Super Bowl Sunday: Including the Kids with Snacks and Stories

Posted on January 30, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Super Bowl Sunday is three days away. What does Super Bowl Sunday mean to you? Are you having a Super Bowl Sunday party at your home? Does your family cluster around the TV, watching all of the action?

If you have young children, you can include them in the festivities. Read this wonderful picture book. Invite them into the kitchen to help prepare some yummy and healthful Super Bowl Sunday snacks.

Dino-Football

Written by Lisa Wheeler

Illustrated by Barry Gott

Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (August 2012)

Ages: 3 and up

Themes:

Football, good sportsmanship

Synopsis:

From School Library Journal: “It’s Mega Bowl Sunday in the Lava Dome, and a crowd of excited dinosaurs are watching the Greenblade Snackers play against the Redscales. The rhyming running commentary contains the terminology and all the play-by-play excitement of a televised game. “Kentro gets the takeaway!/This Snacker rookie saved the day.” After the “Dino Halftime Show,” the score is close, but the last play allows small, young Mussaurus to score the winning touchdown. Gott’s illustrations of the tackles are more humorous than brutal, and he draws examples of good sportsmanship on and off the field. A detailed scoreboard and color-coded naming system in the text (the dinos’ names are in green or red depending on their team) make this game easy to follow”

Why do I like this book:

It’s important for parents to share their passions with their children. If you love football, invite your children to watch for awhile. But please don’t expect them to be able to sit through the entire game. Watching Super Bowl Sunday on TV might make more sense to a kid if he or she had heard this story. The book highlights good sportsmanship…a crucial life skill that extends to every area of our lives. Reading this story might also serve as a launching pad for outdoor family activity. Grab that pigskin and head outside with your kids for a football toss.

There are several other Super Bowl Sunday-related picture books out there:

From England, where football is soccer: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/top-10-football-books-kids/81455

http://www.squidoo.com/picture-books-about-football

Related Activities:

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY SNACKS

Why not serve an assortment of fresh veggies with a homemade dip or hummus?

Fresh-cut fruits are sweet and nutritious!

A selection of flat breads or crackers teamed up with chunks of cheese make tasty and healthful munchies.

Each of these takes only minutes to prepare…and are so easy, even a child can do it…inviting a child to help in the kitchen is important:

Builds self-confidence and self-worth…helps a child feel useful
Develops an understanding of good nutrition…start when they are young
Encourages ‘picky’ eaters to try new things…kids will often eat what they have helped prepare

Here are a couple of links to posts I’ve done that have perfect foods for Super Bowl Sunday:

Yummy Vegetarian Chili: https://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/new-years-resolution-1-face-your-fears/

Delicious Cock-a-Leekie Soup: https://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/sunday-post-recipe-for-self-esteem/

Some lovely healthful Super Bowl snacks here: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20338949,00.html

On the other side of the world, the conference directors for the 2013 Asian Festival of Children’s Content are putting the finishing touches to their website: http://afcc.com.sg/

Stop by and find out how their National Book Council is working to increase international awareness of quality Asian Content for children around the world and has partnered this year with the National Library Board of Singapore. The event will include authors, illustrators, educators, publishers, literary agents, producers, parents, librarians and anyone who cares about content for kids.

For great content for kids that will give you 100’s of picture book summaries, easy matching crafts and healthful child-friendly cooking activities, purchase a copy on Amazon (or my website) of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. A PERFECT gift for any parent or teacher of children ages 2-8…as well as for daycare providers and grandparents. No batteries required…powered by a child’s imagination! Buy your copy today!

For more Perfect Picture Book Friday reviews…come and join Susanna Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of picture book writers, illustrators, librarians and others.

Brett Favre to join NFL Network for Super Bowl (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)
A Side By Side Comparison Of Your Super Bowl And Puppy Bowl Starting Lineups (fastcocreate.com)
5 Top Trends for 2013 Super Bowl Commercials (business.time.com)
Super Bowl Sunday! (nfl.com)

PPBF: Be The Kite…Inspiring Kids to Imagine and Soar

Posted on January 25, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Perfect Picture Book Friday…come and join Susanna Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of picture book writers, illustrators, librarians and others who contribute a picture book review.

A fellow 12x12er and local critique partner of mine sent me a link to an amazing YouTube video this morning. Watch this 80 year-old gentleman demonstrate multi-kite flying…he travels all around the world…I promise you will be entertained for five minutes…and inspired for the rest of your life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=nr9KrqN_lIg

Seeing the kite-flying video encouraged me to review Be The Kite!

Be The Kite

Written and illustrated by Cathi Bosco

Publisher: C & D Publishers (April 2012)

Ages: 2 and up

Themes:

Imagination, friendship, perceiving the world around us, kite-flying

Synopsis:

From Amazon’s book page: “Art – Literature – Imagination! Be the Kite is an inspired, original picture-book by artist Cathi Bosco. Her illustrations and story celebrate the nurturing nature of imaginative thinking. Each illustrated page from this book feature the kite-flying adventure of two great friends and are literally connected. If printed out, each page would fit together making one long continuous picture.”

Why do I like this book:

This is a beautiful book that encourages young children to use their imaginations and take a look at the world. In addition, the author/illustrator invites participation of young readers: ”all young artists are invited to participate in a collective drawing activity. Parents, teachers, librarians and kids can submit their artwork featuring Tilly, George and Pickles and we will proudly include all drawings at our website in The Young Artists Gallery! Details can be found at http://www.CandDStudios.com. Be the Kite is a visually creative picture-book that children from 3 – 10 LOVE! Enjoying creativity and seeing the world in new and different ways are meaningful experiences for people of all ages.”

Related Activities:

MAKING A KITE

Photo courtesy of eHow. You will find instructions for making many different types of kites with children here: http://www.ehow.com/how_5333244_make-kite-children.html

The author’s website where several activities can be found: http://www.bethekite.com/

If you want a step by step video showing how to make a kite that will really fly: http://www.ehow.com/video_4790375_make-paper-kite.html

I also wanted to share that the Asian Festival of Children’s Content has added to their website the speakers and program for this year’s event. I was thrilled to see my name…my trip to Singapore is definitely becoming more real: http://afcc.com.sg/_2013/speakers

I’m honored to be part of such a distinguished international line-up.

If you want a great resource that will give you 100’s of picture book summaries, easy matching crafts (sorry, no kites) and healthful child-friendly cooking activities, purchase a copy on Amazon (or my website) of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. At $24.95, this book makes a PERFECT gift for any parent or teacher of children ages 2-8…as well as for daycare providers and grandparents. No batteries required…powered by a child’s imagination! Buy your copy today!

Author Amy Kite Announces Her Recent Launch of Children’s Book:… (prweb.com)
PPBF! Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk (thiskidreviewsbooks.com)
International Kite Festival (easeyourtravel.wordpress.com)
PPBF: Parenting Advice from Andy Griffith…Set the Rules! (viviankirkfield.wordpress.com)

Whistle for Willie…Building Self-Esteem

Posted on January 17, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Perfect Picture Book Friday…I missed a couple of weeks while I was out of town…I’m happy to be back joining Susanna Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of picture book writers, illustrators, librarians and others who contribute a picture book review.

Whistle for Willie

Written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats

Publisher: The Viking Press (1964) Puffin Press has a newer 1977 edition

Ages: 4 and up

Themes:

Self-esteem, parental support, growing up, coping with failure

Synopsis:

Little Peter wants to learn how to whistle so he can call his dog, Willie. He keeps trying until, one day, he can do it. His parents support him and encourage him throughout it all.

Why do I like this book:

Classic Ezra Jack Keats…need I say more?

The bold illustrations captivate…the simple text brings home the message of ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’. Every child needs to hear this story at least once…and I guarantee every child will want to hear it again and again.

Related Activities:

Kids love making music, whether they are whistling, beating on a drum or shaking maracas. There are many instruments that you can help your child craft…and try these water glass chimes…the tones created by the different glasses will amaze everyone.

Water Chimes

Illustration and instructions courtesy http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_6.html

You will need:

8 glasses
teaspoons
water

Directions:

Line up eight glasses of about the same size and shape.
Fill the first glass about 1/8th full of water for the high note, the second glass should be 1/4 full, the third glass should be 3/8ths full for the next note, and so on.
Each glass should sound like a note on the music scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do). You may need to tune your music scale (add or remove water with teaspoon) until each note rings true.
Have the children use a metal teaspoon to gently tap out the scale and any other melodies they know (Mary had a Little lamb, Twinkle Twinkle).

Hints for Water Chimes

Don’t use expensive crystal glasses to make water chimes.
Add a bit a food coloring to help children identify which glass is which sound.
Changing the amount of water will change the musical note. The amount of water in the glass changes the pitch of the sound wave.

Here are a few more sites that provide music craft-making instructions.

http://www.greatschools.org/students/activities/248-activity-make-music-in-the-kitchen.gs

http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/musicalinstrumentsartscraftstideashandmadekids.html

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2009/07/how-to-make-a-paper-whistle.html

Lesson plans for Whistle for Willie and other sites with additional activities:

http://school.familyeducation.com/reading-instruction/resource/30357.html

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/whistle_for_willie.php

http://westonwoods.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/study_guides/whistle_for_willie.pdf

If you are looking for a great resource that will give you 100’s of picture book summaries, easy matching crafts (even a couple of musical instrument projects) and healthful child-friendly cooking activities, purchase a copy on Amazon of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. At $24.95, this book makes a PERFECT gift for any parent or teacher of children ages 2-8…as well as for daycare providers and grandparents. No batteries required…powered by a child’s imagination! Buy your copy today and start the year with educational self-esteem building activities that are quick and easy and lots of fun.