Folk Tale Fun for Halloween

Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf, Woodcutter, and Grandmother

The kids loved that we dressed up with them. They were fascinated by the way my powdered hair and drawn-on wrinkle lines made me look really old!

We had everything we needed for our costumes except the red cape and hood. I used the leftover gray fur from KID 1's Max costume (Where the Wild Things Are) to make ears and stapled them to his hat.

The cape and hood reverse to a green, scaly dragon...why just make a boring red cape and hood, right? ;)

Hope you had a fun Halloween (or Fall Fest) with your kiddos!

Earth Day Activity with The Lorax

We read The Lorax by Dr. Suess this week, enjoyed an ongoing discussion about the importance of trees, and followed up with this art activity today, making our own "Truffula Trees."

I cut toilet paper rolls in half lengthwise and the kids painted them brown. Then we glued them to a piece of construction paper. Next we put some cotton balls in a plastic container with some green tempera powder, popped the lid on and shook. The result was a variety of shades of green puffs, perfect for truffula trees! (Or thneeds, if you're familiar with the book!)

My 5-year-old son is very intent on realism in his artwork right now, so he needed the book to look at as he painted the Lorax next to his tree. The two 2-year-olds had no such requirements and went to town painting yellow suns and Loraxes all over their pages:

Happy Earth Day!

A Book, a Boy, and a Body

Kids never cease to amaze me with their natural curiosity and limitless enthusiasm for things that inspire them! Our son, age 5, recently amazed us with his artistic (and scientific) rendition of the human body. As is often the case around here, the jumping off point was a book he read before bed with his daddy, The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body, by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. (We love this series of science discovery books. They're well-illustrated by the talented Bruce Degen, and offer lots of detailed information about each topic in a very kid-friendly format.)


Upon waking the next morning, KID 1 informed us, "I'm going to make the human body today!"


"Oh. Okaaaaay...how do you plan to do that?" I inquired, my curiosity piqued.


I offered clay, but he declined. He said he needed paper, markers, and paint.


"Great!" I responded enthusiastically, relieved that we had all those supplies on hand.



He proceded to set his easel area, completely unassisted, with every paint pot we own, each with its own paintbrush standing at the ready.

I noticed he had found the Magic School Bus book from the previous evening's bedtime reading, along with a larger lift-the-flap book of the human body. Both were propped at his feet, ready for close inspection.



I taped up his paper and he set to work immediately, starting with an outline of a body. Then he was flipping through his books feverishly, stopping on pages that intrigued him to add an organ here, a blood vessel there, a representative bone or an important muscle. The end result is amazing (and funny: note the green blob of brain!).



When he finished his painting, I asked him about each part he included in his body and he matter-of-factly named each one for me so I could label it. Kidneys. Esophagus. Windpipe. Large intestine. Small intestine. The villi inside the small intestine. All the while, I'm thinking "Is this normal? He's only five! How does he remember all this, yet can't identify letter "Gg" correctly?"



Thank God for good books that feed my child what I didn't know he craved. Amazing.

Winter Discovery Table

As I packed up the Christmas decorations, I decided to leave my snowman collection out for our unit on "Winter." I put fresh batteries in the light-up snowman tree so the kids could see it lit up at eye level. The table has several drawers, so mittens, hats and scarves can play a part in our winter discovery.

Since we live in Central Florida, winter is still just a concept for our preschoolers. I pulled out all the books we own relating to winter, including Snowmen at Night by Caralyn and Mark Buehner; The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt; Welcome Back, Sun by Michael Emberley; The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel and Nancy Winslow Parker; All You Need for a Snowman by Barbara Lavallee; and several easy readers about animals in winter.

The TV table makes a perfect discovery table, now that we got rid of the set in our living room. We never watched it anyway! This is our winter discovery table:

How do you celebrate winter?

Where the Wild Things Were

The Wild Things were out in full force last night for our son's 5th birthday party, lakeside. We built a bonfire on the beach and gave each kid a pair of binoculars so they could spy wild things. They were invited to take a boat ride around the edge of the lake to observe local wildlife, enjoying the amazing sunset on the ride back to the beach.

KID 2 and KID 1 enjoy the sunset from the bow of Uncle Mark's boat

If you're not familiar with the classic story Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, read my post from last week. The Birthday Boy's Max suit was just a pair of thermal longjohns and a furry tail. I made the tail removable with these clips and the hood was a separate piece. He pretty much just looked like he was running around in his underwear after about 20 minutes of the party! Oh, well!

I also sewed lots of wild animal print tails for our wild guests to wear. They were a hit, but I didn't get any pictures. It was totally dark by the time we got back from the boat ride and got our tails situated! I first saw them here, but decided I could make them easily for a lot less. Plus I could choose any wild print I wanted! We ended up with zebra tails with hot pink feathers at the end, cow tails, leopards, lizards, and more. I used one clip per tail and they stayed on just fine.

Each goody bag also included a mask for them to color and wear...there just wasn't enough time before it got really dark (which was fine with everyone, since it was really all about the bonfire!).

I decided while I was shopping for the wild dinner that we really needed to serve wild punch. I found some green Tampico kiwi, strawberry, guava juice and paired it with ginger ale. These were poured over a punchbowl full of gummy worms and craisins (to look like bugs). The Craisins floated, but the gummyworms lurked on the bottom for anyone unfortunate enough to scoop their punch from the bottom of the bowl...it was great!

After a quick meal of hotdogs and chips (ahem...not the most nutritious meal, but there were supposed to be small ears of corn...we just completely forgot them)...I prepped them before storytime so their terrible roars, terrible claws, gnashing teeth, and rolling eyes were ready for their cue. What fun to read Where the Wild Things Are by the fireside with a bunch of enthusiastic wild things!

When we got to the wild rumpus part of the story, we did the hokey pokey and sang wild songs around the fire. Then we passed around a sackful of hand instruments: drums, shakers, rattles, sticks, tambourine, you name it. What a wonderful racket we made marching around that bonfire, each child so proud of his and her individual contribution to the din!

It's hard to stop a wild rumpus cold turkey, so we roasted marshmallows after that, each kid turning in his or her instrument to gain a roasting stick and marshmallow. We enjoyed the wild thing cupcakes while Birthday Boy opened his gifts by the fire. It was a spectacular night. The stars were bright, the wind off the lake kept us cool, and the bonfire kept us entertained! I think it was the best birthday party I've ever been to...but I'm such a kid at heart! I'm very easy to please!

Where the Wild Things Are: A Scary Bit of Children's Lit.

I love the imaginative element of this classic storybook by Maurice Sendak. Max is sent to his room without supper after acting like a "wild thing" and threatening to eat up his mother. Once in his room, though, his punishment becomes a foray into a young child's imagination. The walls become the world all around and vines hang down from the ceiling. Max steps into a private boat and sails off over days, weeks and years to the place where the wild things are.

Faced with these wild creatures with terrible claws and terrible roars, Max tames them by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once. The wild things crown him King of All Wild Things and the wild rumpus begins. (This is where my children jump up from the couch and start dancing and marching around the room like wild things.)

Many times this year I have suggested we read this book, but our four-year-old consistently declined, "No...I don't like that book." And I'd think what's not to like?! I LOVE this book! Then I figured it out: It's too scary for him.

I tend to be a bit dramatic when I read, using voices and facial expressions to make stories come alive for the kids. [Back in B.C. times (Before Children), I was very involved in theater...I love to act and sing. Now my only outlet is storytime!] They usually love it, but it was probably a bit much for this story. I don't think they liked seeing Mommy become a wild thing! Now when I read this story, I leave the acting to the kids, and they like it a whole lot more when I just read it straight.

Our son turns five this week, and he is having his first birthday party with friends. And you know how I love a theme party (especially book themes!). I just finished his Max suit, complete with long, furry tail. His party starts at dusk with a boat ride across the lake to look for wild things. Then we'll have a wild rumpus around a bonfire on the beach. The kids will be invited to wear some wild things like animal print tails and scarves and decorate wild masks. Hopefully we won't traumatize any small children...I'll let you know how it goes!

Favorite Storybook Characters

We love Frog and Toad around here! In fact, the minute I heard that a local shop was selling miniature plush Frogs and Toads, I went right out and got one of each. We love these little guys.

The kids each get to hold one as we read, and when their character has a line, they hold him up high and bobble him around to make him "talk."

I'm always on the lookout for recreations of our favorite story characters. I find puppets, stuffed/plush dolls, and even china dolls (I have Anne of Green Gables, thanks to my mom's eBay addiction!). My kids love it! It really makes storytime come to life!

I do whatever works to make reading fun around here! For more great ideas and tips, check out Works-For-Me-Wednesday!

Mmm, Mmmm, Good!

My friend Rachel recently loaned me a great cookbook titled Toddler Cafe, by Jennifer Carden, and I have to tell you, it's been fun trying some of her recipes! She even shares some recipes on her blog. Her book has beautiful, full-color pictures of many of her recipes, so it's fun just to look through it...I love picture cookbooks!

One cool idea was to use your waffle iron at lunchtime to make your own paninis. The kids LOVED this! The cheese melted inside and the bread got all textured like a waffle! I even sauteed some sliced apples in butter to go in them with the cheese...mmmmmm, so good!

Yesterday, we made "Peanut Butter Globe Globs" for our afternoon snack. The kids loved rolling this squishy stuff into balls and then coating them in crushed cereal. And they were tasty!

Today I think we'll try the "Toddler Truffles," which look like real chocolate truffles, but are actually made with black beans (and some other stuff!). I've had a sweet treat like this in Asian restaurants and they are GOOD!

If you have an opportunity to pick up Jennifer's cookbook, you won't regret it! I think I need to get myself a copy!

"J" is for "Just Kiddin'"

Our Jet Pilot!

This week we're working on the letter "J." It's the second letter in the book The Sound of the Week, by Sally Barrett and Mary Barton Wilson. My goal is to find frugal ways to learn about "J." I only want to use things we already have around the house.

We'll be making jewels this week using rock salt, glue and food coloring and we'll also make a self-propelled jet. I can't wait to see how that works! Both of these projects are from the Kid Concoctions series by John and Danita Thomas.

I got the chance to take a Kid Concoctions workshop from the Thomases last year. One of their demo projects was a set of juggling balls made from balloons. Neither of them could juggle, so they asked for a volunteer...I do love an audience! Yes, I can juggle!

Jack and Jill is a great nursery rhyme to work on this week and talk about rhyming words.

And, of course, we'll be making jello!

We're also doing lots of spontaneous jumping jacks throughout the day (Kid 1 gets excited about these things...4 is a great age!).

We don't have a jump rope, but I do have a length of rope for the kids to jump over as we jiggle and jerk it.

We will make our letter "j" sign using a 6x6" square of cardboard cut from a diaper box, some colored paper, glue and a popsicle stick. Last week, for the letter "S," we made a silver, sparkly "S" sign with glitter. I still keep finding glitter in strange places (like, the corner of my eye, my upper lip, inside my bra, all over our bed, and dumped all over the office floor...use it at your own risk!).

For some great letter "s" ideas, check out Teresa's blog!

In case you're wondering "What does she do with her little one while KID 1 does all these cool (messy) projects?," the answer is, KID 2 gets to do almost everything her big brother does. The goals are just a bit different. If KID 1 is glittering up a letter, KID 2 (almost 2 years old) is making a glittery picture and we talk about what color the glitter is. Most activities can be slightly modified for the younger sibling. Even though she is not ready for phonics, she is still developing the phonemic awareness necessary for reading later on.

Check out more frugal ideas at Crystal's blog...so many links, so little time!

Any other great "J"-week ideas?

Pizza! Pizza!

Pizza is a Friday night favorite in our family. Not only does it satisfy our appetites, it also satisfies our budget and health requirements! There's nothing better than homemade pizza...especially when the kids get to help.

They love to measure ingredients, mix, knead the dough, and top the pizza. Oh, and they love eating what they create!

We start by making our own dough, a whole wheat/oat/white flour blend that really handles nicely and fills us up better than all white flour. It takes less than an hour to rise, so I can start it around 4:30 and still have dinner on the table by 6:00. This also freezes well in an oiled zip-top bag, so we make a double batch and freeze half. Less work next time!

Ingredients for a single batch:

• 1 TBSP active dry yeast

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/2 cup dry quick oats
  
• 2-3 cups white flour (start with 2, adding more as needed)
  
• 1 tsp. salt
  
• 1 TBSP sugar (I use a lot, since yeast feeds on sugar and will need more if frozen or kept in the fridge for a few days)
  
• 1 cup very warm water (hot water kills yeast)
  
• 1 TBSP olive oil

Toppings:

• 1/3 cup red sauce (or pesto) We just use regular pasta sauce from a jar...fancy, huh?
  
• 2 cups shredded cheese - Italian blends are good, mozzarrella, smoked provolone
  
• Your favorite toppings - we love colossal-size black olives, red onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic...really just whatever we have on hand. We throw on leftover grilled, chopped chicken breast or sausage when we have it.

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
   
2. Stir in water and olive oil (a stand mixer works, too, if it can handle a stiff dough...switch to bread hooks once you've got your ingredients mixed)
   
3. If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto floured surface. As you knead, slowly add more white flour until dough is no longer sticky (it should feel smooth and elastic). Kids love to help knead the dough. You can separate it into smaller lumps for them to work with and combine at the end for a final thorough kneading.
   
4. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm, dry place to rise until doubled in bulk. (If the sunny spot on my back porch isn't warm enough, I pre-warm my oven and then turn it off to let the dough rise.)
   
5. Once dough is doubled, show it off to the kids...it's fascinating! Punch it down and press into an oiled pan (we use a round pizza pan, but a cookie sheet works fine, too).
   
6. Add sauce, cheese and toppings...this part is fun for the kids, as long as you supervise. Our cheese always seems to pile up in one spot!


7. Bake in preheated 450°F oven for 12-15 minutes.
   
   
8. Enjoy!

For more frugal ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood's Frugal Friday...so many links, so little time!



See some of our favorite pizza-making books below. The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza is very cute, and Pete's a Pizza, by William Steig, is a fun read that our kids just LOVE to act out.

Art After Breakfast: Torn Paper Collage

I love to start the kids' day with art time...it gets their creative juices flowing and creates a bit of down time before my toddler's morning nap.

This morning we used Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar as our inspiration. We looked through it together and I pointed out how the pictures looked like a collage of different colored paper.

My 4 1/2 year-old son decided he wanted to make all of the junk food that the caterpillar ate through: "one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon."

Materials I provided:

• Our inspiration book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)

• Construction paper: 1 piece of each color

• White glue in a small cup and cotton swab applicator (he doesn't like to touch the glue...some kids don't like the feel of glue or paint on their fingers)

• One large piece of construction paper as the base

Even my 1 1/2-year-old participated. She loves using glue, but she struggled with tearing the paper, so I tore some pieces into different shapes and piled them up for her. I only gave her a tiny glob of glue at a time, since she likes to tip and pour her glue out. She has no qualms about using her finger in the glue. Each kid is so different!


This was a fun project for both of my preschoolers. It's easily adaptable for a variety of ages, so hopefully it works as well for you as it works for me!