August Virtual Book Club - Kevin Henkes

The Virtual Book Club featured author for August 2012 is.......

Kevin Henkes

There are so many awesome Henkes books to choose from.
 To pick just one to focus on -
a truly difficult choice!

Here are a few of my personal favorites
(and the long list I am trying to choose 1 from)

 

Which Henkes book would you choose?
Join us August 20th
& share your book and activities on the linky.

Need some ideas?
Check out my Fun w/Kevin Henkes Pinterest Board.

Bern

Disclosure - This post does contain affiliate links. All opinions are still 100% my own.

What Melts Ice the Fastest? A Hands-on Science Experiment

It's ICY FUN WEEK!

I can't think of a better way to beat this FL heat and humidity

(besides taking a dip in the pool of course).

It's been awhile since we had fun with a science experiment so I really wanted to incorporate some investigation, experimentation and discovery into our ICY FUN WEEK.

What Melts Ice the Fastest?

A Hands-on Science Experiment

What We Used:

1. hot water

2. salt

3. sugar

4. vinegar

5. baking soda

Prep: Freeze cups of water - 1 for each substance used.

What to Do:

1. Remove ice from cups and put on a dish or tray (be sure it's deep enough to retain the melting ice water).

2. Have substances to be used readily available along with spoons and droppers for pouring. We used measuring scoops and turkey basters. To begin we discussed what we were to do and the Lil Divas made predictions over which items they thought would melt the ice the fastest.

3. Have child(ren) add substances to each ice block and note the immediate reactions. Did it affect the ice? Is it penetrating? Did it cause the ice to melt? 

4. Let sit for approx. 5 minutes. Turn the ice blocks over and repeat - add the substances and discuss any reactions.

5. Let sit for approx. another 5 minutes and discuss what has happened to the ice. Which one is melting the fastest? Slowest? Discuss any noticeable changes - cracks, holes, etc in the ice.

Our Results:

The Lil Divas found that hot water melted our ice the fastest, followed by vinegar, salt (which penetrated the ice and caused lots of holes and cracks) and then sugar (it also penetrated the ice and caused cracks but not nearly as pronounced as the salt). The baking soda had very little effect on the ice. It was the one block of ice that remained pretty intact, melting mostly due to exposure to the heat in the room and the other liquids in the pan.

The Lil Divas enjoyed our icy experiment. We ended up watching the ice melt to its complete liquid form at their request, while they continued to scoop the different substances on the ice. I think they rather enjoyed the concoction the whole thing was making since we inevitably ended up with some fizz from the baking soda and vinegar being so close together and mingling in the pan.

Be sure to discuss if the predictions made were correct and what was learned. The Lil Divas were quite surprised that baking soda had little to no effect on the ice and that sugar did in fact make cracks in the ice. They initially thought the sugar would have little effect and that the baking soda would - I think that stemmed from all of our past baking soda & vinegar experiments.  

Do you know of any other substances that have an interesting effect on ice?

Bern

July Summer Virtual Book Club - Don and Audrey Wood

July's Summer Virtual Book Club FEATURED Author(s) are

Don and Audrey Wood

This husband and wife team have written many beloved children's books,
(including many of our personal favorites) so I am excited to see
what books and activities will be shared for this month's
Summer Virtual Book Club

on July 16, 2012

A few of our personal favorites are:

Happy reading,
Bern

A Lil Diva Week in Review - TP Roll Binoculars, Mo Willems, Sight Word Fun and More

The Lil Divas had a fun week, 

even all the rain we are having could not stop our Summer Fun!

The Lil Divas made some TP Roll Binoculars and enjoyed an exploratory nature walk through our neighborhood. 

Amidst swim classes and playdates we also enjoyed a wonderful trip to our local Children's Art Museum for lots of hands on fun. 

We kicked off the Summer Virtual Book Club with some Mo Willems themed fun.

and practiced some Sight Words with a fun game on our dry erase boards.

How was your week?

Bern

Summer Virtual Book Club: Mo Willems' There Is a Bird on Your Head!

Welcome to the June Summer Virtual Book Club!
This month we are reading Mo Willems.
If you aren't acquainted with his books, all I can say is.....
run to the nearest library or bookstore, NOW!
You will thank me later.

My girls and I LOVE Mo. The Pigeon books and Knuffle Bunny are longtime favorites. Seriously, the Pigeon is one of the funniest characters ever. My girls can read those books over and over again and still laugh hysterically at his antics (I have to admit I do too).

Our new favorites though are Elephant & Piggie. They are the best of friends and always in some sort of dilemma which kids can easily relate to. But, honestly these books hold a special place in my heart for a more personal reason. The Elephant & Piggie books turned my reluctant and nervous reader into a  confident reader. I can not say enough about these books but I'll leave that to another post.

Being such huge fans I was excited to have Mo Willems as our Summer Virtual Book Club pick for June. It was going to be easy peasy. WRONG! I had the hardest time picking one book to work with. The Lil Divas were very little help. They wanted to use them all. We finally decided to use There is a Bird on Your Head! 

The Oldest Diva took charge and read the book to her little sister. I LOVE listening to her read these books. She uses such wonderful expression and lowers and raises her voice to coincide with the print. We talked about the main problem of the story, the beginning/middle/end and what we thought would happen next. With the Oldest Diva going into 1st Grade and the Littlest Diva going into Kindergarten, working on reading comprehension is very important to me.

We worked on a sorting/categorizing activity of Flying versus Non-Flying Animals. I simply used free clipart images I found on the internet.

The Littlest Diva practiced writing Nn and Bb in a salt tray. She really enjoys practicing her writing that way. 

The Lil Divas favorite part was the balance game we played. We made a nest by folding down a brown paper bag. With their nests placed on top of their head (like Elephant in the story) we added small plastic eggs (leftover from Easter) one at a time and they had to keep the nest balanced on their head. We got up to 12 eggs in each of their nests! They held their nests balanced on their heads so well that I had to make them walk to see if they could keep them up there. 

Look at the concentration on their faces! They were determined to keep those eggs from falling. Both girls did a fantastic job but........

Can you tell who had the last nest standing?! ;)

We had lots of fun with this month's Summer Virtual Book Club and we are looking forward to next month's author - Don and Audrey Wood

For now, if you have any Mo Willems posts or activities to share please link them up below!  I am so excited to be part of this Summer Virtual Book Club with the following fabulous bloggers/blogs:

Toddler Approved

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Rainy Day Mum

Reading Confetti

Inspiration Laboratories

Play Dr. Mom

Mommy and Me Book Club

Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Two Big Two Little

Creative Connections for Kids

The Golden Gleam

Juggling with Kids

Taming the Goblin

Crafty Moms Share

Not Twiddle Twaddle

Ready Set Read 2 Me

Famiglia & Seoul

The Good Long Road

The Educator's Spin On It

Imagination Soup

3 Dinosaurs

Royal Baloo

BeingAConsciousParent

Bern

Memetales #ReadforGood Readathon 2012

Want to combat the summer slide and keep your kids reading this summer? Then join Memetales and PBSKids for Readathon 2012!

I am excited to be a participating blogger in this program. As an educator and a parent, I know how crucial it is to keep kids learning over the summer. Memetales and PBSKids have partnered along with several publishers and bloggers to bring you Readathon 2012 which provides access to FREE books from June 18th thru July 28th to be read via your favorite platform (ipad/ipod, android, Nook, Kindle Fire) from your Memetales account. 

Weekly Themes will include:
Week 1 – Animal Fun
Week 2 – Friendship
Week 3 - Character Development
Week 4 – Imagination
Week 5 – The Green earth
Week 6 – Global Cultures

Each week kids get a packet of fun activities and crafts to go along with the books which is prepared by educators and publishers. Kids also earn stickers and certificates at the completion of each week plus when you join the readathon Memetales will donate a meal to feed a hungry child and promote education via FoodforEducation.org.

This Readathon is about having fun, reading books and doing good for kids in need. You simply can't beat that! I hope to see you joining in.  

Let's get reading!

Bern

Color Changing Milk & The Sun Scholars Summer Program

Summer is here! Kids are happy to leave school behind, to play & frolic in the sun and to just have FUN. That doesn't have to mean an end to learning and frankly, it shouldn't. The best thing you can do for your kids is to keep them learning, even if only for a few minutes a day, to ensure that all that hard work they put in all year long isn't lost.

So how can you get your kids motivated to learn when all they want to do is play? Make learning part of their fun! When learning is fun, it doesn't seem like work.  Your kids will enjoy doing it & be learning at the same time - how sneaky is that?!

Today, I am super excited to share a fabulous Summer Learning Program from my bloggy friend Rachel over at Sun Scholars - The Sun Scholars Summer Program. Rachel worked long and hard on this program and it is a phenomenal program.

Sun Scholars is a 12 week program with twelve unique & action packed themes each week that cover multiple subject areas including reading, writing, math, art, science, social studies, health and life skills. The program includes the following themes:
Week 1 - Getting Started
Week 2 - Mail Mania
Week 3 - Animal Fun
Week 4 - Mice, Cookies & more
Week 5 - The Great Outdoors
Week 6 - Beach Party
Week 7 - Secret Agents in Training
Week 8 - Fun with Fairytales
Week 9 - Space Explorers
Week 10 - Back to School
Week 11 - Hocus Pocus
Week 12 - Incredible Me

There are so many activities I would love to try with the Lil Divas. I let the Lil Divas take a peek at the program and they picked out the Color Changing Milk Experiment which is part of week 4's theme - MIce, Cookies & More.

Have you done this yet? It's so easy & fun. The Lil Divas loved seeing the reaction take place and I really enjoyed the extensions Rachel included suggesting comparing different types of milk and water to test the reactions. 

To conduct the experiment you need milk, food coloring, dish soap, a cotton swab and a dish. Fill the dish with some milk, add drops of food color in the middle leaving some space between them but having them close together. Dip the plain half of the cotton swab in the middle and note any reactions. Then, dip the other half of the cotton swab in dish soap and place it in the middle of the dish. Watch the reactions now! It is amazing! Once the swab has been removed note what happens. The Lil Divas were amazed.

The Sun Scholars Program is filled with so many wonderful activities and opportunities for learning. Rachel is selling her program for $30 and it includes all the printables, easy to read/follow activity cards, supply lists and everything is super organized and step by step for you. What a time saver!

Rachel even offers a free sample for you to test the program - week 7: Secret Agents in Training. So I urge you not to pass up the opportunity to check out the program for yourself. Would you like to know what is even better?  Rachel is giving away the entire program to one (1) LUCKY Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas reader! YES!!!!

I am going to keep this super simple for you. 

Two ways to Enter, comment below and tell me.....

 1. Who would you like to win the Sun Scholars 12 Week Summer Program for?

2. Which of the 12 week themes are you most excited to try based on the titles?

Giveaway will run until Sunday, June 17, 2012 at midnight.

Good luck,

Bern

Disclosure - I was given the Sun Scholars 12 week program free of charge in order to facilitate this review and giveaway. All opinions are 100% my own and based on our personal experience with the program.