Storytime Tuesday (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) & the Ultimate Preschool Activity

This week I'm going to feature one of my ultimate favorite children's books. It is definitely in the top 3 in my house with my boys too and it is used soooo much that it shows it's wear. Luckly the library had a copy that looked more decent so I was able to snap a couple pictures. It is called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

If you have a preschooler you've probably heard of this book, or even have a copy of your own. If you don't have your own copy, this is one book I would definitely invest in. This is a book which helps your children become familiar with and learn their abc's in a very creative way using rhyming and a coconut tree.

I saw this genius idea in "The Mailbox" Magazine where you make your own coconut tree, attach it to a baking sheet, and use magnetic lowercase letters to reinact the story with your child.

Materials you will need:
-Metal baking sheet (the tree isn't permanently attached so will have your pan back for baking, I promise!)
-green sheet of card stock paper
-brown sheet of card stock paper
-pencil
-scissors
-tape
-magnetic lowercase letters (I had a hard time finding these in my local stores so I ended up purchasing them on ebay for cheap)

Directions:
1. Take the green sheet of card stock paper and use your pencil to sketch the top of a coconut tree. If you have a difficult time with this, you could always do a google search for "coconut tree clip art", print one out and trace it on your paper.

2. Cut out your sketch of the top of the coconut tree.

3. Use your brown sheet of card stock paper and cut out a rectangle piece to be used as the trunk of the tree.

4. Glue the brown trunk to the bottom of the green tree to finish making your coconut tree.

5. Next, attach the coconut tree to your metal baking sheet with tape. I used double-sided tape because it's what I had, but any kind will do.

6. My boys thought there should be ground underneath the tree, so I cut another rectangle from the brown sheet of card stock paper and taped it to the bottom of my tree.

7. Now you are ready to grab your lowercase letter magnets and start playing! Open up your copy of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and as you read the story, have your child find the corresponding letter magnet to the letter you read in the book, and place that magnet on the coconut tree.

8. As you continue reading the story you will soon have every letter on the coconut tree.

9. And then UH-OH....All the letters fall off the tree...(this is my kids favorite part when they get to push all the magnets off the tree)

The story continues with the alphabet one more time so your child will gets lots of practice finding all their lowercase letters.

My kids love this activity so much that they've pretty much taken over my baking sheet and it's found it's permanent place in their bedroom. Since I have more than one I don't mind.

And since I love this book so much we didn't stop there.....For snack time we re-created our very own coconut tree to eat. YUM! YUM!

What you will Need:
-1 Graham Cracker per coconut tree
-peanut butter (I am a FAN of the Adams Brand, but any kind will do)
-1 Apple (each apple will make 2 coconut trees)
-Raisinets

Directions:

1. Take your apple and slice it into 8 sections. I have an apple cutter which takes all the work out of this process. I don't peel my apples (and my kids don't mind) but if you want to peel them, go for it. Set aside your apple slices.

2. Take your graham cracker and break it into 4 sections. You'd think with the little lines on the cracker it would break where it's supposed to, but it NEVER does for me. Oh well!

3. Spread some peanut butter on one of the graham cracker sections, then place another cracker section on top to make a sandwich. Do this one more time with the remaining 2 sections.

3. Place the two sections on your plate to make the tree trunk.

4. Take four of your apple slices and place them above your tree trunk to form the top of the coconut tree.

5. Take a small handful of raisinets, put a dab of peanut butter on each and place them in random places all over your apple slices (the peanut butter acts as glue).

You are finished! Now watch your child devour the masterpiece...

PS-I totally made one of these for myself also and ate it with my kids. SOOOOO Yummy! You know you want one too!! :)

Saturday Simple Joys

What they taught me this week....

1. YOU ARE POWERFUL!

Luke came downstairs one day thrusting his hand up into the air declaring that he was the MOST powerful one of all. This child of mine is very imaginative and it is quite the experience watching him play. I quickly realized he had put super hero stickers on the tips of all his fingers and it was from these super hero's that he was drawing all of his powers from. So very clever this beautiful boy of mine!

Sometimes in life we get discouraged. Sometimes we don't feel good enough, sometimes we get overwhelmed and compare ourselves to others, sometimes that discouragement inside us prevents us from reaching our goals and dreams. But it's important to remember that these little fingertips of ours are so very powerful! Don't fall short on your accomplishments because you feel you aren't capable. You can do anything you set your mind (and fingertips) to.

And even though we can't all be as powerful as Luke, since he is after all the MOST powerful of all, you, yourself are filled with powers that are individual to you, which no one else in the World can match. There is only one YOU!


My Luke describing all of his powers to me which included Super Lizard Power, Iron Man Power and Green Goblin Power (and I really can't remember what else he said....) 



2. If you are ever in a bind, don't hesitate to ask for a helping hand; and if you ever see someone in a bind, always lend a helping hand.

Sometimes we find ourselves in a very daunting task, one that seems impossible to accomplish...

It's ok to ask for help! We don't need to be Super Woman ALL the time (just some of the time, haha LOL!). Believe me, once you get the help you need, you will be able to relax, you will breathe a little better, and you will feel better.

These pictures are a sneak peek of  a Father's Day craft I'm putting together. You'll have to stay tuned...

I'm so thankful for the little helping hands in my life...

Teacher Gift & My Very First Refashion...

For some of us the school year is already over for the kiddos but since we do the year-round thing around here, we've got a couple more weeks left. I wanted to do something cute and simple for my son's teacher and when I saw this over at J&M's Eye Candy I knew it was PERFECT!  

It was so cheap and so fun to make. I bought a 8x10 frame and a box of crayons at Dollar Tree and since I didn't have any glitter letter stickers, I used my 40% off one item coupon (that comes every week in the junk mail) to purchase those at Michaels. So I spent a total of $5 on this project. Isn't it cute? I figured she could put it somewhere in her room, or if she doesn't like it, I only spent $5 so it's not the end of the World if she chucks it (just sayin).

You just simply remove and throw away the glass from the frame and it's like 3-D art. The frame I bought didn't have a black backing (it was just cardboard color) but I had some black spray paint on hand so I just sprayed a coat on. I assembled the project with the black backing inside the actual frame because I was worried I would get too close to the edge and then it wouldn't fit. I used a white crayon to outline my big letter and then cut and put all the crayons in place before gluing them on with a hot glue gun.

Storytime & Craft---Go To Bed, Monster!

This week we read the story "Go To Bed, Monster!" by Natasha Wing. I randomly picked this book off the shelf at the library and after reading the first couple pages I knew it was perfect for my boys. Not only do they love monsters but they are the non-cooperative type at bedtime. I also loved how in the beginning of the story they illustrated how shapes could be used to draw pictures. The little girl in the story continues to draw pictures throughout the story to bring things to life to try to get the Monster to go to bed. As you know, I am a huge fan of using your imagination so this book was a huge hit for me.

So the question is, if you brought to life a monster from your drawing, what would your monster want to do before he went to bed? This is what I asked my boys before we set off to drawing our very own monsters. I encouraged my boys to use lots of shapes when drawing their monster and told them I was going to have them point out all the shapes to me when they were finished with their picture.

Both my boys decided their monster's would have fire blowing out of their mouth and that they would want to eat lots of food before going to bed.

This is my youngest's picture below. His monster wanted to eat lots and lots of spaghetti with meatballs. This was a good exercise for him to practice his shapes. He was able to point out that he used an oval body, rectangle legs and arms, circle eyes and triangle spikes and teeth.

And here is my oldest's picture. He has cool funky green hair and he wanted to eat lots of meat before bed.

And for kicks and giggles, and because I love being a kid, I went ahead and decided to showcase you my very own artwork. hahaha

I thought given the state of our poor, rainy weather here in Utah, my Monster would DEFINITELY be wanting an umbrella and would have lots of FUN jumping in all the puddles outside. I know, I know, I'm silly!  :)

Saturday Simple Joys

I love being a Mom! I really, honestly believe that God sent me my children more for my sake than for theirs. hahaha One of the simple joys of being a Mother is that every week it is THEM who ends up teaching ME lessons.

What I learned this week:

1. Even when you're in it to win it and are fighting really hard, do it with a smile on your face. 

We finished up Spring soccer season this week. Not only was Andy incredible this season but he always played with a smile on his face. I feel like it says so much about his character. He showed joy not only in his own accomplishments (like scoring a goal), but he got just as excited about everyone else's goals as well. I hope when the going gets tough in my own life, I can smile just like Andy does.

2. Be Brave. You're never too young to start chasing girls...Especially when they promise "they won't run too fast so you will be able to catch them." LOL!

But truthfully, my Luke is a shy one. He takes so much after me in this department. Getting out of his comfort zone is terrifying. But when these 3 little girls at Andy's soccer game (who he knows from church) came up to me and said, "Can Luke come chase us?" he braved up and had the time of his life.

It made me realize that sometimes in my own life I give up too quickly or shy away from things and I hope the next time I am faced with a challenge I can be brave like my Luke.

3. It is so much more fun to walk than to sit or crawl.

This little girl of mine amazes me! 9 months old and she is not only walking, but practically running around the house. All I can say is watching her enthusiasm for walking motivated me this week to get off my butt and do some serious walking of my own. I often forget how thankful I am for these two legs of mine but watching her determination to use them to their full capacity has been inspiring.

What did your children teach you this week?

Father's Day Crafts & Ideas

We've been busy this week working on some of our Father's Day creations.

This year we made the familiar handmade photo frame out of craft sticks and my boys colored a special picture for their Daddy to attach to the inside. I thought about putting a photograph inside but decided it was more special being personalized like this. They also wrote messages to their Daddy on the back.

Our Daddy is a teacher at our church one Sunday a month, and he recently scored a small writing desk that was placed on someone's curb with a "FREE" sign on it. He's been using it as his studying desk to prepare for his Sunday lessons so we decided to make a twist on the regular shirt and tie crafts you see every year for Father's Day and we made him a pencil/pen holder to put on his desk. I even found a cute haul truck button to use as a tie pin I'll include a tutorial at the end for this craft as well.

Tutorial for Craft Stick Photo Frame

Materials you will need:
- 4 crafts sticks (the tongue depressor size)
- hot glue gun
- paint
- paint brush
- white sheet of card stock
- scissors
- crayons

Directions:
1. Glue the 4 crafts sticks together using the hot glue gun to form a square frame.

2. Paint the frame and let it dry completely.

3. Cut a square piece out of the white card stock paper about 4 1/2" x 4 1/2". You might want to measure your sticks to see your exact dimensions.

4. Draw and color a picture on the card stock square. I encouraged my children to color a picture of them with their Dad, or something similar.

5. On the back of the card stock square, write (or help your child write) a personal message for their Dad.

6. Now it's time to assemble the two pieces together. First, dry fit the picture to the back so you can see if you need to trim any edges. I had to trim edges off the top because my children colored too close to the bottom of the square. This is why I cut my squares a little bigger in the beginning to allow for some room to play with.

7. Put a dot of hot glue in each corner on the back of the frame and place your picture face side up on the glue to attach it to the frame.

8. At this point you are finished but you can glue a piece of string to the top corners so it can hang somewhere, or you could also attach a magnet so it can hang on the fridge.

Tutorial for Shirt & Tie Pencil Holder

Materials you will need:
- soup can
- sheet of white contact paper about 4" x 12" (depending on the size of can you use)
- 5/8" ribbon, about 24" long
- tape
- 2 white buttons
- small decorative button for tie pin
- marker

Directions:
1. Enjoy a bowl of soup for lunch. hahaha Italian style vegetable was not actually my first choice but it was in my pantry and needed to be eaten so it will do. LOL! After consuming your lunch, wash the can, remove the label, and let it dry completely.

2. Apply your white contact paper to the can. It doesn't matter how much it overlaps (I actually think it looks better the thicker it is on the can).

3. See the picture below where you can see the line where the contact paper ends. This is the place we will be working with because this little line creates the front of the shirt where it buttons up. (get it??)

4. Now it's time to make the tie. Cut your ribbon in two 12" sections. Tape the ends of one of the sections to a table or counter top.

5. Take the second section of ribbon and wrap it underneath the other section (see picture below).

6. Wrap the bottom section to the front of the top section.

7. Now take that section and wrap it underneath the section on the table. (see picture below).

8. Now wrap that section through the top section to make the tie knot, and tighten it. Geez, what that confusing or what?? I would use my pictures as a diagram of how to make the tie, but if all else fails, do a google search on it, if my directions aren't clear to you.

9. Remove the tape from the ribbon and dry fit it around the can making sure the tie is at that line we talked about earlier. You will most likely have to cut off excess ribbon to make it fit right. Tighten the ribbon around the can as much as you can and use the hot glue gun to glue the ribbon to the can.

10. Now use your scissors to trim the bottom of the tie and cut the edges like below.

11. Glue two white buttons to the bottom of the can so it looks like a white shirt.

12. Use the hot glue gun on the decorative button to glue to the top of the tie to make a tie pin. I also glued the two sections of the tie together so the back section stayed put.

13. Write a special message on the back using the marker and you are finished!! Now just add some freshly sharpened pencils and a couple new fancy pens for finishing touches.

Storytime & Craft--"The Very Busy Spider"

Truth be told, I HATE spiders!! Even the thought of them makes the hairs on my arms raise in alarm...Yes, I am that terrified! But despite my fears, I simply couldn't resist the book "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle.

One of the highlights of this book is that the spider web throughout the book is made with raised paint so you can actually "feel" it. The boys had fun feeling the spider web on every single page as we read the story.

We thought it would be super fun to make our own beautiful spider web and spider, so this is what we came up with:

Materials you need:
- 3 craft popsicle sticks
- hot glue gun
- white paint
- paint brush (we used the foam kind but any will work)
- white yarn
- 1 pipe cleaner (color of your choice)
- scissors


 Directions:
1.  Use the hot glue gun to glue the craft sticks together in a criss cross pattern. This obviously needs to be done by an adult. I used the hot glue gun because it dries so quickly but you could use a different type of glue if you choose.

 2. Paint the assembled craft sticks with white paint and let dry.

3. Now it's time to start making the web. Wrap the white yarn around one of the craft sticks and tie a knot to get the web started. (see photo below)

4. Start to wrap the yarn around the craft sticks in a spiral pattern. Basically, wrap it around one stick then the next stick, etc. Wrap it fairly tight to keep it in place. My children didn't have enough patience to do all the wrapping themselves so be prepared to basically wrap the web yourself. (Lesson learned! LOL)

5. Once the craft sticks are full, tie the yarn in a knot to secure the web and cut off the excess yarn.

6. Turn it over and your spider web is finished.

7. Take the pipe cleaner and cut it into 4 equal length pieces. (cut in half and then cut the halves in half)

8. Twist the pipe cleaner pieces together in the middle (one piece at a time) to form the 8-legged spider. See pictures.

9. Bend the ends of the pipe cleaners to make spider legs.

10. Place the spider on the web. To secure it in place, twist 2 of the legs together on the back of the web.

11. At this point you are finished but you can tie more yarn to it to hang it somewhere, or I hot-glued a magnet on the back so it could hang on the fridge.

I ended up doing lots of the work on this project myself but the kids enjoyed it (especially the finished project) so it was worth it!

Happy Crafting!

Storytime with LIFE SIZE FUN--"The Dinosaur Tamer"

My boys LOVE dinosaurs so when I picked up the book "The Dinosaur Tamer" by Carol Greathouse from the library, I knew it would be a huge hit! This book screams cowboys and dinosaurs! It is written to be read in a Western accent so you can imagine how much fun and giggling I got from my boys with me reading it so silly and not in my normal voice.

Now sure we could have done a craft with this book, but EVEN BETTER I thought was to let my boys have a hoot and a hollerin time having the experience of being REAL-LIFE Dinosaur Tamers...

What preschooler doesn't love huge life-size inflatable dinosaurs, right??? The better question is, what adult doesn't love them??...They are AWESOME!! hahaha

So after some serious dino wrestling...

And tons of dino butt-kicking...

These mighty large T-Rex's became tamed....And then there was some cute dino-love...

And since they wouldn't fit in the playhouse...

They got to peek in through the windows to get in on all that top secret boy stuff...

I actually didn't purchase these awesome dinosaurs for my boys, it was my sweet, wonderful Grandma who did (I know, she's the BEST!!), but I know exactly where she got them. So if you have a dinosaur lover in your house, FOR REALS, this experience is a MUST!

Happy Adventure Time!!

Storytime & Imagination Craft - "I Took the Moon for a Walk"

This week we read "I Took the Moon for a Walk" by Carolyn Curtis. It was illustrated by Alison Jay and I have to say how stunning I thought the illustrations were. The bright colors were perfect and her style really fit the overall imaginary theme of the book.

It is about a young boy who took an imaginary journey with the moon at nighttime, where they go places and discover the beauty of the World after dark. I loved the pictures of the boy literally holding the Moon's hand, like he really believed the Moon was there with him.

I didn't have a good imagination when I was a child so maybe this is why I loved this book so much. I was extremely shy and was afraid of people making fun of me and my ideas so I was the type that would just go along with what other people's ideas and imaginations were. Sad, I know, but it's ok because now that I have my own children I have made every effort I can to encourage their creativity and imagination.

So after reading the book (Daddy actually took a turn reading this story so it was super fun!), we talked about how if we took the moon for a walk, where would we want to take him. And then we made a cute illustration about it using a yellow cut-out circle of the moon.

Materials you will need:
- white sheet of construction paper
- yellow sheet of construction paper
- pencil
- large cup to draw a circle for the moon
- glue stick
- black marker
- crayons

Directions:
1. Put your large cup upside down on the yellow sheet of construction paper and use your pencil to trace the outline of the circle to make the moon. (I used an old subway cup I had, it seemed the perfect size)

2. Cut out the yellow circle.

3. While your child is cutting out the yellow circle, take the white sheet of construction paper and write at the top "If I took the moon for a walk, we would ____________________" and have your child finish the sentence while you write down exactly what they say.

4. Glue the moon (yellow circle) to the white sheet of construction paper.

5. Draw a face, arms and legs on the moon and a picture of yourself next to the moon or holding hands with the moon.

6. Now just finish illustrating the scene with crayons based on what you and the moon will be doing and it is finished!

Creating a Masterpiece out of a Nuisance

This time of the year is beautiful isn't it??? Other than these nuisance Dandelion weeds that pop up quite literally all over the entire lawn. The kids sure seem to love them though. In fact, I remember being a kid and having fun blowing the little seeds off the top and making a wish....(Little did I know I was creating about a million more of the little weeds while I did it. haha) This afternoon we had a little thunderstorm so we decided to make our very own Dandelion's...the kind that won't spread all over the entire lawn!  :)

Materials you will need:
- Green card stock paper
- Blue card stock paper
- glue
- scissors
- black marker
- cotton balls

Directions:
1. On your green card stock paper, draw several leaves and 3 stems for your flowers and have your child cut them out.

2. While your child is cutting out the pieces, cut a small section off the bottom of another green sheet of card stock to make the grass. Use your scissors to make the grass by cutting half way down the green strip of paper all the way across the entire length of the paper.

3. Glue the 3 stems onto the blue sh1eet of card stock paper and then the leaves onto the stems. Glue the grass to the bottom of your paper. I had my kids lift some of the little grass pieces away from the paper so it made a cool 3-D effect.

4. Break up a few cotton balls into small sections and then glue them on top of the flower stems to make the Dandelion.

5. For some added pizazz, glue a couple small pieces of cotton away from one of the flowers as if it is blowing away in the wind (clever....I know, hahaha).

And that's it!! Cute little Spring craft that is now hanging on my refrigerator. They look so much prettier on my fridge than all over my lawn, that's for sure!!

**I got this craft idea from "The Mailbox" weekly email I am subscribed to.