School Archives - Busy Moms Helper

Summer Break Keep in Touch Printables for School Kids

May 16, 2016 by Danielle

We have about 2 weeks left in the school year, then it’s summer vacation. I haven’t decided yet if I’m excited to have my kids around more, or terrified. Probably a bit of both, if I’m honest! Luckily it’s easier to help them stay in touch with their friends with these Summer Break Keep in Touch Printables for School Kids. These will make it super simple to stay in touch to plan playdates and such during their time out of school.

Since I don’t want them giving our phone number and email out to just random people, I’ll of course be helping them hand these to their school friends. Another option is to give blank ones to your friends so they can ask their mom/dad to fill in their info so YOU can call/email to set up a playdate.

I did four different designs because, as you know, kids can be really picky as to what they do or don’t like! Or maybe they want to give a different design depending on the friend. Whichever, you can just download and print whichever ones you want – they do 4 to a page, and our roughly 4.25 inches in size if you print them on 8.5×11 paper. Not exactly, but whatever.

Download your Keep in Touch Printables Here

Sunshine Sheet

Red/Blue Sheet

Wave Sheet

Umbrella/Starfish Sheet

Don’t forget to write your child’s name on there, maybe even yours (since it’s often the parents who do the contacting) so the friend knows who it is.

Here’s more summer time fun!

Printable Fruity Valentines

January 24, 2016 by Keri Houchin

Kids love jokes and puns. These printable fruity valentines are the perfect silly cards to send to school with your child. Add them to a package of fruit snacks or fruit-flavored candy for an easy treat to hand out to the whole class.

My nine-year-old son cannot resist a good joke. He has read every joke book in the library and never resists the opportunity to sneak a pun into conversations.

When I was afraid these were too cheesy, or maybe too mushy to hand out to friends, I asked for his opinion. After I read each card to him, he laughed out loud. I think we have a winner here.

I made these silly printables with a class Valentine’s Day party in mind, but they would also be cute to sneak into lunch boxes year-round.

The valentines include six designs on a single page and there are two options. First, I made them using just the outlines of the fruit. They’re easy on your ink cartridge and would be a fun coloring activity for younger kids.

The second style is colored in lightly. They still don’t use much ink, but they look a bit more finished if you’re in a hurry or have a preteen who’s too cool to color.

Click to download the printable fruity valentines: OUTLINES or COLORED

These printable fruity valentines make it easy to send a thoughtful and clever treat for the whole class. Start by printing and cutting out a few pages. Staple each one to a package of fruit snacks and you’re done.

These would also be good with fruit-flavored candy, like Starburst, Lifesavers, or Runts.

For a healthier option, fruit leather or fruit cups would be nice.

Looking for more Valentine’s Day ideas?

Printable LEGO Valentines

Valentine’s Day Treat Poppers

Bug Valentine Craft

Printable Star Wars Lunch Box Notes

August 22, 2015 by Keri Houchin

Send your little Star Wars fan off to school with a surprise. These printable Star Wars lunch box notes are perfect for bringing a smile to your child’s face in the middle of the day.

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My family moved over the summer, which means my kids are starting at a new school this year. In fact, they are starting at two new schools because my oldest is starting middle school and my youngest is still in elementary.

They are both always a bit nervous on the first day, and this year I think it will be even truer. There is so much excitement – new classrooms, new teachers, and new classmates.

To be honest, I’m probably as nervous about the first day as they are. It’s my job as mom to worry about them though, right?

As a fun reminder that I’m thinking of them, I always tuck a little note in their lunches. I’ve made and printed dozens, so they never know what to expect.

This year I made a set of Star Wars lunch notes that match the Star Wars activity book I made for May the 4th.

They print on a single page with eight different notes. Each one features a classic Star Wars character and a familiar quote. Okay, so I might have made up what R-2 is saying.

To get your printable Star Wars lunch notes, click HERE.

I printed mine on plain white cardstock. If you have the supplies, you could laminate them so that they stay clean for a few uses.

Those first few days of school can be both exciting and scary, whether your child is at a new school or not.

Before you know it, everyone will have settled into a new routine and you’ll wonder what there was to worry about.

I love having a big stash of notes to drop in the lunch boxes, if you like these printable Star Wars lunch box notes, you might also want to print my LEGO Star Wars notes and my Doctor Who notes.

For even MORE Star Wars fun, book yourself a Disney vacation and check out all the new Star Wars stuff coming soon! Use Promo Code: BusyMomsHelper for $10 off your package!

Free Printable Teacher Gift Tags

April 7, 2015 by Danielle

Who’s ready for another Craft Lightning post? I totally am – I love joining in this fun week every month! This time around we’re acknowledging the amazing teachers with gift ideas. There’s so many great ideas, so I thought I’d share some adorable Free Printable Teacher Gift Tags you can use on anything!

It’s amazing how hard teacher’s work during the year. I use to volunteer/sub at an elementary school and couldn’t believe the hours and care put into their students’ education! Once I subbed for the computer teacher a whole month straight, and by the end I had an even higher appreciation for all of them. As much as I love kids and teaching, I couldn’t do it long-term!

I wanted these tags to be simple, yet fun. Of course I had to incorporate a chalkboard-type background because, duh, school!

I’ll even share what we did for our fun gift – a Classroom Emergency Kit! Seriously, so many options of what you can include in here 🙂

Supplies

Basket or other box
Paint of choice, brushes
Filler
Presents
Ribbon/Rope
Printable Gift Tags – Download Here

Directions

Paint your crate the color you want. I added a red cross on the two sides of mine, since it’s an ‘EMERGENCY’ kit.
I chose to use fake grass type stuff for my filler. Since I didn’t want it to fall through the cracks on the bottom, I lined it with some tissue paper.
Put your teacher presents inside, attach the gift tag, and you’re all set!

This particular basket is going to Wonder Woman’s 3rd grade teacher. She’s always saying how they run out of these basic things in their classroom….now she’ll have a little stash! I HAD to include the fun chocolate note pad that says “I would give up Chocolate but I am not a Quitter” 🙂 Then toss in a gift card, because every teacher deserves a little treat for themselves!

Head over to see the other amazing Teacher Gift Ideas for Craft Lightning!

Quick and Organized Kids Art Wall

August 21, 2014 by Danielle

With 4 little kiddos, we get a LOT of cute little art projects piling up. It seems to just grow up off the counters, out of the walls, and stuffed in bedrooms. It’s everywhere! In the past, I’ve been terrible at displaying it in an organized (and even semi-attractive) manner, but no more since I did this Quick & Organized Kids Art Wall!

Yes, we’ve dealt with our dining room wall being that cluttered, random, totally-overrun mess for a year now! I know it’s been that long, since we moved in just over a year ago! Between the preschool projects and at-home art fun, my kiddos just have too many ‘masterpieces’ they want to display. With my new Organized Kid’s Art Wall, they can each pick their 3 favorites and they’re nicely up on our mini-gallery wall!

Supplies Needed

Wood board OR thick foam board (I used foam boards, since I had some on-hand)
Paint of choice
Vinyl lettering of choice
Clothespins
Nails or other way of attaching to the wall
Glue (I used hot glue)

Directions

Paint your boards the desired color.
Add your vinyl lettering. I used my trusty Silhouette Cameo and white vinyl, and even had my kids pick out their own fonts when I was designing them! I did use my kid’s actual names….but I blotted them out in these pics and put their Superhero names (code-names), since I don’t openly share their names on here.
Glue (hot glue worked great) your clothespins onto the board, then attach the boards to your ‘art gallery’.
Display their fabulous masterpieces for all to see!

We went from this disaster…..

….to this fabulous, organized and attractive Kids Art Wall!

Make Your Own Laptop for Kids

August 15, 2014 by Danielle

Anyone else here a terrible procrastinator? I TOTALLY am! An example would be today’s post, which I actually meant to share with you clear back in June, yet here it is August and I’m finally getting around to it. Plus, it was really on the calendar for earlier this week, but that didn’t happen either. Well, since it’s better late than never…..I’m finally sharing this tutorial on how to Make Your Own Laptop for Kids!

I made these for our kiddos for our road trip to Grandma’s this summer, and surprised them with them when they started getting bored during the drive. They LOVED having their own Superhero laptops so they could ‘work’ or play ‘Angry Birds’ (that’s what they pretended they were doing….aren’t we just fantastic examples for our kids)! I did make a cute generic one, also, just because I fell in love with the patterned felt!

Supplies Needed

2 large flat pieces of felt, for the ‘laptop case’ part
2 plain colored pieces of felt, for the ‘screen’ and under the ‘keyboard’
1 white piece of felt, for the ‘keys’ and ‘buttons’
Scrap felt for the ‘mouse’
Piece of ribbon for the ‘mouse’
Stuffing, for ‘mouse’
A few small scraps of felt
Thread and needle for hand-sewing AND/OR hot glue/gun
Puffy paint (or really nice felt marker) for writing on keys
Scrap pieces of card stock or poster board, thick
Scissors
An imagination!

Here’s kind of the proportions you’ll want your pieces to be:

Directions

Place your 2 main pieces together with the pretty sides out. Cut your card stock/poster board so two pieces fits in between, leaving space on the edges and the middle. I glued mine it to secure them in place.
Glue or sew around the edges of the big pieces, then along the ‘middle’ of the laptop, where it will fold.
Cut out your ‘screen’ and sew/glue it to the TOP layer of the laptop.
Take your few small scraps of felt and cut them into thin, long strips. These will be used on the two sides, inside the laptop, to hold the screen up when you open it. Sew/glue each strip a bit to the top flat of the laptop, then stretch it to the bottom (so there’s a gap….) Just hold it like you would want it open, with the screen being held up, and you’ll know how far down on the bottom piece to sew/glue it.
Cut your mouse felt into a long rectangle shape, then fold it over and sew/glue the sides together. Stuff it with batting or random felt scraps. Put your ribbon INTO the mouse, then sew/glue the top closed.
Glue the other end of the ‘mouse’ ribbon under where your keyboard will be….that way it stays nicely in place. You can sew/glue two little buttons onto your mouse, if you’d like.
Glue your flat plain piece of fabric to the bottom of the laptop, where you want your keyboard, covering that end of the mouse ribbon (cord?).
Cut your white felt into little pieces for your keys. Mine were roughly 3/4″ squared to fit on the felt size I had. Use puffy paint or a felt marker to write the letters, numbers and/or symbols you want on your keys. Then glue them onto the plain keyboard piece.
If you want to get really creative and fun, you can cut out felt shapes to decorate the outside of the ‘laptop’, like I did with my kids’ Superhero ones!

What’s nice about these is they can easily close up when they’re not in use!

My kids have so much fun with these, and it really lets their imaginations go wild. Even after the trip, they still like to pull them out for some ‘work’ or playing!

So grab some cute felt and whip one up that shows your kids’ fun personality! See what type of things they come up with to ‘do’ on this!

60+ Breakfast Ideas for the School Year

August 13, 2014 by Danielle

Back to school is upon us, and although part of me is screaming ‘Yes, Yes, Yes!’ the other part of me is just like ‘No, No, No!’ I love my kiddos like crazy, but I really enjoy school time because a: They’re happier with friends, learning, and a schedule and b: I get a bit to myself to get things done, so I can focus on them when they’re home. That being said, a few things about them being back in school drive me nuts, one of which being the EARLY mornings and trying to squeeze in a good, healthy breakfast! To help save us all what little sanity we may have left, I’ve made a list of 100+ Breakfast Ideas for the School Year!

I’ll admit, I tend to give my kids cereal, poptarts and frozen waffles (I do heat them up!) quite often. It’s just too hard coming up with new ideas that are budget-friendly, mostly-healthy, and don’t take forever! This year I’m going to be prepared with this wonderful list of Breakfast Ideas…..so let’s see how much more pleasant we can make the morning rush, shall we?

These S’more Pancakes from Spoonful of Flavor look so yummy, I may enjoy a few (or more!) myself!

I’m totally crushing on these adorable Back to School Apple Donuts from Your Homebased Mom!

Peach Muffins from Yummy Healthy Easy would be the perfect healthy start to the day.

My hubby would LOVE to have these Southwestern Baked Eggs from A Beautiful Mess before he heads to work!

Printable Charm shared these delish Cheese Biscuits on my blog last week and I can’t wait to try them!

I’m a lover of shakes for breakfast, so can’t wait to add this Almond Date Breakfast Shake from The Bold Abode to my menu plan.

Donuts for breakfast? Yes, please! I love these Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donut Muffins from Averie Cooks anytime of day, actually!

There’s some fabulous breakfast ideas in this round-up of 30+ Easy Breakfast Recipes from Kleinworth & Co.

This Strawberry Basil Oatmeal Bowl from Something Swanky looks so filling and delicious!

I’m excited to try this Zucchini Bread French Toast from Somewhat Simple.

I made this Swirly Cinnamon Banana Bread to share on The Frugal Foodie Mama, and it’s become almost a weekly thing at our house…it’s THAT good!

What better way to have a quick morning than with these Perfect Overnight Cinnamon Rolls from Crazy for Crust?!

Want an energy booster to jump-start your day? Try these Cinnamon Whole Grain Power Pancakes from Pinch of Yum.

I swear I’m not stalking Crazy for Crust…well, okay maybe I am…but you’ve also got to check out her Cinnamon Sugar Pancake Rolls!

All you fruit-lovers out there will love this Whole Grain Fruit Salad from How Does She

Wine & Glue hit the nail on the head with these Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes with Fresh Blueberry Syrup!

Anyone here love Nutella? Then you’ve gotta try these Nutella Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Glaze from Averie Cooks. Okay, so I may stalk her, too 😀

The kids would probably think I’m nuts (but totally love it) if I served these Chocolate Chip Cookie Cinnamon Rolls from What’s Cooking Love

I’m totally in love with crepes, so can’t wait to serve up these Coconut Cream and Strawberry Crepes from Color Me Meg!

Speaking of crepes, does anyone remember when I shared this yummy Chocolate Crepes with Strawberry Cream?

Needing a good muffin with some tasty fruit? Try my Strawberry Muffins!

Or perhaps my Apple Strudel Muffins!

Take a trip with Princess and the Frog with these Super Quick Beignets! Yumm-o!

These Triple Berry Cream Cheese Crepes from Your Homebased Mom have me drooling!

Need a ‘sweet’ fix? Try my Caramel Apple Muffins!

My kids ask for my Sweet Crescent Rolls All. The. Time!

My Pumpkin Breakfast Smoothie is STILL one of my Hubby’s all-time favorites.

Along with my Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Scones.

Since we’re talking pumpkin….how about these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins?

What a great breakfast: Freezer Breakfast Burritos from Handle the Heat!

How cute are these Mini Egg and Cheese Tortilla Cups from Brunch Time Baker?!

I can’t wait to try this Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake from Julies Eats & Treats

Who doesn’t love an Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donut? I found these at Tastes Better From Scratch.

Seriously, this Blueberry Muffin Smoothie from Iowa Girl Eats is at the TOP of my menu come school time!

And last, but certainly not least, is this absolutely delish looking Apple Cream Cheese Breakfast Pasty from Yummy Healthy Easy!