New Facebook Page!

Yes, I'm behind on the times!  I just started a facebook page for Creative and Curious Kids!  If you'd like to join in on the fun, please join me to the top right on my blog.  Also, being I'm new at this and don't have a lot of followers, I decided to join a facebook hop.  You can link your facebook page over at Shining2Save!



Hope to see you on my new F.B. page!

Enjoy your Friday,
Jen

Meet Fashion Kitty!

With a title like Fashion Kitty, I knew right away that Peanut would be drawn to this fun chapter book.  Written in a comic book form, it combines fictitious animal characters with humor. 
I haven't read the books yet, but can tell you that my daughter really likes them.   She's read both Fashion Kitty and Fashion Kitty and the Unlikey Hero. She even started creating her own comic adventures featuring the main character.

 
The Fashion Kitty series is written by Charise Mericle Harper. I found a great review of her books at Secrets&Sharing Soda.  Stop by to find out more about the books and Fashion Kitty's powers! 

More Literature and Writing fun..............

Fashion Kitty's website

Make Your Own Comic!
Comic Strip Printables
Comic Book Maker
Professor Garfield's Comic Lab

What fun books are on your bookshelf this week?
Jen

Wordless Wednesday: Green Haired Baby

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Jen

For more W.W., be sure to visit 5 Minutes for Mom, and Pinke Post.

The Toddler Times: Chores for Little Ones

Isn't it great to see how proud a little one is when they accomplish something?  You can see the joy in their smile and the little sparkle in their eye- as if they are saying- "Yeah, I did it."  Well, little man gets this very cute look when he accomplishes tasks whether it be to finally get that train track attached or the ability to feed the frogs by himself.  This is his chore.  He gets to feed his little buddies their food pellets each day and he loves it!  The other day, I let him help me with the laundry.  I propped him up on the side of the washer and held him in place with one hand.  As he watched the water flow into the washer tub, I had him pour the cup of laundry soap in.  Next, I handed him clothing to throw into the tub. He got the hang of it real quick. I gave him a sticker for being such a great helper.  Another great chore for little ones is to let them help you wash their toys.  I give little man a baby wipe and he washes away! 

Other age appropriate chores for toddlers-
-help put away toys(make into a game, sing a clean up song)
-wash off coffee table with wipe or high chair tray
-clean own face and hands
-pass you books to put away in book case or basket

Remember this isn't about perfection, but about teaching and learning. Most chore charts or articles focus on 2 years old and up.   I think it just depends on the child.  Little man is only 19 months, but enjoys helping in little ways! 

Around the web- resources:
Age appropriate Chore Charts- About.com
Say Yes to Chores- Parents.com
My first chore chart (I like the ideas of pictures- can make own based on needs of child.)

Any other ideas?  Be sure to comment and let us know what you do to make chores fun in your house.

Take Care,
Jen

Color It By Numbers Review and Giveaway

It's always fun to try out new kid friendly products, so I was happy to share Color It By Numbers with the girls.  Color It by Numbers has a series of online color books: Princesses, Vehicles, and Animals.  Each color book has three variations that can be chosen to color- simple, make it visible, or choose your favorite colors(no numbers).

Peanut chose the Princess color book.  She enjoyed both the color by number feature and the more creative- choose your favorite color feature.  After discovering a little rainbow crayon, she found that she could switch the colors in her artist's palette, also.

The Animal Color book was Sunshine's choice.  She selected the make it visible option because it was more challenging compared to the simple variation.  The toucan and the octopus were her favorite pictures to color.  She said that she had fun working on her creations.  One feature that she mentioned that she liked was the ability to move back and forth among pictures without her current picture being erased.

The girls seemed to have a lot of fun with the online color books, but it hasn't been something that they've asked me to play on repeatedly.  I think that when it comes to painting- they prefer the real thing- to get messy!

I think the simple color by number would be fun for preschoolers to practice number recognition and colors.  A good way to integrate beginning technology for little ones!

To learn more, take a short video tour!

Giveaway......Now for the good part- I get to give away one virtual color book to one of my readers. (valued at $9.99)  Here's how to enter- visit the Color It By Numbers site and take a peek at each of the virtual products.  Next come back to Creative and Curious Kids! and comment about which color book you think your child would enjoy. 

For extra entries:
1-follow Creative and Curious Kids!
1-subscribe
1-like Creative and Curious Kids! on Facebook
1-like Color It By Numbers on Facebook
1-tweet post
1-follow me on twitter
2-blog about this giveaway

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!
Also, please be sure to include contact info. - email or blog address, etc.

(Giveaways ends on August 5th at 12:00am EST.)

Good Luck,
Jen

Disclosure: I was given 3 different versions of Color It by Numbers virtual color books to download for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  The opinions above are mine and my differ from others.

Home Again, Home Again....

We had a wonderful week, but it's always nice to be home. We survived the heat wave by spending days at the lake. Our week included investigations, tree swings, eating goodies, dancing, swimming, sand play, and more!! I'll let our vacation pics speak for themselves......



Rock play

 

Flowers, flowers, flowers...

Grasshopper, anyone?

I'll get you hopper-if it's the last thing I do!

Beware of flying bugs- wear your goggles while swinging!



In his element- couldn't be happier!

  

Keeping Cool



Weeeeeeeeeee!



Don't worry- Daddy's got you!

Corn on the cob- anyone??

Look, no hands, Mom!

I can eat it too, I'm a big boy now!



Crunch!

 

Ice cream everyday- Doctor's orders!
(warnings-  do not do this when you get home. 
For vacation only!)



Mommy's little man! 

On the road again.....

So much fun, but camp always wipes us out! Night, night!

 
I hope that you enjoyed your week! 
 
Here is  sneak peek of what's to come on Creative and Curious Kids....

• Review - Paint by Numbers Program
• Fun Chores for Little Ones: The Toddler Times!
• Wordless Wednesday- Green Haired Baby
• Meet Super Kitty!
• How Does Your Garden Grow? 

Jen :)

See you later...

I'm off to the mountains for the week to spend time with family!  The laptop is staying at home, so no blogging for me.  Enjoy your week with your family!

Here are a couple of past posts you might enjoy while I'm gone.  :)

Creative Summer Games

Life at the Pond

On the Hunt for Animal Tracks
Travel Games!

Jen

Fizz, Bubble, POP!

What a fun week- playing at the park, eating ice-cream, picnics, reading good books, swimming, freeze pops, and at the end of the week- Science Fun!  Over at Superheroes and Princesses, they have been having fizzy fun all week.  After reading about their experiment-a fizzy explosion, I knew we had to try it.  How excited was I to find everything we needed in the kitchen. (doesn't always happen this way) 

Be sure to visit her site to find a great experiment sheet that has all of the directions with question and other experimenting ideas. My girls had fun experimenting on their own after they followed the activity directions.  What would happen if I put more baking soda or less water?

Okay, little man is a bit young for this activity, but he couldn't stay away.  Do you blame him? fizzing, bubbling, and exploding Ziploc bags!!  He watched and giggled as the bag fizzled and popped. 

Thank you Superheroes and Princesses for the inspiration this week! We had a lot of fun.  :)

Also, be sure to visit Play Academy for more fun play and learning ideas. (linky)

Enjoy your day!

Jen

Crazy Days of Summer: Critters!

Today was my day to visit some of my favorite blogs.  One of the blogs that I enjoy visiting due to the awesome photography is Project Alicia.  She has been running a weekly photo challenge.This week's theme is Critters.  You have to visit her site and look at her photos, especially the pic of the dancing frog or Alicia kissing a fish!  Love it!  She has teamed up with Live and Love Out Loud for this weekly challenge. 

Well, I decided to submit one of my favorite pics of our little critter.  She just looks so cute eating her strawberry, dont ya think?  Oh, Sparkles, even though you are small, we love you so! 

 

Enjoy your Friday and the critters in your life!

Jen

Beginner Mysteries!

Mystery books have been laying all around the house lately.  I don't mind though- just so glad the kids are spending time with books this summer!

Sunshine and Peanut have been interested in both the Cam Jansen and The Baily School Kids Series.  Both series are recommended for grades 3-5, but are appropriate for younger, more advanced readers.

The Baily School Kids 

- written by Debbie Daday and Marcia T. Jones. 

There are more than 80 books in this series- wow! 

There is also a Jr. version of the Bailey School Kids with easier text and more illustrations.

The stories involve a group of kids who question the identity of different people that come into their lives.  From possible Zombies to Vampires, these books are fun for kids without being "too" scary.

Cam Jansen
Click!  Cam Jansen has a memory like a camera, which comes in handy when solving mysteries!  This fun series has been enjoyed independently and as a read aloud for both of my daughters. Cam Jansens also comes in a series for younger readers(grades 1-3) and is called Young Cam Jansen.  Both are written by David A. Adler.

Another mystery series that would be appropriate for beginner readers is Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. Peanut seems to really enjoy this quirky little detective. 

Today, Sunshine delved into a new mystery that she couldn't put down- The Adventures of Minnie and Max: KIDNAP at the Catfish Cafe written by Patricia Reilly Giff. (ages 7-10)

This was a thrift shop find and I'm not familiar with Minnie and Max books, but I did read that this is the first book in this series.  My daughter seems to really be enjoying it thus far. 

The main character is an orphan named Minnie who decides to start her own Detective agency and Max, well, he is a cat that dropped into her life.  Her first case involves trying to find his owner. 

Are your kids enjoying any mysteries?  How about writing a mystery together? 

Here are a couple of resources to get you started.....

Mystery Starter http://creativityforyou.com/mysteries.html

Mystery Cube http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/mystery_cube/

Have a wonderful day!

Jen

Disclaimer- no compensation given for the above review, although I am an amazon affiliate. Just suggestions based on my children's interests.  Other opinions may differ.