Baby Gift Idea

Is it just me or is the whole world pregnant? It's probably just my stage of life, but I feel as if everyone is sporting a swelling belly. For me, this means a steady stream of baby shower invitations.

"Scary Mary" Fan Art {handprint chicken}

A and I had so much fun this morning creating this little piece of fan art. To go along with our barnyard theme, we read Scary Mary by Paula Bowles.

With a little bit of love... and whipping cream

We made these sweet little cherry pies last night, but first, the book that inspired them!

Naughty Toes: Book & Craft

We're two months into dance lessons and E is doing great. She originally begged me to let her learn tap, but I'm more of a ballet sort of mama.  So we were both very happy when I found a class that teaches both. Right around that time I also discovered this darling little picture book.

Naughty Toes by Ann Bonwill

Chloe and her sister Belinda join Madame Mina's class with very different results. While Belinda is a natural dancer, Chloe has what Madame considers "naughty toes." She spins when she should float, she flashes when she should shine. Through it all she defends herself with a quiet confidence, until Mr. Tiempo recognizes her true talent and sends her a present: tap shoes!

I love Chloe's positive attitude and insistence on being herself. The book draws clear differences between Chloe and her sister without falling into sibling rivalry, which I appreciated. The illustrations use a lovely pastel color scheme, and the story flows with a beat Chloe would appreciate. A fun book for the little dancers in your life!

To go with the book, we made these ballerina paper doll chains. I found the ballerina template here at The Crafty Crow and resized it to fit a regular 8.5x11 sheet of paper. I cut out the dolls and we decorated them using crayons and colored pencils.

For the tutus I simply sewed a line down the middle of a crepe paper streamer and then pulled on the thread to bunch. Then I cut off pieces for the tutu, folded in half and glued in place. They did unruffle quite a bit once cut, in which case we just gathered and glued until it looked right. Once they dried those little dancers were ready to flit and float across the room... as were MY little dancers!

Disclaimer: Naughty Toes was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

P is for Peacock

I'm beginning to love the peacock (along with the rest of Pinterest and the world). All those rich colors just beg to be incorporated into a fun craft.

To make our peacocks, we started out with coffee filters, blue & green food-coloring, water, and an old medicine dropper. I love this activity with little ones and have used it before to make fall leaves. Once the coffee filters were dry, I cut out some simple shapes for the peacock's body and let the girls assemble their birds.

To make A's tail, I simply folded the filter asymmetrically in half and then again in thirds. I then made the mistake of giving her an entire bottle of elmers glue. (I HIGHLY recommend using a glue stick with this project.) I also took the opportunity to teach her how to write and upper and lowercase P.

To give E a bit more of a challenge, I cut out feathers from the filter to let her create her own unique peacock.

I love what she came up with!

Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson

Larry LOVES being in the limelight. He just knows this book is going to be FANTASTIC because it's all about him! But as more and more animals weigh in on what the story should be about, Larry becomes increasingly annoyed. How dare these characters steal his spotlight! He wishes they would just go away. But when Larry gets his wish, he learns that being alone in the limelight is a lonely place to be.

My girls and I love this clever little story with its cast of quirky characters. The illustrations are equally as quirky but also lovely. Our favorite page contains a gorgeous illustration of Larry in all his glory with shiny foil highlights.


Disclaimer: Limelight Larry was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Potato Blueberry Stamps

I know, I should be starting on apple and pumpkin crafts, but I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to summer. Between random earthquakes and impending hurricanes, we're managing to enjoy our last few days of summer break. Last week my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary by taking a road trip up to Acadia National Park in Maine.

 On the way up, it seemed there were "Wild Maine Blueberry" signs and stands at every corner. We didn't buy any blueberries, but I did pick up One Morning in Maine for my girls and was inspired to do this little craft when I got home.

You're supposed to use a cork for this project, but I didn't have any on hand, so I grabbed a fingerling potato instead. I simply trimmed each end and notched an X into the potato flesh. The girls then dipped either end of their potato stamp into some blue paint to create their blueberries.

When it had dried,  they glued on popsicle sticks to create a simple basket shape. Such a fun and simple end of summer artwork!

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

Written by the author of Blueberries for Sal, this sequel follows an older Sal through an average Maine morning. Blueberries do not feature in this book, but it does chronicle the loss of Sal's first tooth and her trip into town with her father and little sister. This time the plot takes a back seat to the beautiful monochromatic illustrations of little Sal and the Maine coast. Having just returned from there, I could fully appreciate the accuracy of the beautiful depiction of the New England coastline. Although it's a little long for early preschoolers, older children will enjoy the quiet chronicle of a child's morning, and kids of all ages are bound to love the artwork.

One Little Blueberry by Tammi Salzano

If you're looking for a blueberry-themed book for younger children, check out this cute little story from Tiger Tales. A simple counting book, the story follows the journey of one runaway blueberry while two ants, three ladybugs, four caterpillars, etc. all try to catch the blueberry for their own. Sweet illustrations and rhyming text make this a great read-aloud for classrooms or at home.


Disclaimer: One Little Blueberry was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

A Little Ice Cream & Book Review

A is turning 3 this week and to celebrate, we'll be throwing her an ice cream-themed birthday party. So all week long, I have fun ice cream crafts and activities to get us in the spirit.

I found the inspiration for this adorable little ice cream bowl on Sew Homegrown. For the bowl, simply use the bottom half of a plastic Easter egg. Then let the kids glue in whatever puffs you have on hand. Glue a bit of ribbon along the edge of the egg and you're done! You can also let the kids decorate with beads, glitter, string (for syrup), or anything else they can imagine.

Now their dollies can take a break from tea parties and enjoy an ice cream party instead!

The Ice Cream King by Steve Metzger

This is one of those books that has really grown on me - and thank goodness, since it's currently A's favorite. When Teddy and his mother check out a new ice cream parlor, Teddy is told he can pick anything on the menu. Anything?! Teddy's imagination runs wild as the writing changes from prose to poetry, and Teddy dreams he is the ice cream king. Most of the book contains Teddy's wild fantasies about ice cream castles, mountains, and seas. But as the story wraps up, he realizes that even something as wonderful as ice cream falls flat when enjoyed alone. The book switches back to prose and Teddy orders a giant banana split... with two spoons.

I found the change in narration to be awkward the first couple times I read it, but the poetry is good and the illustrations are charming. Every time we read it, it's clear my littlest is enthralled with the idea of exploring her own ice cream world.

Disclaimer: The Ice Cream King was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

We heart Splotch

I'm back! Our move went great (despite the rain - and snow!). We've been busy unpacking, decorating, and enjoying our new digs. But I couldn't let the week before Easter go by without any posts, so I'm back to review one of my favorite new books:

Roly-Poly Egg by Kali Stileman

Of all the books I received from Tiger Tails, this is by far my favorite. Splotch is a little bird who lays an egg: "small- yes, spotty- yes, and absolutely perfect in every way!" In her excitement over her egg, she drops it and thus begins the egg's adventure through the forest.

Each page chronicles the egg's journey from animal to animal and finally back to Splotch. The illustrations are beyond adorable and have a Carle-esque feel in their paint and cut paper collages. A dashed line on each page encourages children to trace the egg's path. In the end, kids get to lift the flap of Splotch's egg, for a delightful spotted surprise!

This book just begs for fan artwork, so we pulled out our paints after church today and got splotching!

I let the girls pick out two paint colors and then they mixed and went to town on the paper. We used folded cardstock so we could give these away as cards.

We each thought our painting was small- yes, spotty-yes, and absolutely perfect in every way!


Disclaimer: Roly-Poly Egg was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Classy Crayons & (Giles Andreae Review)

I recently spoke with the gifted teacher at E's school. Our city's gifted program doesn't begin until second grade, but I was curious if there were anything I could be doing with E now. To my great surprise, she recommended exposing her to a variety of art media.

So I dutifully headed to the art supplies store and decided to start simple: oil pastels. Oil pastels are at their most basic, classy crayons. They blend better - and stain clothes and fingers better - than regular crayons, and are also softer and thus more vibrant.

I am in the middle of packing up my entire house for our impending move across town, so I threw a couple sheets of packing paper on the floor and set the girls to color while I got back to work. To give them a bit more inspiration, I propped up two Giles Andreae books.

Rumble in the Jungle

and

Commotion in the Ocean 

Both of these books are collections of short poems, each based on a different animal. Matched with the poems are the riotous illustrations of David Wojtowycz. Alive with color, his drawings match the playful tone set by the poems and engage the eye of even the squirmiest little listener. His characters are happy, vibrant, and full of personality - the perfect pairing for a book of silly poems

To give E a little added incentive, I told her to draw a picture of an animal - just like in the book - and I would write a poem to go along with it. So, ahem, without further ado.... The Jelly Fish.

A jellyfish, happy and fat,

floated by this and by that,

with a terrified look

she spotted a hook

but smiled as it caught an old hat.

Disclaimer: Rumble in the Jungle and Commotion in the Ocean was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

One Rainy Day

Our house is officially under contract, which means we can once again pull out our messy paints! It's a mild, rainy spring day, so we decided to paint a picture of the rain.

Yes, we do own an easel but it - along with so much other "stuff" - was stored away when we listed the house. The fridge actually works quite well, and A enjoyed spreading the watered-down (washable) blue and green paint onto the paper.

She was also excited to discover the tiny raindrops I had applied ahead of time with a wax crayon. If I were to do it again, I'd fill in the raindrops with crayon as well.

One Rainy Day by Tammi Salzano

Duck loves the rain, because rain means red boots, an orange umbrella, yellow flowers, and so much more. Like any good board book, it's not the story that takes center stage, but the illustrations. Bright, cheerful drawings fill each page and tell the story through colorful and adorable characters. Accentuating the artwork are silver foil raindrops which not only fall from the sky, but drip and puddle on the illustrated leaves.

I thought this padded board book might be a little young for A, but she loved it from the start. It's her current favorite and our must-read before naptime.

Update: You can win your own copy of One Rainy Day! To enter, just visit Tiger Tails Books and comment on your thoughts about ebooks for kids.

Disclaimer: One Rainy Day was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review. 


I'm linking up to:
- stART @ A Mommy's Adventures