I've been off the map for WEEKS and am SO READY to jump back into regular life. I've been lucky enough to travel and have some summer fun with my family, but I've also had a crazy episode with Skin Cancer! YIKES!! I'm not even a sun bather, either!! After several procedures, stitches, lots of bandaids and neosporin AND alot of pathology reports - I'm happy and lucky to say it's finally all gone!! It'll take me another month to heal completely, but I'm okay with that. It could have been so much worse!
(Switching now to a much funner discussion...)
So... I've had this printable done for quite a while -
And, it is BY FAR - MY. MOST. FAVORITE. PRINTABLE. EVER!
Simply put, this is a Subway Art "To Do" Chart for your kids! It not only gives your kids ideas of how to spend their time, it encourages thoughtfulness, manners, tracks chores and even has a "Strike Zone" to manage bad behavior! To make one, you'll need my printable, a 12x12 magnetic board(found at a home improvement store or online here), magnets and fun, colorful floral marbles like the ones shown above.
Don't you just love those colors? I found these marbles at Michaels, in fact... they were the original color inspiration for the boards. I just used a hot glue gun to attach the magnets - you'll need to make about 20 magnets for each board.
To Make the Board... Trim and laminate each word art strip. Evenly spread LOTS of glue stick on each piece and adhere to your magnet board (if you follow the pattern shown on the first graphic, it'll fit perfectly like a puzzle on your 12x12 surface). Let dry overnight and they'll be stuck forever. Do NOT use ModPodge (no matter how bad you want to). The red ink will run and you'll have a big bubbly, runny mess on your hands!
To Implement the Board at your House... We use our boards as a daily time management system and it's almost become a game to see how many magnets they can complete and mark on their boards. They are proud and excited each evening to discuss with dad what they've done and it makes it easy for my husband to ask good questions. If he sees they've got a magnet on "Something Artistic" he can easily ask to see what they created. I don't pay my kids for earning magnets, they actually earn TV time for working well on their boards. You can certainly choose any type of reward to motivate them, just use their boards to track it. At our house, each activity has to last 20-30 minutes to be counted... no cheating! :)
My main intent isn't for them to fill their boards, my intent is to direct them to their board when they don't have anything to do. It has completely KILLED the "I'm bored" scenarios, has encouraged self-management & independence (which is a bonus for me) and has helped them develop some amazing habits that I love. Imagine one of your kids disappearing into their bedroom for an hour to read... without being asked!! If we head out for a Slurpee... they can mark "Something Together" or "Something Fun". What I love about this system, is it "prompts" them with a general idea, but gives them the freedom, variety and flexibility to choose what to do. No one is bored or even tempted to be a trouble maker at our house... and if they are, they know they'll get a magnet in the "Strike Zone"!
This printable is 4 pages and includes a coordinating sheet of blank cards to use as either idea cards or even as chore cards. The last page has a full alphabet of letter tiles so you can customize each board with your kiddos' names. To grab your printable, stop by MY SHOP (HERE)!
UPDATE: I've written a follow-up post to address the most commonly asked questions about this printable... click HERE to read.
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This. Is. AWESOME. Thanks so much for sharing such a brilliant idea!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for kids and adults alike!
ReplyDeleteThis is really neat. Love all the colors! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI am not a sun bather either, but have had my fair share of moles removed! Very important to get your skin checked!
Thanks for sharing! I wanted to let you know that I am featuring this on my site today! Stop by and check it out if you get a chance!
ReplyDeleteCan you BE any more creative?!?!? sheesh!! I LOVE IT!!
ReplyDeleteYou know what I think I'm going to do with these...cut out each word and put them in an "Idea jar" that kids can grab when they are bored. Cool!
ReplyDeleteThis is a FUN chart!! My 4 kids are (thankfully) extremely creative with their time. They actually will disappear and read for an hour or more. The 'invent' things every day, paint, and even 'write essays' for 'fun. I have a system we use called "Checks, Gems & X's", and they have 'Gem Jars' that they love to fill up. Had I not already had all of this working for me, I'd be ALL OVER this, because I think it's so fun & creative, I can see how it would really work, and teach the kids how to spend their time productively & creatively. It's building good habits! I'm really so impressed with this. I'm tempted to do it anyway. (I want a chart for me too! lol)
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to get mine put together. It will tie in with our "family economy" that we have been trying to get going, and this will be the perfect thing for keeping track of multiple things in one place. I love, love, love it!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this!! I'm printing mine off for my kids. I'm soo excited! Thank you!
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