Activities for National Feral Cat Day

Free Printable Games About Cats

Tomorrow, October 16, 2013 is National Feral Cat Day. It's a wonderful day to teach your students many different concepts like being responsible pet owners, being respectful of animal life of all types, and most especially the plight of feral cats, which is discussed in greater detail below. For activities and games that can be used in the classroom or at home, check out PrintablesFree.com's section of free printable games. You'll find crossword puzzles, word searches, board games, jigsaw puzzles and math games. They have games for all different ages and ability levels, so print out several to accommodate everyone in your family if you plan to use them at home. As an educational tool, everyone will need to be working on the same activity.

Free Printable Mazes to Work Your Brain

Like crossword puzzles and word search puzzles, mazes provide yet another way to give your brain a workout. As you figure out which way to go to get through to the end, you're using critical thinking skills much like those used in driving, when walking on an unfamiliar street and more. The free printable cat maze is an excellent one to use for National Feral Cat Day. As you can see, the cat is trying to make its way to the rat to catch it. It may seem unpleasant, but feral cats are very useful in helping to control the population of rodents like rats and mice. Discuss this with your students as they complete the maze. For more interesting facts about feral cats, check out the facts and trivia section below. 

Facts and Trivia About Feral Cats

• Although feral cats can be useful, it is important to control their population. Cats reproduce quickly and have several cats per litter. If gone uncontrolled, a cat can have many litters over her lifetime. Capturing the feral cats is especially important in spaying or neutering them and releasing them back into the wild. Feral cats should only be captured by adults who are qualified to do capture and release with these animals.
• How do we get feral cats? They are usually the offspring of domesticated cats that were either strays or ran away. As the generations continue, the cats become more wild. Cats do not usually like humans unless they are socialized with humans as young kittens.
• Feral cats can live in a variety of environments. While many take to the forest in search of food, others hang around apartment complexes and restaurants and are dependent on the food they are given or the food they can find in the trash.
• In the United States, there are estimated to be between 60 - 120 million feral cats. 
• Do-gooders have begun establishing feral cat colonies to keep the cats safe. These cats live nearly as long as domesticated cats. Feral cats in the wild or on the streets, however, do not often live long.

Angel Coloring Pages

The Fascination with Angels
Not long ago (on October 2), Catholics all over the world celebrated the Feast of the Guardian angels. For centuries, we humans have had an interest in angelic beings, and that fascination is still alive and well today. Whether or not you have specific religious beliefs, many people believe in angels. They're wondrous beings, but are often depicted in strange and delightful ways. There are cherubs, of course, which are the angels that are depicted to look like babies. Angels in their proper form, however, are supposed to be strong, powerful guardians rather than passive beings playing harps. No matter which form you think they take, your children will find it delightful to learn about angels. Take a look at the free printable coloring pages at PrintablesFree.com for some angel coloring pages as well as coloring sheets on a broad range of other topics.

Free Printable Coloring Pages for Your Little Angel
Coloring is a wonderful creative activity for children of any age. I even enjoy coloring as an adult, and many others do, too. Coloring can be a form of therapy for many. It doesn't require much thought to complete the task itself, so you can lose yourself as the crayons travel across the free printable coloring sheet to fill in what was once white space. As you color the angel coloring sheet pictured above, reflect on the blessings in your life or the times that you've especially felt that you've had an angel by your side. Help your children learn more about angels by looking up verses in the Bible about them and about things they've said. Of course, it's best not to give them any terrifying images of angels, such as that of the fallen angels, but rather give them an idea of how they protect and guard us.

Free Printable Angel Coloring Sheets
The angel coloring sheet featured above is somewhat childlike in appearance. This may help your child identify with angels better than associating them with adult-like powerful beings. In this image, the angel is standing on a cloud and holding a basket. The basket appears to hold food. This is a wonderful time to teach your children about helping others. For instance, they could take a basket of food to someone who is poor, or an elderly person who is sick. It's very important to help others who are less fortunate, so associating this generosity with an angelic being may be the perfect way to teach them the inherent goodness involved with helping others. You can also ask them questions about how they think angels help people, aside from guarding them. Perhaps they provide comfort when we're sad or they take our prayers up to God for us. There are so many lessons that we can learn from and about angels.

Cupcake Birthday Party Invitations

Free Printable Invitations for Birthday Parties

How do you spell birthday? C-U-P-C-A-K-E. Okay, maybe not, but cupcakes are definitely a birthday party staple. They're more convenient than large birthday cakes because everyone gets a perfectly individual-sized cake, no cutting needed! And there's nothing cuter on a birthday invitation than a nice, big cupcake and some friendly words asking friends to come to your party. You'll find the perfect cupcake-themed invitation and many other free printable invitations at PrintablesFree.com. These are all printable right from your home computer, no special software required like you'll find with many card sites. You can even customize them with the date, location, time, and party details as well as a picture of the birthday boy or girl if you want. You can read the details below on how to use the customization tool and find several different choices for your cupcake-themed party.

Cupcake Invitations to Choose From

Luckily, PrintablesFree.com has several different cupcake invitations that you can choose from in their free printable birthday invitations section. They're all lovely choices, so take your pick or print some of all the different designs so that your guests receive a variety of invitations. It's more personal that way, but it also gives you more opportunity with the decorations because you'll have more colors to choose from.

The first cupcake birthday party invitation is the one pictured above. It features five different cupcakes: two small and three large ones. These cupcakes are at the bottom of the invitation, with the party details placed at the top. This one is easily customizable, but it's perfect for those who like to write out the party details rather than typing them. It's more personal that way. 

The next cupcake themed party invitation features a big cupcake on a purple background. The back has swirlies and whirligigs to help decorate the card, and there's even a block that's perfect for inserting a picture of the birthday boy or girl. Remember that you'll need to insert the picture using the customization tool and then rotate it so that it's upside down on your screen. When you print and fold the card, it will be right side up. 

The pink cupcake birthday invitation is great for the girly girl in your life. It's a bright pink card with a large cupcake and the words, "You're invited to my birthday celebration" printed on the front. This invitation works well for younger children and even teenagers that don't like childish birthday party designs. 

There you have it: three great cupcake themed invitations to choose from. Don't forget, if you send cupcake invitations, your guests are definitely going to expect some yummy cupcakes at the party. You can even have cookie crumbs, sprinkles and other add-ons kind of like a Sundae station.

Free Printable Thanksgiving Cards

Free Printable Cards to Send for Thanksgiving
Should we really only send cards on Christmas, Valentine's Day and birthdays? There are so many more holidays to celebrate throughout the year, and one of the best yet most under-appreciated is Thanksgiving Day. We typically associate the holiday with gluttony -- lots of delicious, rich food and drinks and stuffing ourselves silly. It's about so much more, though. It's the day that we're supposed to give thanks for everything that we have. And if you're like many families in America, you have quite a lot, especially when compared to those in undeveloped nations. It's not a day to feel guilty for what you have though, but merely a day that you should stop, pause and reflect on all the blessings you have in your life. That's truly something to be thankful for! You can find many different Thanksgiving cards to send in the free printable cards section at PrintablesFree.com. Go take a look! You're sure to find some that you love.

Colorful Free Printable Thanksgiving Cards
November is a beautiful time of year, isn't it? There's a chill in the air, falling leaves and the bright, vibrant colors that nature blesses us with right before the winter comes and the trees are left bare. It's a cycle that we're all familiar with, yet I'm in awe of it every year when I see trees full of bright red, blazing orange, beautiful brown and delightfully yellow leaves. October is my favorite month, but November is a close second. These chilly days are perfect days for spending with family. You can gather round at Thanksgiving, of course, but family should be celebrated all year round. Use the free printable Thanksgiving cards to send greetings to your family and friends at the beginning of November to let them know you think of them all month long.

Falling Leaves Thanksgiving Card
My personal favorite at PrintablesFree.com is this falling leaves Thanksgiving card. It features a tree with beautiful falling leaves and the simple phrase, "Happy Thanksgiving." I like the card exactly for its simplicity. I also enjoy the cards there because you are require to write your own personal messages inside. These aren't like cards that you buy at the store and simply sign your name to with no thought at all. No, these are designed to be personal notes that you share with your family and friends. Put a little heart into your messages. Since we're supposed to be thankful and grateful during the month of November, share with that person five reasons that you're thankful to have them in your life. It will certainly put a smile on the recipient's face, and you never know when someone really needs that smile. If you can't get to the post office, personalize and save it to your computer to send via email. Either way, it's a nice way to say, "I'm thinking of you."

Free Printable Veggie Theme Crossword Puzzle

Every day has a holiday, perhaps because we love to celebrate people and things. Today is no different. Among the various holidays of the day, it is World Vegetarian Day. Whether you're an herbivore or omnivore, grab a plate of your favorite veggies, print out one of our crossword puzzles and settle in for a relaxing afternoon of learning words and eating healthy foods.

Free Printable Word Games
Crossword puzzles are excellent tools for improving your spelling, your vocabulary and your word associations. They make you think about words in different ways than you usually do. In the typical manner, you learn the word first and then the definition. If you encounter a word you don't know in a crossword puzzle, it's because you're presented with the definition or association first, and you must figure out the word yourself. It's a great way to think about words in complex and varied ways. Print out some of the free crossword puzzles at PrintablesFree.com in the free printable games section. Your brain will thank you!

Free Printable Crossword Puzzles
Crosswords and word searches are America's favorite word games. The good news is that you can find them both at PrintablesFree.com. The free printable crossword puzzles cover a variety of topics ranging from your favorite holidays to your favorite hobbies. They also vary in the level of difficulty, meaning you can easily find some for yourself and for your children. They're not as challenging as say, the New York Times crossword puzzle, but they will give your brain a good amount of exercise as you try to pair the words and their definitions or associations. For children, crosswords are a big help in learning to spell and remember new words.

Veggie Themed Crossword Puzzle
This particular veggie themed crossword puzzle is one that's perfectly suited to children. It's not so much a crossword as it is a fill-in-the-blank word puzzle, but it can get them acclimated to using the crossword puzzle format. It features five foods that are connected in the crossword format. Each word has some of the letters already filled in; the child just needs to fill in the rest. If you have all of the foods available at home, have your child find them and associate the words with the physical objects. Learning is more than just using worksheets and pencils, after all. If your child is able to master this simple puzzle, print out a few that are more complex that use the traditional definition-word format.

Games are a wonderful way to spend time together as a family. It doesn't have to be a group game, either. Sometimes, just sitting down together to drink some hot chocolate and complete a few crossword puzzles is the ideal way to unwind after a busy week. It also gives children the opportunity to ask questions and have discussions about the word games with their parents and older siblings.