Young Women Values Magnets (Includes Free Download)

We had a successful activity at our church youth night recently. The young women created a bucket list of things they wanted to complete in the next year or two and then they made these cute little pebble magnets to remind them of the Young Women Values. They're a fun size and can be used in their school locker, on a memo board, or on any magnetic surface in their room. The girls seemed to enjoy the activity and the magnets came together nicely in the hour we were together.





The girls had two choices to pick from. They could have a colored background with white lettering or a white background with colored lettering. The clear pebble stones I got where between 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch. They can sometimes be found at Dollar Tree but most craft stores should have them also.

To make the magnets I found it works best to place the pebble on top of the paper, centering it on the lettering, and trace around it with a pencil. Cut out the circle just on the inside of the traced circle. Brush a very thin layer of mod podge onto the flat surface of the pebble and place the paper on top, lettered side down. Allow to dry an few minutes and then apply a magnet. If your magnet does not have self adhesive, glue on the magnet using a hot glue gun. Using another kind of glue will cause the ink to bleed and ruin your whole project. (Trust me on this one. I know from sad experience.)

Hopefully these cute little magnets can act as a reminder to the girls of the values they hold and also to be working on their Personal Progress.


Feel free to download my template to make your own pebble magnets.
(For personal use only. Thanks!)


DOWNLOAD FREE YOUNG WOMEN VALUES TEMPLATE HERE

DOWNLOAD FREE YOUNG WOMEN VALUES TEMPLATE HERE



I made a 4x6 memo board to display the magnets on by using this fun frame from IKEA and a scrap piece of sheet metal. It worked well to temporarily to show off these little gems.

If you have any questions be sure ask! If you give this project a try leave a comment and let me know how it went.

Have fun!

Magnetic Bookmark Gift Set (Gifts Kids Can Make)

This magnetic bookmark gift set makes the sweetest little gift for anyone. It's perfect for parents, grandparents, siblings, and teachers. They're extremely budget friendly and easy to put together.

This year I helped my four year old make some of these bookmarks to give to her older sister and brothers for Christmas. I've probably said it 100 times, but I'll say it again. When children have opportunities to give they learn to love giving. Christmastime is the perfect time to give kids this opportunity. I especially love the value creating a homemade give adds to the experience. I've seen how the time, thought, and effort my children put into their gifts makes them especially excited about giving them. They become so focused on the gifts they're creating that they don't have much time to think about all the things they want. Be sure to check out more ideas on gifts that kids can make and give HERE.

Didn't these turn out so cute?

This is the perfect project to use up small scraps of scrapbook paper, or digital designs can easily be printed and used. I cut out strips of paper that were five inches long and 3/4 inch wide. The corners were then rounded, which was the perfect task for my four year old to help with.

We then folded the bookmarks in half and applied magnetic tape to the inside. I LOVE this ultra thin magnetic tape. I always have some on hand. It comes in handy for so many things and works perfectly for these bookmarks so they don't end up too bulky. You can see the bottom portion of the magnetic tape is slightly off center. This is so the magnets will line up evenly when closed. Experiment with the magnets you use so that they will be sure to close correctly.

To gift the bookmarks we packaged them together on a card with a quote at the bottom.

For my daughter we stuck with a Paris/music theme. For the boys we did Harry Potter and Star Wars.

I love the subtle Harry Potter hint these digital papers give. I probably could have easily come up with some wise words from Dumbledore or a found a great quote from JK Rowling to add to the bottom of the packaging but instead picked a quote that I thought my kids would love the most. Even though the quote doesn't really fit with the theme I knew my 10 year old would get a kick out of this one. Sticking with the Harry Potter theme though I used a free font called Harry P found on dafont.com.

This last one is for my Star Wars obsessed seven year old. Again, the quote isn't Star Wars related but he'll love it. I used the font called Star Jedi found on dafont.com.

My four year old especially loved clipping each bookmark onto the cards. She helped me wrap them up, complete with lots of pretty Christmas bows and put them under the tree. Her book obsessed siblings are going to love these bookmarks. I have a feeling they'll get a lot of use.

Find more gift ideas that kids can make HERE.

Gifts Kids Can Make: Magnets

This is a super easy gift idea that even your smaller kids can make: Magnets!  My boys have some magnet boards in their rooms so I had my youngest boy make some magnets that they could use to hang their artwork.  We ran to Hobby Lobby and I let him pick out some of the pre-painted wood pieces.  He really put a lot of thought into each one.  We also decided to get a bag of the polished stones.  (Buttons would also be a really fun option!)  

We later hot glued some strong magnets to each item.  Like I said, super simple but something my son was really proud of and excited to give!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Super Hero Magnets

Like many little boys, my boys love super heroes!  Batman has been especially popular at our house since the Lego Movie came out.  My son even had a super hero themed birthday party a few years ago. When I saw these free printable super hero stickers at Great Kids Birthday Parties I immediately pinned them.  I knew they would come in handy for something fun sometime . . . I just didn't know what yet.

As I was helping my kids come up with ideas for gifts they could make their siblings this year for Christmas I remembered these super hero stickers and realized they would be perfect for making some fun homemade magnets.

To make the magnets we printed off the stickers we wanted (I had to shrink them down a bit to fit our stones) and cut them out.  We then used a thin layer of modge podge to glue the super hero images to the glass stones (like I did here).  I've stocked up on glass stones from SSC Supplies.  I love the size and uniformity of their stones.  They come in handy for so many things that I like to always have a few around.  Last year I used them to make these pendant necklaces.

We then added a magnet to the back of the stones using some hot glue and they were ready to wrap and put under the tree.  I love how they turned out!  I'm kind of tempted to make a few more . . . 

Homemade Magnets

These homemade magnets make a fun gift.  I had my daughter help make a set to give to her teachers aid at school for teacher appreciation week.  I also had the girls in my 8-11 year old activity days group at my church make them for a mothers day gift.

With a stack of coordinating scrapbook paper you can get really carried away making them too.  There are just so many fun and cute combinations to do.  And the best part is packaging them!  I got this fantastic packaging idea from Sabby.  Want to know what it is?

First you have to make your magnets.  Start with some clear one inch stones.  I get a bag of them from the dollar store.  Decide what paper you want to use, lay your stone down, and trace around the the stone with a pencil.  Cut it out (slightly smaller than your outline), brush a tin layer of modge podge on your stone and lay the paper on top.  Add another thin layer of modge podge on the back and allow to dry.  Once dry apply your magnets using a hot glue gun.

Now here comes the awesome packaging part.  Cut out a piece of cardboard and glue washers where you want your magnets to be (I use tacky glue).

When you place your magnets on top of the washers they stick!  Awesome, huh?

Now slip your package into a clear bag and add a topper using coordinating scrapbook paper.  Doesn't that make for a fun presentation?  I just love it!

I know teacher appreciation day is long past but I'm curious, for all you teachers out there, what kinds of gifts do you appreciate the most?

Exploring Magnetism

I've seen a lot of ideas over the years for discovery bottles and have always thought my kids would love them but I guess I've never had enough gumption to make some up.  When I ran across this idea from Pre-school Play I couldn't pass it up though.  It looked like too much fun! (And there are many more great ideas over there.)


I gathered up an empty tennis ball canister, some cut up pipe cleaners, scissors, and a couple strong magnets from off the fridge.

My kids had a great time maneuvering their magnets around the bottle to pick up the pipe cleaners.

After a while they took off the lid and discovered there was more fun to be had.

They took turns using their magnets to maneuver the pipe cleaners up the side of the jar and out.

It was easier said than done but after discovering the right technique they got quite good at it.  The pipe cleaners were then sorted into colors and they had a great time seeing which color was in the lead.

I don't think we'll get tired of this one for a long time.

Maget Board Part III

Here's the last magnet board activity that I'll do for a while.


When my daughter was younger she had three little boats that she played with in the tub.  I made up this little song that I would sing as she played with the boats.  I just kind of randomly made it up--so no laughing :) . . .


Three Little Boats
(to the tune of Five Little Ducks)



Three little boats went sail-ing one day,
Over the waves and far away,
When the light house said come back, come back,
Only two little boats came sailing back . . .

(continue with two boats, one, and then none)


Hope you've enjoyed these.
For those of you who like the flannel board stories, I just found this great website called Make Learning Fun.  They have a whole list of flannel board stories that you can print out.  Looks like fun.  You can find them HERE.

Magnet Board Part II

This is a song that I loved as a little girl.  My kids love singing along and putting up each animal as we come to it.  I really wanted all my animals to match but after searching and searching I couldn't find anything . . . so I did my best.


Grandpa's Farm

I climbed up the apple tree 
To see just what there was to see,
I looked down on grandpa's farm 
All laid out with patchwork charm.

There's a baa-baa sheep,
and a bow-wow dog,
an oink-oink pig,
and a croaky frog,

There's a moo-moo cow 
and a meowy cat,
a cackily hen
and other things like that.

Magnet Board Part I

Per request I'm adding a few more of our magnet board activities to the batch.  I apologize that I don't have any links that I can send you to to make these. I kind of just made them up on my own--and this was like two years ago now so whatever pictures I got off the web I have no idea where I found them at this point.  Sorry.  Hopefully they'll inspire you to do something on your own.


There are a couple activities that I do with this one . . .

Let your child pick a bird and then say the little rhyme according to the color they picked:

Blue bird, blue bird high in a tree,
How many blue things can you see?

Then look all around you and find all the things that are that color.


Here's another one . . .
Pass out the birds to the children and then say this little rhyme together:

Little Red bird in the tree,
In the tree, in the tree,
Little Red bird in the tree
Sing a song for me.

Whatever color you put into the rhyme the child with that color bird gets to put his bird on the tree.  They can also sing a little song if they
want . . .


Stay tuned for a few more magnet board activities . . .

Toy Story 3 characters

I found these Toy Story 3 characters that were meant to be turned into magnets.  Since I took the boys to see it a few weeks back they have been excited over every Toy Story 3 thing we've seen.  I wasn't planning on bringing a magnet board on our trip so I decided to make them for a flannel board. I printed, cut, laminated, cut, and then glued some felt to the back of my characters.

Originally I was going to make a mini flannel board for each boy until I realized that I had the back of the car mats!  Two-for-one!  One less thing to pack!

My 5-year-old also decided that Buzz, Woody, and the gang could play in the town as well.  Perfect!

Magnet Board Continued . . .

Do you remember way back when, when I showed you my magnet board activities?  Well here's another one to add to the batch . . .


I started out by cutting up various shapes that I could assemble together to make a picture . . .

I then used the shapes to make different objects or scenes.  I took a picture of them with my camera and then printed them out to make these cards.

This is the fun part for the kids.  Using the picture cards to guide you, you can use the shapes to piece together the different objects.  All the pieces have magnetic tape on the back so they can go right up on our white board.