Green Olives & Ham

My first lapbook

What's a lapbook, you ask?  Or maybe you didn't ask because it's just what it sounds like, right?  A book that sits in your lap.  I'm just going to say that a lapbook can be made using a file folder (I know, I love my file folder games, but apparently that is old school).  You can make a lapbook to help children learn numbers, letters, colors.  You can make a lapbook based on any theme, and you can make them as simple or as complex as you wish.  For more about lapbooks, see the Lapbook Ladies.

I decided to make my first lapbook based on the book "The Mitten" by Jan Brett.  For more about this book, please read my article:  Local children's book author:  Jan Brett and "The Mitten".

Here is the full view of my lapbook:

The first part is to match the mitten that has a large M.  In the pocket are the letters m-i-t-t-e-n.

The second part is to match the mittens based on the numbers.

 
The next part is a visual, so that children can see how difficult it would be to find a white mitten in the white snow.

The last part is to practice hand-eye coordination by stringing the mittens. 

I only filled the inside of the lapbook.  There are other flaps that I can add to.  The most fun part about it (well besides the whole thing) is that it folds up so nicely and is easy to store.

- Michelle

Additional information:

Local children's book author:  Jan Brett and "The Mitten"
Jan Brett's Official Website

Books for a Nutrition theme

My daughter and I have been to the library and Barnes & Noble daily looking for books for our Nutrition theme.  It's hard to believe that it's almost December, and we've been focusing so much on this Nutrition theme.  Not a thing about farm animals and very little about Thanksgiving so far.  Oh you remember, sometime back in October, I chose three themes and really have focused on only one.

But I still love the idea of themes and feel confident that we'll continue with them in December.  For right now, though, I'm talking books.  Because quite honestly, I love children's books.  I had a difficult time finding books on nutrition, but here are a few.

I wouldn't be Green Olives & Ham if I didn't start with this one:

Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss



Our main issue is that my daughter will not try certain things.  She just looks at it, and says "I don't like that".  And I have to constantly say, "How do you know you don't like it, you didn't try it".  Hopefully someday she'll realize that if she just gives "Green Eggs & Ham" or even Green Olives & Ham a try, they just may be her favorite foods!

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban



The only difference between my daughter and Frances is that my daughter's favorite food is rice while Frances' favorite food is bread and jam.  I guess there is another difference, and that is that Frances gets tired of bread and jam after awhile.  Seriously, if I fed my daughter rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, she would still love it!  There can be too much bread and jam, but never enough rice ... oh and juice.

Eat Your Peas Louise by Pegeen Snow



Louise doesn't want to eat her peas, so her big brother tries all the tricks in the book (hmmm, is there a book for that)?  I don't know, but even though my daughter doesn't have a big brother, she does have a big cousin, who unfortunately doesn't live near us.  But I think that if he were to eat his peas and tried to convince her to eat her peas, I think she'd be more likely to ... at least try her peas. 

Fast Food by Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann

 I love this book because it is so creative.  My daughter loves to play with her food so much more than she loves to eat it.  And I try to never say "Don't play with your food.  That piece of chicken is not a dinosaur".  Because I think turning your food into something else shows such creativity!

I hope you won't stop eating your fruits & veggies, but if you must, please keep reading your books!  And for more ideas on activities for a Nutrition theme, please visit:  Preschool lesson plan:  Nutrition (fruits and vegetables).

- Michelle

 

Book Review: "Fanny" by Holly Hobbie

Have you ever really wanted something and just couldn't get it?  Well, that's the dilemma for "Fanny" who really wants the doll that everyone else has.  Unfortunately, Fanny's mother will not buy it for her.  What does Fanny do?  She gets creative and makes her own doll who she names Annabelle.

Well, Annabelle is certainly not like the doll that everyone else is playing with.  So Fanny feels embarrassed and hides Annabelle ... at first.

This book makes me think of the old saying "It's hard being a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie doll world".  Or maybe it's not an old saying, but I heard it somewhere, and it has stuck with me all these years.  Because growing up, I always loved my Raggedy Ann so much more than Barbie.  And now as an adult, I still love Raggedy Ann, and I love Annabelle, too.

"Fanny" is a wonderful book written and illustrated by Holly Hobbie. 

If you end up loving this book, you're sure to love the latest and greatest Fanny book, "Fanny & Annabelle", where Fanny decides to write her very own picture book, starring the one and only Annabelle.

- Michelle

 

I must have this Priddy "Little Word Book"

Do you ever see something that makes you immediately say "I must run right out and buy this"?  This happens to me quite often.  Sometimes it isn't as wonderful as it was before I had it.  Other times, it's a wonderfully successful purchase.

When I first saw the "My Little Word Book" by Roger Priddy, I ran out and bought one for my daughter.  She was a baby at the time, and we would sit together and look at the pictures. I'd point to the picture and say "Train". As time went on, my daughter would begin pointing at the pictures, and I would say "Train".  Soon, I could point to the picture, and my daughter would say "Train".

Now at three years old, we look at this book, and I'll ask what is something that goes "Choo Choo".  She points to the train and says "Train".  We look at this book, and I'll ask what is something on this page that starts with the letter "T".  She'll point to the train and say "Train".  Sometimes, we'll look at this book, and my daughter will say "What is something that we can ride on?"  And I'll point to the train and say "Train". 

It's such a simple book with photos of items and the word printed underneath it.  But it's amazing to me that this book has been with us through babyhood, toddler hood, and now preschool hood.  So needless to say, this was a wonderfully successful purchase.

- Michelle

 

It's Summertime, and the living is ... not so easy

I've been sick and woke up today with barely any voice.  Loss of voice has only happened two times in my life, but it's no fun.  Well, that's an understatement -- it really stinks!

What bothers me the most is not being able to read my daughter a story.  I've been whispering the story, but that of course is making my voice even worse.  So the last time this happened, I came up with the brilliant idea of taping myself reading stories with a healthy voice.  That way if I ever lost my voice again, I could play the tapes, and just turn the pages.  But guess what, I never followed through with that brilliant plan. 

My other thought is to buy some books on CD for times like these.  The three books on CD below can be purchased at the Nick Shop, and if you make a purchase by July 31, 2009, you can take advantage of their "buy 2 get 1 free" deal.

 

If your children aren't into Dora, Blue, or the Backyardigans, here are some other books on CD that I found on Amazon.  There is no buy 2 get 1 free deal over there, but they still look like cute stories.

And these aren't books on CD, but why not add these books to your collection.

Thanks for stopping by & stay well!

- Michelle

Dr. Seuss book: The Tooth Book

Today we read "The Tooth Book" by Dr. Seuss. And you know, I really love that book. My favorite part is the last page:

   And never bite your dentist

   when he works inside your head.

   Your dentist is

   your teeth's best friend.

   Bite carrot sticks instead!

Something pretty interesting about this book (at least interesting to me) was that it was Dr. Seuss writing as Theo LeSieg. Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) wrote and illustrated many of his books. Sometimes he had someone else illustrate for him. When he did this, he used the pen name, Theo LeSieg (LeSieg is Geisel spelled backward).

It's funny that my daughter chose to read "The Tooth Book" today. Since it was just the other day I had a conversation with someone who always believed that the tooth fairy was real. How else could someone take a tooth from under a pillow and replace it with money without waking him up. This was an adult speaking by the way, so I didn't have to have an answer. But when you're a parent or a childcare provider, I guess you have to have an answer. Not only an answer to "Why doesn't the Tooth Fairy wake me up", but "How does Santa get down the chimney without getting hurt", or "How does the Easter Bunny even hop in"? I don't have the answers. It was just something that I was thinking about today.

The other thing I was thinking about today was, who would think to write a book about teeth? I guess Theo LeSieg


and these folks:

Thanks for reading,

- Michelle

P.S. Here are some activities to do after you read "The Tooth Book":

- Make copies of some of the pages from the book.  Then cut out a few fun pictures and let the children glue to construction paper.  Hang the children's creations around the room.  You could also have the children find photos from magazines of tooth brushes, tooth paste, teeth, dental floss, etc.  They could make a collage using the pictures they found.

- Try making some teeth out of construction paper, or I'm sure you can buy play teeth.  The children can practice brushing the construction paper teeth.  This is good for older children who are learning to brush independently. 

- Using construction paper make different characters with big teeth.  Some of the characters in the story are:  zebras, policemen, red-headed Uncles, and Lions.  Then include characters like the snail and jelly fish who don't have teeth.  Talk about who does and doesn't have teeth.  If you can't find some templates to help you make the above, you could again make copies of the characters from the book and hang them on the wall or bulletin board. 

- Setup your Dramatic play area as a Dentists office. 

- Call a local Dentist and see if you could take the children on a field trip to their office on a quiet day.  This is especially helpful for children who are afraid of going to the Dentist.  It may help them to feel a little bit more comfortable.

- You could also incorporate a nutrition lesson here by explaining to the children that eating well helps them have healthy teeth and keep reminding them how important it is to have healthy teeth.

- Take pictures of the children with big smiles that show their teeth.  Again these can be hung on the bulletin board.

- And of course read as many books as you can find about teeth.  Especially my favorite "The Tooth Book".