I have shared several origami kits as well as origami paper packs and projects with you over the years. Today I am sharing a wonderful origami kit for kids. I think this is my favorite one ever!! It is Kawaii Origami for Kids by Naoko Ishibashi. Kawaii is a huge Japanese culture of cuteness. I am sure you have seen the word previously. These origami projects are just so cute!! So it makes sense that it is called the Kawaii Origami for Kids.
Spring is basically upon us and as everything awakens, I am noticing I know several people who just had babies or about to have babies. It is the perfect time to look at board books to read to little ones or gift!! Today I have four new board books (one being released tomorrow) to share with you. The first is Hey, Little Night Owl by Jeffrey Burton and illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz.
Winter begins in a few days. Of course, in New England we feel like it has been winter for a while. However, I often think of winter books in January. Today I am sharing two new books--a board book and a nonfiction book about animals in the winter. The board book is Whose Prints? by Kari Allen and illustrated by Kim Smith. It is suggested for preschool and up.
If you have been reading Crafty Moms Share you know that during the pandemic I fell in love with birds. I even did a series about the wildlife in our backyard which is mostly birds. I have done quite a few posts about birds and books that involve birds over the years. Today I am adding another one. It is a beautiful pop-up book from Usborne. It is Pop-Up Birds by Laura Cowan, illustrated by Giulia Lombardo and design and paper engineering by Jenny Hilborne. It is recommended for ages 5 and up.
Do you know that May is National Mental Health Awareness Month? According to the CDC, more than 5.8 million American children, aged 13-17, were diagnosed with anxiety disorders between 2016-2019. (Source) What is even more scary is that the number is increasing. According to psychologist Robert Leahy, "The average high school student today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s." (Source) Hazel loves to tell me this all the time! Think of all the things that exist today in schools that did not exist previously. There is the fear of school shootings. According to Pew Research 57% of teens fear there will be a school shooting at their school. (Source) There is social media and cell phones. Now a humiliating mistake may be saved on-line forever! Plus there is cyber bullying and the stress it can cause. This year a student (or students) at Hazel's school took pictures from her Instagram account and created fake accounts trying to say she was dating a boy (who she barely tolerates) as well as other such things. It truly is scary what they can do.
Does your child have a lovey? Is it the typical teddy bear or a different animal? In this age of stuffed animals--where you can find a stuffed version of almost any animal--I think teddy bears are a bit passe. Hazel's lovey is a duck. We had a ducky themed birthday party years ago to honor her lovey, Ducky. Her pediatrician gave me the wonderful advice of buying several of the animal she chooses as a lovey. We are on her second Ducky and have a third. The second Ducky can no longer be washed as he is completely deteriorating, but if she is having a hard time, he can still calm her down. Today's book is about a stuffed animal that is not a teddy bear. In fact, no one really knows what animal it is, but he is Jonah's favorite animal. To be honest Freddy reminds me a bit of Ducky. The book is Freddy the Not-Teddy by Kristen Schroeder and Hilary Jean Tapper. This book is recommended for ages 4 to 8. At the end of our post there is a round-up of ideas for a teddy bear picnic since Jonah and Freddy go to one.
This past week National Geographic Kids released a new all-encompassing book about dinosaurs. It is the final book in our Back to School with National Geographic Kids series. I am guessing that for the final week of September schools across America have opened now. The book is National Geographic Kids Dinosaur Atlas. It is recommended for kids ages 7 to 10.
This week for our Back to School with National Geographic Kids we are sharing a fun new book about space. To go with our book review, we are sharing a round-up of crafts, activities, lessons and more all about space for different ages. Our book is Can't Get Enough Space Stuff by Stephanie Drimmer and Julie Beer. It is recommended for ages 7 to 10.
I really wanted to do something with pi for artwork in my classroom plus would love a good pi activity. I struggled with this one. I have seen the pi skyline like this one over at What Do We Do All Day? It is fun but not quite what I am looking for. There are different pi artworks if you google "pi art" but most is based on the digits of pi. To be honest I do not believe in having kids memorize the digits of pi, so much of the artwork is not my thing. As I was searching for ideas, I came across this YouTube video that intrigued me. I decided to make the "fractal" that has an area of pi! It is a spin from the Sierpinski Carpet, Menger Sponge, and the Wallis Sieve. Now fractals are supposed to be infinite, but I cannot draw them this way. I am working on taking this fractal to the third level. If you were able to go on infinitely the area of this picture would be pi.
I have BIG NEWS!! My life is changing. After leaving teaching high school math sixteen years ago to get married and focus on family, I am going back to the classroom full time in the fall. Then on top of that news I have been helping out four days a week in the school's directed learning center since someone left at the end of April. My life has been a bit different, and you can tell by the number of posts I have been doing. This will mean some changes to Crafty Moms Share, but I am not sure the extent yet. I will change my focus to more math-based posts but am hoping to still review some books, especially math focused ones and young adult ones so I can connect with my students. I will also be doing more origami, so be ready for review of origami products.
When you hear firehouse dog, I am guessing you don't think about a pit bull. Today I get to share with you a fun new picture book about a firedog who is a pit bull!! This sweet picture book is fun and introduces pet care as well as fire safety to young children. The book is The True Story of "Nick the Firedog" by Timothy Dexter, Jr.
We are in the middle of winter here in Massachusetts. The trees are bare, but I am dreaming of spring and warmer weather. Today's book is perfect for this dream. It is The Leaf and the Tree by Bruce Nemovitz and illustrated by Ani Ghosh.
Happy February!! With February comes so many different things from Valentine's Day to Presidents' Day and more! I thought we would kick February off by sharing two new board books that are perfect for Presidents' Day. When I was young, I remember getting both Abraham Lincoln's and George Washington's birthdays off. At some point they merged into Presidents' Day. Of course, if you look at the history of Presidents' Day it was begun to celebrate George Washington's birthday. Hmmm, somehow Abraham got forgotten there. Anyway, with both of their birthdays this month, I am going to share books about both of them. Both books are written by Patricia A. Pingry, and both are board books, so they are perfect for your youngest book lovers! Let's start with The Story of George Washington. These books are recommended for ages 2 to 5.
Last week I shared some autumn crafts including leaf embroidery. I promised another fall craft if it worked and it mostly did. So today I am sharing how to make a leaf bowl. Now I saw photographs all over the place like this one for inspiration. I went outside and picked some beautiful fall leaves. Then I wiped them and let them dry for a few hours. I gathered a plastic cup, a balloon, a paintbrush, and my ModPodge. When I was ready I blew up the balloon and put it in the plastic cup. The cup works as a stand so you do not have to hold the balloon in place. Put the knotted side down into the cup. Then I spread some ModPodge on my first leaf and stuck it on to the balloon. I then spread more ModPodge on the other side of the leaf to get it really stuck. I continued doing this trying to overlap the leaves.
Have you been to New York City? I have several times and have taken Hazel a couple of times. I have a good childhood friend who lives outside of the city so she takes Hazel and me in when we want to go. My nephew just moved there. It has been his dream to live there. He is hoping to establish residency and attend City College at the resident rate. While he is exploring the city and finding his way, I jumped at the chance to review National Geographic Kids newest edition in their Weird But True! Series. This one is Weird But True! New York City. It is recommended for ages 8 to 10, however it will be in my 19-year-old nephew's stocking this year!
May is Asian/Pacific Islander-American Heritage Month. Last May I focused on Japan and I thought this year I might try to do that with Vietnam, but as I looked at my resources this year I decided I would do one post on Vietnam and posts about other Asian and Pacific Island countries. Today we will focus on Vietnam and I will share two books--a cookbook and a picture dictionary. At the end I will share a round-up of some activities and books on the topic of Vietnam and the culture.
Disclosure: Aaron Carapella gave me permission to use his copyrighted photos. They are all copyrighted by his company Tribal Nations Maps.
Although some people still celebrate the holiday as Columbus Day, many are changing it to Indigenous Peoples' Day. I shared years ago about how I feel about Columbus Day. For more reasons to change the day to Indigenous Peoples' Day check out here. To celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, I turned to my friend Aaron Carapella of Tribal Nations Maps. Years ago I had the pleasure of sharing my prize with you of one of his amazing maps. Since then he has added so many different maps and products. He has added maps Indigenous Peoples of regions of North America as well as Central and South America.
I haven't done a Who's In The Backyard? Post in awhile. I had planned on doing my rabbits weeks ago but was having internet issues as well as a busy life. So here it finally is!! In our backyard we have cottontails. They are probably Eastern Cottontails, but there is a slight chance they could be New England Cottontails. So my focus is going to be on both species and the differences.
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
We have all heard of the little engine that could, but have you heard of the little horse that couldn't? Today I get to share with you a picture book about Zippy Chippy, the little horse that couldn't. The book is called The True Story of Zippy Chippy: The Little Horse that Couldn't by Artie Bennett and illustrated by Dave Szalay.
