Reading Comprehension Card Game

This summer, I've decided to do theme days with my kids, so these posts will be more geared toward older kids (I have one entering 2nd and one entering 4th). Here are the theme days we're doing: 

•      Maker Monday (science, art, STEM)
•      Telling Tales Tuesday (Literacy) 
•      World Wonders Wednesday (Social Studies) 
•      Throwing Things Thursday (Phys Ed)
•      Finding Facts Friday (Math) 

Yesterday, for Maker Monday, we did a Lego challenge that you can see if you check out my Facebook Page. 

Today,  I decided to play this card game I made up. We're just finished up reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, so we're going to use that book. The rules are simple. You draw a card and follow these instructions: 

Ace- Tell a main idea

King/Queen- Chose a character from the book and tell something about them

Jack- Tell about the setting

Number cards- Tell that number of supporting details (you may want to take out some of the higher numbers to keep from running out of details depending on the length of the book)

Joker- Act out a part of the story

Be sure to ask guiding questions. Was that character key in solving the problem in the story and how? How do you know that's when the story took place?  How did that detail effect the conclusion of the story?  Did that happen in the beginning, middle or end of the story? 

Have fun with it! 

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 30

Day 30:
Today was a fun-filled day that started out on a playdate at a friend's house. She is 3 years old and plays well with Snugglepuppy. They played inside for awhile with the kitchen set, the keyboard, and some dolls. Snugglepuppy's friend had her older sister there and she took him upstairs to see her room. Then, after a yummy snack of chocolate chips muffins and grapes, we went outside and they played in the sand and water table as well as a small playset they have in the backyard.

We went home and got cleaned up from all the sand and I fed Ladybug. Then, we went to an aquatic center at one of our local recreation centers. They were having teacher appreciation week, so we all got in for free! Everyone splashed and had fun including Ladybug. Snugglepuppy slipped and fell a couple times. Being there alone and holding Ladybug, I had a hard time helping him up. But, everyone there was really nice and helpful. In the end, we had a really great time!

On the way home, I got Snugglepuppy a happy meal and let him play with the iPad a little when we got home. Then, when daddy got home from work, we went and got ice cream! We decided not to do pizza pizza party tonight since Snugglepuppy wanted a happy meal. It was an exhausting day for all. Time for bed!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 17

Day 17:
Ladybug and I slept in today. My sister, Aunt M brought Snugglepuppy home from grandma and grandpa's house in the afternoon. We played outside a little on the swing.  Then we spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do and what to make for dinner (that's my family). Finally, we went to the grocery store and ended up making a Pinterest recipe and some kabobs (that didn't get finished grilling until 10pm!) Needless to say, it was Snugglepuppy's bedtime after that. We really need to get back on a schedule! Speaking of schedule, I am working on a weekly picture schedule for Snugglepuppy. I finally got everything I need, so should be doing a post on it soon.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 1

Hello Friends! I know I have been away a LOT recently. I feel I have been so busy that I haven't done anything worthy of blogging about. But, I have decided to chronicle all the things we do this Summer and hopefully somewhere in there will be something that is useful to someone or at least you may enjoy following along with our journey. So, here goes. Me trying to entertain the 2 1/2 year old (Snugglepuppy) and the 2 month old (Squeaker) by myself with a little learning along the way.

Day 1:
Today we went to a local metro park. We decided to play on the playground and visit the nature center. Snugglepuppy had lots of fun looking at the animals and playing with the interactive nature board (see photo below). We also worked a floor puzzle of butterflies and insects. We had to leave there pretty fast as Squeaker had a poop-splosion of epic proportions. It leaked out into the car seat and down through the car seat onto the wagon and everything in it including the umbrella and Snugglepuppy's feet! Ughh, it was pretty gross. Needless to say, that ended our trip.

After cleaning all that mess up, we ate lunch and I put Snugglepuppy down for his nap (which he actually took!) Meanwhile, the free iPad arrived in the mail! We are currently searching for awesome free apps for kids. Leave a comment if you know of any. We took a walk later on that evening. Snugglepuppy made another attempt at riding his tricycle, but once he got started pedaling, he forgot to steer and ended up in the grass. Oh well, just needs more practice.

We made it through day 1, thank goodness! Mommy was exhausted after putting the kids to bed and then working on my cake pops and chocolate dipped pretzel sticks. Finally got to bed after 1 am. Hope tomorrow's more relaxing.

Easy Banana Popsicles with No Added Sugar!

Here is a little Summer concoction I came up with upon discovering that my son is BANANA CRAZY! It's very simple. All you need is:

1 1/2-2 Bananas

1/2 cup of orange juice

Blend together (with blender or food processor), pour into these handy dandy popsicle molds, and freeze.

They are really very yummy! You can of course use any type of popsicle mold, just vary the amount of the ingredients you need to use. I actually only used 1 banana and it wasn't enough to fill this whole container. 

You can also add other fruits to make various flavors. I would recommend strawberry, pineapple, or mango.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Our Summer Bucket List

So, I happened to be visiting over at Little Wonders' Days and found this cool linky of Summer Bucket Lists. I just knew I had to come up with one for me and L since we will both be off for the Summer and I have been trying to come up with so many things for us to do. Here is what I've got so far, but I'm sure I will add more as the Summer gets nearer.

1. Join the library's Summer Reading Program
2. Go to the lake (Lakeside)
3. Visit the zoo
4. Visit parks with gardens (Inniswood, Whetstone Park of Roses)
5. Hiking
6. Kiddie pool/Sprinkler
7. Find a frog at the creek
8. Go to the Scioto Mile fountains downtown
9. Watch fireworks for the 4th of July
10. Make a sea animal sensory bin
11. Watch the Summer Olympics
12. Visit Slate Run Metro Park with a living farm
13. Visit Buckeye Lake
14. Visit to NC
15. Toddler programs at the Metro Parks
16. Visit an aquarium
17. Play at a natural play area
18. Do at least one community service with L
19. Swimming lessons
20. GET PREGNANT!

Summertime Schedule

Ahh, Summer is finally here. Time to have fun and play all day! Vacations, trips to the pool, and sleepovers. So what happened to that schedule we got so used to during the school year? It is easy to slack on keeping our kids on their normal routines during the Summer and sometimes that's ok. Just make sure they know your expectations of them. It's ok to tell the kids, we are on vacation, so bedtime is a little more flexible, but make sure that you still have a set time for bed (even if it varies from day to day depending on your activities)and that you still take a bath brush teeth and read a story (or whatever your routine is). The harm from getting too lenient on following a schedule is that if the child begins to learn that anything goes, then when it's time to go back to the old routine, chances are you are looking at some major meltdowns. Another example is screen time. You may be kicked back in your lounge chair gettin some sun on the beach and not notice the kids are playing video games or watching TV for 12 hours a day as long as they are staying out of your hair. Just know that the moment you realize they need to get out and get some exercise, they are probably not going to want to put down that DS or their device of choice... So just make sure you try to keep some kind of schedule even if it is a little more flexible and keep the kids involved in what is going on so they know what to expect.