Easy Die Cut “Don’t Eat Pete” Board

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Squarehead Teachers

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I’ve written about Don’t Eat Pete before (How to play, How to play/easy Valentine’s board and St. Patrick’s Day board), but I just love this game and it’s perfect for any holiday. Seriously, I played it at every single classroom party (as a kid since my mom was often the Room Mom and again as a teacher) because it just continues to be a kid favorite… the there’s hardly ANY prep involved!!

But if you’re that teacher who wants to make something once and never have to worry about it again, here’s a post for you. My mom made this style of Don’t Eat Pete board for each holiday and then all she ever had to do was buy the candy, cereal or snack she was going to use for the game.

Step 1 – choose 9 die cuts from your school’s Halloween collection. If your school doesn’t have die cuts and you don’t want to head down to the district office to do it, just wing it and cut some simple shapes yourself. Cut them out of colored construction paper (Be careful which construction paper pack you get! one I recently purchased from Amazon didn’t include purple! Here’s a small low-priced pack that has all the basic colors!)

Step 2 – Lay them out 3 across in 3 rows on big construction paper (here’s a low-priced pack) and place small strips of construction paper between them to form a grid. If you’re in a pinch, just draw in lines using a sharpie or other permanent marker (here are some awesome metallic ones that work great for writing on black!)

Step 3 – Write numbers on each shape. This just makes it easier to remember which one is “Pete” for that round. You can also silently remind your kids by holding up fingers.

Step 4 – Laminate the entire thing! Now enjoy!

Science Book Giveaway: Candy Experiments 2!

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

**This giveaway has ended. Check back later for more giveaways!**

Happy Halloween! (It’s October now, so I can start thinking about Halloween, right?!) How about doing some science with all of that trick-or-treating candy?! Perfect timing for this fun science book giveaway!

Candy Experiments Giveaway 1

Yup, I’ve scored 3 more copies of the hit science book, Candy Experiments 2, by Loralee Leavitt, and I’m giving them away to 3 lucky readers! If you haven’t checked it out, it’s a must! Click here to read my last post about doing one of the candy experiments! I also suggest asking your school librarian to purchase a copy for your school’s library collection.

The Prize: A copy of Candy Experiments 2 by Loralee Leavitt

Participating is simple! Tell me your favorite candy by leaving a comment below. (Scroll all the way down to the very bottom of this post to see the comments section. No sign in required to comment, but if you’re not a WordPress member, please leave your first name and a way to get a hold of you so I can contact you if you win!)

This giveaway ends at midnight (PST) on Thursday, October 8, 2015. Don’t wait! **This giveaway has ended. Check back later for more giveaways!**

P1070894

The Fine Print: Participation is optional. Only one entry per person. No purchase is necessary to participate. Available to US participants only. There will be three winners. The winner will be randomly selected. I will email the winner between Friday, October 9 – Sunday, October 11, 2015. The winners will have 72 hours to respond and provide me with contact information so I can get their prize to them. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the winner forfeits the prize and another winner will randomly be selected (in which case the new winner will be notified and the same terms apply). The winners will be announced on this blog once eligibility has been confirmed. This giveaway is solely sponsored by Squarehead Teachers and Loralee Leavitt. It is not affiliated with WordPress or any other sponsor(s). Void where prohibited. If you have additional questions, please contact me!

**This giveaway has ended. Check back later for more giveaways!**

Giveaway Winner

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

I’m pleased to announce the winner of my Candy Experiments 2 book giveaway:

Denise M.

Thanks to everyone who participated! If you still want the book, you can buy it on Amazon. Be sure to check back for future giveaways and freebies!

Book Giveaway: Candy Experiments 2!

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

**This giveaway has ended. Please check back again soon for more giveaways!**

If you loved the awesome post about experimenting with candy or the giveaway for the crazy fun kids book, Candy Experiments, by Loralee Leavitt, you’re in luck! She wrote a second book about candy science and Squarehead Teachers is giving away a brand new copy!!

I flipped through the book, trying to decide which experiment to try first. Tough decision! Should I try the Ghost Lollipop or the Easter Grass Spaghetti? Or maybe the Shattering Peeps experiment? Or the Marshmallow Bottle Launcher?

After promising myself we’d do them all eventually, I decided to try the Puffy Pop Rocks experiment first to see what would happen when you bake them.

As soon as I put them into the oven, I instantly heard popping sounds! Whaaat? They pop when you add heat? I thought it was something to do with contact to spit? Guess not! And then, when I pulled them out, they were smooth like pearls! Want to know why? You’ll have to read the book! 🙂

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I’ll definitely have to pull this out again and try some more of them. That means I’ll finally have a legitimate excuse for buying classroom candy! Yesss!

So, now to the book giveaway…

The Prize: A copy of Candy Experiments 2 (which will definitely lead to hours of SWEET science!)

Participating is simple! All you have to do is answer the following question by leaving a comment below. (Scroll all the way down to the very bottom of this post to see the comments section. No sign in required to comment, but if you’re not a WordPress member, please leave your first name and a way to get a hold of you so I can contact you if you win!)

If your class was doing a science fair, which of the following questions would you be most interested to see answered and why:

How can you float a sunken Snickers bar?
Can You turn a red gummy bear blue?
If chocolate doesn’t melt in water, why does it turn pale?
Can you fry a Cadbury Egg?

Psst! All of the above questions are experiments in Candy Experiments 2!

This giveaway ends at midnight (PST) on Saturday, March 14, 2015. Don’t wait!

**This giveaway has ended. Please check back again soon for more giveaways!**

P1070894

The Fine Print: Participation is optional. Only one entry per person. No purchase is necessary to participate. Available to US participants only. There will be one winner. The winner will be randomly selected. I will email the winner between Sunday, March, 15 -Tuesday, March 16. The winner will have 72 hours to respond and provide me with contact information so I can get their prize to them. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the winner forfeits the prize and another winner will randomly be selected (in which case the new winner will be notified and the same terms apply). The winner will be announced on this blog once eligibility has been confirmed. This giveaway is solely sponsored by Squarehead Teachers and Loralee Leavitt. It is not affiliated with WordPress or any other sponsor(s). Void where prohibited. If you have additional questions, please contact me!

Candy Thank You Notes

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

A friend recently sent me pictures of cute notes the principal gave each teacher during the “home stretch” of the school year:

They’re basically a double whammy of feel-good-ness! The recipient will feel good to know they’re appreciated and their taste buds will feel good to have a yummy treat! This would work for Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week, end of the year, thanking volunteers or for a mid-year pick-me-up. I decided to make my own version of these little thank you notes. Here they are:

thank you - crunch thank you - mint

thank you - mound

I left blank space at the bottom so I can attach a piece of candy to the bottom. Here are the free PDF files for your printing pleasure!
Candy Thank you note- crunch
Candy Thank you note- Mint
Candy Thank you note- Mound

Experimenting with Candy! (Guest Post)

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Giveaway coming later this week!

With summertime fun and sugary snacks providing so many distractions, can your children actually learn anything over the summer? Yes, they can, if you sneak in some science with fun activities like candy experiments.

Our family created candy experiments when my oldest daughter was four, and wanted to put Nerds in water. Since her first experiment, we have destroyed candy in dozens of ways and learned about chemistry, physics, and nutrition along the way. Here are a few of our favorites.

Melting: If summertime heat makes your kids complain that they’re going to melt, try melting candy to see what’s inside. If you microwave Starbursts, you’ll see shiny spots of oil that separate out from the candy. If you microwave chocolate, you might start the blooming process, in which unstable chocolate crystals start to move and separate, causing white cocoa butter “bloom” to form on the outside of the bar.

Cotton Candy Experiments: Some candy experiments use cotton candy, a summertime staple. To make cotton candy vanish, dip a puff of cotton candy in water. As capillary action carries water up the network of tiny candy strands, the water dissolves the candy from the bottom up. You can also weigh cotton candy to see how much sugar it really contains–you might be surprised to see that cotton candy is mostly air!

Find Hidden Candy: You’ll find hidden sugar in all sorts of summer snacks, from popsicles and ice cream bars to “healthy” power bars and sports drinks. To help your kids see how much “hidden candy” they’re eating, read the snack’s nutrition label to see how much sugar it contains. Then weigh candy on a kitchen scale until it matches the weight of the sugar on the label. Eating the snack would be like eating that amount of candy.

You’ll find more summer learning experiments in our book, Candy Experiments, or at www.candyexperiments.com. Enjoy summer learning!

Loralee Leavitt is the author of Candy Experiments, Road Tripping, and Candy Experiments 2 (coming in January 2015). Follow her candy adventures at www.candyexperiments.com