Read.Explore.Learn. Archives - Page 6 of 9

Read.Explore.Learn.- Shark Vs.Train

June 24, 2011 By Deirdre

Welcome to week three of the Read. Explore. Learn Summer Reading Challenge! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books. Remember each post you link up counts as an entry in the the June edition of the Summer Reading Challenge.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

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Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton is such fun. Two little boys begin the book by taking toys that they will create contests for from their toy box. They select a shark and train.

The train and shark are tested in contests that take one or both of them out of their element. There is a swim in the ocean, a train car pull, roasting marshmallow, shooting baskets, running a lemonade stand and about nine more activities. Some are easy wins for the shark or the train and some challenges are tough for both of them.

Finally the book ends with the boys being called to lunch and the toys being tossed back into the toy box.

JDaniel loved the conversation bubbles that appeared on some of the pages. At first I thought they represented the words the boys are saying to each other while they are playing. At the end of the story the shark and train are still talking in the toy box about who will eventually beat who.

What did we do?

Water Play

JDaniel had his friends over for playgroup.

Shark Melon

I found this amazing shark melon on It’s Playtime! on Quirky Momma that was linked to a wonderful tutorial by Sun Scholars.

When I saw it, I knew it was perfect for playgroup!

Shark Vs. Train Challenge

Cleaning a stepstool with a super water gun should have been a challenge in the book. This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday, Link and Learn, It’s Playtime, and the Nurture Store’s Carnival of Water Play.

Read.Explore.Learn- My Big Boy Bed

June 10, 2011 By Deirdre

Welcome to week two of The Read. Explore. Learn Challenge! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.Remember each post counts as an entry in the challenge.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

<center><a href=”http://www.jdaniel4smom.com/”><img alt=”Shibley Smiles” src=”http://69.195.124.116/~jdanielf/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ReadExploreLearn.jpg” alt=”jdaniel4smom” width=”150″ height=”150″ /></a></center>

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

My Big Boy Bed by Eve Bunting is one of the books JDaniel added to our library sack last week. It is the wonderful tale of a little boy who is moved to a big boy bed when he has a new baby brother.

Mom goes out of her way to make the new bed a wonderful home for sleep. She buys special sheets and a new quilt for the bed along with a special book called The Little Fat Book of Fire Trucks for bedtime reading.

There are several benefits to sleeping in a big boy bed covered in this sleepy time tale. One you can jump on your bed. (JDaniel isn’t allowed to jump on his.) Two you can hide under the bed and pretend to be a dog. (JDaniel loves to pretend he is a worm dog. What is a worm dog? He is a dog that has worms as pets.) Three there is more room for toys, books and blankets. (JDaniel has billions of toys in bed now.) Four you can get out of bed whenever you want that is until your parents hear you and make you get back in bed.

JDaniel thought this book was hilarious. I bet your newly transitioned big boy or girl bed sleeper will too.

What did we do? Decorating A Clock

JDaniel has a new found freedom now that he sleeps in a big boy bed. He loves to get up early and check on JDaniel3 and I to see if are awake. It would be wonderful he he woke up at 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning, but most mornings in is earlier than that.

I thought it would be a good idea to give him a time reference that we would place beside his clock in the morning. (Yes, he has a manual clock in his room.)

Before would decorate my clock he had to draw a robot on a plate.

When he finally agreed to work on the clock plate, he would only write my name. I was impressed that part of the scribble looks like an M.

He woke up and started calling for me at 6:15 this morning. I don’t know if the clock reference made a difference or not.

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This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday, Link and Learn, We Play and It’s Play .

Read.Explore.Learn.- Robots

June 3, 2011 By Deirdre

Welcome to first week of the Read. Explore.Learn Summer Reading Challenge! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

<center><a href=”http://www.jdaniel4smom.com/”><img alt=”Shibley Smiles” src=”http://69.195.124.116/~jdanielf/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ReadExploreLearn.jpg” alt=”jdaniel4smom” width=”150″ height=”150″ /></a></center>

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment and Stumble your post.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.
I would love a comment too.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Hello, Robot by Bob Staake is the tale of four robots. They each have chores they do around their house.

When they get caught in a rainstorm, each has trouble with their wiring. Blink, the robot that bakes tries to bake a birdhouse. Zinc, the robot that fixes things tries to repair a pie with a hammer. Blip, the robot that does yardwork tries to rake the windows. Zip, the robot that cleans shines the grass. As time goes on the problems get worse. The robots realize something has to be done. What can they do?

They decide to switch heads and find that the switcheroo does the trick. They are able to go back to the jobs they love. JDaniel loved the mistakes they made after being in the rain. The mess and choas was right up his alley.

What did we do?

Chalk Drawing

I drew the outline of the robot and JDaniel added the details. What looks like bangs on the robot’s head is really multiple eyes. I didn’t see it at first, but JDaniel explained that the robot needed many eyes to see.

Play Dough Robot Creation

JDaniel decided that a potato masher would make the best tool to smash the play dough.

He used bottle caps to create a three eyed blue mouthed monster. Can you see it?

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday, Link and Learn, We Play and It’s Play Time.

Read.Explore.Learn. Summer Reading Challenge

May 29, 2011 By Deirdre

Many summer reading programs are starting across the United States this week. I thought it would be fun for the Read.Explore.Learn meme to have its own summer reading challenge program.

The Read.Explore.Learn. Summer Reading Challenge will have three stages. Each stage will last the length of one of the summer months.

Each Read.Explore.Learn post tying a book to an activity you link up during a month will count as a challenge entry. At the end of each month I will create a list of all of the entries and randomly select one as the winner of the monthly challenge. The more entries you link up each month the more chances you have to win.

The prizes will be the following:

June- A $10 Gift Code to Amazon.com

July-A $10 Gift Card to Barnes and Noble

August-A summer reading tote filled with three hardcover picture books.

Stage One or the June portion of the Summer Reading Challenge will start this Friday and continue until June 24th.

Read.Explore.Learn. -Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

May 27, 2011 By Deirdre

Welcome to Read. Explore. Learn! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

>

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Pete the Cat : I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin is just a wonderfully upbeat book. Pete sings about how happy he is with white shoes until he walks through strawberries. Then Pete sings about the joys of red shoes. When Pete walks through blueberries, he sings about how wonderful blue shoes are. Later when he walks through mud, he finds joy in brown shoes. When his shoes miraculously become white again after walking through a puddle, he is happy with white.Pete is just a happy cool cat.

The rhythms and rhymes in this book are contagious. You just want to tap your feet or clap your hands as you read it.

What did we do?

Observing Colors in Ice

I found a fun post linked to Link and Learn on No Time for Flashcards called Marching and Melting on a blog called Pfollowing Pfenn. The post showed how they had made red, blue, and yellow ice cubes and then explored the colors the ice cubes made when they melted.

It looked like such fun that we just had to do it.

First, we made the ice cubes.

Then we played with them in JDaniel’s water table.

Looking at the World Through Color

We took out color paddles and played with them. It was fun to make the world all one color.

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday, Link and Learn, We Play and It’s Play Time.

Watch for an announcement about the Read.Explore.Learn. Reading Challenge early next week.

Read.Explore.Learn.- Gardening

May 20, 2011 By Deirdre

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Link your activity below.

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Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

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My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole is built around the old story The House that Jack Built.

Jack starts with a garden soil filled with creatures.

Then he adds seeds to the soil that makes up the garden.

Rain wets the seeds that are in the soil that makes up the garden.

The seeds become seedling and later plants in the soil that makes up the garden.

The plants grow flowers that attract bugs in the soil that makes up Jack’s garden by the end of the book.

Henry Cole’s well label illustrations are the best part of the book. I was able to tell JDaniel the names of all the bugs and types of flowers, because they were labeled in the book.

What did we do?

We planted seeds about a month and a half ago.

We talked and read to the seeds to help them grow.

The pollen level was high so, I brought the plants inside so that JDaniel could check on their progress. He came up with the wonderful idea of pictures walking them through some of his books.

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday, Link and Learn, We Play and It’s Play Time.

Read.Explore.Learn- Panda-Monium

May 13, 2011 By Deirdre

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Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

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My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

All of the above as accomplished plus the regular everyday events of our lives. The Beckett, the panda in this book is out to do just one thing. He is trying to find a snack. His tummy in rumbling and he sets out to find some bamboo.

While he marches down the road to search for bamboo, he sings a song about his search. That lures other pandas from what they are doing to follow him. More and more pandas join his search unbeknownst to him. They roll down hills to join him, skip after him, march behind him, leap, and come out of hiding.

When he finds a tree, all the pandas try to join him in it and the branch breaks. Only then Beckett realizes he has been joined by other pandas in groups of two, three, four, and five. Falling pandas creates a panda-monium.

Beckett bounces down a hill and away from the panda-monium and ends up in a thicket of bamboo all alone.

Where did the other pandas go? He never knew.

What did we do?

I made a list of movement words from the book for JDaniel to act out himself and with his animals.

Disclaimer: I was sent this book to review by Tiger Tales Books.

Read.Explore.Learn.- Mom and Ice Cream

May 6, 2011 By Deirdre

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Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment and Stumble your post.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.
I would love a comment too.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

While thinking about what kind of ice cream to select, a little boy named Teddy dreams of a land where he would be the king of ice cream. (It may have been the paper crown the waiter brought over to him that became the daydream.)

Teddy’s kingdom has chocolate halls and mint chip ice cream walls. He is able to travel by rocket to an ice cream moon. Later he sails an ice cream sea and fishes for cherries and nuts. He relishes in the fact that everything in his land is his.

After exploring his ice cream kingdom, Teddy discovers that something is missing. He finds that he is all alone and that it would be better with somebody to share it.

When Teddy removes his crown, he finds he is back in the ice cream shop and the waiter is still waiting to take his order.

What does he select? He asks for a banana split with two spoons. One spoon for mom and one for him.

What did we do?

Ice Cream Making

Actually we made ice milk by putting milk and chocolate syrup into an old cottage cheese container. We strapped down the lid of the container and then placed it into an old coffee container. I added ice and salt around the cottage cheese container and then strapped down the coffee container lid.

We rolled it back and forth until JDaniel decided he was tired of rolling it. ( That was about 20 minutes.) We repeated the alphabet, practiced counting and reviewed nursery rhymes to get through the 20 minutes.

The container was then put into the freezer for a couple of hours.

Voila! We had homemade ice milk. JDaniel loves it.

Ice Cream Cone Balloon Game

I thought this wastebasket looked a little like an ice cream cone. We tried to get the balloon into the cone by tossing it, dropping it, and kicking it.

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday , Link and Learn, We Play and It’s Play Time.

Disclaimer: I was sent this book to review by Tiger Tales Books. The activities and opinions are my own.

Read.Explore.Learn- Bunnies

April 29, 2011 By Deirdre

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Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

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My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Suki The Very Loud Bunny by Carmela and Steven D’Amico is a tale about a rabbit that lives outside the box. Suki is loud and full of adventure. She wakes up early each morning and greets the world around her with ear-splitting cries of “Good Morning”. She wants to look beyond her home to visit the wide world. When she does, she gets lost and has to use her loud voice to call for her mother.

Suki learns lessons as she explores the world that changes her life, but not her personality.

Little Bunny in Little Bunny’s Sleepless Night finds he wants to explore the world beyond his own too. He is lonely sleeping in his house all by himself. Little Bunny decides sleeping at a friend’s house would be better. He tries owl’s house. Owl stays awake reading at night. He tries skunk’s house. Skunk forgets he is there and sprays him when he gets scared at night. Each of his friend’s houses isn’t right for him. Finally, he realizes that home is where he needs to be after all.

What did we do?

Building Structures and Roads with Cardboard

JDaniel asked me to cut cardboard rectangles out from some cardboard for a project. He hadn’t decided on the project, but he wanted to do one.

I showed him how to build a lean-to with the rectangles and he had fun building one for his bunny.

We later used the rectangles to create a cardboard road for his bunny to practice doing the Bunny Hop down on his way home.

We had a great time with the cardboard. It will be fun to take it out later and see what JDaniel will create with it.

What bunny books have you read to your children?

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday, Link and Learn, We Play and It’s Play Time.

Read.Explore.Learn.- True Meaning of Easter

April 22, 2011 By Deirdre

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Link your activity below.

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My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

What Is Easter?: Adams, Michelle Medlock: 9780824918781: Amazon ...

We read the Thanksgiving version of this book and loved it. What is Easter? is the Easter version. It covers all things that Easter isn’t and then explains what Easter is really about. I wish that it would cover what it is first, but I still really enjoyed sharing this book with JDaniel. The traditions in what it isn’t part were fun to talk about and share.

I really liked The Easter Story. It explains Easter is an easy to understand way. It skips the crucifixion and some of the other scary events leading up to Christ’s death for which I am grateful. JDaniel would have been very upset about them. While he will hear about them when he gets older, I am glad he didn’t have to see or hear about them in this book. The Easter Story does cover events leading up to and following Christ’s death that JDaniel could understand and learn from.

What did we do?

Tissue Box Art

I couldn’t co-host a Tissue Box Challenge without creating something with a tissue box this week. I cut out the pieces and JDaniel helped with the gluing of the bunny below.

Jelly Bean Egg Rocks

I found a wonderful little book on 1+1+1=1 called The Jelly Bean Prayer. It describes a specific color on each page and how it symbolizes something God has created or done. Yellow is for the sun, black is for our sin, and red is for Christ’s blood and so on. We explored rocks I decorated to represent the jelly beans in the book.

What have you been doing with your children to get ready for Easter?