Earth Day Perfect Picture Book Review: The Little House

Posted on April 19, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Falling_Apple_Blossoms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Monday, April 22, is International Mother Earth Day! Events will be taking place all around the globe to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment and educate people to preserve our natural resources and help children learn to be good stewards of this planet. I agree with Roni Baras, author of 55 Ways to Save the Environment and Make a Difference, when she says: “As parents, we have a responsibility to teach our kids to care for the world.” Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: The Little Fire Engine

Posted on April 12, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday. If you would like to find more reviews of awesome picture books, please head over to Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog for over 1000 categorized book reviews plus activities.

When I read Susanna’s entry for this week, it reminded of one of the classic picture book writer/illustrators, Lois Lenski. She wrote dozens of books over 60 years ago and many of them – like The Little Fire Engine – are back in print in brand-new editions. Continue reading →

Parenting Tip – How To Teach Problem Solving

Posted on April 7, 2013 by viviankirkfield

What do you get when you give two seven-year olds some construction paper, markers, scissors and tape?

You get the most amazing creations! And you get happy kids!

I encourage parents to keep simple arts and crafts supplies on hand. Paper, scissors, markers and glue are imagination enablers. Kids can spend hours, happily engaged in expressing their creativity, exercising their problem solving and critical thinking skills.

Last week, my son and his family stopped by.

Knowing that my grandchildren LOVE making things, I had put a few arts and crafts supplies on the dining room table. After we visited for a while, I asked the kids if they wanted to sit down and use the materials.

Before I had even finished the sentence Continue reading →