NUMBER BEAD LOLLIPOPS

 

I really like these "lollipops!"  Although they are inedible, the counting resources can be.  The inspiration for these came from a picture I saw on Pinterest. There were some construction paper rectangles folded in half with the number written on the front and a pipe cleaner attached to it.  Easy enough concept.  I wanted mine to be a little more versatile than that, so I wrote out the word on each and just had to make it cute!  

Originally I thought we'd just use pony beads, but as soon as they were finished, My Princess said she was hungry.  Suddenly I merged her desire for food with my desire for her to get some preschool done.  Thus, Cheerios were used.  Win win situation.  We love those.

Anyway, I chose 4 random numbers for her to recognize and then string the correct number of Cheerios on.  As I watched her, I thought, "You could extend this activity to include number order, patterns, skip counting.  Wow! You could even use these to teach/reinforce addition or subtraction concepts."  I love when you get more out of something than you thought you would.

You can find both a black and white template and a color template of this activity along with the directions and some of my educational ideas for it on my website.  You can find the link on the left of this page.

Hope you enjoy!- Dari

Stash Buster Knitted Dish Cloth and Swiffer Mop Cloth

OK, so I am taking an online knitting class and finished my first knitted dish cloth.  I am pretty pleased with the results (with the exception of the white pointed corner).  I will have to learn how to decrease and cast off without a funky point!  Any words of advice are welcome! Although this is not a 100% stash buster project, it began as one.  I got half way through the project with the pink and realized that I didn't have enough to finish, so I bought some white (the dye lot did NOT match). Go figure!! 

After I finished this, I immediately began crocheting a Swiffer Cloth for my sister-in-law.  I helped her this morning with some of her cleaning and decided she needed one.  She doesn't like purchasing the disposables.  They are expensive.  Who would?  Anyway, I had an almost full skein of the white yarn I purchased for my dish cloth and thought it would work just fine.  I typed up my pattern and posted it on my website if you would like to use it. 

Hope you enjoy my yarn creations!