Room on the Broom

Room on the Broom

Written by Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by Axel Scheffler

I love Halloween.  I love the clever costumes, fun foods, parties, and decorations.  We meet and talk to more neighbors on Halloween night than on any other night of the year.  Most of all, I love seeing my little ones dressed up and excited for their night full of goodies.

Whatever your thoughts on the holiday may be, I do hope that you'll include Room on the Broom as one of your October read-alouds.  A witch and her cat are flying on a broom when various items fall to the ground, such as the witch's hat, her hair bow, and her wand.  Each time they go to retrieve the fallen item, a new animal comes out with the lost item, along with a request to join the witch and the cat on the broom.  Excitement continues when the broom breaks and a dragon enters the story!  

Retelling:  Shadow Puppets

The characters in the story are all perfect candidates for shadow puppets.  My kiddos had the time of their lives putting on a puppet show while I read aloud the story.  They played with the shadow puppets the entire afternoon.  

To make the shadow puppets, I found free coloring pages of the main characters.  I printed them off on cardstock and cut around the edges.  I then taped a skewer on to the back (I would recommend using Popsicle sticks if you have little ones!).

To make the shadow puppet theater, I cut off the top and bottom flaps of a cardboard box.  I then covered the top opening of the box with a white piece of tissue paper and taped the tissue paper to the sides.  We used a small lamp, and it worked out great.  

You might also check out the book's website!  It has some fabulous resources and activities!

Happy reading!

Emily

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

We finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a few months ago, and it is still being talked about in our home.  Over the past couple of months, I've come across some fun ways to include the book in our activities sessions, and had to revisit the book. 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl

 

Imaginative Play
Anna over at The Imagination Tree shares a fun Willy Wonka activity found here.  She has some REALLY fun uses for play dough on her blog, and really goes all out.  We used her chocolate play dough recipe, along with some of the names of treats from the book to jump start our own little creativity session.

We started by making some of the classic treats from the book (everlasting gobstoppers, magic chewing gum,eatable marshmallow pillows, snozberries, etc.), and then they took off with their own creations.  I wish I would have written down the names that my crew came up with because they were fantastic! 

I had to add a square candy that looks round.  :)

I do wish that I would have had some sprinkles on hand, along with some candy cups.  We kept ours incredibly {simple}, and it kept us happily engaged for a couple of hours.  It is always fun for me to watch their creativity in action!  We'll definitely be revisiting this activity.

Kitchen Fun:

THEN I ran across these cookbooks.  Score!  They are written by Roald and Felicity Dahl, and are illustrated by Quentin Blake.  All of the recipes are inspired by foods mentioned in his books, and are hilarious to read.  I wish I could share one of the recipes without breaking copyright laws!  They are full of creativity and fun.

 

In Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes, there is a recipe for "Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight", a toffee and marshmallow ice cream topping.

Math/Science:

In the book, there is a nut room full of squirrels testing walnuts to see if they are bad or good.  It is here that the squirrels test Veruca Salt to see if she is a good nut or not.  We used peanuts instead of walnuts for a little math and science lab.  

First, we estimated how many peanuts we had.

 Then we counted, and counted by tens.

 Last, but not least, we sorted.  And analyzed.  And ate. 

Interesting Fact:

As a young school boy, Roald and his friends were busted for putting a mouse in the local candy shop's jar of gobstoppers (information found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_dahl).

Happy reading!

Emily

Perfect Picture Book Friday: Bartholomew and the Oobleck

All week long, my little ones and I have been delving into books written by Dr. Seuss.  Today, I got to introduce them to Bartholomew and the OOBLECK.  It is one that is familiar to most, but it was fun for me to revisit this classic!

Bartholomew and the OOBLECK

by Dr. Seuss

(Random House, 1949, Fiction)

Perfect for 5-9 years old

Opening:  "They still talk about it in the Kingdom of Didd as The-Year-the-King-Got-Angry-with-the-Sky."

 Brief Summary:  King Derwin of Didd is incredibly bored with everything that falls from the sky (rain, snow, sunshine, and fog).  He summons his royal magicians to make something new fall from the sky, and they succeed in their task with the creation of oobleck.  The only problem is that oobleck is a horribly sticky substance that traps anyone and everyone it comes in contact with.  The whole kingdom is being ruined by its effects.   Bartholomew, the king's wise pageboy, is the only one who can help the king stop the disastrous effects of oobleck.

Why I Like It:  Dr. Seuss knows exactly how to create an interesting story while teaching a lesson at the same time.  In Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Seuss teaches the importance of saying "I'm sorry", and admitting when one is wrong. All of the illustrations are in black and white except for the green oobleck, which appears in greater and greater quantities as the story progresses.  Bartholomew is such a wise character and seems to be the only one with sense, even though he is not only a boy, but also a servant.  What child doesn't love a story about green goo?

As a follow-up activity, we made some "oobleck" of our own. It is just something that has to be done after reading a story about sticky green goo.  

Homemade Slime  ("Oobleck")

Recipe from Our Best Bites
For the complete tutorial, head here.

1 teaspoon borax powder

1 1/2 cup water, divided

1/2 cup white Elmer’s glue

green food coloring

Add borax powder to 1 cup of water and stir to dissolve.  Set aside.  Pour glue into a medium mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup water. Add a few drops of food coloring and then stir to mix glue solution until smooth.  Pour the borax mixture into the glue mixture.  Stir for a few moments and then use your hands to gather the mass.  The mixture will be very soft and wet.  Keep kneading until it firms up and feels dry.  Discard excess liquid in bowl. The more you knead and play with the slime the firmer it will become.  Store in a Ziploc bag or air tight container.

Happy reading!

Emily

Dr. Seuss Week: Ten Apples Up On Top!

Today we are celebrating Dr. Seuss week with one of my childhood favorites.  

Ten Apples Up On Top!

Written by Theo. LeSieg and Illustrated by Roy McKie
Originally published in 1961

Perfect for: 3-7 years old

 

Three animals are having a somewhat friendly competition with each other to see who can balance the most apples on their heads while trying to perform pretty outrageous balancing acts.  

The only problem is that the house they are practicing in is not their own and the apples they are using are not their own.  They belong to a very unhappy mother bear who is intent on knocking them down with a mop. To find out if she succeeds in her mission of knocking down the apples, you'll just have to pick up this classic. 

We had fun stacking our own "apples".  After we read the story, we each created a tiger head out of Play-Doh and poked half of a skewer into the Play-Doh.  I read the story aloud again as we all added beads on to the skewer to show the number of apples on the tiger's head in the story.

Their little tigers made me smile.

Please use good judgment and supervision when using sharp objects.

I think we may need a friendly little apple stacking contest of our own one of these nights.  

Interesting Fact:

Whenever Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) wrote a book that was illustrated by someone other than himself, he wrote under the pen name Theo. LeSieg.  LeSieg is Geisel spelled backwards.  Thus, since Ten Apples Up On Top was illustrated by Roy McKie, many editions of the book have Theo. LeSieg as the author.

Happy reading!

Emily

Dr. Seuss Week: Horton Hatches the Egg

Yesterday was kind of a big day in the reading community.  As you may know, March 2nd is the birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel, who is better known as Dr. Seuss.  In celebration, I'll be highlighting our favorite books throughout the week, along with some fun activities.  Check back throughout the week!

We kicked off the week by reading Horton Hatches the Egg.  My kids love the story as much as I do.

Horton Hatches the Egg

by Dr. Seuss

Perfect for 5-9 year olds

Originally published in 1940

 

Lazy bird Mayzie is tired of sitting on her egg and wants to go on vacation.  She persuades Horton to take over, despite his protests of the logistics of an elephant sitting on an egg in a tree.  Mayzie heads off to Palm Beach and decides to never return.  Poor Horton is left sitting on the egg, but stays true to his word.

Sweet Horton sits through lightning and rainstorms, teasing from his animal friends, and winter storms.  He is found by some hunters, packed up in a wagon, and hauled through the mountains, only to have to go on a sea voyage.  To make matters worse, he is sold to a traveling circus show and is mocked for sitting up in a tree.  And yet he remains as faithful and true as can be! 

The circus ends up in Palm Beach and Mayzie happens to come by just in time to see the egg hatch.  What flies out?  Well, you'll have to read it to find out!



After we read the story, we made our own nests and painted eggs to resemble Horton's.  To make the nests, melt 8 squares (16 0z) of almond bark over low heat.  Remove from heat and stir in 4 cups of chow mein noodles.

Pour mixture into three different mounds on a piece of aluminum foil or wax paper.  One batch will provide enough mixture to make three nests.  Let cool for a few minutes.  Shape into a nest.

We painted hard boiled eggs with red and white acrylic paint.  I then cut off a corner of a Ziploc bag and put the egg in the plastic corner to prevent paint from coming in contact with the nest that we would later be eating.

Interesting Fact:

Horton wasn't an original candidate for the name of the elephant in early drafts.  Early candidates were Osmer, Bosco, and Humphrey.  (Information found here.)

Hope you are having as much fun as we are! 

Happy reading!

Emily

Ed Emberley's FunPrint Drawing Book

Ed Emberley's Complete FunPrint Drawing Book

Perfect for Ages: 4 on up

Have you ever heard of Ed Emberley?  Well, he kind of has a corner on the market when it comes to children's drawing books.  His drawings are simple and his steps are easy to follow, making it a perfect combination for all ages wanting to learn how to draw.  That is why I was excited to find this book at our library.  You make a fingerprint with either an ink pad or watercolors, and then add details with a pen to make a large variety of pictures.

We pulled it out and spent the entire afternoon making fingerprints and adding the details to make Ed's fun creatures.  I had fun, my preschooler had fun, and my toddler had fun fingerpainting.

My preschooler's dog, duck, and bunnies.

My toddler's interpretation.  :)

Simple lines, fun pictures, and inexpensive materials.  Perfect.  I can't wait for our copy of the book to come in the mail!