This month's Virtual Book Club for Kids author, David McPhail, was new to us so I am super excited to see all of the fun book activities for children featuring his work that everyone is linking up. We checked out many of his books from the library, but the one we had the most fun with was Piggy's Pancake Parlor (Action Packs). Piggy's Pancake Parlor is the story of a little pig who is taken in by a farmer family. Mrs. Farmer teaches him how to … [Read more...]
Spoon Feelings Activity for Kids
We have been having so much fun participating in the Virtual Book Club for Kids! This month's author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, was new to us and we excited to see her book Spoon in the Scholastic book order last month. (affiliate link) Spoon is the story of a little spoon who begins to fret that his friends, Knife, Fork, and Chopsticks, have it so much better than him. His friends think he is the lucky one, but he can only see the things that … [Read more...]
Practice Questioning with a Question Ball
Good readers need to be able to recall and make sense of, or comprehend, what they read. One of the best ways to increase comprehension in readers of any age is with the Questioning Strategy. In order to better understand the text kids learn how to create teacher-like questions about what they have read. Sounds simple, right? All it takes is practice! This is where the Question Ball comes in! How to use a Question Ball to increase reading … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Themed Play Date and a Blog Hop
We invited some friends over on Saturday for a pumpkin play date! It was a great way to celebrate the first day of fall and definitely got us in the mood for fall. The best part? It was fun for the kids and super easy to put together! Pumpkin Books: We started the play date with a pumpkin story, the book Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell. The story follows a little girl and her family as they enjoy many fun fall activities. This is one of … [Read more...]
Create a Food Themed ABC Book
We were so excited to see that this month's Virtual Book Club for Kids author was Lois Ehlert! We have long-loved her vibrant illustrations and her focus on food and animals and were happy to discover books of hers we had never read before. However, it was an old favorite that we spent the most time reading. Eating the Alphabet definitely resonated with the kids. So we decided to create our own version of the ABC story. The kids searched … [Read more...]
Activities for Birds by Kevin Henkes
The author for this month's Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids is Kevin Henkes! (amazon affiliate link) We read lots of Kevin Henkes books this month and especially enjoyed the book Birds, which is beautifully illustrated by Laura Dronzek. The book may be simple, but it packed full of fun learning opportunities. In the story Henkes talks about what birds look like, what they do and what they could do. In the story Henkes talks about what … [Read more...]
Sand and Cornstarch Dinosaur Fossils
I hosted an at-home summer camp day full of dino fun last month! We started the day by being palenotologists at a fossil dig and it was a super cool experience. Two nights before dino camp I made a batch of sand and cornstarch fossils. I hadn't made these in years so I kinda winged it and luckily it turned out fine. How to Make Sand and Cornstarch Fossils: Mix 1 cup of sand, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar in a … [Read more...]
Fizzy Dinosaur Egg Fossils
This summer we had lots of fun doing summer camp at home with a neighbor family. The other mom and I took turns hosting all of the kids for a day of activity themed fun and we all had a blast! I planned camping themed activities for the first camp day at my house and decided dinosaurs would be perfect for the second. One of the coolest things we did was dissolve dinosaur egg fossils. We started by reading the book Dinosaur Eggs by Susan H. Gray. … [Read more...]
