makermama.com

This post is sponsored by Google and written in partnership with Forward Influence This week, Google hosted it’s Be Internet Awesome event in celebration of Safer Internet Day. I jumped at the opportunity to attend and learn more about the efforts being made to ensure that conversations about online safety are happening not just at school between students and teachers, but at home between parents and their children, too

Over the holidays, the kids and I made a trip up to Johnson City to revisit the Science Mill (formerly known as the Hill Country Science Mill), a hands-on science museum for children. A number of our new favorites were in their outdoor Science and Art Park, including this incredible 30-foot tall robotic hand dreamt up by Science Mill Creative Director, Zac Zamora. I found it kind of hilarious, that of all the things that my kids (and our friend’s kiddos) kept gravitating to, it was the activity where they had to sit and be quiet, aka Mindball. The Science Mill hosts a Homeschool Day once each month, with a new theme such as Be A Mathematician or Be An Engineer, each month as well.

One of my favorite New Year’s traditions is to show my kids a video project I’ve been working on all year––my 1 Second Everyday video. Cesar Kuriyama created the 1 Second Everyday app as a way to capture the everyday moments of life that are often forgotten. It’s become a tradition with my kids to share the previous year’s video at the beginning of the New Year. The Best App to Remove Unwanted Objects from Photos on iPhone or Android How to Digitize Old Photos

Read on to learn how to make your own drink coaster Christmas ornaments (and comment below if you’d like to see more drink coaster crafts! The first thing you want to do is line up your first coaster, making a cut from the center to the bottom of the coaster. If you’re having trouble sliding the coasters together, widen the cut to match the thickness of your coasters. If you’d like a video to see how I made mine check this little diddy out: If you enjoyed this post, I’d enjoy seeing how your own coaster Christmas ornaments turn out!