Guest Post: READING CONFETTI ~ Paper Pumpkin

 I'm excited to have another guest host here on Come Together Kids.  After you read about this cute pumpkin craft she's sharing here today, you have to check out Lorie's blog.  She's only been blogging since August, but she has already shared tons of great ideas.  I love how she uses her love of books and her knowledge as a reading specialist to tie together great books with fun activities. Plus, her blog has several tabs with great tips for parents to use when reading with their children ~ so handy!

Hello!  I am so excited to be here!  A great big thank you to Laura for allowing me to do a guest post!  I'm Lorie from Reading Confetti and just recently started blogging.  I'm taking some time off from being a reading specialist and teacher to stay home with my 3 year old son and not-quite-2 year old daughter.  I've taught third through eighth grades and am now focusing my efforts on my preschoolers, so my blog is about making reading fun for kids of ALL ages. The project I'd like to share with you today is a paper pumpkin decoration.

To make your own, you'll need:

• orange and brown paper (Scrapbook paper would also be pretty!)
• a drinking straw, preferably orange  (You could also use string or ribbon knotted at each end, but the straw made it easier for my preschooler to participate.)
• green curling ribbon
• tape, scissors, paper punch

Cut strips from the orange paper and punch a hole in each end.  I didn't even measure the width - just tried to make them roughly the same size.  The important thing is to make sure they are the same length and the hole is approximately in the same spot on each.  This will keep your pumpkin from bulging in some spots.  I had to overlap two holes a little because my punch was slightly smaller than my straw.

Thread one end of each paper strip onto the straw.

Thread the other end onto the other end of the straw.  Add as many strips as you need to make your desired fullness.

Fold the bottom of your straw and secure it with some tape.

Tie a few lengths of green curling ribbon around the top and curl.  Leave two tails uncurled so you can tie them together and use them to hang your decoration.  Put a roll of brown paper around the top of the straw to make your stem.

That's it!  Cute and easy!

To go with our craft, we read The Runaway Pumpkin , an adorable story about a pumpkin that goes rolling down a hill, scattering farm animals along the way.

I hope you and your little (or big) readers have fun with this and I'd love for you to stop by Reading Confetti!

Thanks so much for sharing your cute paper pumpkins, Lorie!  I definitely plan on letting my kids make their own pumpkins with some of the tons of scrapbook paper that I have here at home.  I also love how you used the straw as the base.  I've seen it done with a brad before, but the straw makes it easy for even little ones to do this activity and it gives you the base for your stem ~ so smart!  

And readers, make sure you stop by Reading Confetti to check out all the other great ideas.  Lorie recently shared a fun post with all sorts of Book Inspired Halloween Costumes.that would be so cute for your little readers!

BANG! ( A fun flashcard game )

 As your children go off to school, you'll often find that there are certain skills that they'll need to master with accuracy and speed.  Whether it's letter sounds, sight words or math facts, if they are able to recognize the correct answer quickly, it's much easier to move on to the next challenge.  For some children, they seem to pick up the skills almost intuitively on their own.  For others, some extra practice will really help them be successful.  In many cases, simple flashcards will do the trick.

When I was a teacher, I often played this game "BANG!" with my students and they LOVED it.  Now, I'm using it with my youngest daughter as she starts kindergarten.  It's super simple to make and lots of fun to play.  You can play with two players or twenty, students, older siblings and adults.

Here's what you'll need ~  an empty container, some blank index cards, and some markers. 

I used a coffee can and some 3x5 index cards.

If you'd like, you can decorate your can with scrapbook paper, stickers, etc.  (I just mod-podged on a "BANG!" label I made up and some scrapbook paper.)

Next, make up your flashcards.  You can do letters, words, multiplication facts, anything that needs practicing.  

I wanted to practice sight words with my daughter, so I just cut my index cards in half and wrote words from the Dolch Word list.  ( If you're not familiar with the Dolch List, it's a list of 220 of the most commonly used words.  Because they occur so frequently and they're often difficult to "sound out", it's very beneficial to be able to recognize them on sight)

You'll also want to make up a few cards with the word "BANG!" on them. 

( NOTE:  You can also find printable flashcards for the Dolch words on the links I included above and print them onto card stock.  However, I found it's just as easy to write the words out by hand since I had to make the BANG! cards anyway. )

Next, just put your cards in your container and you're ready to play.  

HOW TO PLAY:

1.  Players take turns reaching into the container and pulling out a flashcard.  If they can read the word aloud correctly, they get to keep the card.  If the player is incorrect, the card goes back into the container.

2.  Continue taking turns, reading and collecting correctly answered cards.

3.  If you pull out a BANG! card, you must put your whole pile of cards back into the container!  

(It's a great way to keep the game exciting and level the playing field.  Even if Mom or an older sibling could correctly read all the words, all they have to do is pull out a bang card and they're back down to zero.)

4.  At the end of a specified length of time, whoever has the most cards is the winner!

** A few tips **

* I like to start with a small group of flashcards that the child knows fairly well, and just one or two BANG! cards, then gradually add more flashcards and more BANG! cards.  The length of time you play and ratio of BANG! cards to flashcards is up to you.

* Sometimes if it's just my daughter and me playing, I'll purposely pull out a card, hold it up and read it incorrectly.  She loves catching me making a mistake and it helps her to really pay attention even when it's not her turn.

* To practice phonics skills on words that can be "sounded out", check out these Word Family Spinners made from paper plates.

HAVE FUN!

Sharing our fun game at:

The Mommy Club 
It's Playtime 
Smilemonsters 
Sun Scholars 
Delicate Construction 
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different, Act Normal 
I heart Naptime 
 The Sunday Showcase
Running with Glitter 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Beneath the Rowan Tree 
Skip to My Lou 
Making the World Cuter 
Today's Creative Blog 
Bear Rabbit Bear 

Maryland Science Center (Baltimore, MD)

When our outdoor plans on Labor Day Monday had to be changed because of yet another rainy forecast, we decided to head to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore to visit the Maryland Science Center.  It had been awhile since we'd last gone, and the kids were eager to check out their favorite exhibits from before and explore some new ones as well.  Because the Science Center is a an ASTC Passport participant, they offer a reciprocal admission program with other Science Center and museum memberships from around the country.  Thanks to this program, the kids' cousins from Delaware were able to join us for free!

My sister and I, along with the five cousins, spent more than 5 hours at the Science Center checking out all the exhibits and watching the demonstrations.  Our kids range in age from 6 to 9 years old and they all loved it.  While younger kids might be a little too small for some of the exhibits, toddlers and preschoolers would love the large Children's Room, the dinosaur exhibits and many of the other exhibits. Older children would be able to understand even more of the science principles that are at work in the displays and demonstrations.

Checking out some of the many exhibits

Learning about tornadoes

Discovering about pullies.

Optical illusions can make you silly!

Uncovering a dinosaur fossil

Lying on a bed of nails (the kids LOVED this!)

Another hit ~ sounds of the human body

They could have stayed at the water play area for HOURS!

Doing some experiments of their own in the Wet Lab

Learning new facts at various demonstrations

Learning about static electricity

An experiment about air pressure

Finding out about color perception

The Baltimore Inner Harbor area 

also has lots of shops and restaurants, 

the National Aquarium, the Orioles and Ravens' Stadiums, 

Fort McHenry and lots more, 

making it a fun weekend destination for families.

Paint Swatch Scavenger Hunt

I saw THIS awesome idea at Frugal Family Fun Blog a few months ago and thought it was such a cool idea.  

The kids always love picking out paint swatches when we go to Home Depot, so the other day, I grabbed a bunch too.  Then I just punched a hole in each card, attached a few cards with a piece of string and let the kids loose in the backyard to see who could find the best match.

Close match for this berry

This gray matches the latch on the fence gate

Found a match in the sandbox

This dead pine branch is the perfect rust color

Looks like a close match for this patch of dirt

This little leaf might be the winner!

The kids had a blast and we definitely plan on doing it again.  My "big" kids had fun, but it would also be an awesome way to practice colors for even the littlest preschooler.  

I chose earth tones this time because I planned on having them do it outdoors, but bright color swatches would be perfect for a playroom scavenger hunt or autumn hues would be great when the leaves start changing colors.

Make-your-own "Lava" Lamp

I'm embarrassed to even admit how much time I've spent on Pinterest this summer.  I always plan on just looking for a few cool ideas after the kids go to bed, but the next thing I know, it's 2 a.m. and my mind is spinning with all my new "pins" and the fun I'll have with them.  The downside is that the kids have to deal with a tired mommy the next day, but the upside is that I find cool ideas like THIS Lava Lamp.

As soon as I saw it, I knew it would make it onto our Summer must do list.  I suspected my kids would get a kick out of it and they did!

Here's how we did it:

1.  Gather your supplies ~ cooking oil, water, food coloring, an empty water bottle, and Alka Seltzer antacid tablets.

Oops, the Alka Seltzer tablets didn't make it in the picture.

2.  Fill your bottle about two thirds of the way with oil then fill the rest with water, leaving about an inch free at the top.

Partially filled with oil

It was fun adding the water and watching the layers separate.

** NOTE ** We liked watching the water layer "sink" to the bottom, but we had to wait awhile for the bubbles to disappear for the next step.  Adding the water first, then the food coloring and finally the oil, wasn't quite as fun, but it was a bit faster.

3.  Add several drops of food coloring.  (If you did the oil first, then the water, it'll take a little while for the drops of food coloring to "break through" and tint the water.)

Mommy adds the food coloring.

4.  Take an Alka Seltzer tablet and break it into 3 or 4 pieces.  Then drop a piece in and watch the magic. 

The kids are looking annoyed that I made them stop for a picture first!

5.  As soon as the tablet hits the layer of water, it will start to fizz and the colored water will erupt!

4.  The bubbles will stop as soon as the tablet dissipates, but it will start up again as soon as you add another tablet.  If the oil layer starts to become cloudy with tiny bubbles, just let it settle for awhile and then you can do some more.

My kids loved it so much they worked really hard to be good so they could "earn" more antacid tablets to do it over and over again.

Five Fun Ideas with Science and Nature

One great thing about Summer break 

is the extra time you have for neat activities and experiments 

that you might not be able to squeeze in during the school year.

While the exact scientific principles 

might sometimes get lost in the fun of the moment, 

the love of discovery and learning 
that you foster in your children lasts forever.

Check out these Five Fun Ideas linked up 

to our Summer Fun Party!

1.  R is for Rocket

{ Preschool Alphabet }

2.  Nature Scavenger Hunt

{ Sun Scholars }

3.  Contact Paper Nature Collage

{ The Chocolate Muffin Tree}

4.  Shadow Play

{ The Chocolate Muffin Tree }

5.  Miniature Terrariums

{ Sun Scholars }