Boggle Your Mind

If you have the game of Boggle in your closet, by all means bring it out.

Putting the blocks in the squares works those fine motor skills, helps letter recognition, and (most importantly) keeps the little one busy.

10 Favorite Books You (Maybe) Haven't Heard Of

I am always scouring the library catalogs and shelves for new-to-us books. My kids have insatiable appetites! I especially like to find little-known gems. Here are 5 New Kid favs and 5 Kiddo favs that you may not have heard of. Or maybe they are more popular than I know? You tell me! And what is your favorite little-known book?
 
Dimity Duck One of New Kid's favorites that I don't mind reading 1000 times in a row.
Boo and Baa I can't contain my love for these cheeky Swedish sheep, the books will be hard to find but sooooo worth it.
Five Trucks Do you like trucks? We like trucks.

Cowboy Small. Super retro Lois Lenski book is not small on charm.
Princess Aasta Scandinavian princesses know playing with bears is way better than looking out for a prince.

Melvin Beederman Superhero It's so annoying when you can't turn off your x-ray vision. Who wants to see everyone's underwear?
Stuart's Cape "Adventures only happen to people with capes!"
E is for Elisa No super powers, but lots of super-important ordinary adventures.

Zapato Power Are you sensing a super hero theme?
The Reluctant Dragon. Don't forget the classics.

I'm linking to What My Child Is Reading. Have a great holiday weekend.

Are You Art Smart?

Recently Kiddo's art teacher chose the painting you see here as one of 4 selections from the entire school to be entered  into PS Art 2011. This is a 5 borough wide competition in which the top artwork is honored in an installation in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kiddo's artwork did not make it all the way to the Met, but was chosen to be displayed at the Madison Avenue Gallery Walk, which I guess could be considered "second place" (there were several rounds before the Gallery Walk art was chosen).

Honestly, I was completely surprised that the school art teacher chose Kiddo's watercolor (titled, "If I Were A Wild Thing"), much less that it made it all the way to the Gallery Walk. This is not because I don't think it's fabulous -- as his mother, I consider all of his art to be a stroke of genius, of course! Rather, I wonder what made it stand out from all the others? It was 1 of only 4 in the entire school. Even if his painting hadn't made it further in the competition, I would have felt that was a significant achievement.  I saw all of the class paintings for this project and frankly, I don't know what made the art teacher choose it, nor what the judges saw in it. I haven't seen the finalists yet as the exhibit at the Met opens in June, but I thought some of the other art on the Gallery Walk was amazing.

So are you educated in the ways of art criticism? What is it, specifically about Kiddo's painting that makes it stand out among the masses of other 6 year old art projects? I'd love to hear your opinions.

BTW, I've written before about how Kiddo's approach to representational art could be considered underdeveloped. He was almost 5 before he even really drew a happy face. And to this day, although he likes to paint and draw, his work is very rarely representational unless it is directed to be as part of a school project (such as this one).

The Best (Seriously) Toddler Books

I usually post about books Kiddo is reading. Here are some of the more fabulous books that New Kid is enjoying. The first two are relatively new and so much fun.
 
Blue Chameleon: Like most of Emily Gravett's book, this one is short on words and long on fun. If you like Orange Pear Apple Bear this book will also impress you.
Press Here. I can't even describe it's greatness. Just watch the video:

The Writing on the Wall

In her book, The Write Start (which I love), Jennifer Hallissy mentions that it is important not just to think of writing as words in books, but to include writing in playful ways around the home.  Kiddo received these wonderful giant magnetic words as a gift and then I my dad installed three large magnetic boards in Kiddo's bedroom.

Great for word play, poetry and other random thoughts. One day I found this, which is my favorite so far: