10 Ways to Recreate a Story: Kid's Co-op

A great way to encourage kids to love reading and to improve their comprehension is to have them retell the story in a fun and imaginative way.  I was thrilled to see such great ideas for recreating a story at last week's Kid's Co-op:

1.  Make jelly bean bushes and flowers that change color just like My Garden (from Crafty Moms Share).
2.  Create a play scene for Thumbelina (from Blog Me Mom).
3.  Plant some magic beans in honor of Jack and the Beanstalk (from Sugar Snips).
4.  Go pretend camping like Bailey in Bailey Goes Camping (from Two Big Two Little).
5.  Make a lion mask to retell stories like Tawny Scrawny Lion and Dandelion (from Pi'ikea Street).

I've pinned these to the Kid's Co-op Pinterest Board (and you can find a featured button on my buttons page if you'd like one.)

Looking for more ways to retell a story?

6.  Hunt for your peanut butter sandwich like the Peanut Butter Rhino.
7.  Feed the very hungry caterpillar.
8.  Blow down the little pigs' houses.
9. Plant some of Jack's magic beans and grow a beanstalk.
10.  Create a barnyard tornado for Barn Storm or Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round.

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up last week!  Can't wait to see what you've got this week!
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Mix and Match Clothespin Mermaids

To see who won the Old Bear giveaway click here.

I have a two year old who loves mermaids.  We've been enjoying the book Mermaid Dreams about a little mermaid who is getting ready for bed.  When I saw Red Ted Art's mermaid dolls, I was inspired to make my own.  I had the pinchy kind of clothespins, but it worked out great because my daughter can switch the tails.

These would be cute in done in the rainbow, especially if your little one is still learning colors, but I know my girl and any mermaid not clothed in red or pink would not get played with.  I chose some scrapbook paper in her favorite colors and made the tails.  I laminated them so they'd be a little more durable.

I also used construction paper for the mermaid heads.  I added crowns that matched the tails and laminated these too.

I used homemade mod podge (half glue and half water) to cover the clothespins with a strip of coordinating paper.  The bikini tops are two circles made with a paper punch.

I added ribbons knotted on the ends for the arms.  I hot glued these behind the front of the clothespin.

Finally, I hot glued the heads behind the arms.

Ready to mix and match!

Linking to Whimsy Wednesday, Ginger Snap Crafts, Kids Get Crafty, Mom's Library, 733, It's Playtime, Mom on Timeout, Bear Rabbit Bear, Happy Hour Projects, Becoming Martha, One Artsy Mama, Sun Scholars, Family Ever After, Cheerios & Lattes, The Sunday Showcase, Show and Share Saturday, I Heart Nap Time, Serenity You, The Southern Institute, Tuesday Tots

Counting Octopus {Clothespin Craft}

My four year old is interested in learning about all sorts of things, so I love nonfiction books that are short and simple enough to read with him.  Octopus Under The Sea is one of those books.  With only a sentence or two on each page, it keeps his attention but provides enough facts to keep him interested.

I am working on number recognition with him, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to incorporate that into our octopus craft.  We started by painting a paper plate.

After it dried, he added google eyes and drew on a mouth.

We used number stickers to label the places where the arms should go.  (You could also just write them on, but he loves stickers and I got a huge sheet of number stickers from the dollar store.)

I hot glued some gift wrap ribbon onto eight clothespins and we also put a number sticker on each of those.

Then he matched them up. 

I think it turned out really cute and he was so proud of his octopus!

If you liked this, you might like our crocodile counting too!

Linking to I Can Teach My Child, I Heart Nap Time, Tuesday Tots, Tip-toe thru Tuesday, It's Playtime, Fun Sparks, 733, Sun Scholars, TGIF, The Sunday Showcase, Show and Share Saturday, Delicate Construction, Learning Laboratory

Bounce Back Fast DVD Review

This is not my usual kind of post.  In fact, there's no children's literature mentioned.  But lots of my readers are moms like me and I wish someone had told me about this sooner, so now I'm telling you.  I'm not implying you need this, because, well, obviously I can't see you.  Plus I think you look great.  I'm just giving you the information in case you do need this. Or know someone who does.  And now that we've got that cleared up, I have a confession...

My "baby" will be three years old this fall.  And I still look kinda pregnant.  My abdominal muscles separated during my first pregnancy and got worse with my second.  To be honest, with two little ones, I just put it out of my mind.  I'd heard crunches only made the problem worse, but I wasn't sure what else to do.  At my last doctor appointment, I asked her to confirm what I already knew.  My abdominal muscles hadn't magically come back together while I was busy chasing two little ones around.  In fact, she told me picking up my kids is almost certainly making the problem worse.  I'll admit that I was a little sad when the doctor didn't recommend some miraculous, painless and risk-free surgery with a bonus liposuction thrown in.  What she did recommend was mini crunches.  Um. Wha?  I knew crunches were bad, but mini crunches?  No idea.  What I did know was that I most certainly was not going to spend time doing mini crunches if they were going to make the problem worse.  So I started doing some online research and found Bounce Back Fast.  A little late for the "fast" part, but I'd be happy with just bouncing back.

Helene Byrne is a perinatal exercise specialist who has developed a post natal core conditioning system called Bounce Back Fast!  There's both a book and DVD available.  I couldn't wait to try the DVD.

There's tons of great information for post natal moms. There are two different workouts called "Gentle First Moves" and "Bounce Back Fast!".  The second workout comes in two versions, one regular and one for abdominal separation. Helene is very thorough so that you can be sure you're doing the exercises correctly.  Turns out I actually can do certain forms of crunches (oh joy) using the resistance band provided with the DVD to splint my midline (Don't I even sound super fit?).  I have only done the workout a few times, but I already can feel a difference.  I'm able to do hold the exercises for longer and I feel better about my body.  I would definitely recommend this for new or, um, not-so-new moms.

*I received a complimentary DVD for review purposes.  Opinions are my own.

Kid's Co-op: Under the Sea Activities

Some cute projects from last week's Kid's Co-op were inspired by the ocean:

From top left:

• Mama Miss made this adorable edible octopus.
• I love these sand castle cupcakes from Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons.
• JDaniel4's Mom shared some wonderful activities for The Pout-Pout Fish including a Starfish Math Game.

From bottom left:

• For a fun and simple project, paint some seashells from Random Bits.
• How cute is this button turtle?  Shared by Glittering Muffins.

For more ocean-inspired fun, check out our 3 activities for The Rainbow Fish.

I've pinned these to the Kid's Co-op Pinterest Board (and you can find a featured button on my buttons page if you'd like one.)

Thanks so much to everybody who linked up last week!  Can't wait to see what you've got this week!
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Old Bear Book Giveaway

The giveaway winner was comment #16: Jackie H.!

We had so much fun doing our Old Bear seasons craft and now I get the privilege of giving the book to one of my awesome readers.  I don't thank you nearly enough but I so much appreciate you taking the time to leave comments and/or read my posts.

Thank you also to Harper Collins for furnishing the book for this giveaway.  If you missed yesterday's post, one of our favorite books by Kevin Henkes is Old Bear.  It's already snowing when Old Bear settles in his cave, ready to hibernate for the winter. He has a dream that it's spring and he's a cub again. His dream continues through summer, autumn, and winter. When he wakes, it really is spring.

To enter to win your own copy of Old Bear:
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me your favorite season.  Please include an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

I'll choose a winner by random number on August 28 at 8:00 AM CDT.  If I don't hear from the winner within 48 hours, I'll choose a new winner.  Sorry, this giveaway is open to US addresses only.  For complete giveaway rules, please see my About page.  Thanks so much for entering!  Good luck!

And be sure to check out these other Kevin Henkes book giveaways going on this week:
No Twiddle Twaddle is also giving away Old Bear!
Toddler Approved has a chance to win Chester's Way.
Win SHHHH at The Pleasantest Thing.
Visit Ready. Set. Read! for a chance to win Chrysanthemum.
Crafty Moms Share is giving away My Garden.
Inspiration Laboratories has a chance to win Circle Dogs.
Juggling with Kids has a copy of Sheila Rae, The Brave to give away.
Mommy and Me Book Club is giving away a copy of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse.
Visit Crayon Freckles for a chance to win Jessica.
Adventures in Reading with Kids has a copy of A Good Day.
The Educators' Spin On It is giving away Wemberly Worried.
Win a copy of Owen at Royal Baloo.

*The book is being provided by Harper Collins.  I received no compensation for this post.

Old Bear 4 Seasons Craft: August Virtual Book Club

Welcome to the August Virtual Book Club, where you can find tons of great ideas for Kevin Henkes books!  I'm excited to share one of our favorites with you.  And be sure to come back tomorrow because I get to give a copy of this book to one of you!

It's already snowing when Old Bear settles in his cave, ready to hibernate for the winter.  He has a dream that it's spring and he's a cub again.  His dream continues through summer, autumn, and winter.  When he wakes, it really is spring.

For our project, I divided paper plates into fourths and put a dot of paint in each.  The paint coordinated with the seasons in the book.  Pink for spring, green for summer, orange for fall, and blue for winter. 

My 4 year old painted the plate.

Next I found some clipart pictures.  Four objects to match each season plus the bear.  It's nothing fancy but it goes well with the book.  If you'd like it, you can click on the picture to get it.

We cut out the pictures and then glued them to the appropriate color/season.

We also glued Old Bear to some cardboard and added a strip of paper.

We cut this out and attached it to the center of the paper plate with a metal fastener so it spins around.

Now every time we read the book, we take out our Old Bear plate and move him through the seasons as we read.

What Kevin Henkes book did you read this month?  Please share!

Linking to Tuesday Tots, It's Playtime!, Mom on Timeout, Sun Scholars, Read Explore Learn, The Sunday Showcase

Ice Cream Stars {Flop}

In anticipation of the August Virtual Book Club, we've been reading lots of books by Kevin Henkes.  One of the books that we really like is Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star.   Wemberly wants to share her ice cream star with her stuffed friend Petal.  She lets the ice cream melt into two bowls and they enjoy eating ice cream soup together.

I thought it would be fun to make some ice cream stars and then let them melt into ice cream soup. I even had star-shaped ice cube trays that I bought from Walmart around the 4th of July.  I found a recipe for ice cream molds here, which I adapted.  We were all set to go.

I'm sure the idiocy of my plan will be obvious to you as soon as you see the recipe, but for some reason I charged ahead and never once realized that if you want ice cream to melt, the last thing you want to put in it is Jello.  Duh.  Anyway, here's what we did in case you want ice cream stars that won't melt, which I guess in most other situations would be ideal.

We dissolved a small package of strawberry Jello in one cup boiling water and then added one cup of vanilla ice cream.  We used this mixture to fill one of the ice cube trays.

After we filled one tray, we added two drops of blue food coloring to the remaining mixture to make it purple and filled the other tray.

To add insult to injury I didn't read the recipe carefully and put these in the freezer (it's ice cream, right?) and they were supposed to go in the refrigerator.  Once they were frozen, they were really hard to get out of the tray!  Eventually we used a toothpick to loosen them from the sides and they came out.  At least Drew got some fine motor practice in there. 

And while they never melted into soup, they tasted pretty good so it wasn't a complete flop.  But the moral of this story is if you want to do a reenactment of Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star, don't try to get all fancy.  Just melt some ice cream and refreeze it into star shapes. 

Linking to Read Explore Learn, Crafty Moms Share, Crazy for Crust