Weird But True! Ocean Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Fourth of July always seems like the start of beach season to me. I tend to spend it at Cape Cod where the crowds come for the beach. Today to kick off beach season I am sharing a National Geographic Kids book full of fun facts about the ocean. It is Weird but True! Ocean. 

Interesting Facts about Samurai and Himeji Castle Jigsaw Puzzle Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent this puzzle in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am going to share another 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. It is a beautiful photograph from Japan. It is the Samurai Castle and Cherry Blossoms 1,000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle. 

Interesting Facts & Benefits of Clover with Craft & Recipe Round-Up

 

Last week we had so much fun learning about dandelions. It is amazing that what many consider a weed can do for your yard as well as food! This week I thought I would look at another wildflower or weed. We will look at clovers! I found many interesting things about clovers. Now many people associate clover with St. Patrick's Day. However for me it is a spring/summer thing because we have so much in our yard and the rabbits come out to eat it.

Jigsaw Puzzle of and Fun Facts about the Borobudur Temple in Indonesia

 

Disclosure: I was sent this puzzle in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have been very lucky to be able to get products to review from Tuttle Publishing. Since their company focuses on Eastern countries I always find their products perfect for sharing in May (though I share them all year long). Besides books they have other products including jigsaw puzzles. I thought it would be fun to share some of the puzzles I have from Tuttle this month. I have shared others previously. Plus since the puzzle is of the Borobudur Temple, I thought I would share some fun facts about the temple.

Fun Books that Teach

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you heard of the four gift rule? It says parents should give their kids only four gifts: something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read. With the holidays quickly approaching I want to share some fun books this week in time for you to make purchases for gifts. If your child is like mine you will be buying books for both something they want and something to read. My family has been complaining because the only things on Hazel's wish list for the most part are books. (Hard to believe when you think about all the books I get to review but they are not all of the series she loves.) Anyway, today I am going to share with books that teach something to the reader.  These books are for ages 8 - 18. Most are for ages 8-12 but there is one for high schoolers. We will start with Brain Candy 2 by Kelly Hargrave.

Weird But True: Halloween -- Fun Facts about Halloween with free printable

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Can you believe October starts tomorrow? October has been a bit of a dreaded month in our house. Since a young age Hazel has hated the scary and gory Halloween decorations and costumes. It got so bad I couldn't take her into stores with me in October. Last year she decided she no longer wanted to trick-or-treat. She use to love dressing up for trick-or-treating but now is getting older and not caring. Little does she know that there was a time where Halloween decorations included cupids to encourage romance. In fact Halloween was associated with love and romance. Yes, this is one of the weird facts I learned from National Geographic Kids Weird But True: Halloween by Julie Beer and Michelle Harris. 

The Moon and the Sun -- Fun Facts, Books and Craft & Activity Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

I have some fun books sitting on my review shelf. One is about the Mid-Autumn Festival. This year (2020) Mid-Autumn Festival is October 1st. Then I received a cute book about the sun and moon for younger kids. And finally I am sharing the new National Geographic Kids Almanac 2021 because of course it has something about the sun and moon. It has something about everything! As I was thinking about these books I thought it would be fun to share a bit about the moon and sun as well as some crafts and activities to go with them. 

The Benefits of Doing a Puzzle and a Puzzle Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent this puzzle in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Are you a puzzle person? As the country shut down the sales of puzzles went up. In fact there was a puzzle shortage back in April. Puzzle manufacturers could not keep up. One company said that in one day in March they sold more than they sold in the entire month of December. (Source) I have always loved puzzles. However when Hazel was younger I often had Steve do them with her. She found out why a few years ago at my parents condo building. I become a little obsessed with the puzzle and will stay working on it for hours and hours and not go to bed because I want to find one more piece. My focus is completely on the puzzle and not much else. However we have started to do more puzzles as a family. Or at least they will help me a bit with puzzles now. I shared a new puzzle awhile ago as one of our stay-cation activities. (Which Hazel has found 1 of our missing pieces--under the chair cushion. Now we are just missing 1 piece. I know it will turn up.) Today I am going to share another, but before I do I thought it would be fun to look at some of the benefits of doing a jigsaw puzzle!

Who's In the Backyard? -- Squirrels -- American Red Squirrels and Eastern Gray Squirrels

 

This week I promised to talk about some of the other critters in our yard besides our birds. Although I love watching the birds. In our backyard we have squirrels and this summer we not only had our usually gray squirrels but we had some red squirrels--lots of them. Most of the red squirrels have moved on now but we had so many of them. I named them all Squeakers because of the noise they made at me and at each other. We do not have black squirrels but I have seen them in my friend's backyard in New York State. Now both types of squirrels in our yard chased their own kind all around and stared at me when I was in my hammock. The red squirrel even squeaked at me when I was reading and not watching him in the tree. 

Who's in the Backyard? -- Sparrows! Fun facts, crafts and book round-up

 

The weather has been so beautiful especially today. I have been enjoying my backyard and my bird watching. Today we are going to take a look at a bird whose name has become synonymous with common because they have been introduced to most places in the world (see fun fact #5). We are talking about sparrows, in particular house sparrows since that is what is common in my area. Check out these fun facts about sparrows. My favorite is #2.

Fun Facts About Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds -- Who's In the Backyard? Series

 

I may be on a staycation, but the birds in my yard are not! Today we will still have our Who's In the Backyard? Post. This week we are featuring the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. We are lucky to have a couple of bushes that hummingbirds like to feed off so we have some in our yard. Since the only type of hummingbird that breeds on the Eastern coast is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, we know that is what we have. Plus I will be sharing some photos from my uncle's feeder that he was kind enough to share with me. Here is a fun one he shared. (All of our photos seem to be of females or juvenile males, so I found one on-line of a male for the photo above.)

Fun Facts About Blue Jays -- Who's in the Backyard?

Today we are looking at who is in the backyard and focusing on Blue Jays! Blue jays are very common around our house in Massachusetts. Unfortunately the ones that visit tend to be a little camera shy and I cannot get great shots of them.

Exploring Japan Part 4 -- Fun Facts & Resource Round-Up

For the last three Mondays we have been exploring Japan. We started with some picture books, then looked at crafts and artists and then origami. Today we are looking at fun facts about Japan and doing a resource and activity round-up. But first some facts about Japan itself. Japan is called Nihon or Nippon in Japanese. It means "land of the rising sun". It was once believed that Japan was the first country to see the sun each morning. The country is made up of 6,582 islands, but has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Three tectonic plates meet near Japan and cause many earthquakes. Japan experiences 1,000 earthquakes in a year. Some of these cause tsunamis. There are also 200 volcanoes in Japan. Sixty of them are still active. Almost three quarters of the land is covered by mountains and forest which make the land hard to farm or use for industry or residential. The Japanese Alps run down the center of the island of Honshu. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain/volcano in Japan and is considered sacred by many Japanese people. 

Origami: Fun Facts, Product Reviews & Craft Round-Up

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We are on our third week of exploring Japan for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. If you missed our first two weeks we did new picture books to learn about Japan and crafts from Japan. Today we are taking a look at the ancient art of Japanese origami. I thought I would start with some fun facts since I shared a bit about the history of origami a few years ago. 

Fun Facts about Cinco de Mayo

It is hard to believe it is already Cinco de Mayo. This year of course is so different than other years since many of us are living with stay-at-home orders but I thought it would be fun to talk about Cinco de Mayo. But first do you know what Cinco de Mayo actually is? I think most people know or realize that the words Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for May 5th, but most do not know why it is a holiday. Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexico's Independence Day. Mexico's Independence Day is September 16th.

Fun Facts about Macaroni and Cheese & Crafty Weekends Link Party

Did you know today is National Macaroni and Cheese Day? To celebrate I thought I would share some fun facts about the All-American comfort food and have two link parties! One for our normal Crafty Weekends and one for your favorite mac and cheese recipes!

Weird But True! USA -- Fun trivia to awe your friends and family on the 4th of July

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own. 

Which had more viewers the walk on the moon in 1969 or the 2018 Super Bowl?  What state has the most people who walk or bike to work? What state's trees helped the colonists during the Revolutionary War? What is the only state name that is one syllable? What building (in the USA) contains rocks from the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, Abraham Lincoln's tomb, the Alamo, and the Colosseum in Rome? Which state produces the majority of the toothpicks used in the USA? Can you answer these questions? You can if you read the book we are sharing tonight. It is National Geographic Kids Weird but True! USA. 

The Year of the Pig -- Fun Facts, Craft Round-Up and Book Review

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It is officially the Year of the Earth Pig according to the Chinese Zodiac. I thought it would be fun to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a look at fun facts about pigs as well as the Year of the Pig and of course some pig crafts and a fun Chinese pig story. We will start with fun facts about pigs!!

Fun Facts about Chinese New Year!

The lunar new year (better known as the Chinese New Year) begins next week, February 5, 2019. This year will be the Year of the Earth Pig. (Stay tuned for some facts about pigs, the year of the pig and a pig craft round-up coming soon.) I thought it would be fun to look at some fun facts about this holiday. In China and many cultures this holiday is the big holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas is in America. It amazes me how I learn something new about this holiday every year as I prepare post. So read below to learn a bit about the holiday and some fun facts about it.

Fun Facts about Rubber Ducks with Rubber Duck Craft Round-Up

Did you know January 13 is National Rubber Ducky Day? In honor of it I thought I would share some fun facts about rubber ducks. (Did you know there are some people who spell them rubber ducky or rubber duckie?) There are rubber duck races around the world raising money for charities and it is considered a classic toy. Here are some interesting facts I found out about these little guys.