Disney/Pixar's The Good Dinosaur

What if the asteroid that was supposed to destroy the dinosaurs missed? It would lead to an interesting friendship between a little boy named Spot and a dinosaur named Arlo. This is the premise for Disney/Pixar’s newest film, The Good Dinosaur. If your child can’t get enough of Spot and Arlo, here are some books to keep the dinosaurs alive in your home.

A Berry for Arlo – Jerrod Maruyama

Spot finds a branch of berries and wants to share it with his friend Arlo. His only problem is that he needs to GET to Arlo and there are many obstacles in the way (and many of them like berries too!). In this die-cut board book you will meet all kinds of dinosaurs and children will love joining Spot on his adventure to get a treat to his friend. With bright pictures that resemble the movie, children will want to read this over and over again. (Ideal for preschoolers ages 3-5.)

A Friend in the Wild – Brandi Dougherty

Spot and Arlo live in the wild and share their tips for survival in this adorable story about true friendship. The advice is actually relevant, like having sturdy shelter and knowing your plants (leaves of three – let them be). The message of working together, having fun and sticking together is helpful in guiding any friendship both domestically and in the wild. The pictures compliment the text beautifully and the facial expressions on Spot and Arlo really bring life to every page. You will love this manual for life! (Ideal for children ages 6-8.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

    

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Some of the best family memories were made at my grandparent’s house on Thanksgiving, while playing pool or watching the Cowboys play football on one of the oldest televisions in history with my cousins. I am extremely sentimental and try to instill a love of family time in my children which is why I make a big deal out of every holiday. We do crafts and bake and if my kids let me I teach them random songs I remember from my childhood.

To kick off Thanksgiving arts and crafts I got this really cute Activity Book with some great ideas for center pieces, place cards, food labels and stickers. A lot of similar activities are also online and here a few links to some of my favorite Thanksgiving crafts to create with your little (and big) ones.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/

http://happythanksgivingdaywishes.com/thanksgiving-arts-and-crafts.html

http://www.freekidscrafts.com/holidays/thanksgiving-crafts/ (I am all about the printable turkey hat!)

http://www.first-school.ws/THEME/h_thanksgiving.

  

If you are interested in a few holiday themed books:

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie – Alison Jackson

10 Fat Turkeys – Tony Johnston

My First Thanksgiving – Tomie dePaola

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade – Melissa Sweet

Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving – Kimberly and James Dean

Molly’s Pilgrim – Barbara Cohen (did anyone NOT have to read this in elementary school?)

Ready for a Thanksgiving sing-a-long?  

The Turkey Ran Away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_F8XSsd5OM

(If you know the school/children in this video PLEASE tell me so I can credit them for this amazing performance!)

The turkey ran away,
Upon Thanksgiving day.
He said "They will make a roast of me!
If I should stay."

The pumpkin rolled away,
Upon Thanksgiving day.
She said "They will make a pie of me!
If I should stay."

The cranberry rolled away,
Upon Thanksgiving day.
He said "They will make a sauce of me!
If I should stay."

Ten Little Turkeys – The Learning Station

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_F8XSsd5OM

Ten Little Turkeys sat in their pen,

“Hide, turkeys, hide!” Said the little red hen!

One little turkey flew far away,

The other nine decided to stay.

(counts down and all the lyrics are in the video)

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Soup's On!

  

When the clocks change every year I am always that person that assumes it is 9:45 when it is really only 5:15 pm. Since it gets dark earlier I also assume it is now cold outside so daylight savings ending also kicks off soup season (and boots season) in our home.

Every fall at the library I hosted a story time with a Soup theme. I loved hearing from the children their favorite and most hated types of soups and since it was always an ethnically diverse crowd I was always learning varied ingredients cultures stick into those giant pots. While I never rushed home to recreate the soup recipes I heard about, I did often Google image those delicacies (which is basically the same thing).

Since I have a pot of chicken soup on the stove right now, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite Soup books, a song and a craft so you can host your own Soup themed story time in your home. A Soup theme also motivates children to create their own recipes, grocery lists and get cooking in the kitchen (with a parent’s permission and supervision). I highly recommend you try this with your young one. After all, the families that cook, eat and read together stay together!

Books:

Stone Soup – Marcia Brown (Or any other version)

Alvie Eats Soup – Ross Collins

Growing Vegetable Soup – Lois Ehlert

Chicken Soup with Rice – Maurice Sendak

Pretend Soup – Mollie Katzen

   

The Soup Song:

(Tune of London Bridge)

Put some _____ (name ingredient) in the pot, stir it up nice and hot! Get it ready for dinner, ready for dinner.

(OR: Put some _____ (ingredient) in the pot, stir it up, nice and hot! Get it ready for Shabbat, for Shabbat.)

Soup Craft –

I used to print these out and have the children pick what they wanted to add to their own pot of soup. There would also always be plain paper for them to draw anything they did not see on the template but wanted to add to their soup pot.

http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/bfelt1.gif

http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/bfelt2.gif

http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/bfelt3.gif

http://www.dltk-teach.com/t.asp?t=http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/bfelt4.gif

Bon Appetit!