Small Types

A New Use for Old Book Jackets

2012-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

When your kids receive a new hard cover book, do they keep the protective paper book jacket in nice condition? Mine don't.

My kids have learned since an early age that books are special and we need to take care of them. They get that you turn the page from the corner so the pages don't rip, and they know they aren't supposed to color in books or throw them around. For the most part, our books are well loved but in decent shape. The book jackets are another story.

They are immediately lost, torn, crinkled and tossed. I know the flaps contain useful information about the author and illustrator. I know I shouldn't just toss them. But now I've basically giving up on trying to preserve them.

The other day when I found the jacket of one of our favorite books thrown on the floor, far, far away from it's book, I had a thought. Maybe I should at least try to repurpose these things.

My son loves the book Iggy Peck, Architect, by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts. He relates to young Iggy, who builds towers out of everything he sees, and who adores structures and drawing. I glued the orphaned Iggy Peck book jacket to the cover of a standard folder filled with graph paper... and voila! An architect's notebook inspired by a favorite book!

Or how about a book jacket scrapbook. We received The LEGO Ideas Book as a gift. It's all about using the bricks you already own to make new and clever creations. (Btw, yay Lego! Thank you for coming up with an idea that doesn't involve buying new bricks!) I glued the book jacket to a file folder, attached some binder clips, and now my sons can take pictures and/or draw their own Lego creations and stick them in the book to create a Lego scrapbook featuring their favorite projects.

So, now my wheels are turning. I'm sure there are about a million different ways to turn tossed book jackets into something interesting.

What do you do with the book jackets at your house? Are your kids better at keeping them in one piece?

A Ferocious Paper Bag

2012-02-06T08:00:00.001-08:00

Here's how our morning began...

Five Year Old: Hey Mom, I want to make something ferocious. You know, something that would scare the neighbors. -Like cougar claws. They need to be tough, not the wimpy ones made from regular paper. We need some good strong paper. Actually we need metal. Metal claws would be sharp just like cougar claws.
Mom: No metal. Sorry.
Five Year Old: Fine. How about cardboard or wood.
Mom: How about going back to your "tough paper" idea. Paper is easier to make into claws.
Five Year Old: What's the toughest paper we have? Seriously, Mom. These claws need to be tough and scary.

I'm a huge fan of TinkerLab, and I love following the bi-monthly Creative Challenges, but we've never participated. Right now, there's a paper bag challenge happening. During the conversation above, I remembered the challenge, so I steered my son away from metal or wood to paper bags. (Because you know I would have approved the sharp metal claws if it wasn't for the paper bag challenge, right?)

My three year old joined the fun and we got to work cutting and taping the bag claws. The (glam) gold tape was my son's idea because apparently it looks more cougarish. It looks more Cougar Town to me, but whatever.

It was a ferociously fun morning of claw making, which turned into mask making, which turned into hours of cougar-ing around, trying to scare Mommy. (Fortunately he's forgotten about scaring the neighbors. For now.)

So, what's the connection between paper bags and literacy? Well, first of all, cutting, gluing, taping and coloring = great fine motor work. And of course, pretend play rocks for building literacy foundations. Read more about that here.

Hurry, get your paper bags out! Anyone can join the challenge. It's a super fun way to spend a few minutes (or all day), and there are some seriously awesome prizes available as well. (Hint: Money! and Kiwi Crate!!)

Want more inspiration? Check out the paper bag projects on these creative blogs...
Paint Cut Paste, Imagination Soup, Hands On: As We Grow, Child Central Station, Putti Prapancha, Irresistible Ideas for Play-Based Learning, Teach Preschool, The Chocolate Muffin Tree, Nurture Store, Make Do & Friend, The Imagination Tree, Toddler Approved, Red Ted Art, Kids in the Studio, Rainy Day Mum, Glittering Muffins, Sense of Wonder, Mom To 2 Posh Lil Divas, Come Together Kids, My Creative Family, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, A Mom With A Lesson Plan, Angelique Felix, The Golden Gleam, Clarion Wren, Living at the Whitehead’s Zoo, Let Kids Create, De tout et de rien, PlayDrMom, Creativity My Passion, Messy Kids, Kiwi Crate, Tinkerlab

How Many Hearts?

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a heart-y activity to practice counting, colors and sorting.

You'll need...

Different colored paper hearts. I cut mine with a paper punch but you could easily cut them freehand. (You'll need 10 of one color, 9 of a different color, 8 of a different color.... all the way down to 1.)
A book to stick them in. We used a Bare Book, but construction paper works fine too.
Sharpie
Glue

Here's what we did:

I gave my three year old the pile of hearts, (mixed up), and asked him if he could find all the red hearts.
Then he sorted another color, and another, and another, until all the hearts were sorted by color.
Then we counted each pile. Which color has only one in the pile? Which one has two?
After we counted each pile, my son glued them down and I wrote the caption. 1 blue heart, 2 brown hearts, 3 pink hearts...
Then he read it to me. (Several times.) We have a new Valentine's Day book in our collection!

*I actually made the cover before my son started the project because I didn't want those hearts to get mixed up in the sorting pile.

I love this project because it's such an easy way to practice several skills and concepts at once, and it works for lots of age groups. My little one was focused on counting and colors. My kindergartner is able to practice reading the predictable text with picture cues. You could use different shapes for any season, or adapt this idea for older kids to practice basic math problems. (2 blue hearts + 3 blue hearts = 5 blue hearts)

Happy February! Go cut some hearts!

Valentine Love

2012-01-28T23:35:00.000-08:00

After a wild week of snow days/power outages and another week of computer virus/dead hard drive issues...I'm glad to be all reconnected and ready to talk valentines.

Here's what I'm loving in the heart department this year:

Free Printable Valentines

Check out my new printable valentines: Silly Homophones and Flying Friends. Both sets come together as one free download. The first set is best for older kids who get homophone humor. I had to explain them to my kindergartener, but my second grader thinks they're ~~sew suite~~ so sweet. Are your littles too little for homophones? The Flying Friends set pictured above are great for any age.
Also, shoot over to The Long Thread, where you'll find the best list of printable valentines and other V-Day crafts. I think I love the cupid pencil/arrow cards best!

Really, there are so many adorable valentine card ideas floating around, it might be hard for your kids to choose a favorite. I'm printing a few extra sets to use as lunchbox notes in February, or for my littlest one to pass out to brothers and stuffed animals.

Books to Love

Every Valentine's Day (month), we read Love, Lola, by Diane deGroat. It's a cute story about little Lola who really wants to get into the spirit of passing out valentines. Unfortunately for Lola, everyone in her house is too busy to help. She perseveres, and at the end of the day she receives a special surprise. Yay for perseverance! Yay for surprises!

What's your family Valentine's Day fave? If you need some ideas, I found a few new lovable reads via this list from Frecklebox and this one from Silly Eagle Books.

Or you could just make your own Valentine book. More on that Wednesday... Yes, that's right, two posts in one week! (I'm making up for my two week absence!)

What is my son making? Find out over at PreK+K Sharing!

Heart-y Crafts

Here's the perfect way to celebrate the heart: Jamie from Hands On As We Grow, and 75 bloggers are joining together to create The Heart Project. It's a very special ebook of 100 Valentine's Day and heart related projects for you to do with or for your kids. Best of all, the proceeds benefit the American Heart Association. You can download the book starting February 1.
These cards made from recycled paper materials are also cool. (Again, from The Long Thread.)
Fingerprint Hearts: There are lots of fingerprint heart projects floating around. You can read about our latest version here.
Want more? You'll find some lovely inspiration over at Pinterest. Check it out, and then come back Wednesday for more heart-shaped fun. Here's a little preview...

Links and a Little Collaboration

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been collaborating a bit. Just in case you're wondering what I'm up to when I'm not here, read on.

I've mentioned this one before, but I continue to contribute over at The Savvy Source, where I recommend family friendly events in the Seattle area. The Savvy Source has long been one of my favorite parenting resources. (I think I do actually become a bit savvier every time I visit the site.) I'm sure it's on your short list as well. Here are just a few of my recent favorite reads:

My newest hangouts may not be on your radar yet, but they're terrific resources, so get your bookmarking finger ready...

PreK+K Sharing is a blog established by Debbie Clement from Rainbows Within Reach and a crew of contributors including respected authors and performers, classroom teachers, school administrators, parenting experts and specialists in brain development and mental health. Once a month, each contributor stops by for a day and shares some useful information geared toward anyone teaching or parenting young children.You'll find teaching strategies, creative arts projects, literature ideas, parenting strategies, learning theory and everything in between. The topics vary, but the emphasis is on excellence in early childhood education through the arts, and child-centered, play based learning. Debbie asked me to pop in, (on Day 29 each month), to share ideas for creating a print-rich home.

Here are some of my favorite PreK+K Sharing articles:

Creativity and Wire Sculptures
Eating Healthy (Get your kiddos up and moving with a free download of Debbie Clement's original song, Eating Healthy.)
10 Things to Do When a Tantrum Erupts
Let's Play

I also contribute to Classroom Freebies, a resource for teachers created by Charity Preston of the Organized Classroom Blog. Educators create and share FREE lessons and printables for use with students in preschool through high school. The site is geared toward teachers, but parents can also find free resources to help support learning at home. For example...

Use Dig Up a Good Book the next time your child brings home a Scholastic Book order.
These Graphic Organizers for Literature, work with any book and help kids think while they read.
Or use this Secret Gluing Techniques Kit to teach your little one to use glue before he heads off to school. Believe me, your child's teacher will thank you!

Kid Art Display

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Now that (most of) my kids are back at school (for at least part of) everyday, I feel like I have (a tiny bit) more time on my hands. After the chaos of Christmas, the goal of getting organized has once again (briefly) resurfaced on the tip top of my to do list.

Small Types

A New Use for Old Book Jackets

A Ferocious Paper Bag

How Many Hearts?

Valentine Love

Links and a Little Collaboration

Kid Art Display

Winter Break

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Building Block Literacy

Ho Ho Holiday Roundup

Print-Rich Gifts: World Traveler

Print-Rich Gifts: Animal ABC's

Print-Rich Gifts: The Box is the Gift

Justification and a Book Project

My New Store!

Thankful Log

Holiday Learning

Press Here

Yay for You!

The Library

Lines and Sticks Part 2

Lines and Sticks

Play, Play, Play

Crafting a Print-Rich Home

Lunch Notes

Predict a Great Year

Yay for School!

School Memories

Back-to-School Reading

Blue Sky Home Series {Giveaway!}

Personalized Lunch Sacks

Back-to-School {Giveaway!}

Cool School

Having Fun, Wish You Were Here

Summer Stitching

Pop Heart Press {Giveaway!}

Car Kit

Print-Rich Gifts: Shadows

Shadow Stories

An Alphabet of Play

Don't Forget the Skills

Make Your Way Through the ABCs

Alphabet Summer 2011: Find the Alphabet

Have Fun and Stay Sharp: Summer Link List

Telling Stories {Guest Post: Cat Patrick}

Rocky's Travels: A Backyard Storytelling Adventure

Punch-a-rama

New Food Punch

Cursive Crush

Blogs to Bookmark: Terrific Teachers

Reading and Writing on the Road

Alphabet City

April Link List

On Bunnies and Banners

Spring Crafts

Build a Banner

Alphabet Glue

Tiny Prints Notebooks: Product Review & Giveaway

Blogs to Bookmark

March Link List

Print-Rich Gifts: Star Wars Lego

Storytelling Shake Up

Small Improvements

3 Bags Full Finger Puppets {Product Review}

Celebrate Reading!

Letter Love #6: Letter Decor