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Showing posts with label activity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activity. Show all posts

The Great Thanskgiving Escape -- Book Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Imagine a large family gathering. where you are a not a little kid and not a teenager, but in the middle. You are stuck in the room with the babies. Your only cousin close in age to you tells you it is time to make a break and go out to play on the swingset. Of course the journey to the swingset has many obstacles--the wall of butts, the hall of aunts (the type that squeeze your cheeks), the teenager zombies, etc. Then you finally make it to the back door to see it pouring. What are the cousins to do? Well make their own fun of course! This is the story of The Great Thanksgiving Escape by Mark Fearing. 

Crafty Weekend: Thanksgiving Activity Book

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

It is Halloween tonight, yet I am sharing a Thanksgiving book. I guess I am rushing into my holiday season. Sorry for the late start but we had an exciting night of trick-or-treating here. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. Today we are sharing a book that is perfect to help kids learn about Thanksgiving and keep them busy whether traveling or during a Thanksgiving celebration. The book is Thanksgiving Activity Book by Karl Jones and illustrated by Joey Chou. 

http://www.penguin.com/book/thanksgiving-activity-book-by-karl-jones-illustrated-by-joey-chou/9780843182965


Home and Maps Activity Book Reviews for Multicultural Monday

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me copies of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

For Multicultural Monday I am sharing two fun books that you may not realize right away they are multicultural. The first is an activity book to accompany the book called Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. The book we are reviewing is Maps Activity Book also by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski.
http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=076367771X&pix=y


Veggie Tales Book Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Ideals Books./Worthy Kids. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Recently Worthy Publishing acquired Ideals Books. They asked me to pick some of their books to review. Hazel and I looked and two of the books are Veggie Tales books and the others are Christmas related so we will be sharing those as it gets a bit closer to Christmas. Now the funny thing is Hazel and I both don't really like the Veggie Tales. I personally find them annoying and Hazel finds them strange. However in books they are easier to deal with since you do not hear their voices and these books looked good so we decided to try them. I have been reading the devotional book, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, for a couple of years now. After finishing the first year, I decided to read it each day again since I didn't remember the readings. I find it really helps me with connecting to Jesus and staying more calm all day. Now that Hazel is reading I wanted her to have a devotional and she actually has asked me for one, so we picked  God Is With Me: 365 Daily Devos for Girls by Veggie Tales. 

http://www.christianbook.com/with-365-daily-devos-for-girls/veggietales/9781617955839/pd/955839?product_redirect=1&Ntt=955839&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP


Monstrous Fun: A Doodle & Activity Book -- Product Review

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

http://www.penguin.com/book/monstrous-fun-by-travis-nichols-illustrated-by-travis-nichols/9780843178821

Well, Hazel is often scared of things like monsters, but there are some she likes (Elmo, Cookie Monster, etc.). This year her fears seem worse than usual, but this monster activity book she is enjoying! Monstrous Fun: A Doodle & Activity Book by Travis Nichols comes with a warning. It is for monsters only. Hazel finds the warning amusing. Once you turn past the title page with the warning the book is divided up into sections of various monster holidays. Each holiday has different activities, coloring, find the differences, matching, mazes and more! It begins with All Hallow's Eve of course. After all Halloween is a monster's holiday lately. The next holiday is Fangsgiving. It is a feast to celebrate when the Noobs and Lil'Grims met. 

Themed Play Dates -- Oriental Trading Products Review

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to the products for your convenience but do not receive anything if you buy from them.

Perhaps it is my love of planning parties and such, but I love throwing themed play dates for Hazel and her friends and Hazel really enjoys them. This summer we have had or will have three different themed play dates and we used some products from Oriental Trading to make them even more fun. The themes are fairies, mermaids and Bible stories: Creation and Noah's Ark. 

Junior Explorers Multicultural Product Review

Have you entered my current giveaway?


 Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Junior Explorers as part of the Multicultural Kids Product Promotion Services. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a monthly packet from Junior Explorers. We received the Amazon Jaguar Mission packet. Hazel was really excited for this. In our packet we had many things including an introduction letter with your mission code, a checklist to make sure you have everything or your mission, information sheet on the region, stickers and temporary tatoos, 


Fibonacci -- Italian Mathematician


Born about 1170, Leonardo Pisano or Leonardo of Pisa or Leonardo Bonacci or Leonardo Fibonacci, is one of the most well known Italian mathematicians. Although it is believed he was never known as Fibonacci during his life. Since Hazel and I have been exploring Italy this month, I thought I would share an Italian mathematician as well. He was educated in North Africa where his father, Guilielmo, was a diplomat. Fibonacci introduced Europe to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system as well as what is now called the Fibonacci Sequence (although it was discovered earlier in India). The Fibonacci Sequence or Fibonacci Numbers are probably what Leonardo is best known for. They are easy enough numbers that young children can pick it up. There are many great books about Fibonacci and his numbers available that are appropriate for Hazel. Here are some we found at the library.

Our New Morning Routine: Imaginations 2 Book Review

Disclosure: Bambino Yoga sent me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

So for the last couple of weeks Hazel and I have a new morning routine thanks to Bambino Yoga. Carolyn Clarke sent us a copy of her newest book, Imaginations 2: Relaxation Stories & Guided Imagery for Kids

http://bambinoyoga.com/shop/imaginations-2-relaxation-stories-and-guided-imagery-for-kids



Sticker Style Shop Product Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

http://www.candlewick.com/

 I have to thank Candlewick Press for sending this great activity book for us at the perfect time! Perhaps it is because they are based in Massachusetts, but somehow this perfect sticker activity arrived the day before the blizzard or at least the afternoon before the blizzard started that night. Now Hazel and I often ride out the storms without Steve since he works for the power company and has to be ready to help when the power goes out. He sleeps at the office and works crazy hours. Therefore it is always good to have something for Hazel to do and keep her entertained. Imagine my joy when I opened a package containing Sticker Style Shop by Jenny Bowers the afternoon before the storm. It officially is available February 10th.


http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Imprint&mode=book&isbn=0763677701&bkview=p&pix=y

This activity book comes with more than 150 stickers to add into the various shop pages: Candy Store, Costume Shop, Shoe Store, Toy Shop, Book Store and Pet Shop. Each of the stores have flaps to open and stickers can be put behind the pictures (in cabinets, cages and more). 

Multicultural Product Review -- Celebrate Christmas Around the World

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Multicultural Kid Blogs as part of the Multicultural Kids Product Promotion Services. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.


http://multiculturalkidblogs.com/product/celebrate-christmas-around-the-world/

Today I am going to review for you a wonderful Christmas product. It is a e-book/packet to learn about Christmas celebrations in other countries and is published by Multicultural Kid Blogs. It seems like the perfect time to share this with you since we just did our Christmas in Different Lands post yesterday. Plus Christmas is on Hazel's mind. She has been home sick much of this week but started to get bored and decided to play Mary.


Skeleton Crafts, Activities, and Books


In the past years we have read relatively non-scary Halloween books that have had witches, mummies, ghosts, vampires and bats. This year I decided to expand out to include skeletons. Hazel has been asking to learn more about the human body. We started with some books from the library.

Color Exploration: Art, Quilts, Music and Color

Congratulations to Cindy R for winning the latest giveaway!!


We have been rather busy with our color explorations. Awhile ago we discovered some fun color music. I made a CD of songs from the following CD's having to do with colors or a color. It is one of our favorites to listen to besides maybe the Frozen Soundtrack. One of the songs on it is The Purple People Eater. (We found it on the Kidz Bop Halloween Party CD.)

Since Hazel has been loving the song, I made her a purple people eater peg doll. So here is our "One-eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater."

His horn and arms are from pipe cleaners and his wings are a piece of felt with a pipe cleaner to form them. 


We also had a big adventure yesterday. We headed into Boston to go to the Museum of Fine Arts. I went to meet my mother back in April to see the Quilts and Color Exhibit. Hazel really wanted to go see it, so I took her before it ended. We have also been reading books about artists some are shared below. Hazel wanted to see some of the paintings by the artists we read about. She really wanted to see something by Pablo Picasso. She has decided her favorite artists are Pablo Picasso and Georgia O'Keeffe.

When we first got to the museum we were told to go to the customer service area and ask for an art bag for Hazel. They give you a little tote bag full of scavenger hunts, questions about artwork and a sketchpad and colored pencils. Most of the things were for exhibits we were not planning on viewing, but she loved the sketchpad and tried to sketch some of her favorite quilts. After not finding all the colors she needed she decided I should take pictures and she would sketch them at home. 


In preparation for the visit to see the quilt exhibit, we have been reading books having to do with quilts. Above are the ones we have enjoyed. We loved reading about each state in A Quilt of States by Adrienne Yorinks and fifty librarians from across the United States. Another great one that teaches some American history as well as information about quilt squares is The Quilt-Block History of Pioneer Days with Projects Kids Can Make by Mary Cobb. We have done a few of the activities in it. The first is making a paper nine-patch square. For the paper you cut out color squares from magazines. We did this at my parents and cut up two of my mother's old magazines. Hazel had so many squares and so much fun, she made three paper nine-patches.


While at my parents, my mother offered us some five-inch squares she already had cut. Hazel picked out nine and began to hand sew them together. Then she picked out another nine to sew. Neither is completely finished, but she is close. She wants to make a reversible quilt for Ducky.

For more on color and quilts, check out:

101 Kids Activities --- New Book Review

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

 Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Page Street Publishing Company. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Hazel's last day of school is tomorrow. Her last day of Pre-K! Now I need to figure out how to entertain her for the summer. Are you in a similar position? Today I get the pleasure of reviewing a book that is full of so many great ideas I started bookmarking mine and realized I was just marking every activity as perfect to do this summer. The book is 101 Kids Activities That Are the Bestest Funnest Ever! by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller of Kids Activities Blog. It is now available at bookstores everywhere including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

From 101 Kids Activities by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller,
printed with permission of Page Street Publishing June 2014
Now before I tell you about what we have already tried from the book, I have to share that this book is like having a hard copy of Kids Activities Blog. If you are not familiar with their blog, you should be. They are regular participants in our Sharing Saturday and have been featured many times.  It is one of my favorite places to go for ideas. So having a hard copy of their ideas is just wonderful to me. I can see Hazel and I doing many things from this book this summer. The book is divided into four parts: Boredom Busters, Crafts, Games and Simple Science. All four sections are full of amazing ideas that children will love.

The activity we tried is DIY Straw Building Set. It is rather simple and yet it is a brilliant idea. You need flexible straws, pipe cleaners and clear tape to make this building set. You could use other things besides tape, but I found that to be the easiest. I started making these triangle shaped builders (for lack of better word) and I started to put them together with the plan of building a cave for Hazel. She saw me making them and wanted to instantly put them together. She made a pyramid with four of them.

After I told her of my plan to make her a tent/cave with them so she could put one of her cloths over it, she decided hers would be a tent for Ducky. She put a small silk over it. We need to adjust the size and shape of the silk still, but Ducky has his own tent.


Then while I was busy cleaning up or doing something else, she decided to make her own triangles and shapes for me. She did not overlap the straws, but hers still held.
At this point let me to tell you about the way I found easiest to make these. After trying different orders of doing things, I found the easiest was to begin by sticking a pipe cleaner partially in a straw and then putting another straw over the rest of the pipe cleaner. Squeezing one of the ends of a straw (almost folding it over itself) I pushed it into the other straw. Then you stick another pipe cleaner in the newest straw and it will be sticking out. You add a straw and repeat the overlap. If you want a triangle, you bend the straws at the flexible bends and make the shape. Overlap your final straw ends and the shape is complete. You can add however many straws you want to make different shapes.


Then we taped the shapes together in the way we wanted them and got creative. I am still working on the cave, but I can only imagine what else Hazel will come up with. She absolutely loves them!
The Start of the Cave
This is just one activity from the book. It has so many great ideas in it and you can easily expand on them. Plus they all need things that for the most part you will already have around your house.  Many of them will build the imagination and then of course there is the whole science section. So if you are wondering what to do this summer with your kids, pick up a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed! This is definitely one of my favorite craft books for kids crafts and activities.

Kids Activities Blog is running some giveaways of the book. Here is a chance for you to win your own copy! You can also enter to win one here for the next couple of days.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Flag Day Books, Activities and Crafts

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

In the United States, June 14th is Flag Day. To many this is just a holiday that is written on the calendar. I really do not ever remember a celebration for it in my life, but I do remember learning a bit about it in school. Of course being mid-June when school is out or almost out makes it hard for even that to happen. It is the perfect time to start thinking about patriotic crafts with Independence Day coming up and focusing on the flag and its meaning as well as the Pledge of Allegiance. To do these things, I found some books at our local library. But before I share the books and activities with you, I want to share a bit of history. The date June 14th was picked because it is the day the Second Continental Congress adopted the flag. It is unknown who made the first flag and therefore who designed it. There are many legends and rumors about it. It is known that Betsy Ross made one of the earliest flags. (Source)

I Pledge Allegiance by Pat Mora and Libby Martinez is a story told in a girl's perspective. She and her family are excited because her great aunt is about to become a citizen of the United States. She helps her great aunt practice the Pledge of Allegiance and the girl's teacher has her lead the class in the Pledge of Allegiance the day before her aunt becomes a citizen to help celebrate. It is a wonderful book that explains why some people want to become citizens and a great book to start conversations about citizenship and what it means.

F Is for Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewison is a book that talks about the flag and its meaning as well as a small amount about flag day. The history of the flag is also touched upon in this book.

The Flag We Love by Pam Munoz Ryan is another book about the flag. It goes into a bit of history of the flag, the Pledge of Allegiance as well as the national anthem.


An easy activity/craft for children is to make a flag from paper or felt. Or to have it as a felt "puzzle". It is also a great way to demonstrate how the flag has changed over the years with the number of stars. I cut the pieces out of felt (well the stars are paper and I got bored of cutting them). To get the dimensions somewhat correct I looked them up and used the ones at USFlag. I started with a white rectangle 9 inches by 17 inches. I made a pattern for the various pieces so you will not have to do the math.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PVW7zBWFxsYVVJcEpVYktYSmM/edit?usp=sharing

We also did some activities on the Pledge of Allegiance and flag last September to go along with the book I Pledge Allegiance by Bill Martin, Jr. This was a wonderful book to teach children the meaning of the words in the Pledge of Allegiance.
http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2013/09/virtual-book-club-for-kids-i-pledge.html

We also made flag placemats and windsocks for a Fourth of July party a few years ago.
http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2011/07/fourth-of-july-crafts-and-more.html
http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2011/07/fourth-of-july-crafts-and-more.html

And a fun states craft with a flag frame.
http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2012/06/fourth-of-july-decorations.html

For more ideas we are going to try some of the crafts and activities (educational) in Little Hands Celebrate America! by Jill Frankel Hauser.
For more patriotic ideas check out my Patriotic Round-Up and my Patriotic Pinterest Board.