Kwanzaa Noodle Necklace

Materials
Assorted uncooked noodles
Food coloring
Elastic thread

General Supplies & Tools
Newspaper
Plastic gloves
Plastic sandwich bags
Craft scissors
Yarn needle

Instructions
1 . Cover work area with newspaper, and wear plastic gloves when coloring noodles.
2.  Place one handful of noodles in bag, using one bag per color. Sprinkle a few drops of desired food color­ing in each bag, blow in some air, twist top closed, then gently shake until noodles are evenly coated. Add more color, if needed. Leave bags open to allow noodles to dry.
3.  Cut elastic thread slightly longer than desired length of necklace, then thread elastic onto yarn needle.
4. Tie one noodle to end of elastic thread, leaving a 2″ tail, and begin beading. Mix noodle shapes and colors as desired. Untie first noodle, then tie ends of elastic thread into knot. Slip loose ends back through center of noodles to conceal.

How To Play “Jacks”

WHAT YOU NEED
• A small, bouncy rubber ball
•  10 jacks
• A hard, smooth, level playing surface (floor, sidewalk, patio, or blacktop)

HOW TO PLAY
Sit on the ground and toss the jacks gently onto the playing surface.

Using one hand, gently toss the ball into the air, let­ting it bounce on the playing surface. With the same hand, pick up one jack and catch the ball before it bounces again.

Repeat until you have picked up all ten jacks. This round is called “onesies.”

Toss the ten jacks on the playing surface again.

Toss the ball into the air, letting it bounce once on the playing surface, and pick up two jacks at the same time. Repeat until you have picked up all ten jacks, two at a time. This round is called “twosies.”

Increase the number of jacks you pick up during each round until you pick up all ten jacks at once and catch the ball.

If you fail to pick up the correct number of jacks, fail to catch the ball, or drop the jacks from your hand, your turn is over and the next player goes.

When you get another turn, con­tinue where you left off. If you went out during “threesies,” toss the ten jacks, and start with “threesies.”

To make the game more chal­lenging, forbid players from touching jacks other than the ones being picked up and require players to place the jacks in their free hand before catch­ing the ball.

The first player to complete “onesies” through “tensies” wins the game.

For a variation on the game, require all play­ers to go from “onesies” to “tensies” and then back down to “onesies” again.

3 Days Left Before Christmas

!!!!!3 Days Left…..Merry Christmas!!!!!

4 Days Before Christmas

!!!!!4 Days Left…..Merry Christmas!!!!!

5 Days Before Christmas

!!!!!5 Days Left….. Merry Christmas!!!!!