Archive for May 2009
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, markers( or crayons), glue, scissors and dry quinoa.
- Start by drawing a large uppercase Q on one piece of construction paper.
- Have your child decorate it with markers if they choose. This is a time when you can talk about the letter, making it’s sound, talking about upper vs lowercase. Or just letting your child get into coloring. My son was doing this while his dad had lunch and narrated every step to dad at the other end of the table.
- Cut the beautiful Q out.
- Glue onto the 2nd piece of paper
- Add more glue!
We took turns , he made puddles of glue and I made a thin line. - Add the quinoa – before sprinkling it on, give your child some time to play and feel it. We talked about how it is dry and not cooked yet, we don’t eat it like this. My son made the connection that it’s like rice and I had a proud mama moment.
- Let dry.
More Alphabet Books!
“The Alphabet From A To Y With The Bonus Letter Z” by Steve Martin was introduced to me by Rebecca when she sent it in for this post . When I saw it at the library I grabbed it and so glad I did. It’s a fun book with silly rhymes for each letter and I was surprised that my son sat all the way through it. It’s a pretty long alphabet book for a toddler. I liked the details in the illustrations even if the sometimes gross humor was not my favorite, but kids will love it !
“All Aboard : A traveling alphabet” by Bill Mayer was more fun for my husband and I than for my son but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a book of pictures, with hidden letters in them. For example the letter O is overpass with loops of road and hidden in it is an O. Some letters were easy to find some were hilariously hard. We read this to my son tonight at bedtime and while we stared at the letter H ( highway) picture debating where the h was, he fell asleep between us in his bed. This is a great alphabet book for families with children just learning and those who have mastered the alphabet. Oh and the debate was settled , we were both wrong. The final page highlights the letter in each picture in a compilation of the whole alphabet.
This blog has not been around long, but it has made a big splash! If you love books as much as we do you have to click on the banner above! I like that the baby’s reaction to books are often included as well as from a parent’s perspective. Don’t expect all the reviews to be fantastic either, they give honest opinions so sometimes there are “Parent Peeves” when something in the book isn’t quite right. I also particularly love that each book is linked to Amazon so you can find it for your home library immediately .
” Daddy Hugs” by Karen Katz is a cute little counting book for toddlers. I gave it to my husband two years ago for his first father’s day and my son hated it. However in the years since it’s become a favorite and nothing beats a board book for when toddlers get to that destructo stage. Also like Katz’s “Mommy Hugs” book it grows with your child. Now at 2.5 my son likes to find the number on the page and read it to us before we read him the text.
” The 10 Best Things About My Dad” by Christine Loomis didn’t leave much of an impression with me until I hit #8, which says ” When I am sad he hugs me close . He never says “Don’t cry”. That page won me over, and made this book stand out for me. I love that it’s promoting sensitivity in both the dad and little boy! I think anything that shows such care is worth a look.
“Daddy’s Song” by Leslea Newman was a big hit with my son. The book is a lullaby that a father sings to his daughter before bed. It’s whimsical and at times down right funny. The illustrations by Karen Ritz keep up with the whimsy and make it all seem like a silly dream. Then the end of the book brings us all back to reality with the most important message, that even if all these silly things did happen and turned the little girls world topsy turvy, that her dad would be there and still love her. Big thumbs up from us for this sweet but not sappy book!
“My Daddy” by Susan Paradis . This book is a look at daddy from a little boy’s worshiping point of view. We see all the things his dad can do, and how the little boy wants to do these things too. In many of the illustrations we see the daddy doing something like mowing the lawn and the son is watching with a toy mower. This book was just ok for me, there was nothing wrong with it , it just didn’t move me the way some of the others have.
“Piglet and Papa” by Margaret Wild. I was so happy to discover that this author wrote a daddy book to compliment “Piglet and Mama” which I reviewed and loved for Mother’s Day. Papa pig and piglet are playing and piglet thinks she may have made her daddy very angry and worries about his love for her. The other farm animals help by reassuring piglet and finally she finds Papa pig and the other animals were right he does love her more than anyone in the whole world.
Not only does this activity entertain your little locksmith to be, it also develops manual dexterity , hand eye coordination , problem solving and memory! That’s a lot for one simple ( and mess free) activity. My son loved it- it was challenging but not frustrating. My advice is if you think your little one is ready, try it if they get frustrated put it away for a while, then try again.
- Gather your materials. I got 3 different lock/ key combos at a discount store, you want them to look different so it’s not too confusing. I also a binder ring for a key chain and a tray to keep the activity in one place.
- Put all three keys onto the ring.
- Lay out the locks and key chain and invite your child to open these locks.
- I helped with the first before I was shooed away by my independent 2 year old.
“Look mama look! Key in!”
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Totem Pole
1. Gather your materials. Before starting gather some pictures of totem poles, explain that totem poles were used for all different reasons, to tell legends, record history and sometimes just for art. You will need many colors of construction paper, scrap paper is great, although you will need one large piece for the wings. A piece of plain white paper, paper towel roll, glue, scissors, a marker, a paper punch, and some colorful markers. You may also want some tape to keep things in place while glue dries.
2. Start by coloring the white paper, older children can do patterns , younger ones can just go for it. Other than playing with the final product, this was the only step my little man helped me with.3.While they color, cut out eyes, long strips for faces, noses- the sky is the limit. We cut out 3 pairs of eyes, some eyebrows a few noses and mouths.
4.Cut out some wings set aside
5. Cut small feathers from the scrap paper. Set aside.
6. When they are done coloring, wrap the white paper around the paper towel roll. Trim if needed. Set aside.
7. Start gluing on the totem animals faces
, although we didn’t decide exactly what animals we were making, as we glued them on we decided on a raven, a frog and a seagull. Not sure there are many seagulls on real totem poles but that’s ok.
8. Glue the feathers on the wings.9. Glue the wings on the pole and let dry.
I am looking for some guest reviewers for chapter books. If your school age child and/or you would like to review a book you’ve read please email me with the title, the author , your review , first name and age. I will be doing 2-3 of these special posts throughout the summer. If you have any questions drop me a line !
