Fox in Socks part 2

After you have found yourself all twisted up by tongue twisters, take a break to whip up a batch of goo. Here are two recipes using ingredients you may already have in your home. If you do not have these ingredients, try mixing up a batch of homemade play-dough or bring out the dough you already have on hand and construct a creature from Fox in Socks.

Goo #1
*1 tablespoon of Borax
*white school glue
* 1/2 cup warm water
*container to mix it all in
*mess friendly zone

There are many recipes for this goo online and while they all work, I like to give children small amounts of the ingredients and allow them to experiment. The key to this project is the warm water and Borax. You do not need a lot of glue.Pour your warm water into the container you are planning to use. Have your child measure out one tablespoon of Borax detergent. Borax (sodium borate) is a natural mineral compound often used as a laundry booster. You can find it at large drugstores or online. Stir to dissolve.Squeeze or poor a small amount of white glue into the borax/water mixture. The glue almost immediately sticks to itself and turns into putty. Add more glue for more putty.
Remove and have fun! This recipe make a silly putty style putty. The more you handle it, the more you are able to get the moisture out. This putty bounces just like a superball and even lifts newsprint for some comic crazy fun. The leftover water mixture can be poured down your sink and the goo can be saved for about three days in an airtight container. If you wish to make a tinted putty. Add your color to the glue first and then add the borax and water mixture to the glue. Click here to read more about this experiment and have fun!

Goo #2 (this one can be super messy)
*a good sized container for the mixing
*1/2 cup water
*1/3 cup of corn starch
*food color optional
*mess friendly area
*aprons or smocks for the tots

Set out your ingredients in a mess friendly zone. Making this an outdoor activity is perfect but indoors will work just fine. Dump the cornstarch into your container.. You can have your wee one measure it if you like. You really don't need much so stick with 1/3 cup if you can.Next, allow your child to add water to the cornstarch, a little at a time. It will start out looking crazy clumpy, lumpy so take some time to stir it up a bit.
That's it! It is really hard to explain how this goo feels so I made a quick video clip for you to watch. Have fun!

Read Across America Fun- Day 1

Years and years and eons ago, when I was in charge of children's programming at a large bookstore chain, I held a doozy of a Read Across America Day. It was actually a weekend event with over one hundred children in attendance and did we have a blast! For this Read Across America week I am going to dig into my memories to share with you some of the fun we had. Children love connections between the fun stories they read and their real life. So, what we are going to do today is give you some idea on how to extend some of their favorite stories into arts & crafts and games & fun. Are ya ready?
Today's Dr. Seuss book is Fox in Socks! If you have never read Fox in Socks, get ready to run your tongue through a twister! This book is a great tool to introduce the fun in tongue twisters. Take is slow and have your wee ones repeat after you the silliest of rhymes. Tongue Twisters find their magic in rhyme and alliteration. Children adore alliterations and it is easy for them to mimic.An alliteration is a group of words (usually a sentence) in which each word begins with the same letter. For the best effect, the letter should produce the same beginning sound (sometimes c, j, g and others don't make the same sounds). For example:

"Foxes find flowers fun" or "Senta's socks slip slowly"

The sillier, the better and children do seem to like things that are silly. While tongue twisters themselves seem nonsensical and silly, they actually are powerful in teaching children phonemic awareness. Before children read, they begin to gather an awareness of sounds (phonemes) and rhythms (syntax) in language. When you read aloud from a book of tongue twister or rhymes, you are able to visually show your child what those sounds look like. Fox in Socks can be a great tool in beginning identification of sounds and how they look written down. Though I may stick with the first part of the book and stay far, far away from that tweetle beetle battle. After you have finished trip, trip, tripping those tongues up, have your wee ones create an alliteration of their own using their names as a jumping off point. You can also spend some time thinking up all the words you can that rhyme with socks, fox and box or pick another word that delights your tots.

If you have a large empty carton around, bring it on out and have your wee ones put on their happiest socks and see if they can act out the first part of the book. Try reading it as fast as you can and see how silly they can get.

Let's Read Across America!

Or Australia, Singapore, Canada...you name, it's time to read! In honor of the ever fabulous Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) today kicks of Read Across America week here in the U.S. Need a new book to read? Check out these lists from lil' old me or check out some hat making fun in honor of The Cat in the Hat!


*sweet love for little ones
*circle, circle, dot, dot!
*ahoy mateys!
*penguin reads
*garden reads
*puppy reads!

Take a visit over to the White House and read about literacy from President Obama's point of view.

More fun going ons from these nifty sites:
*Reading Rockets
*Seussville
*Read Write Think
*catinthehat.org
*The Art of Dr. Seuss
*Kids @ Random

Celebrate Read Across America Day!

Technically speaking, Read Across America day is celebrated on Dr. Seuss' birthday which happens to be today. Since no one really wants to kick off a celebration before the school week, all the hullaballo won't start until tomorrow. All this week, all across the good ol U.S. of A, schools, bookstores and libraries will be hosting all sorts of fun book friendly events. Check out these websites for more info:
read, write & think
National Education Association
education world
Reading rockets
Seussville

And now for a fun, quick and super easy pre-celebration craft! This one strays a bit from the art format but it makes for some super quick fun and the pictures you take of your kidlets are usually pretty nifty! Make a Cat in the Hat inspired chapeau!

What you need:
*large sheets of paper, construction paper or plain
*crayons, pens, paint
*fabric, string, yarn,
*other collagable good are optional
*glue, or tape
*scissors
scrumdilly-do it!

Oh shucks, if I were more technically savvy I would have a PDF available for you to download, unfortunately I do not so you will have to use your imagination or let your kidlets do the designing.

Take a sheet of paper and sketch out an outline that resembles the Cat's hat. You want to fill the entire sheet so that it will be appropriately tall. Cut out the hat shape or stack a couple of sheets on top of each other and cut a few out.Set out hats for your wee ones to dandy up using whichever art supplies they wish. If your wee ones are glue lovers you may want to stick with a glue stick, otherwise the hat will take forever to dry and they won't be able to wear it.From another sheet of aper, cut out two inch long strips as long as the paper. These will be your hat bands. Once hats are dry, staple or tape one band to each side of the hat making sure you start closer to the center of shape. Using your wee ones head as a guide, plop that puppy on and affix the two straps together so that the "hat" stays put. Trim if needed.There you have it! A cat inspired hat made for and by your kidlets!

Happy Day!