Dr. Seuss Week - Fox in Socks

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Fox in Socks  is a great book to teach alliteration (repeating of a the beginning sound of two or more neighboring words).  When you have several words with the same sound at the beginning of the word you have a tongue twisters such as "she sells seashells by the seashore".  After reading this book trying saying some tongue twisters or create your own.

Dr. Seuss Week - The Cat in the Hat

***REPOST***

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!! 

Celebrate today with Read Across America and pledge to spend time reading with your child. 

Why not read The Cat in the Hat to celebrate? This classic children's story is a great book to read with your kids to practice rhyming words.

After you are done reading the book you can do this fun rhyming activity.

YOU NEED:

Legal size envelope

Red construction paper

Red & Black marker or crayon

Print pictures here, here, here, here & here

Take the envelope and draw a black line down the middle. Below the line draw a circle and color in a face of a cat. Color the area around the face black. On the top portion of the envelope draw red stripes for his hat. Take your red construction paper and glue it on the black line, this is that hat's brim. Print the pictures and if your children are old enough, let them cut them out. Then you can have them match the rhyming words. When you are done, store the pictures in your Cat in the Hat envelope.

Free Printable Preschool Pack for The Lorax


Download a free Dr. Suess The Lorax Preschool Pack from 2 Teaching Mommies. This will go great with the book and/or the movie release this week.

Dr. Seuss Week - Bartholomew and the Oobleck

This was always a hit with my class and a great way to mix literature and science in one lesson. Start off by reading Bartholomew and the Oobleck

 Discuss with your kids how they think you should make Oobleck.  Put out ingredients and let them experiment with different mixtures.  If the weather is nice head outside to do this and you won't have to worry about the mess. Then after they have come up with their own mixture whip up some Oobleck and let them compare the results.

Ingredients:
1 part cornstarch
1 part water
Food coloring (could tint hands)
Mix all the ingredients together.

Some  fun things to observe about OOBLECK:
*Oobleck is a solid and a liquid at the same time.
*If you make a ball and throw it up in the air, it loses shape and will flatten in the air.

*Oobleck will mold to the shape of a container but when taken out it will flatten.

*If you fill a balloon with 0obleck, the air pressure will force the Oobleck back out.

*When you leave Oobleck in the sun, the color evaporates, it turns hard like cement on the top and like jelly on the bottom. When heated this also happens and it is sticky.

Picture Credit to Science Cafe

Dr. Seuss Week - Green Eggs and Ham

***REPOST***

 In honor of his birthday on March 2nd  we will celebrate Dr. Seuss and  Read Across America this week.  Green Eggs and Ham is one of his most popular books so this is a great way to kick things off. 

Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?  Not sure, try out this healthy recipe from the Food Network or this kid friendly version on your family this morning. 

If those are not a hit I am sure this version will be:

Ingredients:
pretzel sticks
white candy melts
green m&m's

Directions:
Break pretzel sticks to desired length. Place pairs of pretzels onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put white chocolate melts in a ziploc bag and microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. Cut the corner of the bag with scissors and pipe chocolate onto pretzel sticks in the size of a nickel. Press m&m's onto white chocolate. Let the white chocolate harden before removing from parchment paper.
Substitute: Vanilla icing or marshmallow fluff for the candy melts.

Check out these other great links for additional activities:
http://www.seussville.com/#/home
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/dr-seuss-birthday/printables/green-eggs-and-ham.html

Museums on US

On the first full weekend of every month, get free admission to participating museums, zoos, science centers, botanical gardens and more just by showing your Bank of America Card. This is such an incredible deal. Go here to find a museum near you.


Here are the dates for 2011
July 2 & 3
Aug 6 & 7
Sept 3 & 4
Oct 1 & 2
Nov 5 & 6
Dec 3 & 4

Earn $5.00 for Reading Books

Children 14 and under who read for 15 minutes each day during June and July can earn a $5 gift card to Half Price Books. Find out all the details here plus some other great tips.

Don't forget to check out Barnes and Noble and Borders for additional summer reading programs.  Also, your local library probably has some type of program to promote summer reading.

Thanks Common Sense with Money

How to Set the Table Placemat

When I was growing up every week we had to learn and practice proper table manners.  Did you know there is a right way to pass the salt?  Well, there is.  All the training has come in handy on many occaisions. It is easy to forget to teach our kids the basic things, like setting the table.  Sue at Counting Bunnies Too has this great placemat to help you teach your kids ( it is a great reminder for you too) how to set the table.  As a Home Ec. major in college I really appreciate this.

Free Summer Reading Program at Borders

Borders is having their Summer Reading Program again this year for children 12 and under. Read any 10 books and fill out the form to get a free book. Check out the complete list of available free titles and start reading.  You can pick up your free book beginning June 1, 2011.

Be sure to check out a similar program being offered by Barnes and Noble.

Summer Reading Progam at Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble wants your kids to read this summer and they are giving them a little bit of incentive to do just that.  If your child (grades 1 -6) reads 8 books over the summer, they are eligible to pick one of these free books from Barnes and Noble!   The reading program will run from May 24th to September 6th.

Craft of the Week

I love these little ladybugs from Counting Coconuts because not only can your kids be involved in making them they will have fun learning while they play.
Alternative: Put or draw pictures on the wings and write a letter inside that corresponds with the pictures for a fun phonics game.

Barnes and Noble Online Storytime

Listen to this month Barnes and Noble's online storytime, Charlie the Ranch Dog
written and read by Ree Drummond. 

May Booklist

       

    
       
    

Plastic Easter Eggs

Now that Easter is over what do you do with all those plastic eggs? Believe it or not you can keep your kids entertained for hours with these creative ideas:
Spoon Race: See how far or how long your child can walk with a plastic egg on a spoon without dropping it.
Planter: Fill egg with soil and plant a couple of bean seeds or grass.
Egg Toss: Toss plastic eggs back and forth with a friend, getting further apart after each toss until it drops.
Surprise Egg: Put a small object inside an egg and give your child clues.  Let the guess what is inside.
Count and Deliver: Set out baskets or boxes with numbers attached to the front (or draw different amounts of eggs on an index card for each basket). Have your child count and deliver the correct number of Easter eggs to each basket.
Sound Match: Fill pairs of eggs with matching objects. Tape them closed and have your child shake each egg and find the matches.
Egg Push: Mark a finish line on the floor with masking tape, or outside with chalk.  Push the plastic egg with your nose and see which one crosses the finish line first.
Upper/lower case alphabet match: With a permanent marker, write upper case letters on one half of the egg and lower case letters on the bottom half.  Place them in a basket and have them match the letters up.
Sort and Graph: Sort a basket of plastic eggs by color. Older preschoolers will be able to color in a simple bar graph showing how many eggs there are for each color.
Treasure Hunt: Set up a treasure hunt with clues inside eggs hidden around the house or outside. Fill the last Easter egg with some candy or toy treasure!

Authur Turns Green

Here is a great read for you and your children this Earth Day.  A new book by Marc Brown has been released in honor of the holiday, Arthur Turns Green .  In keeping with the green theme, the book is printed on recycled paper with soy based ink.