Rockets, rockets, and more rockets (and Elijah's Rocket Reading List)

So June came and went quickly (as did the Fourth of July)!  I haven't gotten anything blogged lately, even though I've started several posts.  We'll see how many I can get done in the next couple of days.

June seemed to be full of rockets for us.  Elijah has become enamored with them lately.  He can't get enough of them.  So, I went on some idea hunts and came up with a bunch of activities to start our summer with rocket play.  I wanted to share our collection, and an official reading list since it's been a while since I've done one.

• Build a rocket out of cardboard boxes.  Big brother enjoyed adding lots of details to all the control panels inside.  Hours of dramatic play have been had with this box.
 

• Blast off a real rocket outside.  We got this one for Theo's birthday and finally got it out to try.  Alternatively, you could try this design from NASA.

• Watch Rocket to the Moon, Word World edition.  Theo was a huge fan when he was younger, and now Elijah loves it.

• Chant rocket to the moon!  Miss K at the library does this rhyme every week, and it has always been Elijah's favorite thing during book club.  

Zoom Zoom Zoom
We're going to the moon
Zoom Zoom Zoom
We're going to the moon
We'll climb aboard a rocket ship
And go upon a little trip
Zoom Zoom Zoom
Were going to the moon
5. .4. .3. .2. .1. . Blast off.

*Then, we have another verse where we are going back home because we don't want to be stuck on the moon.*

• Put yourself in a rocket!  Theo made this at school, and Elijah really wanted one of his own.  So, we created one and Elijah spent the most time I have ever seen coloring his rocket with markers.  He was so excited to have his own rocket.   

• Go to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museums.  The annex located in Northern Virginia has the Discovery Space Shuttle, as well as bunches of rocket models to be impressed by.  The original museum in DC has several full size rockets as well, and plenty of exhibits on space travel.

• Blast off a rocket inside.  This balloon rocket idea looks like a fun, quick project. 

• Even our church got in on the action, as they are planning a space themed VBS.  The boys were so excited to see this spaceship adorning the side door.

• Use pattern blocks to free build rockets, or fill in rocket puzzles are great spatial recognition activities.  There are many different ways to use pattern blocks:

1.  Let kids build their own rockets!!!  When using manipulatives, it's normally best to let the kids have 3-5 minutes to explore on their own before asking them to do a specific tasks.  Gets some of their curiosity flowing and helps focus them on the specific tasks you want them to complete.
2.  Full size puzzle sheets, with some or all of the shapes outlined.

3.  Full size puzzle sheets, with only the perimeter outlined.  There are often multiple solutions for these kinds of puzzles.
4.  Smaller scaled sheets showing all the pieces used, the last page of this packet has two rocket versions.
5.  Similarly, you could create your own rocket, take photos, and have students recreate them from here.
Here is Theo's:

Here is mine (Elijah added the purple piece because it needed a door).

Here is Brian's:

6.  To have your pre-schooler practice counting when finished with a specific rocket, you can use the Pattern block recording page here.

• Finally, read lots of rocket books.  Elijah has gotten really good at finding them at the library, and I requested just about all of the pre-school age books our library system has.  Some of our favorites include: 
  

1.  This Rocket:  by Paul Collicutt.  This quick book has one line on each page, with most pages containing opposite statements (ex:  This rocket travels by day.  This rocket travels by night.)  On the end pages there are plenty of detailed information about rockets for older kids too.
2.  I Want to be an Astronaut:  by Byron Barton.  I like this one for it's simplicity, as the illustrations and text are very simple and can be memorized fairly quickly by an interested two year old.
3.  Space Boy and His Dog:  by Dian Curtis Regan. This one has the most "story" out of these books, about a boy looking for a missing cat, with or without his sister.
4.  Zoom, Rocket, Zoom!  by Margaret Mayo.  The teacher in me really likes the vocabulary in this book.  Multiple nouns and verbs are used in the sentences describing what rockets do.  Satellites, orbiting, astronauts, command module, lunar module, space station, weightless, and rovers are some of the vocabulary Elijah has heard or picked up during this rocket obsession.
5.  If You Decide to Go to the Moon:  by Faith McNulty.  Fans of illustrator Steven Kellogg will be drawn to this book about what it would be like to go to the moon.  And return to Earth, which we should be thankful for.  There seems to be a bit of an earth conservation theme at the end of the book.
6.  On the Launch Pad:  A Counting Book About Rockets:  by Michael Dahl.  This beautiful counting book starts at twelve stars in the sky, and counts down until the rocket blasts off.  A great book for those learning to count.
7.  Roaring Rockets:  by Tony Mitton.  Another cute book about astronauts going out into space, though these illustrations are animal astronauts rather than human ones.  There is a nice glossary of rocket parts on the last page. 
8.  DK Readers Level 1:  Rockets and Spaceships:  by Karen Wallace.   This little non-fiction book is a good addition to a rocket collection, and introduces young readers to features of informational books that will be important as they start reading more of them.  (This one missed the photo, it is probably hiding under a bed.)

Hope you can enjoy some of these ideas if you ever have a rocket-obsessed guy (or girl) in your house!

Christmas Book Tradition: Titles for 2-year-old and 4-year-old boys

As my boys are getting older, I'm realizing that Christmas can be a little confusing for the kids.  As a religious family, mixing Santa Claus and Christmas trees with the nativity and an advent log can get a little complicated for pre-schoolers.  But I always feel like children's literature can help clear up some of the confusion, and I always feel like reading stories with the boys helps them to understand (and get excited for) experiences before they happen.  And frankly, it gets me in the mood too.  I may not be one to get hyped up to build a snowman, but it seems  a little more magical after reading a Snowy Day.  And while visiting living nativities are magical in themselves, doing so after reading The Birds of Bethlehem helps the kids understand what they are seeing a little more.  And seeing how Corduroy or Little Critter celebrate Christmas gives the boys ideas for ways they want to celebrate the season.

As is becoming a tradition in some households, we are choosing to wrap up two dozen books and plan to open one book a night to read with the boys (our second year to do so).  So, without further ado, here are our list of 24 Christmas stories we'll be reading this year, organized by type.

Nativity Stories:

• Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck and Felicia Bond:  This is a beautiful little book, that is probably my favorite Christmas book for the youngest reader.  The rhyming verses and the simplicity of the descriptions makes it great for beginning talkers.
• The Little Shepherd's Christmas by Carol Heyer:  For a different perspective on the nativity scene, this one follows a shepherd boy throughout the night as he sees the angel choir.
• The Birds of Bethlehem by Tomie de Paola:  For another perspective, this especially well illustrated book is told by a flock of colorful little birds.  Tomie de Paola is an awesome children's author to check out if you're not familiar with her work.
• The First Christmas (Pop-Up Book):  A fun pop-up book to interact with the manger in the barn.
• This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten:  Similar to "Christmas in the Manger" (above), but with different illustrations and slightly longer.

Favorite Characters:  No descriptions for these, they are just Corduroy, Critter, and of course Charlie Brown celebrating Christmas in their own special ways.

• Corduroy's Christmas based on the character by Don Freeman and Lisa McCue
• Merry Christmas, Little  Critter!  by Mercer Mayer
• Corduroy's Merry Christmas based on the character by Don Freeman and Lisa McCue
• A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz

 Santa/Giving:

• Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Power of Giving:  A Christmas Story by Howard Binkow and Susan F. Cornelison:  As the name suggests, this story follows Howard's journey of understanding what's really important.  I like that this book also has reflection questions at the end to help discuss the topics raised in the book with your child. 

• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg:  We have the audio CD for this one, so it's great to save for a night that you may be riding in a car at bedtime, if you're travelers like us.  And then, we play the movie on our mini DVD player, and by the time it's done the boys will normally sleep for the rest of the drive.  *Santa Spoiler-this one does deal with themes your kids may not have thought of yet, so you may want to save it until their older.  Ours love trains so much, and don't really understand all the plot yet, so we will still let them read/see it.*

• The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore (several illustrators):  For anyone counting, we actually have two versions of this classic.

Other Christmas Stories:

• A Christmas Prayer by Sanja Rescek:  As the name suggests, this board book is filled with a different "thank you" prayer on each page.

• The Special Christmas Tree by Catherine Walters and Simon Taylor-Kielty:  A rabbit family ventures out to find their Christmas tree in this quick read.

• God Gave us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren and David Hohn:  In this one, the author really tries to bridge Santa and the more secular aspects of Christmas with Jesus's birth in a beautiful story.

Snow:

• Just a Snowman by Mercer Mayer:  Just Little Critter having fun in the snow.  Or at least trying to.
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats:  I loved this book so much last year that it got it's own post, here. 
•  There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed some Snow!  by Lucille Colando and Jared Lee:  For anyone who loves the repetitive, building verse stories, this edition is fun.
• One Snowy Day by Tammi Salzano and Hannah Wood:  A simple counting book, great for the youngest kids.
• Snow Day!:  A short, simple board book about a snowman's day outside.
• The Three Kittens by Trace Moroney:  The classic rhyme, illustrated beautifully in this board book edition.  My little one still cries with the kittens as they lose their mittens, and *spoiler alert* celebrates with them as they find them.

 Misc:

• Over the River and Through the Wood by L. Maria Child and Matt Tavares:  Technically, this one is a Thanksgiving story, but I was only familiar with the first verse prior to reading this and have always associated it with being a Christmas song/poem, so it gets to stay on the list.

• Santa Cows by Cooper Edens and Daniel Lane:  This is a very silly parody of the Night before Christmas.  I have no idea where my mother found it (probably a cattle show), and the first time we read it we weren't so sure about it, but we've grown fond of it over the years and it's now part of our family tradition to read it, though we save it for one of the last nights when we are at grandma's cattle farm.

Additional:  For a few more titles, click here.

The Snowy Day

I think my new favorite book this season is the simple, beautifully done, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.  It is a simple tale of a young boy's winter day, and one that is very easy to act out.  Today, after a light snow fell here last night, I decided to go ahead and have a "Snowy Day" of our own.  After reading the book we got all bundled up and went outside to play in the snow.  We didn't do everything Peter does in the book, because Eli is just not up for everything yet, but the kids enjoyed themselves for sure (once we fought over getting out of pajamas... going back to school next week is going to be rough on Theo).

Making snow angels seemed to be the favorite part.

 And of course, Eli also wanted to bring out the shovel.  We can't keep the brooms and vacuum away from this kid, he always wants to be pushing something around.

*I am guilty of collecting Caldecott award winners, so when I saw this one in the latest book order I had to get it for myself.  The Snowy Day was the winner of the 1963 medal!  I'm surprised it has taken me this long to stumble across it as it is a very popular children's book.*

Elijah's Reading List: Our Favorite Board Books for Babies

I love a good board book.  One that lives up to being chewed, drooled on, and pulled almost apart.  After checking all the different book baskets in our house, looking through those in the car, and digging our favorite ones out of the diaper-bag, I have compiled a list of our favorite board books that we've read with Eli during his first year.  He is now at that stage where he can turn all the pages in the book, and is beginning to sit longer and listen to complete books now.  He mostly hears us read to his big brother, but when it is just him he often gets to hear one of these stories.

I Love You Through and Through, by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak.  This is a good one for teaching the body parts.  I know that we were "late" teaching these to Theo according to our old pediatrician.  She really made us feel like we messed up big because he didn't know his parts at whatever age that was, so I'm making sure we don't mess up on that again.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See; The Very Busy Spider; and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle.  I was so surprised when we were at a school a few months ago, and my husband didn't recognize the work on the wall as being Eric Carle's.  He has such a distinctive style, that I thought pretty much everyone knew about him.  But for those like my hubby, he is definitely one of the best things to happen to early literature since Dr. Seuss.  I love his books.  These are my favorite versions of these classics.  The Brown Bear book is a slide and find, which keeps Eli interested in each new page because he gets to slide over a square and uncover the next animal.  The Busy Spider has a nice touch aspect to it as the spider web is raised on each page.  And this cloth edition of the Hungry Caterpillar is not the full book, but a beautiful touch and feel modification that is best for the youngest bookworms.

Dr. Seuss's ABC:  An Amazing Alphabet Book, by Dr. Seuss.  So I'm actually not a huge fan of Dr. Seuss.  I like to buy those on CD actually, so they can be enjoyed by the kids but I don't have to read them.  But this one has always been my favorite to perform (I say perform because you really can't just read a Seuss book).

I Like Bugs, by Lorena Siminovitch.  This is a beautiful book that was just gifted to Eli from a great aunt recently.  It is very pretty, works on counting and the bugs are raised off the page so they are interesting to touch as well.

Little Blue Truck, by Alice Schertle.  So I actually meant to grab the sequel to this one, "Little Blue Truck Leads the Way" but accidentally used the original.  They are both great, but the second one just has this great cadence to the lines that makes it especially fun to read.  It is long enough to have all the elements of a story (building action, climax, resolution) but not too long that I lose Eli's attention.  I don't think I will ever tire of this book.

Next in the photo is Oh My, Oh My, Dinosaurs, by Sandra Boynton.  You can't actually see this one because Eli would just not sit still without holding one.  This author has several great books for babies, but I especially like this one since it identifies opposites.  It's one that Theo can pretty much read to his little brother all on his own.

Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell is pretty much a classic that was new to me a few years ago.  Eli is now at the age where he can lift all the little flaps to see what animals were sent from the zoo.  Any time he has something to interact with there is that much more of a chance he will stay interested until the end of the book.

That's Not My Plane, by Fiona Watt.  We picked up this one at one of the Smithsonians recently (with our discount from being zoo members).  It's fun because it talks about all the parts of a plane (I really need to learn these so Theo stops correcting me) and has touch features as well.

Where is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz. This is my favorite lift-the-flap type book.  The flaps are designed well so little baby fingers can actually use them.

Peek-a-Who? by Nina Laden.  The feature I like with this one is the opening in the cover that changes the images throughout the book.  I also love that this one rhymes.

Quiet Loud, by Leslie Patricelli.  A popular book about things that are quiet, and things that are loud.  Theo likes to help with this one, as we get to whisper some pages and yell on others.

Simon Says, Roar Like a Lion, illustrated by Sarah Vince.  Like most babies, Eli has always been pretty interested in mirrors, so he really seems to like this one.  He hasn't really started to say any animals sounds yet, other than "Hisssssss like a cat."  He's good at that one (because our cat is so unfriendly toward him). 

In My Tree, by Sara Gillingham.  Like "Peek-a-Who", this book has a cut out that the other pages are based around, but in this case it is a finger puppet.  The book kind of disturbs Theo since there is no big brother in the family, but Eli loves the puppet.

Mirror Me! by Baby Einstein:  "Like Roar Like a Lion", this one is great because of the interactive mirror.  There have been many times we find Eli literally with his nose in this book, as he'll hold the mirror right up to his eyes and mouth.

Open the Barn Door illustrated by Christpher Santoro:  This one is great because it is so small, it can easily be slipped into a purse.  Combining farm animals sounds, and lift the flaps, it is always sure to please in a pinch when baby needs some distraction.

Octopus Opposites, by Stella Blackstone.  This one is interesting to me, because it combines animal identification, rhymes and opposites (three popular themes in board books) in a novel way.  Most of the animals in the store are not your typically included ones.  It's fun to get to say pack-pony and kookaburras, rather than just more cows and pigs.

I'm sure there are other great ones out there, but these have been our favorites through both boys we've had.  Mostly favorites because they'll catch the boys' interest, and entertain us as well.

Alexandria Boutiques & Air and Scare

I love Alexandria.  I like to pretend I live there.  And it would be great if I did since it is so close to Brian's work, but we don't.  But I love all of the boutiques on King Street, and have been wanting to get in them for a while.  I finally got my chance when I read about Alexandria's Boutique Trick or Treat last Saturday.  We dressed up the boys and headed there for a great afternoon checking out lots of new places.  I have lots of places to take my little sister to shop now when she comes out here next.

We took a break midway through to go to an author visit at the local bookstore, Hooray for Books!  We were one of only a few there, so it was awesome that Theo basically got his own personal reading from the author of a pretty popular children's book.  And since we are focusing heavily on numbers right now, Ten Timid Ghosts was the perfect story at the perfect time.  The author/illustrator Jennifer O'Connell even did a drawing using input from the kids.  And Theo got his first signed book.

(I forgot to mention that the cool people at the comic store were so impressed with Theo's Superman costume, that even though they weren't giving out treats they tracked us down on the street to give Theo a FREE comic book.  He spent about the next two days totally absorbed in it.)

 After this, we let the kids nap while we drove out to the Udvar-Hazy National Air & Space Museum's annual Air & Scare event.  This is free, being a Smithsonian, but requires a $15 fee for parking.  They stayed open extra late for this event, and it was packed.  Besides the candy stops, there were story, craft, and activity stations.  Our three year old had a great time.

Racing his "witch on a broom."

I should have mentioned last year that none of our Halloween costumes could be complete without the help of my hubby.  He is surprisingly crafty, and has a knack for figuring out how to get things to work.  Every year he willingly completes whatever I ask.  This year, I unfortunately did not get to pick out the costumes.  Theo got it in his head that he should be Spiderman, and since there was know way I was making that, I talked him into Superman.  I don't think he really knows who either of these  heroes are, but he was convinced he needed to be Superman.  We almost had him convinced to be a "knight in shining armor" (from a favorite Sesame Street episode).  He agreed once we explained the sword he would get.  And the fact that Eli would be a dragon.  But, he recently went back to just wanting to be Superman.  So, Eli was paired up as Batman, naturally.

These were pretty easy to put together.  We found the shirts and tights at Wal-Mart and some tights/socks and undies at Target (this is the second year in a row Theo is wearing girl's tights) and then got fabric, felt, and ribbon (yellow belt) at Joanns.  I put together Theo's cape based on this tutorial, and we threw socks and hose over Theo's rain boots to make them red.

While this was Theo at 44 months, his father was the same character many years ago at 38 months of age.

 His brother was Batman too.

For Elijah we went ahead and paired him as batman too, since he didn't have an opinion on the matter.  His cape was a lot more complex when I realized he should really have a hood and a bat-look to it.  I basically came up with it on my own, making a newspaper template to fit him, and using these three tutorials for ideas.  Super Hero Hooded Towel, Bear Hooded Towel, Cape Expectations

Brian then made Eli's black gloves, and their emblems also.

For more costume ideas, check out these links for 2010-2012 and 2014.

The Boys' New Room

It only took about a year before Eli got to have his name up on his bedroom wall.  The perils of being a second-born.  While I like the playroom, I really love the boys bedroom.  What started out as an ocean-themed nursery is now a bright and happy space for both my pre-schooler and my baby to read, listen to music, dress, and sleep in.  I have kept the blue and green color theme, and added red accents as well. 

Like our toy room, most of the furniture is from Ikea and have been re-purposed.  The billy bookcases were originally white in my first studio apartment, and were painted a few years ago for our first nursery.  The crib, shelf, and most of the frames are from Ikea as well.  I had to add the curtains and found those at the Land of Nod.  After the first few months of changing Eli, I pretty much stopped using the changing table so it is no longer in here and is being used as extra storage in our bathroom.  I found all the blue and green baskets years ago at Babies 'R Us.  The fish light was a great shower gift that we still use every night as a night light.

My favorite details include:
-This gallery wall that I threw together using extra frames and a mirror we've collected.  I love the Indiana print, with the heart over our hometown (where all their grandparents and many other family still live).

-This print from "Where the Wild Things Are"

-All the board books at ground level so Eli can get to them (and he leaves the more fragile books alone)

-Our "calendar" of prints.  When I realized we had twelve of these frames (they used to contain scenic photos of our favorite places), I thought I would find a photo that had both boys from each month of they year.  It is cute to see them grow through the pictures, and we can talk about the different months, holidays, seasons, and birthdays with a visual in mind for the boys.

-Theo's duvet cover and bed skirt that were on clearance and matched almost perfectly

I tried hard to limit the toys in here.  All of Eli's fill and spill toys are here, as well as the firetrucks, block-trains, and a basket of baby toys.  The night stand is actually filled with all of our puppets and puzzles.

And the large closet has room for all of the boys current/past/future clothes and all their blankets.  Which is great.

Theodore's Reading List: Great Books for Three Year Olds

It's time for another edition of Theodore's reading list.

For the most part, our favorite stories for about the last six months can be summed up in two words.  Mercer Meyer.  Theodore LOVES these little books.  And so does mama.  I really like them because they give him the vocabulary and context for so many different real life experiences.  Whether it's moving, getting a little brother, a holiday, or just being able to do things on your own, there is a Little Critter book for that topic.  It helps his little mind process things before they happen, (like moving) or reinforce memories after (like Christmas).  I really believe these books have really helped his vocabulary expand and his imagination grow.  Mama also likes them because they are short and sweet, with great illustrations.

One of the first books we read was Just Grandpa and Me which was actually my copy from growing up.  In February Theodore had it completely memorized, and I loved hearing him recite it.

We started reading We are Moving in February as well, and by the time we finally did, he understood there would be a moving truck and a new room for him, and when we finally got to our new place, Theodore gave me a hug and said, "I love my new house!  See mama, moving is not so bad after all."  Almost the exact ending of the story.

In addition to the ones pictured above, we have checked out several other seasonal ones from the library.  And I have Just Going to the Dentist ordered and on its way. 

There have been a few other books as well that have been re-read for extended periods of time.

• The Corduroy books which share many similarities with the Little Critter books are also still a favorite.  (not pictured)
• As Theo ages, so does Trixie in Knuffle Bunny Too (when we learned we've been pronouncing it wrong all along, the K is NOT silent) and Knuffle Bunny Free keeping him interested in that series as well.  
• I picked up Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site at the book fair at the elementary where I was working this spring, and it was a huge hit.  Apparently there are lacing cards and a matching game based on this book too.  It even has a facebook page and following.
• The two books about the Little Blue Truck are also a big hit around here.  Can you tell that my son is all boy? 
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is another favorite, because it was first a favorite of mine.  It can take a while to grow on you, but it really is a neat book in our opinion. 
• The Z was Zapped:  A Play in 26 Acts is a slightly dark, slightly warped (like the W) book, but is very cleverly done.  Each act includes an alphabet letter facing its demise.  Especially dark is the "Q gets quartered" which is Theo's favorite part, even though he has no idea what it means.  If I ever teach reading, this is a great book to use with older kids for alliteration.
• Little Kids, by National Geographic, is the first magazine we subscribed to for Theodore.  It is ad-free, and beautifully done.  Information about animals and activities are blended into this great magazine.  And Theo getting some of his own mail is very exciting.

I'm so excited to see his literacy skills grow during this next year.  He is already able to summarize the stories we read, answer questions about them, and make his own text to self/world connections.  It won't be long now before he has mastered his letter sounds and is starting to read.  Perhaps next year he'll even be a little more tech savvy... we are really considering a kindle or a nook for him.  There is a Mercer Meyer app that would be amazing for him.

PS

I am, apparently, not a good reader.  Ever since I moved up to the red group in first grade, I have considered myself to be an excellent reader, and many people and students have told me so throughout my life.  I use good diction, expression, and tempo.  I draw kids into a good book when I read aloud.  But recently Theo has taken to telling me that "You're not a good reader yet."  It's really just his way of getting dada to read instead of mama (because, "Daddy is a good reader!"), and it really cracks me up every time.  Now he says he's working on being a good reader whenever he is doing his literacy activities.  Such a funny kid.