Our Beetle’s Beetle

It’s not uncommon to find ladybugs in our house at certain times of the year. Coming across one behind the wheel of a Volkswagen, however, is pretty unusual. Our children recently discovered this little driver, and Matt decided to take a few photos.

Pretty funny, eh?

Collage Sunday II

Well, I wasn’t entirely correct. In my Anti-Painting Sundays post, I predicted that Kelly and Timmy would go green for their next collages, using the vertical strips to illustrate grass instead of water. While I was right about the green, they opted for forests instead, and I love the results!

If you want to help your children create collages like these, please see Matt’s instructions in the previous post.

Timmy’s Rainforest Critters Collage (7/18/10)

Kelly’s Forest Critters Collage (7/18/10)

Patriotic Yogurt Pops

These festive frozen treats are adapted from a recent issue of Family Fun magazine. You and your children can make them for the Fourth of July or any other summer day.

This recipe is short and sweet, requiring only one main ingredient: yogurt. High in protein and calcium, yogurt is often touted for a variety of nutritional benefits, including claims of improved digestive function, boosted immune response and increased fat loss.

As long as you use low fat or nonfat yogurt that is low in sugar, these are healthy alternatives to most other frozen fare. Check the sugar content on the label, for some brands—especially those marketed toward children—have more sugar than an equivalent serving of ice cream. Note: we don’t use products with artificial sweeteners, so we don’t buy “lite” or sugar-free yogurt.

If any of your children have known allergies to red (or blue) food coloring, you’ll want to skip this or opt for a different color scheme.

Patriotic Yogurt Pops

Makes 6 half-cup servings

3 cups nonfat or low fat vanilla yogurt, divided

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon blue food coloring

6 ice pop molds or comparable home-crafted substitute

Stir blue food coloring into one cup of yogurt, keep one cup of yogurt as is (white), and stir red food coloring into the last cup of yogurt.
Divide blue yogurt evenly among molds. Pouring is fine for this step.
Using a spoon, carefully scoop white yogurt into molds, distributing evenly over the blue layer. To prevent color runs or blends, do not pour.
Using the same method as the white layer, scoop red yogurt into molds.
Cover and freeze until set, about 6 hours.

Variations

Use Greek-style yogurt for all or part of this recipe to improve the texture of the pops.
Stir a few drops of lemon or lime juice into the yogurt along with the food coloring.
Use blueberry or blackberry yogurt for the blue layer and raspberry, strawberry or cherry yogurt for the red layer.

Nutritional Data Sources: www.whfoods.org and Wikipedia

Anti-Painting Sundays

What do you do on a “Painting Sunday” when you run out of watercolor paper?

Well, something else, of course. And it had better be fun!

One of the challenges of establishing a regular routine for homeschooling projects—or any arts and crafts projects with children—is making sure you have all of the necessary supplies on hand. Well, we ran out of watercolor paper a few weeks ago and didn’t replace it in time for Painting Sunday. Doh!

Matt was faced with the dilemma of coming up with a last-minute art project for the kids. As usual, he delivered! We have a stack of scrapbook paper that I got at a great price last year, and he put it to great use, as you can see below. To make your own collages like these, read on…

Kelly’s Sea Collage with Goldfish Shark, Birthday Cake, Crab and Coral (8 1/2 years, June 2010)

Timmy’s Sea Collage with Sawfish, Kissy Fish, Seaweed, Coral and Cupcake (5 1/2 years, June 2010)

To do this at home, use two pieces of cardstock paper matching in size but not color. Matt chose to go with a solid background sheet and a patterned top layer.

Using the top sheet, make long, 1/4″-wide parallel cuts from one side of the paper to within 3/4″ of the other side. Children can then help twist each strip a few times and paste them to the back sheet. Because of the twists, the strips won’t reach the end of the bottom layer. Just line the strips up next to each other as you glue them, and then cut off the excess edge from the bottom sheet when you’re done.

For the critters, have children use sturdy paper—in our case watercolor scraps—to create and color any shapes they want for the collage. Then have them (or help them) cut out the shapes.

To attach the shapes to the bottom layer, use short, thin strips of paper, about 1 1/2 inches by 1/2 inch. Fold these mini-strips into Z shapes, apply glue to the upper 1/2-inch and lower 1/2-inch parts of the Z, and attach those parts to the underside of the critters and onto the bottom sheet of paper, in between the long strips of the top layer of paper.

While these have horizontal layers to represent waves, our next version will probably have vertical strips to illustrate grasses. Those will probably be populated with snakes, insects and perhaps another cake or two.

Have fun!

2010 Summer Reading Programs: Fun & Freebies

Ah, summer at last! School’s been out for a few weeks, baseball’s underway and camps are lined up. It’s time for swimming, vacationing, fun in the sun and… reading!

That’s right. If you haven’t already, there’s still time to sign your children up for a local—or national—reading program. They don’t have to be registered in order to read a few good books this summer, but some of the fun, FREE programs available might inspire them to read (or be read to) even more.

Libraries participating in the Collaborative Summer Library Program are displaying “Make a Splash–Read!” and related activities on their websites, T-shirts, posters, bookmarks and more. In addition to your library’s summer program, check out what local and national bookstores are offering as well.

Those who are really enthused can sign up for multiple programs. Our kids are hoping to complete the local library program after two or three weeks and then start on one across town. After that, we’re planning to participate in some of the national options listed below.

Note: to go directly to each site’s reading program information, click on the store’s name in the headline. For general store information, click on the website address at the end of each section.

Summer Reading at Barnes & Noble

According to the Barnes & Noble website, children will receive a coupon for a free book from B&N’s list if they do the following: read eight books, record information about those books in a B&N Passport to Summer Reading and submit that Passport—with a parent’s signature—to any B&N by September 7, 2010. Download a free Passport, view the list of available freebies and get more details on their website. (www.bn.com)

’10 Summer Reading Double-Dog Dare at Borders

“Read 10 books, get one free!” proclaims the website of Border’s summer reading program. Children 12 or under can read any 10 books, list them on Borders’ Double-Dog Dare form and submit that form to any Borders, Borders Express or Waldenbooks store by August 26, 2010 in order to choose a free book from one of the selected titles. (www.borders.com)

Feed Your Brain at Half Price Books

If you have one of these stores near you, there’s still time to earn $12 in Half Price Books (HPB) Shopping Cards between now and July 31, 2010. Children 14 and under can earn one $3 HBP shopping card for each week they read at least 15 minutes per day prior between June 1 and July 31, 2010. Reading Rewards are available only at HPB locations (currently in 16 states), and the limit is one card per week per child. (www.halfpricebooks.com)

Summer Reading Club at Schuler Books & Music

This summer reading program isn’t available on a national level because the company’s five stores are all located in Michigan, but I’m showcasing it here for the sake of Michigan residents and to illustrate how some local booksellers provide exceptional programs well worth investigating.

The main points of Schuler Books & Music’s Summer Reading Club are as follows. Children in grades K-8 may participate by reading any age-appropriate books and using a Schuler’s form to list the title and number of pages of each book. Completed levels, which include 20 books and are signed by a parent or guardian, should be submitted on the form by August 31, 2010. Readers earn one $5.00 Schuler Books & Music gift certificate per level, and each child can earn up to three cards total. Summer Reading Club forms are only available in stores. (www.schulerbooks.com)

If your kids are completely enthralled with the Magic Tree House series, check out the summer reading program at Books-A-Million. Otherwise, focus your time on the other, more flexible programs that don’t limit them to one author.

Help your children explore new worlds this summer, even if you never leave town. Grab a book, and start reading!