Inspired By

Summer 2013

Beach Ball Gifts
Inspired by: Danielle Schultz at School Counselor Blog

Thanks to Danielle, at School Counselor Blog, for giving all of us access to this freebie printable! On the final day of class, I gave one of these to each of my graduate students. They were a fantastic bunch - dynamic, genuine and hardworking. They will make amazing school counselors one day and I am so very proud of them!

September 3, 2012

Brain Sprinkles
Inspired by: Mrs. Miner's Kindergarten Monkey Business

During a typical search of Pinterest, I came across the idea of Brain Sprinkles. All kinds of Brain Sprinkles! From jars of Glitter Brain Sprinkles, to Invisible Brain Sprinkles, to Nonpareil Brain Sprinkles, Rice Brain Sprinkles, to Colored Sugar Brain Sprinkles, to Marble Brain Sprinkles. I knew this idea was too cute...it had to be done! On Mrs. Miner's Blog she wrote of simply using rainbow colored sprinkles for her Brain Sprinkles. She includes a free printable label on her blog post, but the label didn't fit my purposes. So, I made a new one.

For my labels, I printed out Goodness & Fun's Carnival Frames Freebie on MG Party Impressions and added lettering via Microsoft Word. For the sprinkles, I was looking all summer long for the larger bottles of rainbow sprinkles. I finally found these at Redner's Warehouse Market. There is no reference to any "nut" ingredients on the Redner's rainbow sprinkle labels I purchased.

I will be using these Brain Sprinkles in one of two ways:

1. To playfully encourage anxious kiddos during test time or challenging academic times throughout the year

2. To playfully encourage students to THINK or USE THEIR BRAINS when conflicts, problem-solving situations, anger-inducing situations, or social situations arise

August 8, 2012

Since I decided to make the following items for myself (after being inspired by others), I went ahead and made enough of each for a couple of my school counseling friends/colleagues.

Calming Bottles
Inspired by: Scrapbook of a School Counselor

I searched everywhere for plastic jars -- the thought of using glass makes me so nervous - especially when little hands will be using these. So, I ordered some online and ended up getting water, glue, and glitter all over my kitchen countertop and floor when I turned it upside down to shake it. I settled on drink bottles that I emptied out and cleaned. Some of the bottles I made probably could have used a bit more clear glue, but I ran out. I did hot-glue-gun the lids because I'm sure the kiddos might be tempted to unscrew the cap! All in all, they are really cool.

Self-Control Bubbles
Inspired by: Peace, Love and Learning and Teacher Tipster

After finding a post on Pinterest taking me to Peace, Love and Learning, I learned of this fun way to teach self-control to kids using bubbles. When I got to the blog, I found a free printable label and read that the idea originally came from Teacher Tipster. Mr. Smith has a really fun video all about these special bubbles. Such a clever idea to help elementary students to grasp the concept of self-control. He has a bunch of other videos for educators --- all so interesting that I've watched many of them. Teacher Tipster also has a Facebook page - be sure to like it! I got this large container of bubbles at the Dollar Store (I believe it is 32 ounces and the perfect size for the labels). I affixed the label I printed out using glue a super sticky craft glue stick.

Sensory Balloons
Inspired by: Shared and Remember

These are fantastic DIY sensory balloons! These cute balloons are economical tools to help kiddos de-stress, cool down, relax, etc. I filled mine with beans, rice, salt, or flour. These are super easy to make and perfect for little hands. The textures from the different materials inside each balloon provide a bit of interest. I purchased a bag of 12 inch balloons, beans and salt from the Dollar Store.

Sensory Bags
Inspired by: Teach Preschool

Teach Preschool has step-by-step instructions on how to make these really cool sensory bags. Again, these are super economical and really, really easy to make. I used Ziploc bags, hair gel from the dollar store, beads, glitter, shiny confetti, food coloring, patterned Duck tape, and clear packaging tape. The trick about removing the Ziploc wording from the bags with a bit of nail polish remover really, really works. I plan on using this tip from here on out. The feel of these sensory bags is really unique and again, would be perfect for those students who are anxious, angry, upset, or who just want to play.