Books about Winter Climate Animals

 

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

Winter begins in a few days. Of course, in New England we feel like it has been winter for a while. However, I often think of winter books in January. Today I am sharing two new books--a board book and a nonfiction book about animals in the winter. The board book is Whose Prints? by Kari Allen and illustrated by Kim Smith. It is suggested for preschool and up. 

Reindeer Fun Facts and Craft Round-Up

Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? To get you in the mood and perhaps to entertain your kids, I am sharing some fun facts about reindeer and a craft and activity round-up.

Books to Explore Our World -- Maps Poster Book and Panorama Pops Boston Book Reviews

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy 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.

We love books that help us learn about places and cultures. In case you cannot tell I am a bit obsessed with teaching Hazel and learning myself about other cultures and places. However we are not big travelers, so books are our answer. Candlewick Press sent me two great books for our family. The first to share is Maps Poster Book by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. 

Wild and Free: Dolphins, Whales and Manatees

Have you ever just loved a CD and have the music inspire you to be creative? This happens to me and Hazel all the time. The CD is from Daria and it is called I Have a Dream. Daria had been kind enough to send me this wonderful CD last year so I could review it here, and we followed her instructions to make a quilted rainstick. Now this CD lives in my car for the most part, and it is what Hazel and I tend to listen to while driving. Even when Hazel is not in the car I tend to listen to it. We both know the words to almost every song on it. As I have been listening to Hazel sing along I have had all sorts of creative ideas flowing through my head. Today I am going to share one of them with you. I am thinking we will do something with almost every song on the CD, so stay tuned for more music inspired songs.

 The song I am sharing today is Wild and Free. With Daria's permission I am sharing her YouTube video of this song with you.

Now I will admit this song is the first since we just got back from Florida. Every time we heard this song, Hazel would ask me what a manatee is, so we did some research and came home with many library books plus I realized SeaWorld Orlando has manatees (as well as dolphins and whales), so I knew this was the perfect time to talk about this song and the animals in it. Now the manatees are endangered and need the help of humans as we are their only enemy--if you can call us that. They do not have natural predators due to their size. They have been hunted as well as hurt by boats and nets and of course their food supply is dwindling due to development. For more information on how you can help, check out Save The Manatees website.

The dolphins they play in the ocean...

Blue Horizons Show at Sea World Orlando

The whales (beluga and killer/orca), they swim in the ocean...

Beluga Whales on top in Wild Arctic Exhibit and Orca Whales in One Ocean Show

The manatees play by the bayside...

Manatees outside Turtle Trek Exhibit

While at SeaWorld, I bought Hazel small plastic versions of each of the animals. We also bought a Sea World Rescue Barbie that came with dolphins as well. Plus we pulled out the whales I made when we read The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson for the Virtual Book Club for Kids.

Then I set up the entire zoo for Hazel, but more about that later.

We also made an ocean interactive box. We took a shoe box and lined it with sky blue paper and then cut a strip of dark blue paper to be the ocean and glued to the front. We cut a slit on the bottom of the box. Then I printed out pictures I found on line of each animal and we cut them out and glued them to popsicle sticks. 

Then we acted out  the song while we listened to it. (I think we probably should have lined the bottom of the box with the dark blue as well.) I had all sorts of other craft ideas, but they did not happen. I am also working on sewing some felt creatures for her. I have started the manatee. I'll share it when we finish. I have found patterns on line for a dolphin and killer whale as well. I think I may try to make my own beluga pattern. 

Some final pictures to show you. Above is a picture of Hazel at SeaWorld looking for beluga whales. Below is the zoo I set up for her. As she was looking at it, she was mentioning that we had an Australia section with kangaroos and a wombat and an African section with the lions, giraffes, zebras and elephants. I mentioned the panda bear being from China and she started asking where the other animals were from. I guess I'm bringing her up to notice the animals of the world at least.

Finally here is a collage of the books we have collected on manatees, dolphins and whales. We have not read them all and many of the manatee books are more picture story/fiction ones, but I always find those fun to include. Manatee on Location is non-fiction though. Also you can purchase Daria's CD at her store for $10 with free shipping!

New Christmas Themed Children's Books

 

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

This week I am focusing on the holidays. I will be sharing holiday gift ideas as well as some holiday themed products. Today I am sharing three new Christmas themed books for children. One is a board book, one is a pop-up book, and the other is a picture book. The board book is Snow, Snow, Snow! a Christmastime Song by Sandra Boynton. It is recommended for babies to age 5. The pop-up book is In the Holly Jolly North Pole by Joel Stern and illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff. It is recommended for ages 3 to 5. The picture book is Elves Are the Worst by Alex Willan. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Winter Solstice

On Saturday winter begins where we live although with the weather this week, I think winter is already here. We have had two snowstorms since Saturday. Hazel has made her first snowman of the season! However the snow was a bit icy to make snow angels at least in the first storm. The second one she has not gotten to play as much since she got sick (after playing in the first snowstorm). We have been talking about the shorter days. Of course Hazel is trying to figure out what that means--are there less hours in the day?

Picture of Our Back Yard This Afternoon

To get ready for the first official day  of winter, I thought we would read some winter books and try a few crafts. After reading some winter books, Hazel decided we needed to make some paper snowflakes. This is one of her favorite things to do.

Then we read some more books. We went to the library and found a huge selection of winter books and here are some we got as well as some of our favorites from our own collection.

Although I keep explaining about there being less sunlight on the winter solstice, I am not sure Hazel gets the concept yet. I hoped some of these books would help her. The first two books in this collection are about multiple seasons. The third, Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer may sound confusing, however the story is told by a boy who explains how his world becomes warm (for example, hot chocolate instead of cold milk, pajamas with feet) because of the cold temperature outside.

We also had to look at some books about snow. After all that is the best and the worst part of winter.  Red Sled by Rita Judge and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats are two of our favorite snowy/winter books.

Three of these books have activities and/or crafts in them. The top two are just about crafts and activities. It's Winter by Linda Glaser has some winter activities and explorations to do at the end of the story. It goes through what the animals are doing while it is cold outside. In the Seasonal Crafts series, Winter by Gillian Chapman has crafts for many holidays and events. The craft we decided to do was make construction paper finger puppets to go with stories that the Inuit women tell on winter nights to pass the time.

Now the Inuit people live in the Arctic. As we can imagine their winter days are long and dark.  To pass time they shared stories. Many were about the animals they lived with and ate: the caribou, the walrus and seals. Then of course there are stories about the sun, moon and the Aurora Borealis. The Inuit traditionally lived in igloos in the winter.

Source: By Ansgar Walk (photo taken by Ansgar Walk) [CC-BY-SA-2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

 How would you like to live in here for the winter?

Addition on the Winter Solstice: We read the best book for the winter solstice tonight. It is The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson. It goes through history on how the winter solstice was celebrated as well as giving an experiment to try to understand the seasons. I highly recommend checking this one out!!






 





Looking for more winter ideas check out:
Winter Solstice
Let It Snow! Winter Wonderland Tea Party
A Wonderful Winter Book: Red Sled
My Winter Pinterest Board

Around the World in 12 Dishes-- Canada

This month we are exploring Canada with the Around the World in 12 Dishes group. Hazel and I have been having so much fun with it. If was warmer weather, I might even consider taking her to Canada, however I cannot imagine going anywhere colder and snowier than what we already have. I am so done with winter, but alas, we are expecting snow again tomorrow. Anyway, a bit about Canada. Canada borders three oceans: Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic, and its southern border with the United States is the worlds longest land border between two countries. Canada is the second largest country in area. Canada was settled by both France and Great Britain. After the French and Indian War, France ceded its colonies to Britain in 1763. As a result of both countries settling, Canada is officially a bilingual country. Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. The Queen's representative carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.

Sharing Saturday 16-4

What an amazing party last week!! Thank you to everyone who shared with us!! Our features are just a sampling of the wonderful things shared, so if you haven't checked out the rest you should!! The features for this week include Snow Features, Valentine's Day & Family Features, Educational Features, and few art and interesting ideas. I have also host a craft link party (the crafts just have to be family appropriate and not necessarily kid related) and it is a place to share crafts, reviews of patterns, craft books, etc. and patterns. I hope you will come check it out Sunday.  This month's Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is continuing for all your posts that are culture (multicultural) related!

Virtual Flat Stanley Travels to...

This month our Virtual Flat Stanley made his way from the Netherlands back over the Atlantic Ocean to Canada--Quebec, Canada to be a bit more specific. Our Flat Stanley this month comes from D in Quebec Canada. D's mom blogs over at The Usual Mayhem. If you have not checked out The Usual Mayhem, you really should. She always is sharing such wonderful ideas. She also co-hosts The Outdoor Play Party. It is always full of great ideas to do with your kids outside!

For those who are unfamiliar with our Virtual Flat Stanley Series, at the end of April, my aunt asked me to help out with her step-granddaughter's school project. The Flat Stanley they sent overseas was never returned, so she needed one to turn in quickly. I had the idea (since one from the same state did not seem all that exciting) to ask some of my fellow bloggers from around the world. Then as I started receiving pictures and short descriptions from various places I thought it would be a neat way to explore other cultures and places and for my readers (even those without a blog) to join in the fun. So if you want to participate (and I hope you do) you can visit this post for all the details and the template. Then you just need a child or children to decorate your Flat Stanley (or Flat Sophia) in a way that someone might dress in your area of the world. Take a picture of your Flat Stanley with your child (if you are willing to have me post a picture of your child on Crafty Moms Share) or just a picture of Flat Stanley. You can also take your Flat Stanley sight seeing and take pictures to make it even more interesting. Email me the pictures and a short description of where you live and I do the rest. We have made three Flat Sophias at my house already. We had to duplicate the first one which I mailed to my aunt and Hazel has enjoyed making them so much she wanted to keep doing it.

Source

First a bit about the country of Canada. Canada is in North America and consists of ten provinces and three territories. It is the second largest country by land mass in the world and shares the longest land border shared by two countries with the United States. 

Source

 Canada is a federal state governed by a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. Since it had both French and English settlers as well as various aboriginals it is diverse and is official a bilingual country as well as a multicultural one. (Source)

Source

Now for a bit about Quebec. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. It is the second most populous province behind Ontario. The majority of the people live between Montreal and Quebec City (the capital).  Quebec is located in the Eastern part of Canada and its land is nearly three times the size of France or Texas. Most of its land is very sparsely populated. Quebec is the only province in Canada that is mainly Francophone. The official language in Quebec is French and according to a 2006 Census 97.4% of the citizens of Quebec are fluent in French.

Source

The name Quebec comes from an aboriginal word which means the river narrows. It refers to the area near Quebec City where the St. Lawrence River narrows. French Explorer Samuel de Champlain named the colonial outpost Quebec in 1608. 

Quebec has one of the world's largest reserves of  fresh water. Quebec has four climate zones. Much of it is subarctic, however there also arctic, humid continental and East maritime. In summer the average temperatures range from 41 °F to 77 °F and in the winter from −13 °F to 14 °F.  

The average amount ofsnow in Quebec City is around three meters. (Source)

In Canada they serve homemade cake with a wrapped coin between the layers

at birthday parties. The cake is decorated with colored sugar sprinkles. The 

child who gets the coin in his or her cake will be the first child playing each 

game. At the parties children receive colorful party favors called crackers. 

These are tubes wrapped in crepe paper. They pop when you pull a paper 

strip. Inside there is a small gift--a fortune or hat. (Source) In Quebec, the 

birthday person receives a punch for each year plus one for good luck.(Source)

In Quebec an alternate text of the song Gens du pays, by Gilles Vigneault is sung at the birthday party. (Source)

 

Flat Stanley's Travels So Far

 

 The Different Flat Stanleys/Sophias Thus Far

Hazel's first

Hazel's Second

Hazel's Third

The Netherlands

Adventures Outside--Winter Nature Hunts and Play

Climbing Up Our Swingset

So on Friday, we had another beautiful day here in New England. The weather predictions for Saturday was a possible snow storm with an arctic freeze coming Saturday sometime. Friday it was suppose to be near 50, so we went outside after our Move and Groove class at the local library. First we played on our swingset and then we moved to the one we are storing in our yard for friends who are inbetween houses (and living in a condo with no yard).

On Our Friends' Swingset

Hazel decided she was the captain of a big ship (the swingset) and was taking me to the big city and zoo to live. Apparently I'm now Curious George. My seat on the boat was the green swing. There is a steering wheel in the house and thus how she was steering the ship.

Lilac Tree

Now, February 2nd was Groundhog Day around here. Supposedly the televised groundhog did see his shadow (seems to me he always will since there are camera lights around), however around here it was awfully cloudy. Well apparently no one told the trees that we are suppose to have six more weeks of winter since I saw buds on our lilac tree.

And the rhododendron also had some buds on it. As well as whatever this bush is.

Then I got ordered back to my seat on the ship which apparently can drive on the street as well since she took me to the grocery store and parked it.

This is the brook that goes along the back and side of our backyard ( and then goes underground near the house). I love having it since it just adds a peacefulness to the yard (and doesn't flood).

After we were done with the ship, it was time to dig in the dirt. Hazel pulled out her gardening tools and set to work. Then we had the idea of making dirt castles since the sand in her sandbox is too dry right now. (She is digging in my garden, but we are planning on moving the garden this year so this is a great place for her to dig.)

Muffin anyone?

Then she got smart and took out her big shovel.

Then she wanted to go for a walk and see what nature we could gather. Before we went I found a very small baby pine cone. We put it on her nature table.

See how tiny it is?

On our walk with the wagon to collect nature

Hazel found a large branch on the ground. She thought it looked like a tree and wanted to bring it home. It is bigger than her! Oh, and she insisted on carrying it home herself.

Bringing It Home

Sorry, Don't know why this one isn't turned.

When we got home, we had many sticks, a few leaves (very dried old leaves), some evergreen pieces and more sticks. I guess we will be doing some crafts with sticks this week or soon. Maybe some fairy furniture?

Hazel of course wanted to bring the large branch in. Steve let her bring it in to the craft room but not upstairs. Of course she and I are planning on finding something to put it in and make decorations for it.

Oh, and apparently we now have an imaginary dog who likes to escape all the time. We ended our outside play on her swingset--the train--and her doggie kept escaping and we would have to chase it. This has continued in the house. I love her imagination!!

I'll share some of our nature crafts and experiments later this week or soon!! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Oh, and please check out Sharing Saturday. It will be open until Wednesday this week, and we already have over 130 amazing entries!! Enjoy!!