Feed Me Books Friday: Prioritizing Packing

How Many Monster Trucks Can You Fit in a Suitcase?

I’m starting to prepare for our summer get-away; I’m a list-writing, pile-making, basket-sorting kind of packer. I need to start early. B must have learned his packing behavior from me, or maybe he’s just eager. As soon as we even talk about a trip on the horizon, he’s ready to pack his bag. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet mastered the art of practical packing. (I know, I know, HE’S 5!)

Diffusing a Potential Argument with Humor

Rather than arguing about B’s choices after he’s already gotten his heart set on taking 5 pairs of shoes, Mr. Potato Head, and a squirt gun, I’ve learned to have a conversation early about what we’ll need when we get there and what kinds of toys we’ll be able to enjoy. It helps him make better choices, and he develops the cognitive skill of prioritizing and sorting. A fun prelude to making smart choices is Shirley Neitzel’s The Bag I’m Taking to Grandma’s. We love every one of her rebus books we’ve come across, but this one is especially high on the list. The young packer in this story is preparing for a trip to Grandma’s and some of his choices are understandable, if impractical, while others are downright outlandish! The bag could never realistically hold all the items he chooses, but that is part of the fun. Eventually, Mom intervenes with some more practical suggestions, but he still gets to make some decisions too. The story is told in rhyme, with rebus pictures representing all the items he wants to pack, making it perfect for a read-together activity. Read it enough times (like us) and your child will be “reading” the whole thing on his own.

Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers

Any suggestions for packing success with a preschooler? Cool ideas for fun in the hotel? Remember, I’m making lists here!

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Preschool Prep for Thanksgiving

Gratitude and Giggles

While many of us moms are making lists, cleaning, shopping, and even beginning to cook for Thanksgiving, many of our little ones are giddy with anticipation of visitors or travel and anxious for something to do. Without candy, gifts, or colored eggs, some children find Thanksgiving a little hum-drum. But since expressing gratitude and a sense of satisfaction and happiness go hand in hand, Thanksgiving is an important time for all of us to be reminded (or taught) about the importance of gratitude. That doesn’t mean we won’t have some fun with those silly-looking turkeys and some messy projects!


Historically Speaking

Who started Thanksgiving? That’s the kind of question B comes up with. When our routine changes or things are out of the ordinary (no school, decorations, extra projects) he wants to know why. It’s important to choose a story that’s appropriate for a preschooler to make it understandable and appealing. We noticed there was a Charlie Brown Pilgrim show on TV the other night – watching for just a few minutes revealed it wasn’t for B. While there were some interesting historical facts, there was a major emphasis on the illness and death that besieged the Pilgrims. While the depth of their suffering probably played a role in the enormity of their gratitude, that’s much too abstract for a preschooler to understand. Instead, we consulted The Story of Thanksgiving, by Nancy J Skarmeas (and part of a “Story of…” collection we enjoy). This board book introduces the quest for religious freedom, the challenges of the journey, adjustments to the new land, relations with Native Americans, traditional Thanksgiving foods, and the concept of giving thanks for the things we have been blessed with. After reading, we made a story bead bracelet using the instructions from Little Page Turners I shared yesterday.


Gobble… Giggle… Gobble

The turkey is such a universal symbol of Thanksgiving in our country, and such a colorful and funny looking bird, that art opportunities abound. One story that just begs for are project is Setting the Turkeys Free, by W. Nikola-Lisa. The narrative tells the story of some turkey art in progress. The narrator explains how to make a turkey with a paint handprint, and then decorates it with toothpick legs, and some sparkles and decorations. Next he creates a backdrop for his turkeys with a pen, some woods, and some clouds in the sky. Unfortunately, a fox appears and frightens the turkeys (and the narrator). His efforts to protect the turkeys are fruitless, and as a last resort he takes down the pen and releases his turkeys to escape to safety. The thwarted fox retreats, but the narrator misses his turkeys, so he lures them back by adding some dry corn kernels to the pen for them to enjoy! The illustrations are done in oils and collage elements that your child is sure to want to emulate. Discussion of the story is an opportunity for cognitive practice in problem solving, and your child will enjoy some fine motor development if you get out the paints.

 With inviting narration and illustrations, how can you not? B was eager to make some turkey handprints, but insisted we leave out the fox because he was “too scary.” B also enjoyed the paint experience so much that he wasn’t much interested in the collage aspect, but he did want to add some corn kernels for the turkeys to eat!





Wanting What We Have

One of my favorite quotes, the origin of which I do not know, is “We don’t need more to be thankful for, we need to be more thankful.” It hangs on a simple construction paper cut-out on my refrigerator. It’s something I think we all need to be reminded of regularly. I started keeping a gratitude journal a few months back, and I am certain it has positively impacted my outlook, attitude, and interactions with others. When I came across One is a Feast for a Mouse, by Judy Cox, at our library, I expected it to be a silly Thanksgiving giggle like the story above, but it turned out to have a lovely lesson. The story begins when Thanksgiving dinner is over, the family members are occupied in other areas of the house, and a mouse notices one “luscious” pea all by itself under a plate. The mouse decides to creep up to the table and take the pea back to his mouse hole, “because one is a feast for a mouse.” But, before he leaves the table, he notices some cranberries (he takes just one) and some olives (again just one) and just one carrot stick, and his pile of goodies grows. He adds just a bit of mashed potatoes, a little gravy, the meat left behind on a turkey drumstick, and some bites of unfinished pumpkin pie. What he doesn’t notice as his loot grows is the cat coming to investigate. You can imagine the meeting of the mouse and the cat is not a pleasant one, and the accompanying clatter and mess alert the family. The mouse is relieved to escape to his hidey-hole, even without his goodies, until he notices that one “toothsome” pea which had rolled across the floor to a corner. He retrieves it and enjoys it with great relish, uttering, “Give Thanks! One is a Feast for Me!” There’s plenty of humor in the mouse’s attempts to balance all his goodies and his encounter with the cat, but the mouse’s lesson on the dangers of greed is not to be missed!


As I looked for a gratitude project to do with B, I was looking for something more than a list of the things we are thankful for. In my mind being more thankful is about having a greater appreciation of what we have, rather than thinking of a longer list. The idea for this paper bag gratitude turkey came from instructions on Kaboose, but I modified it a little to support the emotional development I was aiming for in my gratitude lesson.

1. To begin, you’ll need a brown lunch bag, 10 or more 3 inch squares of paper (any color), crayons, markers, or paint, a rubber band or twist tie, scissors, a plastic spoon, and optional googly eyes and felt facial features, and glue if you opt for these decorations.
2. Mark stripes about 1 inch thick or so and about 5 inches long all the way around the top opening of the bag (including the sides). Color the stripes in the feather colors of your choice, then cut between them and color the reverse side (include dry time if you choose to use paint.)
3. On one paper square, write something your child is thankful for. It should be a big idea, rather than something like, French toast. We chose “our family.” Crumple the square slightly and put it inside the bag.
4. Gather the bag just below the “feathers” and secure with a rubber band or twist tie. (Not too securely)

5. Lay the bag on it’s side so that feathers stick out in the back, and cut a small slit in the edge of the bottom of the bag. Slide the handle of the spoon through the slit with the rounded bottom of the spoon facing out. The bowl of the spoon becomes the turkey’s face and the handle becomes the wattle.

6. Notice that the turkey doesn’t sit up very well or look very perky with its minimal “stuffing.” Go back to your stack of paper squares and record some reasons your child is thankful for the chosen subject, or some specifics about their thankfulness. Add a square for each reason. We added things like, “playing golf with Daddy, kisses from T, when Mommy is the helper at preschool, and having dinner at Grandma’s house.”
7. Open up the bag and add your slightly crunched reason squares to fatten up your turkey. Reclose, fluff feathers, and enjoy how much some added appreciation improved your project!
   Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, anyone in need of a little more gratitude.
   
   
   If you missed yesterday’s post, check out the inaugural edition of Must See Monday, where I share my favorite finds of the week!
   
   
   Come back tomorrow for an early edition of Feed Me Books Friday, or stop by after the hustle of the holiday – the linky will be up all week!
   
   

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Feed Me Books Friday: Friendly Fun

Wanna Play?

For most children, the invitation is unnecessary. They begin with parallel play as toddlers, and as they grow and mature socially, they find playmates more enjoyable. Playmates may be found in a sibling, our neighborhood, children we meet at the park, the library, preschool or other classes, or sports activities. Frequent playmates become friends, and the social-emotional development continues as bonds form. But for many children making their first friends, the habits of parallel play or play with a parent leave them with some bossy behaviors or strong opinions about the right and wrong ways to enjoy an activity. How do we teach our children to be good friends?

Good Models, High Expectations, and Meaningful Chats


There’s no doubt B learns the most simply by watching what goes on around him. He’s a very observant kid. Most children are aware of adult interactions and these become their first model for their own interactions. In that sense, the best things I can do to teach B about friendship are model kindness and compassion, and surround myself with others whose actions I respect and admire. I think we can take learning about friendship beyond what is simply absorbed by sharing our expectations and chatting about experiences. And, of course, I always think a good story or picture book is a lovely way to engage a child and begin the conversation. With B starting preschool this month, I wanted to prepare him for meeting new friends, and the school theme for the week is friendship, which gave me two good reasons to pull together some of our favorite books about friends.


Kindness, Commonalities, and Acceptance


Children who have been accustomed to ruling the roost (especially oldests like my B, or onlies) can sometimes have trouble adjusting to playing cooperatively with peers. His ideas of how certain games should be played or the “correct” way to pretend can be pretty rigid. Two books that encourage getting along with others are The Crayon Box that Talked and Little Quack’s New Friend– both occupy real estate on B’s bookshelf. The Crayon Box that Talked, by Shane DeRolf, follows a box of crayons from its squabbles on the shelf of a toy store to its purchase and later use by a little girl who gets the crayons to work together on a beautiful picture. After doing so, the crayons realize that each of them is different, but they all contributed something valuable. I like to relate this to allowing friends to play different roles in a game or activity: they may not all play the same way, but they each contribute something. Little Quack’s New Friend , by Lauren Thompson, is part of the Little Quack series, and my favorite so far. Little Quack and his siblings are approached by a frog that wants to play, and initially, each of his siblings refuses based on something that makes the frog different from them (he’s green, tiny, doesn’t quack). But Little Quack is happy to have a playmate, and they head off together. As the siblings watch Little Quack and his froggy friend have fun, each in turn decides they’d rather play than sit and watch, and soon they are all playing together. I like using this story to encourage B to be open to new friendships and new activities. The sounds of each activity (including “boinga poinga,” and “plunka splunka”) contribute light-heartedness and make the book fun rather than a heavy-handed lesson. Both of these would have easily crossed over into my post on uniqueness last week. And Big Little Elephant, from last week’s post, would also be a great book to focus on friendships. Finally our latest library find on friendship was Hi, Harry! The moving story of how one slow tortoise slowly made a friend, by Martin Waddell. Harry the tortoise begins the book in search of a friend, but everyone he meets is in too much of a hurry to play or get to know him. Feeling a little dejected, Harry tries to befriend a mushroom, a rock, and even his own reflection! He is happily surprised when Sam Snail asks to be friends. He finds that Sam is just the friend he’s been looking for because they have so much in common! They enjoy slow races, Heads-in and Heads-out, and turning around and around together. The story demonstrates how finding things in common helps build friendships. It’s the kind of encouragement a little one might need when he’s feeling hard-pressed to establish friendships in a new environment.
  

Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades


How do you help your child be a good friend? Please share!


If you have a book recommendation for this week, link it up! And, pay a visit to a blog I enjoy, 5 Minutes for Books! They’ve got a fall festival of children’s books going on this week, with some excellent recommendations and great giveaways!

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Feed Me Books Friday: Noticing Differences

I am Special.

In case you were wondering, B’s start to preschool this week was fabulous. He adores it. Can’t wait to go back, and certainly doesn’t want me to tag along. Makes me proud and weepy all at once! The theme for the week was “I am special,” which included about-me crafts and getting-to-know-you activities. I decided I’d use some of our library choices to reinforce the theme at home. We have had a few conversations (often in the middle of a grocery store I’m afraid) about people who look different from us in some way. B has asked about overweight people, disabled people, even a wrinkly elderly man and a woman with an outlandish outfit. We talk about how differences make us special and unique, that they are not something to be ridiculed or feared. So far, I feel like his questions and comments arise out of genuine curiosity as opposed to criticism, but he is definitely aware that being different can be a source of discomfort. While on vacation, he refused to make the walk from the hotel pool back to the room without a shirt on “because people might look at me and think I’m strange.”

Unusual is OK.

To spur the social-emotional development of valuing differences, I love a book that we came upon by chance on one of our library visits. Big Little Elephant, by Valeri Gorbachev, tells the story of a young elephant looking for playmates. When he comes upon a frog, a turtle, and a heron playing together, he is thrilled to join them. However, they soon realize that diving in the water and jumping rope are just not safe for small creatures when an elephant is involved. Sad Little Elephant is encouraged by his parents to find different activities they can enjoy together, and Little Elephant realizes his size and abilities can help his friends enjoy kite-flying on a windless day and pretending to be firefighters. We talked about the social dynamics: how Little Elephant felt when the friends decided he couldn’t play with them, how the friends felt when they realized how special Little Elephant really was, feelings of exclusion and belonging. It’s a lovely story to use in discussing unique qualities or just to encourage positive interactions among friends.

Unique is Not Ridiculous

Sometimes feeling different leads to a desire to take on the traits of others. This is the plight of the hippopotamus in You Look Ridiculous, by Bernard Waber. The story begins as the hippo is informed by the rhinoceros that she looks “ridiculous.” She is initially surprised, but when the rhinoceros matter-of-factly points out that she is lacking a horn, she laments her previously unknown fault and sets out to ask the other animals of the jungle if she is indeed ridiculous looking. Each animal she meets points out a trait of its own that she is lacking (the lion’s mane, the elephant’s floppy ears, etc.) and her feelings of inadequacy multiply. Some of the animals say things like, “if you want me to me honest,” or “no harm intended,” but their comments are hard for poor hippo to handle. We used her distraught reaction as a discussion point, and I asked B if hippos were supposed to have things like turtle shells or long necks, which elicited both giggles and good discussion of liking ourselves the way we are. In the end, hippo has a dream that she is transformed to possess each of the unique traits of the other creatures. While she is initially thrilled, her excitement fades when she glances at her reflection and discovers she looks truly ridiculous. She wakes from her dream thankful and happy to be in her own skin.


A Collage Waiting to Happen

We hadn’t even finished You Look Ridiculous before I was formulating a plan for an art project involving the mash-up of animal traits hippo was longing for. While we got to see one illustrator’s version at the end of the story, I still thought B would enjoy the silliness of putting the parts together, so I started my search for animal pictures. In my admittedly brief research, I was most impressed by the selection and variety of printable animal coloring sheets at First School. We printed two hippos: a before and after, or unique and ridiculous versions. I also printed a lion, an elephant, a rhinoceros, a giraffe, a monkey, and a turtle. The hippo in the story also wishes for leopard spots, but we just drew those on.

B cut out the hippo bodies, and I did the cutting of the features from the other animals.

Then B glued the two hippos to a large piece of construction paper and added all the other animals’ features, as well as some color. He thought the mixed up creation was hilarious. He even wanted to show it to T to make him laugh, though I doubt T has absorbed enough about hippos to know there was anything out of the ordinary! We had a lot of fun with our mixed up animal, but we also had some good conversation about how nice she looked just the way she was. We also discussed why some of her features were important to her way of life, like small flat ears she could close underwater. This book and activity made for a very balanced mix of developmental discussion and simple laughs and fun. We had so much fun with the mixed up animal creature, we may print some more animal pages and make some more silly friends!

Appropriate for toddlers, preschool, primary grades.

How do you handle questions about differences with your child? What do you do to affirm their confidence in their individuality? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Link up your book recommendations for the week below, and please link back to Little Sprout Books. (Consider adding the button!)

Have a great weekend in your special and non-ridiculous way!

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Feed Me Books Friday: My Pick for Labor Day

A Week Early So You Can Find It!


Yes, I know Labor Day Weekend is a week away, but I found this book some time ago and wanted to share it with any of you moms who might be interested in teaching your sprouts what Labor Day is all about. For many of us, it signifies the end of summer, but it is also a tribute to the “social and economic achievements of American workers” (Dept. of Labor website). So what does that matter to a preschooler? In B’s mind, it will be a special day because Daddy will be home from work. But we’ll also talk about the history of the day and I have no doubt he’ll appreciate the message of honoring the various workers of our country.


Trying out the World of Work

I’ve shared before how much B enjoys dressing up and role play. One of the most precious things he said recently was when we were talking about where people work. He knew Gramma works in a classroom, and his uncle works at a car mechanic, and when I asked where Daddy worked, he said “a helping place.” Daddy is the manager of his department, and the best way we have explained managing is that Daddy helps other people get their jobs done. So, Daddy works at a helping place! Love it! B likes to pretend he’s going to work like Daddy sometimes. He packs a lunch, puts on a collared shirt, and heads to his computer desk, where he “sends email” (which consists of typing in a word document).


What do we Celebrate?

Gary Paulsen paints a lovely picture in words of workers everywhere with his book, Work Song, and his wife’s pastel illustrations make the book a beauty to see as well as hear. The text is sparse, long sentences of rhyming phrases spread over several pages that tell what the work song is. Some of my favorite descriptors include, “towering buildings that were not there, hanging suddenly in the air,” and “resting short but loving long, resting for the next day’s song.” There are several trades and professions featured in the book, and while it is certainly not an encyclopedia of jobs, it does highlight the beauty in the variety of work in the world around us. This Labor Day, I will celebrate the workers who provide for the many aspects of a life I am grateful for, and I will celebrate that my first labor day as a stay at home mom who couldn’t be more appreciative of the work I do every day.


Appropriate for: toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades, everyone!


Share your Labor Day plans in the comments and/or link up with a book recommendation of your own! I’ll be sharing our “end of summer” book next Friday.

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