Celebrating books and Dr. Seuss!

Wednesday March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’s Birthday. Happy (early) birthday Dr. Seuss!

It's the perfect day to celebrate books and read to your children (or have them read to you)! Here is some great info that CMOTC mom Kathleen P. found to share with everyone. Included below is fun info on the second annual Read Across America event, info on celebrating Dr. Seuss (games, actives, books, etc) and also great suggestions on how to choose books for your kids, as well as some great titles.

Thank you Kathleen for sharing!
~~~~~~~~~

READ ACROSS AMERICA

"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child."

What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday than reading to a child? On the evening of March 2nd (Dr. Seuss's birthday), Random House and the National Education Association (NEA) urge you to participate in the second annual Read Across America and read to a child.

WHY CELEBRATE DR. SEUSS?
Dr. Seuss epitomizes a love of children and learning. Also, his use of rhyme makes his books an effective tool for teaching young children the basic skills they need to be successful. When we celebrate Dr. Seuss and reading, we send a clear message to America's children that reading is fun and important.

We've compiled some materials to help you celebrate the day.

• Click here to print out your own certificate of participation.
• Click here to print out your own Cat in the Hat door knob hanger.
• Click here to print out a Dr. Seuss read and color word search.

Need help finding the right book? You can search our Seussville catalog for your favorite Dr. Seuss story, or browse through our entire library in our http://www.seussville.com/kids/f_ms_link2.html.

For more information on Read Across America, please visit the NEA's Web site at www.nea.org/readacross.

PBS will also be running a 2 hour marathon of their new series, The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot about that! You can also check out http://www.seussville.com/ - the site has information about the author, books, games and activities.


Choosing The Best Books For Children

I Love BOOKS! It can touch people in so many ways. Each night we either read to our children, they read to us (telling about the pictures on the page) or just like to look at the pictures quietly. Reading has so many benefits - vocabulary, imagination and the sharing of time together.
So what books are good for children of all ages?

0-3 month
What to look for:

• Contrasting colors
• Black-and-white illustrations
• Books with one word on each page

Title Suggestions:

• Little Quack Loves Color By Lauren Thompson
• Baby, Boo! By Beth Hardwood

3-6 month
What to look for:

• Photos of babies making different expressions
• Textures

Title Suggestions:

• My First Taggies Book
• Pat the Bunny By Dorothy Kunhardt

6-9 month
What to look for:

• Pictures of everyday objects and familiar objects
• Lift the flap(though they may pull them off)

Title Suggestions:

• Good Night Moon By Margaret Wise Brown
• Author Sandra Boyton series
  

9-12 month

What to look for:

• Buttons that make sound
• Pictures of characters in motion

Title Suggestions :

• Little People Books By Readers Digest
• Tiny Fingers: I’m feeling …Teaching
• Baby Sign Language By Lora Heller
  

1-2 Years
What to look for:

• Sturdier books that can be handled and carried
• Few words on page or simple rhymes

Title Suggestions :

• Dr. Seuss Series (wide variety for age ranges)
• Author Eric Carle series
  

2-3 Years
What to look for:

• Silly or funny books
• Subject books (i.e. food, friends, animals)
• Simple word books

Title Suggestions:

• Guess How Much I love You By Sam McBratney
• Llama, Llama Mad at Mamma By Anna Dewdney
• My Truck is Stuck By Kevin Lewis
  

3-4 Years
What to look for:

• Books that tell simple stories with a beginning and an end
• Stories that relate to real life
• Information about children’s interests

Title Suggestions:

• The Napping House By Audrey Wood
• You give a mouse a Cookie By Laura Joffe Numeroff

5-6 Years
What to look for:

• Stories and information that encourages children’s imagination and interests
• Stories about time, feelings, uses their Kindergarten skills

Title Suggestions:

• I spy series
• The “I Can Read” series
  

Give your children the key to adventure; stop by your local library to get them signed up for their own library card and check out story time! Barnes and Noble also offers story time, check with your local store for times and dates.

Half Price Books is another great store to look for classic books at a great price. They also offer a balloon to children and look in their clearance area as books can be priced as low as a $1.00.

Happy Reading!
~Kathleen P.

Earth Day turns 40: ways to celebrate with your children

It's time to celebrate Earth Day's 40th birthday and help children of all ages learn the importance of this special day. Below are several activity ideas, crafts and resources that can help you do just that, both on Earth Day itself and throughout the year.

Here’s a list of fun activities you can do with your kids to teach them about the environment (from Earthday.org):

• Pull out invasive plants and replace them with native species.


• Ride bikes, walk or take public transit.


• Volunteer at a local Earth Day event.


• Write a letter to a local policymaker.


• Start a family garden and grow healthy food. Start a compost pile and use a rain barrel.


• Switch out light bulbs for energy- efficient CFLs.


• Learn about the history of the environmental movement. Use activity ideas from Earth Day Network lesson plans.


• Paint an eco- mural. Use green art supplies.
  Make art from recycled objects.


• Play educational games Environmental Jeopardy.


• Use the interactive online Ecological Footprint quiz.


• View and discuss films on Earth Day TV.


• Clean up your playground , schoolyard, walking paths or watershed.

There are even more on their website.

More fun activities:

• Create the Earth. Eco-friendly coffee filters make great miniature earths. In two separate cups, use food coloring to make blue and green colored water. Then allow the children to use eyedroppers to drop the colors on their Earth (coffee filter). When the colored water is dropped on the filter it spreads a bit and the children can create land and water shapes on their “little earths.”


• Lights Out, Flashlights On. Play “I Spy” in the dark. Have the children use flashlights to locate objects they can use to become more “green,” such as a light switch or recycle bins.


• Go for a Nature Walk. Place tape, sticky side out, on the children’s wrists and take them outside to collect things in nature. You could also decorate a sack and go around the neighborhood picking up litter.


• Dress It Up! Hold a fashion show using old newspapers as the runway. Create vests by using grocery sacks decorated with recycled supplies such as used yogurt cups, etc. Glue recycled materials to the vests and decorate with paint. Then let your kids show off the “beauty of recyclables” while learning what items can be recycled.


• Make Rain sticks. Recycle old paper towel rolls by making rain sticks. Have the children close the bottom of the stick with paper and tape. Then fill with beans or rice. You can also crumple up some aluminum foil to make a louder sound. Let the children decorate the rain sticks with construction paper. Use this activity to talk about the importance of clean water and water conservation.
  

Website resources for even more activities:

• You can find TONS of fun activities (which include crafts, games, projects, activities, etc.) on kaboose.com.
  
  
• The National Wildlife Federation also lists many great activities for celebrating Earth Day. Check them out here. In addition, they also have a great activity for your toddler or preschooler to learn about the world around them using their five sennses to "hunt" for natural treasures. Check that out here. And through their "Be Out There" program, they have even more fun activies for families that celebrate nature. You can find the "Be Out There" activity ideas here.
  
  
  

Earth Day crafts:

Kaboose.com has some great craft ideas which use recycled materials from around your house or promote recycling of some sort. One of my favorites is the decorate a compost bin (both a fun craft, a great lesson to teach and also wonderful for the environment).


Green books for children:

Read books from the Little Green Book series, from Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, to your children. This is a super cute line of eco-friendly books that teach children the benefits of going green. In addition, the books are printed on recycled materials with vegetable or soy inks, so it's eco-friendly the entire way around! (We have some of these, I really like them and so do the kids.)


CMOTC Earth Day activity:

And don't forget to celebrate Earth Day with CMOTC at the zoo on Wednesday April 21st. The zoo has put together a special scavenger hunt for our little ones. Pack a lunch and meet everyone at the main entrance at 9:30 a.m. Please RSVP Denae G. by Monday so she can provide a head count to the zoo. If needed, the informational flyer is in the document library on the CMOTC website.


How about you CMOTC MOMs, what fun activities are you planning to celebrate with and educate your children on Earth Day?