1-2-3 Come Make An Apple Craftivity With Me

Apples is one of my favorite fall themes. 

For those of you who are familiar with my work, you know I love dabbling with a "play on words" to add a smile and interest to activities.

 

"'A-peel-ing' Apples" is that kind of craftivity, as the "peel" is a spiral, which provides excellent fine motor practice, and looks amazing dangling from the ceiling!

It's a quick, easy & super-fun apple craft that covers a variety of standards.

 

This is also an interesting way for your students to learn more about their classmates, as there never seems to be enough time for all of the fun "getting to know you" activities for back-to-school.

 

I like to do at least one "learning about each other" activity each month, to help continue to build community & the cameraderie which comes from that.

 

An added bonus is that completed projects make an outstanding display, as the apples swirl & twirl from the ceiling.

 

You’re sure to get a ton of compliments as this apple craft has the “Wow!” factor.

I’ve included a variety of posters to not only enhance your display, but to help introduce the lesson, and teach older kiddos a bit about nouns & adjectives, as this lesson is easily diversified for a variety of grade levels, from kindergartners on up.

 

Spirals: My kiddos are absolutely fascinated watching me demonstrate how to “follow the line, staying on the road” as I cut my spiral and the “peel” begins to dangle down.

Cutting out a spiral is a great way to strengthen those finger muscles, and evaluate your students “listening & following directions” skill too. 

 

TIP: Cutting is so much easier, if you demonstrate what you want your kiddos to do.

I tell my students to "Stay on the road and cut on the dark line."

 

I also have a room helper cut around the spiral, instead of leaving it in a square (see photo).

 

It is less confusing for little ones to know where to start, if they are just cutting on one line.

 

I've also made a pattern for your left-handed kiddos as well.

Grab that teachable SCIENCE moment, to reinforce the “parts of an apple” with the various pieces used to assemble the finished project.

 

Creating apples in red, yellow & green also practices the fact that an apple’s skin comes in more than one color too.

 

There are a variety of options for you to choose from to make differentiating easy-peasy.

There are 4 different apple writing prompt options. 

 

There are also 2 “apple toppers” pictured on the right.

Younger kiddos can simply jot down one thing they find “a-peeling” while older students can create a list to practice that writing standard.

Preschool kiddos can dictate their answers to a room helper, or you can make this a homework assignment, where parents can assist their child. 

I use the definition poster to teach what the word “appealing” means, then explain the play-on-words of an apple peel, showing them that the spiral represents the peeling of the apple.

We brainstorm a bit about all sorts of things we find appealing. Children think about one thing they find appealing then write it on the blank circle and illustrate it.  

This is a super-fun project to do with older reading buddies; my kinders work with a 5th grader who can help them with spelling. 

I've provided 4 styles of paper patterns for students to write on and then glue under their apple or topper. The paper patterns are long and narrow; perfect for making a list.

Students can simply make up their own list, or you can read the "Tell me Ten" response worksheet.

For example, one of the questions is  "What color do you find appealing?"

 

Students take far less time with a structured format such as this, and you can include the question worksheet as part of your display.

You can use my sample questions, or create your own.

 

When displaying student work, the apple-topped lists can be hung back-to-back, then suspended from the ceiling.

A "whole apple" list, can also be hung singly, or back-to-back.

If you're going to do this, have one student glue their "peel" to the top  or side of their apple, while the other child glues theirs to the bottom of their paper.

 

Extend the lesson and have children draw a picture to illustrate their answers, by using the blank, white "center", which they can glue to the back of their apple.

 

The yellow apple sample pictured on the right, uses a template that has students complete the sentence with an animal, color & activity they find appealing.

 

The red apple pictured on the left, reinforces nouns, and has students complete the sentence with a person, place and thing that they find appealing.

 

Remind kiddos to add end punctuation when completing the sentences. (Woo hoo another standard practiced!)

 

If you're doing this with older students, they can write their own, complete sentences. 

 

Patterns come in black & white, as well as full color, so that teachers can quickly and easily make an example to share.

 

Be sure and make a personal one, so that students can learn more about their teacher too.

 

To save time, I’ve also included my completed patterns.

 

Today's featured FREEBIE also has an apple theme.

It's an "Aa is for apple" alphabet wheel. 

It's the first in a series of 26, ABC letter wheels.  I hope you enjoy it.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by. 

The sun has finally ventured out after an all-day deluge of rain, so it's time to take my poodle pup Chloe, for a walk!

Wishing you a fun-filled week.

 "Anyone can count the seeds in an apple; only God can count the apples in one seed." -Robert H. Schuller

1-2-3 Come Do Some Color Activities With Me

It seems that a lot of teachers are still working on apples during October as one big harvest theme.  I had a request from one of my preschool teacher friends, to make some apple-themed color activities.

While I was pulling that packet together, Yolanda, a kindergarten teacher in Washington, asked if I could do an emergent reader with the three colors of apples.  Thus Apple Colors was born.

Surprisingly, quite a few of my Y5 kiddos thought that apples are simply red, which amazed me, because Michigan is a huge apple growing state.

I designed these color activities so that they would reinforce the fact that apples can be red, yellow & green, while practicing a variety of standards.

The packet includes:

* An emergent reader in color as well as black & white, with options for 6, mini-pages on a one-page template, or 12, mini-pages, so you can make Itty Bitty booklets.

* Posters: Including 9 photo posters featuring pictures of real red, yellow and green apples.
* 4 apple songs with matching posters.
The A-P-P-L-E song includes pocket chart cards.

It’s a super-fun way to practice counting, subtraction, letter recognition, & spelling, as well as listening & following directions.

* An apple color matching game. Students can match color words to pictures, or pictures to pictures.

* 2 graphing activities
* 2 worksheets

* 4, quick, easy & fun apple craftivities.  Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to have a look see: Apple Colors.

The FREEBIE today is a quick, easy and fun Apple Matching Game.  Click on the link to grab your a copy.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  The nights have been cold, so the trees have really started changing colors. 

I think fall is my favorite time of year because of the absolutely gorgeous trees. 

It's time for a much-needed brain break to take a drive with my husband. Wishing you a relaxing day filled with memorable moments.

"Love doesn't grow on trees like apples in Eden. It's something you have to make.  And you must use your imagination too." - Joyce Cary

1-2-3 Come Do Some Letter Aa Activities With Me

Woo Hoo for Diane's Dollar Deals!  I'm featuring two, apple-themed ones, on the blog today. Dollar Deal Alphabet Wheels, are a quick, easy & fun way to practice letters.

I priced them at only a dollar, so that you can afford to collect all of the individual alphabet wheels.

They feature 6 nouns that begin with that letter, and come in black and white, as well as full-color, so that you can use them as an independent center or individual word work activity.

I've also included a worksheet where students trace & write the words in alphabetical order.  

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a peek at the Aa is for Apple Dollar Deal Alphabet Wheel.

The other Apple Dollar Deal is an emergent reader: Aa is for Apple. It's filled with beginning letter Aa nouns. There are 6.

It's also packed with Dolch sight words and great practice for pronouns, as well as end punctuation.

Students read the simple sentences using the pictures as clues, and then add the appropriate end punctuation. (period, question mark, exclamation point).

They trace and write the Pp word, then color the picture.  There are 5, mini-strip pages, to a one-page template.

Students trim, collate and staple to the front of their "Aa is for apple" cover to make a flip booklet.

I've also included matching picture and word cards to play games like Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?".

They come in color as well as black & white, so that you can use them as an independent center for Daily 5 Word Work, or children can make their own game to practice at home. 

Students can match picture to picture, or picture to word.  They can also alphabetize the word cards and use them to write their own sentences.

As with the individual alphabet wheels, I've priced these emergent readers at only a dollar, to make them affordable, so that you can collect all of the flip booklets in this series. 

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to have a look: Aa is for Apple Emergent Reader.

The FREEBIE today also has an apple theme.  It's called Apple Adjectives.  On the worksheet, students describe the outside and inside of an apple.  You can do the same with a pumpkin. 

It's a quick, easy & fun way for students to practice descriptive writing and the use of adjectives. For your convenience, I've included a completed sample.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. It's a bit chilly, but the sun is shining through the lovely fall-colored trees. 

A perfect day for a walk in the woods with my poodle pup Chloe.  Wishing you a fun-filled day. 

"Happiness is a warm puppy." -Charles Shultz

1-2-3 Come Practice Letter Recognition With Me!

The more you emmerse your kiddo's with letter activities, the more likely the light bulb of understanding will easily come on.  Although important, trace and write worksheets, can become tedious and boring after awhile. (skill-drill & kill) It's important to give little learners a variety of hands-on activities.

I try to think up ideas that involve some sort of crafty aspect.  Children LOVE these; they provide fine motor skill practice, and completed projects make great bulletin boards and wall displays, that help build a child's self-esteem.  I call today's quick and easy letter "craftivity" Search & Find. I strived to do at least one activity a month that recycled something, so using old newspapers to trace on, fit the bill and the results look terrific.  These are wonderful for a seasonal Daily 5 activity too!

Here's what to do:

• Print off the fall-themed templates.
• Cut out; trace onto an old file folder and then trim. 
• Make several templates to expedite tracing by students.
• Allow children to choose a shape and trace it on a page of the newspaper, that has plenty of writing on it. I try to include several standards when I design an activity, so I made a prediction page to practice some math skills. 
• Students cut out their shape, and fill out the prediction part of the data on the matching worksheet. (Common Core State Standard: 1.MD.1)

Students find and circle the upper and lowercase letters that the shape starts with.  i.e. If a child chooses an apple, they will search for Aa’s. I tried to think up themed-shapes for fall, and added a football, to help excite the boys in your class.  To make this a bit more difficult for older students, have them search and circle all of the letters that are in the WORD and then tally or total, how many of each letter they found.  

When they are done, students color their newsprint craftivity, with a watercolor marker or highlighter, so that the newsprint still shows through.

Students glue their work to the matching worksheet and fill in the data. Older students can use the greater, less than, or equals symbol, to show THEIR answer, to the correct answer.

When everyone is done, you can graph how many of each beginning letter, that your class found, counting by 10’s.  Write each child’s amount on the board and show the addition, one step at a time, to get to a grand total.

Before graphing, have students predict which letter they think they will find the most of, and why. Click on the link to view/download the Search & Find Alphabet Craftivity packet. For more Alphabet FREEBIES, click on the link, to pop on over to that section of my site. Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button on my menu bar.  If you'd like to take a look at all of the creative-educational items I pin, click on the heart to the right of the blog. Hope you can pop back tomorrow, for my newest FREEBIES hot off the press!

"Those with a lively sense of curiosity, learn something new every day of their lives." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make Some Apple Art With Me!

I've had several requests for some quick and easy art activties, that teachers can do in a short amount of time, or set up as centers.  Here are some of my all-time favorites.

A melted crayon apple looks awesome and takes only a few minutes to make.  Students cut out their apple and glue a leaf and stem to it. Teacher reads the poem and reviews rhyming. "Apples can be yellow, red or green.  These are the prettiest apples you've ever seen!"

As a terrific fine motor skill, children peel a red, yellow and green broken crayon. 

When it is their turn, children bring their apple and crayons to the adult-run center, where they "shave" their crayons in a crayon sharpener, to make piles of shavings.  Students pinch some and sprinkle in a few places on their apple, being careful not to cover the poem. 

The teacher or room helper, lays a piece of wax paper on top, and carefully presses down with an iron on its lowest setting.  After a few seconds (s)he gently peels back the paper to reveal a multi-colored apple tree.  My Y5's often squealed with delight at how cool their apple looked.  Click on the link to view/download the Crayon Melt Apple activity.

Another easy apple "craftivity" that helps strengthen finger muscles, is a rip and tear apple.  Even a young child can work independently at this center, as they tear red, yellow, green, and brown strips of paper into color piles, and then glue them to their apple cut out. 

Any of these projects make an outstanding apple bulletin board, or if you do several, arrange them all on a wall, with the caption: Apple-icious Work! Click on the link to view/download the Rip & Tear Apple pattern.

As you can see in the photographs, I have my kiddo's use yellow, green and red, to reinforce the fact that apples can be all of those colors. Another way to bring this idea home, is to have children color the apple squares template.  I designed the "graph" paper with large squares for little ones, as well as smaller squares for older children. 

Use this "craftivity" to reinforce an ABC pattern as well. Click on the link to view/download The Color-Me Apple activity.

Every now and then, I liked to throw in a few crafts that I knew parents would absolutely love.  

I call these "Keepsake Crafts."  Tracing a child's arm, on brown construction paper, with their fingers spread to make "branches" results in the perfect apple tree trunk.

Children dip their index finger in red paint, or red glitter glue and dab on 10 fingerprint apples.  Include a child's oval photo in the "hollow" of the tree, for that finishing touch. 

This apple craft has a poem, so you can review that genre, along with rhyming words.  "Cute little apples hanging from my tree.  I made them with my fingerprints; they're a special part of me. The 10th one will be the last; listen now and I'll count them fast: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10."

Having children count the 10 apples, reinforces that math standard as well. Click on the link to view/down load The Keepsake Apple Tree Pattern.

Finally, allowing children to paint, is a bit messy, but also provides wonderful fine motor skill practice, and my Y5's absolutely loved it. Have children add seeds to the back of their apple, by pressing their index finger onto a brown stamp pad and then making a star design in the center. 

To make this a noisemaker-shaker, add rice or birdseed before you staple their creation. These also look sweet dangling from the ceiling.  Click on the link to view/download the Painted Apple Bowl activity.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  For more apple "craftivities" scroll down for the next blog article, featuring 6 more FREEBIES.  It's time for me to clean up my crafty messes and seek some sunshine before the summer's gone.  I'm wishing you an apple-icious afternoon.   

"The art of teaching, is the art of assisting discovery." -Mark Van Doren

1-2-3 Come Make The Life Cycle Of An Apple With Me!

There are 3 Life Cycle of an Apple craftivities in this packet.  Children can choose to glue the apple's life cycle on an apple, apple tree, or apple pie.

There is a front and back to the apple and apple tree projects. The apple has a sweet poem that I revamped, on the back.  The apple seeds are a child's finger print that was pressed onto a brown stamp pad.

On the apple life cycle TREE, students cut and glue apples for however many years old they are.

The life cycle of an apple (pie plate), was made by covering a paper plate with aluminum foil.  Because you are cutting a slice of apple pie to dangle, you have an opportunity to cover fractions as well.

There are also 2 different apple life cycle templates to choose from.  One apple life cycle is completed by using real photographs of the various stages and gluing them to the template. 

(See tree & pie photo.) The other apple life cycle, is made by coloring, cutting and gluing the pictures of each phase. (See apple photo.)

Completed projects look wonderful dangling from the ceiling.  The apple pie life cycle makes a sweet bulletin board.  I spray the pie slice with apple spice fragrance for that finishing touch.

Click on the link to view/download the Life Cycle Of An Apple Activities.

This packet will be FREE for an entire year (!) after which time, it will be up-date and rolled into my 33-page Life Cycle of an Apple Activities packet in my TpT shop.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black; now click on the "Pin it" button located on the menu. 

If you'd like to see all of the other excellent-educational items that I post, click on the heart to the right of my blog.  I have an entire board for just apple activities, as well as another one for delicious apple recipes.

"Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.  Dreaming, after all, is a form of plannning." -Gloria Steinem

1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple "Craftivities" With Me

Studying apples was one of my very favorite units.  Apples can be used across the board for every subject.  I especially enjoy designing hands-on apple lessons that help students practice their fine motor + listening and following direction skills.  Because my room was on the far end of the school, one of the corridors provided a hallway to myself!  I LOVED decorating it to the hilt, with my students' "mess-terpieces"; we always received tons of compliments too.

To introduce, and encourage rhyming, I like to make up poems and songs to familiar tunes.  I used the tune of 3 Blind Mice for the Apples Apples Apples dangler.  It reinforces the concept of small-medium and large, as well as the fact that apples can be red, yellow or green.  Older students can also label the parts of an apple.

To make this even more special, have students glue their photo to the leaf, and press their pinkie finger on a brown stamp pad, to make the 5 seeds in the center of their apple.  Making a brown construction paper loop for a stem, adds pizzazz, and makes it easy to hang these from the ceiling. Click on the link to veiw/download the Apples Song Dangler.

Small squares of red, yellow and green tissue paper, collaged on a card stock apple, also provides great fine motor skill practice.  The results are truly amazing. For a high gloss finish, gently paint the top of the apple, with watered-down Elmer's white glue, or Modge Podge.  For that extra bit of pizzazz, add a scrap of calico fabric and a button. Click on the link to view/download the Tissue Paper Apple Activity.

If you've cut apples using an Ellison die-cut machine, save the outside "frame."  For an "instant" apple, put the "frame" on top of the tissue paper collage.  If you want these to have a "stained glass" look, collage the tissue squares on a sheet of wax paper, trim and hang in the window.

Another quick & easy craftivity your students can do, to reinforce the concept of 3D, as well as the fact that apples come in 3 colors, is to have them make an apple pencil topper. 

I call these apple twirlers, because you can rub the pencil between the palms of your hands and make the apple twirl. 

To make one, run off the apple template on red, green and yellow construction paper.  Students trim their apples, fold them in half and then glue each half together til they have a 3 dimensional apple, whose "faces" are red, green and yellow.   This is a teachable "fraction" moment, to cover the terms "whole" and "half."  While the glue is still wet, students slide their apple onto the top of their pencil.   Click on the link to view/download the Pencil Apple Twirler.  

A spin off of this activity, is a tri-colored apple paper chain.  Instead of putting their apple on top of a pencil, students add a seed center to each face, punch a hole at the base, make a yarn loop and attach yellow, red and green paper chain links.  Review an ABC-ABC pattern with your students, as well as odd and even numbers. 

They can make their chains as long as they have time for. Older students can write an apple fact on each one of the strip before they link them up.  Click on the bolded link above to view/download this craftivity.

Finally, to add a bit of pizzazz to your apple cut-outs, and help students strengthen their finger muscles, use a hand held crinkler, to give papers the look of corregated cardboard.

You can buy these rollers at any hobby store.  They retail for around $18, but watch for weekly 40%-50% off coupons and get one then. 

Students simply insert their paper into the roller and crank away.  My Y5's LOVED doing this, and nick named the machine "Mr. Cruncher Muncher." Click on the link for the pattern.

Thanks for visiting today; feel free to PIN away!  If you'd like to check out all of the awesome-educational items that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to your right.   I try and blog every day.  Hope you can pop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIE!

"When you change the way you see things, the things you see change." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Spy Some Apple Fractions With Me

Whenever I do a theme, I try to incorporate a variety of standards, that encompass all of my subjects.  Because fractions are sometimes difficult for younger kiddo's to understand, it's very important to SHOW these math concepts, and then to reinforce them, by having students follow up with several hands-on activities.  If you teach first grade, these fraction lessons will help with the Common Core State Standard: 1.G.3

There's nothing like food to grab a child's attention, so I suggest showing children a variety of apples, explaining that they are not only red, which many of them think, but yellow and green as well.

Display an uncut apple and explain that it is a WHOLE apple, then cut the apple down the middle and explain that now the apple is cut in half, and that 2 halves make a whole.  Show this by putting the two pieces back together. 

Ask children if any one knows how many pieces you'll have, if you cut the apple in quarters, then show them, by cutting the apple in half and then in half again.  Count the 4 pieces; review that one of the 4 pieces of an apple is called a quarter or 1 fourth.  Rubberband the 4 pieces together, to show that 4 pieces equal a whole apple.  Ask your students to choose a partner and explain what they have just learned to each other. 

While they are doing that, cut up the apples so that everyone can have a little bite of each kind.  Tell them to remember which colored apple was their favorite, so you can graph the results.  If you'd like a copy of this apple graph as well as all sorts of other apple graphing templates, (22 different apple graphs) click on the link.

Later, to reinforce and practice fractions, students put together an apple flip-up booklet.  To make one, run off the printable on red, yellow and green construction paper. 

Children choose a color and fold it in half horizontally.  This is another opportunity to review the word half with them, as well as what horizontal means.  Students cut the top "doors" so that they will "flip up."  Remind students to open their paper, so they are less likely to cut the bottom one at the same time they are slitting the top.

Children write their name on the front of their apple flip up booklet and glue apple pictures under the "doors" to match the fraction words on the top.  When everyone has completed their "flip up" review as a whole group. 

Included in this packet, is also a trace and write apple fraction booklet, so that the math vocabulary is reinforced in yet another way.  This is a great activity for your Daily 5 Word Work. There are matching apple fraction pocket or word wall word cards as well.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Fraction Packet. 

If you feel students need more practice, or you'd like a quick review, follow up the next day by having them do the apple pie flip up or the apple pie trace and write booklet.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Pie Fraction Packet.

At the end of the day, I review things that we've learned, using anchor charts.  After we go over the concepts, I let children help decide where we should hang the latest posters.  Click on the link to view/down load the Fraction Anchor Chart Posters.

Because my Y5's especially enjoyed "craftivities" (great for fine motor skill practice) I often set up a more "artsy" center, for students who completed their table top lesson. 

These independent centers were highly motivating for students to get down to business and complete their work, so they could make "something special."  To avoid hurt feelings, children who ran out of time, got to collect the "pieces" and materials for the project to take home.

The Fraction Apple Flip craftivity is perfect for these independent centers. Click on the link to view/download it. 

To make one, simply run off the templates on red, lime green and yellow construction paper.  Students cut and collate their apple so that the 1/4 is on the top, followed by the half and then the whole apple.  Staple the corner and review.  I've included a stem and leaf template to make the fraction sections look like an apple.  Pre-cut these for students to glue to the top-back of their apple.

Finally, games are a terrific way to practice life skills, as well as reinforce standards, in an interesting and fun way.  This "Spin to Win" game, is called Apple Fraction Action. 

Students can play indepently, or in a group of 2 or 3. Whatever apple they land on, they mark an x under the matching fraction apple on their graph.  When the timer rings, students total up their columns and circle which apple they have spun the most. 

I've included a whole class graph as well, so you can review, by charting everyone's answers. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Fraction Action game.

Thanks for visiting today!  As always, feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners"  return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button located on the menu.  If you'd like to see all of the really creative and educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to your right.

I blog and design every day; hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest freebie(s).

"Treat a [student] as he is, and he will remain as he is.  Treat him as he can and should be, and he will become, as he can and should be." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

10 pages. Common Core State Standard: 1.G.3

Help students understand beginning fractions by cutting up an apple. As you cut from whole, to half, and then into quarters, explain each fraction. To further reinforce math vocabulary, students assemble their own apple fraction "flip up" booklet .  A trace & write mini apple fraction booklet is also included, along with apple fraction pocket or word wall word cards.

1-2-3 Come Write About Apples With Me!

Increase your students' writing skills with this quick and easy apple "craftivity."   Before hand, brainstorm a list of adjectives that describe apples.  For a source of correct spelling, as well as ideas, write the words on the board to be used as a word bank, for your students to refer to as they write their "Apple Sense."  Encourage them to use at least one adjective for each section. 

Review what the 5 senses are and discuss them as they apply to apples.  So students know what to do, and can independently get to work, make an example of your own to share.

To add that finishing touch, have students glue their school picture to the leaf.  These make an "apple-icious" bulletin board.  Your caption could be:  A Crop/Bushel of Great Work or Mr(s). _______________ 's Students Get To The Core Of Writing. You could also punch a hole in the stem, and suspend the apples back-to-back from the ceiling.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Sense Writing Activity. This activity will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be up-dated & become part of my 30-page, Apple Sense: Science & Writing Craftivities packet in my TpT shop.

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away.  I'm off to enjoy some summer sunshine.

"I find that a great part of the information I have acquired, was by looking up something and finding something else along the way." -Franklin P. Adams  

(This is so true for me, especially when I'm researching something on the Internet or Pinerest!  One thing definitely leads to another as the day flies by!)