Plants Vs. Zombies Birthday Party

So my son is obsessed with Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare and this year he wanted a party to show it. I attempted to recreate the lawn grid pattern from the original Plants Vs. Zombies on the table cloth. By cutting long strips and weaving them I created the grid pattern but it took forever - I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a ton of time. 

 

I created the center pieces by drilling a hole in the top of some old toy traffic cones we had laying around the house. I than printed out some zombies and attached them to Kabob sticks and stuck them in the traffic cones.  

This year was also my first attempt with using fondant. I used the fondant to craft all of the little figures and then my Mom helped frost everything into place.

Homemade pinata made from a cereal box and napkins.
 

KU Birdhouse with Silhouette Stencils

So I received a new Silhouette Portrait for Christmas and my first project was to finish a KU (Kansas University) birdhouse for my father-in-law that my son and I painted for him. I will say using the Silhouette was quite easy and I was up and cutting within about 15 minutes. Here's a look at my first attempt using contact paper I had laying around the house as a stencil.

Rainbow Loom Rosary

I have searched the web trying to find a Rainbow Loom Rosary and this is my rendition. It's made with rubber bands and pony beads. It's a very basic pattern and would be easy for kids to make. I hope to post an instructional video on it here in the near future.

Movement Break Backpack

The new school year brings much excitement but for special needs kids and their parents it can bring much anxiety. One thing we have learned to help our son fight anxiety at school is to have scheduled movement breaks through out the day. As we approach the new school year I decided to make my son's teacher a movement break backpack. I created a sheet that shows all the items in the back pack and what they are used for. In addition I created a dice game to facilitate the movement breaks. That way anyone, even if they are not trained in sensory therapy can help my son. 

Here is a link to a customizable excel file for the Backpack contents. Please feel free to use it.

Sensory/Movement Break Backpack Excel File
This is a fairly big file - 38mb

Sensory/Movement Break Backpack Printable pdf

Movement Break Dice Game

Here is the dice game I created for the backpack. I took 3 alphabet blocks that my son had when he was a baby and created a pictures for all the sides and glued them on to the blocks. You roll the 3 dice in the middle of the room the 1st dice tells you how to move to an area, the second dice tells you what to do once you get there and the third tell you how many times to do it and then you go back to the middle of the room and start over. 

Sensory/Movement Break Dice Game Printable pdf

The original idea for the dice comes from YourTherapySource.com. Here is her video on how it kind of works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8koLkOXuXQ&list=UUXc-pJwTicMicc0QXybWRgQ


Note: This is not professional advice - I'm just a Mom trying to help her son make it in this world. A lot of the items in this backpack are geared toward Proprioceptive and Vestibular activities. 

Air Travel Checklist

This year we are planning a trip to Oregon. It will be my son's first time flying on a plane. He does have some anxieties about the Airport so I made him and Air Travel Check List to help him visualize what comes next. Please feel free to use the attached an Excel document to customize an Air Travel trip for your child.

 Air Travel Trip - Customizable Excel Checklist

Disclaimer: This is intended for personal use only. Images from the internet. Copyright infringement is not intended.

Butterflies and Flowers Birthday

Ribbon flower I created for my niece.

My mom made her a butterfly cake to match for her butterflies and flowers birthday.

Teacher Gift - Personalized Supply Box

Teacher gift we made using scrapbook supplies.