Category: Holidays

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Valentine Craft Roundup

Valentine's Crafts

Valentine's CraftsWe’ve scoured the internet to find you some great, fun crafts you can do with your little ones for Valentine’s Day. Check these out!

There are also tons of printable Valentine’s Day Cards for your little one to make for friends.

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Valentine Craft – Crayon Heart Sun Catchers

Crayon Hearts

Crayon HeartsAre you looking for a fun and easy Valentine craft to do at home with your little one? Crayon melt sun catchers are a great choice! They make pretty decorations and are fun to give out as Valentine cards.

What You’ll Need

  • Waxed paper
  • Crayons
  • Crayon sharpener
  • Iron and ironing board
  • Paper bag or craft paper
  • Thread (optional)

Basic Directions

  1. Take a sheet of wax paper and fold it in half.
  2. Unfold the sheet.
  3. Place crayon shavings from the sharpener evenly on one side of the wax paper (try not to pile them on too thickly).
  4. Fold the clean half of the wax paper back over the shavings.
  5. Place your craft paper or paper bag on your ironing board to protect the board from wax and then place the wax paper shaving sandwich on top of it.
  6. Place another paper bag or craft paper on top to protect your iron.
  7. Iron on medium eat until crayon shavings have melted completely (check every few passes).
  8. Let it cool.
  9. Trace a heart shape on the melted shavings sandwich and cut it out.
  10. String a thread through the heart for hanging.

You can use any color shavings you’d like. And, use different shapes for different holidays. When you hang these in front of a window, they make pretty, colorful displays.

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Local Holiday Events

If you are looking for a great way to spend some family time around the holidays, check out these local holiday events.

Sandy and Boring

Sandy Tree Lighting – November 30, 6pm, Pioneer Square
Breakfast with Santa – December 1, 7am – noon, Sandy Senior Center
Holiday Craft Show – December 1, 7am – 1pm, Sandy Senior Center
Pictures with Santa at Gerens – December 15, 11am-3pm, Geren’s Farm Supply, 33680 SE Kelso Rd

sandy holiday

Gresham Area

Wood Village Tree Lighting – November 30, 6pm, Wood Village City Hall
Gresham Tree Lighting – December 1, 6:00pm, Center for the Arts Plaza
Troutdale Tree Lighting and First Friday Art Walk – December 7, 5:45pm, MAyors Square Park

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Easter Egg Hunts on Saturday

Easte Egg HuntsThere are lots of community Easter Egg hunt events going on this Saturday, April 7!

Boring

Toddlers through children up to age 10 can hunt for candy-filled plastic eggs starting at 10 a.m. at Naas Grade School, 12240 S.E. School Ave.

An Easter basket prize will be awarded for each age group. The Gresham Earlyrisers Kiwanis Club and the Gresham High School Key Club sponsor this free event.

Damascus

Carver School

The Carver School, 16077 S.E. Highway 224, is hosting an Easter egg hunt and breakfast Saturday, April 7.

The field will be separated into age groups for the free Easter egg hunt, which starts at 10:30 a.m. The breakfast includes pancakes, eggs and beverages and will be served from 9 a.m. to noon. Breakfast is $5. Visit carverschool.org or call 503-558-8514.

Trinity Church

Trinity Church will sponsor a free community Easter egg hunt rain or shine from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 7, at Pfeifer Park, 14074 S.E. 139th Ave. in Clackamas.

Bring your own Easter basket. Enjoy crafts, candy, face painting and games. Children can get their photograph taken with the Easter bunny for $5, which includes the frame.

Fairview

Fairview Village

The Fairview/Troutdale Fraternal Order of Eagles, with the city of Fairview, will host its fifth annual Easter egg hunt Saturday, April 7, in Fairview Community Park across from City Hall.

Children will have the opportunity to search for about 10,000 brightly colored goodie-filled plastic eggs and will have a chance to win prizes. There will be separate egg hunts for each age group beginning with ages 1-4 at 10 a.m., ages 5-8 at 10:30 a.m. and ending with ages 9-12 at 11 a.m.

The Easter bunny will arrive at the beginning of the festivities to join in the fun. This is a free community event, and everyone is invited.

For more information, contact Devree Leymaster at 503-674-6202 or leymasterd@ci.fairview.or.us.

Blue Lake

Bring the family to Blue Lake Regional Park for a candy egg hunt Saturday, April 7. Rain or shine, kids ages 4 years and younger begin searching at 10:30 a.m. Ages 5 to 10 years join them at 10:45 a.m.

Face painting and coloring activities under covered shelters. Free with an annual pass, or parking fee of $5 per car or $7 per bus. Registration not required. For more information, call 503-665-4995, option 0.

Gresham

West Gresham Grade School

Children from infants up to age 11 are invited to join in the Easter egg hunt at West Gresham Grade School, 330 W. Powell Blvd., on Saturday, April 7. The gates open at 9 a.m., and the Easter bunny will help lead the kids to their age-appropriate hunting fields.

Nearly 10,000 eggs and prizes will cover the field. Gresham Firefighters Local 1062 and Small World Learning Center are co-sponsoring the hunt again with assistance from Mt. Hood Lanes, Gresham Skate World and TCBY.

New this year will be donations from Lollipop Rooster, Gresham Learning Palace and iCandy, along with other area businesses.

Farmington Square

Farmington Square, a senior care community at 1655 N.E. 18th St., is hosting an Easter egg hunt starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 7.

Bring your baskets. Call 503-405-7688 or visit farmingtonsquare-gresham.com.

Sandy

Kiwanis Club of Sandy is hosting its annual easter egg hunt in Meinig Park at 10:00 am.

Ages 1-8 are welcome to search for eggs. Bring your Easter basket to collect eggs, prizes, candy and hunt for the Golden Egg! (Golden Egg to be redeemed at the hunt for up to one plush Easter Bunny per child.)

Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Troutdale

Glenn Otto Park

The Troutdale Lions Club is sponsoring the annual Easter egg hunt at Glenn Otto Park starting at 10 a.m. sharp Saturday, April 7. Bring a basket to carry eggs.

Before the hunt, stop by the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, presented by Boy Scout Troop 174, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the park.

Call 503-666-5455 for information on the egg hunt, and 503-492-6187 for information on the breakfast.

Columbia Park

River of Life Church’s free, annual community Easter egg hunt with 10,000 eggs will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 7, at Columbia Park next to the Imagination Station on Southwest Cherry Park Road.

Children ages 1 to 10 are invited to hunt for candy-filled eggs, enter drawings for prizes and meet the Easter Bunny. The community is also invited to come early for donuts and juice. For more information, call 503-667-3141 or email rolltroutdale@gmail.com.

Cherry Park

Cherry Park Plaza, an independent retirement community, is hosting an Easter egg hunt starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 7.

Search for the golden eggs and receive an Easter basket. Cherry Park Plaza is at 1323 S.W. Cherry Park Road. Call 503-491-1661 or visit cherryparkplaza.com.

Edgefield

Children ages 1-10 are invited to take part in free outdoor Easter egg hunts at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday, April 8, at McMenamins Edgefield, 2126 S.W. Halsey St.

Easter brunch will be served in Blackberry Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. All ages are welcome, but reservations are required. Visit mcmenamins.com/edgefield or call 503-669-8610.

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Project Hope

Project Hope

Project HopeAfter looking at our options to help others this season, I thought together we could best support a local family that has three children. Their mom had surgery last July to have a brain tumor removed. She has also gone through radiation and chemotherapy, both of which have strong side effects as you may all know. She has no hair and is quite weak. She will find out on December 20th if they got rid of the tumor or not. In the meantime the dad has been laid off from his job and there have been fundraisers for her medical insurance so she is covered that way.

The three boys have obviously been on a roller coaster ride of emotions. As a way to help them this holiday season the family representative suggested gift cards for the family members and reminds us that food would also be much appreciated. The boys range in age from fourth to eighth grades. My staff and I will plan to bring the items to the family on December 16th. As the holidays approach we really want to show our children the gift of giving in our community.

The children have decided to call this Project Hope, in hope that the tumor will be gone by December 20th at the next doctors appointment.

How to Give

We will accept donations of food or gift cards at the school. If you would prefer to donate money, we welcome you to make checks payable to:
US Bank Chamberlain Fund, ID # 45-2765237

You can leave the checks with us. We will then deposit them and get receipts to you.

Please join us in supporting this local family.

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Kindness

Fall

FallI think Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The trees begin to change and it’s nice to welcome cooler mornings after the long, dog days of summer.

The children and I began pulling Pumpkins from our garden a few weeks ago. It was exciting for the children who actually planted the pumpkin seeds last spring. I could tell that they had a more sincere interest than the others. We used them for decorations, drawing, drilling, seed roasting, rolling and we even constructed “5 Little Pumpkins sitting on a Gate.” There was great deliberation about where the pumpkins were rolling when they “rolled out of site”.

So Lucky

I heard my colleagues asking where all the great Pumpkin Patches are around town with the best Hay Ride. I knew I was blessed when I realized that I have eight awesome acres here at school and for a week straight we took a hay ride everyday! Zack would yell it out everyday! “The lower pasture Cindy.” Yes I have the best job ever! A friend of mine made the comment that my school is so clean! Hmmmm.. I wonder if it’s because we haven’t really used the inside much yet. It’s been pretty warm outside and the kids love throwing leaves and painting outside along with running, and of course, Tumble down Hill. I love Tumble down Hill!

Super Capes of Kindness

Over the past few weeks I have often thought about “Halloween”–the whole Idea of “Trick or Treat”. I even heard the horrible “smell my feet and give me something good to eat.” Ahhhh it reminds me of how we live in this “me me me” society. I thought long and hard about how to challenge the kids developmentally when it comes to this self centered monster thing we create with CANDY! And don’t get me started about how I think it’s wrong to scare kids!

It was fun last week, when the children came to tell me that they were Super Heroes! I had Captain America, Super Man, Spider Man, Bat Man and when I asked one child what super hero they were as I helped build their cape they made the comment “I’m whatever he is.”

I knew that I could not make Halloween disappear! I’m not a witch of a teacher and that would be flat out mean. I knew that we’d have to celebrate! I just didn’t want to add to the self centered mindset that creates stingy children. Since all of the children loved making them last week, I decided that we would make new “Super Capes of Kindness.”

The capes were assembled from an old sheet that just happens to be camouflage material. Each cape was designed for the children who wanted one and after defining what it means to be kind, we were off! We went to the big barn and fed carrots to our horses, rabbits and even gifted the ducks with a pumpkin. We then headed down to the goats where they enjoyed their treats and even kissed a few kids through the gate. The children loved showering all of our animals with kindness and they were “Powered Up” when lavishing the animals with the sweet treats.

I was reminded that I feel my best when I am doing something to help others. Giving the children an opportunity to be Super Heroes at school brought not only a refreshing treat for the animals but it was a great teaching moment in allowing the children this rite of passage. I always want to be reminded that children learn by what is modeled. If we live in the drive through window of the world where its filled with chaos and self centeredness, then it’s really all that our children will know. However, sitting around the breakfast table this morning and chatting about how it feels to be kind made our waffle and pear breakfast taste just a little bit sweeter!

Sharing the Love

My goal here at In a Child’s Path Farm School is that children will automatically know that it feels good to be kind to others. Modeling is the best teacher! For now, we will call on our “Super Capes of Kindness” to promote getting “Powered up,” feeling good to simply show some love.

Cindy

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Halloween Family Fun

Trick-or-Treat

Are you looking for a safe, fun place for your little ones to trick or treat?

Trick-or-Treat

Come to downtown Sandy! Sandy Main Street is once again hosting its Trick-or-Treat trail!

Businesses in Sandy’s downtown will be handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Saturday October 29th from 2-5pm.

Bring your camera in to the UPS Store or Chariteas for a photo op with one of the Halloween backdrops.

Photos can be entered in a costume contest to win great prizes!

You can pick up a map of participating businesses at The UPS Store at 38954 Proctor Blvd or at Chariteas at 38687 Proctor Blvd.

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Pumpkin Patches in the Sandy/Boring Area

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin PatchAre you looking for a great pumpkin patch to take your little ones to this fall? We’ve got a couple of recommendations.

Bushue’s Family Farm
Bushue’s is a great place to take your little ones for pumpkin adventures.

They have a hayride that takes you out to their back acreage to gather pumpkins straight from the patch. It’s a bumpy, jumpy good time. They also have animals for petting, including pigs, goats, sheep, and a mini horse. You can make a dirt baby while you’re there and take him home and watch him grow. And, don’t forget the hay maze and the corn maze and take a ride on the pig train.

Bushue’s has activities that are totally age appropriate for the preschool set and is a ton of fun!

Liepold Farms
Liepold Farms is probably the best known and largest pumpkin patch in the area. Always a good time, Liepold’s offers a huge corn maze, tons of food to eat on site or take home, a kids play area with a corn bin (think of a sandbox with corn instead of sand) and both hay and corn mazes. You can also take a hay ride and there are plenty of great places for adorable fall family pictures.

There’s fun for the whole family at Liepold’s!

So, put on your mud boots, grab the family, and go have some serious pumpkin fun at one of our fabulous family pumpkin patches in Sandy!