Readathon 2012 - The Lion and the Mouse

A few days ago I stumbled across a great website called MeMeTales This site has a dual purpose. It allows aspiring writers to publish their own stories(for kids) and it also brings innovative books to children in an engaging platform.  MeMeTales has both free ebooks and ebooks you can purchase.  You can have the books read aloud to your child, printed off, or if your child is reading, they can read the book without the audio.

For the summer, MeMeTales is partnering with PBSKids, Harper Collins, Orca Books, Little Pickle Press, and others to bring you some great ebooks.  There are aps for your iPhone, Kindle Fire, iPad, and computer that allow you to download the books and set your little one up with hours of reading fun.  For the month of June, if you sign up with MemeTales you get 20 free ebooks that can either be read aloud or that can be read silently. After reading or listening to each book, your child earns sticker rewards that you can print out and glue onto their certificate.

Jungle animals singing don't wake the lion

If you want to participate, here is a link that takes you to the how to participate page.

Each week has different theme with activities to go along with theme.  Week 1 is animals. This makes me super excited as C loves all things animals and the books are simple enough that both A and C can do animal based activities together and reenact some of the books.

The book we listened to today was The Lion and the Mouse by Lavanya R.N.  We listened to the book  this morning and I LOVED it. It is the traditional tale of the mouse helping the lion, but the illustrations, the slightly Indian twist to the story line, and the audio made the book really come alive. C gasped in the scary parts, laughed when the lion roared and laughed, and cheered at the end when the lion got free of the net.  He also danced to the musical part. Really, listen to this book. It's fab.

"Squeek, squeek"

I figured that I wanted him to really remember this book - it has a great message after all. We grabbed his animal toys, his holey blanket, and reenacted the story line. Of course since he is just coming on 3 years old, it wasn't exactly like the book, but the mouse made squeaky noises, the lion roared(and snored), and he freed the lion.  After which, he made the mouse pounce and wrestle the lion - but hey - it was his reenactment!

Saving the lion from the net.

I can see us playing lion and mouse for many days in the future.

Thanks MeMeTales for great books and letting my children's imaginations grow because you started this service. we are hooked and will keep reading all Summer :)

Super Hero Arm bands - a DIY

Who can say no to that face?

Apparently, C knows what super heros are.  All day yesterday he was wearing an empty Crayola crayon box on his arm and using his Super Powers!  After MUCH convincing, I got the box off his arm and put the crayons back in it.

From the moment he woke up all he wanted to do was get his powers back.  No idea where he gets these things, but I love it :)  C repeatedly asked me to make him some powers, and breakfast didn't count. So, having finished off a roll of paper towels, I got some inspiration.

Ingredients:

• 1 empty paper towel roll
• Spray paint
• elastic
• tin foil
• needle and thread or sewing machine
• craft glue

How to:

Photo Steps. Sorry about the flash.

• Cut open the paper towel tube and press flatish
• Spray paint the paper towel tube
• Wait... play Ring Around the Rosie, answer the question "Powers done yet?" about 5 billion times
• Once done, cut tube to size
• Figure out how much elastic you need and sew that on to the painted tube.
• Cut out a bazillion little tin foil shapes until you get the right one
• Glue said shape onto the tube and let dry while child destroys house

TADA! Done.

One happy little boy :)

Altoon Lagoon play date

 The other day another home schooling mom and I were talking about how we wanted our kids to get out and do MORE exercise.  Don’t get me wrong; both of our children are active. A swims 4-5 days a week, plays in the bush, participates in all the kids biking, running, swimming races, etc; but I just don’t feel that she gets out there and is active enough.  Apparently, my friend feels the same so we decided that we would get together once a week and let the kids, bike, run, or whatever as long as they were outside and DOING.  During this time, we get visit and C has a friend over to play.  We decided to meet at Altoona Lagoon because it is between both our homes, it is flat, and where they hold most of the kids’ races.

Altoona Lagoon is another one of our undiscovered St. Croix areas for many reasons.  There is a whole fishing community of old time Crucians who grew up swimming in the inlet to the lagoon, jumping off the bridges, fishing, and generally having a good time there.  It is a great place for walking, running, biking, limin’, and generally just enjoying the views of Christiansted from a different angle. Altoona Lagoon also has a GREAT playground and fun exploring beach for little ones.

Our day started early with us in the car, the trike in the trunk, and the bike(new big 26” bike) racked on the back of the red SUV. Water, and snacks were packed in the reusable shopping bag, and I had had at least 2 cups of tea by 7:30! We were set. Once at Altoona, and unloaded – I really do think we are related to Gypsys since we cannot seem to go anywhere without the entire contents of the house and the kitchen sink ---- Oh wait! It’s because I’m a Mom not related to Gyspsys!!!  ANYWAY…. A got con her bike and as soon as her friend showed up away they went. The two kids did about 10 loops, which I think translates to just about 2 miles! Then they took a break to go explore the beach, whereupon they stuck their heads together and decided that they needed to go fishing! Crazy kids!

The two kids, my wonderful mom friend and her equally wonderful hubby walked down with C to the inlet by the bridge. Once I got there, which was about 15 minutes later – I had to re-rack the bike, put stuff away, etc. I found both kids wading through the inlet, with fishing nets in hand, HUGE self satisfied grins on their faces and COMPLETELY, soaking wet.  During the course of the day, they caught Lizardfish, Coral Banded shrimp, regular shrimp, and Blue Crabs. We saw Blue Herons, a Great Snowy Egret, fishermen coming in with their catch and then it happened… the kids spotted a Lionfish! Turns out there wasn’t 1 Lionfish, but 3.  They were hiding in the Mangroves.  My friend’s hubby shucked down to his shorts and got in the water and caught 2 of the three. At first we though maybe we could eat them, but they were too little. What actually scared us was that the Lionfish were in the Mangroves, which are breeding grounds for other fish, and we all know Lionfish eat EVERYTHING so they were in the worst place possible for our native fish. Not, that having Lionfish anywhere in the Caribbean is good, but in a breeding ground it’s like an A bomb ready to go off at any moment. 

Photo by Jill Updyke.

One of the things I really liked about this day, was that both kids ended up wading around in only their shorts and never even batted an eye. They are the same age, and look exactly the same chest wise and for them it was super natural and not embarrassing to be that way. I love that our island still allows our kids to be kids and doesn’t make them aware of the opposite sex until later.  We are able to keep our children innocent of the societal pressures that other children face elsewhere in the world. 

We decided that the kids had such a good time – even C, that we are going to make this a weekly occurrence. We hope to go kayaking into the Lagoon next week. I’ll keep you updated J Sorry for the lack of personal photos but we were so busy having a good time that I didn’t think of taking pictures until the end.

I’ll leave you with a word from our kids: "Lionfish.. they taste like Chicken."

I’m the Biggest thing in the Ocean toddler activity

The other day, we went down to the public library for our bi monthly library run.  It seems like every time we go to the library, we stumble across a new book or two. This time, not olnly did A find some new books, but I found a GREAT new book for C called “I’m the Biggest thing in the Ocean” by  Kevin Sherry. 

C LOVES this book, he especially loves then end where the squid gets eaten by the whale.  Personally, I think he loves it because I give the squid a surf guy voice. Since he loves this book so much, I decided to make him some play items to go with the book. 

I photocopied the characters – not all of them mind you, but the key ones, laminated them and then glued magnets to the back so he could play with them on the fridge.  At least, that was the idea.... the copies laminated well, but the magnetic tape just doesn't stick. I KNEW I should have sprung for the actual magnets.  When you laminate something twice, home use non heat sealed laminate doesn't work so well.  It is worth the hassle to have it professionally done.  All in all, the whole play set has been fun.  C likes to play with the magnets and have the squid say “I’m the biggest...”. 

I learned a few things by making these magnetics. 

1. My Xyron 900, does a good job laminating as long as you don't double laminate
2. The rolls of magnetic tape don't stick to plastic laminate or anything else, buy the actual magnets
3. Hot glue doesn't stick to laminate either
4. Pay for the laminate job at Office Max - it's worth it
5. Invest in a roll of laminate with magnetic backing from Xyron

 I did happen to see the same idea but in felt - I think it's time for another project soon - a felt story board. The possibilities for A to act out books for C, for A to do little project based plays with it, and for C to learn things like colors, letters, and counting are endless.  That would of course mean creating all the felt stuff to go with the board, but a few well placed Etsy buys might make my life easier and let me get it done faster too.

Check out the book(if we ever return it). Your toddler is sure to love it.