ABC Flashcards

It's back to school time!  Time to start thinking about letters and numbers, reading and math . . .

Have you seen the Letter Factory flashcards that Jessica from Running with Scissors made?

Yes.  She drew these herself.  Isn't she amazing?  

And even more amazing she's sharing them with everyone.  That's right, just head on over to her blog and print out your own for free!  Isn't she so nice?

I have my copy all printed out and laminated.  I also made a set of upper and lower case letters to go along with our Letter Factory cards for playing all sorts of games.

 The Activity Mom also shares a bunch of fun ways to use your new Letter Factory flash cards with your kids.  Check her ideas out here.

 So . . . what fun games are you going to do with yours?  We'd love to hear.

Pizza Monkey Bread

Have you jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon?  I have to admit, I was hesitant at first.  The last thing I needed was an excuse to spend more time on the computer.  But I finally gave in and it is great!  Most of the time I explore on my iPod touch while I'm feeding baby H.  I've found some really great decorating ideas for my new house and some yummy looking recipes I'd like to try.  In fact, I tried one last night and that is what I'd like to share with you because it was a HUGE success with my boys (and my husband)!

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This is the basic concept: take your favorite pizza dough, pinch off a small ball, and then flatten it.  On your little piece of dough place a piece of pepperoni and a small cube of mozzarella cheese.  Then wrap it all into a ball.  Brush the ball with garlic butter and place in a bundt pan.  Repeat until all your pizza dough is used!  Then you bake at 400 for 35 minutes.  In the meantime, heat up your favorite pizza sauce for dipping.  (Go here for more detailed directions)

I make homemade pizza quite a bit and this was a nice variation on a classic.  I'll have to admit, it was a little bit time consuming . . . but the end result--the whole family loving it--would be worth it to do again.  In fact, this would be a great meal to let your little ones help you with!  My boys would probably love to place the pepperonis and cheese cubes onto the dough!

Color Wheel

We love doing the summer reading program at our library every summer.  I love to see my kids reading books and working to earn something.  

To help my daughter earn her artist badge for this years summer reading program we read the book Color Chaos by Lynn Rowe Reed. 

After finishing our book we created our own color wheel.  I've been wanting to do this with my kids for a while and this was the perfect chance.  Colors are so fun to learn about and kids love to see how mixing them together result in new colors.

We started with our primary colors, red, yellow and blue.

 

We then mixed our primary colors to create our secondary colors, orange, green, and purple.

And then just for fun we talk about tints and shades and created different tints of red.

My kids loved making their color wheels and were so proud of the end results.  

What color activities have you done with your kids?

Book Reviews: Princess Stories

We hear the same ol' princess stories over and over again.  How about something new?  Here is a list of princess stories with a twist that we have enjoyed at our house.

Cinder Edna

by: Ellen Jackson

This clever, double story follows the fates of two young women. Readers know Cinderella, who works all day, sits in the cinders, and needs her fairy godmother to get the ball moving. But Cinder Edna next door has used her spare time to learn 16 different ways to make tuna casserole and to play the accordion. She earns money by cleaning out parrot cages and mowing lawns, and can she tell jokes. When the dance is announced, she dons the dress she bought on layaway, takes the bus to the ball, and wears loafers for dancing. She wins the attention of Prince Randolph's younger but dorky brother, Rupert, who loves to dance and tell jokes, and runs the palace recycling plant. Both women dash off at the stroke of midnight. The two princes' plans for finding the owners of the lost glass slipper and the beat-up loafer are a hilarious contrast. Ella ends up, of course, with the vain, boorish Randolph. Edna moves into a solar-heated cottage, caring for orphaned kittens and playing duets with her husband Rupert. O'Malley's full-page, full-color illustrations are exuberant and funny. Ella is suitably bubble-headed and self-absorbed while Edna is plain, practical, and bound to enjoy life. Kids will love this version of the familiar story for its humor and vibrant artwork.

Fanny's Dream

by: Caralyn Buehner

An ungainly farm girl named Fanny Agnes has a bit of the Cinderella in her, and on the night of the mayor's ball goes out to the garden to wait for her fairy godmother. Instead, Heber Jensen comes a-courtin' and although Fanny dithers and declares she won't do windows, she shucks her princely dreams to throw in her lot with humble Heber. It's a hard life, but she gets treated like a princess in ways she never imagined.

The Paper Bag Princess

by: Robert Munsch

Elizabeth, a beautiful princess, lives in a castle and wears fancy clothes. Just when she is about to marry Prince Ronald, a dragon smashes her castle, burns her clothes with his fiery breath, and prince-naps her dear Ronald. Undaunted and presumably unclad, she dons a large paper bag and sets off to find the dragon and her cherished prince. Once she's tracked down the rascally reptile, she flatters him into performing all sorts of dragonly stunts that eventually exhaust him, allowing her to rescue Prince Ronald. But what does Prince Not-So-Charming say when he sees her? "You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess." In any case, let's just say that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Ronald do not, under any circumstances, live happily ever after.

The Paper Princess
by: Elisa Kleven

A little girl draws a brave and friendly looking princess on a piece of paper and then cuts her out. But before the child can decide what kind of hair to give her new friend, the wind sweeps down and carries the paper princess away. Flying over the city, searching for the perfect hair and her way back home, the princess learns a lot about life and the ways of the world. With her shoes "like watermelons" and her dress "like a forest," the paper princess is both childlike and princesslike (indeed, she is friendly and brave). Kleven's collage artwork is as spectacular as it was in Abuela (1991): it celebrates family, diversity, and individuality. This magical world, in which blue jays have feathers of Florentine paper and princesses have sweaters to wear when they go flying, is full of the spirit of creativity and the importance of play in defining one's home.
Also by Elisa Kleven, The Paper Princess Finds Her Way and The Paper Princess Flies Again.

What is your favorite princess story?