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Archive for April 2010

Books About “Issues”

April 10, 2010

We all go through them as parents our kids won’t give up a pacifier, won’t go to sleep, won’t do something that until we were parents wasn’t even on our radar! These books are all about those “issues” .

Edwardo the Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide Worldby John Burningham is a must read for anyone who is in a position of authority among children, it is a poignant look at what happens when you scold and belittle a child and then what the outcome is when you praise. I have always had a extra special place in my heart for students who act out it’s rarely not for a reason and this book will help remind anyone how children need understanding more than harsh words and punishment especially when they are being horrible.

Jake’s Best Thumb by Ilene Cooper is a pretty realistic look at a preschooler who is happily sucking his thumb despite the adults in his life warning him about bad teeth, thumb sucking not being for big boys and asking his gently when he thinks he will be ready to stop. What I love about this book is that Jake’s reactions are spot on. I like how sometimes he doesn’t even know he is sucking his thumb, how he denies he is a bog boy ( compared to his big sister) when it’s suggested he is too big to suck his thumb now and the shame he feels when he starts kindergarten and is teased for doing it. School is a turning point, teasing hurts but it’s not just the realistic reaction of a bully that forces Jake to suck only at night. It’s the realization that lots of kids need something at night, even as he discovers the class bully.

Oh No , Gotta Go #2

Oh No, Gotta Go #2! by Susan Middleton Elya was an instant hit with my 3 year old. He relates perfectly to the little girl who is off to the park with her parents to have a picnic and ride her trike when all of a sudden she feels it… she needs to poop! Whether you are in the middle of potty training or at the stage where times like these still occur your child will probably love this book. My son needs little help in the potty these days but absolutely gets that paniced look when he knows he needs to go but isn’t sure where or if there is a potty. Parents will giggle at the her parent’s reaction of grabbing her off her trike, running, throwing keys to each other and their panic. Also this book is bilingual, with Spanish words threaded into a mostly English text. Don’t worry if you don’t read Spanish there is a quick pronunciation guide at the start of the book.

Owen This book warms my heart. Owen is attached to his fuzzy blanket but some people think Owen is too big for a blanket and it’s time to grow up. Owen goes everywhere and needs his blanket still, but his parents are getting pressure from a nosy neighbor to take it away. I think this is an amazing book about parenting. I know that as a mom who is still nursing her 2 year old that I have been told many times the same things that Owen’s parent’s are told “He can’t be a baby forever, can’t you just say no etc…” like Owen’s parent’s I know what my child is ready for and don’t give into nosy neighbors but instead do the best thing for my child. No matter what your child’s lovey is, whether it’s a plush animal, blanket, pacifier or you – you’ll relate to this book. Oh and kids love it too, my son often asks for this one before bed.

Mama Always Comes Home by Karma Wilson was a last minute grab at the library that I am so thankful I saw. It starts off with animal mother’s leaving their babies, for all different reasons . A bird gathering food, a dog greeting his master and more. The animal mothers leave, but they also always return to their babies. Then it switches to a child and mother. She reassures the child that she will be back and we watch her leave, and return . I loved this book because my son isn’t the best when I leave him, he related to this book immediately and was repeating ” Mama always comes home!” half way through.

Jake Stays Awake by Michael Wright made both my husband and I laugh hysterically my son liked it too, but we loved it. It’s about a little boy who can’t sleep without his parents and they don’t like sleeping with feet in their faces. Can you relate? We can which is why we found this book so funny. What I liked was that Jake wasn’t disciplined for wanting to sleep with his parents, and they tried and tired all different places to sleep, they were just being honest that it wasn’t working anymore! My son loved the page that they were all sleeping in garbage cans and I loved that Jake looked to be about 12 , it gives me hope that my son may sleep alone by puberty.

Posted in Book List, Books About "Issues", Potty Training, Thumb Sucking |

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Frugal Flower Craft

April 9, 2010

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Pool Noodle Garland

This pool noodle garland is not a preschool craft , but younger children could easily thread the ribbon through the middle of the flower instead ! Either way this frugal craft is a great way to decorate for spring for only $3 which is exactly what I spent on the materials. Hope your Friday is frugal and fun!

Gather your materials. You will need 2 or more colors of pool noodles ( check to see what shape the are on the ends), some ribbon, a bread knife and scissors. I also used a dry paint brush as a “needle”.
Start by slicing your noodle into sections with your bread knife.
Cut your ribbon to the length you want and make a large knot.
Next using sharp scissors make a hole through one of the petals.
Push your ribbon through the hole – using the end of a paintbrush, or chopstick.
Alter colors to make a pattern.
Pin up and enjoy flowers inside for as long as you want!

Book

The Gardener

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart Is a really touching book that I would happily recommend for school age children. It’s a beautiful story about a little girl during the depression who is shipped to the city to work in her uncle’s bakery because both her parents are out of work. She is obviously nervous but knows that it’s something she has to do. She takes a little of the country with her in seed packets which she plants in the city while she learns about baking and becomes friends with her uncles employees. This is more a story about making the most of hard times, and would be a great way to talk about the great depression with your child. There are so many little things in the illustrations by David Small to talk about , from a picture of FDR to traveling by train and the general sense of sadness . In the end it’s a warm hearted book that I can’t wait to share with my son in a few years.

Posted in Age 8 and older, Flower, Frugal Friday, Garland |

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Fire Truck Craft

April 8, 2010

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fire truck craft

It is no secret my son loves fire trucks. We often have to drive by the local station on the way home to see if the trucks are in or busy rescuing people. This fire truck craft does take some prep work but is a great lesson in shapes and as your child gets older you can simply give them the pieces and let them put them together like a puzzle. I was very hands off today and glad I was, he needed very little help. All I did was ask him where he thought each piece should go and what shape each was.

Gather your materials. You will need some red, yellow, orange, white and black paper, scissors , a black marker and glue.
Start by pre cutting the shapes. I started with a building with rectangle windows – this is not necessary I did this per my son’s request for something on fire. The picture of this is lost – I made it by cutting a black rectangle then folding it and making rectangle window cut outs.
Next I cut out a ladder, a main rectangle for the truck, a square for the ab, a tiny square for the siren, 3 circles for the wheels and yellow and orange triangles for the flames coming out of the burning building. If your child is able simply draw the shapes and have them cut them out!
Time for your little learner to join you. Add glue for the shapes.
Start piecing them together- we started with the main part of the truck then the ladder.
The cab and wheels.
Don’t forget to ask your child what all these shapes are! Next we added the small square for a siren.
He added the building
Next he channeled his toddler self and pretended to eat the glue ” No I am not eating it mama, I am playing with the air puffs.” That didn’t make me feel better !
And the triangle flames.
Let dry.

Books

Flashing Fire Engines

Flashing Fire Engines by Tony Mitton is a favorite at our house. Normally even after my son and I read the books we review I grab them to do the write up , this is on my son’s shelf where it always is I know the whole thing off by heart as does my son , so no need to grab it for reference. The book is a rhyming masterpiece, somehow keeping up the rhyming pace as it explains how firefighters fight fires and rescue people! Details like what gear they wear, and how hoses and hydrants work are included as well as ladders and sirens. My son loves this book and as an adult who has read it hundreds of times it’s fun to read, even over and over again.

All Aboard Fire Trucks

All Aboard Fire Trucks by Teddy Slater is never where i expect it to be in my house, because my son carries it around to read all by himself. No at 3 he isn’t reading yet instead he’s memorized much of this text and likes to sit and go over the many types of fire vehicles that are discussed in this very detailed book. I have learned a lot from this book. It covers the basics but also goes into the more specialized fire vehicles like airport firetrucks, foam units for chemical fires and bulldozers used in forest fires. If your child gasps every time they see a firetruck, can tell a pumper from a ladder and dreams of fighting fires, they will love this informative book!

tonka fire trucks

Tonka: Fire Trucks by Melissa A Torres is another favorite of my son. This is a Tonka book and has wheels that really roll which has served us well while traveling. It serves a double duty as a book and toy. The book itself isn’t bad either- which surprised me because usually novelty books like this usually underwhelm me. This book covers all the major types of vehicles used to fight fires, a pumper, an aerial ladder truck, fire chief’s truck, rescue truck and fire boat. Just the right amount of info is given for each and the illustrations support the text well. If your child isn’t into fire trucks I wouldn’t go searching out this book but if they are it’s a a worthy addition to your library of firetruck books.

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Crafts, firetrucks, Shape Activities, Shape Fire Truck, Transportation |

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Hands On Music!

April 7, 2010

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Hands on music

One of my biggest goals as a parent isn’t to fit my son into an idea of who I think he should be but to expose him to as many interests, experiences and cultural offerings I can within my budget and capabilities. I would love to take him to Europe to see my favorite paintings, or to hear an opera in Belfast’s ornate opera house … but he is 3, and even if we had that much money to spend on travel instead of student loans and our mortgage the idea of a jet lagged 3 year old scares me. One day he will see it all, I am determined but until then our cultural experiences are a little closer to home. We often go on field trips on Fridays and we rarely spend more than we have to- here was our latest adventure.

Spend some time searching through your local sights ( zoo, symphony, children’s museums, art museums, aquarium…) websites. Most will have one day a month ( or more) that are free to the public. To me this is imperative especially the first time you go somewhere like this , because it’s a great time to test out if your child is ready, if the exhibits will hold their attention, basically if it’s a good fit for your family. You can also check their websites for cool programs, we found out that there was a special ( free) story time included with our free admission!
Pack light but effectively. Obviously with only 1 kid I am able to keep it minimalistic these days. Extra pants, extra undies, a camera, snacks, wallet and it all fits in a small purse.It’s easier to chase after a kid with less baggage !
Eat a meal before you go. A full child is a focused child!
Make sure there is time for free exploration – don’t over schedule your time . If they like a specific exhibit go back to it as much as possible , within reason of course. My son loved the instruments, we went back multiple times.
Encourage your child to take advantage of anything special – one of the educators took out a trombone to play with and at first my son was shy but with gentle coaxing was playing and talked about this more than anything on the way home.
As I said before take advantage of the special programs, this was music story time where we sang, played drums and listened to a story .
After a big day out nothing is a better than crashing in your car seat on the way home .
When you are home keep the learning going with books, printing out pictures and going over what you did and what you learned!

Books

Mole Music by David McPhail is a beautiful book about the power of music, trying hard and not giving up on your dreams. The story is about a mole who sees a violin on TV one day and decides to get his own and play. He is terrible at first but sticks with it. His music becomes beautiful, and over the years he thinks only he can hear and enjoy it. In reality his music is nourishing a grand tree above the ground that serves roles in great things including as a mediator in a battle where both sides end up coming to a peaceful agreement instead of warfare. Now yes I think that one little mole’s music ending a war is a rather large statement but if you break it down, music and the arts are vital and do transform people’s lives the way they transformed Mole’s. My favorite part is in one illustration Mole is playing anf in another tunnel you can see his old TV discarded and tipped over, I like that message.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss is a big hit at our house and if you have a child into music or musical instruments this is a great book. You count the instruments as they come on stage for a performance and not only is this a great counting book, but it introduced musical instruments in it’s rhyming text and super fun pictures. I am biased though my little man is really really into instruments and loves this book. The day we bought it I had to sit in the back with him on the way home from the bookstore because he couldn’t wait to read it

Moose Music by Sue Porter

Moose Music by Sue Porter is a goofy book about how what might sound like a racket to you, may indeed be music to other ears. Moose finds a violin in the mid and picks it up, and plays it. The sound is not music to the animals and people in the forest. They get angry, they threaten to chase him, and he doesn’t stick around. He doesn’t stop playing though he plays with all his heart and finally someone appreciates it. A lady moose , as you may have guessed it they fall in love and live happily ever after. My son thought this book was hilarious . It’s a cute lesson about following your heart even in the face of adversity.

Earth Day Craft

April 6, 2010

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Earth Day Craft

Whether you have a budding environmentalist or astronomer this planet earth banner is a fun decoration to make and decorate with for Earth Day! My son loved this and just kept going and going!

Gather your materials. You will need some coffee filters, blue and green food coloring, a pen, scissors, some party streamers, an eye dropper and tape .
Start by drawing circles on your coffee filters.
Mix water and food coloring ( I used a lot of color so it would show up on the filters.)
Using the eye droppers add the colors to your coffee filters.
He was in heaven he loved making these . I had a few layers of paper towels under the coffee filters to absorb the extra which was great since he saturated many of the filters.
Let dry.
Cut circles out.
Tape onto the streamer .
Hang up and talk about why you made this craft, how precious and fragile our earth is and how we can help preserve it!

Our Favorite Book About Recycling

The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: A Story About Recycling by Alison Inches is awesome! I only wish that my son was old enough to enjoy it as much as I did. It’s not aimed at 2 year olds at all, but he did like to open it to the page with the recycling truck and point out all the parts to me. The book itself takes the reader through the complete process from crude oil, to bottle and then to synthetic fleece. I am not too proud to admit I learned s a few new things and had a few good laughs along the way with the books little bits of humor too. I think most 5 year olds would enjoy this book, and it’s easy to break it down for those unable to sit for this much text. Also the book was printed on 100% post consumer waste paper.

Edited for 2010 : My son adores this book now at 3, and it’s been a bedtime favorite for a while. He really enjoys the crude oil tanker at the start, seeing the bottle made and how it ends up at a store waiting for someone to buy it. Any kids book that uses the word polymerization proudly gets an a plus from us!

You May Also Like :
Table Top Recycling Center
Recycled World
Nature Jar

Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Crafts, Earth Day |

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