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Showing posts with label Kids' Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kids' Reading. Show all posts

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Decorating Pumpkins Without The Knife

Am I the only one whose kids have already been clamouring, "Can we carve the pumpkin today?" And, of course, my explanation that if we cut into it now (nearly 30 days before Hallowe'en) it will only go bad, gave little credence to my answer of "no."

Thankfully, Gail Gibbons' The Pumpkin Book rescued me. In reading this, my guys nabbed the idea to decorate our pumpkin without subjecting it to surgical re-invention.




Oh, no! My hair gel is out of control!

What we used:

  • bottle caps for eyes
  • frozen juice can lid for mouth
  • play-dough for nose, hair (or whatever that stuff is supposed to be) and ears
  • a discarded pacifier and a trinket we found on the street for earrings

Then we had the brilliant idea to make it look like he's climbing out of our front planter! So we cut the legs off a pair of old pants that were headed for the rag bin, wound an elastic around each on one end, stuffed them with plastic bags and finished them off with a pair of old mittens.



Why is this kid smiling? Can't he see I'm trying to get out?!?

Other items that would make great pumpkin features:
  • buttons
  • pins, brooches
  • costume items like glasses and false noses
  • Mr. Potato Head bits
  • foam shapes or bits that you have lying around
What else?

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Chirp Birthday Cake For Daddy

When I asked my boys what kind of cake they'd like to make for their dad's birthday, my oldest --without a second's hesitation-- stated, "A Chirp cake!"

Owl Kids' "Chirp" magazine
For the uninitiated, "Chirp" is the central figure of the Canadian pre-schooler magazine called... wait for it... "Chirp." He's an unidentified yellow chick-thing and he has various (short) adventures with his pals Squawk and Tweet in each issue of the magazine. Yes, sounds weird, but I've slowly realized that media aimed at children with any popularity is undeniably weird. At least, I don't get it half the time. (Yo Gabba Gabba? Toopy and Binoo? What bent minds thought these up?)

What I do love about "Chirp" magazine is that it's

  • Canadian, meaning it references Canadian experiences and measures metric (except for recipes);
  • largely advertisement-free, unlike other kids magazines I've seen which are choc-full of ads;
  • very interactive: each issue offers activities, games, crafts, and imagination fodder;
  • overall a good product and well-done!
 The latest issue had a recipe for a Chirp cake, and clearly the kids were eager to try it out. Even with several sous-chefs, pretty good, non?

Whadda ya mean I can't eat any more icing?

Putting the fate of the cake in the hands of a 3-yr-old
Lookin' good!
Ta da!
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