Glowing Faces in a Jar (and other Halloween Fun)

Last year, my Halloween Project To-Do List included making glowing jacks from Not So Idle Hands. It didn't happen last year, but the girls and I had fun making them last week.
Supplies
glass jars
tissue paper
mod podge
black spray paint
Halloween face template (found here)

You can find the detailed tutorial here, but it's pretty simple. Cut your tissue paper into strips, apply mod podge to the jar, attach the strips, then attach the faces.

You can be pretty creative with these. I didn't have any orange paper for the traditional pumpkin look, so we used green, white and yellow for a more monster/ghost/creature theme. I just printed the faces off on regular white paper and regular black printer ink, but once the mod podge was applied they looked pretty good. I chose to spray paint the lids black for the finishing touch, but you could do green for pumpkins, or add some ribbon or tulle.

Don't forget the candles for the finishing touch! (Actually, I bought a cheap pack of the little tea-lights that you can turn on and off, so I don't have to worry about flames and little people).
Here are a few other seasonal Halloween activities I plan to try this year:

Monsters! Monster shapes from Little Page Turners
Bottle Cap Spiders from Silly Eagle Books
Building a Skeleton from Chasing Cheerios
Marshmallow Ghost from No Time for Flashcards
Festive Silhouettes from Serving Pink Lemonade

Here is a link to the fun Halloween projects we did last year.

As is our habit, we're reading books!

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman

What Halloween fun do you have planned?

Princess Hyacinth: A floating book review

At the library a few weeks ago, this book caught my eye.Princess Hyacinth: The surprising tale of a girl who floated by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith

Since my girls love everything princess-like (and fancy and fairies and cats and...) I picked it up for a closer look. The inside cover reads

"Poor Princess Hyacinth! If only she could run and play with the other children on the Palace Grounds. Why can't she, you wonder? Well, because Princess Hyachinth has a problem...She floats!"

A floating princess? I was hooked, and my girls have been hooked too! And I don't think this is a book just for girls, but I don't have a boy old enough to try it out on.

This is a delightful story about a not-so-typical princess, a mis-adventure with balloons, a boy name Boy, and of course-floating. There is also a kite, and royal underwear, and fabulously expressive illustrations. It's definitely a keeper on our list.

A Children's Picture Book for Parents

I'm happy to be sharing another guest post from my sister-in-law Eliza. I had a chance to read this book while on vacation this month and I thought it was great. Especially enjoyable for any parent!

Quentin Blake has a great picture book called Zagazoo. Even though it is marketed as a children's book, it is really for parents. It starts out with George and Bella receiving a package with a strange pink creature inside. The label on the creature says it is "Zagazoo." George and Bella are happy with this creature, but then one day, it turns into something quite different. I won't tell you more, or I will spoil the book. You have to read it yourself (it is really short).

Eliza is the mother of two boys and one girl, with another boy on the way. She has a Ph.D. in journalism and taught at Brigham Young University for several years, but now cares for her children full-time. Of all her mothering duties, she especially enjoys helping her children learn to read. In her few spare hours during the week, she reads the news and attends a weightlifting class (so, as she says, she can keep up with her children).

Fun Picture Books for Boys

This week I am happy to be sharing two guest posts from my sister-in-law Eliza. She has great taste when it comes to books for children, and I'm adding these to our library check-out list!

We enjoy reading books together, though we have discovered that boys sometimes like different picture books than do girls. Here are 10 fun picture book authors that our boys enjoy.

Jon Agee

Milo’s Hat Trick, Dimitri the Astronaut, Nothing, Terrific, The Retired Kid, and others

Doris Burns
Andrew Henry’s Meadow

Virginia Lee Burton
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
Katy and the Big Snow
The Little House

Dr. Seuss
Bartholomew and the Oobleck
Fox in Socks
Green Eggs and Ham
Bartholomew Cubbins and the 500 Hats
The King’s Stilts

Munro Leaf
Wee Gillis
Ferdinand

Robert McCloskey
Make Way for Ducklings
Blueberries for Sal
One Morning in Maine
Time of Wonder
Lentil
(and others)

Peter Spiers
The Star Spangled Banner
Noah’s Ark
The Fox Went out on a Chilly Night

David Wiesner
Tuesday, Sector 7, The Three Pigs, and others

Audrey Wood
The Deep Blue Sea, Alphabet Adventure, Alphabet Mystery, and others

Andrea Zimmerman
Digger Man

Eliza is the mother of two boys and one girl, with another boy on the way. She has a Ph.D. in journalism and taught at Brigham Young University for several years, but now cares for her children full-time. Of all her mothering duties, she especially enjoys helping her children learn to read. In her few spare hours during the week, she reads the news and attends a weightlifting class (so, as she says, she can keep up with her children).

Book Links

I've just added the following two new pages to my blog: Children's Books We've Read and Liked and Book Links. You can access them anytime underneath the top header. If you are ever looking for book recommendations, check back here to see what I'm reading for myself and with my children.

A Very Ducky Post

What is it about ducks that make them such compelling characters for children's picture books? Have you ever truly noticed how many books about ducks there are?

Here are some of our favorites.

Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri

Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills

Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic

10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

Come Along, Daisy by Jane Simmons

Just Ducky by Kathy Mallat

A ducky post wouldn't be complete without a mention of our favorite ducky songs:

There's a little white duck, swimming in the water...
Three little ducks went out to play, over the hill and far away...
Rubber ducky, you're the one, you make bathtime so much fun...

Have you stopped to feed the ducks lately?

Teach Your Child to Read

I'm taking a partial maternity leave from this blog as we we recently welcomed a sweet baby boy into our home. Today I am happy to be sharing a guest post from my awesome sister-in-law Becky.

One of the most satisfying things I have done as a mother is to teach my children to read. While many mothering tasks are quickly undone (how many times did I sweep the floor today?!) I see reading as something that will last and bring unmeasurable joy to my children. Here are five simple things I have done to teach my children to love reading.

1) Find a good book to help. One of my sisters suggested Teach Your Child to Read as a great book. I have used this book with all my children so far and love the simplicity of the lessons. It breaks down the learning process so that it becomes almost embarrassingly easy. There are many different ways to learn to read, but each theory usually requires a time commitment for the parent teaching the child to read. I try to make our reading lessons a fun time that I spend one on one with the child.
2) Make or buy some “high frequency word” flashcards. Most of my children didn't become fluent readers until they had mastered many of the high frequency words. It seems like there is a point when reading switches from sounding out words to just reading. For my children, the reading point was usually very close to when they learned many of the high frequency words.

3) Put your children to bed ½ hour early. Putting children in bed early is my tricky way of teaching them to love reading. The children do not know they have an early bedtime- but once in bed they are allowed to read for an extra ½ hour or so. What child would turn down a chance to stay up after bedtime?!
4) Fill your house with good books and magazines. I have found that it is useful to have a good supply of books in your home so that children always have something to read. I love to collect books and have many in my home. However, many people may not care to lug around several hundred books or have space constraints. A visit to the public library is a lovely way to fill your home with books without storage or other problems.

5) Read to your children.
Although a bit overused, I do love this poem:

The Reading Mother
Strickland Gillilan

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch.
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a Mother who read to me.

Becky is the mother of six "bookend children" (one boy, four girls, one boy). She enjoys living in the shadow of Timpanogos Mountain but still gets homesick for the Arizona desert. When she is not doing damage control, Becky enjoys books, gardening, and running. She can be found (more not than often) at Consider the Lilies.

Books to welcome a new sibling

We are enjoying our new little bundle of sweetness!As with any special occasion, we've been reading a few books to help our girls with the transition of a new baby brother in the house. Most libraries should have a lot of books available when it comes to sibling issues, but these three were our favorites.

I'm a Big Sister by Joanna Cole (I'm a Big Brother version is also available)
The Sweet Bee has read this book multiple times. It's perfect for a two and half year old. It does a good job of explaining what a little baby is like ("Too little to walk. Too little to talk." etc), and emphasizes the important job of a big sister.

Julius the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes
Lily doesn't see anything special about the new baby, and just wishes he would go away. But she eventually has a change of heart and becomes his fiercest protector.

A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban
With a new baby in the house, no one has time for Frances anymore. She decides to run away (to another part of the house) but comes back when she hears how much her parents miss her.

It is also quite apparent that most popular children's book characters have a book dealing with a new sibling in the home. We like these two.
The Berenstain Bears' New Baby by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Arthur's Baby by Marc Brown

Check out this list for more books about siblings and new babies.

The Best of the Caldecott Winners

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"The Caldecott Medal shall be awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American Picture Book for Children published in the United States during the preceding year. The award shall go to the artist, who must be a citizen or resident of the United States, whether or not he be the author of the text."

In my continuing search to find quality literature to share with my children, I set a goal to read all of the Caldecott Medal winning books. I read a few each month, and finally finished the list (71 books in total) during the month of February. I read most of them with the Ant Bug, but there were quite a few that were a little too old for her to enjoy right now. I was surprised to find how many winners were books about customs from other countries or folk tales or fables.

I didn't like all of the books, but it is important to remember that the award is for the illustrations and not necessarily for the best text.

So if you are looking for recommendations of picture books, here is my short list of the best of the Caldecott Winners. The titles below are all books we have read multiply times and always enjoy getting from the library.

1941: They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson
1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry

1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley
1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

2005: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

The 2010 Caldecott Medal was recently announced: The Lion & the Mouse, illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney. So I guess I have one more to read!

Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline: My book notes

Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky A. Bailey

This book was my latest read in my quest to improve my parenting skills. I've read quite a few parenting books by now and at first this one took me a little while to get into. The author really likes the number seven! She had the Seven Powers for Self-Control, The Seven Basic Discipline Skills, and the Seven Values for Living; I had a hard time keeping it all straight!

But the more I read I realized that this book had quite a few good, helpful ideas. I've been working on applying some of them, and it's been nice to have a few new tools in my belt.

The biggest lesson I learned from the book has been this: "This moment is as it is". You can get upset and angry or yell, or you can take a deep breath and relax. You have control and you have a choice. I have been repeating that phrase to myself multiple times each day, and it's really helping my perspective. I think it will be my new mantra, with a little addition:

This moment is as it is. Learn from it. Enjoy it. Live it and love it.

What do you think?

Another lesson that I learned (or was reminded of?) is the importance of labeling. Children are in the process of learning about their world, and they often don't understand their emotions or the tantrums they are throwing. Help them by labeling their feelings as anger, sadness, happiness, etc. I've been applying this tip universally as I try to label everything I can to assist my two-year old in developing her language skills.

Here are some of my other notes from the book:

"Be patient with yourself". It takes time to learn new skills.

"Own your own upset". Take ownership for your own feelings. Notice how often you say, "Don't make me...." or "You made me.....". Instead say "I feel..." or "I'm going to..."

"What I focus on, I get more of". Pay attention: are you focusing on what you want, or on what you don't want?

Attribute positive intent: this basically means to look for the good and assume positive intentions in those around you. For example, your child didn't spill the milk on the floor just to spite you. Or, perhaps the car driver who cut you off is on his way to the hospital with a wife in labor!

Teach your children how to get what they want and respect the rights of others by saying to the aggressor:
1) "You wanted_____"

2) "You may not_____. _____ hurts (or, is not safe)."
3) "When you want______, say (or do) _______."
4) "Do it now! Practice."

Give children two positive choices as a way of setting limits.
1) "You may _______, or ______."
2) "What is your choice?"
3) "You chose_____!

Encourage your child by describing what you see.
1) State your child's name or "Look at you" or "You did it!"
2) Describe exactly what you see (or noticed).
3) Add a tag (optional). "That was helpful" or "Good job" or "Good for you".

Caldecott Books in February

1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field
1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind]
1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach
1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting

And that's it! I've read all of the Caldecott Medal winners from 1938 to 2009. Most of them I read with the Ant Bug, but there were quite a few that didn't hold her interest. I'll post a list of my favorites soon.

A Tree is Nice

In January we discovered a delightful book. It is a Caldecott Medal winner from 1957.

A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry

“Trees are beautiful. They fill up the sky. If you have a tree, you can climb up its trunk, roll in its leaves, or hang a swing from one of its limbs. Cows and babies can nap in the shade of a tree. Birds can make nests in the branches. A tree is good to have around. A tree is nice.”

A Tree by the Ant Bug

Reading this book inspired us to paint our own beautiful trees.

A Tree by the Sweet Bee

A Tree by Nurture Mama

Another Tree by the Ant Bug

The Ant Bug said "A tree is nice because...it gives shade. If it has bumps, you can climb it."

When it comes to planning activities for my children, I follow a predictable pattern: read a good book, sing a song or two, then do a craft project (although we don't always go in that order). With a little creativity, most children's books can easily inspire an hour or two of fun.