Category Archives: Discount School Supply

Sunprint Fabric Squares

We hosted a fun Solar Science Workshop in the park in July. The was one of my favorite workshops we did this year. It was jam packed with so much learning fun. Be sure to read about other workshops we have enjoyed this year and all the fun learning adventures we have been doing at Take Action Tuesday.

Our Solar Workshop contained learning activities about the Sun and Solar Power.
This Solar Workshop story will be posted in two parts:

                Solar Science Workshop Part One: Sunprint Fabric Squares

                Solar Science Workshop Part Two: Solar Ovens and Solar Power.

SUNPRINT FABRIC SQUARES

Have you heard of Sunprint Fabric?

It is a special fabric that captures the energy of the sun to make a “reverse” photograph.   It comes in craft kits and is fun for both kids and adults. This learning project targets NAEYC Curriculum Area for Cognitive Development: Creative Expression and Appreciation for the Arts.

To make this craft, it is a simple process of gathering items you would like to photograph, placing them on the Sunprint Fabric, placing all of this in the sun, waiting 15 minutes, rinsing the fabric in cold water, and letting it dry.

The fabric starts out a green color, but after it is exposed to the sun, it turns blue. Once you have rinsed it, the area that was covered by the object you placed on it turns white. It is like a white shadow of the object. Any of the material exposed to the sun becomes blue, but material not exposed becomes white, thereby making a shadow type of photograph of the object that was placed on it.

You can place just about any object you want onto the fabric as long as it lays flat and makes contact with the material to block the sunlight from getting to the material.

I brought a huge box of random toys for the kids to choose items from, and some of the kids gathered items they found in the park too including plants (flowers and leaves from weeds in the grass), wooden sticks, and rocks.

Each person made their own personal art with items they put together.

After 15 minutes in the sun, the kids rinsed their fabric in cold water.



Then laid them out to dry. As the fabric dries, their art appears. It was amazing to see these green squares of fabric transform into blue and white works of art.

On a recent trip to Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville, SC my family enjoyed looking at several beautiful quilts made using the sun printing process.

These quilts were beautiful and the details of the photographs on the fabric were amazing. You could see lots of details in each one.

I encouraged the kids at our Solar Science Workshop to take their finished Sunprint Fabric Squares home and frame them for their wall, or turn it into a pillow or something they can enjoy for years to come just like these quilts we saw at the museum. Other ideas are to sew several together to make a collage, a beautiful quilt, a curtain, or sew one square onto a shirt, etc. These would make wonderful personalized Christmas gifts to give to grandparents from their grandchildren. So many great things these can be used to decorate with and learn about science and art too.

Sunprint products come in both fabric and paper kits and are available at Discount School Supply online store. You can buy the kits in different sizes. The 25 pack of Sunprint Fabric Squares retails for $20.99   The 12 pack of Sunprint Paper Kit retails for $7.44 and they have a large 12 pack of Sunprint Paper in a kit that retails for $12.99. They offer free shipping on orders over $79.

We had such a fun time creating these special works of
art and learning about the power of the sun. The Sunprint Fabric Squares were a perfect art / science craft to do with the kids for this workshop. I want to thank Discount School Supply for asking us to review this craft project.



Disclaimer: I received the product mentioned above in exchange for writing an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own honest opinion.

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Giant Soft Dinosaurs

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Are your kids in love with dinosaurs? Mine sure are!

At our house, Mr. T Rex (Tyrannosaurs Rex) is always on the prowl. He eats everyone in his path! No one is safe.

Even if you can fly, and mind your own business up in the trees, Mr. T Rex can pull you down and make a meal of you.

He loves to eat fingers too.

This creature tops all the predators in the whole animal kingdom. BEWARE!

Of course, the choice is up to you. You can tempt him if you want to at your own risk!

It is quite possible, he may not eat you. He may eat the grass after he becomes educated about the dangers of eating meat, learns that his cholesterol is too high, and finds his true “inner self” and becomes at peace with his environment and everyone around him, that he might say “goodbye” to his meat eating ways.

NOT!!!

Not in my house, if Mr. T Rex smells flesh, fear, or smells life blood beating through your veins… you better run……you better hide…..Mr.T Rex is coming and you are going to loose! Unless you are Baby’zilla that is.

We just love playing with dinosaurs! And this set of Giant Soft Dinosaurs from Discount School Supply makes the learning adventure even more fun. They come in a set of 4 and include a Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurs Rex, and Apatosaurus. They retail for $69.99 and are currently on sale for $54.99 through Discount School Supply.

These dinosaurs are so realistic looking. You can see and feel the details on their skin, claws, horns, teeth, eyes, nose, and tails. It is like feeling a real reptile. They are solid but soft, and they are made of soft foam so they won’t break if dropped and they don’t hurt too bad if you get accidently whacked (or eaten) by them.

We are getting ready to do a Dinosaur Unit Study, and these Giant Soft Dinosaurs are going to be such a great hands on addition to our learning adventure. But we have been having lots of fun with imaginative play with them too.

Check out this “Dinosaur Destruction” Marble Run the kids created one rainy day. It rained and rained all day long. My 12 year old son gathered up a bunch of track, the dinosaurs, and a few cars, trains, and other toys and made a scene of dinosaurs attacking everything as the marble rolls down the track.



And during another fun day we were playing with these dinosaurs and the kids decided to set up a wrestling match between the dinosaurs. But things really got interesting when the baby crawled into the action. So we had a showdown with Giant Baby’zilla VS Giant Soft Dinosaurs. Big brother refereed. Baby’zilla (our baby) won and “smacked down” every dinosaur!

And be sure to read how we used these Giant Soft Dinosaurs in our Dinosaurs In July theme we did for our 4H Legos and Robotics Academy club.
http://weiseracademy.com/2012/07/19/lego-and-robotics-academy-july-2012.aspx



I would recommend these dinosaurs for classrooms, homes, day cares, sunday schools, doctors offices, dentist offices, realtors offices, car dealerships, and anywhere you have a play area set up for kids. They can be used in groups, or individually for quiet time play. They are a great addition to any learning adventure.


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Discount School Supply has thousands of wonderful learning toys and supplies. They are a great resource for homeschools, classrooms, day cares, churches, offices, and more. They also offer free shipping on in-stock orders over $79.



Disclaimer: I received the product mentioned above for the purpose of writing an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and or my children’s honest opinion and experiences regarding this product.

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Brilliant Builders Build It Workshop

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Oh my goodness! This is a fun project you just got to try out with your own kids, school, church group, or your club!!!

Building with this set is a fun way to learn about Math, Science, Engineering, and Technology. Plus, it is just FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Brilliant Builders Straws and Connectors from Discount School Supply is a construction set of 705 pieces and comes with blueprint instructions to build 5 completely different projects. But don’t stop with just 5 projects, the amount of projects you could build with these construction kits is endless.

When I say build a project, I mean BUILD A PROJECT! These construction sets build projects that are SUPER-SIZED! Whether you build your project indoors or outside, you will need a large area of floor space to work.

Though it comes in a box, I bought plastic totes to carry my sets in. These totes make it easy to keep track of all my pieces. The boxes were thin and kind of fall apart from the weight of all the construction pieces, and I was sure I would loose some if I didn’t switch them to a sturdy tote.

We have two sets and will be using these in building competitions in some of our upcoming Lego and Robotics Academy 4H club meetings. We hold a building competition during our monthly meetings and this will be a wonderful item to add into our learning about math and construction engineering. I am especially looking forward to learning about load bearing walls and building houses and bridges with these sets as the kids learn about this area of construction engineering.

This summer our 4H club is hosting several Build It Workshops.  Today’s Build It Workshop theme was Brilliant Builders.  How cool, the workshop and the construction set have the same name! The totes were very handy for the kids to carry, help me load and unload, and to transport our construction sets to the workshop.

At the workshop, we divided the kids into two teams.  Each team had their own table and a large area of floor space to work with. We laid out their blueprints and construction sets on their table.

They began by discussing a few construction terms, like blueprints, elevations, load-bearing wall, angles, connections, and materials used in various forms of construction (ie. lumber, brick, concrete, stone, nails, glue, glass, and other building projects).   We looked outside and identified various things on different elevations, such as houses, the picnic shelter, the building we were meeting in, the parking area, the playground, and the baseball field. We discussed how blueprints often have a page for the elevation and foundation, then a page for the structure, and a page for the various other things happening such as plumbing, electrical, windows and doors, finish work etc. I will be providing a set of blueprints for the children to look at during our next meeting.

Next the kids looked at their building plans and began separating the connectors that came in the kit. The first step in building their project required them to count how many of the 8 inch pieces and how many of the connectors were needed to create the foundation of the structure.

Then they started building their foundation. They had to keep counting as they worked to be sure to get the right amount so their structure would take on the correct size and shape.

There was some freedom in choosing the colors of their project. The kits come with RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, and YELLOW pieces. One team designed a color coded plan for the different levels in their project, and the other team used all of the colors randomly on all of the levels. Each team forged ahead, connecting, counting, planning, and building.

It was really exciting to see their structures begin to take shape.

Meticulously they added piece after piece creating levels that rose their projects higher and higher into the air.

Taking their time to make sure all the pieces were completely connected was a very important step.   The connections had a counter force from the curve of the structure putting pressure against them. The connections also had to bear the weight of the new levels added on top.

After the first four levels were constructed, the kids had to measure and cut smaller pieces according to the building plans.

The blue prints showed various size pieces of whole, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 sizes. The kids placed their desired piece they wanted to cut on the measuring line, marked the desired length with a pencil, and then cut it with heavy duty scissors. I brought my poultry shears along for this job. This is very thick plastic so you want a heavy duty cutting scissors to cut through it without damaging it.

We had all the kids take turns measuring and cutting.

The shorter length pieces gave new dimension to the design. It created new shapes and brought the curves in tighter.

After building for a while the kids took a break, got something to drink, and played on the swings outside for a bit. Then it was back to building some more. For fun, the kids measured how high their structure was.

Their 4 levels came to 25 and 1/2 inches. That is progress!

Just 6 more levels to go and a few fun additions to create the details of the structure. Can you guess what they are building?



The local parks and recreation workers stopped in to see what we were building today. They are very supportive of our 4H club and our projects. I just love it when the guys stop and chat with the kids for a few minutes.  Having adults show interest in what they are learning is a real encouragement for the kids.

My oldest son, age 12, put a lot of thought into building this sculpture. He planned out the color scheme. He cut parts to length and counted out what his teamates needed to continue connecting all the pieces.

The next two levels of rings were larger than the first six rings. These stuck out past the whole structure.

Each step requires thought and concentration.

The top of our structures were much more challenging than the bottom. Fitting pieces of various sizes together was a big challenge. For each level of rings, the circles got smaller and smaller by connecting long pieces with shorter pieces.

As we approached the finish line, the kids got very silly.

Finally, after two and a 1/2 hours, time was up, and it was complete. Well, at least one was complete. We ran out of time to completely finish the second structure. We decided to call it quits at that point. It was hot in the building (no airconditioning), and the kids were all hungry and ready to call it a day.

The kids were very happy with their structures.  This was a SUPER SIZED FUN project to build. The finished structure was a little over 6 feet tall.

This Build It Workshop helped further the STEM initiative with these kids. They are learning about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In addition to learning during the workshop, each child will receive a packet of learning materials to take home, with lesson plans, science, math, art, and more to further what they have learned today. Be sure to check out our other stories from our 4H Lego and Robotics Academy and 4H Build It Workshops to learn more.

These rocket ships took 2 1/2 hours to build, but only took a few minutes to take down and put away. Though the connections are strong, when you release a few of the lower connections, the structure easily comes down. It looked like a tornado had hit.  In construction terms, this makes it easy to understand how a tall building can crumble when you damage or remove some of the supports in the walls; the weight of the building causes it to collapse.

The kids loved this part. If it didn’t take so long to build, they would want to repeat the take down part again and again.



Our Brilliant Builder Straws and Connectors kits came with plans to build this rocket ship, a mansion house, the Golden Gate Bridge, a hot air balloon, and the Eiffel Tower. You can find directions to build several more projects with these construction sets on the Roylco (manufacturer) website.

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The Brilliant Builders Straws and Connectors 705 piece kit retails for $42.99 and is on sale for $38.92    The Brilliant Builders Straws and Connectors 230 piece kit retails for $16.99 and is on sale for $13.99   Both are available from Discount School Supply.

Discount School Supply also has thousands of other products ready to meet your homeschool needs. Check out DiscountSchoolSupply.com – Save Up to 70% Off Retail Every Day! Click Here! Be sure to stop in at Discount School Supply and find out all the amazing products they have to offer. Another great deal is that they offer free shipping on in-stock orders of $79 or more. They have a wonderful customer service department to help answer your questions too.

The Brilliant Builders Straw and Connectors construction sets are designed for children ages 4 and up. But this is fun for kids of all ages and adults too. This product will be fun for familys and groups to play with. But even more fun to add into math, engineering, and science learning, use in unit studies, and creative art projects too.

We loved building with this construction set and we are looking forward to using it again and again. In addition to our 4H Club meetings and workshops, our kids will be constructing with this set in our homeschool too.  I definately recommend this product for your home and your school!

Disclaimer: I received the product mentioned above in exchange for writing an honest review. All opinions expressed are my honest opinion.

This post will be linked up with
No Time For Flash Cards
Science Sunday
Raising Homemakers
Sharing Time

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Chunky Link-A-Shape

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The Chunky Link-A-Shape learning toy is a wonderful addition to our tot-school and pre-school activities. It is a part of our daily routine for the past few weeks now. My kids just love building with it.

It is easy to add it to our workboxes for fun learning exploration, counting, sorting, and creative play.

This learning toy is from Discount School Supply. They are a leader in supplying teachers, homeschools, sunday schools, preschools, daycares, and more with wonderful learning toys, classroom supplies, curriculum, classroom furniture and more. I have been using their online store for the past six years or so and I love all the amazing products they have to offer.

The Chunky Link-A-Shape has many great qualities:

Colorful foam shapes have a printed surface on one side and a smooth surface on the other side, and provide both a visual and tactile experience.

Interesting and unique shapes for the very young child.

The foam pieces are soft and flexible.

Helps develop eye-hand coordination and fine and gross motor skills.

Great for learning sizes, shapes, and colors.

Ages 2 years and up. Kids of various ages will have fun playing with these.

For boys and girls.

Largest foam piece measures 4″L, smallest foam piece measures 3″D

32 pieces

4 colors and 4 patterns to encourage play.

Easy to stack or link together.

Use as an early learning math manipulatives set for counting, sorting, and making patterns.

Ideal for imaginative play.

Fits conveniently into workboxes, baskets, buckets, activity bags, or storage bins.

Safe for independent play.

Ideal for a quiet time activity.

Hands on learning.

Great for constructive or architectural play.

Here my son is sorting and matching shapes and colors.   He is also practicing counting sets of twos. 1 + 1 = 2.    Information for mom, there are 4 different shapes in 4 different colors, and 2 of each shape in each color. 4 x 4 x 2 = 32 exciting pieces to play with.

Here my 3 and 5 year old’s are sharing pieces and making sculptures. My daughter wanted all the pink pieces, and my son was not going to give up any of his pieces he built his tower with, not even the pink ones.

Here is a tree sculpture made with two colors, brown for the tree trunk and tree roots, and yellow-green for the branches and leaves.

Corral reef structure.

By far, his favorite game to play with them at this time is to line them on their ends like dominos and starting at one end, knock one over and they fall in slow motion and each one knocks the next one down and so on. He gets such a kick out of watching them fall. He will line them up over and over and do it again and again.

Big brothers wanted to do the domino effect too. It was hard for little brother and sister to share this fun toy with the others, but they did. All six of my children have spent time playing with the Chunky Link-A-Shape learning toy and enjoy it. I savor the quiet time while they are keeping busy!

I know the product says it is for ages two and up. But the baby expressed interest in holding the puzzle shapes too. They are sturdy but soft and he enjoyed the texture and feel of them. He was very excited to get to play with them too.

We will be taking this toy with us in our quiet activity bag when we leave the house. Being made out of foam, it doesn’t make a sound, yet it is so interesting and fun to play with. This is a keeper!

I made a video of the kids playing with the Chunky Link-A-Shape one afternoon. My three year old son had fallen on the driveway and bumped his forehead. I didn’t want him to go outside and run for a couple of days while his “bump” was healing.

This toy came to the rescue! It provided a safe, but fun and creative activity for him to build with and stay entertained. Thank you Chunky Link-A-Shape for taking his mind off of not getting to go outside for a few days. I would definitely recommend having this toy on hand for those times in life when your little one has to stay indoors due to an injury or illness.

Our Opinion (based on a 5 star rating):

5 STARS

Quality: 5 Stars
Very well made with quality materials.

Price: 5 Stars
Affordable.

Ease Of Use: 5 Stars
Very easy to use in various settings.

Adaptable: 5 Stars
Easy to adapt to various skill levels.

Faith Based: 5 Stars
It is nuetral and can be incorporated into faith based activities if desired.

The Chunky Link-A-Shape is on sale for $18.95 at Discount School Supply. This would make a great gift, a useful learning toy for your school room, and a fun addition to your playroom too. I would also recommend this product for Dentist offices, Dr. offices, libraries, realtor offices, grandma and grandpa’s house, and anywhere quiet play is needed to keep kids quiet, but entertained.

Discount School Supply offers free delivery on in-stock orders that total $79 or more.  That’s a great deal. Click on the link below to find lots more great deals at Discount School Supply!



Disclaimer: I received the product mentioned above in exchange for my honest opinion. All views expressed are the honest opinions of myself and my family.

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Discount School Supply Sale

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Have you heard about Discount School Supply?   They are a huge supplier of discount school supplies, toys, furniture for classrooms and daycares, gifts, educational toys, creative building kits, camp supplies, outdoor activity supplies, arts and crafts, curriculums, professional development, teacher support, and so much more.

I have been buying from them for the past six years and I always love to browse their website and get new ideas for my kids. First of all, as you know, I homeschool. Discount School Supply has a huge supply of items we use everyday and lots of specialty items we use too. They have just about everything we need and it all comes straight to our door. I don’t have to run around to numerous stores wasting gas money trying to find what I need.

Discount School Supply is currently running several special deals I thought you might be interested in.

They are offering a really cool Angeles Trike for  $99 and you receive a free helmet with your order until June 17th.    There are 6 different trikes to choose from.

Classic Rider 12″
Classic Rider 14″
Classic Rider Super Cycle
My Rider Mini
My Rider Midi
My Rider Pusher

These are very well made and can stand up to lots of use.   Some styles, like the Classic Rider Super Cycle, retails for $159.95 so you are saving a huge amount off your purchase, plus a free riding helmet.

You can receive up to 4 free helmets if you buy 4 trikes.

Buy Any Angeles Trike for $99 and Get a FREE HELMET! Sale ends June 17th!

That is a great deal if you have a daycare, classroom, or program you could use 4 trikes for. But even one trike will be a great gift to a special kid. My kids love riding on trikes. We ride them at the house and at the park.

They have a value line.

They also have a huge clearance section that is worth your time to check out. There are some great deals in the clearance section. Stuff is really marked down HUGE!!! I found 50 Colorations stamps for $4.49 they retailed for $19.99; and 72 paintbrushes for $3.59 they retailed for $17.49; a set of 24 sponge tip painting 4 oz painting bottles for $2.69 and they retail for $24.99; they even have some furniture on clearance at a huge savings! They are currently offering an additional 10% off their already marked down clearance prices! Wow!

Discount School Supply also has a wonderful selection of inspirational crafts for your homeschool, sunday school, vacation bible school, or bible study group.

They have so much to choose from. It is truly amazing and mind boggling. They even have Legos! You know I host a Lego and Robotics club and my kids LOVE learning and playing with LEGOS!

One very special aspect is their focus on special needs. They have a huge variety of products that can be utilized for children with special needs.   These products can help assist educators and therapists in meeting each child’s individual and educational needs, in teaching and enhancing new skills and also in promoting and strengthening each child’s independence.

Shop Special Needs at Discount School Supply!

I love their furniture for kids, storage, and school rooms. I can’t wait to buy some of their wonderful organizing units for our school room. I also love their arts and crafts storage units. I’ve had a wish list of several items put together for some time, and I am looking forward to the day I can get them and fix up my storage of all our homeschool stuff.

Shop Classroom Furniture at Discount School Supply.

And besides these great qualities I’ve mentioned already, and thousands I haven’t yet mentioned, they also offer free shipping on in-stock items when your order is $79 or more. That is a DEAL!

I am super excited to share with you that I have some upcoming reviews about products from Discount School Supply. I love their company. I believe in their mission. I am looking forward to sharing great products they carry with you.

Be blessed,
Melinda

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links used to support this website and homeschool outreach. Thank you for your support.