obSEUSSed

Dr. Seuss Carnival Games and Party Activities

2013-05-09T01:25:00.001-06:00

Are you looking for a way to celebrate with Dr. Seuss style? Maybe a birthday party, graduation party or a school carnival?
I helped organize a Dr. Seuss Carnival at our elementary school to celebrate the kids completing their read-a-thon. I want to share these ideas to help inspire you to celebrate with Dr. Seuss. I had a fabulous time planning this party and may do it again next year.

I’ve been gathering ideas on Pinterest and at my Dr. Seuss link collection for a few years now so it was hard to narrow down my favorite games, activities and treats to have at the party.

Here is a list you should think through if you plan a Dr. Seuss Carnival:

How many people do you expect? Is this a family party in a back yard or a huge party at school?
What types of booths/activities to have? Interactive Games, Traditional Games, Crafts (what supplies are needed, what can be re-used?) Think of ways to tie in book characters and themes.
Food: Kid friendly options, book themed food, healthy options
Prizes: Favor bags, functional items like themed pencils, erasers and stickers.
Entertainment: Juggler, local author
Signs, promotion or invitations (signs for each booth and for outside to remind everyone passing the school the day of)
Decorations (Table cloths, wall décor, bunting flags)
Set up/Clean up

I had a wonderful committee to help pull this carnival together. Different volunteers were in charge of each booth. Some booths had multiple volunteers. I had another volunteer help with signs. I learned that I should assign a decorating and a clean-up committee as well but the PTA was so great to pitch in the day of and help me with that. I don’t know how I thought I could do that on my own.
SIGNAGE:
All of the amazing signs (you’ll see in the collages below) were done by my neighbor, Sara Greenhalgh. Because she used Dr. Seuss graphics for personal (non-commercial) use, we can not share the files online but I hope they give you inspiration because they really helped set the tone for the party.

Dr. Seuss Style Photo Booth
We used fabric as a back drop with a bunting sign that said READ out of scrap book paper. We had a table set up with all the props spread out including: striped hats, Dr. Seuss books, turquoise feather boas, lorax mustaches (out of yellow feather boas I found at Joann’s), a painted empty frame, a chalk board word-bubble that said READ. I also had great luck at the dollar store finding silly sunglasses, plastic lollipops and giant pinwheels.

One Fish Two Fish, Fish Pond
I borrowed another neighbor’s puppet theater and made a new striped curtain for it. We got fish at Michael’s crafts and taped them on for decoration.

We had a basket of fun Dr. Seuss items as prizes. I wanted them to be useable, not something that would go in the garbage that night. Dr. Seuss pencils, erasers, pencil grippers, notebooks, bookmarks and spiral suckers. My favorite stores were Amazon, Oriental Trading and Really Good Stuff.

Dr. Seuss Bunting Banner
I can’t believe I cut up Dr. Seuss books but I love the look of book page buntings. I found two Cat in the Hat books that were pretty beat up at my local thrift shop. I cut the pages up into triangles. I found pom-pom yarn at Joann’s Fabric store then my husband helped staple all the pages on. We strung the bunting across the entire gym and across the closed curtains on the stage. Two books worth made a super long string. I kept the bunting to re-use.

Daisy Head Mayzie Crazy Hat Booth
The PTA volunteers did a great job gathering supplies for this booth. They bought poster board and cut them into long strips allowing the kids to create whimsical hats. They had feathers, pom-poms, foam flowers, glue, staplers and tape. The hats were a huge hit.

Green Eggs and Ham Hunt
I wanted to do an egg hunt, but I didn’t want 200+ kids running all at once to fill a bag with eggs. My solution was to hide 500 Green Eggs in the library and the kids were told to find 2 rhyming eggs and they could keep the prizes inside (Dr. Seuss stickers or erasers). PTA volunteers wrote these words on the eggs so there would be matches: Train/Rain, Fox/Box, Mouse/House, Sam/Ham. I bought sets of green eggs from Oriental Trading (see here).
This was a nice silent hunt because it was just down the hall from the big noisy carnival. Kids could search for eggs with their parents or friends.

Hop on Popcorn Bar
I’ve seen a few of these around and thought it would be a perfect way to serve treats at the carnival. Click here for more details. I wrote an entire post about it.
HOPscotch On POP
I used my silhouette cutting machine to cut out the words in black vinyl Dr. Seuss font. Click here for Dr. Seuss fonts.
I put the words on white card stock then we laminated them and taped them to the floor and added blue painters tape to create the hopscotch. I hand drew the life-size Hop on Pop onto yellow butcher paper and laminated him. We had two pogo sticks the kids took turns hopping around Pop and jumping on the hopscotch reading the rhyming words as they played.

Oh the Places You’ll Go – Hula Hoop Station
This was the easiest booth. We grabbed ten hula hoops from the dollar store and set them by the sign. Kids stopped by to play for a few minutes then moved on. There was never really a line, it just stayed busy the whole time.
Trick-a-ma-stick {Stick Juggling} Booth
I wanted to have a juggler at the carnival to add to the atmosphere. I thought of just hiring one to come walk around but then I came across Nick Keil, from the Utah Stix Jugglers. He set up a booth to perform and show off his tricks, then he brought extra sticks and let the kids try juggling themselves. They loved it. It is pretty tricky to juggle sticks but they were all having fun and Nick watched each of them and gave them tips on how to make it work. Nick suggested that it would be great for schools to buy sets of sticks to use during P.E. so they could work on balance and coordination. I think the kids would love that.

Cotton Candy Hair
And last, but not least, is the Cotton Candy Station. You’ve got to have cotton candy to remind you of Thing One, Thing Two hair. A tip I learned after 10 minutes that night: Get a stamp and stamp the kids hands when they go through so they each get only one.

I’d love to see Dr. Seuss parties you’ve done. Add them to my Dr. Seuss link collection here.
Remember to check out my Pinterest boards for more Dr. Seuss Party ideas.
I hope you enjoyed this Seuss-tastic party and find some inspiration for a party of your own! Let me know if you have any questions or comments below.

Disclosure: I am a Google Affiliate and make a small percentage from clicks and sales of the items below. Thanks for looking!

Hop on Popcorn Bar and Party Supply Giveaway

2013-04-29T12:01:00.000-06:00

I coordinated a Dr. Seuss Carnival for our grade school read-a-thon last month and we had a HOP on POPcorn Bar as one of the booths. It was a huge hit with the kids!

Above are a few of the treats we had spread out on the table.
We bought the popcorn from our local gourmet popcorn company. We selected orange and green apple to go along with the book cover (I was tempted by the cherry red and cotton candy turquoise colors which would also be Dr. Seuss style) then I grabbed a couple of bags of pre-popped butter yellow popcorn from our local grocery store to fill the yellow bin. We also had smaller containers, found at the dollar store, filled with pretzles, gold fish crackers, M&M candies and marshmallows. I’ve also seen Teddy Graham crackers used that look like the Lorax Brown Barbaloots.
If you are doing a smaller party I would have made the popcorn myself at home. There are great recipes for Jello Popcorn that would make your popcorn colorful and tasty like the popcorn below.
I’ve seen some beautiful displays of the Hop on Popcorn bar done, like this one from Kristi at LollyJane.com, which inspired me, but I wanted bright colors and casual buckets for our carnival theme. The party below was for teenage girls and looked stunning.

Our fabulous PTA volunteers (thanks Kimmie & Karyn!) manned the booth and made this eye-catching sign (thanks Sara). Make sure to have disposable gloves and serving utensils (we used measuring cups) and we chose to have the volunteers serve the food. If you have a smaller party it would be fun to let the kids serve themselves. It still gets messy so make sure to have a table cloth too.

I used my Silhouette cutting machine to make the vinyl letters on the yellow tub. You could always draw words on a container with a permanent marker.

I had wanted to get these cute chevron treat bags I had seen at party stores but the price was always more than I was willing to pay. They happened to be a daily deal on Pick Your Plum the month before this party so I snatched them up that day. They offer these bags often, as well as other fabulous party supplies, home décor, jewelry and more.

I have recently become an affiliate for Pick Your Plum (you’ll notice their daily deals on my side bar) and they have offered to give one of my readers a $25 Plum Box full of swank crafting, fashion, baking, and home decor swag! I’m not sure of the exact contents but I know it is always something fantastic. Just check out their site to see some examples. Most items are under $10. Sign up for their alert emails to know what deal is up next.

~~Use the gadget below to enter to win a $25 Plum Box. Giveaway ends May 7, 12:00 midnight EST. U.S. valid addresses only~~. UPDATE: Midnight May 7. A winner has been selected and contacted by email.
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If you need more ideas for a Dr. Seuss Party or Carnival, follow my Dr. Seuss Party Pinterest board.
This is where I’ve collected ideas that helped me plan this carnival. I’ll be sharing more details about the carnival on obSEUSSed later this week.
Sharing this post at SNAP!Creativity. See more great ideas on SNAP!

Simple Mother's Day Gift, Printable and Children's Books

2013-04-26T23:38:00.002-06:00

My husband helped my kids decorate hot pads for myself and their grandmas for Mother’s Day last year. If you’re looking for a quick and easy Mother’s Day gift idea, this craft is perfect. I love functional keepsakes. I use these hot pads almost every day and love to see them hanging in my kitchen.

They traced their hands on one side. Make sure to add their age or the date. Then he let the kids draw whatever they wanted on the other side. Notice my toddler’s perfect scribbles.

My son also decorated an oven mitt to match the set.

They got all of these at the dollar store. The hot pads were 2 for $1.00. The mitt was $1.00. These are such a simple and inexpensive gift I decided to help all the kids at church make these for their moms for Mother’s Day this year. I searched for a poem to make a tag to go along with the gift. I found an anonymous poem and made a free printable tag for you. You can save this, print it and use it for non-commercial use (personal use only).

We are helping 80 kids make these for their moms. Some moms will get more than one if they have multiple children. We bought plain red, country blue, sage green and beige. See the Dollar Tree store products if you plan to order in bulk. I have no affiliation with them, though it is the best place I’ve found to get them.

My Favorite Mother’s Day Children’s Books
(*Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate and you may purchase these books through clicking the links or the picture of the book. I make a small percentage from the sales. I encourage you to try the books at your library first.)
Mother, Mother, I Want Another, by Maria Polushkin Robbins, is one of our favorites throughout the year. My husband introduced me to it when we had kids because he remembered his mom reading it to him. It is a darling story about a mouse who likes to stall by asking for another drink, another toy and so on. Then at the end he asks for another hug.

Another favorite that I’ve have had for the past two years is My Mommy is a Blogger, by Sommer Poquette. I met Sommer at Evo’ (a conference for women in social media) a few years ago and was thrilled she had written a book that helps explain what I do for my kids. My kids love the part that calls mommy a ‘booger.’ The story is silly yet still gets the point across.

Here are a few other classic books about mothers that we love: (click the pics for more details)

Are you making any crafts or reading special books for Mother’s Day? I’d love to hear about your favorites in the comments below.

I am also a Google Affiliate: If you click or buy the links below, I recieve a small percentage.

Curious George Spring Special on PBS Earth Day

2013-04-22T00:21:00.001-06:00

This Earth Day, Monday, April 22, PBS KIDS will air a new CURIOUS GEORGE special: CURIOUS GEORGE SWINGS INTO SPRING. (Check local listings for times. It will re-air Friday and is now available on DVD .)

PBS Kids sent us a screener kit with the movie and spring crafts to check out. We watched the movie as a family last weekend and the kids, including my 2-year-old, loved it. The story takes off with Curious George having spring fever at the park, then he tries to get his dog friend Hundley to catch the fever but has a difficult time doing it. They explore canoe rides, country animals and more but it takes a hot air balloon to help Hundley catch spring fever.
The music is catchy and our favorite song was “We are the Wiener Dogs.” The movie has us excited for spring but we have to wait a few more weeks here in Utah. It is still snowing off and on. In the mean time, we can do some fun crafts to get ready for spring.
SPRING CRAFTS:

PBS sent us some pencils and this PINWHEEL TEMPLATE (you can print one too) so the kids could color and create their own pinwheels.

Here is one my son made:

PBS also sent us supplies to create a bird feeder. You can get instructions from PBS here: PLASTIC BOTTLE BIRD FEEDER

CRAFT NOT RECOMMENDED TO TRY AT HOME:
They actually only sent us the bird seed and chop sticks for this craft. We didn’t have a 2-liter bottle so we had to get one at the store this week. That wasn’t the problem with this craft. The instructions tell you to poke holes in the top of the bottle for the string and holes on the side for the chop stick and eating spouts. It suggests parents use scissors or a sharp knife. It wouldn’t work on our bottle. We had to get a utility knife out and finally got a little hole. My husband finally pushed through the crack with a screw driver to make a larger hole. It took us over 30 minutes to make the holes. The kids got impatient (so did I).
During the process my daughter told us something she learned at the Recycle plant field trip last week: The bottom of plastic bottles are so tough that they shouldn’t be kept for anything and need to be melted down for re-use. My husband said a drill is really necessary for this craft (which doesn’t make it very child friendly). Sure enough, I looked online and found directions that suggested using a drill.

On top of all this frustration, it was hard to feed string to go through the holes on top. We had to find a plastic cord to push all the way through the bottle and tie it at the bottle opening then pull back in. We also misplaced our funnel so it was a major pain to fill the bird seen into the bottle.
I normally enjoy crafting with my kids but this was a huge craft FAIL. Please don’t try making the bird feeder at home, unless you want to do it without your kids around.
We decorated the bottle with decorative Scotch tape (butterflies) and pink animal print Duck tape. That made it look nice enough to hang in the back yard. Now the kids are excited to see if any birds come.

EASY SPRING ACTIVITIES:
PBS also has a recycling challenge with badges you can print out. Our kids are big on recycling at our house already so it was a good review.Try the Pinwheel for a fun, easy, spring craft. And watch the Curious George movie to bring on the Spring Fever!
A new CURIOUS GEORGE online game will launch in late April. Featuring natural science concepts such as plant growth and butterfly metamorphosis, the game will give kids an opportunity to create their own music videos about spring.

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY and SPRING:
How will you celebrate?

Disclosure: I was sent a screener of the movie with a spring craft kit for review purposes.

Dr. Seuss Cake by Sweet Pea Cakes

2013-04-10T22:33:00.001-06:00

I need to have a Dr. Seuss party just so I can order this cake. I spotted this whimiscal, topsy turvy, style Dr. Seuss cake on Instagram and asked Susie if I could share it with all of you. She sent over the detailed photos and I am amazed by this masterpiece. I hope it will inspire you if you are looking for ideas to celebrate with a Dr. Seuss cake. If you live in her area (El Paso, Texas) you could ask her to make you your own custom cake. Contact Susie through Facebook.

I have seen quite a few Dr. Seuss cakes online and have a variety pinned on my Dr. Seuss Party and Cake Board, but this one is one of my favorites with all the details.

Thing One Thing Two symbols on the Cat's Hat.

The Lorax with truffula trees. Green Eggs and Ham.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. All the classic characters are represented.

If you have made a Dr. Seuss cake (or ordered one for your party) and would like to share it on obSEUSSed, add your link to the Dr. Seuss Link Collection by clicking the box below or leaving a comment with your link.

Follow my Dr. Seuss Cake board for more ideas.

*Disclosure: I recieve a small percentage from the Google Affiliate ads below. They have a variety of fun Dr. Seuss items that would be great for parties.

Dr. Seuss Experts: Just READ

2013-03-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Read Across America Day! Dr. Seuss’ characters are often symbols used to represent reading on this day.

I’m obSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss but I’m not an expert by any means. I’m inspired by Dr. Seuss’ whimsical world and his desire to help children love reading. I get a little carried away collecting Dr. Seuss ideas, so much so that I don’t have time to do all the Dr. Seuss activities I've seen on Pinterest or other blogs. I’m busy planning a Dr. Seuss carnival for our elementary school happening mid March so I haven’t had time to plan anything to do at home to celebrate his birthday this weekend. Yes, me, obSEUSSed. I have no elaborate Dr. Seuss crafts or projects planned this weekend. This is real life, with three kids.

So, here’s my plan: I’m just going to READ to my kids. Nice and simple. That is what the NEA’s Read Across America Day is really all about. Just pick up a book and read with your kids. Just ask the experts.

THE EXPERTS

Although it is fun to see other bloggers’ and teachers’ ideas across the web, my most favorite and trusted official resources for Dr. Seuss are the following.

SEUSSVILLE

Seussville is the Official Dr. Seuss site. They have online games, videos, a store filled with Dr. Seuss products and more.
They also have excellent teacher and parent sections including this book guide.

Random House, the official publisher of Dr. Seuss books, has official worksheets and games at their site too.

The National Education Association runs the Read Across America campaign. Today they are celebrating RAA for the 16th year. This program focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources. They also have a store with Dr. Seuss products (great for party planning) and excellent education resources.

Scholastic has excellent Dr. Seuss resources as well. Check out: Dr. Seuss Everything You Need. They also have a fun Dr. Seuss Weekly Reader online

As I mentioned earlier this week, I love that PBS has joined with Dr. Seuss to present The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! The children’s TV/DVD series. You can also watch episodes online, play games and they have a store too.

I’ve featured several of Oceanhouse Media’s Dr. Seuss book apps on obSEUSSed before. They have done an excellent job of keeping the books simple and true to their original feeling while making them interactive for kids to touch and hear the words and sounds that go along with the story. They now have the ‘Read and record’ feature so you can record your voice reading and play it back with the book.

And I can’t forget our favorite official Dr. Seuss board game creators. Wonder Forge has creative and classic games for preschoolers and grade school children. Just take a look at their site featuring all their games.

I hope you enjoy visiting these Dr. Seuss experts when you’re ready for some Seusstastic fun. Even though I haven’t planned anything other than reading, I know I can pull up The Cat in the Hat on PBS.com, or have my kids play a Dr. Seuss book app or pull out a board game without any planning – or craft supply gathering- necessary.

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with Dr. Seuss Enterprises or any of these companies in any way. I have not been compensated by them for this post. I enjoy their resources and hope you will too.

Bloggers Inspired by Dr. Seuss

2013-02-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Look no further, if you need an idea to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday you can find something simple or elaborate on one of these bloggers’ lists.

There are so many fabulous ideas from bloggers, teachers, parents and more online now. I can’t keep up with it all. I have loved gathering ideas in my Dr. Seuss Link Collection and Pinterest Board with 1,500+ ideas (see links on the right side bar). But, I wanted to share more resource lists with you to help you prep for Read Across America Day, celebrated this Friday. I love that you can refer to these lists each year to find new ways to celebrate.

The site I see referred to most on Pinterest for Dr. Seuss activities is I Can Teach My Child. Jenae has been one of my favorite bloggers I’ve watched over the years. She has a variety of simple activities you can do at home or school to connect to Dr. Seuss books.

Jenae is also an excellent literacy resource. She wrote this e-book, I Can Teach My Child to Read!, which is on sale through Friday (but always a great price). I’ve been browsing through it and really wish I had a hard copy to refer to more often. I love all her tips.

Mom Endeavors rounded up 75+ Dr. Seuss Activity Ideas.

Angie at The Country Chic Cottage blog created a list of 40+ Dr. Seuss activities.

She created this free printable Dr. Seuss Cootie Catcher. This is my favorite quick craft I’ve seen this year. I printed one out and my kids played with it today.

The Teaching Blog Addict has over 30+ Dr. Seuss activity ideas, including tons of printable worksheets and great classroom ideas.

The Educator’s Spin on It gathered 30+ Lorax ideas.

They also have a virtual book club which is a collection of 100+ links with Dr. Seuss book activity ideas.

Jamerrill from Free Home School Deals has over 100 ideas on this post.

Jill gathered 50+ great Dr. Seuss snack ideas.

Motherhood on a Dime collected 30 great Dr. Seuss ideas.

Learn with Play at Home features several of their favorite Dr. Seuss activities and has a great Link list of 100+ ideas.

Amy, from Some of the Best Things in Life are Mistakes, shares her favorite Dr. Seuss finds on Pinterest.

Parent Teach Play has 60+ ideas on their link list.

J Daniel 4’s Mom has 20+ ideas to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

Deborah at TEACH PRESCHOOL has 40+ links of Dr. Seuss activities.

Deb at PreK and K Sharing has a great Montessori Dr. Seuss activity

This post shares 27 of my personal Dr. Seuss activities.

And, don’t forget my Pinterest boards with 1,500+ Dr. Seuss ideas collected.

And you’re sure to find something that catches your eye at my Dr. Seuss Link Collection with 300+ ideas.

Add these all up (sure there is bound to be some overlap) and you’ll find thousands of ideas to pull from to celebrate reading with Dr. Seuss. Leave a message below if you have links for other Dr. Seuss ideas.

Breakfast with The Cat in the Hat: New Episodes March 1

2013-02-26T23:54:00.002-07:00

I have a confession: I eat breakfast with The Cat in the Hat every morning. I send two of my kids off to school then sit down with my breakfast and two-year-old to watch The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! on PBS. The thing is, I’m know I’m not alone. I know quite a few other mothers who do the same thing. The show is adorable with its silly rhymes and songs and I’ll admit I’ve even learned some new things.

My view of The Cat in the Hat every morning. Yes, I’m obSEUSSed.

In celebration of Dr. Seuss’ 109th birthday on March 2, PBS will air two brand-new episodes of THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! this Friday, March 1 (check local listings).

On-Air: Kids will join the Cat, Nick and Sally in two brand new episodes - “Rumbly Tumbly / Planet Name Game,” featuring a super shrunken trip into Thing One's stomach as well as a whirlwind trip to each of the eight planets, and “Top of the Sky / Jiggle Bones,” folloing the Cat, Nick and Sally as they travel to Audrey the Astronaut’s space station and visit Dr. Giggles to see why bones are important.

Online & Mobile: Viewers continue the fun with the Cat in the Hat in the new “Swirly Whirly Pearl Hunt” online game, which is filled with aquatic creatures of all colors, shapes and sizes, and players can catch a ride on the Thinga-ma-jigger to travel deeper and deeper through silly, Seussian schools of fish. Video clips from both episodes will be available for free online at pbskids.org/video and on the PBS KIDS Video App starting March 1.

IF YOU CAN’T WATCH FRIDAY:
My 7-year-old son will be at school Friday when the new shows air. He loves learning about planets right now and would really enjoy the Planet Name Game episode so I’m glad they offer the online and mobile clips (and games) so he can watch part of the show.
Remember to mark your calendars for Friday or view it online.

1 Fish 2 Fish Printable Matching Game

2013-02-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

This week we are pulling out the printable fishing game I created to go along with Dr. Seuss’ book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, for co-op preschool at our house. We’ve used it for three years now with all of our kids and it has been a great tool to help with letter, number, shape and color recognition.

Printable Fish:
The fish printable has lower and upper case alphabet letters and a set of numbers 1-10. The last sheet has 10 blank fish. You should print out two sets of the cards. I printed them on different colored card stock. Then I cut one set into rectangle cards as my drawing pile. The other fish I cut out around the fish outline and added a paper clip.
You can make your own fishing rod from a popsicle stick, yarn and a round kitchen magnet. I just grabbed a cheap fishing toy set from the dollar store to get the rod.
The kids like to set a hula hoop out as their fish pond. You could also use a laundry basket or an area rug. They set all the fish face up in the pond.

HOW TO PLAY:
Children take turns drawing a card from the draw pile then finding a matching fish in the pond to fish out. Try only putting the lower case letters in the draw pile and have the capital letters in the fishing pond. You don’t have to have a draw pile. I often just call out what I want them to find, like playing I Spy. I spy a 'red fish' or a 'blue fish'.

CUSTOMIZABLE: I left a few fish blank so when you print them you can add your own writing on them. We added shapes to some and the kids’ names to some. Try sight-words, rhyming words, shapes, family or class names. Whatever you need to focus on most can be tailored to this game.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF DOWNLOAD

The Free Printable has a title page with instructions. This printable is FREE for non-commercial use only. If you share this image on your website please link back to this specific post. Full download may not be reposted without permission.

Make sure you read the Dr. Seuss book along with playing the game!
Disclosure: As an Amazon affiliate, I do receive a small portion of the sales of these items. Thanks for looking if you’re interested.

Looking for another fun game to go with this book? See my review of the Dr. Seuss One Fish Two Fish Search Game by Wonder Forge.

Dr. Seuss Baby Shower Ideas Round-up

2013-02-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

I’m featuring some sweet Dr. Seuss baby shower party ideas today that have been shared on the Dr. Seuss link collection. These ideas would be great at any Dr. Seuss party.
This one is from Amy who blogs at Labor of Love. She helped create this Dr. Seuss baby shower for her cousin.

I love the bright colors on the cupcakes and the cake pops. Just setting up Dr. Seuss books around the room makes a great decoration too. I first saw her post a picture on instagram then she posted it on her blog. You can see more details here: Labor of Love

This baby shower by Deborah was featured on obSEUSSed this past year. Make sure to click the link to see all the fabulous decorations, food and Dr. Seuss cake.

Another great baby shower was shared by Liz at Busy Lizzy Bows blog. She share several separate posts about Dr. Seuss party favors, DIY Seuss onsies with ruffle bums, decorations, cupcakes and more.

Naptime Crafting blog shared this stylish Dr. Seuss baby shower. I love the turquoise frame for photo opps and the Dr. Seuss diaper cake.

Stop by the Dr. Seuss Link Collection for more Dr. Seuss party ideas.

Disclosure: As a Google affiliate, I recieve a small percentage from views or sales of these items. Thank you for looking at these cute Dr. Seuss items.

Dr. Seuss Crafts by obSEUSSed

2013-02-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

Dr. Seuss’ birthday is just a few weeks away. March 2 falls on a Saturday this year so it will be a great day to celebrate by doing crafts and activities at home with my kids. I’m sure we will be celebrating for several weeks. I’m helping plan a big Dr. Seuss style carnival for our school read-a-thon mid March and will share more about that soon.

When I started this blog, I wanted it to be a place to share craft ideas and activities inspired by Dr. Seuss. I also wanted to share other children’s book crafts and activities to keep kids excited about reading.

I created the Dr. Seuss Link Collection as a place for bloggers to share those Seuss inspired ideas. Make sure you take a look at nearly 300 fabulous ideas that bloggers have shared. I’ll be featuring a few of them in the next few weeks.

Dr. Seuss Ideas on Pinterest
Then Pinterest came along and it has become the place I’ve gathered more than 1,500 Dr. Seuss crafts, activities, snacks, party ideas and more. I’m blown away by the creative ideas I’ve seen. I’ve loved to see other people just as obSEUSSed or even more obSEUSSed than I am. This love of Dr. Seuss connects us all.
If you have access to Pinterest you must browse through some of these ideas I’ve been gathering. They are overflowing on one board so I am in the process of splitting the pins onto more distinct boards. This is the best place to find all your Dr. Seuss inspiration.

I hope you’ll pick up a book and read to a child and plan an activity to go along with it. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Reading is the most important part.

Here are a few of the projects I’ve created and shared on obSEUSSed. I hope you find some ideas to help you get started.

Click on a picture below for more details about the projects.

DIY Lego Storage Container

2013-01-22T15:16:00.001-07:00

If you’ve ever stepped on a Lego you know the importance of having easy Lego storage for kids. I made these large Lego mini figure head storage jars out of plastic snack containers. They are easy and inexpensive to create and you're kids will love them.

STEPS TO DIY LEGO STORAGE HEAD:

Find a large container similar to a Lego mini fig shape. Empty the food.
Rip off label. It leaves a sticky residue, you can’t paint over this well. I used detachol, soap and water to get it clean enough to paint. I recently saw some adhesive remover on the glue isle at Target you could try.
I used Krylon Dual Paint + Primer, Sunshine Yellow. I spray painted the outside of each container and lid (2 coats). Then I used a clear gloss to help protect it (1 coat).
I cut out vinyl using a silhouette machine using this method after finding a sample Lego face image online. These are simple enough shapes you could print a large face on paper and trace onto vinyl or onto the container and use sharpie markers to fill in the black. If you try the vinyl you’ll want a little black and white to complete the look. I also used vinyl to create a LEGO sticker on the back of the container to label it.
The containers with food cost $5-$8 then I spent $8 on spray paint (1 yellow, 1 clear can). I was able to create 3 containers for under $25 (and got to eat the food).

Before & After: Snack Containers into Lego Storage Box

I think the Red Vines container looks the best. I also liked the taller rounded shape of the Cheese Balls container too so I tried both. Look around for other containers at your local bulk food store or bulk food isle in the grocery store. I really can’t stand cheese balls so we threw them away. We easily ate the Red Vines though so you may as well buy something you’ll eat so you don’t waste the food.

I love how they look in my son’s room. All three heads on his Lego style shelves. He can easily pull them out and find the Legos he needs then put them back away by himself.

You may remember these baby food jars I turned into Lego party favor jars a few years ago. See how I made them here. One of my readers Mama Max made these jars and tried a larger pistachio plastic jar. She inspired me to make these larger jars so see her tips here.

Here is my son with his 3 Lego storage heads.

Crochet Lego Blanket
His aunt made him this crochet Lego style blanket for his birthday last year and he sleeps with it every night. She lined the back with fleece. If you look closely you can see 6 bumps on each block that pop up to look like Lego bricks. I’m not positive where she got the pattern.

We love all things Lego. See my LEGO Pinterest board for more inspiration.
If you don’t want to hassle with the mess and time to search for containers and paint them you can always buy them from the official LEGO. They have a head that sorts the bricks too. (disclosure *If you buy from these links I earn a very small percentage from the sale.)

Have fun and go play Legos with your kids today.

This post is not sponsored by or affiliated with the official LEGO. It is inspired by Lego because we build them every day at our house.

Grinch Craft Round-Up {App Review & Giveaway}

2012-12-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

I’ve been finding a lot of fun Grinch crafts, activities, treats and apps online lately. ‘Tis the Season! I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you so you can all have a Merry Grinchmas!

GRINCH CHRISTMAS BOOK COUNTDOWN
I actually got around to wrapping 25 of my Christmas books to do a Grinch countdown advent for Christmas. After seeing several versions floating around on Pinterest I've been wanting to make my own. We have 70+ Christmas books so I still have 3 baskets out for the kids to browse but they sure do love having a present to unwrap every night. Even though they have read the books in years past, they love the excitement of a surprise gift. (I really should have wrapped them all because the three of them have a hard time taking turns.) The Grinch protects our books and I move him around like a puppet and make him say "only one book a day." He's such a Grinch.

GRINCH GIFT BAGS:
This past year I made Grinch gift bags that we leave out for Santa to fill. I found the red Santa bags at a Pottery Barn return/outlet store in Salt Lake City for $3-8 a bag. Some had embroidered names on them so I ordered Robert Kaufman Grinch fabric on ebay and sewed them on the bags as pockets so you can fill the pockets too. All those bags under the tree were made with scrap Christmas fabric. We use them every year.

GRINCH CHRISTMAS TREE
I found this fun Grinch Christmas tree on a friend’s facebook page. It is from a Festival of Tree fundraiser in Wyoming.

GRINCH CRAFT ROUND-UP
Here are some of my favorite Grinch crafts I’ve seen on Pinterest, Instagram and Etsy.

I saw this Grinch Knit Hat on instagram and found out Anna makes these and sells them for only $10.00 + S&H at Mama’s Lil Monkeys. Her Christmas order cut off was this past Monday but you can always order one for next year.
You can buy the Grinch Knit Hat pattern with ear flaps for $2.00 at Ravelry if you have the ability to make it yourself.
The kids will have an afternoon of fun with the Grinch Goo Sensory Bag by Crystal at Growing a Jeweled Rose.
How cute are those Grinch Photo Booth props? For only $4, you get the pdf files to cut out. Just add sticks and you’ll be ready for your Grinch party. By Chela Williams on Etsy.
Kids can use Pearler Beads to make the Grinch. You could turn this into an ornament. Made by April Hannah as seen on her Artwork Pinterest board.
Try making delicious, cute and healthy Grinch Grape Party Poppers by Amy at Creative Kid Snacks.
Find out how to make these simple furry Grinch Gloves by The Crafty Scarlet Raven.
If you have a fireplace, make the Grinch Hands stick out by Rachelle Yakubu Photography.

GRINCH LINKS:
Click on pictures below or blog name above for more details on each project.

Grinch Hat $10	Grinch Hat Pattern	Grinch DIY Fur Gloves
Grinch Grape Poppers	Grinch Goo	Grinch Pearler Beads
Grinch Photo Booth Props	Grinch Photo Booth Frame	Grinch Cookie Recipe
Grinch Advent Calendar	Grinch Gingerbread Houses	Grinch Pills
Grinch Gift Bags /Roundup	Grinch Fireplace	Painted Grinch PJs

InLinkz.com

GRINCH APPS:

Have you seen all the fabulous Grinch Apps from Oceanhouse Media in the itunes app store? All of their holiday apps are on sale 40-50% off from Dec. 5-11th. See the list here. and I am giving away the How the Grinch Stole Christmas book app to a reader this week. I’m also giving away a copy of Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? (This is my all-time favorite Dr. Seuss book. It just came out as an app this week and I love the message about being grateful for all that you have because you could be much worse off.)

They have the Grinch Book, Camera and Grinchmas Game available on itunes.
{Record your own voice} Grinch Story App Review:
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas has been out for a little while but this last week they just added the feature to record your own voice as the narrator. My family tried it out this week and had so much fun. We each took a turn reading a page. Even my two-year-old added sound effects. I like that when you listen back to the story they still have the sound effects with your voice for each page, like wind blowing, music and toy noises too. I even got my family to sing Fa-who-fores, Da-who-dores with me. The sad part is, I paused it in the middle of recording and tried to re-do a page and from that point on our story didn’t record even though the red-flashing light said it was recording. I’ll have to figure that out next time. It is a long story so if you don’t have a way to go back and fix a page easily it makes it tricky and frustrating after you spent 10 minutes thinking you were recording. I also tried to send the recorded story to my email or to another device (it gave those options at the end) but it froze and I had to exit back to the story several times. These are just glitches I’m sure they are working on fixing. I did get through recording it once by myself and my kids have had fun listening back to me reading the story to them in my sing-songy narrator voice.

~~GIVEAWAY:~~ Closed 12/9/12

I am giving away a code for How the Grinch Stole Christmas! book app and Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? book app from Oceanhouse Media. PLUS a BONUS code for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer book app. 3 Apps total.

TO ENTER: ~~Please leave me a comment below telling me your favorite Dr. Seuss book your first name and email address in the comment.~~
Rules: Must be 18 years or older. Must have a valid email address. App codes are for the itunes store and work on apple devices. No purchase necessary. Retail value of prize is $11.97. Giveaway closes Midnight PST on Sunday, Dec. 9th 2012. Winner will be selected by random.org. Odds of winning determined by the number of entries.
*Disclosure: I was given codes for the three apps I’m giving away for the purpose of review and three codes to giveaway to a reader. I am not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

~~LEAVE YOUR COMMENT BELOW TO ENTER~~. MERRY GRINCHMAS!
The winner was the #1 comment from Joy.

Sharing these Grinch ideas at JDaniel4's Blog featuring more Christmas crafts.

Mayflower Books, Crafts and My Pilgrim Heritage

2012-11-16T22:31:00.001-07:00

My 16th Great-Grandfather, William Brewster, was one of the 102 Pilgrims who came to America on the Mayflower ship in 1620. My mom is a big family history buff and through her research she traced her mother’s family line all the way back to the Mayflower. This makes Thanksgiving even more meaningful for our family. It has been wonderful teaching my kids about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower voyage.

We brought out all our Thanksgiving books and decided to make a Mayflower book basket to hold our books during the month.

Find an oval shaped basket or anything resembling a boat. You’ll need a dowel stick (about 2 feet tall), some muslin fabric for the sails, yarn, glue, scissors, some pencils or popsicle sticks to support the top and bottom of the sails.

Cut 2 sails out of muslin to the size that will look good with your basket. I poked small holes in the top and bottom of each sail. Then I ran the dowel stick through the holes to become the mast. I glued sticks to the top and bottom of each sail (you may want longer support sticks for this but popsicle sticks worked fine for our task). Then I tied the mast to the basket at each side.

The pictures below are of my relative, William Brewster, one of the Mayflower Pilgrims. He was a religious leader. These are depictions of him I’ve found online and a tribute marker on the land near Plymouth. The book ‘Pilgrim’ is a biography of William Brewster. My mom bought a copy at the gift shop at the Plymouth Plantation. We’ve watched several videos on YouTube about the Mayflower and learned that 10% of the American population can trace their heritage back to the Mayflower.

You could also make these fun Thanksgiving puppets and put magnets on the back so they serve double duty. My sister made these and my kids love playing with them. Use big tongue depressors and paint them, then add felt, feathers, ribbon, googley eyes, yarn or other crafts supplies to create your own set.

Mayflower on Pinterest:
I've found so many great ideas from other blogs that I've pinned to my Giving Thanks board on Pinterest. If you have a Pinterest account you can click here for more ideas.

Here are the Thanksgiving books about the Pilgrims and Mayflower I recommend:

From National Geographic, Mayflower 1620, A new look at a Pilgrim Voyage, is an excellent visual with live photo re-enactment of Pilgrims on a ship similar to the Mayflower.

Three Young Pilgrims is a retelling of the Mayflower story from a child’s perspective.
There are many more available. Check some out from your library or find several like these on Amazon. (I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small percentage if you buy from clicking the links. Thank you!)

I hope you share the story of the Mayflower with the children in your life. I’m eternally grateful for the Pilgrims' courage and faithfulness to create a new life and realize I would not be the person I am today without them. What are you thankful for? Do you have any favorite Pilgrim or Mayflower books? I’d love to try some new ones.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sharing this at Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party -
See other great autumn ideas here:

{Family Fun} Dr. Seuss App and Card Game Combined

2012-11-08T00:51:00.001-07:00

My kids and I have been playing this SEUSStastic Dr. Seuss Fun Machine game lately. It’s a new app and board game combined, released just in time for Christmas.

If you have played any of the Dr. Seuss board games by Wonder Forge you’ll know they are all created in whimsical Dr. Seuss style. The Dr. Seuss Fun Machine AppPlay game by Wonder Forge is an excellent merge between digital and traditional board games created for families and preschool children.

What does it do?

The Dr. Seuss Fun Machine AppPlay game takes the simple matching game up 55 notches. You buy the game tiles at a store (or online here) then download the free app. The app works for iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. There are also instructions for ways to play without the app. When using the tiles with an idevice there are several ways you can play. The three games are ‘matching, slap down and guess-a-roo.’ The app leads you through a few quick directions then kids can play solo or with others (1-4 players). They slide handles on a machine displayed on the screen to tell them what cards to look for. Each card has a special color, shape and character on it so the app tells them a variety of things to look for in each game. It has simple, medium and hard levels.

What did we think?

I loved that we could play this as a family. There aren’t many apps that do that well. Parents and kids can play together. My older kids (ages 6 and 9) tried out the guess-a-roo detective style game by themselves but the other games are set up to encourage playing with others. I also liked that the game tiles create a hands-on element. Sometimes younger kids can get frustrated trying to swipe the screen for games but as we played I helped swipe. Then my 2-year-old could find the card and he would tap the screen to say he found the match. It is perfect for preschool ages (3-6) who are learning their colors, shapes and yes,…introducing them to the Dr. Seuss characters.

Proud moment: I have to admit I felt all warm and fuzzy as my 2-year-old said “Seuss game” and I realized it was the first time he said the word “Seuss.”

My 2 year old loved finding the tiles. It would tell him to look for a shape, color or character and he could do the color and character really well. We are still working on his shapes and this game was a great introduction to them.

The idevice doesn’t really recognize the cards, my son just liked to set it on top once he made the match. Then he presses the green button to say he found the match and it makes a fun noise. This is his face (below) every time he pushed the green button.

Here is a description of the game from Wonder Forge:
The Cat in the Hat is back ... with an app! Dr. Seuss AppPlay Games combine the classic fun of tabletop games with the dynamic play power of apps, all served up for iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Match wits and make match-ups with these madcap mixes of family fun! Sturdy, colorful tiles pack up in a flash for quick bursts of Seuss fun ... near, far, or or wherever you are.

See all of Wonder Forge’s fun Dr. Seuss games here.
Follow Wonder Forge on Facebook for more Dr. Seuss fun and other game news.
This Dr. Seuss appPlay game can be found at ToysRus and other specialty stores or online at Amazon.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this game from Wonderforge for review purposes. All opinions are my own. I would gladly buy this game myself.

Tea Party in London Inspired by Matilda by Roald Dahl

2012-10-16T15:21:00.000-06:00

My daughter just finished the book Matilda, by Roald Dahl. She received a copy of the book while she was in London during her Happy Meal Chef apprentice experience with McDonald's. They took her to The Stupendous Afternoon Tea served at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel in London.

The Matilda musical is currently playing in London (right next door to the hotel) so the hotel created a scrumptious tea service inspired by the story.

Just listen to a portion of the menu: Ludicrously Lovely Lemon Loaf Cake, Tremendously Terrific Trifle and Fantastic Fondue.

Don't worry, Miss Trunchbull won't make anyone eat an entire chocolate cake like she did in the story. My daughter had a lovely time at the tea.

My daughter Elayna and friend Sarah enjoying the tea treats. Both are Happy Meal Chefs for McDonald's.

We've had the Matilda movie on our shelf for years but our daughter started watching it a few years ago and it scared her too much. She is older now (age 9) and really loved the book, especially the surprise ending. Now she is ready to pull the movie out again.

You could try making your own treats at home to go along with this story. Try making up your own amazing alliteration on the menu to make it even more fun.

Peach Ice Cream Recipe and Books

2012-09-04T22:10:00.001-06:00

It’s peach season! We love peaches and books about peaches.
This summer my husband read James and the Giant Peach to the kids at night.
We have been on a Roald Dahl kick lately and I’ll share some of his other books and treats to go along with them this month.
We made peach ice cream to go along with this book. Kids can help pour the ingredients in and mix it together. Then let your ice cream maker do the hard part. It tastes amazing! My husband created this recipe. It is not the healthiest but it is a once-a-year treat we look forward to, to celebrate our local Peach Days.

Recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Peach Coconut Ice Cream:

To print: Right click image above to save then paste into document program to print.

PEACH BOOKS
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl
My daughter is not fond of scary stories (she doesn’t even like most Disney princess movies because they have a witch) so I wasn’t sure how she was going to like this book because it is a little strange. My husband did a great job of stopping to explain things as they read so she realized the aunts in the story were crazy, not scary. She laughed and didn’t want to stop reading when the chapters ended.

One of my husband’s childhood favorites is Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. My daughter memorized the entire book as a poem for a school book report in 2nd grade. Our kids love this book. I happened to find a copy of the classroom size version (2ft x 3ft) for 50 cents at a thrift shop. This is definitely one you’ll want to have in your library.

This weekend we get to go visit Grandma to celebrate Peach Days in Brigham City, Utah. We’ll be stopping at the fruit stands along the highway, reading books with Grandma and making more peach treats.
Sharing this over at SNAP!

What is a Gruffalo?

2012-08-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

When we went to London a few weeks ago for the Olympics my daughter found The Gruffalo book and a stuffed animal to bring back as a souvenir for my son. They saw the puppet show of The Gruffalo story, by Julia Donaldson, at Hamleys toy shop in London.

The Gruffalo looks very silly and almost scary but my son adores it and sleeps with it every night and asks me to read the book over and over.

He giggles at the storyline where a mouse tricks several other animals not to eat him because he is friends with a (mythical) Gruffalo, but then a real Gruffalo shows up and the mouse has to trick him too. I especially like how it points out all the parts of the Gruffalo (orange eyes, black tongue, green wart on nose, purple spikey back and more) so my son can point to all those spots as we read the story.
Apparently this book is very popular, especially in the U.K. and there is even a DVD of it. You can also find it in American bookstores or online at Amazon.

Practice Handwriting with Sidewalk Chalk

2012-08-08T23:31:00.000-06:00

Sometimes my son (and I) feels like it is a chore to sit down and practice his handwriting. He is still learning to write his letters properly and needs a little guidance. I love the handwriting sheets with lines and dashes printed on them. And I’ve also used a font to create our own worksheets for him to trace in the past.

Then I found out about a software program called Startwrite. Their program lets you do a lot more than just using a penmanship font. You can create any words you want to go along with your theme or just print the letters your child needs help with. The program lets you print a red dot on the starting point of the letter and lets you customize colors and sizes. It offers a variety of borders and has additional clipart to let you insert onto your page or you can add your own artwork too. It also has print and cursive options.

I created several worksheets this past month that my son has had fun working on. I say fun because it isn’t just a common workbook I picked up at the store, I customized the pages to his interests and things we are working on.
TIP: I love to put practice sheets into clear page protectors so we can use dry erase markers and crayons over and over again.

Startwrite has so many different ideas to incorporate handwriting in the classroom and at home that they created a blog series called 52 Weeks of Handwriting. This week they are focusing on handwriting outside and in your yard.

Here are some of the things we’ve done to practice writing outside.

I made a sheet for my son to practice words that I knew he liked to draw. He practiced the words on the sheet first then wrote them on our driveway with sidewalk chalk. Then he got to draw a picture next to the words. I love to see his pictures labeled, especially his rocket ship at the beginning of this post.

Then we needed some signs for our garden. I created a custom sheet using Startwrite that had plant names on it. I left room for him to draw pictures on the side.

Then I painted some metal signs green, then I had him write the name of the vegetables on each sign with a pencil (to make sure the letters were spaced well) then he helped me paint yellow over the letters. Look at our cute garden signs now.

Startwrite has a free trial you can use your first time. The full version can be purchased so you can continue making more customized handwriting sheets. This really would come in handy for teachers and moms who like to help their child with handwriting at home. Making customized worksheets really helps your child enjoy writing.

*Disclosure: I was given a free trial version of the Startwrite handwriting program which I downloaded from their website. I was not given monetary compensation for my opinion or review of this product.

Happy Meal Chef Headed to London Olympics

2012-07-20T01:41:00.003-06:00

My daughter Elayna is a McDonald's Happy Meal Chef for the next few months. Read more about that here. She won a trip to the London Olympics and the chance to participate in a global Champions of Food cooking challenge. She will also go to McDonald's headquarters in October to cook with McDonald's executive chef to help develop new ideas for the Happy Meal.

In preparation for the Olympics we have been watching the news and reading magazines and books from the library. I have also been busy pinning Olympic craft ideas on Pinterest and have found some excellent ideas. I like the free printables and have printed a few to take with us on our trip.

Below are some of the other finalists for the #happymealchefs experience. Elayna and Sarah R. are the grand prize winners who are official Happy Meal Chefs and will be part of the cooking challenge. You can see their contest videos by clicking on the image below.

My daughter and husband will take part in the McDonald's Happy Meal Chef Champion's of Food cooking contest in London just before the Olympics start. They were asked to develop a new recipe they would like to possibly see in a McDonald's Happy Meal. Other contestants are coming from Germany, Japan and Brazil. They are excited to be involved in the process of helping the Happy Meals become healthier.

This image is the McDonald's Olympic Menu. Notice they have fruit bags and carrot sticks with the happy meals. I hope they offer those in the states soon.

I thought this infographic was interesting too.

I will be going with them to London and we will be taking turns blogging about their experience.
They will be attending several Olympic events and meeting some of the athletes.
We'll be cheering for Team USA!!!

Pre-packaged Lit Kits Simplify and Engage

2012-07-16T16:18:00.000-06:00

I recently came across this wonderful company called Engage with the Page. Two reading specialists, and moms, Michelle Roderick, M.Ed. and Emily Swan, Ph.D. are passionate about helping children love reading so they created DiscoverLitKits. Each pre-packaged literacy kit centers around a theme with books and a bag full of research-based reading activities to help parents and teachers engage children with reading.

The kits come in this clear bag to keep all of the activities together and make them easily transportable to take in the car, to the doctor, grandma’s house or at school.

ENGAGING ACTIVITIES
My son and I played with this Bugs DiscoverLitKit, for PreK-K, for the past two weeks. The focus book was The Butterfly by Anna Milbourne and Cathy Shimmen. There were so many activities to go along with it that we could explore the book differently each day. The activities included math, writing, poetry, word study, vocabulary, discussion cards, art, science, and fluency. They took from 5-15 minutes each to complete so it worked well for my kindergartner’s attention span to do a Lit Kit activity each day, then let him pick a few books of his choice for reading time.

I loved that the book had teaching tip stickers placed on the cover and on each page to give the parent or teacher additional ideas of engaging the child with the book. I normally try to ask more questions as we read books but their tip stickers gave me ideas I hadn’t thought of.

My son really loved the interactive, engaging parts of the Lit Kit. We played the Ladybug Math Mat several times. He would roll the die and place pom poms on his half of the ladybug then I would roll and place pom poms on my half. Then he would write the equation down on a piece of paper. He didn’t want to stop and filled the entire page with equations.

He also loved the art project and using the magnifying glass to search for words in the book. There were also colored butterfly stickers we used for several activities.
TIME SAVER
As a mom, I try to come up with several ways to explore a book, through crafts or reading techniques but it takes time to put it all together and most days we just simply read a book cover to cover while asking a few questions. This kit put everything together so you could just pull it out and start using it right away, giving you hours of engaging activities to do with your child. This would be great for busy parents or teachers to add to their library.
Engage with the Page has been developing these scientifically-based DiscoverLitKits for years and have made sure they are kid tested and mom approved too. They have just started to sell them at local boutiques in Utah and now offer some online at www.engagewiththepage.com.
Kits vary in price and they do have a subscription program available so you can try a different themed kit each month. When you add up the cost of the book, supplies, and the time it saves you from having to research and create your own supplemental activities to go with books, these kits are worth the money. Especially because you'll want to re-use it with future children or in classrooms year after year.
Update- they now have DIY lit kits where you can buy the resource kits and print some parts out if you already have the book.

*Disclosure: I was given this DiscoverLitKit to review but all experiences and opinions are my own as we explored this literacy program.

Start a Neighborhood Book Exchange

2012-06-25T15:39:00.000-06:00

I’m so excited to recycle our children’s books by hosting a neighborhood book exchange.

Sort Books
When your books are over flowing it is time to sort through them and make a stack of ones you don’t read as often or ones your kids have out grown that you don’t plan to hold onto. I had two boxes full. I didn’t want to donate them to our local thrift store because I’ve seen them throw books away if they haven’t sold within two weeks. It breaks my heart to see that. We have also donated books to Reading Tree, a non-profit who recycles books by donating those in good condition to children in need or properly recycling books in poor condition. They have big blue bins located in several shopping centers in Utah.

Find a Location
I noticed an empty cupboard in our church basement a few months ago. That space was going to waste. I thought it would be an excellent place to host a neighborhood book exchange so I asked our leaders and got permission to use the space. I took my extra books over last week and started spreading the word for other moms to do the same if they have extra books they want to trade. A few months ago I thought about putting a cupboard on my front porch to host the books. You could also make a small covered house like a bird house and host a Little Free Library like this in your own yard.

Trade Books
I made a sign that says Take a Book, Leave a Book (pick your first book free).
A few people have already started trading. I’m excited to see these books find a new home and get used instead of sitting there or being discarded. Books need to be loved and kids love to see new books they aren’t familiar with. It’s a win/win situation.

I’d love to see your ideas if you have tried something like this in your neighborhood.

Modern Day Golden Ticket from The Golden Arches

2012-06-15T17:16:00.000-06:00

I feel like our family is experiencing the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in real life this month. We’ve got a Golden Ticket! We recently found out my daughter, Elayna, is a Grand Prize winner of the McDonald’s Happy Meal Chef contest.

Earlier this year, McDonald’s was looking for 10 kids, ages 8-11, to enter their Happy Meal Chefs contest. Families were asked to create a short video showing how they make mealtime fun and nutritious and incorporate the USDA’s new MyPlate food guide.

{The Prize / Golden Ticket}
They selected 10 finalists who all get to go to London for part of the Olympics in July. They will participate in McDonald’s Champions of Play program where they get to play with some of the athletes and attend some Olympic events. Each winner will get to take one parent with them to experience “The Golden Arches” at the Olympics (Go for the Gold) this summer. Then McDonald’s selected two of those finalists to be Grand Prize winners to go to London early to cook in a Global Champions of Food Cooking Challenge along with McDonald’s executive Chef, Dan Coudreaut. They will also get to go to McDonald’s headquarters in Illinois this October to be an apprentice Happy Meal Chef and help develop new ideas for Happy Meals. I’m so excited my daughter was selected as a grand prize winner and is now an official McDonald’s Happy Meal Chef.

{Healthier Happy Meals}
I’ve enjoyed seeing the changes McDonald’s recently made to the Happy Meal earlier this year. They now offer apple slices in every Happy Meal and smaller/mini fries along with the option of fat free chocolate milk. They are looking for additional ways to make Happy Meals more nutritious and are planning to involve kids in the process. I know the public often don't think of McDonald's being the most healthy restaurant, and they've never claimed to be that. They recognize the public wants to eat healthier and I'm impressed they are listening and working on offering more healthy options. I've really loved their salad choices lately and I recently learned that their sales of oatmeal have surpassed sales of the Egg McMuffin for breakfast. I like seeing these positive changes and we are excited to be a part of the process through this experience.

{Golden Ticket Winners}
We started noticing on Twitter that they were announcing some of the other winners throughout the country (search hashtag #happymealchefs). My daughter was announced last week. It totally reminds me of the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as you meet each child who found a golden ticket who will get to experience the chocolate factory together (although all of these kids look sweet so far and we thankfully haven’t run into Slugworth). My daughter is excited to learn about the other winners she will be meeting in person.

{OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT}
McDonald’s created a surprise party to announce that my daughter won. It was the last day of school and we invited a few of her friends, family, teacher and principal. Two of our city council men, Charlie Luke and Soren Simonsen, came to congratulate her too, along with Ronald McDonald and some local media. She was so shocked and overwhelmed to see the restaurant full of people she knew. She thought we were just getting an after school treat. As soon as she saw her dad she ran to give him a hug and wouldn’t let go for a good 30 seconds. As they announced she was a grand prize winner and would be going to London for the Olympics, she smiled but I don’t think she comprehended what was really happening. We want to thank all our friends and family for coming to support Elayna and celebrate this exciting event with her! She said “This is the best day in my life ever, but that might change once I’m at the Olympics.”

Once we were home and it finally sank in, she ran to our back yard and screamed for joy shouting, “I can’t believe we won! I can’t wait to see the Olympics and Big Ben!” Here is an article in our local paper, The Salt Lake Tribune, with a few more details.

I heard about this contest from my friend Kathy’s blog, the Danish Mama. I’m so glad I saw her post about it. I thought, we have an 8-year-old daughter who loves to help cook and I assumed fewer people would enter a video contest so we may have a better shot at winning (although it is a national contest and we found out they had thousands of entries). I kept having these strong feelings that we really needed to make a video and enter the contest. I just knew we had to do it.

{Making the video}
So we made a short video and entered the contest. You can see it by clicking here (James and Elayna from Salt Lake.). I’ve never made a video before, except for the ones you make a slide show of still shots set to music. We quickly got online for a quick lesson on how to edit videos. We wrote a rough draft script then ad-libbed as we were filming.
Our family had so much fun working on this project together. It took three days of filming, trying to film at night so the bright sun wouldn’t wash out our scene. We had to do several re-takes and had many bloopers. This video shows a few.

{Daddy-o’s Diner Bloopers}

SEE THE WINNING VIDEO at McDonald’s.

{Secret Ingredient Game}
My husband does much of the cooking and baking at our house. His dad is an amazing cook and baker too which has created a love of cooking for their whole family. They often attend cooking classes together and every Sunday the extended family gathers at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for homemade treats. Grandpa started adding secret ingredients to their meals as my husband grew up, so my husband has kept that tradition in our family. Our kids love adding secret ingredients to the meals and having the other half of the family guess what is in their food. It really helps kids think about what goes into their food. We shared this idea in the contest video.

{Kitchen Diner Menu:}
Our kitchen is decorated like a diner so we also have a menu with pictures of food for the kids to order from. It has fruits, veggies, protein, grains and dairy for the kids to pick from. We’ve noticed the kids love having visual pictures to help them decide what they are hungry for.

{MyPlate Placemats}
We also made placemats to match the USDA’s new MyPlate food guide. We laminated them and our kids love to draw what we are having for each meal. This helps keep us, as parents, on our toes because they will notice if we are missing fruit or dairy and tell us we need to add those to our meal.

You can find free printable samples at ChooseMyPlate.gov. I personalized ours by moving the words so you could draw in the spaces, then I added checkers at the bottom. We found some fun scrapbook paper for the front and back. Then we laminated them and the kids use dry-erase crayons to fill in the placemat while we make dinner.

Our family is still in shock that we won an experience like this. It is very surreal at this point, like we are living part of the movie. I kind of feel like dancing around the room like Charlie and Grandpa Jo singing "I've got a Golden ticket!" I’m so excited my daughter and husband will get to have this opportunity from McDonald’s. I plan to go with them for part of the time but I am thrilled they will get to do this together. They are already creating recipe ideas for the Champions of Food Cooking Challenge in London. We’ll share more about their experience throughout the summer here on obSEUSSed.

Playborhood {Book Review} Creating a Kid Friendly Nieghborhood

2012-06-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

How often do your kids play with neighbor kids? Do you ever feel like your kids are over-scheduled or in front of a screen too much?

We've all seen the need for kids to have unstructured play time with neighbors. Parents can help instigate this type of play by creating kid friendly zones in their yards or open spaces in their neighborhoods. This is the basic premise of the book Playborhood.

I had the opportunity to review the book Playborhood: Turn Your Neighborhood Into a Place for Play by Mike Lanza.

Lanza created the ultimate kid friendly front and back yard to encourage free play and shares all of his tips on how to create your own Playborhood in this book. Suggestions range from common to unique such as in-ground trampolines to an interactive large neighborhood map mural on his driveway, where kids can play life-size monopoly style games.

I liked how Lanza incorporated books into his designs and activities. He had kids create a mosaic representing the book ‘The Big Orange Splot’ and a rock village near their play river representing the book ‘Roxaboxen.’ I also love the idea of the small book exchange mail boxes set up in front yards so kids and adults can trade books.

The Playborhood book shows examples of other neighborhoods throughout the country and research showing why Playborhoods are important. It takes planning to create a safe and inviting Playborhood and this book compiles all of the ideas you need to start creating your own.

Here is Mike with his wife and three sons. You can see more ideas on his blog, Playborhood.
You can find the Playborhood book on Amazon.

{My Playborhood}

The past few summers I have organized a ‘park hopper’ summer calendar to invite the moms in our neighborhood to get together. We would visit different parks or go on special outings once a week. As our kids have gotten older (not just toddlers anymore) our schedules have gotten busier and not as many moms have been able to attend. This year we decided to keep things on a smaller level and organize more play times at our homes. Here are a few things we have done to encourage neighbor kids to come play at our house this summer.

{Stock a Summer Bucket}

This bucket stays on our porch and is filled with;

sidewalk chalk (don’t forget the garden kneeling pads to protect their legs)
bubbles and bubble machine
jump ropes
water balloons, spray bottles, watering cans and water guns
and hula hoops hanging in the background

All of these items get played with during play dates, or unscheduled times when the neighbors just pop over to play. We also got some sno-cone flavors to make sno-cones this summer. We like to keep our picnic table stocked with a basket of fruit, otter-pops and a water jug.

We always leave this bucket of balls outside too so the kids can start a game with their friends anytime. We are lucky to live on a cul-de-sac. Our kids pull out their trikes, scooters and bikes to ride around with their friends. They also love our driveway because it has a long slope they can glide down quickly.

We’ve had this play fort for years and the kids love playing on it, or in the sand box underneath.

{Two-Way Radios}
My children’s favorite outdoor play items have been walkie talkies. Santa brought them this past Christmas and they have been a huge hit. Anytime friends come over they break into teams and play spies, secret agents, soldiers or other games with them. Get a nice pair and they will be worth it. We love our Motorolla brand, but search around and find some that will stand up to kid use. The neighbor kids love them, and they work across the street so they can play around the neighborhood as they get older. They are amazing for encouraging team play and imagination.

{Hop Scotch Step Stones}
Another thing we have done is made Hop Scotch Step Stones. My kids painted the stones and every time their friends come over they love to use this vibrant, interactive path. We are discussing plans to move the path closer to the house (not in the middle) so we can lay gravel and create a bocce court. Our kids love to play bocce and can’t wait to teach their friends how to play.

{Water Parties}
We also have a hot tub and we invite the kids’ friends over for hot tub parties where they soak for five minutes then run through the sprinklers. Our neighbors across the street have a large trampoline and sand box so the kids love taking turns at each others houses. No need for everyone to have a trampoline. Below they are playing with pearler beads (the kind you iron).

I hope you enjoyed some of these ideas. Reading Playborhood got my creative juices flowing, helping me think ‘outside the (sand) box’ for more interactive and inviting activities for children in our neighborhood.

What do you do in your neighborhood to encourage outdoor play?

*Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of Playborhood for review.

Traveling Reading Buddies

2012-05-30T23:26:00.000-06:00

A reading buddy can help kids get excited about reading. You can use this idea in the classroom, in Sunday school, or at home.

I grabbed this stuffed turtle at Kohl’s for $5 back in 2011. You could use any stuffed animal. We had a goal in children’s Sunday school (we call it Primary) to have each child read the scriptures (Bible) at home with their families during the year. Each week a family would be selected to take “Scripture Turtle” home with them.

He has a little back pack filled with scripture cards. They told a short synopsis of a story and the scripture reference on one side and pictures on the other side. You could add cards for whatever you are focusing on with instructions to let parents know the plan. Ask the kids to sit and read to their reading buddy each day while they are visiting. They got them for a week then returned them at church to go home with another child.
Travel Souvenirs
Each child could add a souvenir to the buddy when they took him home. Look how he started with just the backpack. Now he has a Justin Bieber button, Dr. Seuss button, 3-D glasses, a tie, silly band, handmade friendship bracelet, sweat band, arrowhead necklace, pinwheel, missionary tag, and the red sweater above (he has lost a few things along the way). My favorite was the knit pumpkin hat. A mom knit it right onto the head of the turtle and stuffed it.

I got the traveling reading buddy idea from my mother-in-law who did this when she taught first grade. Look at her Booker Bunny and Booker Bear below. Aren’t they so cute? And very well loved and read to. I borrowed her backpack for our turtle.

I just found these mini backpacks for $3.23 at usimprints.com. (I’m not getting paid to share this, just thought you might want to know a place you could get one.)

Our family got to take ‘Scripture Turtle’ camping. He smelled like campfire for a while after that. We loved reading with him around the campfire.

HOME READING BUDDY
You can make your own designated reading buddy to keep at home. Have your child read to them. Let them take their buddy in the car around town and on longer road trips during the summer and add souvenirs to them. Encourage kids to read in the car (if it doesn’t make them sick). Let them know their buddy likes to be read to every day.
Have fun reading this summer!