Reading Confetti

10 Nonfiction Books and Activities: Virtual Book Club for Kids

2013-06-17T12:42:00.003-05:00

This month's virtual book club author is Gail Gibbons. She's written lots of great nonfiction books for kids. Since we had a hard time deciding on just one, here are ten crafts and activities you can pair with one of her books. Be sure to link up your own Gail Gibbons activity below.

Read Soaring with the Wind: The Bald Eagleand make a handprint and footprint bald eagle.

Read My Soccer Bookand make a soccer treat.

Read Ice Cream: The Full Scoop and make some ice cream play dough.

Read Tornadoes!and make a tornado in a jar.

Read The Moon Bookand make a moon nightlight.

Read Sharksand make ice cream sandwich sharks.

Read Boat Book and make natural ice boats.

Read Penguins!and make circle penguins.

Read The Planetsand make a universe craft.

Read Weather Words and What They Meanand do one of these 15 weather activities.

What Gail Gibbons books did you explore this month? Please link up your ideas or share them on the Virtual Book Club for Kids facebook page.

75+ Patriotic 4th of July Activities: Kid's Co-op

2013-06-13T00:05:00.002-05:00

There's only a few weeks left until the 4th of July! I went through the Kid's Co-op archives and rounded up more than 75 fun activities, foods, and crafts to help you celebrate it with your kids:

Crafts and Activities

Patriotic spirit wands at Buggy and Buddy

Firecracker bottles from Mama of Many Blessings

Shrinky Dink flag bracelets from Kid World Citizen

10 ways to make fireworks from Reading Confetti

Flag mobile from Not Just Cute

Hand and footprint bald eagle at Reading Confetti

Patriotic bird house kits from Seeking Shade

Decoupage flag from Sugar Snips

4th of July tie dye t-shirt from School Time Snippets

4th of July printable pack at Gift of Curiosity

The best 4th of July books from Love, Play, Learn

Patriotic ice cube painting from Mama's Little Muse

Sparkling firework art from One Perfect Day

4th of July paper lanterns and painted fireworks from School Time Snippets

Handprint American flags from Reading Confetti

Patriotic pinwheel free printable from Mama Miss

Star spangled pennants from The Pleasantest Thing

Red, white, and blue jello play from Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

Confetti launchers from Pi'ikea Street

Patriotic crafts from Mamas Like Me

Colored noodle fun for the 4th of July from Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

4th of July sparklers from It's Raining Jellybeans

Red, white, and blue sensory bin from Little Bins for Little Hands

Sprinkle fireworks from Reading Confetti

4th of July bunting from Creative Family Fun

Patriotic pinwheel wreath from Sugar Snips

18 patriotic crafts from B-Inspired Mama

Food

Red, white, and blueberry apple snack from Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

Patriotic bento lunch from Keitha's Chaos

Patriotic foods for kids from JDaniel4's Mom

4th of July lunch from JDaniel4's Mom

15 patriotic fun food ideas from Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

Red, white, and blue pops from Raise a Boy

4th of July popsicles from The Not So Super Mama

Patriotic punch from Crafts-N-Things for Children

Patriotic cheesecake from Momma's Fun World

Patriotic fruit pizza from Juggling with Kids

4th of July meal from Teaching My Blessings

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

10 Ways to Make Fireworks with Kids

2013-06-12T10:20:00.001-05:00

With the 4th of July rapidly approaching, I've been looking for fun ways to make fireworks with my kids that are quiet and safe. Here are 10 of them:

Glowing Fireworks - Tape some inexpensive glow bracelets to dark paper for glowing fireworks. More details in this post.

Sprinkle Fireworks - This is one of our favorites and so easy that even the littlest ones can participate. Pour some ice cream sprinkles on paper, mist them with water, and let them dry. You can get the details here.

Salt Fireworks - This is another favorite in our house. Use regular white glue to make firework shapes on paper. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Once it's dry, drip some colored water onto the salt and watch the color "crawl". More details here.

Fireworks in a Jar - Fill a clean jar with warm water. Put a few tablespoons of oil into a separate bowl. Drip food coloring into the oil and mix it very gently to break it up a little bit. Slowly pour the oil into the water and wait for the fireworks to start. More details and an explanation of the science behind it are at Action Pack Magazine.

Firework Stamps - Bend pipecleaners into firework shapes and use them to stamp colorful firework shapes on dark paper. Silver was our favorite, but next time we're also adding some glitter. More information at Spoonful.

Salad Spinner Fireworks - Get out an old salad spinner and tape some paper in the bottom of the basket. Drip some paint in there and let the kids go.

Water Balloon Fireworks - Fill water balloons with a mixture of water and paint and let the kids throw them at a large piece of paper to create exploding firework art. More details here.

Flyswatter Fireworks - Pour small piles of paint on paper and use a flyswatter to create paint fireworks.

Bubble Firework Art - Mix food coloring and bubbles. Let the bubbles pop on your canvas (paper or the sidewalk) for firework art that even the youngest kids can do.

Fizzing Fireworks - Toddler Approved created some fun fizzing fireworks.

Did I miss any? We'd love more ideas!

Linking to The Sunday Showcase

Bald Eagle Handprint and Footprint Craft

2013-06-10T08:20:00.000-05:00

One of my kids' favorite things to see at the zoo is the bald eagle. Every time we walk past the exhibit they ask me to read the sign describing how she was found in the wild with a broken wing. Then they ask me how her wing got broken and I tell them that I don't know. We make some guesses and then they ask me which guess was right. I tell them I don't know. We start guessing again. They ask me which guess was right. We repeat the whole process until they mercifully get distracted by something else.

That eagle sure isn't telling.

Since they're so interested in the bald eagle, I thought it would be fun to check out a book from the library and find out more about them. Plus with the 4th of July rapidly approaching, it seemed like a good time. We found My Little Book of Bald Eagles. It's a great introduction to the life of a bald eagle.

To make our handprint and footprint bald eagle, I painted their feet.

We stamped the paper to form the head, body, and feet.

We used handprints for the wings.

We added eyes, a beak, and some star stickers just to make it extra patriotic.

Since my 3 year old won't do any project that doesn't involve red, we made hers red, white, and blue.

If you love little handprints as much as I do, you might also want to check out our handprint flags:

*Disclosure-This post contains affiliate links.

Linking to Read Explore Learn

Ubooly Lab {Giveaway}

2013-06-07T08:29:00.000-05:00

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

We've already introduced you to our friend Ubooly. If you don't remember, Ubooly is a fuzzy plush educational toy. After you download the free app and insert your iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, or iPod touch 4th and 5th generation, Ubooly comes to life and interacts with your child through fun and educational games, music, and stories.

Ubooly has gotten even more fun lately thanks to Ubooly Lab. Once parents have logged on, Ubooly can be programmed to know your child's name. Ubooly will even have the same interests and likes as your child.

His favorite food is macaroni and cheese too!

Ubooly Lab allows parents to customize their child's playtime by purchasing credits to unlock different packs. There's interest packs full of fun trivia to get kids excited about specific topics, fitness and helper packs for personal growth and creating healthy habits, and educational packs that are created on a five day schedule with parents receiving progress reports.

She put on her sunglasses for their trip to the beach in the Ocean pack.

Written by a large team of elementary teachers and educators, the packs are suitable for children ages 3 to 9.

An experiment from the Ocean pack

One of my kids' favorite features is that as they engage with the learning packs, they earn coins to buy accessories like glasses and a mustache for their Ubooly. (The thing that I like best is that you can program for multiple children, so there's no fighting about whether or not Ubooly should have freckles. They can each decide for themselves.)

You don't even have to have the plush to play with Ubooly, which is especially helpful in the car or when you have an unexpected wait.

Or if you're completely uninterested in your brother's soccer game.

You can find out more about Ubooly in this video and Ubooly Lab in this video. Also, if two Uboolys are in a room together, they'll communicate with each other.

You can buy Ubooly at Toys R' Us or enter for your chance to win your own Ubooly and a $30 credit to Ubooly Lab. You can also connect with Ubooly on twitter or facebook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway rules can be found here. Good luck!

50 Summer Activities Boys Will Love: Kid's Co-op

2013-06-05T23:49:00.002-05:00

Your girls might like them too!

Keep your little guys (or gals) busy this summer with these fun activities from The Kid's Co-op:

Dissolving rocks at Reading Confetti
Make stalagmites and stalactites at Stories and Children
Mud activities at Housing a Forest
Make your own colored sand at Sugar Aunts
Sensory volcano at The Measured Mom
Erupting oobleck at Life with Moore Babies

Clothespin Catapults at Housing a Forest
Circuit building at B-Inspired Mama
Shooting water experiment at Housing a Forest
Burping bags exploding experiment at Preschool Powol Packets
Tinkering at Making Boys Men
Water fountain from a 2 liter bottle at Life with Moore Babies

Catch a spider web at Preschool Powol Packets
Spider catch and release at Wildlife Fun 4 Kids
Earthworm adventures at Mama Rosemary
DIY compost bin at Crayon Freckles
Raising tadpoles at Taming the Goblin
Up close with insects at Gift of Curiosity
Bug sensory bin at Little Bins for Little Hands

Wingwalker at Reading Confetti
Splat painting at School Time Snippets
Angry Bird t-shirt printing at Making Boys Men
Recycled robot craft at Local Fun for Kids
Quick and easy gak at The Magnolia Barn
Cardboard building boards at Tutus and Tea Parties
Small world building site at The Boy and Me

Tin foil river and mini ice boats at Reading Confetti
Spouting blue whale at Happy Birthday Author
Water balloon games at Fantastic Fun & Learning
Water blob at We Made That

Playground scavenger hunt at KC Edventures

Outdoor learning graph at B-Inspired Mama
Nature activities at KC Edventures
Active train pretend play at Play Trains!

Garbage truck game pack at Living Worlds Apart
Build your own robot at Picklebums
Preschool construction packet at Preschool Powol Packets
Star Wars pack at 3 Dinosaurs
Balloon games at Lessons Learnt Journal
Party blower frog game at JDaniel4's Mom

DIY dinosaur fossils at Lessons Learnt Journal
Fizzing dinosaur eggs at Preschool Powol Packets
Digging for fossils at Kathy's Cluttered Mind
Dinosaur dig at KC Edventures
Dinosaur small world at Making Boys Men
Dinosaur play worlds at Fantastic Fun & Learning
Dinosaur week at Sorting Sprinkles
Dinosaur matching packet at Preschool Powol Packets
Sensory bin at Fantastic Fun & Learning
Sensory dinosaur play at Very Messy Mummy

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Linking to Let's Hear It for the Boy
Tuesday Tots

Wingwalker Craft and Book

2013-06-03T08:05:00.003-05:00

My son came home from preschool with this wingwalker craft and he loves it so much we had to hang it over his bed.

It's made from a painted cardboard tube, recycled bottle cap, and a wooden stick. (I think it's one of those wooden sticks that come with the little cups of ice cream.)

The wings are made from cardstock and the picture is just a regular photo.

He was interested in plane walking, so after we both agreed that he'd never ever under any circumstances actually do it even when he's a grown-up and I can't boss him around anymore, I found a book from the library called Wingwalker by Rosemary Wells. Once upon a time in America, half the people lost every dime they ever had. Then the coming of the Dust Bowl hit hard. Reuben, just completing second grade in Ambler, Oklahoma, has grown up knowing the richness of farm life. Now his father, desperate to make ends meet, takes a job as a wingwalker in a traveling county fair. Uprooted from the life he's loved and afraid of his own shadow, Reuben needs a full measure of love and courage to get by.

Though it's meant for readers who are a little older, my almost five year old really enjoyed the story.

*Disclosure-This post contains affiliate links.

Linking to The Sunday Showcase
Show and Share Saturday

I See Me! Personalized Book Giveaway

2013-06-02T12:13:00.000-05:00

I recently shared how much we enjoyed I See Me's personalized books. Now I have the opportunity to give a copy to one of you! Enter to win your choice of a personalized book below:

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Learning Name Letters

2013-06-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

Disclosure- I received a copy of My Very Own Fairy Tale for review purposes. All opinions are my own. And we truly loved the book.

A great way to get kids excited about learning letters is to start with the letters in their own name. And a great way to get kids excited about reading is to choose books based on their interests. I See Me! books combine both.

I See Me! books are personalized so your child can see their name in a hardcover, professionally bound book. But more than that, they become a part of the story. There are lots of personalized books to choose from, but my favorites are the My Very Own Storybooks*. Each page reveals a single letter of your child's first and last name and incorporates it into the story until their entire name is revealed. Titles in this collection include My Very Own Name, My Very Own Pirate Tale, My Very Own Fairy Tale, and the new My Very Own World Adventure.

I chose My Very Own Fairy Tale for my three year old daughter and I'm so glad I did. Little ones are transported to a magical garden where the fairies are deciding on their new princess. On each page a garden or berry fairy brings out a letter one by one to spell out my daughter's name while describing character traits that make her the perfect princess. Her face lit up when she realized the fairies were talking about her. I love that unlike some of the typical princess stuff she wants to read, the qualities they described went beyond beauty. The Kokia fairy says, "I know a Knowledgeable girl who's like a rare flower. She has beauty within her that gives her great power."

We read this three times in a row when she first got it and she was still asking for more. It's been her bedtime book of choice almost every night since it arrived. She even studies the illustrations when I'm not reading it to her.

*I was drawn to the My Very Own Storybooks, but there's lots more personalized books to choose from like My Very Happy Birthday Book and The Very Important Preschooler (V.I.P.) Storybook. You can decide what best fits your child's interests and needs by visiting the site and taking a book tour of the entire book.

For even more fun learning name letters I See Me! offers personalized coloring and activity books too.

How you can connect with I See Me:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

***Enter to win your own copy here!!!***

30 Kid Made Father's Day Gifts: Kid's Co-op

2013-05-29T23:01:00.001-05:00

There's still two and half weeks until Father's Day. Plenty of time for kids to make something special for Dad and the Kid's Co-op has thirty great ideas for you.

Father's Day secret message jars from Lessons Learnt Journal

Father's Day book from Buggy and Buddy

Our Father's Day frame was inspired by ...

this Father's Day frame from Fun-A-Day via B-Inspired Mama

Father's Day footprint craft from JDaniel4's Mom

Father's Day breakfast from JDaniel4's Mom

I even dug into the Kid's Co-op archives to bring you some crafts from Father's Days past ...

Car shirt from Cheerios and Lattes

Father's Day tie windsock from Kids Activities Blog

Golf tee porcupines from Reading Confetti

Daddy rocks activity and printable from Mama Miss

Grill apron from Whimsical Kids Canvas

Daddy biscuits from Pinkoddy

Handprint Craft from Handprint and Footprint Art

Book tradition from Growing Book by Book

Slideshow, questionnaire, and bookmark from Raise A Boy

Father's Day snack from Tinkerbean

Light up card from Pi'ikea Street

Easy gifts like this customized candy bar from Domestic Goddesque

Painted tees and printable tags from Reading Confetti

Card from children's artwork from The Fairy and the Frog

10 things kids can do for Dad from B-Inspired Mama

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Linking to Sun Scholars
Sharing Saturday
TGIF
The Sunday Showcase
Link & Learn
Let's Hear It for the Boy

Kid Made Father's Day Frame

2013-05-28T07:29:00.000-05:00

My arm hurts from patting myself on the back. I've already made a Father's Day gift with my kids!

"My dad can fix anything. Love you!"

You can find the instructions for Fun-A-Day's nuts and bolts frame at B-Inspired Mama. (The only thing I changed was using scrapbook paper.)

Two books that would go perfectly with this project:

My Dad Can Do Anything What can Dad do? Can he climb the highest mountain? Or swim to the bottom of the sea? In this heartwarming story about how dads are strong, brave, and all-around great, dads can do anything.

What Dads Can't Do There are lots of things that regular people can do but dads can't. Dads can't cross the street without holding hands. They can push, but can't swing. When dads play hide-and-seek they always get found, but they have a hard time finding you. Dads really need to be kissed good night at bedtime. It's a wonder they make it through life at all!

Have you done any Father's Day crafts yet? Here's another 30 Father's Day ideas for you ...

Linking to Read Explore Learn

Frozen Popsicle Chalk

2013-05-24T08:01:00.001-05:00

The other day I was pulling out the ice cube trays to make another batch of our ice chalk when I saw the popsicle molds and decided to try those instead.

This time I used half cornstarch, half water, and washable tempura paint instead of food coloring.

I also ran out of cornstarch halfway through so I substituted flour. It expanded more while it was freezing, so it was harder to get out of the molds but otherwise worked fine.

The washable paint stained their hands much less than the food coloring, so I think this is the way to go. Sara from The Hickman Five also had the genius suggestion of putting a few drops of dishsoap in the mixture when using food coloring which makes it easier to clean. Definitely trying that next time. (Thanks, Sara!)

The nice thing about having them on a stick was that it was easier to draw.

Drew's house

The kids were a little let down that they couldn't eat them. They do look delicious.

Looking for more ways to spend time outdoors with your kids this summer? You might like these 15 outdoor art projects for kids:

Linking to The Sunday Showcase, Stress Free Sunday, Show and Share Link & Learn, Tuesday Tots, Time to Sparkle, It's Playtime Sun Scholars, TGIF

10 Botany Activities for Kids: Kid's Co-op

2013-05-23T01:30:00.001-05:00

The Kid's Co-op has been full of fun and easy ways to teach your kids and flowers and plants.

Parts of a flower from Carrots Are Orange

Montessori botany activity from Carrots Are Orange

Exploring flowers from Discovery Moments

Preschool botany lesson from The Gift of Curiosity

Leaf and flower pounding science from Buggy and Buddy

Montessori-inspired botany activities from Living Montessori Now

Books about trees from Fantastic Fun & Learning

Tree Snack from Fantastic Fun & Learning

Spider web garden trellis from JDaniel4's Mom

Seed sprouting experiment from Mommy the Teacher

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Linking to Sun Scholars
Tuesday Tots
It's Playtime

Paper Plate Mouse: Virtual Book Club for Kids

2013-05-20T06:13:00.000-05:00

In preparation for this month's Virtual Book Club for Kids we checked out all the Leo Lionni books we could find from the library. The ones that were available that day seemed to have a common theme - almost every book we checked out had a mouse as the main character.

(Book links are affiliate links.)
The Greentail Mouse is the offbeat fable of a city mouse who visits his peaceful country cousins and tells them about Mardi Gras in the city. The country mice are inspired to have their own Mardi Gras. And at first, it is fun wearing their masks with sharp teeth and tusks and scaring each other, but after a while, they begin believing that they really are ferocious animals.

Frederick sits on a sunny rock by himself while the other field mice work to gather grain and nuts for winter. “I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days,” he tells them. Another day he gathers “colors,” and then “words.” And when the food runs out, it is Frederick, the dreamer and poet, whose endless store of supplies warms the hearts of his fellow mice, and feeds their spirits during the darkest winter days.

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse is a fable about a real mouse and a mechanical mouse. Everyone loves Willy the wind-up mouse, while Alexander the real mouse is chased away with brooms and mousetraps. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be loved and cuddled, thinks Alexander, and he wishes he could be a wind-up mouse too.

Theodore and the Talking Mushroom is about a little mouse named Theodore who lives with a lizard that can grow a new tail, a frog that can swim underwater, and a turtle that can close up like a box. But Theodore has no special talents of his own. When he discovers a mushroom that says “Quirp,” Theodore tells his friends that this is the only talking mushroom in the world, and that “quirp” means that he should be venerated above all animals. The word spreads, and Theodore is bestowed with a crown—until the truth comes out. When his friends learn that they’ve been deceived, Theodore discovers that he does have a special talent—running away very fast!

In honor of these little mice we made a paper plate mouse of our own.

We started by folding a paper plate in half so it would stand up.

We added some eyes, pipe cleaner whiskers and tail, and a nose made from craft foam.

The ears are construction paper folded and glued on the tab so they stand out.

What Leo Lionni books did you explore this month? Please link up your ideas or share them on the Virtual Book Club for Kids facebook page.

Linking to Tuesday Tots
JDaniel4's Mom

Ice Chalk

2013-05-18T10:16:00.003-05:00

This is the perfect kid activity for a hot summer day. It's art, science, and a sensory experience all in one.

While I was looking for activities the kids and I could do outside this summer, I saw lots of recipes for homemade sidewalk chalk paint. I briefly considered making some and putting it in spray bottles, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before they squirted each other.

Since it's been so hot here, the logical alternative was to freeze the chalk paint.

I mixed up the sidewalk paint (half cornstarch, half water, plenty of food coloring), poured it into ice cube trays, and froze it.

At first, the lighter colors didn't seem to be working. The pavement just looked wet, but when the water dried the colors were more vibrant.

It turned out to be even more fun than I thought it would be. Besides using the chalk to draw, they used it in lots of other ways:

3D sculptures:

Lainey's rainbow

Color melting races:

Stamps:

Prints:

Color mixing experiments:

The cornstarch makes it thick when it melts, so it's fun to experiment with.

We even snuck in a little science by discussing what caused the ice chalk to melt the fastest.

Play clothes are a must for this activity. Next time I'm going to try washable paint instead of food coloring to reduce the amount of staining on their hands and clothes.

But clean up was fun too.

Update: We did a variation of these using washable paint in this post about frozen popsicle chalk.

If your kids like chalk too, you might want to check out these other 12 activities for chalk:

Linking to The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, Tuesday Tots, Sun Scholars Show and Share, Mom's Library
It's Playtime , Sharing Saturday

12 Activities for Chalk: Kid's Co-op

2013-05-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

Nothing says summer like seeing colorful chalk decorations on the sidewalk. If you're looking for new ways for your kids to play with chalk, the Kid's Co-op has you covered.

Gross motor phonics games from Train Up a Child

How to chalk hair from Housing a Forest

Chalk shadows from Reading Confetti

Gross motor addition game from Train Up a Child

Disappearing letters from Reading Confetti

Make a rainbow from And Next Comes L

Chalk targets from Reading Confetti

Book extension activity from Play Trains!

Hopscotch from Toddling in the Fast Lane

DIY chalkboard from Super Mommy

Though these activities originally used other materials, they could easily be adapted to use with chalk:

Outdoor surface rubbing from Adventures at Home with Mum

Create your own flowers from Edventures with Kids

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Chalk Shadows

2013-05-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

My kids have been interested in shadows lately and by that I mean that I've been hearing a lot of, "Mo-om, she's stepping on my shadow! Will you tell her to stop???"

Since it was so sunny today and we needed a distraction, we did a quick and fun chalk shadow activity. We posed in the sun.

and traced each other's shadows.

Then we decorated them.

The skateboarder:

The princess:

A fun book to go along with this activity is Shadow. In this nearly wordless book, a girl creates a magical world by casting shadows from the light bulb in a storage room.

You might also like these 15 art projects for the outdoors:

*Disclosure-This post contains affiliate links.

Linking to The Children's Bookshelf,
Tuesday Tots

15 Outdoor Art Activities: Kid's Co-op

2013-05-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

You can take lots of art activities outside, but these ten art ideas from the Kid's Co-op were made for the great outdoors. Some use natural materials and others make such a glorious mess that the only place for them is outside the house. Either way, you can grab some supplies and head outside with your kids to create some art and memories.

5 fun ways to paint in the rain from Housing a Forest

Fly swatter painting from Reading Confetti

Chalk rubbings from Lessons Learnt Journal

Painting with water balloon from Reading Confetti

Rubber band painting from Reading Confetti

Easy scented sidewalk paint from The Magnolia Barn

Nature art from Preschool Powol Packets

Spray bottle mural from Gift of Curiosity

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Linking to The Sunday Showcase
Tuesday Tots

Kid Made Turtle Herb Planters

2013-05-08T12:48:00.001-05:00

Wouldn't these make a cute Mother's Day gift or a fun project for Earth Day?

We had some basil seeds lying around and it was too cold to plant them outside, so we planted them in empty fruit cup containers. (I suppose I should've poked holes in the bottom for drainage, but I didn't.)

Then we happened to read Mossy by Jan Brettabout a turtle who grows a lovely garden on her shell. Dr. Carolina, a biologist, takes her to live in her Edwardian museum. Visitors flock to see Mossy, but it is Dr. Carolina's niece, Tory, who notices how sad Mossy is living in a viewing pavilion. She misses the outdoors and her friend, Scoot. Dr. Carolina finds a way to keep the spirit of Mossy alive at the museum, while allowing Mossy to have her freedom.

I saw those little herb containers and thought how cute they'd look transformed into Mossy turtles. We painted the outside of the cups green using acrylic paint. I hot glued some green pom poms on for the legs and head and added some googly eyes.

What are you hoping to get this Mother's Day?

*Disclosure-This post contains affiliate links.

Linking to The Sunday Showcase

Tin Foil River and Mini Ice Boats

2013-05-07T07:20:00.000-05:00

My kids love playing with water when the weather gets warm. It can keep them busy like almost nothing else. When I saw these tin foil rivers at Camo & Bows, I knew we had a winner.

I made a smaller version of our natural ice boats to float on the river. I filled some ice cube trays with colored water, covered them with plastic wrap, and poked toothpicks through.

Back in the olden days, we used to make Kool-Aid popsicles this way.

When they were frozen I added some little paper sails.

The river part of it was equally easy. I used the cheap aluminum foil from the dollar store. Just unroll it, curl up the sides a little, and start the garden hose. It doesn't need to be a great big hill, but a slope is definitely helpful.

This entertained my three year old and almost five year old for the better part of an afternoon with only one incident: Drew kinked the hose and waited for Lainey to peer into it before letting go and giving her a massive blast of cold water to the face. (Remember that shrieking you heard Monday afternoon? It was coming from my backyard.)

Even when the ice boats melted, they found other things to float and built some waterfalls. There's talk of adding a bridge tomorrow.

A great book to pair with this activity is Where the River Begins. As they watch the river flow past their house, Josh and Aaron make up stories about where the river begins - stories that prompt them to set out to discover the river's origin.

*Disclosure-This post contains affiliate links.

Linking to Tuesday Tots
The Sunday Showcase
Discover & Explore

15 Spring Weather Activities: Kid's Co-op

2013-05-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

The Kid's Co-op has been full of great ideas for exploring spring weather with kids.

Make lightning from Train Up a Child

Cloud experiment from Reading Confetti

Cloud parfaits from Reading Confetti

Soap cloud from Housing a Forest

Wind experiment from Seedlings Nursery School

Cloud paint from Reading Confetti

The Rain Came Down activity from Train Up a Child

Tornado in a jar from Reading Confetti

April showers preschool activities from Mamas Like Me

Preschool wind theme from Ready Set Read!

Montessori-inspired April showers activities from Pre K + K Sharing

Weather week for preschoolers (part 1) from Sorting Sprinkles

Weather week for preschoolers (part 2) from Sorting Sprinkles

Tornado in a bottle from We Made That

Blot art clouds from Seedlings Nursery School

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

20 Outdoor Activities: Kid's Co-op

2013-04-24T23:05:00.000-05:00

If you are lucky enough to be having weather that makes it pleasant to be outdoors, the Kid's Co-op has been full of ideas for learning and playing outside.

Make your own water wheel from Making Boys Men.

Play in the mud from Adventures at Home with Mum.

Float some ice boats from Reading Confetti.

Play a math game with preschoolers from The Measured Mom.

Combine chalk and cardboard from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.

Observe spring from JDaniel4's Mom.

Find active play ideas at Serenity You.

Have a picnic under a tree from April's Homemaking.

Plant something from Preschool Powol Packets.

Sow some wild flowers from Kids in the Garden.

Put some magnetic letters on the garage door from Sugar Aunts.

Make the most of a nature walk with kids from The Craft Train.

Get out the hose for these 10 ways to play with water from Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails.

Have a book inspired picnic from Reading Confetti.

Play 10 gross motor games from Train Up a Child.

Blow some bubbles with homemade wands from Pink Stripey Socks.

Have a cloud dough fight from Z is for Zel.

Go on a playground hunt from Little Moments.

Make colorful bubble snakes from Life with Moore Babies.

Paint with fly swatters from Reading Confetti.

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Learning Letters with the Octonauts

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*This is a sponsored post. I was provided with these products for the purpose of writing an honest review. All opinions and ideas are entirely my own.

My four year old son is a huge fan of the Octonauts on Disney Junior. They rescue ocean creatures and protect their habitats. His favorite part of the show is the creature report when they share facts about the animal featured in the episode and reveal what it looks like in real life.

The Octonauts have little submarines called "Gups". There's the Gup-A, Gup-B, C, D, and E. I decided to take advantage of this to do a little letter practice with the kids. I drew Gup shapes on the driveway with chalk and labeled each with a letter.

I designated myself Captain Barnacles and called out "To the Gup-A!" or whatever letter I wanted the kids to stand on. It was lots of fun and I don't think they even realized we were practicing letter recognition.

Some variations:

Use beginning letter sounds. For example, you could say "We need to rescue an alligator!" and kids would run to the Gup with the beginning letter sound.
To do this indoors, you could make paper cut outs of each Gup and tape them to the floor.

He felt my drawings weren't quite detailed enough.

Of course, when I got the opportunity to review some Octonauts toys currently available at Toys "R" Us, I knew my son would be thrilled. It was like Christmas morning when we opened the box. We had the opportunity to play with the Octopod playset, the Gup-C Mission Vehicle, Kwazii & the Slime Eel, and the Octo-compass.

The Octonauts playset would have been exciting enough on its own. There's over 10 play pieces including Captain Barnacles, Kwazii (who happens to be my son's personal favorite), a mini Gup-A, 3 creatures, 4 rescue tools, and an Octo-alert that features phrases and sounds. This one toy alone provided me with enough time to make dinner completely uninterrupted on the first day we had it!

A nice addition to the playset was the Gup C Mission Vehicle & Shellington. I love that you can take these toys into the bath for even more fun. The color-changing creatures even squirt water.

We also had fun in the bath with Kwazii and the Slime Eel set. Our favorite part of this set was the treasure chest that opened underwater.

Finally, the Octo-compass is adorable and a great way to introduce cardinal directions. It says lots of fun phrases, makes creature sounds, and has an Octo-alert signal.

Do you have an Octonauts fan at your house? Have you ever incorporated favorite characters into a learning activity? I'd love to hear about it.

100+ Earth Day Activities: Kid's Co-op

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The Kid's Co-op has been full of great ideas for celebrating Earth Day this April 22nd:

Grow Something

Fennel babies from Mama Rosemary
Regrow celery from Housing a Forest
Seed sprouting activity from Housing a Forest
30 gardening activities for kids from KC Edventures
Handprint garden markers from Reading Confetti
Garden plant markers Alex Nguyen Photography
Garden markers kids can make from Housing a Forest
Make recycled plant pots from Playful Learners
Strawberry planters from We Made That

Explore Nature

8 indoor things to do outside from KC Edventures
Nature ideas from For the Children
Critters from nature from The Craft Train
Help backyard birds build nests from What Do We Do All Day?
15 tips for hiking with kids from JDaniel4's Mom
45 nature-inspired sensory bins from Train Up a Child
Nature alphabet sorting from An Idea on Tuesday
Nature collages from Reading Confetti

Read & Research

50 activities for The Lorax from Reading Confetti
Conserving water (with great book suggestions) from KC Edventures
Save the monarch butterfly project from Learning and Growing the Piwi Way
Poetry picture book for Earth Day from Pragmatic Mom

Make an Earth Craft

Earth Day activity from Boy Mama Teacher Mama
Paper mache light up globes from Housing a Forest
Make your own Earth Day crayons from Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails
We heart Earth craft from Brainstorm in Bloom
Handprint Earth crafts from Handprint and Footprint Art

Use Recycled Materials

Newspaper and plastic bag kites from Pink Stripey Socks
Egg carton bird nests from Brainstorm in Bloom
Recycled flowers from An Idea on Tuesday
Egg carton tadeo turtles from He Cares for You
Plastic jug jelly fish from JDaniel4's Mom

And even more Earth Day ideas from fellow mamas:

15 ways to celebrate Earth Day from B-Inspired Mama

How will you be celebrating Earth Day?

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up great ideas for kids last week. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Linking to Eco-Kids Tuesday
Discover & Explore
TGIF
Show & Share Saturday

50 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day Lorax Style

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Earth Day is April 22nd. A great way to celebrate is to read a book about protecting the environment, but books like The Loraxare also great to read any day of the year. Here are 50 ideas for The Lorax.

Treats

Make your own Pixie Sticks for The Lorax from Reading Confetti
Truffula treats from Sara Ella
Lorax munchie mix from Blue Skies Ahead
Lorax sandwich from JDaniel4's Mom
Cotton candy truffula trees from Snap!
Truffula tree cupcakes from Rook No. 17

Crafts

Torn paper truffula trees from 3 Dinosaurs
Truffula tree pens from Blue Skies Ahead
Lorax and truffula tree puppet set from Art Mama Says
Handprint Lorax from Red Ted Art
DIY Lorax characters from In Lieu of Preschool
Truffula tree forest from Inner Child Fun

Sensory and Learning Activities

Truffula tree math games from Inspiration Laboratories
Truffula tree fine motor activity from See Vanessa Craft
Lorax craft sensory bin from In Lieu of Preschool
Big world fun with the Lorax from Having Fun at Chelle's House
Montessori-inspired Lorax activities from Living Montessori Now
Lorax sensory bags from House of Burke
Lorax speech and language activities from If Only I Had Super Powers...
Lorax felt story board from Mod Podge Rocks
Roll A Dice Lorax Game from Smashed Peas and Carrots

If that's not enough for you, check out 30 ways to have fun with The Lorax from The Educators' Spin On It.

If you're a Dr. Suess fan be sure to check out these ideas too:

*Disclosure-This post contains affiliate links.

Linking to Money Saving Monday