Please expand the first comment in this post to see a HUGE wealth of resources from links for picture books by subject!
If you can not see this post, please click here to view and read these helpful tips, resources and links!
Live Chat- Sesame Workshop
April 26, 2012 by
We have a wonderful, vibrant and resourceful community growing over at the Random House Read & Play community. Hope you will join us to discuss all things books, crafts, play and reading! You can find me there as a community leader, co-hosting live chats and sharing a post here and there… stop by and say hi or chime in to one of the many ongoing discussions in the forum!
Live chats are hosted by the Random House Read & Play Community Leaders, Random House and Blog Frog. Our next live chat will be held tonight with Sesame Workshop and Dr. Rosemarie Truglio!
It’s easy to join the Live Chats
When: Thursday 4/26 7pm EASTERN
Where: Right here, at the bottom of this post!
Dr. Rosemarie T. Truglio is the Senior Vice President of Education and Research at Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s Television Workshop). Dr. Truglio is responsible for the development of the interdisciplinary curriculum on which Sesame Street is based, and oversees all educational research pertaining to the development of Sesame Street content.
Dr. Truglio and her team oversaw the research conducted on the upcoming Elmo’s Big Birthday Bash! – A Step Into Reading App with kids between the ages of 3 and 5 and their parents. Her team was also heavily involved in the design and review process to ensure the app met the Workshop’s educational and literacy standards/pedagogy.
Dr. Truglio also develops and reviews the content across all Sesame Street media platforms and products. Since March 2009, she also oversees the educational content and research for The Electric Company currently on PBS Kids Go!
Before joining Sesame Workshop in 1997, she was an Assistant Professor of Communication and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Through her research, she investigated the effects of television on the cognitive and social development of children and adolescents. She has written numerous articles appearing in child and developmental psychology journals; presented her work at national and international conferences; conducted media literacy workshops, and has appeared on numerous broadcast, cable, and radio network news and talk programs, including “The Today Show”, “Good Morning America”, CNN Headline News’ “Showbiz Tonight”, and NPR’s “Morning Edition”. Dr. Truglio is co-editor of “G is for growing: Thirty years of research on children and Sesame Street” (2001) published by Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.
- Visit SesameWorkshop.org for more information
Live Chat with Mary Pope Osborne
April 17, 2012 by
Have you joined the new Read and Play Community? Random House and The BlogFrog have created a fun and resourceful community for us to connect with fellow moms, educators and authors. You wont want to miss the Live Chats with your favorite authors, we have some exciting chats coming up.
Our home is all a buzz about the next live chat. My boys have read every book in the Tree House series and have some fun questions lined up to ask author Mary Pope Osborne!
It’s easy to join the Live Chats
1. Become a community member here and chat from the community or here from this blog post.
When: TUESDAY 4/17 3:30PM EASTERN
Where: Right here on this blog post!
Mary Pope Osborne was born into adventure. Her dad was in the army, so every year or two her family would move to a different state, or even a different country! By the time she was fifteen, Mary had lived in thirteen different houses and gone to eight different schools!
Writing children’s books was a perfect career for Mary because she could still travel all over the world – but be back home in time for dinner. She has written almost a hundred books, including biographies, mysteries, picture books, novels, and retellings of fairy tales and world mythology.
The books that have taken Mary to to the most places are the Magic Tree House series. With Jack and Annie, she has traveled through time – from the prehistoric land of dinosaurs to the imaginary world of Camelot. But one of the greatest adventures of Mary’s writing life is the creative journey she takes with her readers, meeting them in person in schools and bookstores and reading the wonderful stories and letters they send. This, Mary says, is true magic.
- Read more about Magic Tree House & play the games at MagicTreeHouse.com
- Learn more about Mary and see how she’s connecting with schools at MTHClassroomAdventures.org
Easter Traditions, Treats & Sweets
March 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
While at the BlissDom conference, we had the wonderful opportunity to get to know some of the Hershey’s reps as well as create our very own Hershey’s Easter baskets. We choose our basket color, filler and our favorite Hershey’s candies! I made sure to include a bag of each one of the boys favorites {and mine}… Twizzlers, Kit Kats, Jolly Ranchers, Hershey’s Kisses and of course Cadbury Eggs. Needless to say, we were beyond excited when our Easter basket arrived at the house early one morning.
Ashton and Noah crack me up!!
Since Easter is just around the corner, I thought I should share a few of our Easter traditions and a recipe. We don’t do the Easter bunny with our boys but they do wake up to a Easter baskets full of goodies {a tradition started by my sister}. We usually include a book, small toys such as puzzles, marbles, cars, games and of course chocolate.
One of our favorite traditions has to be our Resurrection Easter Eggs. Resurrection eggs are a fun way to tell our children the story of the resurrection of Jesus, using 12 colorful eggs filled with symbolic objects and passages from the Bible.
Resurrection Cookies
Another favorite tradition is making Resurrection Cookies. These miraculous Resurrection cookies are made the night before Easter, children wake up to a neat surprise when they go to find the hollow cookies in the morning!
You will need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
- Place pecans in a resealable plastic bag. Using a rolling pin or heavy pot, crush the pecans into small bits. Read John 19:1-3
- Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into a medium bowl. Let children smell vinegar . Read John 19:28-30
- Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life
to give us life. Read John 10:10-11 - Sprinkle salt into the egg whites. Read Luke 23:27
- So far, the mixture isn’t very appetizing. Add sugar. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16. Beat with mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
- Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Read Matthew 27:57-60.
- Place cookies in the oven close the door and turn the oven off. Read Matthew 27:65-66.
- Go to bed. Read John 16:20 and 22.
- In the morning open the oven and take out the cookies. Read Matthew 28:1-9.
Oh, I met this guy while making our basket at BlissDom too…
Be sure to visit www.CelebratewithHersheys.com to follow the blogging bunny trail and check out the great collection of Easter tips, memories and stories!
What are some of your favorite Easter Traditions?
Bed Time and Teeth Brushing Tactics
March 19, 2012 by
After having four boys and often struggling with bed time and teeth brushing, I found that consistency makes all the difference. Giving our boys a consistent bed time routine and wind down time prepares them for bed without the struggles. Bed time is predictable and they know exactly what to expect.
We try to make teeth brushing as fun as possible since this is usually where the resistance takes place. Here are a few of our teeth brushing tactics…
- We use a timer in the bathroom for the older boys, anyone can do anything for two itty bitty minutes! We have invested in the fun tooth brushes that play songs for two minutes for the little boys. Having a fun song to get them through brushing always helps. We have a cute and funny song we call “Brusha Brusha Brusha” I would sing this daily when they were little. {I still bust it out when needed}
- We let the boys pick out their toothpaste, character flossers and mouthwash. If they are using what they like, they are more likely to want to brush.
- My four year old loves his Buzz Lightyear Flossers and yet flossing can still be a challenge. It’s mundane, boring and my little guy does not like to sit still for long. Make flossing fun and turn it into a game. Go hunting for the colored plague monsters and take them out one by one! Play the guessing game to guess what the little one ate that day while your flossing their teeth…”I see you ate green broccoli on this tooth” you can make this fun and make up foods.
- Lastly, we make sure brushing is part of our nightly routine. We have wind down time where we dim the lights and watch The Berenstain Bears together on Sprout. The Pajanimals have the cutest bed time clips to get the littles (and not so littles) prepared for whats to come. After Sprout, we brush, get into PJ’s, read our read aloud, say prayers and tuck in boys. I have to sing the Pajanimals song – “La-La-Lullaby” with my Noah each night too. So sweet!
How do you handle bed time in your home?
FOUR of you will win a prize package – including a Pajanimals DVD and The Sleepeasy Solution book
The Pajanimals, available only on 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout, features four fuzzy friends who wind down for bedtime in a cozy and reassuring way. The show helps you tackle common bedtime issues like getting out of bed, bad dreams and scary monsters. Check out Sprout’s bedtime tips! Also, by replying below four of my lucky readers will win a prize package – including a Pajanimals DVD and The Sleepeasy Solution book, proven by Hollywood’s celebrity parents and written by the sleep experts at Sleepy Planet.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sprout. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.
Giving Back as a Family
March 8, 2012 by 4 Comments
YES! I love Members Unite, our family is really excited to join this wonderful community. {Really Excited} We are always trying to find ways to give back as a family. We strive to teach our boys to give and have servants hearts. The boys were so excited after my trip to Guatemala with Save the Children, they still love looking at the pictures of the mothers and children we visited throughout the remote villages in Guatemala. A family mission trip is on our bucket list and we hope to check it off sooner than later.
In the mean time, Members Unite has filled a need and a longing we have had to give back globally.
Members Unite is a simple, interactive, fun way to fund amazing projects. They find the most interesting, impactful, meaningful projects and then let their members decide which projects get funded. This is possible because the projects are funded through member contributions. And the members ultimately control the outcome each month. We’re all in this together. One person giving $20 is a drop in the ocean. One thousand people giving $20 brings clean water to a village for a lifetime. Members Unite helps us all do more than we could do on our own. For as little as $5 a month, we are able to take an active role in deciding which projects get funding, and how much funding they get. And 100% of our monthly contribution will go toward the winning projects.
We let the boys read over the many projects currently listed on Members Unite. Talk about a great learning experience for them… they learn of the needs of people all over the world and the amazing projects being put together to meet those needs. The boys have agreed to put their money together {$1.25 each) to pay for the monthly gift and vote on their favorite project each month.
This month we are voting for a project for infants in Guatemala (no surprise there) If this project wins, Members Unite will provide 20 infants with milk for 500 days – over a year’s worth of sustenance.
I encourage you to check out this fun community of folks giving back for as little as $5 a month; the best part is seeing where your gift goes each month and how the recipient is being blessed by the gift they receive. Priceless!! There is an annual fee of $25 and then the monthly fee of $5 a month.
If you decide to join us on Members Unite, please let me know in the comments below! I’m going to do a contest and giveaway a $25 gift card to to one of my readers that joins Members Unite!
{The giveaway is not hosted by Members Unite or Clever Girls Collective. Solely hosted by Social Savvy Mom}
Crest & Oral-B ~ Cars 2 Movie party!
December 20, 2011 by 1 Comment
We recently hosted a fun Oral-B Stages III & Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health FOR ME party for BOYS… I have four boys and we invited our friends with 3 boys! We also had two princess gift bags for the two little girls in our lives that did not make the party. Crest & Oral-B Pro-Health For Me, is the first-ever complete collection of oral care products for kids 8-12, with rinse, brush, floss, and toothpaste made just for them. I was shocked to see that my boys really, truly were brushing and flossing just for fun! No more struggles trying to get the boys to floss, they now have nifty flossers and a yummy tasting mouth wash to complete the job off!
With the holidays upon us, staying on top of our children’s oral health is a huge priority around here!
Here are some simple ways to combat the effects of sugar on your kid’s oral care this Holiday!
- Save treats like candy, cookies and pies for after mealtime since this is when the amount of saliva produced in the mouth is greater and will therefore better help protect your child’s teeth.
- Dairy acts as a buffer to the acids produced by oral bacteria, decreasing the possibility of tooth decay. So consider serving your children milk or cheese with holiday candies and treats.
- Hard candy can get stuck between kids’ teeth, which can cause cavities. Flossing can help remove the candy particles. Try flossers adorned with your child’s favorite character to help make flossing fun.
- To help pace the amount of candy your child is consuming around holidays store excess candy in a sealed container and establish set times when your child can have a treat.
- Encourage children to drink more water to help prevent tooth decay. If you choose bottled water, check the label for fluoride content. According to the American Dental Association, fluoridated water can reduce the number of cavities children get in their baby teeth.
Now on to the party….
We had a fun time of games, crafts, eating, learning and movie watching!
Thanks to MommyParties and Oral-B, each child was given their very own bag full of Oral B and Crest goodies…
• Pro-Health FOR ME Brushes
• Pro-Health FOR ME Paste
• Pro-Health FOR ME Floss Picks
• Pro-Health FOR ME Rinse
• Cars II Gummy Vitamins
We had lots of “Healthy Mouth” treats on hand… veggies with dip, salsa and chips, trail mix and berries with whipped cream!
After going over our 26 tips and trivia for healthier teeth, we played a fun pin the food on the right mouth game… “Yuck mouth or Healthy mouth! The boys pinned 100% right!
This little guy likes to watch movies a bit close,
now that we have covered teeth health we may need to discuss the eyes!
We made a fun ornament craft to show off our bright, clean teeth / smiles…
At the end of the day everyone was able to try their new products.
Our Oral-B Stages III & Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health FOR ME party was a huge success and
just in time with all of the sweet treats that come with this time of year!!
You can follow @OralB and @Crest on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest in kids oral health!
No Bagged Salad for Me
October 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I’m a community leader this month over at the ABC News community “A Million Moms Cahllenge”. Million Moms Challenge seeks to engage a million Americans with millions of moms in the developing world facing issues impacting pregnancy, childbirth and children’s health. The goal is to create a global community, building on the common hope that every mother shares for her child: a healthy pregnancy and a baby who will survive and thrive.
Below is my latest post on the Million Moms Challenge community, please take a moment to respond and share your thoughts by clicking the community button below.
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