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Why Teens Should Watch Hamilton

Posted by Vicki Jul 2, 2020 Family Fun, Full Grown Bookworms, Learning

Find out why teens should watch Hamilton and the things they can learn! Hamilton is coming to Disney+ and I don’t know about you, but I am excited! Whether you are a Broadway fan or not, chances are you know about the show and may even know some of the songs. And now we all have a chance to see the original cast perform it together. I will definitely be watching it, and I think there are lots of reasons why teens should watch Hamilton too!

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Camping Books & Toys for Kids

Posted by Vicki Jun 29, 2020 Book Lists, Books, Educational Products, Family Fun

Explore and play pretend with these fun camping toys and books for kids!

We went camping in tents and cabins a lot when I was a kid. My daughter has already shown an interest in going camping, but until we do go on our own trip, these camping toys and books for kids have helped us to pretend!

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of some of these books and products in exchange for my honest review. These are marked with an *. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The TRUTH about Kiwi Crates!

Posted by Vicki May 25, 2020 Educational Products, Family Fun, Learning, STEM

As a mom and former teacher, I am always on the lookout for great educational resources for families. So when we found KiwiCo subscription boxes, I was excited to try them out. After a year of trying out the Koala Crate for ages 2-4, we moved up to the Kiwi Crate for 5-8 year olds. And I am ready to share the truth about Kiwi Crates.

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They are AMAZING.

Every month, my daughter is excited to get her Kiwi Crate in the mail. We track it after it ships, and she takes guesses on what theme it will be about. When it does arrive, she immediately opens it up and we get started. I love the broad range of topics that we have had the opportunity to explore, as well as the skills she has been able to practice.

kiwi crate activities

The Contents

I have been impressed every time we have opened one of their boxes. The educational magazine includes an introduction to the topic through games, colorful cartoons, and fun facts. Not only does the magazine get my daughter interested in the topic with it’s cute illustrations and interesting explanations, but the parent guide walks us through the activities with easy to follow instructions. I love how easily the instructions are laid out in the guide. All of the components for each activity are also included, making it possible for us to start them right away.

The Activities

The most impressive part of the Kiwi boxes for me as a parent are the smart ways that they create the activities. In one of the boxes, my daughter was supposed to paint wooden beads for friendship bracelets. The box included foam blocks and a dowel so she could paint the beads without holding them or rolling away. When she built a grasping tool, the instructions used stickers to hold the pieces together while she built it. All of these small details show just how much the people at Kiwi Co think about the activities and the kids who will be doing them.

The Product Lines

I am thrilled that Kiwi Co offers so many product lines for different ages and skill levels. My daughter will be turning 5 soon, so I recently changed her subscription to the next level up. I was a little nervous that it would be too difficult for her, but she has really enjoyed it. The magazine has been a little more over her head than the last box, but it just encourages us to take it slowly.

One of the nice parts about the Kiwi Co boxes is that the things that kids create can often be used again and again. Some of the items that my daughter has made through our time with Kiwi Co is a rainbow handbag, an arcade claw game, a bear backpack, a glowing campfire, a xylophone, and a dinosaur costume. A day doesn’t go by where we don’t use one of the items that we have made.

If you are looking for quality educational resources for kids, then you will want to listen to the Truth about Kiwi Crates! Click here to learn more about them!

Are you looking for the truth about Kiwi Crates? This review shares the facts about Kiwi Crates and their other subscription boxes. #subscriptionboxesforkids #kiwicrates #STEMsubscription

My Favorite Books to Read Aloud

Posted by Vicki May 21, 2020 Book Lists, Books, Family Fun

These are the best children's books to read aloud. #kidsbooks #readaloud #childrensbooks

I love reading aloud and seeing kids get drawn into a story. When I was a teacher, it was my favorite part of any day. From 3 year olds to 5th graders, I have worked in lots of classrooms, and I never found a group of kids who couldn’t be drawn in by a good story. So I decided to share some of my favorite books to read aloud. These are all good for keeping kids entertained, and they are lots of fun to get into and perform.

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Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Mo Willem’s Pigeon is a bit of a trouble maker. All he wants to do is drive the bus. When the bus driver steps away for a moment, he asks the reader to make sure that the Pigeon does not drive the bus. The story is told through the Pigeon’s words, pleading, begging, and trying to trick the reader. His increased begging and shouting is a lot of fun to read out loud, and kids love saying no to every crazy trick the Pigeon tries to pull.

The Monster at the End of This Book

Written by Jon Stone and illustrated by Mike Smollin

This book stars the adorable and lovable Grover from Sesame Street. Grover is frightened by the Monster in the title of the book. So he keeps begging the reader to not turn the page. He doesn’t want to get to the end of the story and face the monster. As you continue turning pages, his attempts to stop you get more desperate, which makes it really fun to read out loud. Kids will not only love the frantic pace of the story, and the silly situations, but will also love the sweet, surprise ending.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz

This story follows Alexander, a young boy who struggles through a long, difficult day where everything goes wrong. Each bad thing that happens to him makes him more upset and hopeless about the day. The text flows beautifully, and the repetitive phrase “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” gives you a chance to really emphasize and draw kids into the story. This was one of my favorite ones to read aloud when I was in classrooms, and kids always enjoyed it.

Why?

Written by Adam Rex and illustrated by Claire Keane

This story is currently my daughter’s favorite story to read along with me. The story follows a young girl who is at the mall with her mom, when a super villain crashes in and threatens to take over the world. Instead of being afraid, the young girl asks him “Why?”. No matter what explanation he gives, or how deep into his background he dives, she just keeps asking the same question. The super villain’s dialogue is really fun to read and be extra dramatic with, while the little girl’s sweet repeated refrain is my daughter’s favorite part to say.

Bear Snores On

Written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman

We are big fans of Karma Wilson’s series of Bear books. The beautiful rhyming and soft illustrations make these books a perfect bedtime story. No matter how many times we read them, the rhymes and the rhythm of the story always feel beautiful and easy to read, and they have such a soothing quality. Plus, my daughter adores the animal characters and the funny endings to the stories.

Related Post: New Bedtime Books for Kids

How to Make Sight Words Fun

Posted by Vicki May 11, 2020 Educational Products, Family Fun, Raising Readers, Reading

Looking to make sight words fun? This easy sight word practice can provide tons of fun learning opportunities for kids! #sightwords #sightwordgames #sightwordpractice

With school being closed for the remainder of the year, I am trying to find even more fun ways to get learning into our day without making my daughter feel overworked. We have recently begun working on sight words. So to get our practice in, I decided to come up with some fun ways to review them with her. This easy sight word practice can be adapted to whatever your kids are interested in and provide tons of fun learning opportunities.

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My sister and I are huge Harry Potter fans, and we decided to make a flying keys mobile for a friend of ours that was having a baby. So my sister bought little dragonfly wings like these for us to use. She offered me the leftover wings, knowing I would find some way to use them. I decided to attach them to our sight word cards with a little sticky tack, and create “Sight Word Fairies”.

To start with, I printed out these flash cards for the first 100 sight words on the Fry Sight Words List. I cut them out and put them in a little bag. I have started taking them out a dozen at a time and focusing on those.

Sight Word Fairy Hunt

I started with some of the sight words that I was pretty sure my daughter already knew and recognized. I hid them throughout our living room and encouraged her to find them. In order to “capture” them, she had to read them correctly. If she read one incorrectly, it flew away and she had to find it again. She had so much fun finding them and capturing them, that we have played this game over and over.

Sight Word Bug Swat

My daughter is going through a bug thing right now, so the next day we pretended that they were “sight word bugs” and she had to swat them with a fly swatter. I laid them on the ground and encouraged her to swat the correct word as I called them out to her. On another day, we were playing with her dolls and we pretended that she had to protect her baby from the “bugs”. As they got closer to her and her baby, she had to call them out and swat them before they reached them. She had a blast “protecting” her baby doll.

sight word activity

Tons of Sight Word Games

This simple idea can be changed around to suit whatever your child is interested in at the moment. We have also been inspired recently by the show “Bluey” and their fairy hunt episode, as well as adventures in the Magic Tree House books, and even Chewbacca chasing off the Porgs from Star Wars. Each of these interests gave me a starting off point to include a little sight word review in our day. This activity doesn’t have to take a long time, and it can be done any time of the day. With all the different ways that we can use these little winged cards, she has yet to get bored with practicing sight words.

Conquering Sight Words

After we have done this several times with the same words, she starts to master them. Once she has “conquered” a certain word, we put it into a “Word Treasure Chest”. Then I remove the wings and add them to a new flashcard. This has allowed her to see how many words she has already conquered and how far she has come. Together, we will come up with a prize or celebration for when she has conquered all of the words.

This easy sight word activity is so adaptable and fun that kids will be asking to practice! Check out my printable sight word flashcards over in the Babies to Bookworms shop to get started! Looking to make sight words fun? This easy sight word practice can provide tons of fun learning opportunities for kids! #sightwords #sightwordgames #sightwordpractice

The Best Spring Books & Activities for Kids

Posted by Vicki Apr 16, 2020 Book Based Activities, Family Fun, Learning, Seasons, Spring

Looking for the best Spring activities for kids? This roundup of fun Spring crafts, activities, and books for kids will keep them learning all season long! #spring #kidactivities #parenting #kidbooks #springcrafts #springactivities

Spring is here and we are so excited to get outside again. Whether we are jumping in mud puddles, playing in the garden, or walking around the neighborhood, we find lots of ways to take our learning outside. This list has tons of fun Spring activities for kids to keep your family reading, playing, and learning all season long!

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Preparing for Spring with Gardening Activities for Kids!

My daughter is getting more interested in gardening as she grows, so we are spending lots of time digging in the dirt and exploring gardens. After reading the book Badger’s Perfect Garden, we were inspired to plan our perfect garden, engage in garden themed sensory play, and create a garden themed letter matching game. Click here to check them out!

And Then It’s Spring

We love exploring nature while we are outside. So when Spring rolls around, we are excited to see all the new sights in nature. The book And Then It’s Spring inspired us to explore the world around us, and create a fun Springtime scavenger hunt. We also made flower play dough, painted with flowers, and practiced our math and fine motor skills with flower activities. Check them out here!

Search for Signs of Spring with Fun Spring Activities!

As soon as the weather starts to turn, even the tiniest bit, we are ready for Spring to arrive. So we love searching for signs of Spring as soon as possible. The book When Will It Be Spring? inspired us to take a nature walk and search for signs of the changing season, as well as making an easy bird nest craft, practicing contractions, and making our own Spring flower bouquet.

Check it out here!

25 No Prep Activities for Kids

Posted by Vicki Mar 12, 2020 Family Fun

Stuck inside? These low or no-prep activities for kids will keep them entertained and provide learning opportunities while on lockdown! #noprepactivities #activitiesforkids #kidsactivities #familyactivities #familyfun

As the world starts to cancel events and close schools, many parents are finding themselves looking for easy activities to keep their house-bound kids entertained. So I decided to share 25 low or no-prep activities for kids that will make the lockdown days a bit more fun.

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1. Reading!

Obviously this will be my first suggestion, given the topics on this site. But you can also take this opportunity to change up your reading. Why not start a new book series together? Or read a book and watch the movie based on it?

2. Play hide and seek

This is one of my daughter’s favorite activities when we are trapped inside. It’s fun to have to think outside the box and find new hiding places in your home.

3. Exercise

Get some of that excess energy out with fun and easy exercises that don’t require any additional equipment. Create different challenges for one another, or try a spelling exercise game like this one.

4. Board Games

I don’t know about you, but we have lots of board games that we never seem to find time to play anymore. This is a perfect time to have a family game night and maybe teach kids some of your old favorites.

5. Build a blanket fort

We are always up for a good indoor camp out, and being locked inside is the perfect time. Stretch your imagination and try using different items in your home to create a big fort. Check out our ideas for camping indoors here!

6. Paint each other’s portraits

This is a fun activity that will give you a chance to be creative and find out how you see one another. Lay out paper and art supplies and create portraits of the members in your family.

7. Write a family bucket list

We won’t be trapped inside forever. So it’s a great time to put your heads together and figure out what types of things that you want to do as a family. We did this once with a travel bucket list, and it is so much fun to come up with your dream list without any strings.

8. Create a letter train

Explore your home for items starting with different letters. Make letters on the floor with masking tape, or lay down pieces of paper with letters on them. Have kids place items onto each letter. Learn more about what we did here.

9. Create an indoor obstacle course

Use masking tape and items around your home to create an easy obstacle course that gets kids to practice their gross motor skills. You can even have them set up their own courses when they finish yours.

10. Practice yoga together

Teaching kids about yoga and mindfulness are a great way to relax together and practice skills that will help you handle the stresses of day to day life. So this is a great time to check out a fun Kids Yoga program, or get some new yoga books! We like Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube because they are story based and use some of our favorite stories as inspiration.

11. Scavenger Hunts

My daughter is obsessed with scavenger hunts lately. My father likes to set up hunts for her with clues that lead from one area of the house to another. Set up an easy scavenger hunt around your home with slips of paper for clues. You can offer a simple prize at the end (my daughter likes a couple jelly beans), and encourage them to create their own hunts as well. Check out these printable scavenger hunts to get you started!

12. Get outside

Just because you can’t go to social gatherings doesn’t mean you have to stay inside. Head outside to play, even if the weather isn’t perfect yet. Set aside the normal rules and let them get messy. Jump in the puddles and play in the mud!

Check out our favorite mud puddle activities here!

5 Tips for Reading with Kids

Posted by Vicki Dec 19, 2019 Family Fun, Raising Readers, Reading

Learn how to read aloud to kids with these 5 reading tips! #readaloud #reading #howtoreadaloud #readingtokids

Reading aloud to kids has so many amazing benefits. But some people find it difficult to keep their kids engaged in their reading. These 5 tips for reading with kids will help you to keep your kids entertained and make reading time a favorite part of the day.

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Choose the Right Time

It is really important to choose the right time for reading. This doesn’t necessarily mean right before bed, although for some families, that is the best time. However, you could also choose to read in the morning, during meals or snacks, or during a set time that you agree on. Set the scene and get comfy. Make sure everyone can see the pages and limit distractions around you.

Use Inflection

Put some feeling into it! Change up your voice and use a lot of emphasis. Try different voices. Draw out the tension and play with the words on the page. You don’t have to be comfortable doing a big performance. But changing up your tone and inflection makes the story more engaging, encouraging kids to stay focused.

Reading aloud is a different skill than just reading the words on the page. Consider the distractions that kids face everyday and amp up your own excitement. Just reading the words can’t compete with the bright colors and noises of the screens all around them. But giving them a great performance will keep them interested.

Related: Tips to Rock Your Read Aloud

Ask Questions

Asking kids questions about the book you are reading not only encourages them to stay involved in the story, but also teaches them important reading skills. One of the things drilled into me while studying literacy is that “Good Readers Ask Questions”. They ask questions of the text, of the world, and of themselves.

While my daughter and I read, I ask her what she thinks will happen next, which helps her to develop her prediction skills. I ask her what she thinks a character is thinking. We stop and explore the illustrations: “Do you see the spider hiding there?”. All of these questions get her more involved in the story, and bring us closer together too.

Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, has said, “Ultimately one must acknowledge that questions are a child’s primary learning tool. Don’t destroy natural curiosity by ignoring it.” Encouraging kids to ask questions, and asking questions of them encourages them to explore the story, and share their curiosity with you. So even on your 180th question of the night, try to remember that they are a good thing!

Encourage Them to Help

How to Teach Kids in the Kitchen

Posted by Vicki Dec 9, 2019 Family Fun, Learning

Get kids learning in the kitchen with these easy tips and tricks! #cookingwithkids #kidsinthekitchen #familydinner

Cooking dinner can sometimes seem like a big hassle. But what if you thought of it as a chance to create family memories and give your kids new learning opportunities? My daughter already loves cooking and working in the kitchen. She loves baking with her grandmother, and she already helps to choose and prepare one meal a week. There are so many great lessons that can be taught while cooking, so I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to teach kids in the kitchen!

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Choosing Meals

Before you even start cooking, the first step to making a meal is choosing what to eat. This is also one of the first opportunities to teach your kids. My mother insisted from a young age that my sister and I should choose one meal a week. This ensured that we would each have at least one meal on the menu that we enjoyed (and didn’t complain about). It also opens a conversation about healthy meal choices. My mother insisted that our meals always had a protein, a side dish, and a fruit and a vegetable. Before my daughter turned 4, she already knew that each meal should include a protein. This early interest in healthy food choices will help her as she grows and her tastes change.

Actionable Tip: Let your kids choose one meal this week. Search through fun cookbooks for ideas. My daughter’s current favorite is the Disney Princess Cookbook.

Reading & Following Directions

One of the most straightforward ways to learn in the kitchen is to practice reading. Once you have chosen a recipe, encourage your kids to read through the recipe. Get out the ingredients as you read them. For kids who are too young to read the whole recipe, have them match the names of ingredients in the recipe with the names on the packaging, when possible. Reading a recipe is different than reading a regular book, so it encourages them to recognize the differences between types of texts and the skills needed to decipher them.

Actionable Tip: Read through each step in a recipe together and discuss any vocabulary words that they don’t recognize.

Exploring Colors with This Book is Gray

Posted by Vicki Nov 25, 2019 Book Based Activities, Books, Family Fun, Uncategorized

Inspire kids to explore colors with this fun children's book and color activities for kids! #kidsbooks #booksforkids #coloractivities #rainbowactivities

I love exploring colors, and today I’m sharing an adorable book about colors and the ways that they work together. In addition to exploring different types of colors and introducing color vocabulary, this funny book explores storytelling and creativity. We had a lot of fun coming up with creative color activities to bring this story to life.

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This Book is Gray was written and illustrated by Lindsay Ward. Gray just wants to be join the other colors, but they are always leaving him out. So he decides to write his own story that is completely gray. But soon all of the other colors are butting in and trying to help him with his story. When he can’t handle all of their interference, he comes clean about feeling left out.

This story is full of hilarious characters and conversations. All of the colors have strong personalities, leading to big conflicts between them. The text includes lots of funny jokes about the different types of colors and their color families, while also telling a compelling story about appreciating others and fitting in. The illustrations are adorable, and each color has it’s own personality on display.

story activities

Color Story

In the book, Gray decides to write his own story, only using the color gray. He was able to create a really interesting story out of one color, so we decided to try the same thing. I printed out this story sheet and my daughter and I created both a one color story, and a story that used all the colors. Because she is too young to write, I wrote the story down for her, then she illustrated it with her crayons. We had a lot of fun trying to come up with a compelling story with only one color. And she decided that the story was a lot more fun when we used all of the colors together.

Color Sorting

Not only does this book introduce readers to a variety of colors, but it also explores the concept of color groups. To further explore these color groupings, I laid out a variety of colorful art supplies: pom poms, pipe cleaners, feathers, etc. I encouraged my daughter to sort them into different piles based on their colors. You can also sort them into primary and secondary colors, or complementary colors. She had a lot of fun dividing them up, and we then used them to create color characters inspired by the story.

They are AMAZING.

The Contents

The Activities

The Product Lines

If you are looking for quality educational resources for kids, then you will want to listen to the Truth about Kiwi Crates! Click here to learn more about them!

Written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Written by Jon Stone and illustrated by Mike Smollin

Written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz

Written by Adam Rex and illustrated by Claire Keane

Written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman

Sight Word Fairy Hunt

Sight Word Bug Swat

Tons of Sight Word Games

Conquering Sight Words

1. Reading!

2. Play hide and seek

3. Exercise

4. Board Games

5. Build a blanket fort

6. Paint each other’s portraits

7. Write a family bucket list

8. Create a letter train

9. Create an indoor obstacle course

10. Practice yoga together

11. Scavenger Hunts

12. Get outside

Choose the Right Time

Use Inflection

Ask Questions

Choosing Meals

Reading & Following Directions

Color Story

Color Sorting

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