Construction & Tools Book List

Alright, this one's for the boys!  Here's a great list of books about construction and tools.  As always, I'll post the list and then post some activity ideas a few days later so you have time to get the books you'd like to use. 

 

"Building a House" Byron Barton
"Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" Virginia Lee Burton
"The Little House" Virginia Lee Burton
"Get To Work Trucks" Don Carter
"1 2 3  I Can Build" Irene Luxbacher
"Construction Tools" JoAnn Early Macken
"Construction Crews" JoAnn Early Macken
"Building With Dad" Carol Nevins
"The House That Max Built" Maxwell Newhouse
"Construction Countdown" K.C. Olson
"Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site" Sherri Duskey Rinker
"Good Morning, Digger" Anne Rockwell
"Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop" Lisa Shulman
"Let's Try it Out With Towers and Bridges" Seymour Simon
"B is for Bulldozer" June Sobel
"Dig" Andrea Zimmerman

New Playdough Recipe!

Our homemade playdough reached the end of its road, so I thought I'd try a new recipe for our next batch.  I LOVE this new recipe!  Our old recipe tended to be a little sticky.  This one is really similar to the consistency of store-bought playdough.  And, it's supposed to last about 6 months. 

Colored Playdough
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
food coloring
saucepan
1 cup flour

Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.  Remove from heat and pour into bowl with flour.  Stir to mix, then knead until smooth.  (the cream of tartar makes this dough long-lasting--up to six months or longer).  Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag.  Do not refrigerate. 

This recipe is from "The Preschooler's Busy Book" by Trish Kuffner.  I love this book for all of its simple ideas and activities, most of which only require things you already have around the house!

Winter Fun activities

Hopefully you've had a chance to collect some great books about Winter.  I think that the best activity for exploring winter is simply getting outside! 

-If you live in an area that gets snow, as we do, playing in the snow, making snowballs, building snowmen and yes, eating the snow are all wonderful fun.

-While outside, look for animal footprints and try to figure out what you're seeing, where animals might be living/hibernating nearby, and what they might be eating.

-Make a pinecone birdfeeder so that you can observe birds right outside your window!  Simply find a pinecone (or substitue with some other item that you can cover and hang), help your child cover it with peanut butter and then help them roll it in birdseed.  Hang anywhere that will allow you to observe the birds enjoying it!

Don't forget to enjoy some hot cocoa when you come inside!

Winter Fun Book List

First of all, I know that I am covering winter when it is almost spring!  I just got way behind.  I'm going to go ahead with winter, though, because I think this is a prime time to see the signs of winter outside. 

I love learning about and talking about the seasons because they are so vivid and so appealing to nearly all of your child's senses.  It's so fun to watch them experience what they're learning so fully!

This one is also fun, because Winter is my favorite season!  The cold, cold weather and the blankets of snow also create such great contrasts with the other seasons to really help them see the differences among the seasons. 
Here's a list of some of our favorite books about Winter:

"Animals in Winter" Henrietta Bancroft  (has some fun winter activity ideas at the end)
"The Snowman" Raymond Briggs
"Snowmen at Night" Caralyn Buehner
"Katy and the Big Snow" Virginia Lee Burton
"One Winter's Day" M. Christina Butler
"Oh!" Kevin Henkes
"Winter" Ron Hirschi
"The Snowy Day" Ezra Jack Keats
"Under My Hood I Have a Hat" Karla Kuskin
"Over and Under the Snow" Kate Messner
"How Do You Know It's Winter?" Ruth Owen (has some fun winter activity ideas at the end)
"Snowy, Blowy Winter" Bob Raczka
"White Snow Bright Snow" Alvin Tresselt
"Paperwhite" Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Beginning to Read-Aloud--Gift Ideas!

It's never too early to read to your children…I mean, even as an infant you can read to them.  But it's really exciting when they actually begin to show interest in the books, pay attention (even for only a couple of minutes) and begin to develop favorite books.
For that reason, great board-books* are my favorite gifts to give for small children and even new babies. 
With the Christmas season upon us, this is a great resource list to choose gifts from!

 

Favorite Books for Beginning to Read-Aloud:

"Toes, Ears, & Nose!" Marion Dane Bauer
"The Going to Bed Book" Sandra Boynton
"Goodnight Moon" Margaret Wise Brown
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" Eric Carle
"Freight Train" Donald Crews
"Touch and Feel Farm" DK (also any other books in this series)
"The Everything Book" Denise Fleming
"Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" Mem Fox
"Where is Baby's Belly Button?" Karen Katz
"Where is  Baby's Mommy?" Karen Katz
"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" Bill Martin Jr.
"Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" Bill Martin Jr.
"B is for Bear" Roger Priddy
"First 100 Words" Roger Priddy (Bright Baby...also any other books in this series)
"Gallop" Rufus Butler Seder
"Swing" Rufus Butler Seder
"The Itsy Bitsy Spider" Iza Trapani

*We have most of these in board-book form simply because it makes them nearly (or at least kind of) indestructible, so the children can learn how to correctly handle books. I also like the portability of a board-book…they're perfect for taking along to church, restaurants, Dr. offices and even just in the car.

Christmas Book List

It's here!  My favorite time of year!  I think that there is something so magical and wonderful about the whole Christmas season, and I am so excited to be sharing that sense of wonder with my children.  I do like to browse through the Christmas books at the library or book store for new books that we have not read, but I have a real place in my heart for quality content and great illustrations (so they also make wonderful gifts for other families with children!).  That being said,  here's a list of some of our favorite Christmas books:

 

"The Christmas Sweater" Glenn Beck
"The Donkey's Dream" Barbara Helen Berger
"On Christmas Eve" Margaret Wise Brown
"The Little Fir Tree" Margaret Wise Brown
"Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers" Andrew Clements
"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" Barbara Shook Hazen  (a Little Golden Book)
"The Tale of Three Trees: a Traditional Folk Tale" Angela Elwell Hunt
"Silent Night" Susan Jeffers
"The Nutcracker" Susan Jeffers
"The Little Drummer Boy" Ezra Jack Keats
"One Small Lost Sheep" Claudia Mills
"The Night Before Christmas" Clement C. Moore (look for great illustrations…right now we are just using a Little Golden Book version, but I do like the classic illustration style)
"A Special Place for Santa" Jeanne Pieper
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Dr. Seuss
"The Donkey's Christmas Song" Nancy Tafuri
"The Polar Express" Chris Van Allsburg
"The Christmas Story" Jane Werner (a Little Golden Book)
"B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet" Isabel Wilner

Airplane Activities

Outing:
-Try to plan this topic around a time when you are going to be traveling on a plane.  It prepares your child for the experience as well as brings the books to life for them once they get to take the trip.  When you board, politely ask if your child can take a peek into the cockpit…we've been allowed to do this several times and it was a huge hit with my son!
-You may have to wait until summer for this one, but search for an air show nearby.  It doesn't have to be big…even if they only see a few planes it is a great experience.  As I mentioned before, we've done this airplane topic several times already….before we fly and before we went to a local air show last summer. 

 

Activity/Project:
-Make paper airplanes!  Yes this is soooo simple, but as a girly-girl, I had no idea how to do it!  I really like this website:  http://www.10paperairplanes.com/  because it has animated graphics that show the folds.  Definitely what I need!  My little guys "helped" me fold and crease the airplanes, and then I let the kids decorate them.  We flew them inside and outside until they were pretty much beyond recognition!  Here are a few of our creations...pre-destruction!