The Paper Bag Princess

I'll admit it. I was looking for any excuse I could find to work this book into my reading rotation. It's called The Paper Bag Princess written by Robert Munsch.  It's the story of your not-so-typical princess who gets her castle destroyed by a dragon. She uses her smarts to trick the dragon and save her prince.  But there is a really fun twist at the end that I don't want to spoil for you.  Grab this book and enjoy coming up with voices for the dragon.

Activity:  The Paper Bag Dress

This connection is a bit obvious, but it allows for lots of creativity and you can really go anywhere with this project. (Think a suit of armor for a little guy or a dragon outfit!)

What You'll Need:

• A Paper Bag (thanks Trader Joe's!)
• Scissors (for adult to use)
• Something to mark with
• Tape
• Markers or paint
• Stickers, sequins, glue, glitter, ribbon, etc. etc.!

Procedure:

1. After finishing the book, ask the kiddo what Elizabeth (the princess) had to wear after her castle was burned down.  Ask if they would like to make their own outfit to wear.
2. Gather materials (get creative with the decorative stuff).
3. Begin by asking where the hole for the head should go.  Adult draws a space for the head and cuts it out.  

   

   I did 2 scoops on each side and connected them with a straight line.

4. Try on the bag to make sure the placement is correct. Then, estimate where the arm holes should go and mark it with a marker.

5.  Cut out the arm holes and get to decorating!  We used markers, ribbon, tape, stickers and an old          shoe clip I wore on my wedding day!

6. Make a crown from the left-over pieces (we secured the crown with 2 bobby pins) or you could           make one that actually fits with construction paper.

7. Model your new fashion statement.  

And with the crown. That lasted all of 2 mins.

This is my daughter's 'cheese' face. I get it in a lot of pictures.

If you have an older kiddo who loves math, another activity you could do is a math equation to go along with the part of the story where the dragon flies around the world in 10 seconds. 

The formula is Speed = Distance/Time.  So, you know Time (10 seconds) and you can look up the circumference of the Earth (24,901 miles {40,075 km}) and figure out how fast the dragon was travelling! 

There are calculators online where your student could plug in the values and get the answer, too (promoting independence and computer literacy).  Here's one of those calculators: Speed Calculator

Have fun! If  you try out this activity, or read the book for the first time, I'd love to know what you thought!

The Snowy Day Activities

Our book for today was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  If you haven't read this book, you are missing out! The story is over 50 years old, but so relatable for any child who has ever played in the snow. The pictures are beautiful, bright paper cuts and it was revolutionary at the time for having an African American lead character and an urban setting.  It's the story of a little boy, Peter, who wakes up to find lots of perfect snow to play in. That's all I'll say about it because my daughter just kept saying, "I love this story!" 

Don't forget to point out the Caldecott Award!

So, using this book as our inspiration, I came up with 2 activities (one requires it to actually be a snowy day where you are- not a problem for us in the Northeast right now- and one that doesn't). 

Activity #1: Snowy Tracks

What You'll Need:

• A baking tray
• Snow
• Markers (I used Bingo Dabbers and they worked quite well- you can get them at the dollar store)
• Plastic Toys with a variety of "footprints"
• Wipes or paper towels for clean-up

Our toys and markers

Tray full of snow and a helper

Procedure:

1. Re-show the picture from the book where Peter makes different tracks.  Tell kiddo that we are going to make our own tracks with toys.
2. Take your easily-cleanable toys and color the bottom. You'll want pretty complete coverage.
3. Gently "walk" the toys on top of the snow (like you're doing stamps)
4. Try different colors and different toys until your snow is full of "footprints."
5. Sit back, admire your work, or try to guess who's feet go to which prints.
6. Explain how lots of things make tracks in the snow and be on the look out for tracks they next time you are outside exploring.

Coloring on the feet

Walking

Admiring

Activity #2: Ice Excavation

The Ice Excavation Project

*This activity takes a bit more planning (the items will need to spend the night in the freezer or outside, if it's cold enough). I chose this activity to go along with the part of the book that has Peter's snowball melting in his coat pocket when he brings it inside his warm apartment:

Peter discovering his snowball has melted

What You'll Need:

• Tupperware containers (as many as you'd like)
• Water (I used a few drops of food coloring in each, but you don't need to)
• Lots of little trinkets to be excavated (think plastic animals, shells, marbles, Lego's, etc.)
• Baking tray to contain water mess
• Squirt bottle
• Warm Water

Procedure: 

1. Fill tupperware containers with water and place toys inside. Place in freezer overnight.
2. The next day, run the tupperware under warm running water to free from the containers.
3. Place frozen toys on the tray and fill your squirt bottle with warm water (the warmer the water the faster it will go).
4. Remind kiddo of the part where Peter finds the snowball has melted. Ask why they think it melted in the warm apartment.
5. Ask what they think will happen if they squirt warm water on the cold ice.
6. Squirt warm water on ice blocks and attempt to free the toys inside!

Squirting the ice blocks

The toys are free!

My daughter had so much fun with this one and when the activity was over, she asked if we could do it again! She was engaged for a good 45 mins. on this one.  

Have fun!

Color Kittens Activity

Today we read a classic book- The Little Golden Book called Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown. (Find here:Color Kittens on Amazon)

 It's about 2 kittens who mix buckets and buckets of colors and can create all the colors in the world. The obvious activity would be to do some color mixing, but this is kind of a natural thing that kids already do on their own.  I wanted to mix some science into the equation.  This is a quick activity and takes materials that you likely already have on hand.



Extension activity:  Milk Color Mixing

The Last Page of Color Kittens

Our Version of Color Mixing

What You'll Need:

• A container
• Whole milk (yes, it has to be whole because of the fat content. 1/2 + 1/2 or cream would also work)
• Various Food Coloring
• Regular old dish soap (not the foaming kind)

Procedure:  

1. Pour a goodly amount (like my measurements?) of whole milk into your chosen container.  Make sure it covers the bottom and has about 1" to let the colors move.
2. Place drops of food coloring all over the container. (See picture at right)
3. Have child notice that the colors stay in their spot and don't run together.
4. Place a single drop of dish soap in the middle of the container.
5. Watch as the colors mix and dance all around the container! Also, I would think this is obvious, but don't drink the milk after you put soap in it...

What's Going On?

When you drop the soap into the bowl of milk, the surface tension (the force that was keeping the colors in one spot) decreases. Dish soap is a surfactant that starts to break down the fat inside the milk and creates the reaction that you get to witness! 

My New Idea

I had a thought today. As a former teacher, I'm always trying to think of ways to use read alouds with my daughter to their maximum potential. How can I take the lesson of this book and extend it? How can I encourage my daughter to think more about it?  For me, the easiest way to do this is to talk about it or to come up with a craft that relates to it directly (i.e. do a rorschach test-style butterfly after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar). But easy is not always  the best route to take.

My goal here is to challenge myself to come up with better ideas. I want sensory activities, science experiments, research projects, multidisciplinary activities.  I want to be creative and I want my daughter to create.  I plan to post projects related to books that we read and show their connection. I may even do some videos!  They most likely still won't be very complicated, because, you know, I have a 2 year old. But, at least I will have put some thought into them!


Full disclosure: I am a terrible planner and follow-through-er. It's certainly my weakness and I like to be spontaneous. This is my way of keeping myself accountable.  Also, I'm no photographer. I may also be taking the majority of my pictures on my phone, unless I really learn how to use my fancy camera on any setting besides 'auto.' I'm just a stay-at-home mom with a 2 year old (with plans to homeschool--- thanks Common Core) and one on the way. Some of these activities may be too simplistic or too complex for your child. Use your judgement and think of ways you can make them work for you!  I hope you find my posts useful and engaging. Thanks for following along!