Happy Wednesday Readers!!!!

I hope everyone is having a good day and enjoying the last days of vacation for summer for the school children. There are only 14 days till school starts here where I live.  So time is running out for the teachers and students.  So I hope the children are enjoying  these last days of their freedom.  I wanted to share that in the last Xplor Magazine they gave a kind of Scavenger List of things to look for while your camping in  your backyard or the woods.  If you don't have the magazine you could make your list and have the children see if they could find them and then check them off on their list for a prize.  Children love scavenger hunts.  We even did them in our classroom several times a year.

Some ideas might be:

1.Collect 5 kinds of leaves

2.Hear a woodpecker hammering

3.Find a purple, yellow,and white flower

4.Find a creepy crawler

5.Spot an animal with 2,4,6,8 legs

6.Spot a mammal out for food

7. Hear a hoot owl.

8. Hear a mockingbird sing

9.Find a moth or lightning bug

10.Find something crawling on the ground

So make up a Scavenger List and have the kids to find all they can in their backyard.

I have a backyard camping book to share which is really cute.

The Camping Scare

by

Terri Daugherty

This is a mystery story for 2nd and 3rd graders.  Ben and Beth go on a campout in their backyard.  They set up a tent and took the sleeping bags and ate marshmallows. They told scary stories and then they got in the sleeping bags to go to sleep but they couldn't sleep. Ben and Beth heard a sound "thump, thud, thud." They got out their flashlight and looked around the backyard. They determined the sounds where coming from the house.  They closed their eyes and plugged their ears but they could still hear the noise coming from the house. The noise got louder and louder and Ben and Beth were scared.  What could it be? Check out The Camping Scare and find out what the noise was.  Children will enjoy this book. For some reason they like scary stories but they might end up back in the house before the night is over. :)

Hope you will check it out and maybe some other young mysteries that kids might like.

                                                                 

Hello Everyone,

Happy Monday

Well, it is the last Monday in July for 2014.  I hope everyone has enjoyed their activities this month.  I also hope you and your children did a book club or went camping.  The children have a few more weeks before school starts but the time is running out for summer activities for them.  They start school where I live on August 13.  So not many days left before the school bell will be ringing for the children and teachers.

I have a couple of more cute camping books to share with you and I hope you will share them with a child and maybe even go camping even just in the backyard.  I also have a neat magazine to share with you that could come right to your door.  If your children love the outdoors or if you want them to love being outside it has great activities in it to share with them. In fact I think I will share it today and the two camping books on Wednesday.  Then on Friday I think I will share some good going Back to School books and tips for children just starting Kindergarten and the other grades as well. I think once you have been a teacher for many years you still get excited about Back to School time and helping the children to ease back into school with a positive learning experience.

 So for today here is the magazine I ordered for my students when I was teaching and they all really enjoyed reading it and looking at the colorful pictures.

Xplor

Adventure in Nature

by

Missouri Department of Conservation

(I am sure each state probably has some sort of nature magazine for their state)

The magazine is Parent's Choice Approved.

This magazine is free to Missouri Households.

Contact this website for information.

xplormo.org/node/2618

The magazine has great nature pictures, facts, games, and fun activities.  This month there are many recipes for Campfire Cooking which would be great to do in a backyard camp or in the woods or National Park.

Some of the recipes are Orange Blueberry Muffins, Eggs in a Raincoat,Campfire Calzones, Xplorer Stew, Pigs in a Sleeping Bag, and Banana Boats.  All of them sound good , look good, and I bet they taste good too.  I think a favorite of mine would be the Pigs in a Sleeping Bag.

 You need:

Hot dogs

Crescent roll dough

Ketchup and Mustard

Sticks or hot dog roasting forks

Skewer the pig(hot dog) onto a roasting fork or stick. 

Wrap the hot dog in a thin layer of crescent roll dough(which makes the sleeping bag). 

Hold the hot dog over the fire. Don't let the fire touch the dough. Turn the fork so it cooks on all sides. 

Dinner is done when the dough turns golden brown.  Eat the pig plain, or dip in ketchup or mustard.

What a fun recipe and kids will love the name, Pig in a Sleeping Bag.

Order a copy today of the Xplor Magazine for your child and have fun learning about nature in Missouri. ( If you live in another state or country check out from your state what they have available and enjoy the great outdoors with your child or grandchild.  They will love it and they will be reading and learning too.

Check one out with a child today.  They will love them and want to be outside.

 

Hello Friends!!!!!

Well, friends how many of you made a tent for your child or grandchild to read a book in?  I hope you did.  I even thought about making one for me to read in.  I always loved tents and canopy beds.  It gives you a warm feeling and it is always fun to read a book by flashlight.

Today I want to share a little more about camping and to share  two really cool books that children will enjoy and they will learn a lot about camping.

The first book is:

Sleeping in a Sack

by

Linda White

This book is full of facts about camping, songs, what to take camping, recipes to make over the open fire, and many more interesting facts.

I really enjoyed it and children who are going camping in the woods or National Parks will get a lot of information from this book.  It would be a book for 8 year old children and up.  I would check it out and share it with a child if they are really going camping this summer.

The second book is:

S is for S'mores

A Camping Alphabet

by

Helen Foster James

This book gives a short rhyming verse for each letter of the alphabet and then on the sides of the page the author gives you information about each item of camping she describes in the rhyming verse.  She also tells you about places you can camp.  For example she talks about the desert for letter D.  On the sides of the pages she gives more information about the desert and then several places you can camp in the desert.

This book has beautiful pictures, and lots of information even I didn't know. I would highly recommend it for young children to have it read to them for the rhyming part and the pictures and for older children 8-12 for the rhyming part, the pictures, and all of the cool information about camping.  I think even adults would enjoy this book.  SO really it is a book for all ages.  Check it out at your local library and share it with a child. :)

At the end of the book it would be a great time to make a S'more.  Who doesn't love them.  All you need is: 

Graham Crackers

Marshmallows

Hershey's Chocolate Bar

 Everyone knows how to make them and there are even indoor recipes too for them.

See you again soon for more camping books.  I hope some of you will go camping over the weekend.  Don't forget a good book !!!!!

Hello Everyone!!!!

How is everyone doing?  Are you enjoying your summer? It is 98 degrees here today so pretty warm.  I was thinking about the pool today.  It sounds cool and refreshing.  Also,  I was thinking about when I was a kid and what I did in the summer for fun.  There was bike riding, going to the pool, playing baseball in the lot next door to our home, having homemade popsicles under the shade tree in the backyard.  My brother and I always enjoyed our summers and all the fun things we did.  I remember one summer  we decided we wanted to go camping. So we asked mom if we could get a tent and being the ingenious mom that she was she built us a tent in the backyard. She took a couple of blankets  and put them on the clothesline and attached them with clothespins.  Then she put down a piece of tarp and then put blankets on top of it.  Then she showed us

how to make a homemade sleeping bag.

How to make a Homemade Sleeping Bag

1. Start with two blankets

2.Place left half of one blanket over right half of the other blanket.

3.Fold left half of bottom blanket over the two blanket layers you already have and then the right half of the last blanket over the stack.

4. Carefully pin with large safety or blanket pins.

5.Now fold up one end and pin it.

6. Crawl in and sleep snug as a bug in a rug.

After we fixed our sleeping bag we grabbed our pillows, flashlight, snack, and headed out to our tent.

Dad would even fix us a small campfire and  all of us would roast marshmallows and make smores.  Then we would sing songs. We had great fun and didn't have to buy anything.

I used to lay out in my backyard on a pallet in the summer and read my books.  I loved doing it and my mom would always fix me a snack and some lemonade and I would spend my summer afternoon reading and enjoying the outdoors.

So I am going to talk about some good books to read about camping and how to get your children or grandchildren outside to read and enjoy the outdoors this summer.

Make a homemade tent or if you have a real tent set it 

up outside and have some fun reading and enjoying the great outdoors this summer.

Here are some pics of homemade tents I found .  I don't really have a pic of the one my mom made for my brother and I but I sure do remember it which was a long time ago.  So I know I loved it  to remember it all this time.  SO make a tent today and read some books in it with your child or grandchild.  See you next time with some camping books to share with you.

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!

How is everyone's July going so far?  I hope you are enjoying your summer with your children or grandchildren. I love summer and I always enjoyed being in the swimming pool and sitting outside drinking some ice tea and reading a good book.  Some of my favorite things happen in the summer.  Has anyone started a book club?  If so, how is that going?  I hope well.  I hear there are also book clubs online and I have been thinking about joining one or at the library myself.

Oh, but yesterday I did something I always loved in the summer and fall.  I bought some school supplies.  Teachers' love school supplies and what child doesn't love going shopping for new supplies.  Every child should be able to fill up a book bag with new supplies. I have taken my children and granddaughter shopping every year.  We all love it. Yesterday, I bought a few supplies for myself .  They were on sale at my local Wal-mart and many other stores I saw adds for in the paper.  I took some pictures to show you a cute way to display your supplies that all children will love.   What excitement to get new pencils, crayons, notebooks, and book bags.  They even had some cute stuff for just 25 cents.  I love school supplies and children starting back to school.  So check  out my school supplies and check out your neighborhood stores for some good buys on school supplies.  

I think since summer is about camps and vacations that I will pick some books to share about both for my next posts.

Go out and buy some school supplies for someone today.  Who doesn't love them?  Have a wonderful day and I will see you Friday.

Enjoy your shopping and let your child pick a theme or a favorite color like I did with purple.  Have fun!!!!!! Also, pick up a good book to read now or the first of the school year. 

Happy Monday Friends

Well, I hope everyone had a great July 4th.  I love the picnics, balloons, and fireworks during the 4th of July  weekend.  I would love to be sailing on a beautiful lake on looking out my window at the mountains.  I used to spend everyday in my parents' in ground pool.  My girls and I had a blast swimming and playing in the pool with my mother and friends.  I enjoyed everyday of the summer right there for many years and I really do miss that.  So enjoy those days at the pool with your children and grandchildren.

How is the summer reading going for the children?  I hope they are reading a little each day.  It is so important for young children to be reading during the summer when they are out of school.  I think that is why book clubs are so good for children in the summer.  So start  a book club and get the children reading this summer.

I have another great idea for a book club especially for girls this summer.  I would plan a book club around the movie, Frozen.  I really enjoyed the movie and meeting and learning about Elsa and Anna. 

Here is the site for the books on Frozen at the Barnes and Noble Store.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/frozen?store=allproducts&keyword=frozen

I know young girls would love reading these books all summer and then having a cute party (giving you a link for one off of pinterest).  Then they could watch Frozen as the end of the summer reading book club.  You might check the library too but I'm not sure what they have yet.

Here is the link for the party.

 http://bubblynaturecreations.com/2013/12/disney-frozen-party.html

I hope you and your child or grandchild will enjoy  a summer book club with Frozen as your theme.