Books of the Week – March 27, 2010

 
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The Golden Egg Book, by Margaret Wise Brown:This is a fun book for Easter that reminded me of stories I enjoyed as a child.  The illustrations are beautiful and  simple and in our house this has been a favorite all around.  A little bunny finds an egg and wants to know what’s in it… so he kicks it, rolls it down a hill, and does what he can to find out.  It’s so sweet and I don’t want to spoil the book for you, so I’ll just say he gets a taste of his own treatment and ends up with a friend.  And no one is ever lonely again. :)  Well, that may be going overboard a bit, but it truly is a sweet book that I think almost any child would enjoy.

What’s Up, What’s Down?, by Lola M. Schaefer: This is an interesting and unique book that absolutely fascinates M.  You turn the book on it’s side and for the first half you follow arrows pointing up and find out what’s above a mole digging in the ground, etc.  all the way to the moon.  Then you turn the book around and follow arrows downward, finding everything that is below the moon all the way to the depths of the oceans.  It is pretty neat and I think adults and children alike will enjoy reading it!
Check out Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns for more book recommendations!
Have a beautiful day! :)
 

Easter Basket Counting Game

This is a pretty simple game…. place the baskets in numerical order from 0 – 10 (obviously you can do 0-9 or 1-10 if you prefer), then place the correct number of eggs in each basket.  Here’s what the playing pieces look like:OR place the egg with the correct number of flowers painted on it in each basket.  OR turn it all into a file folder game and do both.

I decided to create a file folder game.
   
I laid the baskets out on the inside of my folder and taped them down with small pieces of double stick tape along the top and bottom edges.

Then I laminated the entire folder with contact paper.  (Note:  I tried adding a pocket for the game pieces, but it just wasn’t working for so many pieces.  I ended up putting them in a zipper baggie which I stapled to the back of the folder.)

Next, I took a very sharp pair of scissors (you could use an exacto knife) and made a slit in each basket.  I had to be careful to go only through the top layer of contact paper and the basket, and not through the file folder itself.  This turned the baskets into little pockets for the eggs.
M counts out the correct number of eggs and then places them in the appropriate basket/pocket: Then, if he wants, he places the flowered eggs in the correct baskets:
Despite the lengthy instructions for putting this together, it actually only took about 1/2 hour.  Let me know if you use it… we are really loving it!

The printables can be downloaded here.

Have a beautiful day! :)