B is for Blanket...and book

I almost forgot to ask the child to tell me something that starts with B that I could take a picture of. When I remembered, she was already snuggled up with Daddy for Bedtime Stories. When I asked she said, "Um..." and in the intervening pause I gave her a suggestion (Bad Mommy...) I'll include my suggestion below because I'm so dang proud of it, but first, I'll show you what she came up with on her own several minutes later. She finished her story with Daddy and came out to the kitchen to tell me she had thought of another idea for B, "Blanket! My Rainbow Blanket." Since the Blanket is a bedtime must I had to take a quick photo and pop her Back into Bed.

Her "Rainbow Blanket" is another gift from Grandma. Noticing a trend here? I think she got it when she was one. She is now eight and she still loves it and takes it everywhere except camping. She doesn't want it to get dirty so camping is not an approved activity. I love the Noah's ark imagery. She loves it because it is colorful.

What I had suggested to her is Book. She was very excited that she got to bring home her Poetry Book from second grade yesterday. She had been looking forward to this project since we toured the second grade classes on open house night about a year ago. Writing has been an increasing challenge for her, but her teacher says that poetry was very encouraging for her. Maybe because it is short. Maybe because poetry is unconventional anyway. Maybe she just likes the "free spirited-ness" of it. Her dedication at the beginning of the Book says it all "I dedicate my poetry book to my mom and dad for letting me do what I want." So here are some pictures of the front (left) and back (right) covers of her Book. They were asked to decorate the covers with fireworks and these were her original creations.




And one sample of her poetry... (a color poem)

Red is a smooth brick.
Orange is the cap on the glue.
Yellow is the bright sun.
Green is the field grass.
Blue is the cold ocean water.
Purple is a sweet plum.
Pink is the evening sunset
Gold is some autumn leaves
Peach is some skin.

Yes, this girl loves her colors!

 

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It's Raining...finally

Here it is January, and the dreaded rain has finally come, only now that it's so late to show up it's more to be desired than otherwise. The only thing I like less than a Rainy Winter is a Droughty (is that a word?) Summer. I don't know if the rain is here to stay or not. I know the forecast for the next few days is wet. More than a few days "trapped" Indoors and my kids start to get out of whack - and so do I - "Cabin Fever" at its worst. So I thought I would brainstorm for myself, if not others, what we can do on these lovely wet days in front of us...besides watch TV, I mean. Meanwhile we're celebrating the letter "I" because it is time for another round of:

Imbibe games. We got some really lovely preschooler friendly (no reading, no complicated rules) games for Christmas and Birthdays this year. We already had Candy Land, Shoots and Ladders, and Cootie. Now we have Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Monkey Dunk, and Don't Break the Ice added to our collection. We also have a couple of "concentration" games. These are all easier for the child to master, too, and she loves to be In charge of the game. The kids love to play these and usually once I get them started I can even sneak out for a round or two.

Invest in puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles are great, too, for problem-solving, visual-motor coordination, fine motor skills, and ample opportunity to layer on the praise and self-confidence. They require a little more supervision around our house since my kids love to mix the pieces together and use them as mini-frisbees and such. Keep an eye on all of this.

Images in paint. My new favorite art activity for the kids is watercolor. With a heavy, broad-bottomed cup of water an inexpensive brush, and some paper - scratch or otherwise - some pretty impressive art can occur with minimal input from Mom. Clean up is pretty easy, too. Rinse the brushes and throw the cups into the dishwasher. Put the masterpieces somewhere to dry and voila, we're ready for the next activity.

Investigate outdoors. At the first signs of rain my kids are usually eager to get out in it, believe it or not. The sensation of fresh water bouncing off their skin is Irresistible, it seems. Last I checked children don't melt. We have nice raincoats and boots that were just made to get wet, and even if their regular clothes get a little wet, what's another load of laundry compared to some fresh air and exercise?

If it sounds like I'm giving myself a pep talk, I am. I've mentioned before that the long rainy days of Winter can get the best of me. This too shall pass, but until it does, I want to remember these gray days as opportunities to make fond memories, not as days endured with clenched teeth.

Got any more Ideas for me? Please pass them along by clicking on "comments" below. Thanks! Don't forget to check out the other creative "I" riffs here.

Book Review - the show-and-tell lion

"There's a moon up in the sky."
"Really? I don't see it, sweetie. Not that I don't believe you, but where is it?"
"Mom, I was just pretending my cheerio is a moon."
"Oh!"

Children have such wonderful imaginations. It's hard for us to remember sometimes how real their imaginary ideas are to them. In "the show-and-tell lion" the main character, Matthew, wants to share something exciting with his class during show-and-tell. He says, "I have a lion...a baby lion." and the story grows from there. His teacher tries to redirect him, but her alternate story is just a false, or maybe more false because it is not what he is seeing in his own mind. As the other children ask questions, Larry (the lion) grows bigger and bigger. Matthew's tale gets away from him when the children all ask to go on a field trip to see Larry before he has to go live at the zoo.

There are so many things I love about this story. It explores the imagination of a little boy and how real it becomes to him. The illustrations by Lynne Avril Cravath are endearing and add to the story in subtle ways (like the protrait of George Washington peering over Matthew's shoulder as he begins his fantastic story). The text by Barbara Abercrombie is straightforward and easy to read.

I think what I like best is that Matthew takes his dilemma home and shares it with his mother. Her response is that Matthew needs to tell the truth. She doesn't rescue him by rushing out to find a pet lion (unlikely, I know...but these days...) or letting him stay home from school for a few days while his friends move on to something else. She guides him to understand that his wonderful imagination has gotten away from him, and that he needs to be honest. Matthew's excellent solution is to make Larry "real" in a story. He writes down all of Larry's adventures and illustrates them himself. When he shares the "real" Larry with his class they are initially disappointed, but soon caught up in the adventure of the story. I also like how the author and illustrator show pages of Matthew's story and both the writing and drawing are typical of a child's writing and drawing - with cross outs, misspellings, and simple shapes.

Imagination is a wonderful gift, and this story shows how to encourage and direct it at the same time.

We found this lovely story at our local library, but you can also find it on Amazon, here.

Happy Thanksgiving!