Why I Let My Kids Make Big Giant Messes

One word: Sanity.

Okay, now you are thinking, but isn't sanity more at risk when the home is messy?

Well, maybe. If the home stays messy.

You already know the benefits of free, sensory play so I won't bore you. You already know strategies like placing towels under water or mats under paint, so I won't bore you.

But I will ask: Isn't 20 minutes (give or take) of a child occupied with an activity that doesn't involve whining, sibling conflict, and otherwise extremely annoying behaviors worth a trip around the living room with a vacuum?

Well? Isn't it?

Rip the Page! Giveaway Winner

I used Random.org to pick the winner for the Rip the Page! giveaway.

The Winner is #4 Learning ALL the Time/Susan who said, "This book really sounds like one we need to get! I have read so much about it...and it sounds like it would fit our writing style. My daughters do a lot of journal writing (personal journals and nature journals), make endless lists, signs, business cards for their playing, and anything else they think of! Recently we've been into poetry :)"

Please contact me at momandkiddo [at] gmail [dot] com. I will need your snail mail address.

Thanks to everyone who gave the giveaway a shot. I always feel  little sad not everyone can win.

Last Chance!

Did you notice I was hosting a giveaway for Rip the Page!? If you are interested in fostering your child's creative writing and imagination, I recommend taking a look. There are only 8 entries so far so your chances are much better than winning the lottery and in case I didn't make the book sound awesome enough, I'll make another attempt:

  It's Awesome.

 In any case, if you are interested, details about the giveaway (and the awesome book) can be found at the post (ends 4/24).

I'm not a used car salesman, I promise. Take a look.

p.s. I know my blog has been sort of quiet lately. I'll try to do better, soon.

DIY Custom Stickers

If you have some old office stickers lying around, it can be quite entertaining to decorate them.
Voilà!
Custom Stickers.

Kosher Reads for Passover

Looking for some non-boring Passover books? Believe me, not an easy task. Whether or not all of these books intend to illicit the laughter they do is a judgment call. Anyway, here's what we're reading.



Five Little Gefiltes: Like Five Little Ducks, only Kosher for Passover.
The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah: Like the Little Red Hen, only Kosher for Passover.
The Matzo Ball Boy: Like the Gingerbread Boy, only Kosher for Passover.

I'm linking to What My Child Is Reading.

Giveaway: Rip the Page! Adventures in Creative Writing

I know that April is National Poetry Month but I haven't gotten my act in gear to do anything special with Kiddo yet. I'm impressed with the amount and variety of creative writing he does at school, but I haven't seen too much in the way of poetry. Brimful Curiosities is hosting a Kids Poetry Challenge, which is nice and simple (just my style). I was hoping to join in for at least one week, but that week hasn't arrived yet.

In any case, National Poetry Month has gotten me thinking about ways to encourage Kiddo's creative writing beyond what he does in school. Serendipitously, Shambhala Publications asked if I would review and host a giveaway for Karen Benke's book Rip the Page!: Adventures in Creative Writing.

I love this book.

To me, the writing experiments in the book reminded me of the acting exercises I used to do with my students.  Thinking about it, this makes sense since acting and creative writing are similar forms of expression. One uses spoken language expressed through the body to create emotional impact, other the uses written language manifested on the page. And both acting and creative writing depend on a process during which all inhibitions are cast aside... you have to say, "yes!"

Benke's writing exercises fall into several categories. "Try This", "Word Lists" and "Rip the Page!", dare the writer to try language experiments which you might never find in a traditional classroom, such as visually exploring language by making word cairns, or creating questions which have no answers.  The writing prompts encourage left brain thinking by sometimes instructing "Whatever You Do Don't Make Sense" or "forget about right and wrong already." For the exercises titled "Suddenly a Story, " Benke sparks creative writing with her own paragraph length story and then suggests ways for the young writer to explore similar themes. "Definition Decoder" introduces different terms to investigate like "synesthesia" (I know you will all Google that one) and "Spoonerisms."  Scattered through the exercises are notes from various authors such as Lemony Snicket  and Naomi Shihab Nye, offering words of wisdom on creative writing.

What I really love is that there are no rules. Benke tells the young writer, "Break rules. Take risks. Talk back. Make 'mistakes.' " (Again, these are the same guidelines as for acting!) The book offers kids the freedom to write without being judged by teachers or parents. They don't need to "show their work" to anyone if they don't want to.

I know this blog has a lot of followers with children younger than the target age of this book, but I think it is still a valuable resource (while saving the book to present to the kid for later). Creative parents can easily use the activities as inspiration to spark imagination and creative thinking.

Shambhala Publishers is giving away one copy of Karen Benke's Rip the Page! to a blog reader.

The rules are as follows:

1. Leave one comment below telling me how you encourage your child's creative writing.
2. For contact purposes, if your comment profile is not linked to an email address or blog you must leave a valid email address with your comment.
3. U.S. Addresses only.
4. Comments close 11:59 EST April 24, 2011.
5. After I choose a random comment, you must contact me within 72 hours, or I reserve the right to choose a new winner.

P.S. You might also enjoy reading an essay by Karen Benke at The Huffington Post.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher. In no way did that influence my review. I was not compensated in any other way. I'm very picky about what I review on this blog, so you know that if I am willing to write about it, I think it's great.

Wrap Up

I recommend never putting a bowl of hot soup on the table.....

changing the bandages on second degree burns is really not a fun as it sounds.

Practical Life: Taking Measurements

We have a few redecorating projects on board so I enlisted Kiddo to help me take measurements. Not only was this a way to keep him busy while making chores seem entertaining, but it helped me since I no longer had to use New Kid's valuable nap time to complete a few tasks.

And maybe he learned a few things about how to to write and take dimensions. I suppose that's always good, too.

Of course you don't have to be redecorating to give your kids a tape measure and a pencil. Just let them loose: no fancy instructions needed.

I'm linking to Math Monday.

Let's Go To Paris

Over at Storied Cities, we are visiting Paris all month, since it seems like a pretty great place to go in April -- or any month, really. Here's a sneak peek at just a few of the Paris books we've been reading.

 

The Tale of Hilda Louise: A floating red-head.
Oops!: Oh, No! Catastrophe!
Mirette on the High Wire: A high-wire walking red-head.
Dodsworth in Paris: A Badger and Duck explore the City of Lights
A Spree in Paree: Farm animals explore the City of Lights.
Secret Letters, From 0 to 10: A red-head finds a valuable stamp (Okay, okay, that is a minor plot point, but I had to get the red-head thing in there again.)

If you love Paris (and who doesn't?), I hope you join us at Storied Cities this April for lots more Paris picture books, with a few chapter books thrown in.

Bon Voyage! 

I'm linking to What My Child is Reading.

Link. List. Love.

After the response to yesterday's post, I should grovel for comments more often.

But seriously, I'm so glad that some of you haven't commented in the past let me know you are regular readers. And now I have some new blogs to visit.

But in the spirit of things, I thought I'd share some of the blogs that I (almost) always click through to as soon as I see them in my reader (even though I, too, don't always leave comments).

In no particular order....


Mama in Wonderland: I've never met Shanon, but found her blog through a friend. Now I think of her as my friend, too.

Three Sneaky Bugs: Anna's posts are sometimes few and far between, but every post makes me smile. Every. One.

Even in Australia: This is a new book blog by a fellow New Yorker. I really love her Library Loot posts. Reading them makes me feel like I'm some sort of voyeur... but in a legal, literary way.

Montessori Free Fall: I started reading Steph's blog almost from its very beginning when I was trying to fit some Montessori learning activities into my seemingly endless days with Kiddo. She once sent me a scale because I saw it in her photo and inquired after it. How great is that?

My Plastic Free Life (formerly Fake Plastic Fish): I heart Beth Terry and I think the only time I've ever commented was to enter a giveaway. Oooops.

Design Mom: I only recently started reading Design Mom and I can't get enough of the details of the French country house she is living in for one year. Plus, her posts are usually fairly short, which always encourages reading. And yes, I've never commented on her blog.


Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns: Natalie is probably my most frequent commenter, which is a great lesson: the more you comment, the more your blog gets read. I love keeping track of Anna's adventures. Also, Natalie is a former New Yorker transplanted to California, while I am a native Californian transplanted to NY, so that is sort of fun.

Havin' Fun Yet? Another blogger I've never met, but who feels like a friend. With whom else am I to discuss making broth out of chicken feet?

Fanny Harville's Unschool Academy: FH writes thoughtful posts about schooling and her eloquent writing style is what I always strove to achieve when I was in academia, but never quite did. However, I am always tempted to ask her how the Captain is doing.

Paris vs New York, a tally of Two Cities: J'adore this blog.

Funny Strange: My friend, Lori, makes observations on the ridiculousness of popular culture. This post on 3D white toothpaste made me laugh out loud.

Other bloggers who feel like acquaintances because they've made their presence known to me so often (even though I don't always comment regularly on their posts): Living and Learning, Joyful Learner, Fun Mama, Superheroes and Princesses, Only Small Things, All Things Beautiful, mama smiles.... and you (I feel like I've given an Oscar speech and I'm sure I forgot someone important).

I also have a link list, for those of you who link back here. If you'd like to be included drop me a line.

Next week we'll be back to regularly scheduled programming... and a really good book giveaway.