Tuck Me In

What do we need after a day full of hot weather, boat races, bounce houses, and a birthday party?  Well, Mommy could use a glass of wine, but the kids need a great bedtime book!

We love the book Tuck Me In! by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt.   My three year old chooses this book to read almost every night of the week and it is one that I am always happy to read!  In Tuck Me In! there is a variety of adorable animals that are ready to be tucked in.  By turning the page, you "tuck" the animals in with a colorful blanket that matches the animal's pillow.   My little guy loves to say "Good night Baby Zebra" or "Good night Baby Pig" after tucking in the animals, but his favorite is Baby Hedgehog.  Each page opposite the baby animals is an illustration of the night sky.  A star is added to the night sky for each animal you tuck into bed, so counting stars is a bonus activity as you read this bedtime book.

My son giggles every time we read the last page of Tuck Me In!

"Does anyone else need to be tucked in?  Do you?  Good night, you!"

Thanks to Grandma, my little guy has his own Baby Hedgehog puppet that he can tuck in every night.  He was so tired last night that he didn't even move after being tucked in!

The Little Bike Rider That Could

I was so excited to be invited to take  the "Do Something Hard" Challenge at Frugal Fun For Boys!  This challenge was to encourage children to try something difficult for the week and see how much they improve through a little hard work and dedication.  I knew right away what I wanted my six year old to work on...riding his bike!

I enjoy walks with my kids, especially when everyone has woken up early.  These walks would be very relaxing and peaceful if it wasn't for the complaining and whining about how difficult it is to ride a bike.  Enter the "Do Something Hard" challenge...

The Challenge
Ride Bike Around the Block
Once a Day For 6 Days
Earn $1.00 for each day the task is completed.

Day One

My little guy was eager to start.  He rode his bike the whole time without complaining once.  He rode a little bit ahead of us, testing his independence.  We even had him sign a contract so he could keep track of all of the days he stuck with the bike ride!

Day Two

Today our walk/bike ride was a bit slower, which was to be expected.  We spent the day at the arboretum and swimming lessons so we were all exhausted.  My six year old did better than my three year old during the walk...thank goodness!  My three year old's foot got run over by the stroller while he was eating a cookie.  Baby Girl doesn't seem to mind though.

Day Three

We went for an early bike ride in soccer clothes!  He is already gaining confidence.

Day Four

Today my son rode much faster and is getting better at riding over the bumps without getting nervous!

Day Five

The boys took a bike ride in very hot and humid weather.  Although, I have never been to a rainforest, I would guess that it feels similar to the weather we had after the storm!  I'm glad I got to stay home for this one.  We didn't get a picture of the ride, but here they are playing outside in the HOT rain!

Day Six

The last day!  My son took an early bike ride while we walked along with him. No more complaining, so our walks are MUCH more relaxing!

After our walk this morning, I asked him what he learned from riding his bike every day.  He said "It is fun and easier."  I am so glad that he learned something from our challenge!  I even learned something!

My challenge was to
Exercise for 30 minutes
Once a Day for 6 Days

I ran for 4 days and did yoga for two days.  It was a REAL challenge for me to fit in 30 minutes of exercise for myself.  It used to be so easy, but it was a good reminder that I need to schedule in the time to workout and I also need the support of family and friends to make sure that I get it done.  Lesson learned!  I hope that I stick with my workouts and my son sticks with his bike riding.  Maybe the training wheels will come off soon!

This weekend we are celebrating the completion of our challenges with a family bike ride to get some ice cream.  My son is very excited and this will be his longest bike ride this summer!  I will have to add a picture when we are done celebrating.

Now on to the book that we read to celebrate the end of the "Do Something Hard" Challenge.

I Knew You Could is a great book to celebrate any kind of achievement!  My son received this book from his teacher on the last day of kindergarten.  The Little Engine That Could is one of our favorites and this book features the same little blue engine so we knew we would love it.  The book describes all of the different choices you will make and lessons you will learn as you travel along the tracks of life.  I love the last few sentences of the book, "Just trust in yourself, and you'll climb every hill.  Say, 'I think I can!' and you know what?  You will!"

Check out the other "Do Something Hard" Challenges from other bloggers here.   Thank you Frugal Fun for Boys for giving us something to work at this week!

Follow along with our book a day journey by liking us on Facebook!

Good Night America

Today was a hot one, and of course we spent part of it at the pool, but we also spent a little bit of time reading a great book about America and doing a little red, white, and blue project!  I knew we needed to fit at least one Fourth of July project in before Wednesday!

Good Night America by Adam Gamble is a wonderful book that visits all different parts of the United States.  It starts the morning at the Atlantic Ocean, crosses the country throughout the day, and ends the night in outer space with the astronauts.  The book quickly touches on the Grand Canyon, my favorite tropical islands, the Golden Gate Bridge, Everglades, and Niagra Falls!

While we read Good Night America, my boys looked at one of our maps of the United States.  We found many different places and things on the map, from the Mississippi River to the deserts, to the Statue of Liberty.  My six year old was VERY excited about locating different places.  My three year old just liked to point out the oceans.

When we were done the boys started cutting small pieces of red, white, and blue tissue paper so that they could make a little sun catcher of our country.  I printed out an outline of the United States, cut it out, and traced a rough outline onto contact paper.

My six year old filled the country in with red, white, and blue and then cut it out.  We did talk about red, white, and blue being the colors of our flag, and when my son asked why those were the colors, I even learned something new.  Did you know that there really was not reasoning behind the colors of the flag, but there is symbolism in the same colors on the Great Seal?  Yippee for learning something new every day!

 We hung it up on the patio door when we were finished.  Notice my three year old's product is not pictured....he didn't want to make one today.  He was more interested in puzzles!

When my six year old was done, he wanted to use some red and blue glitter, so we printed another outline of the US and wrote USA with glue.  He sprinkled it with glitter and was very proud of his creation.

Although my three year old wasn't interested in red, white, and blue crafts, he was interested in red, white, and blue food.  So he helped me cut some apples and strawberries to put in our patriotic fruit salad!  The first time he cut off the top of the strawberry he was so excited and screamed, "I did it!"  I love it when he is excited in his abilities to do new things!

YUM!  This was the perfect snack after swimming on a VERY hot day!  Can you tell I went grocery shopping today?

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Here are our other posts about books from the Good Night World Series.

Good Night Ocean

Good Night World

July

With July around the corner, I was happy to find early readers about each of the months!  My son has read July every night for a whole week.  He was ready to switch to a new book tonight, but he has done a great job with this book.

Months of the Year: July is a Weekly Reader book about all of the great things that come in the month of July.  We read about lemonade stands, fireworks, parades, and beating the heat all while practicing some fluency.  Many of the words in this book are not basic sight words, but we sounded out words, used pictures, and reread to help us with all of the new words in this book.

Six Year Old Graphing

Three Year Old's Sorting from 2 Teaching Mommies

We used these great Fourth of July printables from the great blog, with lots of fun and useful printables,  2 Teaching Mommies.  They helped us get ready for the holiday, and we still have some that we haven't even gotten to.  My three year old loved sorting the fireworks into big, medium, and small and we used glittery red white and blue paper to make it a little more fun.  My six year old always loves to graph with the dice game, so he did that, and everyone stayed busy at the table for a little while.  It seems like I have been using a lot more printables lately.  They are great for getting the kids to sit down and not need my help for a few minutes.

For the Love of Soccer

My six year old son plays soccer and my three year old loves to join him in the backyard, so when my six year old got a new soccer goal and new soccer shirts for his birthday, they were both ready to go outside and have their own game that day!  

We have been so busy that the boys hadn't been able to use the new soccer net and shirts yet, until this morning.  Both boys went upstairs to get dressed and came down in the new soccer shirts.  They asked to put both soccer nets out so we could have a game on our own "field".  The boys did great on their own and when I went out to join them they were coming in for a drink and "half-time".  Luckily, I got to play in the second half.  We love to play soccer in the backyard, it is a great way to run off some steam and fit in some exercise.

At the library a few weeks ago, we checked out the book For the Love of Soccer! by Pele and illustrated by Frank Morrison.  We have read this book many times in the last few weeks.  In this book, you follow Pele and his journey in soccer, along with a young soccer player on a youth team.  The story discusses being a part of a team, working hard, and being a good sport. The words in this book are very appealing to little eyes because of the different sizes and colors of the text!  There is also a page in the back that tells the story of Pele and his life as a soccer player.  I learned a lot from the last page, and so did my son!  Reading a book like this will always make you want to go outside and play, so it is perfect for a summer day!  

Great Soccer Sentence Printables from Linda Nelson.

I have been trying to get in 15 minutes a day of math or reading practice for my son, so today, since he was so interested in soccer, we decided to give these fun soccer sentence printables, that I first saw on Pinterest,  a try.  They were a good change from some of the work he has been doing day to day and my six year old did a great job of writing his own soccer sentences!

Lemonade Books and Activities Collection

We love lemonade in the summer!  Do you?  If so, check out our list of lemonade books and activities to go along with each.  We have read them all and have completed a related activity for every book at Adventures in Reading with Kids, so you are sure to have fun!

If your kids want to have a lemonade stand,

read Lemonade Stand by Marcia Vaughn

and

have a pretend lemonade stand minus the sugar and disappointing sales!

If your kids are learning about money,

read A Dollar for Penny by Dr. Julie Glass

and

practice counting the money while you read.

If it is a hot day and you need a cool drink,

read Maisy Makes Lemonade by Lucy Cousins

and

make some lemonade and a cookbook to go with it!

If your kids like dragons or doing things backwards,

read The End by David LaRochelle

and

make a bowl full of lemonade cake,

or practice sequencing with the events in the story.

If your kids love play dough,

read Lemonade Sun and Other Summer Poems by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

and

make lemonade play dough for stamping lemonade adjectives!





If your kids are learning word patterns, 

read Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka
and
try making words out of the word lemonade.

If your kids like to predict what a story is going to be about,

read The Lemonade Babysitter by Karen Waggoner
and
make a Book Bag before you read.





If your kids love to be dramatic,

read Starring Francine and Dave by Ruth Arnold

and

put on a play about lemonade.

Lemonade Book Bag

One of my favorite lessons to teach when I was a teacher was a book bag lesson. I would collect all kinds of things from a story, usually related to the setting, characters, plot, etc.  At the beginning of the lesson, I would take each item from the bag and let the students look at them.  I wouldn't talk about it at all.  The kids would then have some time to make a prediction of what the book may be about.  They loved reading the book afterward to find out if their predictions were right!

Here are Six Reasons I Love Book Bags

1.  They aid in prediction skills.

2.  Children are more engaged while reading a book after looking through a book bag.

3.  There is a sense of excitement when you show them the book you are going to read.

4.  It can help summarize the book when you are done reading.

5.  Book Bags can be done with ANY book!

6.  It is just plain fun!

I have wanted to do this with my boys (on their level), but didn't know what book I should try it with.  When I read The Lemonade Babysitter by Karen Waggoner, I knew that it was the right book for this activity!  This book is such a precious story, but I wasn't quite sure if the boys would have the patience to follow along with it when I read it.  Enter, the book bag!  I knew that if they had certain things to look for and listen for as we read the book they would be MUCH more interested and might start to appreciate the book the way I wanted them to.

The things I included in my Book Bag were...

1. A Toy Train

2. A Zoo Sign

3. A Lemon

4.  A Monkey Mask found at Craft Jr.  (in the book they try on hats and they looked like masks to me...ooops...my six year old still got the connection even though I was wrong and was at fault for not reading carefully)

5.  A Brush

6.  A Polka Dotted Bow Tie

7.  A Stuffed Bunny

The bag was sitting on our table all afternoon and my son kept asking what it was for.  By the time I let him look through it he was VERY excited to say the least.

My son was thrilled to pull the objects out of the bag one at a time.

"A bow tie!  What could that be for?"

For some reason the brush cracked him up!  He made some excellent predictions when I asked him what the characters in the story were going to do.  He guessed that they were going to play with a train, and play dress up using the brush, bow tie, and mask!

When he was done with predictions I showed him the book we were going to read and he was anxious to start.  He pointed out when we read about an item in the bag.  After reading, we looked back at all of the items and summarized the story.  Educational and fun!

After seeing this book bag you may be making some of your own predictions!  Let's see if they are correct!

The Lemonade Babysitter by Karen Waggoner is a sweet story about a little girl named Molly, who doesn't like having babysitters.  She would rather go to work with her mom, so when a neighbor, Mr. Herbert, shows up to take care of her one day, Molly does her best to make sure the man will not want to babysit again.  Molly is  surprised that Mr. Herbert doesn't mind when she does his hair, makes him take dancing lessons, and asks him to take her to the zoo.  Mr. Herbert takes great care of Molly and the have a terrific day.  At the end of the day, Molly appreciates Mr. Herbert and makes sure that she does something nice to him in return.

Were your predictions correct?

I know we will be trying more book bags in the future.  They are so easy to put together!

This is the last book on our lemonade list!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for a collection of all of our lemonade activities and books!

A Lemonade Play

Do your kids like to put on plays?  We have put on plays during Thanksgiving and my oldest had so much fun putting it all together and practicing.  He did a great job performing too, so when I came across a play about making lemonade, I knew that we needed to check the book out of the library.  This book provided us with some reading material and lots of play time.  We stayed busy one afternoon rehearsing our play!

In Starring Francine and Dave by Ruth Young, you will find three one-act plays.  One is about a peanut butter sandwich, another about a chocolate cake, but the one we were focused on for the day was about making lemonade!  

We spent some time reading the play and talking about stage directions, dialogue, and props.  This book actually has a glossary in the back with great words to discuss when you put on a play. The story line of this play was simple and the reading level was at a good level for my son, so I quickly made some note cards with my six year old's lines on them and told the boys to gather up the props.

This is the only picture I got of our play.  I think I was too busy acting!  

We had a great time acting and my six year old got some great reading practice in.  He even took his cards outside and practiced his lines on his own.  My three year old loved pretending to make the lemonade with all of the props, and they even made tickets for people to come and see our play!

One of the props in the story is a paper fan.  I taught my six year old how to make one, and he has made a few since then.  It is one of those simple things that I used to do all of the time and it was fun teaching him about something I used to do as a kid!

Our Other Lemonade Posts

Maisy Makes Lemonade

Lemonade Math

Lemonade Stand - Pretend Play

The End and A Bowl of Lemonade Cake

Lemonade Play Dough

Making Words with Lemonade

Lemonade Sun and Lemonade Play Dough

 I wish I was better at reading poetry with my son, but it is definitely something I need to work on. Lemonade Sun and Other Summer Poems by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist is a wonderful book of poetry for the summer.  This book made it very easy to read some poetry this week because it had poems about all of the things we have been doing and reading about this summer.  There are some wonderful poems about lemonade, fireworks, bugs, jump ropes, and bubbles!

The poems about lemonade use such terrific adjectives that I decided this would be a perfect book to talk about describing words!

First, I pointed out some of the words that were used to describe and help us picture lemonade and ice (frosty, light, sweetness, light).  I also asked my son what kind of words he would use to describe lemonade.

I made some lemonade play dough earlier in the week using the kool-aid play dough recipe from The Idea Room.  It is so easy to make and I haven't messed up one batch since I started using this recipe.  Today we used lemonade and pink lemonade of course!

The boys were very excited to do a project at our new kitchen table.  I, on the other hand, was nervous!  I will have to get over it.

My six year old didn't know what to stamp so I told him to stamp some words that he thinks of when he thinks of lemonade.  Sour was the word he came up with and he spelled it on his own!

My three year old was stamping the letter L for lemonade.

Some simple play dough play was just what we needed in between a concert in the park and an evening at the pool!

I have linked up here!