An Amazing book: The very hungry caterpillar

We do know we all want kids to read and incorporate this habit into their daily life. Sometimes, kids are so much into computers and cell-phones that we find it hard to challenge them with a good story. We tend to think they will get bored, or they will pick up the book, see the drawings and jump into another thing immediatly after. Unfortunately, this situation may happen or not. If a situation like this happens, we are the ones who should encourage them to consider other alternatives. Then, we should be aware of the books which are good and top rated onmarket and consider whether any of them adjust to the children's needs or not. 

We mustn't forget that sometimes, books can be best sellers, but not because of their content itself but because of market matters. We like it or not, market plays an important role here, in putting books (as well as movies ) on top of the ranks. Again, it's our responsibiliy, being able to discriminate among "good" and "not so good" books. Nevertheless, having a look at the top rated ones, would be a good idea.

Today, I want to write about the All-Time Best Books for Toddlers. Thus, The very hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle , can be a wondeful option. 

This book talks about the path which a caterpillar follows as he eats his way through an apple one day, two pears the next day, three plumns the following one, and so on, until he is really fat and has a stomachache. This story contains good language as well as drawings created by the author. Experts belive this story can be used for teaching facts about nutrition, the stages of a butterfly, and also the days of the week, cince the caterpillar eats the food during the week.

In case you want to learn about the author you can visit the webpage, where Eric talks about his personalm tastes regardong colours as well as the desire to make his own pictures for the book.   The story is written in a way that any kid would understand and enjoy. Moreover, I higly recommend reading this books, because it's one of those you'll never forget.

Respect

Now that I've included a poll in my blog, about the different values we should teach children, I'd like to write  a bit about RESPECT. This is a value that is very much mentiones nowadays, but at the same it's not very much put into practice, to say it in a direct way. The question would be... What is it that we teach when we teach respect? and How do we teach this value to kids?

I'm the kind of people, who strongly believe that teaching values is just a matter of proving good examples. Then, if I want to teach kds to respect either adults or their peers, I should start by respecting themselves. How do I do this? With concrete actions. Whenever I see kids are struggling for something such as a toy or any other thing, and they start insulting each other or making obscene offences, I tend to come closer and make them realize that what they are doing is WRONG. Yes, that's what I do. I make them stop, and reflect upon what they have just said or done. Sometimes I put forwards questions such as:

Do you think that's correct? Why are you doing that? is that the correct way of treating others? I gues you wouldn't like being treated in that way, wouldn't you? So, I am a strong supporter of the idea of making them STOP, AND REFLECT. 

I do know this is not an easy task, but it has proved to be successful, at least to me. Now, coming back to the moment, I make kids stop and reflect upon their previous behaviour, I try to encourage them to apologize for what they've done, and promise not to do it again. Again, engaging children into such commitments will give them the opportunity for learning other values which are highly realted to RESPECT itself.

We don't have to forget that kids are very much influenced by TV programmes in which unrespecful events happen, so they tend to consider that as common and ordinary behaviour in life. Again, we should be in charge of explaining them, that those actions are not good, and that they shouldn't imitate them. 

Of course, all these suggestions must be done, in a calm and relaxed atmosphere, when your child will listen to you quietly.

Good luck! =)

Thanks!!!

We've had 1000 visits!!!! 

Thanks to you all people! We hope you'll go on visiting us as usual!  Our warmest regards!

Flute Players

  Playing a musical instrument is one of the most wonderful activities any kids can do. It can bring about advantages such as helping to develop motor skills, creativity and  patience. Experts believe, that although there's no age for playing musical instruments, children are better at learning than adults. So, I think that a good option is encourage kids to make their own musical instruments. Why? you may wonder... Because they can shape it in the way they decide and make really but... REALLY unique.

The flute is a wind instrument. Its sound is produced when the player blows air across an opening in the mouthpiece.  The flute is  easy to carry and light, so every child can have one in his/her backpack.

1st step

Get a plastic tube, not to wider nor too narrow.

2nd step

Use a hammer and nails to make the different holes.

3rd step

Make a hole in the upper part of the tube, separated from the rest row of holes.

4th step

Be sure the end of the tube is not sharp, so that kids would not hurts their moutsh while blowing.

Important! If the edges are sharp, just put scotch tape around and protect the area.

Phrase of the Day

Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better.

 - Hermann Hesse -

Cleaning plastic toys

  Plastic toy get dirty easily, and it's our duty to clean them from prevent germs from spreading. Then, cleaning the toys is something important we shouldn't forget. We must remember that once a child uses a toy, it may or not get germs and those are spread to other children who might use the toys afterwards. For this, I'll give you easy steps to follow.

1) Buy an antibacterial solution. Pur the solution inside a spray bottle, so it will be easy to distribute the product all over the toy. Then, clean the toy with a piece of cloth.

2) You may use a solution made of bleach and water. Use a rug to wipe the toys. 

3) Fill in a bucket with water and dish soap. Put the toys inside, and leave them rest in the solution for a couple of hours. Then, wipe then with a piece of cloth, or put them in the sunlight to dry.

4) For removing long lasting stains, you may decide to use a brush. You can use the previous explained solutions and brush the toy affected areas until they disappear. 

I hope these tips will help you, and your children's toys get as shiny as glass!! See you my dear friends!

Piñatas

Kids' birthday parties are not parties without piñatas. You may know what they are, or may not, so here's an account of them. In Argentina, parents usually prepare (or buy already made) piñatas for their children's parties.

Piñatas are usually made of cardboard or paper and they take the shape or an animal, or an object. They usually match the theme on which the party is based. Parents fill in piñatas with candies, little toys and poupurri. The piñata works as follows...

Parents call kids to make a circle on the floor. Someone who is really tall holds the piñata in the air, while another person either tears a parts of it and it opens, or if it is made of a baloon, someone uses a nail to open it. All the candies and toys fall on the floor and the kids have to collect as much as they can. After this, they can share toys or even candies.

Here are some pictures of typical piñatas, but in susequent posts we'll teach how to make one of these!

 

        

         

Writing journals

  An interesting way to keep record of what we do, or have done during the day, is writing journals. I strongly recommend this to everyone, especially kids.

The idea of keeping their own journal, has to do specifically with putting the pen down to paper and start writing what comes to their mind. And what about grammar and spelling? You may wonder, well... that is important too. But in 1rst place children should be encouraged to write everything that they can think of or just remember. This activity will help them to enhance the following:

1) to develop the ability of remembering what they've done, and in case a funny anecode is worth telling , they will have it there, written down, to re-read it in the future.

2) it helps to develop fluency. Sometimes, kids know how to write accurately but they run out of words easily. Writing journals gives them the freedom of putting their own ideas onto paper, wihout stopping. Moreover, the flow of thoughts will come out rapidly in the form of natural sentences.

3) to encourage them to have their own diary, but in a book format. The purpose is not writing  short sentences, but whole stories, with their own words, and full of their own feelings. That means, to write events as they see, or feel them.

Once they've finished their journals, they can re-read them after some hours or even the following day. It's precisely then when they should correct their grammar mistakes, spelling and punctuation. But the story is already there, composed and ready to be read!

Where to write?

It can be a cheap notebook, or a couple of pages you may then join all together. The idea is that the kids have their own record of stories and anecdotes.

An important tip!

Children may write whenever they want, but finding a certian moment, such as before going to bed, or after lunch, This, can give them the opportunity of finding their own time for doing things. And of course, they can add drawings if they desire!

I'm back

  Hey ppl! How is it going? If you read us daily, you may have noticed, we haven't been able to publish any post these last days, due to technical problems with the pc.

Fortunately, we are back again, to go on posting and sharing ideas!

We hope to see you around as usual!

Warm regards =)

Playing with soap bubbles

  Making homemade bubbles has always been fun for both parents and kids. This kind of product can be found on market, but there is a cheapest way of making it. I will give you one easy recipe, which I've tried and it has proved to be successful. Remember to remind kids of being careful with dish soap, not to drink it or touch their eyes.That's very important!  Playing safe is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Here goes the recipe...

Liquid Soap

You'll need...

• 1 1/4 cups water

• 1 1/4 tablespoons dish soap

• 1 1/4 teaspoons glycerin

Instructions

• Mix and leave overnight before using.Then, pour it into a plastic bottle. You may add coloured ink if you want, or leave it as it is.

 Blowers or Wands

• You may use pipe cleaners or straws. Twist them and make the desired shape. It can be an oval, a circle or a star!

Phrase of the Day

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on the Treasure Island.

- Walt Disney -

Your own quick sand!

Making experiments with kids is fascinating. And the'd love to make quick sand. Let's see how it works.

You will need...

Half a cup of water

1 cup of maize cornflour

A plastic container

A spoon

Steps 

a) First, mix  the cornflour and water  in the container to make your own instant quick sand. Remember not too solid ok?. Then, stir slowly and drip the quick sand to show it is a liquid. Stirring it quickly will make it hard, so you'd better do it fast. Remember that quick sand is messy, try to play with it outside and don’t forget to stir just before you use it. You just need t stir instant quicksand just before you use it. It's always like that!

The phenomena explanation

If you add just the right amount of water to cornflour it becomes very thick when you stir it quickly. So,  Stirring slowly allows more water between the cornflour grains, letting them slide over each other much easier. Moreover,   if you poke it slowly it doesn’t mix up the mixture in the same way, leaving it runny.  It works in much the same way as real quick sand.

Homemade fabric fragrance

  Typically people buy fabric perfumes on market. They are not expensive and some of them smell really good. But there are others, who never buy these things, but they would like to try one of this, at least once. Normally, I prepare this myself, because I never find the smell I like, so I guess this is a good alternative for you too. Let me show you how to produce a homemade fabric scent, with very little money. You can use it either for curtains, kids’ cushions, clothes, carpets and so on.

You’ll need the following…

1) Cereal alcohol

2) Water

3) Essential oils.

4) One unused spray bottle where to pour our perfume.

Steps

a) Choose the scent you like the most (or the one your kids adore). If you want to create a lively atmosphere you can choose lemon, orange, or mint. On the contrary, if you want to generate a relaxing atmosphere you may choose lavender or vanilla. Or if you want to create a fruity perfume, you may combine strawberry, plums, blueberry and apple.

b) Pour 15 drops inside the bottle.

c) Fill in half of the bottle with cereal alcohol, and half with water.

d) Put the bottle lid and shake for some minutes. After this, put the bottle in a dark place, it can be a kitchen drawer or somewhere in the garage. After 2 days, shake it again, and spray over a surface to see whether it needs more scent or not.

If you like it the way it is, start using it around your house. Kids will love it!

Phrase of the day

Whatever you are, be a good one.

 - Abraham Lincoln -

Bilingual Books

  It's been a long time ago since I've been reading bilingual books.  Since I was a 6-year-old child, to be more precise, and... believe me, that it has proved to be really good for my language development. 

My mother tongue is Spanish, but I've started learning English as a child. My father used to buy fairy tales or fabules which they brought a casette (lol a casette people, that WAS a long time ago). So, while I was reading I listened to the narration on the casette. Believe it or not, I was incredibly hooked by this kind of books. 

As I told you before, these books were bilingual. That means, one side of the casette contained the Spanish version (my mother tongue), whereas the other side had the English version. Wasn't it awesome? For me it WAS,  because once I've listened to the spanish version I listened to the english one. But... Where was the text in english to follow? you may wonder... It was in the bottom part of the page, in lower case.

Today, I know that there are books which bring two versions, that is, one page in english and on the other side page the spanish version (or other languages). If I had to recommend these books, I would highly suggest parents buying at least one of them, because they expose kids to two languages at the same time. Pictures also help them distinguish among meanings and analogies, which you may know, it's not easy work. Nowadays, market offers books with cds, containing both language versions (as casettes used to be). So, getting one of these books for kids, would be a nice way of introducing abother language to them. They'll discover they can read the same story they already know in their mother tongue, in another language. And that, in the long run will be really profitable.

Happy Child's Day!

 

We wish you a happy child's day! We hope you'll enjoy this day, as many others, surrounded by those who love you.

Our warmest regards from Argentina

Argentina at the Olympic Games, London 2012

Congratulations to all athletes who took part in the Olympic Games, especially to the Argentinian ones. We are proud of them! 

Argentina medals 

  Taekwondo – (gold)

Sebastián Crismanich

     Hockey - (silver) 

 Las Leonas

    Tennis - (bronze) 

 Juan Martín del Potro

    Sailing - (bronze)

 Calabrese - De la Fuente

Our regards to the leading countries named USA, China and Great Britain as well!

Scrapbooking the walls?

  Kids are fascinated by the idea of sticking photos and little notes on every surface they find at hand, So, Why not making a scrapbook, but o hang on the wall? You may have noticed that there's a certain age when children start haging not only posters or pictures, but also phrases or small papers with phrases written on them on the walls. And of course this damages the house walls!!! So I think that making a scrapbook is a good alternative for those who like posting things and decorating their rooms. 

Remember that Kids scrapbooking can be a wonderful family activity, and you can make use of different materials you have at hand. That means, ribbons, carboard, stickers, paper flowers, photos, etc.

Steps

First, get a flat surface like a thick carboard or wood plaform which then you'll hang on the wall.

 

 

Second, tell kids to start collecting all the things they might use for decorating that surface. They can be the things we've mentioned before. They can use tape or nails to stick the photos or pictures on the platform.

Then, make children decide what to stick on the surface, so that the design would be totally theirs. You can also encourage them to use the platform as a memo, in which they can stick "things to do" notices. They can also add a calendar anr mark days as they pass by.

Finally, they will come up with their personal scrapbooks on the walls, and your house walls will be free of scoth stains!

 

I almost forget! Encourage them to stick their school awards and badges as well, they'll love it!

Packing a child's suitcase

  A good idea for packing your child’s suitcase is letting him/her be part of the process. For this, I hereby give you the following useful tips:

 1) It’s always useful to prepare matching outfits in advance for each day of your trip. In this way, you’ll avoid debate on what to wear each day. Always be sure of having extra outfits, in case she/he stains it with some food.

2) Explain how the weather is going to be, and let the kid choose what he/she will wear. In this way, he/she will take a leading role in choosing the clothes and will be happy once he/she has to dress up. Although the child will be in control of choices, you may also decide what’s more appropriate, though.

3) It’s always a good idea to put each outfit in a different plastic bag. This prevents the clothes from getting stains and from mixing with other non-matching outfits.

4) Remember to sew the child’s name inside all the clothes, so that in case he/she loses an item, they can find it easily.

5) If he/she is allowed to take candies or snacks, pack some in an extra bag, and put it in one of the pockets of the bags.

6) In case the child wants to take toys, he can put them inside a plastic bag, in one of the corners of the suitcase. Be sure, you include a list of the toys he/she takes, so that once back home, you can check whether something is missing or not. Avoid putting toys with small parts, because they can get lost easily.

7) Make sure the child’s backpack is not too heavy, since this is not good for their back care.