Archive for December 2011
The holiday season is such a fun time for creating memories and fun keepsakes. Kids are never not learning so sharing extra time doing “fun things” ( My son’s words, I think all learning is fun!) like making ornaments, having an indoor snowball fight or making wreath cookies is not just fun, they are learning.
Link up anything fun , anything educational and anything holiday or not. Don’t forget to visit other blogs too.
Have a great week !
by Carrie Anne
The days are busy, full of learning and fun. I love winding down with my kids by enjoying a book together. Here are a few holiday books and new books you might be interested in adding to your personal library.
My Little Stocking
by Sara Gillingham
Chronicle Books/Raincoast Books
Board book
12 pages
If you celebrate the holidays with stockings full of treats for your little one, you might enjoy My Little Stocking. This layered board book explores the question in a child’s mind when it comes to a full stocking Christmas morning: what could be in here. Each layer you turn in the book reveals colourful possibilities made out of felt and posing more questions. All the while, a little Elf peeks out, the head being a finger puppet you can move around as you read the story. The finger puppet concept is very similar to the Paul Frank Colors book reviewed last month .
Chronicle Books/Raincoast Books
Chunky board book
12 pages
Baby’s first exposure to snow can be full of wonder and surprise for both baby and parents. Snow Baby takes you through baby’s experience in the snow, falling from the sky, landing on her face. The book is small and chunky for little hands and little ones will love the velvety soft baby face finger puppet that appears on each page, bring baby to life. The puppet hole is big enough for little fingers to probe too.
Michael Hague’s Treasury of Christmas Carols
by Michael Hague and Kathleen Hague
Sterling Children’s Books
Age 3-8
48 pages
Singing Christmas carols is a favourite pastime for our family during December. We sing along to the radio, music on the iPod, even just singing out of the blue.Michael Hague’s Treasury of Christmas Carols is a wonderful small collection holiday favourites that are easy for children to learn with their repetitive choruses: Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls,, Oh Christmas Tree, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Kids may know the tunes to these songs but not the words. This treasury includes a mix of large type words (without musical score to avoid confusion) and delightful Christmas illustrations of bunnies and cats and ducks enjoying the season.
by Paola Opal
Simply Read Books/Raincoast Books
Board book
24 pages
I’m always drawn to the look of a book first and I love the format for this board book, a tall rectangle versus a standard square board book. Bitsy is part of a new series of board books using simple illustrations with a limited colour palate. I love the story, a beaver family working together to build a damn. Mom and dad are able to cut the wood but Bitsy is not big enough yet to cut down the big pieces needed. A small hole in the damn needs the help of a small Beaver and Bitsy proves that all family members play an important role, each offering their own unique skills that make the family complete. What a wonderful message to give kids. I’m looking forward to reading some of the other books by Paola Opal.
by Bob Barner
Chronicle Books/Raincoast Books
age 3-8
32 pages
Bath time can be something kids either enjoy or avoid. Animal Baths is a great way to encourage kids to get soapy and preen like a duck, scrub like a bear and other animals. The colourful pages with collage-like illustrations take kids through the cleaning routines of some common (and perhaps not so common) animals. Then it invites kids to get clean, asking which animal they will be in the tub. The last two pages take the animal attributes talked about in the earlier pages, incorporating them into your child’s bath routine. A fun story for reluctant bathers and bath lovers alike.
by Nancy Tillman
Feiwel and FriendsRaincoast Books
age 5-8
32 pages
Most books I come across are stories designed with kids in mind; stories we read for our children’s enjoyment. The Crown on Your Head is a story just as much for mom and dad and for kids (though I think it might even be a little more for the parents). We know as parents how special our kids are and that we see them destined for great things. This story tries to explain this feeling to kids, by talking about their invisible crown of magnificence. Unlike a traditional crown, like in the monarchy, that makes someone better than everyone else, this crown exists on everyone’s head, their special soul or ora. My 5-year old enjoyed the story but I took it more to heart I think, making me a little teary as a read it. I also love the note at the end of the book about how kids can reaffirm to themselves that their crown is indeed there, even if they can’t see it. A wonderful bedtime story or great for those growing and transition stages your kids go through.
While my son is at school I tend to use that time for errands and it’s really not fair to my toddler so today when I saw the extra string of Christmas lights I decided we’d have some fun exploring colors. This DIY light box should not be used for long periods of time, only with a parent right there at the box and please don’t let your kids touch the light strands as they have lead, and remember to wash your hands after touching them too. We only played for about 10 minutes and that was enough time for the lights to get warm so I wouldn’t play longer than that .
- Gather your materials. You will need a clear plastic container with lid, some wax paper, a strand of white christmas lights, scissors and tape. For the colors we used take and toss cup lids. No need to buy expensive color forms if you have something you can use at home already.
- Start by putting the lights on the lid, I taped them down in 2 places just so they were staionary in the box.
- Cut some wax paper and line the bottom so the light diffuses well.
- Close the lid with the cord sticking out – mine closed no problem but you could cut a notch out if you can’t close the lid with the cord out. comfortably ( you don’t want to run the risk of the cord being cut, my lid was very loose and didn’t press into the cord).
- Plug in and play.
- She LOVED it.
- Explore.
- We piled them on , identified them – I had no idea she knew so many colors, we had a blast.
Please only try activities that you feel are safe for your family, I share what we have made and done with the request that you will only make and do what your child is ready for and you can do safely.
Book About Colors For Babies
I Love Colors
You know that stage when everything gets thrown off tables? Bins get dumped? Nativity scenes get wiped out in a single visit from Baby-zilla? Yeah we are knee deep in that right now. It’s fun. This is a really simple classic craft but with a few tricks you can save yourself cleaning up gobs of glue from the floor, your baby’s mouth or hair. As you can see she loved making it and points to it and asks me to hold her up to touch it in the window daily.
- Gather your materials. You will need some cotton balls, glue, a dish, a paint brush ( pretty wide like an inch or so) and some construction paper. I used 2 pieces one to glue the cotton balls onto and one to use as a backing to make it strong enough to hang it up.
- Start by pouring some white glue in a small dish.
- Paint the glue onto the paper in the shape of a snowflake.
- Add kiddo and cotton balls.
- Because the glue is so thin the cotton balls stick but if they pick it back up there won’t be a ton of glue on it. I rotated the paper as she filled up each arm of the snowflake.
- Lable the textures as they explore and make the snowflake- soft, sticky glue , rough ( or smooth) paper.
- Let dry and cut around the snowflake and glue onto the 2nd page if you need some extra strength. Hang up where your little one can see their awesome creation.
Books About Snow
Stella, Queen of the Snow
The Biggest Snowman Ever
Pop over to my other blog Crafitivity Corner on FamilyEducation.com to see our take on the classic popsicle stick snowflakes.
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We had fun making these Christmas ornaments and the best part there was no huge glittery mess! Christmas ornaments beg to be glittered and I don’t know about your schedule but mine just got crazy so I don’t have as much time for glue to dry , no need, these have zero glue. Both my kids love making these and even though we used them as ornaments they could easily be made into gift tags too. I was inspired to make this after seeing this candle project from The Ivy Cottage on Pinterest.
- Gather your materials. I used card stock for the circles, I wanted to make sure the tape would stick permenantly and knew from experience that it does on cardstock. Also used glitter provided for me by the folks at craftprojectideas.com , ziplock bags, scissors, hot glue and gun, and pipe cleaners. I had ribbon in the picture thinking I would hang them with it but the pipe cleaners were perfect!
- Start by drawing and cutting out the ornament. I made circles but any shape would be fine.
- Add the tape, it goes without saying I added it for my daughter but I also had to help my 5 year old the first time. The tape was so sticky .
- Add the glitter to the zip lock .
- Shake! Can you tell she loved this?
- add more tape.
- Pop it in the next color of glitter .
- Shake.
- Keep going until they are just the way you want them.
- My son told me his has lightsabres fighting on it.
- As you may be able to tell after it was dark and sugar plums were dancing in my kids’ heads I hot glued some pipe cleaners on for hooks.
- Hang up on your tree.
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