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Have you ever wanted to take a trip to the cloud forest? Explore the Andes of Ecuador? Discover a new species? Well, you’re in luck.
With¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z! / Olinguito from A to Z! travel to the unique world of the cloud forest and discover the bounty of plants, animals, and other organisms that live there as you help a zoologist look for the elusive olinguito, the first new mammal species identified in the Americas since 1978.
But the adventure doesn’t stop there. Anyone can learn to be an explorer in their own backyard with the FREEOlinguito Activity Kitand Teacher’s Guide. Learn more about the cloud forest and other ecosystems, including all of the important animals and the adaptations that help them survive in their environment with the many interdisciplinary ideas, projects, and engaging activities.
Content themes and subjects covered:
ecosystems and habitats
biodiversity
animal classification and adaptation
vertebrates and invertebrates
competition and predation
world geography
Here’s a preview of the types of engaging projects and activities you can find in the Olinguito Activity Kit and Teacher’s Guide:
Observe an Ecosystem!
You will need:
a notebook
a pen or pencil
a camera
a thick, old paperback book
Make note of the time of day you are making your observations. Is it morning, afternoon, or night?
Record all the plants and organisms you see, including trees, shrubs, bushes, grasses, ferns, mosses, and lichens.
Record all the animals you see in the area, including insects, arachnids, mollusks, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Gather fresh leaves of different shapes from trees and shrubs and put each separately between two pages of the paperback book. You may also gather small, colorful flowers or flower petals and put them between pages of the book.
Take photos of any animals you see.
Once you are back inside, place the paperback book under a pile of heavy books for a week or two to let you pressed leaves and flowers dry.
Design a Cloud Forest Travel Brochure!
Have students research cloud forests in the Andes and create an informative and persuasive travel brochure. Include headings, subheadings, pictures, maps, and informative captions.
Where are the cloud forests located?
What plants and animals live there?
Why are cloud forests valued or important?
What is the climate like?
What will people see there?
What environmental and human threats do they face?
Why should someone make the cloud forest his or her next vacation destination?
Create a Cloud Forest Alphabet or Glossary Book:
card stock
hole puncher
string or twine
art decorating supplies (crayons, colored pencils, markers. etc.)
Alphabet Book: include the featured letter, a picture or drawing of the featured plant or animal, and the name of the plant or animal.
Plant/Animal Glossary Book: include the name of the plant or animal, a picture or drawing of the featured plant or animal, and an informative description of the plant or animal: where does it live? what does it eat? how is it classified (plant or animal, vertebrate or invertebrate, etc.)?
For more fun and exciting activity ideas, including I-Spy Fun and learning to create you own pressed leaf print, check out and download the FREE Olinguito Activity Kit and Teacher’s Guide.
You can purchase a copy of ¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z! / Olinguito, from A to Z! : Descubriendo el bosque nublado / Unveiling the Cloud Forest on our website here.
Veronicahas a degree from Mount Saint Mary College and joined LEE & LOW in the fall of 2014. She has a background in education and holds a New York State childhood education (1-6) and students with disabilities (1-6) certification. When she’s not wandering around New York City, you can find her hiking or hanging out with her dog Milo in her hometown in the Hudson Valley, NY.
0 Comments on How to Be an Explorer in Your Own Backyard: The Olinguito Activity Kit and Teacher’s Guide as of 1/1/1900
At the heart of First Book’s mission to help children in need read, learn and succeed is the distribution of educational content. Breaking down the barriers to accessing books and other information can lift the kids we serve and their communities out of poverty and into bright futures.
When President Obama announced the ConnectED Initiative two years ago, he set an ambitious goal to provide 99 percent of American students with access to next-generation broadband internet in their classrooms and libraries by 2018. And this past April, the President followed up on this commitment with the Open eBook Initiative, a program aimed at creating a world-class digital library and making it available to students aged 4-18 from low-income families.
First Book is proud to partner with the White House to support this bold program that will bring all of America’s classrooms into the digital age. Specifically, First Book will help ensure the eBooks library reaches students in low-income families.
Many of the 180,000 schools and educational programs we serve are already working to transform their districts’ teaching and learning in the digital age. We’re excited to support Open eBooks to reinforce their efforts and take strides to ensure all children have a world of knowledge within reach.
Is there a teacher in your life who works with kids in need?
First Book needs your help in connecting 5,000 new teachers, librarians, reading specialists and school administrators with brand new books and resources for back-to-school.
Anyone working at a Title I school is eligible to sign up now with First Book (or any program serving kids in need; it doesn’t have to be a school).
Once they’re signed up, they’ll:
1) have access to the First Book Marketplace, where they can find over 4,000 titles, including books for reluctant readers, Common Core resources, Caldecott and Newbery award-winners and graphic novels.
2) receive regular email updates about new, free books donated by publishers and available through the First Book National Book Bank.
Encourage the educators in your life to sign up today at firstbook.org/join.
Or share this message via the social media buttons below.
If you've read books together with a preschooler or early elementary aged child I imagine you've seen Mercer Mayer's popular Little Critter books. But if you are like us, you might not be familiar with another of Mercer Mayer's fabulously cute characters -- Little Monster.
Little Monster has pointy ears and teeth, wings and a spiky tail. He's a not-to-scary, overall-wearing, dragon kind of monster that spends his days doing the ordinary things all children do: going to school, spending time with his family and trying to stay out of trouble. The Little Monster series books were first published in the late 1970s, and the bestselling books continue to be popular with young kids today. However, many of the books are now long out-of-print.
FastPencil is helping to bring back the Little Monster books for a new generation to read. The company has released a fantastic Mercer Mayer Classic Collectible four-book series. The books feature Mayer's “Little Monster” character. My family recently had the chance to read one of the books in the series: Mercer Mayer's Little Monster Home School and Work Book.
Though it's printed with different formatting, Mercer Mayer's Little Monster Home, School and Work Book is actually a compilation of three of Mayer's original picture books: Little Monster at Home, Little Monster at School and Little Monster at Work. As collections tend to be, this hardcover book is larger-sized, 92 pages long in all. Each of the stories are treated like separate chapters within the book and a table of content in front indicates page numbers. The book is also available as an e-book download (we received the hardcover copy version to review).
Young kids can easily identify with Little Monster -- after all, even though he's dragon-like, he acts like a normal kid, not a monster! The illustrations in the book are very similar to those in the Little Critter series, packed full of imaginative, action-filled scenes and interesting characters.
My kids especially appreciate how Mayer includes little humorous scenarios within the illustrations including aliens at the airport and a spider inching down from a bathroom sink right in front of a monster cat. In fact, the illustrations are so fun to look at, you'll want to spend a little extra time pouring over the pages while reading to make sure you don't miss anything in the book. Both my kids found the book engaging and enjoyable. It's a good read aloud for preschoolers and also is challenging and interesting enough for early readers. I'd recommend it for ages preschool-2nd grade.
Little Monster gives a tour of his house in Little Monster at Home. He starts with the cellar, a rather unusual choice. (Who starts a home tour with the cellar? - I guess monsters do!) Mayer provides readers with a fun glimpse into the life of the Little Monster family. They take baths and do the laundry just like the rest of us. Little Monster's pet Kerploppus sleeps on the couch, "even though he is not supposed to." The book also details what the family does around the house during the various seasons. I adore the winter illustrations. Little Monster mentions Christmas and likes his house best in wintertime because "it's so very snuggly and warm."
In Little Monster at School, a student named Yally doesn't seem to like school much at all. He gets frustrated easily and wants to be the best at everything. Little Monster shows how to be a good friend and helps brings out the best in Yally by boosting Yally's self-confidence with some well-deserved praise. [In related news, earlier this year Wanderful, Inc. released a Little Monster at School iPad storybook app.]
My son's favorite section of the book is the Little Monster at Work part. The busy illustrations and focus on vocabulary building in this Little Monster story remind me of Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day. Little Monster follows his grandfather to various places and learns about different occupations. Together they visit a road construction site, car shop, T.V. station, circus, newspaper business, medical center, campsite, marina, the moon, a diner, home construction site, airport, farmer's market, the Olympics, craft fair, town square, and also learn about jobs in science. There's not much explanation in the text as to what the various jobs entail, but the illustrations offer unlimited discussion possibilities.
Other books in the Mercer Mayer Classic Collectible series include: Little Monster Word Book with Mother Goose; Little Monster Fun and Learn Book and Professor Wormbog In Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo
The book ends with a question from Little Monster, "Did you see anything in my book that you would like to be?" I asked my son what he wanted to be when he grows up and he replied, "a fixer." That's not entirely surprising considering both of his grandfathers are retired mechanics. We talked about the different tools mechanics use, and I asked him to identify a few common tools. He knew a few but it became quickly apparent that his basic tool vocabulary is lacking.
We were on a vocabulary kick after reading the word heavy "At Work" section of Mayer's book, so I decided to further the educational lessons and make some tool flashcards and a paper tool box envelope to hold the flashcards for my son. Now he knows correct tool terminology and can call the tools by their proper names (both grandpas will be so proud). We've played with the cards in a variety of ways including putting the tools in alphabetical order. I'm considering printing out a second set so we can play Go Fish--tool style.
I am an Amazon affiliate and may receive a very small commission for products purchased through my Amazon links. (View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.)
1 Comments on Mercer Mayer's Little Monster Home, School and Work Book - Review / Tool Flashcards, last added: 12/2/2012
With the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster approaching, I decided to do a little research online to locate educational websites and resources on the Titanic. There's no doubt about it that this ship, this disaster, this part of our history still fascinates both children and adults. The sinking is often referred to as the the greatest maritime disaster in history. But is the Titanic an appropriate topic for children to study? The Associated Press recently released a timely article, "Titanic a magnet for kids, fine line for educators" detailing how some educators and parents balance the tragic details when presenting information about the Titanic to children.
I was a student in middle school when Dr. Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985. At that time, books on the disaster became widely available, and I found reading about the discovery and the ship extremely interesting. Today, there are even more Titanic resources available for children. As with all sensitive topics, some kids will be able to handle more detailed information than others. If you do decide to talk about the disaster with your kids this April, I hope you'll find this list of online resources useful.
Titanic Activity and Discussion Guides / Lesson Plans for Educators Titanic Science Teacher Activity Guide [pdf] Titanic related science activities and experiments for kids
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition Teacher's Guide [pdf] Extensive lesson plans, activities and resources for Elementary, Middle Grade and High School (correlates with the Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition but if even if you can't visit, you can still use many of the lessons)
Ghosts of The Abyss Educator's Guide [pdf] Companion guide to James Cameron's film, Ghosts of the Abyss. Activities are designed for use by students in grades 5-8.
Wow- what an amazing list of resources. It is fascinating, but even as an adult I was sensitive to the topic at hand when I watched the movie. I think my daughter would be interested in learning more about it. (my almost 10 year old- she loves history)
"She shifts in her seat. She cranes her neck. She squints. She carries on, flying blind.
1:00 a.m. The friendly night becomes a graph of fear: a jagged line between where-I-am and not-quite-sure."
In May of 1932, Amelia Earhart boarded her red Lockheed Vega plane and set off on a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland. Her flight wasn't without challenges and despite inclement weather, a broken altimeter and other mechanical problems, she endeavored on to become the first woman to fly alone non-stop across the Atlantic. The talented Robert Burleigh takes readers along on this incredible journey by describing the flight in dramatic verses. His emotion-filled version of the harrowing, forever famous fifteen hour trip is an exceptional biographical work about Amelia Earhart, the bold and courageous aviatrix and her amazing trip.
Robert Burleigh on his website describes his book writing goals stating, "I like the book to convey the feeling of immediacy." Truly, while reading Night Flight it does seem as though you are right there, accompanying Earhart every step of the way. Wendell Minor's illustrations add to the drama and suspense, skillfully showing the white-knuckle, heart pounding moments flying over a churning ocean in darkness and finally the beauty and relief after a successful flight. Minor carefully researched the specifics of Earhart's plane before making the illustrations so that he could provide historically accurate paintings. The endpapers show a schematic of the plane and a map illustrating Earhart's flight path across the ocean. An afterward and other notes and quotes provide background information pertaining to Amelia Earhart's life.
Powerful, brilliant, fascinating, beautiful -- both my children sat quietly listening and hung onto every word as we read the story and took in the pictures together. What an incredible way to experience a moment of history, a remarkable night flight, and learn about the woman who at one time declared, "Everyone has his own Atlantics to fly. Whatever you want very much to do, against the opposition of tradition, neighborhood opinion, and so-called common sense -- that is an Atlantic."
We read this book recently, and my kids loved it too! It's so nicely done, both the text and illustrations. We'll have to look for those Creatology kits!
Thanks so much for joining in the Cybils Armchair Challenge! I will most definitely have to look for this one because my older dd read and re-read a DK biography of Amelia Earhart last year.
I'm reviewing Amelia Lost for Cybils in the middle grade/young adult category. I think it fascinating how the authors are able to pare down so much information to the essentials.
I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit that I haven't spent a lot of time teaching my preschooler son all the familiar nursery rhymes. For some reason I read the rhymes more often to my daughter when she was younger. Of course, given my love of Mother Goose, we've read Mother Goose books but not repeatedly. Sometimes I sing the rhymes for my children, but we haven't really listened to many of the nursery rhyme melodies on CD or on DVD either. In my childhood I learned and memorized many nursery rhyme melodies and there's no doubt in my mind that this early exposure to nursery rhymes helped accelerate my reading and rhyming skills.
Team Mom recently introduced my family to a nursery rhyme inspired, educational live-action children's TV series called Mother Goose Club. The series is aimed at the toddler / preschooler age group and currently airs on various PBS stations (though I don't think we've seen it on our local station). Produced by Sockeye Media, the program has received 14 Midsouth Emmy® award nominations. Just recently the company released a DVD called Nursery Rhyme Singing Time with Mother Goose Club. Here's a clip of the song "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" from the DVD:
The DVD includes 15 familiar nursery rhyme songs and five Mother Goose Club episodes.
Songs: Jack Be Nimble • Itsy Bitsy Spider • Hickory Dickory Dock • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe • Rig a Jig Jig • Where is Thumbkin • Little Bo Peep • Clap Your Hands • Baa Baa Baa Sheep • Mary Mary Quite Contrary • Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear • Humpty Dumpty • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star • Pat-a-Cake • Little Boy Blue
Episodes: Baa Baa's Rhyme Time Bonanza • Hickory Dickory Dock Rocks • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Eep Counts to Ten • Itsy Bitsy Spider Time • Teddy Bear Boogie Woogie
The Mother Goose Club characters are certainly zany! The six characters -- Teddy Bear, Jack B. Nimble, Little Bo Peep, Baa Baa Sheep, Mary Quite Contrary, and Eep Mouse -- are actual adults and kids dressed up in brightly colored costumes. The characters sing and dance, all the while teaching young viewers about rhyming words. The characters remind me a little of those from the Doodlebops series, a PBS show we watched for a short period when my daughter was younger. Perhaps that explains her fascination with the Mother Goose Club characters' showy wigs and costumes.
Parents and educators can either pick and choose songs and episodes individually from the menu or play everything at once. If you select "play all," the DVD plays the nursery rhyme songs first and then the episodes. My preschooler son prefers the short and to the point songs and likes to sing along, especially with his favorites, "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." The episodes concentrate primarily on teaching rhyming skills using various nursery rhymes. I did notice that a few of the songs aren't what I expected. "Where is Thumbkin" is abbreviated and only covers thumbkin and pointer, neglecting the other fingers. The "Baa Baa Black Sheep" song rhyme is actually titled
2 Comments on Mother Goose Club DVD - Review, last added: 7/8/2011
This sounds like a great resource for parents of preschool-aged kids! Thanks for linking up with Favorite Resource This Week: http://thegettys.blogspot.com/search/label/Favorite%20Resources :)
Spring break means vacation time for many families. Road trips, airplane flights, one day getaways -- however long or short the trip, spending quality family time together is a wonderful and good thing. But sometimes all that closeness can be difficult to handle. Next time you're wondering how you're going to survive your family trip, think about Ike LaRue, a poor dog whose vacation is anything but relaxing thanks to a pair of unexpected traveling companions, the neighbor lady's cats!
"Dr. Mrs. Hibbins, My ship has sailed, and with it all hopes of a pleasant resolution to this unhappy saga. Traveling instead by car, we have left the coast far behind. I see now why the ship's captain, in his wisdom, refused to accept cats. The creatures simply do not travel well!"
With a name like LaRue, you're bound to hit the road on a cross-country adventure at least one or twice in your life. In LaRue Across America, the hilarious letter-writing pup, Ike LaRue is all ready for the perfect summer vacation -- a cruise to Mexico with his owner, Mrs. LaRue. Unfortunately, the neighbor lady ends up in the hospital and kindhearted Mrs. LaRue offers to take care of her two cats until she recovers.
The cats aren't allowed on the cruise ship, so Mrs. LaRue decides that a cross-country vacation across America is a nice alternate. Ike, not at all excited about the car trip with two cats, writes a series of desperate letters to Mrs. Hibbins during the trip, urging her to "end the fiasco" and take her cats back. The group departs from Snort City, N.Y., and they stop in several states (New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona) before reaching Death Valley, California, an unfortunate place to visit in the middle of July. LaRue nearly gives up hope for a happy end to a "terrible journey."
Everyone that has endured a trip with bickering family members will be able to sympathize with Ike and the cats. The canine and felines fight over beds, cause disruptions at landmarks, and cheat at road games. Ike even pulls the "my side, your side" stunt by dividing the back seat with masking tape to mark territory. It's a classic cats versus dogs storyline, paired with some great illustrations by the talented Teague. All the images of the cats taunting Ike are super funny!
The book is also a bit educational as the endpapers depict a map of the U.S. and provide a way for readers to follow the madcap escapad
31 Comments on LaRue Across America: Postcards From the Vacation by Mark Teague - Book Review and Giveaway, last added: 3/26/2011
I follow you =) I was JUST (like literally minutes ago) looking at Beckett's book order form and there is a LaRue book on it! He would love a dog---he says it would help him find the things he loses! Because just being careful is not enough....
I'd love both a dog and a cat, my husband is strictly a dog person, but my boys are pretty enamored with cats, so for now, we have neither! Love the postcard book though!
I have two dogs and a cat, but the cat just hangs out here. She doesn't really have much to do with the rest of us. I'm certainly a dog fan (and hedgehogs are nice, too.)
Mentioned it on my elementary blog and posted to my FB profile. Thanks again! Love your blog. I've added several titles to consider purchasing for our library.
We always try to eat together as a family at our dining room table. Some days the dinner conversations are more interesting than others and one time we ended up talking about the topic of outer space. We explained to the kids that things float around in space due to the low-gravity environment and that if we were eating in space the food would float around.
Our table conversation must have made an impression. The next week my daughter's teacher presented the class with a science experiment - a floating paper clip. She asked the class to form a hypothesis about why the paper clip floats. My daughter answered "no gravity." Well, her hypothesis was incorrect, but I was surprised and pleased that she took something away from our conversation. She was so excited about her school science experiment that she asked if we could repeat it at home. It's a simple experiment to perform and kept the kids occupied for some time.
How does Santa fly through the sky? We really don't know. But, we had fun making a miniature Santa and his reindeer fly. We added a little holiday twist to the floating paper clip experiment by attaching an image of Santa and his reindeer to the paper clip with some tape. Flying Santa Floating Paper Clip Experiment
Scientific principles and topics: Magnetic forces metals vs. other materials Materials: Paperclip Light string Tape Magnet Paper Santa image (optional)
Procedure: Tie the paper clip to a piece of string and tape the other end of the string to a table.
Hold the paper clip up. Position the magnet above it so the magnet and paperclip are close, but not touching. Let go of the paper clip. The paper clip should float.
Explanation: The magnetic force travels through the air, attracting and suspending the metal paper clip so that it floats in mid-air.
Thoughts: This is a nice beginner experiment for helping children understand magnetic fields. Our kids enjoyed making the paper clip float as if by magic and loved making Santa fly. My daughter decided she wanted to make a snowflake dance and drew a snowflake to attach to a paperclip. My son found out that his Thomas the Train engine has magnets on the ends and discovered those magnets were strong enough that he could make the engine hang from the end of the paperclip attached by tape to the counter. We also talked about how magnetic fields can go through materials like paper (demonstrate by hanging a piece of paper on the refrigerator with a magnet). We used ordinary circle shaped magnets for our experiment, but since the kids liked this so much, we're considering buying some stronger, scientific magnets with clearly labeled poles, so that we can conduct more experiments using magnets.
11 Comments on Flying Santa Floating Paper Clip Experiment - Science Sunday, last added: 12/14/2010
We received a surprise in our mailbox last weekend. As part of a second grade school project, one of our friends colored a Flat Stanley and mailed him to our home. Lucky us! We're the first stop for her paper doll's adventure. That's him in the image above. (I hope he didn't mind getting scanned!) Don't you love the clothes and hair?
If you've never heard of the Flat Stanley project before, the idea for this fun learning exercise comes from the children's book, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. By making and mailing their own Flat Stanley, kids can learn about interesting places around the world. Here's a little more about the character, according to the letter we received with our Flat Stanley -- "Stanley is a little boy who was flattened when a bulletin board fell on him. Once he was flattened paper thin, he went on many adventures. One adventure led him to climb into an envelope and mail himself to a friend in California!"
Our friend's Flat Stanley is now on his way to the UK to visit Zoe and kids at Playing by the Book. Hope he has some wonderful adventures there.
We haven't read the original book yet, but on our next trip to the library we plan to pick up a copy, probably the picture book version by Scott Nash.
Versions of the original book by different illustrators: Original 1964 version illustrated by Tomi Ungerer; ISBN 9780060206802 1996 HarperTrophy (A Trophy Chapter Book) version illustrated by Steve Bjorkman; ISBN 9780064420266 2003 40th Anniversary edition illustrated by Scott Nash; ISBN 9780060097912 2006 Picture book edition illustrated by Scott Nash; ISBN 9780061129049 2009 version illustrated by Macky Pamintuan; ISBN 9780060097912
Virtual visit!!! - While we'd love to send a Flat Stanley to all of our blog friends, we can't afford the postage. However, if you are reading this post, Flat Stanley has just visited you vir
14 Comments on Flat Stanley - Stopping by for a visit, last added: 11/12/2010
Hi, Flat Stanley! You are virtually visiting me and my family in Beaver Falls, PA. Beaver Falls, is about an hour north of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is where Heinz ketchup is made. A few recognizable names from Beaver County: Joe Namath and Christina Aguilera.
You chose a great family to visit, Stan! We're in Virginia and our own flat "E" visited her aunt last year. She had a great time, and I'm sure you will too!
We haven't participated in a flat Stanley project before, but I know B would love it. We have made sure we take pictures of some of his favorite toys when they go on vacation with us! We're in California, so you can count a virtual visit here!
Hi Flat Stanly from Montesano, WA. Montesano is a small town West of the Capital, Olympia WA close to the Pacific Ocean.
We haven't participated in the Flat Stanley project, but have heard a lot about it. Have fun learning about all the different places Flat Stanley visits!
Hi Stanley! It's so nice to meet you! I hope you are having a nice visit in Blogland.
We have hosted a Stanley. He mostly sat by my desk with the cat and kept me company while I wrote, but I did try to take him out to museums, theater, etc. He seemed to enjoy that. Stanley was a wonderful house guest.
Anonymous said, on 11/10/2010 7:03:00 AM
Hello Flat Stanley. You are visiting Dodgeville, Wisconsin. It is the county seat for Iowa County, Wisconsin and the home to the oldest courthouse still in use in Wisconsin. Also the home of Lands' End retailers.
How Fun! "Hi" from Palatine, Illinois!! My first grader's class took Flat Stanley all around the world - whenever a parent in the class went on a trip, they would take Stanley with them and take a picture.
Now that my children are grown and gone I'd completely forgotten about Flat Stanley. Glad to see they are still around and taking on new life. Great project.
We stayed pretty healthy all summer long, but last month my entire family caught a virus. Although I'm pretty sure we're almost back to normal, we're all still coughing every once and awhile. Back-to-school often means increased colds and illnesses, especially for young children. Books can help teach children about the spread of germs and ways to prevent illness.
'Mom said, "You've caught a bug. Hop back into bed. I'll make chicken soup. We don't want this to spread." "But I did catch a bug. I have to go in. The Bug-A-Fair's today. I know I can win."'
Lori Calabrese recently released her first children's book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade. Her book puts a humorous spin on the phrase, "I've caught a bug," commonly used when referring to an illness. Third-grader Matt discovers an unusual insect on his Dad's car and excitedly puts it in a bottle to take to his school's Bug-A-Fair. He hopes to win top prize showing off his special bug. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse. The morning of the Bug-A-Fair, Matt catches another type of bug, the cold bug! He insists on going to school and creates havoc in more ways than one.
It's tempting to go to work or school even if you're sick, especially when an important event is taking place. However, as Calabrese's book illustrates, this action is inconsiderate because you expose others your illness. My daughter loves school so much that she was in tears when she found out she was going to miss a day of school due to a fever and illness last month. But, after reading Calabrese's book together, she was able to better understand why it is best to stay home when she "catches a bug." The story, told in rhyming verse, tackles a serious topic in a silly, fun way that kids will enjoy.
Also worth mentioning -- the insect featured in the book, the Hines Emerald Dragonfly, is actually a real bug found in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin. This type of dragonfly is truly rare. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Hines Emerald Dragonfly is on the endangered species list. Calabrese creatively manages to educate and inform about two seemingly separate subjects by wrapping them together in a cute story. Ironically, her book is published by a small press named Dragonfly Publishing, Inc! I wish she would have included even more factual information about the interesting, endangered dragonfly in her book. Calabrese's website includes pdf teaching guides about germs, extinction, and other book related activities.
My son LOVES school just like your daughter and was so upset when he got a stomach virus last week and had to stay home for two days. It's a difficult thing to teach children about spreading germs, so I hope the book can be a good resource for parents and teachers.
My kids love reading a book we have called "Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox". They shouldn't ever get it since they had the vaccine, but they think it's fun to read :-)
My kids have never seen an ocean. They've never walked on the sand or felt the waves lap at their feet. They've never heard the ocean roar, though I know they'd love the sound. They like pretending to hear the ocean by holding Grandma's large conch shell to their ears. When you live in the Midwest, a trip to the ocean is a vacation, something that takes planning and time. Someday we'll take the kids to visit an ocean. But for now, they'll have to experience it in books and on film. Disney's latest release, Disneynature: Oceans Blu-ray & DVD is a great place to start.
Disneynature: Oceans premiered in U.S. theaters on Earth Day 2010. The Blu-ray/DVD combo just came out on October 19th and we had the chance to preview it in our home. Wow, the cinematography in this masterfully produced documentary really is spellbinding. My kids sat entranced for a good portion of the movie, soaking in the fascinating, crystal clear photography and expressive narration by James Brosnan. It really feels like you are right there in that underwater world alongside the extraordinary creatures and sights.
The documentary explores all five oceans (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic (or Southern) Ocean). In the beginning of the film children run along the beach and a young boy pauses to contemplate the sight as the narrator remarks, "to really know the ocean, you have to live it." For one hour and 24 minutes, viewers truly live it and gain a special appreciation for the "universe of wonder and mystery" through the amazing sights and sounds caught on film.
One of my favorite quotes from Oceans is when the narrator remarks, "Down here it's like nature has given everything a try." Views get a chance to witness a variety of different species, all living in their natural habitats -- yellow clouds of jellyfish, mobula rays, a extraordinary blanket octopus, curious sea lions, humpback whales waking up from a slumber, a leafy sea dragon, a strange looking Asian sheepshead wrasse -- the list goes on and on. There's a touching scene with a walrus mother cradling her baby. In one particularly powerful scene, dolphins jump and swim with speed through the water, herding a large school of fish together while sea bird dive down snatching the fish in their beaks. An impressively large whale joins the feast -- what a sight!
The narration is there more for effect than for explanation. This is a very visual production, a starting off point for independent exploration. I sat and watched the movie along with my kids and we conversed throughout, discussing the images on screen. As I po
2 Comments on Disneynature: Oceans Blu-ray/DVD Combo - Review, last added: 11/1/2010
I should buy things like this to watch with my son. He's not really big on videos (he loves Disney cars, but that's just about it! Diego has now been deemed scary for no known reason). But he loves animals and the aquarium.
"The cameras were rolling -- it was live from coast to coast, a special twelve-hour program, and click Dark was the host."
Bats Around the Clock by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Melissa Sweet; HarperCollins (April 2000); ISBN 9780688164690; 32 pages Book Source: Copy from our personal library
Bats, typically nocturnal creatures, gather for a 12 hour dance-a-thon, American Batstand style. Starting early at one o'clock, they start with the shug, moving through various other dances like the twist, hootchi-coo and hokeypokey as the clock strikes hour after hour all the way to midnight. Click Dark hosts the rockin' dance event and a special bat in blue suede shoes makes a late night appearance. Little mice hold up analog clock images at each hour, making the book especially fun for kids that are learning to tell time.
This is the third book in Applet's bat math book series that includes Bat Jamboree (counting) and Bats on Parade (multiplication). The rollicking verses rhyme, and Sweet's humorous watercolor illustrations add a fun twist to the story with images like a "Gotham Electronics" store and bats lined up in the street doing the locomotion.
A couple weeks back we attended the Sheboygan Childrens Book Festival. We bought several books while there including Bats Around the Clock by Kathi Applet. While we didn't have a chance to attend any of her presentations (you can only do so much with two little kids in tow), we did get a chance to meet her at the book signing. She is the author of many books, both picture books and those for older readers including The Underneath, a 2009 Newberry Honor book.
❖❖❖❖❖❖ stArt Craft - Accordion Wing Paper Bats ❖❖❖❖❖❖
Last year Filth Wizardry posted some awesome Toilet roll bats with accordion folded wings. I really didn't want to get out the black paint this week so we modified the craft by drawing and cutting a paper body out of black cardstock instead of using the toilet rolls. The kids added google eyes and decorated the bats with
10 Comments on Bats Around the Clock by Kathi Applet - Book Review and Bat Craft, last added: 10/29/2010
I never heard of the bat math series,thank you for the information. I love the bat toliet paper craft, especially the picture of it hanging upside down. Thank you for sharing.
Not too spooky and fun to sing, I'm sure these videos will be a hit with your kids at home or in the classroom. We liked watching them and singing along.
"The Halloween Song" from HeidiSongs - A counting song that's a great alternative to the 5 Little Pumpkins Song
Bring back some memories with the songs on this library.thinkquest.org Halloween music list. Remember "Ghoul Days", "Boogie Woogie Ghost" or "Skin and Bones" (There was an Old Woman) with the Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, Ooo refrain? The lyrics are all there and some include music links.
According to a recent White House Press release, President Obama announced a new goal of recruiting 10,000 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) teachers over the next two years. Students in the U.S. lag behind in math and science when compared to their peers in other countries and the government wants to see improvements in STEM education. Even at my daughter's school I've noticed they've started to put more of an emphasis on math and science. Each week in kindergarten, my daughter observes and participates in a new science experiments and every week she brings home a math at home worksheet to complete.
This fall I've been trying to focus more on science and math with my kids in our daily lives. While the school will teach the basics, I believe it is important for us, as parents, to encourage the curious minds of children through simple home activities. Starting this past month, we've been trying to participate in Science Sunday every week.
Just recently through Mom Central, I learned of a new science publication for kids ages 6 to 9. KNOW: The Science Magazine for Curious Kids by Mad Science contains short articles and plenty of engaging pictures, experiments, games and activities to help children think scientifically. Right now a free online copy of the Sept/Oct 2010 KNOW Magazine is available for download. A bi-monthly publication, the yearly subscription rate for the U.S. is $28 (Canadian dollars). That price doesn't seem too bad, especially considering the magazine contains very few ads.
My kids and I really enjoyed browsing the magazine online. The articles are laid out in an artful, eye-pleasing way, with the right balance of text and pictures on each page. This newest issue contains all sorts of interesting pieces on shapes, patterns, origami and more. The see-through frog on page 3 amazed my children and they wanted to know more about it. We used the page on Fibonacci Fun in this issue as the basis for one of our Science Sunday posts a few weeks ago. And, there's even a page featuring book reviews by kids! Hooray! This magazine looks like an excellent supplement for home science studies. I also think that the publication might be a good one for public and school libraries to offer for check-out to their patrons. Magazines like KNOW provide the perfect stimulus for kids and parents to talk about and learn about science together.
"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Mad Science and received the products necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate."
0 Comments on KNOW: The Science Magazine for Curious Kids as of 1/1/1900
A week and a half or so ago I posted pictures of our Russian Mammoth Sunflowers. The kids really have enjoyed watching them grow this summer and now the seed head are starting to dry. Sunflower seeds grow in an interesting spiral pattern, and this pattern follows the Fibonacci sequence. We had a little fun learning about the Fibonacci sequence this weekend and observing the pattern in nature.
Although my kids are pretty little yet, they are not too young to understand patterns, count petals or observe spirals. However, the math behind the Fibonacci sequence is a little beyond their abilities just yet.
Just to give you a little background on the subject, the Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers that you get starting with the numbers 0 ,1. You add those two numbers together 0 + 1 = 1. Now the sequence is 0, 1, 1. To continue the sequence, you add the last two numbers in the sequence together to get the next number. 1 + 1 = 2 then 2 + 1 = 3 then 3 + 2 = 5 and so on and eventually end up with this string of numbers:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 ...
First we observed the spirals by looking at one of the sunflower seed heads in our backyard. We counted (or rather I counted) the spirals going to the right. The spirals totaled 55. We tried to count the spirals going left, but lost track. I didn't want to cut the sunflower head off just yet because this year we want to watch the heads dry naturally outside. The counting would have been much easier if we would have taken the head off and sat it on a flat surface. According to the "Fibonacci Fun" article in this month's KNOW Magazine, "different kinds of sunflowers have different numbers. The pairs might be 34 and 55, or 55 and 89, or 89 and 144."
After observing the sunflowers, we went on a Fibonacci nature hunt in our backyard. We counted the petals on many of the flowers and noticed several that had a Fibonacci number. Many of the flowers we found had 5 petals, and one had 8. We found a white flower with 10 petals (not a Fibonacci number) but when we looked more closely we noticed that the flowers petals were arranged in a star pattern with 5 points (a Fibonacci number). Not all flowers have a Fibonacci number of petals (our Black-eyed Susan flowers should have had 21, but some of them did not because they had lost petals).
Meet Sally and Sam, our new resident ghosts. Sam and Sally are friendly ghosts but they do make some noise. Not Boo! More like a screaming WHIRRRRRRRRRRR WHIRRRRRRRRRR WHIRRRRRRRRRR! I blame Steve Spangler for the ghost invasion. The ghosts came into our lives after we tried his Screaming Balloons Experiment. And they've been haunting the house ever since.
Our balloon experiment started out innocently enough. It's actually pretty simple, involves sound and motion and helps teach the following scientific principles:
Centripetal force and Vibration
Materials: A latex balloon (we used Blue, Helium Quality, 12" size) 1/4" hex nut
Procedure: (for full directions, see the Steve Spangler Website or reference page 137 in his new book, Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes)
Place the hex nut into the mouth of the uninflated balloon and shake it down until it rests on the bottom of the balloon.
Blow up the balloon until it is a little over 1/2 way inflated. Take great care so that you don't suck the hex nut back out accidentally. Tie the balloon and examine the hex nut inside. Make the hex nut swirl around inside by moving the balloon in a swirling circular motion. Listen to the balloon scream.
Explanation: Pulled in a circular motion due to centripetal force, the hex nut swirls around inside the balloon and, in doing so, the flat edges of the hex nut vibrate against the side of the balloon causing a screaming sound.
Our thoughts: Instantaneously a hit. My daughter simply had no idea that the hex nut would make the screaming noise. Her initial thought was that it would just roll and thump around. Both kids were extremely excited that they could make their balloons "sing." That's right, even my two-year-old could make the balloon scream all by himself just by shaking the balloon up and down (under my watchful supervision - wouldn't want this choking hazard near him without an adult nearby). I first saw this experiment in the new science book Steve Spangler sent me to review, called
12 Comments on Screaming Balloon Ghosts for Halloween - Science Sunday, last added: 9/13/2010
We did the Spangler balloon thing too, a while back - and posted a video of our own. I like the idea of putting them in the bags - we're not huge ghost fans (although yours are very cute), but then, when the balloon pops, you've got some protection :) Very nice adaptation of the activity!
I am holding off on doing this after Leah at Almost Homeschoolers had the video up from when she did it. Selena panicked thinking Leah's little girl had the balloon stuck to her hand. I do love your ghosts though!
During one of my shopping trips to Michaels, I picked up a couple of Magic Grow Dino Eggs at a cost of $2 each. This version of the popular Grow-in-Water Toys is a realistic looking egg with a plastic dinosaur inside that magically grows when submerged in water.
While this science activity might not be accurate in respect to learning about dinosaurs, it is a wonderful experiment to teach young children about polymer materials and scientific principles:
superabsorbent polymers absorption expansion air/water displacement submergence engineering practices - designing a product to fail/fracture at specific points evaporation measurements
Procedure: Remove egg from package and submerge in a container of water.
Day 0: The egg sinks to the bottom of the container as it takes on water through the small holes in the shell, releasing air bubbles on the way down.
Day 1: As the dinosaur slowly expands it pushes against the inside of the egg, and the stress causes the eggshell to fail along the preexisting, manufactured crack lines. The dinosaur breaks through the shell after 24 hours.
Day 2: The dinosaur continues to expand. Its entire upper body is visible. Patience wears thin and children manually remove the dino from its shell. :)
Explanation: The dinosaur is made of a superabsorbent polymer that absorbs a large amount of water relative to its size. As the polymer absorbs water it expands, putting stress on the thin wall of the shell (the shell is also designed to fail at specific points and even see
8 Comments on Hatching Dinosaur Eggs: Lesson in Absorption - Science Sunday Experiment, last added: 9/6/2010
Fun idea! I was browsing the dollar store yesterday and thinking how funny it is that I look at everything so differently now that I am trying to use things as teaching tools or blog fodder. I was wandering the toy aisle thinking, "hmmm, what could we do with this stuff." Like we bought a $1 halloween skeleton decoration, because I thought, "ooh, this will help us learn about bones." Anyway, love your idea/post. Welcome to Science Sunday (I've only participated once or twice so far).
My kindergartener has a love of words or, more accurately, a love of made-up words. She's not able to sit down and write words by sounding them out yet, but lately she's shown a lot of interest in arranging letters together to form pretend words. After she finishes writing her string of letters, she asks, "Mommy, what does this say?" We sound the word out together and laugh. She originally created a lot of words with only consonants, until I explained to her that all words usually contain vowels between the consonants. Our pretend word play turned into a simple lesson about vowels and consonants, and I provided her with a list of the vowels to use as a reference when making up words.
Here are a few of her made-up dictionary entries:
Eef: a type of lettuce that looks like a leaf
Amomilis: a kind of fruit that looks like a blueberry that grows on a pink bush. They are smaller than your pinky. If you drop one, it will disappear.
Coymix: type of food you need to mix. Need to make sure it doesn't have too much sugar because it might get very tall and all messy. It's a different kind of cake that has nuts in it.
Cobwixu: type of animal like a giraffe but it doesn't have any spots.
My daughter drew accompanying illustrations for each of her entries. Below I've included a few of her completed pages with illustration.
Most kids I know find dictionaries fascinating. Every home library should include include at least one printed dictionary, preferably more. Yesterday, I read an article in the Washington post titled, "Internet may phase out printed Oxford Dictionary." (Today the Oxford University Press issued a statement contradicting all the online buzz that they plan to stop printing the dictionary.) I use online dictionaries quite often when trying to find the correct spelling or meaning of a word, but I've never referenced the OED, print or online. However, we do own a massively large, one volume Webster's Third New International Dictionary and even though it is not as complete as the 20 volume Oxford English Dictionary, it is still very fun to browse though and use as reference. Last year we refer
6 Comments on Little Lexicographer - Creating a Pretend Dictionary, last added: 8/31/2010
The internet will not phase out much for me. I love books in their proper form, including dictionaries! I think we have four dictionaries in our house. I love the idea of making up a dictionary! Very clever. My kids love to call out a bunch of random letters and ask me what they spell all together - most often they do not spell a real word, so this is perfect for those made up words! Thanks.
Love it! She'll be a natural at Balderdash. :) E loves the hand-me-down dictionary we received recently. She comes by in honestly - I asked for an unabridged dictionary for my 17th birthday.
Germs lurk and bad habits are hard to break. When it comes to teaching proper bathroom etiquette, it's best to start early and remind, remind, remind. This week we're headed to kindergarten orientation with my daughter. One of the only reasons that I'm not really looking forward to the school year is the increased risk of colds and illnesses. This year I'm planning to make a side trip to the bathroom with my daughter on orientation day to familiarize her with the restroom and remind her of the importance of hand washing and other bathroom protocol. And, we've found the perfect book to help us remember all the rules of the bathroom.
"They don't mean to be messy. They haven't got a clue. Let's meet some potty animals and tell them what to do."
Potty animals. Every daycare, preschool and kindergarten teacher has seen their fair share of them. I'm sure you've even seen them yourself. Maybe even in your home. What kind of animals am I talking about? Those kids that refuse to wash their hands, flush the toilet and, time after time, display poor bathroom hygiene. Hope Vestergaard provides a humorous yet instructive book for all those little potty animals. Sycamore Preschool is full of animals that forget their bathroom manners. Wilber doesn't wash his hands, Wilma waits too long, Freddie forgets to flush and Georgie doesn't wipe. In rhyming verses, Vestergaard writes of all sorts of bathroom woes and gently provides tips on the right way to handle bathroom visits. An easy and fun read aloud, the verses even prompt kids to help remind the characters of the potty rules. Hopefully when kids use the bathroom, they'll remember and try to avoid the bad behaviors of the potty animals.
This is not a potty training book, but a book for kids on bathroom manners. Somehow Vestergaard manages to cover this important topic in a fun and tasteful way without sounding preachy. She's a veteran early childhood teacher so she's had plenty of experience with the subject matter. And it's pretty hard not to laugh at Petrone's bold illustrations of the cartoon animal characters as they break the rules. The poor male elephant teacher has his hands full in this zoo of a preschool! The toilet paper letters in the title on the cover are a cute, eye catching touch. My daughter just loves to look at the pictures (she likes the girl raccoon in the pink dress), and I've noticed that she doesn't rush around quite as much in the bathroom and thinks about the rules covered. Read the book to remind kids of proper bathroom etiquette and maybe they won't end up looking like they were raised in a barn. It's a perfect back-to-school read for all young children, and I highly recommend this helpful, humorous bathroom basics book. Teachers of young children will especially appreciate the book. Related links:
12 Comments on Potty Animals by Hope Vestergaard - Book Review and stART project, last added: 8/28/2010
I'm procrastinating potty training, but it's going to need to start soon. Right now I'm trying to get the 5 year old to use the restroom WITHOUT taking off all her clothes. An essential skill before she starts Kindergarten! Looks like a cute book!
My children will have a new cousin very soon! We are anxiously awaiting news today of the newest addition to our extended family. Little babies bring so much joy to families. However, sometimes siblings get a little jealous and may find the bundle of joy more annoying than cute. I'm interested to see how my nephew handles the upcoming changes. Hopefully, he won't have difficulty adjusting. My daughter embraced her new baby brother and never really seemed to show much resentment towards him. But now that he's a little older and more mischievous she gets a tad annoyed when he messes with her toys and she does get slightly jealous when he gets more attention.
Everything was fine UNTIL her little brother, Marvin, came along. When Lizzie tried to tell a story before breakfast, her mother said, "Not now, dear. Marvin has a dirty diaper." When she tried to tell her father a story after dinner, he said, "Maybe later, Lizzie. It's time for Marvin's bath."
Once Upon a Baby Brother by Sarah Sullivan, illustrated by Tricia Tusa. Farrar Straus Giroux (June 2010); ISBN 9780374346355; 32 pages; Ages 5-8 (Book Source: F&G Review copy from publisher, images used with permission)
Author Sarah Sullivan gives the classic sibling rivalry theme a comical and story-filled slant in her newest children's book about a big sister/little brother relationship. Lizzie, a young storyteller, loves to entertain everyone with her imaginative stories. When Marvin (her little brother) is born she continues telling stories but her parents are often too busy to listen. Lucky for her, she begins second-grade and her teacher, Miss Pennyroyal, encourages all the kids in her class to write stories. Lizzie ends up coping with her pesky brother by writing stories that star Marvin as an unpleasant character -- he's an ugly prince, a Marvinosaurus and even a nasty pirate. Lizzie uses her special Princess Merriweather pencil and her creative stories starring Marvin flow forth onto the pages. Then one fateful week Lizzie can't think of a single idea for her new school assignment. A hero eventually emerges and Lizzie realizes that having a sometimes annoying baby brother isn't necessarily a bad thing.
This amusing tale not only helps children appreciate their siblings but it also may inspire a new generation of writers. I was expecting a book about siblings but I wasn't expecting the amazingly creative ways Sullivan manages to make writing sound exciting for children. Seriously, where can we get our very own Princess Merriweather pencil topper like Lizzie's? Teachers and parents will find this book useful in helping children overcome write
20 Comments on Once Upon a Baby Brother by Sarah Sullivan - Book Review and Giveaway, last added: 6/11/2010
I totally thought about our pastors grandchildren they have not had a boy in the family for many years and recently had a son born. This young man has 2 older sisters who I am sure will give him much rivalry in their own way [email protected]
This book looks great! I have two sisters and one brother, so I can think of a lot of stories- luckily, we are all very close as adults. My older brother would pretend he was the hulk and throw me around. My older sister would fight with me alot- one time she even locked me out of the house! Hope I win the book. My 6 year old is adjusting well to having a baby brother, but there are moments where I can see she struggles with it when I'm not as available for her.
Jen Creative and Curious Kids!
ps. Thanks for the comment- great idea to draw a maze with chalk for the bikes. Just thinking - toy cars would be cute, too. Make a chalk racetrack.
I am a follower. The timing is right for this book. My daughter is expecting a son in about 3 months. Her daughter Haylee is excited right now but I can see them having problems down the line. She's always been the center of attention.
When my babysister was born my younger sister Pam brought diapers and a bottle to my parents and insisted they put the diaper on her and give her a bottle and send Patty back to the hospital because she wanted to be the baby. This jealousy carried on for years and years. Whenever we played a game she always had to be the baby.
Sibling rivalry eh? Well where do I begin. The stick is MINE...that bike is MINE....that is MY juice..Moma..Moma...he's touching me. My daughter would really enjoy this book she has a brother of her own she wishes she could trade in. Thanks for the opportunity.
This sounds like a wonderful book! I would love to share it with my niece who often lets those feelings of rivalry creep in! I remember when we were little, we were constantly fighting over things, toys, attention. One particularly bad day, my brother stole my Barbies and melted their faces against a light! mommastaci33 at yahoo dot com
What a cute idea to make a pencil-topper! I'm glad you included a picture of the one your daughter made... so cute! roseinthemorning [at] gmail [dot] com
One May afternoon not so long ago, I stood on a stage at my high school and gave my valedictory speech. I honestly don't remember what I said, and it probably wasn't all that humorous, but I imagine I reflected on the past, talked about the future and tried to impart some sort of valuable advice to my fellow classmates. Most likely I was more concerned about not fainting while on stage in front of the entire community than anything else.
"You've got your whole life ahead of you! Sometimes it'll be smooth sailing, but other times it'll be a bumpy ride, with many forks in the road."
I doubt I told my classmates to "reach for the stars" but such sayings are often used occasions like graduations and other milestones. Author/Illustrator Serge Bloch recently released a humorous and inspirational little picture book that playful expands upon some familiar idioms and offers some lighthearted advice. His line style drawings coupled with photographed objects depict a small boy and a dog as they depart on a life journey. They make a splash, end up in the doghouse, and even have a change of heart but still manage to spread their wings and soar into the star-filled sky with smiles on their faces.
It's a cute book and makes a perfect gift for graduates or anyone starting life anew. There's plenty of white space on the pages, so I also think the book would work wonderfully as a guest book journal where party guests could sign-in with their own messages and words of wisdom for the new graduate. Wouldn't that make a great and memorable keepsake? Now I just wish I knew someone graduating this year. Guess I'll just have to use the picture book to teach my preschooler about idioms and maybe someday she'll be the one on stage delivering a speech!
Thanks to Sterling Children's Books, I have an extra copy of Reach
This sounds like a great book to have. As a high school teacher, it would be a problem as to who should receive this book. So, I guess that I would have to keep it for myself as it looks like something that I would really enjoy.
We've been busy planning our garden and started a few seeds indoors this week. We hope once we finally get everything in the garden that the pests stay away. Last year we did have a few bunnies in our yard but they didn't get to our garden. Instead a nasty hailstorm shredded most of our plants. The kids received the book The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter for Easter and it is one of their favorites. I'm not going to summarize it since I'm sure everyone already knows the basic plot of this classic and popular story.
Right around Easter we discovered an amazing Peter Rabbit website. Kids can read all about Beatrix Potter, see her sketches, and learn the inspiration behind the story of Peter Rabbit. There's even online games and several printable coloring sheets.
stART project - Make Your Own Peter Rabbit Puppet Show Online
The Peter Rabbit Puppet Show is a place my kids like to visit online and we are sharing this online activity as our stART project this week. Kids star in a personalized adventure with Peter Rabbit by downloading a picture and answering a few questions. Both my kids enjoyed seeing their picture alongside Peter and listening to the accompanying adventure story. Such fun! I highly recommend this engaging website.
Our seeds have started to sprout! Exciting! If you want to see our art crafts this week, be sure to check out yesterday's Flowers Anyone? Wordless Wednesday post.
Oh no, don't lead me into more temptation! I barely have time for my existing online activities, but it looks like your kids had a lot of fun on their virtual visit to Peter Rabbit.
Going to my grandparents' farm is always a special treat. Outside we have the chance to experience the wonders of nature with acres and acres to explore, rocks to climb, a winding, mesmerizing creek to splash in and garden full of treats. Inside their home, the kitchen is always full of bustle as grandma whips up sweet rolls, cookies and a rainbow of canned produce and jams.
I have so many wonderful childhood memories of visiting my grandparents and spending summer days watching them and learning their tricks. They grew up in a vastly different time, when TVs and computers did not exist and as children they learned to love nature and its marvels and cherish time together as a family. They made sure to engage their grandchildren in similar experiences. When we visited them we did not sit in front of the TV but instead participated in life-enriching activities, played games and lived in tune with nature.
"When you're sharing nature with a child, you'll find that even a short walk through your backyard will yield a crop of fresh discoveries and questions. Start a tradition of asking, "I wonder what's going on outdoors today?" - Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars by Sharon Lovejoy
Not all grandparents (or parents) live on a farm, but that doesn't mean that they can't also inspire and create a fun-filled environment for children to explore. Sharon Lovejoy's newest book, Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars: Grandma's Bag of Tricks is a treasure trove of wonderful ideas, crafts, cooking and gardening activities and the perfect resource to use with young children. The whimsical and beautifully illustrated book is divided into several interesting sections:
The Neighborhood Naturalist (includes a mudpie recipe for attracting butterflies and instructions to make a moon phase flip book)
Kids in the Kitchen (yummy recipes like Summer Berry Soup and how to make a solar oven)
Kitchen Garbage Garden (setting up peek-a-boo plants and growing a citrus tree)
Kids in the Garden (tips on container gardening, herbs, engraving pumpkins and planting a bale garden)
Preparing Camp Granny (inspiring imaginative play and building child friendly places with fairy houses, faerie mailboxes, book baskets and more)
Rainy Day Activities (crafting ideas like rain sticks, toad cottages and making a worm hotel)
I'm always on
30 Comments on Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars by Sharon Lovejoy - Book Review & Giveaway, last added: 5/4/2010
I spent a lot of time on my grandparents' farm growing up as well. This book sounds like such fun. Too many children spend all their time on indoor activities like video games. My favorite nature activity is growing flowers from seeds. My favorite to grow is Dwarf French Marigolds that are multi-colored.
We planted a mystery garden this year. My three year old was so over zealous that I could not keep him under control. He was throwing, dumping, and burying seeds all over the garden. We will see what we have when it starts to come up I guess.
I like showing kids how to start gardening from the beginning. We plant seeds in plastic cups, until they are big enough to plant in the garden. Then the summer is watching them grow, and taking care of them. [email protected]
My oldest likes to plant and dig up potatoes every year. It's so fun seeing him get into that. This year he was worried about hurting earth worms while he was digging.
Thanks so much for your insightful comments about my book Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars. As you can tell it was written with love for both children and their mentors.
I loved reading your past posts too.
All joys,
Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island
Hello there - I subscribed by email to your blog and happy to do so. To answer your question: We love to hike with our kids. That is our absolute favorite nature activity :-)
We love to go to our camp and enjoy nature in the mountains. Our favorite activities include cooking over the camp fire and a partner scavenger hunt. This looks like a wonderful book.
I actually just bought this book and love it! I bought another copy for my mom for mother's day, and I have one more person on my list who I think would enjoy this one!
My favorite thing to do with my kids is visit the Sierra foothills here in CA with my family. Although our kids are young, they already love visiting the streams, fields, and bridges that are so beautiful around here. Yesterday we went to an old wooden covered bridge for them to clomp around in and they loved it. Just getting out there and seeing them enjoy nature is fun!
I got the boys some sunflower seeds they are going to plant to feed the birds and have a contest on who's will grow the tallest. mintstatesportswear(at)juno(dot)com
Although we live in the city, we are fortunate to have Metroparks available which offer all kinds of free nature activities - nature walks, an annual Bug Fest, an annual Fishing Derby, mapling in February/March. Our favorite nature activities usually revolve around some of the Metroparks' activities! This book looks as though it would be a great inspiration for more creative ideas for the bebes and for the grandbebes! Thanks for the chance to win!
There's nothing better we like to find in our mailbox than a friendly personalized note or letter. Zoe at Playing by the book is hosting an International Postcard Swap for Families. The deadline for signing up is this Friday, April 30th. She's hoping that families from all over the world will participate. The swap isn't too intensive - all it requires is that you send 5 postcards to the families she picks for you. In turn, you'll also receive 5 postcards.
For those that like to receive postcards, I'd also recommend Postcrossing. This is a large and well organized postcard exchange site. We've been members for a while now and have received some wonderful cards from all over the world.
1 Comments on International Postcard Swap for Families, last added: 4/27/2010
can find in the Olinguito Activity Kit and Teacher’s Guide:
Veronica has a degree from Mount Saint Mary College and joined LEE & LOW in the fall of 2014. She has a background in education and holds a New York State childhood education (1-6) and students with disabilities (1-6) certification. When she’s not wandering around New York City, you can find her hiking or hanging out with her dog Milo in her hometown in the Hudson Valley, NY.
Is there a teacher in your life who works with kids in need?
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by Robert Burleigh, paintings by Wendell Minor. 
by Mark Teague. 
is a great place to start.
by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Melissa Sweet; 
by Hope Vestergaard, illustrated by Valeria Petrone; 
by Sarah Sullivan, illustrated by Tricia Tusa. 
by Serge Bloch. 
by Beatrix Potter for Easter and it is one of their favorites. I'm not going to summarize it since I'm sure everyone already knows the basic plot of this classic and popular story. 
is a treasure trove of wonderful ideas, crafts, cooking and gardening activities and the perfect resource to use with young children. The whimsical and beautifully illustrated book is divided into several interesting sections:
I think a fixer is a very good job! What a wonderful way to explore the concepts of a book!
Thank you for linking to Read.Explore.Learn. I will be sharing this post on the Read.Explore.Learn. Facebook page tomorrow.