Blind Date With a Book

When I saw this idea...I fell in love. Have you ever heard of a blind date with a book? It is the very clever idea where you check out a wrapped book without knowing what you are getting. It is very similar to a blind date. Genius! I emailed my son's school librarian and asked if I could help implement this for the whole first grade. Her response...you know there are 125 kids?!?! My response, "Yes I know I am crazy...but I think the kids will love it!" The librarian seemed to be just as excited about the idea as me.

 

 

I proceeded to wrap and decorate 125 books. I used small white stickers on the back of the books to write the number needed to check them out.

 

Rules:

1. Open me at your HOME

2. I would love to meet your FAMILY

3. Please give me a CHANCE...you just might fall in LOVE!

 

 

I also made up some fun cards for the kids to fill out in regards to their date.

 

 

 

I can't wait to hear what they have to say! I also decided to wrap one up for my sweet older friend who is like a Grandma to me. She will be receiving a book in the mail any day now. Just in time to have her blind date for Valentine's Day.

 

I am always happy to share what I have created. Just comment with your email address and I will try to send it your way.

 

 

 

Book Character Pumpkin Decorating Contest

At my son's school they announced a contest to decorate a pumpkin like your favorite book character. What a fun literary project! He picked to decorate his pumpkin like Elmer the Elephant. We were very last minute, and completed it last night. It took an hour for the whole project. I searched pinterest and google and found tons of other great ideas. We picked a character we didn't see in hopes of not duplicating another child's pumpkin.

 

 

We dropped Elmer the pumpkin off in the library this morning. (The instructions to make him are at the bottom of this post). Let me share a few other characters we saw there...

 

The Gruffalo pumpkin

 

 

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle pumpkin

 

The Lorax pumpkin

 

Black Lagoon themed pumpkin

 

 

 

Lyle the Crocodile pumpkin and Frosty the Snowman

 

Pete the Cat pumpkin

 

And here are a few more ideas I found in my initial search to create a book character pumpkin. Many of the following were uploaded to Pinterest by Elanco Library.

 

Skippy Jones pumpkin

 

 

Laydbug Girl pumpkin

 

 

Bob the Builder pumpkin

 

 

Olivia pumpkin

 

Wimpy Kid pumpkin

 

 

Mr. Popper's Penguins pumpkin

 

 

 

Madeline pumpkinT

Thomas the Train pumpkin

 

 

Little Critter pumpkin

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar pumpkin

 

 

 

 

Dora pumpkin

 

Horton pumpkin

 

 

Cat in the Hat pumpkin

 

 

Alice in Wonderland pumpkin

 

 

Captain Underpants pumpkin

 

 

Charlotte's Web pumpkin

 

Bad Case of Stripes pumpkin

 

 

 

Grouchy Ladybug pumpkin

 

Fly Guy Pumpkin

 

Junie B. Jones pumpkin

 

Click Clack Moo pumpkin

 

Pigeon pumpkin

 

I hope this helps you design a pumpkin for your contest. I think it is such a clever idea. Here is how we made our Elmer the elephant pumpkin.

 

Supplies:

Modge podge

Colored paper (regular paper...not card stock or construction)

Paper towel holder

Googly eyes

 

1. We started by cutting a variety of different colored squares.

 

2. We heavily modge podged them to the pumpkin. My son was great at this part. (Such a last minute project that we used a toothbrush instead of a paint brush to modge podge!!)

 



 

3. Next, we modge podged a paper towel holder with squares. (See it drying on the Elmer's glue bottle)

 

4. We hot glued the ears, eyes, and trunk on Elmer. If you look closely I added a few small nails to make sure the trunk and ears stayed.

 

5. Here is my son's masterpiece!

 

 

 

Dinosaur Book Box: Dinosaur Games, Activities and Reading Fun

I finally completed another book box to trade out. This one was themed Dinosaurs. Roar! I spent a total of $10 making this one. As I've mentioned before, I sort through my books and find a theme I think the kids would like. I obviously had plenty of dinosaur books! Then I looked through the scholastic catalog and ordered six Dinosaur books that were $1 each to share. As luck would have it, I found these awesome dinosaur sandwich cutters on sale for 70% off at Target this weekend. Every child will get one of those too! 

 

Book Box Contents 

·         Dooley Makes Friends

(Please let your family keep one of these or the Dinosaur Dig for your book collection)

·         Dino stuffed animal reading buddy

·         Dinosaur Dig by Jan and Mike Berenstain

(Please let your family keep one of these or Dooley Makes Friends for your book collection)

·         Dinosaurumpus by Tony Milton

·         Curious George and the Dinosaur by Margret and H.A. Reyes

·         My Little Dinosaur by Ilse-Margret Vogel

·         Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner

·         Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur by Lillian Hoban

·         Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff

·         Dinosaurs by Teresa O’Brien

·         How to Draw Dinosaurs

·         Ten Little Dinosaurs by Pattie Schnetzler

·         The Flinstones: Dino Gets a Job

·         What Comes Next Dinosaur Activity Sheet for scissor and pattern practice

·         Dinosaur foam puzzle or wooden puzzle depending on the age appropriateness

·         Dinosaur sandwich cutter (Have a fun dinosaur themed lunch and keep one for your family!)

·         Dinosaur Grow Capsules (Perfect for bathtime)

·         Paleontologist Notebook: Let your little one learn a little about dinosaurs and fossils with their personalized notebook 

 

 

This notebook is about 12 pages I created of fun activities. I would be happy to share it if you email me!
 

·         Consider making some binoculars out of toilet paper rolls for your little paleontologist

·         Dinosaur Egg: Handle with care. You can spray them with vinegar for a fun reaction or just let them crack open their individual egg with any tools on hand. (They easily dissolve or clean off with water) 

 

 

Dino Egg: Mix baking soda and water + black dye (or icing)

 

I have seen many different recipes for this...but this one was super easy and fast.

 

Form mix around dinosaurs.

 

I think they look so fun! Fragile: Handle with care!

 

·         Have fun! Make sure everything on this list is returned to the book box for the next child.

·         Let me know when you have worn out your book box and we will trade. I am hoping to trade about every 3 weeks and just meet up with you. Thanks! Michelle

 

Summer Two of the Traveling Book Boxes

When last summer was just around the corner, I began thinking about the long 3 months ahead of us, and the Texas heat. My son's can get a little bored without the constant stimulation of school, and it is hard to go outside in the peak heat of the day. I figured my friends might need some boredom busters too, so I dreamed up the summer of the traveling book boxes. It reminds me of the concept of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Have you read the story or seen the movie? It is precious.

My plan was to create multiple themed book boxes with books, games, activities, crafts, and entertainment ideas. We would trade out every 2-3 weeks and get a new box for our kiddos. I tried to make them light at first, so I could ship them back and forth. Then I realized everyone was truly close enough, that we could just drop them off.
 

I sent out an email to see who might be interested in my crazy plan. I received four positive replies back and I began creating my book boxes. This being the second summer, it appears that everyone is in on the idea again. This year I am going to solicit some help from some of the other moms to hopefully make a book box each.

 

The first one I created this summer is themed Frogs!

 

I sent a printed sheet with this picture and a listing of the contents and activities.

 

Frog Book Box Contents

 

·         Frog Incentive Chart with star stickers. Place a sticker on the chart as you read each frog book. When all ten books have been read, reward your child with one of the Frog blowouts.

·         Frog stuffed animal. Please pick a frog to keep. Let your child name their frog and bring them along on their frog reading adventures.

·         Too Many Frogs by Sandy Asher

·         The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog (please take one of these books and keep it for your child’s collection.)

·         Froggy Loves Books (please take one of these books and keep it for your child’s collection)

·         The Teeny Weeny Tadpole by Sheridan Cain

·         National Geographic Kids Frogs!

·         The Day the Frogs Came to Lunch by Suzanne Weyn

·         Let’s Go Froggy! by Jonathan London

·         Froggy Goes to Camp by Jonathon London

·         From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer

·         Frog in the Kitchen Sink

·         Game: Frog Leap Pad Launcher. Remove the small plastic frogs from the bag. Place one in the large bottle cap top on the launcher. Set out the plates as lily pads. Now launch away and try to get your frog back to its lily pad.

 

(Launcher made from a piece of 2x4, clothespin glued on top, tongue depressor glued on the clothespin, and a bottle cap on the end of the tongue depressor. Launch away!)

Game: Frog Jump and Measure. Make a starting line with chalk on the sidewalk. Jump like a frog and measure with a tape measure how far you made it. Leave your little frog stuffed animal as a marker. Keep trying and see if you can out jump the other "frogs" in your family.

·         Craft: Frog Foam Activity Kit

·         Have fun! Make sure everything on this list is returned to the book box for the next child.

·         Let me know when you have worn out your book box and we will trade. I am hoping to trade about every 3 weeks and just meet up with you. Thanks! Michelle

 

 

In case you missed the box boxes last year...here they are...

 

 

Bug book box click here

 

 

Monkey Book box click here

 

 

Dog Book Box click here

 

 

Cupcakes, Ice Cream, and Flip Flops Book Box click here

 

 

Pirate Book Box click here