Ships and Sailors {Opsail 2012}

I love my city. We have fantastic libraries, a great zoo, gorgeous gardens, and lots of beaches. We also have all sorts of interesting events happen here throughout the year. 

This weekend we hosted OpSail 2012.

We're back with a book for boats

We're back from the Great Page Road Trip of 2010 and I have vowed never to go on a vacation with a toddler again. Strange places, an uncomfortable pack-n-play, and a complete deviation from our normal schedule and diet transformed my sweet toddler into Jack Jack from The Incredibles. I seriously wouldn't have been surprised had she turned into a ball of fire.

In between the meltdowns and tantrums, we did manage to enjoy the trip. One of our favorite experiences was riding the Cape May - Lewes Ferry.

The ferry connects Cape May, NJ with Lewes, DE. Not only the girls, but my husband and I thought it was great to be able to drive our car right onto the boat, park, and enjoy an hour cruise. The ferry supplied coloring books and crayons to the girls, so when they weren't terrifying me by running along the deck, they could sit and color.

I (of course) checked out their gift shop for kids books but didn't see any boat-themed books I liked as much as:

Ship Shapes by Stella Blackstone

This book is perfect for 2-3 year olds who are learning their shapes and colors. The illustrations are fantastic fabric collages filled with colors, patterns, and textures that seem to pop off the page. The story is straightforward: two kids and a dalmatian set sail and meet up with many strange and wonderful creatures, all the while asking the reader to find and count the different shapes on the page. The rhyming and repetition is just right for little ones, although even your kindergartners will be entertained by finding and counting all the shapes. Heck, I was entertained!



Activities:

 Make these adorable Fruit Sailboats over at The Stories of A to Z (aka my sister!)

Print out this easy B is for boat printable and let your kids cut and color the different shapes.

Create this cute seashell sail boat with a few simple materials from Family Fun.