunch of green/brown or gray/black pieces), or a creeper face (shown at the top). I have been photographing each miniature LEGO piece and am going to print them out tomorrow to glue to the back of each red or green card stock square. I will then take apart each LEGO creation and place it into a muffin tin hole, and either hot glue or tape the squares to the muffin tins. Here are some of the blocks I've included:
LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar Ore
Clockwise from top left: gold, redstone, bedrock, diamond.

Feel free to include traditional Christmas items as well, such as a Christmas tree, a sleigh, presents, a wreath, etc. Here are a few presents:



You can get tons of ideas by looking at the contents of previous years' calendars:

The beauty of this project is that you can use what you have on hand. If you don't have a lot of LEGOs, but have a color printer, search for "printable minecraft block" in Google image search and instead make a Minecraft papercraft calendar! If you do this project, I'd love to see the pieces you've created - feel free to link up your own blog posts in the comments below.


What's on your wish list?

Cyber Monday is just around the corner. Is your wish list ready?

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Meredith-Anderson


I am planning on stocking up on font licenses and a few other things. I'd love to hear what's at the top of your wish list! Feel free to post in the comments below with one resource you can't wait to buy (or one that you have previously purchased that you love!), and another resource you hope shoppers won't miss in your store.

I always add a few fonts from Kimberly Geswein to my cart during a site-wide sale. Have you listened to her new podcasts? They are great!
http://www.kimberlygeswein.com/category/podcasts/
I have also added Yara's amazing font package to my wish list!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fonts-Bundle-79-in-total-YB-Yara-Boustani-Fonts-1136422

I recently saw that the creator of first font package I ever purchased, Jessica Stanford, has an adorable new font collection up! Check it out here:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fonts-Pack-2-personal-and-commercial-use-1575758

I have only just begun searching for classroom resources, but I wanted to list a few resources I've purchased in the past that I'm so happy I have! First up is Primary Junction! I purchased her United States of America fluency and comprehension sheets at a previous sale and it has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool classroom this year! Love this resource!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/United-States-Fluency-Comprehension-and-Map-Quiz-Packet-821473

I also wanted to give another shout out to Ink n Little Things for this AMAZING deal:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Frames-Borders-BUNDLE-Simple-Shape-Frames-1-2-546687

I use these frames ALL the time! If you get any set of frames (and I have several!) this is the one I recommend.

I hope you will visit my store and check out my new 10 STEM Challenges You Can Do Today! Your kids will have so much fun with these they won't even realize they are learning important skills and concepts!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/10-STEM-Challenges-You-Can-Do-Today-Plus-a-BONUS-1560993

The #1 wishlisted item from my store is also now my best seller:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Word-Problem-Task-Cards-Fractions-4th-Grade-QR-Codes-Common-Core-821799

Fractions are tough for some kids to master. Word problems can also be challenging. Combining the two might seem like an exercise in futility, but with fun carnival word problems and optional QR codes for self-checking, these are a little more fun than your standard word problems! I hope you check them out - with the code TPTCYBER you can snag them for just $2.16, or head over to my task card bundle since they are also included in this set:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Word-Problem-Task-Cards-4th-Grade-BUNDLE-of-196-cards-optional-QR-Codes-821848

With the discount code, you can get this set of 196 common core aligned task cards for just $10.62!

Happy shopping everyone! Thanks to Edu-Clips Design for the graphics in my Cyber Sale image above!

Black Friday BUNDLE Bash TOMORROW!

The Black Friday BUNDLE Bash is happening 11/28/2014! Here is a detailed list of the resources I am offering:

This Common Core aligned bundle will support you through a full year at your math centers. You can also use task cards in your interactive journals! All of these task cards have optional QR codes for self-checking.
Separately? $18.50
Black Friday price? $9.75! SAVE 47%!


This bundle includes my BEST-SELLING Fractions Task Cards! Most of these are word problems (with the exception of the Geometry pack), which always challenge students to apply their mathematical knowledge to real world problems.
Separately $18.00




Black Friday price? $9.50! SAVE 47%!

This is quickly becoming one of my best selling resources! You will find out why if you download and try out the FREE set here.
Separately $10.50

Black Friday price? $5.50! SAVE 48%!

You don't have to be a seller to make use of these digital papers, frames, and design elements. Use them for newsletters or your own personal projects if you aren't a seller. If you ever decide to sell some of the resources you've created, you will have a pack to get you started!
Separately $13.50

Black Friday price? $3.75! Save 72%!


You can find all discounted bundles by clicking here:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:BlackFriday14/Order:Best-Seller/Page:1

This post wouldn't be complete without a shout out to Illumismart! THANK YOU for the amazing graphics, and for having this idea in the first place. I love it and hope it becomes a TpT tradition!

Happy day! I got to guest blog at Minds in Bloom!

Rachel Lynette, a seriously generous teacher-blogger-author-woman extraordinaire, is owner of the diverse and popular educational blog Minds in Bloom:

http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/

I have recently had a blog post, Engineering on a Dime: 3 STEM Challenges You Can Do Today featured there! You can check it out by clicking the image below:

http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2014/11/engineering-on-dime-3-stem-challenges.html

Thank you, Rachel, for letting me post over at Minds in Bloom, and for always chiming in with your words of advice and encouragement. You are such an inspiration!

Black Friday BUNDLE Bash!

I am so excited to be participating in the Black Friday BUNDLE Bash! A group of teacher-authors at Teachers pay Teachers have decided to heavily discount up to FOUR bundles on Black Friday only. I will be discounting four bundles to prices lower than you would see at one of the big site-wide sales on TpT. So, how does this all work? On November 28th, just click on the image below or choose one of the following search options:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:BlackFriday14

**PLEASE NOTE: If clicking the above picture yields 0 results, try this link instead (alternately you can search BLACKFRIDAY14).


Illumismart
Illumismart
KB3Teach
KB3Teach
Meredith Anderson
Meredith Anderson
The Candy Class
The Candy Class
Crockett's Classroom
Crockett's Classroom
Comprehension Connection
Comprehension Connection
Sandy's Spot
Sandy's Spot
KinderLit
KinderLit
Strawberry Shake
Strawberry Shake
Shelly Rees
Shelly Rees
Emily Ames
Emily Ames
AZSunsetwoman
AZSunsetwoman
Kacie Travis
Kacie Travis
Sandra Farrell
Sandra Farrell
Linda Post The Teacher's Post
The Teacher's Post
Joyful Explorations
Joyful Explorations
Carol's Garden
Carol's Garden
Jill Bell
Jill Bell
Amy Mezni
Amy Mezni
Teaching Momster
Teaching Momster
 Yara ESL World
Yara ESL World
Yara Sea of Knowledge
Yara Sea of Knowledge
 The Lone Wolfe
The Lone Wolfe
Cara Taylor
Cara Taylor
Creations by Kim Parker
Creations by Kim Parker
Jungle Learners
Jungle Learners
Teaching Superkids
Teaching Superkids
Can't Stop Smiling
Can't Stop Smiling
The Knitted Apple
The Knitted Apple
The Teaching Treehouse
The Teaching Treehouse
Curriculum Castle
Curriculum Castle
Rick's Resources
Rick's Resources
 JB Creations
JB Creations
 Triple the Love in Grade 1
Triple the Love in Grade 1
 Angie S
Angie S
Rainbow City Learning
Rainbow City Learning
OCBeachTeacher
OCBeachTeacher
Mrs M's Learning Resources
Mrs M's Learning Resources
The World Language Cafe
The World Language Cafe
A Grace Filled Classroom
A Grace Filled Classroom
Sara J
Sara J
miss kim designs
miss kim designs
Honey Homeschool Mama
Honey Homeschool Mama
Yearn to Learn
Yearn to Learn
Kirsten Tulsian
Kirsten Tulsian
Deb Hanson
Deb Hanson
Primary
Primary "Teach"spiration
 What I Have Learned
What I Have Learned
 Social Studies Success
Social Studies Success
Shanon Juneau
Shanon Juneau
Joyful Music
Joyful Music
Happy Helper
Happy Helper
Woodward Education
Woodward Education
 Creating and Learning
Creating and Learning
 Room 213
Room 213
Miss Martin
Miss Martin
Techie Turtle Teacher
Techie Turtle Teacher
Jackie Crews
Jackie Crews
The Fun Factory
The Fun Factory
Mrs Roltgen
Mrs Roltgen
AlwaysLearning
AlwaysLearning
Martha Hach
Martha Hach "The Owl Spot"
Heather J
Heather J
Learn for the Long Haul
Learn for the Long Haul
Glitter Meets Glue Designs
Glitter Meets Glue Designs
Magischool Magiland
Magischool Magiland
PlayLearnTeach
PlayLearnTeach
1st Grade Salt Life
1st Grade Salt Life
Kelly Whittier
Kelly Whittier
One Arts Infusion Collaborative
One Arts Infusion Collaborative
Page Protector Printables and More
Page Protector Printables and More