If You Give a Mouse a Cookie- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Our book today was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff.

We have had stomach flu in our house for the last couple of days but it seems to finally be gone.

I decided we should celebrate by making cookies!

We just used the recipe on the Nestle chocolate chip bag.

Aubrey is ready to begin!

She cracked the egg....

and helped stir the dough.

When the dough was ready, she filled the cookie sheet with cookie dough balls.

If you make cookies with a little girl, she will probably ask to sample one...

Yum!!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Our book today was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

After we read the book, Aubrey made a caterpillar.

We made the caterpillar in two steps.

First, she watercolor painted two pieces of paper.

Then, we let them dry.

When they were dry, I used a cup to draw circles on the back of the papers.

Aubrey cut them out.

She glued the circles on a paper and gave her caterpillar a face. 

Here is her caterpillar...

I love the cute little face!

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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21 Days to a More Disciplined Life E-book Review

I had the opportunity to review a copy of 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life by Crystal of Money Saving Mom this weekend.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life is a very inspiring read. I read it at night and couldn't sleep afterward. My mind was racing with all the great ideas Crystal shares!

Two of my favorite ideas in this e-book...

-"I am the problem, but I am also the solution."
Crystal makes this statement and I think it is brilliant in its simplicity. When I change my mindset to how I can make changes in my life, I am more likely to be successful.

-Make small changes over time.
Crystal encourages making one change into a habit before adding a new change to work on. I know in my life I like to overhaul my whole life in one day and within a week I am back to my old ways.
Soo...I am going to take Crystal's advice and start with one habit at a time.

I also really like that Crystal walks you through finishing a Mega-Project. This book stresses actions, which is so important. Reading an inspiring book without acting on the principles doesn't create change!

I could write on and on about all the great ideas in this book, but I will instead encourage you to pick up a copy. Crystal is offering an incredible .99 special through Thursday, October 25th.

You will be inspired and encouraged by this e-book. I am going to work on healthy living for my mega-project. If you are going to pick up this book, I would love to hear what you will be working on. I can't wait to get started!

**I received a copy of this book to review, but all opinions are my own.

My Little Reader...

I love that this sweet girl loves to read as much as I do...

Cloudette- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Our book for today was Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld. It is a sweet book about a small cloud that sees all the big clouds doing important things. Cloudette finds that she can do something important even though she is small.

I love books like this because we have a huge age difference with our 4 kids (the oldest is 17 and the youngest is 4). I like to take the opportunity to encourage the younger children that they have an important role in our family!

                                        

After we read our book, I let Aubrey play with "clouds".

I just squirted some shaving cream on a cookie sheet and let her play with it.

I think it is so important to provide some activities that have no end product...just pure child-directed fun!

She loved playing with the shaving cream...and she smelled great when she was done!

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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My First Counting Book- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Our book today is My First Counting Book. I love this book because it is a classic golden book! I'm pretty sure I read this book growing up! :)

After we finished reading, Aubrey made her own counting book.

We talked about what she would like to count. (We used magazines to cut out pictures so I helped her think of things I knew we could most likely find.)
She chose shoes, babies, pieces of food, animals, and flowers.

Before we made the book, we looked through the magazines and made piles of all the things we found.

We separated them into the pages we wanted them on....1 shoe, 2 babies, etc....

Then she started making her book.
I made titles for each page and she just cut and glued the pictues on.

I made a title page for her book and stapled it together.

She loves reading her book!

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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Papa Fish's Lullaby- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Today I chose the book Papa Fish's Lullaby by Patricia Hubbell. I like this book because it is illustrated completely with clay. I am just fascinated at the illustrations. They are so intricate and creative!!

After we read the book, I let my girls create with clay. 

First we talked about what they might like to make.Isabella decided to make a dog and Aubrey wanted to make a flower.

I gave them the clay and let them create.

I loved watching them...I confess that I was unsure how the finished products would turn out. 

I didn't help them at all so I was amazed at the results!

Aubrey created a flower...

and her name....I love how she made her name! :)

Isabella's dog...) It is wearing a sweater!

I was reminded after doing this activity that my girls are filled with creativity.

Sometimes I need to get out of the way and let that creativity come out!

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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Noah and the Great Flood (The Beginning Reader's Bible)- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Today Aubrey and I read Noah and the Great Flood. It is one of the stories in The Beginning Reader's Bible. I love this bible because it has true bible text and the illustrations are beautiful.
It is fast becoming one of my favorite children's bible.

After we read the story, Aubrey made a rainbow.

First, I took a piece of construction paper and made 6 rows. In each row, I put a dot to represent each color of the rainbow.

Next I cut strips of construction paper from each color of the rainbow.

Then I had Aubrey cut the strips into pieces.

Once she was done with the cutting, she used a glue stick to put glue all over the paper.

She put the pieces on one row at a time.

Her finished rainbow!

I asked Aubrey what the rainbow reminds us of when she was finished. She said, "That God will never again send a flood." So adorable! Nothing is sweeter to me than knowing my children are growing in their knowledge of God and his Word!

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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Farm Patterns- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Our book for today was Farm Patterns by Nathan Olson. I have been working with Aubrey on patterning so I was excited to find this book and the other books in this series. They are non-fiction and have gorgeous photographs!

Friday seems to be the day we do simple activities around here! This is a super easy and really fun activity.

Aubrey practiced patterning with mini m&m's. She was just a little excited about this!

I took a simple piece of printer paper and created some patterns with a marker.

I then gave Aubrey the bowl of m&m's and had her finish the patterns.

She got them all correct! :)

When she finished the sheet, she got to eat the candy. She even shared some with me! 

Supplies-
paper

m&m's

markers

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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Chameleon's Colors- 31 Days of Activities Based on Children's Books

Our book we read today is Chameleon's Colors by Chisato Tashiro.

Today Aubrey made her own colorful chameleon.

I printed out a chameleon here.

(I changed the format to landscape and increased the size to 200% so it was larger.)

To begin, I put out four bowls and put some shaving cream in each one.
I had Aubrey squirt food coloring onto each pile of shaving cream.

Once each bowl had food coloring, I had her mix each bowl with a toothpick.

She then took a spoon and plopped the mixtures all over her chameleon.

Once the chameleon was filled with shaving cream, I had her scrape the mixture off with a spatula.

The spatula got most of the shaving cream off but I had her finish scraping the leftovers with a plastic knife. (Aubrey is 4 and did fine with using the knife. However, they can obviously cut your child so please use caution.)

Aubrey's colorful chameleon!

Aubrey LOVED doing this activity!
I thought it was really, really messy!!
**The food coloring can stain so be careful with clothes and your furniture.

Supplies-
Chameleon printable
Shaving cream
Food coloring

Linked to The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

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