Friday Do-Over: Window Art

On a recent stormy day, Kiddo did some window painting. This was our own do-over from Aug 24, 2009.

Busy Work II: Skip Counting

More busy work.  All initiated by Kiddo, not Mom!

Last fall Kiddo started skip counting and I made some counters for him to play around with. A few months ago he started making his own -- both extensions of my initial number sequences (he worked his way into the 200s!) and his own (ending with counting by 7s). I really can't believe how much he gets into this. And how long he works at it. It can't be normal.

One times One

I got out the ole abacus thinking New Kid might like to fiddle around with it. Of course Kiddo immediately appropriated it for his own (I won't go into that). Kiddo frequently tells me to ask him math problems (yes, he's a big geek) so I told him he could do multiplication with the abacus and he got really excited. I didn't take photos at the time but he moved sets of beads to perform the multiplication.  I also pointed out how multiplication on the abacus looks a lot like skip counting.

New Kid prefers to use the abacus in a more sophisticated manner: as push toy.

Realty Dreams

Our neighborhood was recently declared the most livable neighborhood in New York City! Clearly the author hasn't been to our apartment.

That must be be why this cupcake was so expensive. Expensive but oh so delicious. Sort of like Park Slope.

Friday Do-Over: Little Blue and Little Yellow

This post gets a lot of hits from google searches. Kiddo checked the book out from the library so I thought the post was due for a rerun. First published 4/18/08

Kiddo checked out Leo Leonni's Little Blue and Little Yellow a few weeks ago at the library. It is a delightful book about color mixing. Mom made some cellophane shapes for Kiddo which he likes to use to follow along with the story. But he also likes to use them to tell the story to himself while Mom is busy with other things.

Busy Work I: States Unscrambled

My activity posts have been slowing down as Kiddo finds ways to entertain himself. I'm starting a new series about his self-directed busy work (a mom's dream!). One afternoon Kiddo announced that he needed paper, scissors and tape so that he could make name tags for all the states. While he was working I asked him his motivation for this activity. He declared he wanted to remember all the states. He attached the finished product to his wall for easy access.

Well, OK then.

Required Reading:
Go, Go America
The Scrambled States of America
The Train of States
 Greetings From The 50 States
Time For Kids: Our 50 United States and Other U.S. Lands

Got any states books to recommend?

Truck Stop: Who's Your Edamame?

Another food truck we love which sometimes makes stops in our neighborhood: Rickshaw Dumplings. Their  thai basil chicken dumplings are soooo good.  If you need some (and you do), find out where they are now.

Eat your Greens!

If I told you that I could get your kids to eat kale on a regular basis, you would think I was joking, right?

Two words: Kale Chips. We are all addicted, even New Kid.
I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

You might have to fuss with a bit to find the perfect preparation, but once you figure it out, they are a snap to make. For me, the best way to cook them is to tear them into small pieces, coat in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake at 300 for 14 minutes (she says 20 minutes, maybe it varies depending on the type of kale you use, but that was way too long for mine). I did slightly burn the first batch, and if they are overdone in the slightest, they are not very good. Just right and we gobble them up. I never thought I could eat an entire bunch of kale in one sitting.

Now I really need my garden plot to get growing. I have a crack habit to support.

P. S. Another great post on kale chips at One Hungry Mama. I'm going to try her cider vinegar kale chips next. Now I'm one hungry mama.

Return Visit

Oh look. I'm back.

I've had a bit of a grand time redesigning this blog and updating my links, pages and book lists, so I hope you'll click out of your reader and take a look.  I like to keep my sidebar link lists manageable but I also want to acknowledge those of you who read regularly and link back to me. Soooo, if you link here and you want a return link, please leave me a comment with the name of your blog.  I'm going to make a separate page for you.

I've been dwelling on redirecting my blog focus. So here's the thing... although I suspect the majority of my posts will still follow the theme of kid activities, I'm also going to post a bit about:

1. the unique aspects of living in the city;
2. the ways in which we are trying to live "sustainably" (I don't really like that word, but whatever) in an urban environment (easier than in the suburbs, my friends!);
3.  Kiddo's self-directed learning (no Mom necessary!); and, of course,
4. Urban Picture Books.

No doubt I will continue to share random thoughts you absolutely must know will ignore. And, this post notwithstanding, I promise to try and keep things short.

For those of you who started reading because of the blog's educational activity focus, I hope you will keep reading, but I suspect some might abandon ship. Fair enough. This shift is coming because I don't have to keep Kiddo entertained much anymore. Not only is he at school, but he does a lot of self-directed learning at home. New Kid, on the other hand, is too young still to respond to the kind of activities with which I started this blog (when Kiddo was 3).

As always, when you see something that strikes your fancy, I hope you will leave me a comment!