vacuum cleaner

M&M Math – Teaching Math With Candy Is Fun

$M&M math graphing for #kids$

Math Graphing Activity for Kids! This beginner graphing activity teaches children how to use a graph in a delicious way – CANDY! Remarkably, my preschoolers did NOT eat theirs. Amazing! Of course, I told them not to but no one even sneaked any. What a good bunch of kiddos I have in my classroom…

preschool, candy graphing activities, kids activities, Math

My students were allowed to take their candies home, along with the graph, so that they could practice with their parents. Somewhere along the line, those M&M’s had to have been eaten. Of course, other candies or colored cereal can be used for this fun graphing activity but I am partial to M&M’s and this free printable was made just for them!

kids math, candy graphing, M&M Math, preschool

Get the M&M Graph Printable Here

M&M math lesson is a fun way to teach kids counting, sorting and simple math skills! #ece #preschool Share on X

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links.♥

M&M Math & Graphing For Kids

Supplies
White cardstock
Color printer
M&M’s milk chocolate candies
Small paper cups
Plastic wrap

I pre-labeled each cup with the child’s name.
The plastic wrap is to seal it up for them to take their candy home.

$Montessori math manipulatives game for adding and subtracting$

A fun way to practice our math skills!

M&M Graphing Lesson For Preschoolers

Print a copy of the graph in color on white card stock- one for each child.
Pour some M&M’s in a small paper cup – one cup per child.
Sit your students down at a table with their graph and candies.
Explain to them that they should sort through their candies and place a line of candies on the same bar of the color they are holding. i.e. green M&M’s go on the green line, red on red and so forth.
Have them count how many greens, how many blues, how many reds. .
..

So, your little ones just got a “taste” (pardon the pun) of how to use and read a graph plus a counting exercise – with a snack afterward!

What other ways can you think of to use this graphing activity with young children?

This year I made snowman cookies for a movie night party.
M&M’s were the
buttons for the snowman tummies!

Snowman Cookie Recipe

.https://amzn.to/4lLor0U

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Enjoy!

Best Paw Patrol School Supplies For Kids

Check out the new CHASE PILLOW below!

Do your kids love Nickelodeon’s adorable puppy heroes “Paw Patrol?” If they do they will LOVE having Paw Patrol school supplies! As a preschool teacher, I can tell you that young children adore the Paw Patrol team. They delight in telling you who each character is, their names, the jobs they do and the vehicles they operate. If you ask them a question indicating that you might not be that familiar with the Paw Patrol characters, they will be ever so happy to fill you on everything you ought to know.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ♥

Bedtime cuddles with Paw Patrol stuffed animal toys! ad

Your kids will love bringing Paw Patrol backpacks and supplies with them to school!
☑️ Get them the BEST Paw Patrol school supplies

Tune in to what your kids love. Take some time and watch it on Nick-Jr. or catch a Paw Patrol video on You Tube. The show is cute and so well done. Each episode encourages their young audiences in team building, problem solving, friendship and caring for others.

Paw Patrol Lunch Box Skye Chase Marshall Fire Engine Truck Kids Insulated Lunch Bag Lunch Tote

This is amazing!

Which of the Paw Patrol heroes can fly? Skye, of course!

Here is a list to help you get familiar with the Paw Patrol characters:

Who Are The Characters Of Paw Patrol?

Yes, it is important to your little ones that the people in their lives know who their beloved Paw Patrol friends are, what they do and, just as important, the amazing vehicles they drive!

There are 10 key characters. No worries, here is a quick list for you. Your kids will be so excited when they find out that you actually know something about Paw Patrol!

Ryder – a 10 year old boy and leader of the Paw Patrol. They all go on many wonderful adventures to protect the people of Adventure Bay.

Chase – a German Shepherd police dog and spy dog. He drives a police cruiser and is known for his enthusiastic “Ready for action, Ryder Sir!”

Marshall – a Dalmatian fire dog and medic. His fire engine turns into an ambulance – very handy!

Rubble – an English Bulldog construction pup whose vehicle, appropriately, is a bulldozer!

Rocky – a cute little handy pup who recycles! He has a recycling truck that turns into a salvage tugboat!

Skye – she is the aerial rescue puppy – a cockapoo – of the group, dressed in fashionable pink attire. She has wings in her backpack and her vehicle is a helicopter.

Everest – a purple Siberian husky snowmobiling rescue puppy.

Zuma – a water rescue dog who is very cool!

Tracker – this little bilingual Chihuahua is a jungle tracker and his vehicle is a Jeep.

Robo Dog – a robotic dog that operates the Paw Patrol’s multi-passenger vehicles.

And there are Paw Patrol CRAFTS for your kids, too!

Melissa & Doug PAW Patrol Wooden Vehicles Craft Kit – 3 Decorate Your Own Vehicles, 3 Play Figures. ad

And there are PERSONALIZED Paw Patrol Storybooks that make fabulous gifts for Paw Patrol loving kids! ad

Chase’s Paw Patrol Big Wheel Cruiser Vehicle!

Two 24-piece Paw Patrol jigsaw puzzles your kids will love – recommended for ages 4+ ad

Paint Your Own Paw Patrol Figurines.

3 figurines in the set!

So, you have a Paw Patrol lover on your hands! Do you have any Paw Patrol school supplies for them yet? Amazon has quite a selection. Your little ones will be so proud to show off everything what they’ve got.

Paw Patrol loving kids REALLY love taking their favorite characters with them to school! #preschool #kids Share on X

Paw Patrol Jungle Pups Action Figures!

Clickable List of Paw Patrol School & Party Supplies

Have FUN!

Enjoy!

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Delicious & Easy Peach Cobbler Recipe

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“Honey, will you make peach cobbler this weekend?” Peach cobbler? Had I ever made it? I am sure I would have remembered if I had made it. So, how do you make it? Surely, I did not know. I had to find a peach cobbler recipe fast!

***This blog contains Amazon affiliate links.* *♥ Ceramic Bakeware Set***

Then he added, “The kind made with Bisquick.” OK, that sounded easier. So, Bisquick went on the shopping list and I found the classic recipe from Betty Crocker.

Easy and delicious peach cobbler dessert recipe made with Bisquick #DucksnaRow #peachcobbler #recipes

Needless to say, my first time making this easy peach cobbler was a success!
It tastes as good as it looks. We had ours warmed up with vanilla ice cream on it.

Peach cobbler dessert made with Bisquick #DucksnaRow #dessert #peachcobbler

Let me show you how to make this great dessert…

Easy Peach Cobbler Bisquick Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup Bisquick
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
29 oz. sliced peaches – drained
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Original Bisquick Baking and Pancake Mix #ad

Directions

Preheat oven 375°
Melt butter in a 8 X 8 baking dish
Combine Bisquick, milk and nutmeg in a mixing bowl
Add butter and stir
Pour mixture back into the baking dish

Combine peaches and sugar.
Dollop the peach/sugar combo onto the Bisquick batter.
Set timer to bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown.
Allow to cool a little bit.
Scoop into bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Combine peaches and sugar.

Dollop the peaches with sugar on the Bisquick mixture.

Sixty minutes later: golden browned peach cobbler, ready to serve!

Served in simple but BIG bowl for hubby!

Delicious peach cobbler recipe! #dessert #foodie Share on X

Collection of 12 amazing chocolate cheesecake recipes #DucksnaRow #cheesecake #chocolatelover #chocolatecheesecake #dessertrecipes

12 Best Chocolate Cheesecake Recipes

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Betty Crocker Ultimate Bisquick Cookbook

323 Delicious Recipes – Hardcover

Classic Deviled Egg Recipe

Classic Deviled Eggs Recipe

Ingredients

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled & cooled

1/4 cup real mayonnaise

3/4 – 1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp prepared “yellow” mustard

dash salt and dash pepper

dill weed and /or paprika

Directions

Hard boil the eggs, cool, peel and cut in half lengthwise.

Gently edge the yolk out of the white and place in a small mixing bowl.

Mash the yolks together with a fork.

Blend in mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt & pepper.

Spoon the mixture into the center of each egg-white shell.

Lightly sprinkle with either dill weed or paprika on top.

Refrigerate.

Serves 6-12 people.

Remember this classic recipe? Make it for your next picnic or cookout! Classic Deviled Eggs #recipes #food Share on X

Enjoy!

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How To Get Bacon Out Of The Package

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Love bacon? Hate it when the bacon shreds as you try to take each slice out of the package? Here the easy way to do it so that it comes out of the package perfectly every time.

Of all the foods I love the most, bacon has to be top of the list. Bacon and eggs. BLT’s – either bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches or salads. Bacon wrapped scallops on the grill. Juicy bacon burgers with Swiss cheese. The list goes on and on.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links.❤️

Not long ago, I discovered an almost painless way to prepare a whole pound of bacon at one time: oven frying. Easy and cleanup is a breeze. (Did I mention that I hate cleaning up skillets?) Now that I know this easy way to cook it, I make bacon much more often. How to Cook Bacon in The Oven The Easy Way

Air Fryers:
Have you heard that bacon can be made in an ☑️ AIR FRYER? It can! There are a lot of air fryers to choose from. This one is under $100 and is Amazon’s choice with over 1000+ verified customer reviews of 4 stars!

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PROBLEM: I had been finding that the bacon was not coming out of the package properly. Parts of the pieces were clinging to the others, causing them to pull apart in strips and shred. Who wants tiny slices of shredded bacon? Not me!

So, my dad and I were passing the time one day watching our favorites on Food Network when they shared this neat little bacon-unpackaging trick. I tried it. It works! Here is the right way to get bacon out of the package in perfect strips.

Cooking Tip: How To Get Bacon Out Of The Package

Do NOT open the plastic package.
Hold the package with both hands one long-side of the package.
Roll it into a roll, just like rolling up a newspaper.
Unroll it.
Now, cut the package open and gently remove each slice.

Perfect, every time.

NOTE: this technique works well for getting bacon out of the package when it is refrigerated and is a way to separate frozen bacon after it has been thawed.

Great little tip here for #bacon lovers! How to get the bacon out of the package in one piece! #tips #food Share on X

More Bacon Tips and Recipes

How To Cook Bacon In The Oven

Fabulous Steak Salad Recipe

Bacon Blue Cheese Salad Dressing Recipe

cooking bacon; bacon recipes; cooking tips on Ducks 'n a Row

Got a favorite bacon recipe?

Neat way to cook bacon in the oven – perfect results pan from Wilton!

Enjoy!

Mom’s Homemade Potato Salad Recipe

Ingredients

5 pounds of yellow potatoes or red potatoes

*Do NOT use baking potatoes

6 Hard-boiled eggs

1/2 cup chopped celery

Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3 T. sugar

1 1/2 T. flour

3/4 cup milk

1 beaten egg

2 heaping tsp mustard

Equal amount real mayonnaise

Salt to taste

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Directions

Boil the potatoes in water until they are slightly soft (test them by pricking them with a fork.)

Boil the eggs in another pot of water till they are hard-boiled – approximately 10 minutes.

Cool the potatoes and the hard-boiled eggs in cold water.

While they are cooling, make the dressing.

Next, shell the eggs and cut them up in pieces. Put the pieces into a mixing bowl.

Using your hands, gently peel the skin off the cooled, cooked potatoes. Cut the potatoes in 1 inch pieces and place them in the bowl.

How To Make the Mayonnaise Potato Salad Dressing

You will be starting out cooking the dressing in a saucepan on the stove. After it thickens, it must be refrigerated until it is cool or cold. Then you will add the mayo to it and combine it with the potatoes & eggs.

Put the vinegar, sugar, mustard and flour in the saucepan. Gradually heat it on medium, gently stirring, until it thickens. Place the pan in the refrigerator until the thickened sauce is very cool.

Next, add the mayonnaise and mix it through.

Add the dressing to the cut up potatoes, eggs and chopped celery and mix it through. Return it to the refrigerator until time to serve.

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Mom's homemade potato salad recipe - so good, it is worth the effort! #recipes #salads #cookout Share on X

Enjoy!

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The Best Vacuum For Pet Hair I Have Ever Used

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Those who have followed this blog for any time know the struggle I have had getting pet hair off my carpeting, floors and furniture. It has been a hot topic for me.

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ❤️ This is NOT a sponsored post. It is simply my unsolicited story.

I love my dogs and I love their fur–when it stays on them. I do NOT love dog fur when it is on everything else. So, I have been on a quest for ☑️ THE BEST PET HAIR VACUUM for a long time – and I finally found it! This is the wonderful one that I own in 2025 and have used, now, for years. Still operates like its NEW!

2025 UPDATE: THIS ONE has LED lights added so you can really see everything that needs to be picked up! Interested in the one with a SELF CLEANING BRUSH ROLL? Click here!

2025 BEST Pet Hair Vacuum I have ever used

Before I found this amazing vacuum, I did get a couple of tools that truly helped minimize the problem. I bought a Furminator -which is great for grooming your dog and de-shedding some of its excess fur. I also discovered Arm & Hammer’s Pet Fresh powder for carpets. This product does a really good job lifting the pet fur from the carpet as you vacuum it. The powder deodorizes the carpet, too. Bailey, my most recent dog, is a bit sensitive to products – her eyes react – so I have discontinued using it for her sake. Lexi and Sadie were always A-OK

For the longest time, though, I did NOT have a great vacuum cleaner to use. In fact, the various vacuums I had tried were mediocre, at best. Though they were top filling and “HEPA filtered,” they lost their suction power early in the game. Lint and fur were left behind no matter how many times I passed that vacuum over the same area. Have you ever had that problem? It is so frustrating.

Before I Found the BEST Vacuum, Wait Till You Hear What Happened to the One I THOUGHT I Liked!

Next, in my journey to finding this TRULY best vacuum cleaner, I did find one that I really liked. When the first one became hopelessly clogged with dirt and debris, I bought another of the same kind because, when it worked, it worked well.

That second one actually CAUGHT ON FIRE! I am not kidding. Blue smoke started coming out and it was seconds from flames, I am sure of it. I unplugged that baby really fast and never tried to use it again. In fact, before discarding it I cut the cord to render it inoperable. I didn’t want someone taking this dangerous vacuum cleaner out of the garbage, thinking they’d found a treasure. Having learned my lesson, I never bought another one of that unnamed brand of vacuums again.

The Best Vacuum For Pet Hair

So, that is when I started to ask around. I was hearing very good reports about the Shark Navigator Liftaway Vacuum from some of my friends. They told me that they were thrilled with the results. I became very hopeful. This one is the basic model, which I still use.

Then I discovered that my own sister-in-law had one! She hadn’t even used it yet. She was going out of town and wouldn’t be using it for a while so I asked the unthinkable–could I borrow her brand new Shark vacuum for a day? She said “yes.” I love my sister-in-law!!!

I didn’t even have the directions but it was so easy to assemble that I figured it out on my own. I first tried it on my NAVY BLUE carpeting. Well, at least my carpet should have been navy blue. It was covered in white fur from my beautiful yellow lab, Sadie the “fur-making-machine,” so you wouldn’t know what color it really was. Labs shed like crazy! At the time, my floor was covered and EMBEDDED with lots of white dog fur!

So, I vacuumed it. Within moments, the carpet was totally clean. It was the completely restored to that gorgeous navy blue color I loved. Wow! I was excited!

Now, this part really sold me: emptying the canister!

My happiest discovery was the PLEASURE of emptying the canister, which was now filled with dirt, lint and fur. (Got to really test it so I vacuumed till it was super full!) With the flip of two latches and press of a button, the canister released from the housing, and popped open as I held it over a trash can. “WHOOSH” — all the debris swept out into the trash. NO DIRT GOT ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CANISTER. No cloud of dust in the air. Just clean, clean, clean! And the canister opens from top and bottom so nothing gets left inside. It all goes!

yellow lab puppy

Yellow labs make LOTS of fur!

The Shark Upright Navigator Lift-Away Vacuum is:

Lightweight
Easy to maneuver
Simple to use
Thorough in cleaning
Never loses suction
Internally sealed–no dirt escapes it
Stores easily
Empties brilliantly! What a great design!
Various styles available. All are very reasonably priced in a range from about $149.00 to $340 retail.

. …

2025 Update=> This one has LED Lights, HEPA filter and easy to maneuver!

Do you love your vacuum cleaner? What kind do you have? Share your experiences with us in the comments!

The very BEST vacuum cleaner I have ever used for pet hair! #cleaningtips #vacuum #dogs #cats And wait till you empty it! A dream come true. Share on X

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Microwave Play Dough Is The Super Easy Way To Make Homemade Play Dough

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I love making play dough. There is something fun about developing this colorful toy by yourself, knowing that a child you love will have hours of play ahead of him. Making microwave play dough is by far the easiest way!

The classic playdough recipe, cooked on the stove, works great but it takes a lot of elbow-grease stirring and stirring. So, when I came across a recipe for MICROWAVE play dough, I had to give it a try.

Oh my goodness, is this so easy and the play dough turns out just as pliable and deeply colorful as ever. I won’t be making the old recipe again!

This blog contains Amazon affiliate links. ♥

Microwave Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 generous T cooking oil

10-20 drops Neon food coloring**

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/3 cup salt

1 cup bleached flour*

*Bleached flour is whiter and gives you a truer color.

**Neon food coloring is the most vivid.

Directions

Use a microwave-safe mixing bowl. This process takes about 5 minutes including prep.

Combine water, oil, food coloring and stir.

Add cream of tartar, and stir again.

Add salt, stir.

Gradually add flour and stir as you go along to prevent lumps.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds.

Stir.

Another 30 seconds.

Stir.

A third time, 30 seconds.

Stir.

A fourth time, 30 seconds.

Stir.

It will now be in a ball.

Let sit for 2 minutes.

Remove from bowl and put the play dough ball on a dinner plate to cool.*

Wrap cooled play dough in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

*I spray the plate with cooking spray to make it easily removable from the plate.

Microwave playdough recipe - so easy you will want to make every color in the rainbow! #DIY #crafts #kids Share on X

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Enjoy!

Make A Special Place Where Your Kids Will Love To Read

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Looking for ways to inspire your children to read more? Create a cozy little place – a reading nook – they can call their own! Here are some really cute designs to get your creative juices flowing …