A Small Fox in a Big World

It's a Wrap!

Spiders

We Read:

The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle

and

Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale, by Eileen Spinelli.

We Made:

Friendship Bracelets.

We Ate:

Spider Crackers!

Flying and Stinging Things

We Read:

Sam and the Firefly, by PD Eastman

and

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, by Verna Aardema.

We Made:

Felt Finger Puppets!

Just draw your self some templates and use a sharpie to trace them onto the felt. Have the children cut two body pieces and one wing piece. Then, you can stitch and embellishments you would like on the front, back and wings. Next, you stitch the wings to the back and then stitch the front and back together, leaving a space at the bottom to stick your finger. Finally, glue on any additional embellishments that you desire!

We Ate:

Bread with butter and honey.

Some of us:

Grout Museum

Sorry to be late on last week's Summer Reading Program post.  I just haven't felt like sitting in my hot little office.  But I'm here for you now and I'll be back tomorrow or Thursday with this week's, so I'm sure all is forgiven.

We had a guest come from the Grout Museum this last week and it was soooooo awesome.  They brought all kinds of crafts and activities for the kids to participate in, as well as some live bugs.  As I didn't do any planning for this event, I don't really have a lot to say about it, other than get thee to thy local science museum.  Because they are cool!

I do have a lot of hilarious pictures of kids wearing bug gear and participating in the activities, so I'll share those.  Also, I thought I'd tell you how one of the crafts they brought were done, to tide you over until tomorrow.  Also, the kids had a lot of fun with it and it was pretty easy.

We Made:

If you get two clear plastic cups and cut the bottom out of one and put some panty hose over the top of the cup that now has no bottom and then put the whole contraption into the other cup, which you have decorated with sharpie markers, you too, can have a bug catcher.

And now, some pictures!

For more pictures, check out my flickr.

Crawlies

We Read:

We Made:

Pom Pom Caterpillars!  Just string some pom poms onto a thread and then glue on some eyes!  If you make them long enough, you can wear them!

and

Pipe Cleaner Caterpillars!  Just wrap two pipe cleaners in a diagonal-ish spiral around a pencil, fold in the ends and glue on eyes.  If that doesn't make sense, I can take some step by step pictures.

We Ate:

2 cups Peanut Butter
3 cups Powdered Milk
1/2 cup Honey

Mix well, play and enjoy.  It's delicious!

The coolest bulletin board EVER!

In the excitement of my Summer Reading Program post, I forgot to show you the bulletin board I made to hold all the things that kiddos can do for extra points.  I can't decide if it's a giant ant or if we are just an even smaller library that I previously thought!  Either way, it amuses me to no end!

Catch the Reading Bug

I'm inviting you all to join me in my Summer Reading Program for the next six weeks. On Wednesdays or Thursdays, I'll post information about the books we read, the art project we made and the snack we ate.  I invite all of you to participate.  If you do, please leave me a link in the comments, so I can see what you have created!  This year's theme is "Catch the Reading Bug," so all of the projects and stories will be bug themed.  If you have older children and still want to participate, consider reading them a bit of a novel every evening.  On Mondays, I'm reading for a half an hour from A Cricket in Times Square, but you could read from anything!  Just choose a book that is appropriate for your family and get reading!  If your local library has a Summer Reading Program, I encourage you to take your children and get involved!  And now, without further ado, I present to you the kick off for Summer Reading 2008!

We Read:

Bugs! by David T. Greenberg.

"Beetles,
Bedbugs,
Bottleflies,
Tarantulas the size of pies
With lots and lots and lots of eyes --
Staring at you, BUGS!"

We Made:

You will need:

2 sturdy paper plates with a good lip on them

Acrylic paint in your chosen color(s)

Paint Brush

Construction Paper

Scissors

Glue

Stapler

Body Parts Template

Google Eyes

 

Instructions:

1. Cut one of the paper plates in half and paint the back side of it.  Set it aside to dry.

2. Using the Body Parts Template, trace the body parts on the desired color(s) of construction paper and cut out. Cut out the tongue free-handed.

3. Apply another coat of paint if necessary. Let dry.

4. Decorate body parts if desired and curl tongue around a pencil.

5. Staple half plate to full plate around rim to create a pocket.

6. Glue body parts to plates and use tape to help hold the parts until the glue dries.

7. Enjoy! 

We Ate:

Dirt in a cup!

Get a cup and put in chocolate pudding and then layer crushed oreo cookies and green coconut on top.  Provide some additional atmosphere with a few gummy worms and bugs and eat!  It's delicious!