Picture Books that Make You Feel Good

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

Today I am going to share with you five new picture books that make you feel good when you read them or have the overall theme of making the world better. Don't we all need that in our world. We will start with How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham

Multicultural Monday: Learning about the World through Animals

On Friday Hazel and I went to the first of three Toddler Treks that I signed us up for at our local zoo, Stone Zoo. We will be going to one each month this summer. Since the zoo expected 800+ students from various schools, the instructor decided to keep us in the Discovery Center since it would be too hard to stay together as a group. She had planned several activities for the kids including showing them cards and asking what animal it is and would you see this animal in your backyard or at the zoo. This got me to thinking that the zoo is a perfect place to look at some multiculturalism. It is where we go to see the animals we do not see every day or in our own neighborhoods. The Stone Zoo is one of two zoos in the Boston area known as Zoo New England. The other is bigger and is in Boston. The Stone Zoo is nice since it is a good size for a young one and we do not have to drive into the city and deal with parking. (You may remember I shared our last visit to the zoo in a Happy Family Times post.)

 A great book to go with this lesson is Around the World on Eighty Legs by Amy Gibson. The book has hand drawn animals from around the world--broken up by regions of the world with poems and sometimes information about them. It is a fun read, but not as informative as I had hoped. However it is a great starting point to see which animals live where and then you could easily research them more.

Stone Zoo itself is divided into sections having to do with where the animals are from (or at least the environment they live in). Since our class was to start (and ended up staying in) the Animal Discovery Center, we went to the right (which is the way we usually go anyway). The first animal you see is the American Bald Eagle. They also have a replica of a nest. As the visitors we were talking to said their family of three could lay in it comfortably if they had to. Then there are the black bears. This is one of the newest additions to the zoo and one of my favorites. Since both of these are native to the United States, I will not go into them. Then we looked at the llamas. By this time it was time to head to our class so we went to the Animal Discovery Center where they have a corner of the room as windows to watch the llamas. The llamas like to come and stare into the glass so it was quite fun. These of course are normally found in South America. Although according to Wikipedia, they originated from North America and migrated 3 million years ago.

Llama on left is staring at window!

Inside the Animal Discovery Center they have six Panamanian Yellow Frogs (I found four of them in the tank), corn snake (who was very active), gecko, tarantula, and box turtles. From this list you can see they are also from all over the world. The Panamanian Yellow Frogs are obviously from Panama. The other animals can be found in parts of the U.S.A. as well as other places. A box turtle was taken out of the tank for the kids to learn more and to touch. I did not take any pictures in here, but I did take a picture of Hazel's craft. They had the kids play a game where they were caterpillars and had to bring the instructor five of the foam leaves they had "hid" around the room. Once they had found five, they received a butterfly and then had to find a flower of the same color. Then they had the kids make a paper chain caterpillar and if they wanted they stapled the butterflies on to change them to butterflies.

Hazel's caterpillar

Turned into a Butterfly

After class we joined the crowds to check out some of the animals. We continued in to the Sierra Madre area of the zoo. This includes the llamas, coyotes, bats, coati, cougar, jaguar, and gila monster.

Sleeping Jaguar

We got to see the coyote, but did not get a picture of him. The jaguar and the cougar were sleeping.

Coati

We did see the coati briefly, but there were large crowds around their cages. We didn't bother trying to get into the bat area  or the gila monster because of the crowds. We did see the rosy boa (in a cage here as well as in the Animal Discovery Center). After all this, we went and saw one of Hazel's favorite animals--the flamingos! They were building their nests and sitting on their eggs. Hazel thought they were sitting on rocks, but I showed her that they were mud and not rocks. This of course took our journey to the Carribean!

We went indoors to the exhibits there. They have the African crested porcupines, the Inca tern, a hornbill, Emperor tamarins, blue macaws, meerkats, and two-toed sloths and a large tortoise. I did not get any really good pictures here because it is dark and the windows tend to show dirt in pictures. Sorry!

At this point we went to the gift shop. I found some great books for references and learning more.

This book was written by an 8-year-old about the zoo!

Dover Press Books that use stickers to help learn about animals and their environments!

A coloring book that gives details about each animal on the page

Some origami for us to try!

Next we saw the American river otter. Ok, I have to share this picture because it was so cute. The otter came out to say hi to a zookeeper. Maybe he thought it was feeding time or something. You can see him standing on his hind legs towards the back  here (look below here).

Then we saw the monkeys and the white cheeked gibbons. The white cheek gibbons take us to Asia. They have a family of them. The father lost part of his arm at his previous zoo. The mother was carrying her baby this time.

At this point, Hazel was getting tired and wanted to go to the playground which is in the barn yard. It was a bit crowded there with older kids and I had to help her get down the slide since the older boys wanted to climb up the slide and then were chasing each other around it. Then we went for the rides near the snack bar. She of course had to go on the train.

Then the pink hippo.

Then she went on the zebra truck. Then it was time to go. We were tired and hungry. We talked about getting lunch but the snack bar was full of all the school kids getting lunch. So we went to the car. There I called the vet's office and found out we could pick up Fluffy (second day of x-rays), so we headed there which is basically down the street from the zoo. We found out Fluffy was fine! Best news of the week but we needed to watch her as we started to feed her again. Overall it was a fun day with many things to learn about and how animals live in different parts of the world. I am sure we will share more zoo visits with you soon.

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Happy Family Times #5

Kelly at Happy Whimsical Hearts and I are doing a new link party called Happy Family Times.  It is a place for us all to share some of the fun things we are doing with our quality family time. We are hoping it will help all of us to have more family time. So I will share one of my fun times and then you can link up yours and go to Happy Whimsical Hearts to read about Kelly's family time. (Your link will be at both places just by linking up at either one.)

Books for Earth Day

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

Oops!! I planned on reviewing these books last week, but our hotel room had very spotty internet, so I am reviewing them late. Sorry I didn't share them prior to Earth Day yesterday!! However these books are perfect for using with lessons about our planet and even as an introduction for younger kids to our world. The first book is Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up by Sally M. Walker and illustrated by William Grill. 

Sharing Saturday 13-11

Well once again I was inspired by so many of the posts shared last week. If you have not had a chance to check them all out you should. There are lots of St. Patrick's Day ideas there. Also make sure you check out the features over at my co-host blog, Having Fun at Chelle's House. Now onto my features. This week we had a tie for most clicked.

1) From Gift of Curiosity: Magic Leprechaun Rocks (What a neat idea to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!)

2) From The Wilderness Wife: Easter Egg Decorating Ideas (A wonderful round-up of all sorts of ideas for children of any age!)

I guess everyone is thinking about two of the upcoming holidays or at least were last week when you visited each other's posts.

A Few of My Favorites

1) From Like Mama ~ Like Daughter: Beautiful Mess (A wonderful post reminding us how important the mother/child bond is even when we are overtired from being up with a sick baby. Now I'll admit I spent the day with a very sick little girl and am not feeling so great myself, so this may have had something to do with this post being a favorite today.)

2) From The Usual Mayhem: Walk to Talk (Wonderful ways to use nature walks to get your children talking and helping with language.)

3) From We Made That: Water Density Experiment (Who wouldn't want to make a rainbow in a glass?)

4) From School Time Snippets: Number Line Smash (A wonderful game to practice your arithmetic facts. Just remember I am a math nerd as a former math teacher, so they tend to be my favorites.) 

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! If you were one of the ones picked as a feature here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog.

Button Code:

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My Week in Review: This week I shared Lady Winter & Sister Spring and Our Weather, Signs of Spring & Irish Chicken and Leek Pie, Pi Day and the history of pi, Rainbows, Leprechaun Trap and an Irish Cinderella

 

Now for This Week's Party 
 
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share and Having Fun at Chelle's House via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

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4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest as well as Having Fun at Chelle's House at Facebook and Pinterest

Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share and Having Fun at Chelle's House permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest. 

DIY Doll Camping Equipment

Happy New Year!! I hope all of you have a healthy and successful 2015!! I know I am planning some exciting things for Crafty Moms Share and hope you will stay tuned. (One of the best ways to stay tuned is to subscribe to Crafty Moms Share! See the ways to do so in the right column.) I am lining up some amazing giveaways and reviews as well as fun crafts and activities to do with your child(ren). 

Today I thought I would share the main part of Hazel's birthday present from us. This year's family birthday party was American Girl Doll themed, so it seemed appropriate to give her something for her dolls. We gave her the beautiful carrying case with murphy bed from Queens Treasure for Christmas with a homemade quilt. When we were at the American Girl Doll Store for my birthday this summer, Hazel fell in love with the tent they sell. However I was not going to spend $85 on it. I figured I could come up with some way to make one. I happened to find roasting sticks on clearance for a $1 at the end of the summer and bought them thinking they could be the poles for the tent. I also saw this great tutorial over at The Frugal Crafter using cardboard to stiffen the sides, but I really wanted her tent to have a window like the one at the American Girl Doll Store. After a couple of tries I got a tent. It is not perfect and I now know what I would do differently. The first would be not bothering with the "poles". 

Sharing Saturday 16-12

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts,crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts and a new one starts on Sunday morning!! Be sure to join us at it!!

 Thank you to everyone who shared at last week's party!!  Since next weekend is Easter weekend and I celebrate with my parents early (and with Steve's mom after church on Sunday), this party will last for two weeks!! Be sure to come back to share again next week!! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! The features this week are Easter Features and Everything Else.

Mia and Me: Friends to the Rescue DVD Review

Disclosure: PBS Kids gave me a copy of this DVD free of charge. 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 are so excited in my house!! Today the newest Mia and Me: Friends to the Rescue is being released. We discovered Mia and Me just a couple of weeks ago thanks to PBS Kids. They sent us the first DVD, Mia and Me: Discover Centopia. Hazel watched it three times in two days. Needless to say she loves Mia and Me! Well this new DVD did not disappoint us either. 

Cute, Fun & Informative Animal Picture Books

 

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

Who doesn't love a cute animal book? Little kids usually love animals and today I am sharing a round-up of new picture books focused on animals. And with the state of the world right now I think we all need some cuteness and fun to distract us. The books feature cute puppies, baby animals and dinosaurs and all three books are from National Geographic Kids, so they are full of photos and more. We will start with So Cute! Puppies by Crispin Boyer. It is recommended for ages 3 to 5.

A lovely visit

Yesterday Hazel and I went to visit a good friend who I don't see or speak to enough any more. I use to live in her in-law apartment when I was single. I have to say I miss the country and living on a lake. Plus a few of the great discount stores that are there.

From: Something lubely everyday

Before we left, I had shown Hazel the pictures from Sharing Saturday from Something lubely everyday: Stick Reindeer. I asked her if she would like to look for sticks to make one while we were in the woods by the lake. And of course, she answered positively. She told me to pack her buckets so we could collect our treasures, which of course I forgot.

Luckily after Hazel met Diane and Jack, the dog, we went to my absolute favorite discount store, 135 Discount, and they had metal buckets to collect treasures for a couple of dollars. (Plus all their jewelry is $4.99 or $1 for pins and earrings and we are talking costume jewelry that you could get at Macy's.) They have a mixture of everything from party supplies, clothes, Tiffany style lamps, toys, house goods, etc. and it is always cheap. We checked out another store which is new and temporary and then went to my favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch. After lunch we went home to go walk by the lake. We put on plenty of layers since it is always colder by the water and took Jack out for the walk. We walked quite a bit collecting sticks, pine cones, a feather, birch bark, etc. Some ended up on Hazel's nature table.

Hazel's Nature Table

Another shot of the other side

We walked to where a neighbor had made a small beach. The lake and land around it is part of a closed state park, so it is a small beach, but he added some rock seats. Hazel had a blast throwing rocks into the water. Then we headed back and Diane offered to cut some greens for me so I could get the smell of Christmas in my house since we have an artificial tree--I really miss my real tree of my childhood, but Steve doesn't like them.

While we clipped various greens, Hazel chased Jack. She had such a great time running around and being free. Plus Jack is the most friendly dog and it was instant love for them.

Then it was time for us to head home. When we got home, we looked at our treasures and picked the sticks to make into reindeer. And with the glue gun we made them.

Finally something I made for Hazel's stocking. I saw this idea at Helping Little Hands. I wanted to get her a Curious George ornament but all of the stores that carry Hallmark ornaments are sold out around here, so I made her a book ornament. And while I was at it, I made an Elmo and Caillou ones too. Since they are her favorites I figured it would be a nice way to remember what she was into this year. On the first page of each one I wrote her name and the year. In the Curious George book, I also found some pictures from the story and included a couple pages.

Shared on:

Family Vacation Time During the Pandemic

 

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

It has been a tough year for everyone. Our world shut down during Hazel's new school's spring break last year. It was such a strange time. We didn't know what was coming. Here in Massachusetts at least things are far from normal. Businesses are opening up again but masks are mandatory in public. We have been lucky. Hazel's school has been open this school year. We have the choice to keep her remote whenever we want to but can send her in most of the time. The school goes remote after vacation weeks so it enforces self quarantines for people who have traveled. It truly amazes me when I look on Facebook and see friends all across the country traveling and going out socially. The idea of stepping on an airplane right now or eating in a restaurant scares me. Yet I know there are people who do it all the time and I'm friends and/or related to some of them. We have not left Massachusetts since our trip to Disney in February 2020. We are very lucky though that my family has a house on Cape Cod and we have gotten away there including this spring break. Hazel has been off the past two weeks for spring break and this past week we headed to Cape Cod to spend time as a family, get a change of scenery and see my parents. Since Steve is working from home he needed a change of scenery as well as some time off. Have you traveled during this pandemic?

Going Exploring for Ant Hills

Last week Hazel and I bought a critter cage that came with a small net, magnifying glass and tweezers and we bought a nicer magnifying glass at Michaels. They were on sale an not very expensive. Hazel has been afraid of bugs for some time so I thought it might help to get rid of some of the fear. On Sunday we pulled them out. Hazel started by gathering rocks in her net and critter cage. Then after a bit she told me she wanted to go exploring and look for ant hills. I'm not sure if she really knew what an ant hill is or what one looks like, but we did find some.

Our front yard actually had many of them. We always seem to have ants around. Hazel had the best time just looking and searching.

We discovered the magnifying glass that came with the critter cage was not very good. It was rather blurry. So Hazel kept telling me she would share the good one with me. She was having so much fun.

Getting a better look

We also of course continued using our senses like we did on Saturday. After all exploring really requires one to use your senses. We found some feathers, bees (but they moved too fast to get a picture). Hazel took the first feather to put in her critter cage. I'm not sure it ended up there though.

Hazel also noticed that an airplane left lines in the sky.

Then we went for a walk to explore some more. Daddy joined us and Hazel wanted to be pushed. But she constantly wanted us to find something to put in her net. I finally picked up a rock for her. Steve had been doing some yard work and we moved her sand box out of the garage now that the weather is turning warmer. She was very excited to have it outside. She was serving everyone dinner at her swingset picnic table.

She asked if I was hungry and of course I said yes, so she gave me the best one.

I am loving our days spent outdoors. Each day seems to bring some new adventure, exploration or game. What have you been up to outside?

Oh, I know I have mentioned this book previously, but I am trying to relate our activities to books whenever possible. Since we were exploring for ant hills, it of course makes sense that we mention one of Hazel's favorite books, Ant and Grasshopper by Luli Grey. If you visit my previous post  you will see one of the crafts we have come up with to go with the book. I still plan to make Ant's house out of tissue boxes with Hazel. Stay tuned for it.

Some other creative play we have done lately:

Blowing Bubbles

Wind Wand--finally playing with it outside!!

Stove/oven for cooking with her sand table

Yes, she told me she was grilling chicken on her table!! I love it!!


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