Little Readers June

Hello all!

Well here is the end of another month, and this month's Little Readers book club saw more participants and little faces. What fun! The month of June was all about animals, in every shape and size and colour. There were "field trips" to the Fort Edmonton Park to visit farm animals, toy play, imagination play, and crafts all devoted to learning about animals. So naturally, we focused our kiddo book on animals as well.

"Baby Bear, Baby Bear What Do You See", by Eric Carle/Bill Martin Jr., is a new adaptation of the classic "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See". The difference? This cute new book published in 2010 focused on animals you would see in North America. So often when we read books there are pictures and images of exotic animals and other atypical species. We all know which animals these are, but in case you don't... Cats, dogs, chickens, cows, farm animals in general, lions, tigers, safari animals in general... And let's not forget our sea friends, either. In this book we see the faces of some classic North American animals, from baby bear himself to a flying squirrel, skunks, and mule deer! Speaking of Mule deer, when we first read the book in our house I read the page aloud and then our little man pointed and corrected me enthusiastically saying "Broken deer, broken deer!". The infamous drawings in the book are a cut and paste effect, so the deer does look broken... Just saying!

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? is one of several books from the "What Do You See" series by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.The repetitive text helps children work on prediction skills and also helps boost reading confidence. After hearing the story read aloud a few times, most children are able to chorus read the story and remember the repetitive line of text without difficulty subhana'Allaah. Children also seem to enjoy the artwork of Eric Carle.


If you haven't had a chance to pick up this book and read it aloud together, I cannot say it enough how much we have enjoyed it... Or how often I hear from other mommas and tots either! The library has a great stock of books to enjoy, or you can look for it at your local bookstore/online.


Here are a few activities you could do at home to expand off of this book:


http://www.brownbearandfriends.com/classroom/BabyBearClassroomGuide.pdf


http://typeaparent.com/educational-story-stretchers-for-baby-bear-baby-bear-what-do-you-see.html

June

          Baaaaa! June was all about farm animals! We started off the month with a field trip to good old Fort Edmonton Park. The little ones participated in an "I Spy" farm animal game. Each child was given a picture card of the animals we would expect to see on a farm, and present at this popular Edmonton attraction. From horse,to pig, to goat, to chickens, the children enjoyed watching these beautiful creatures, and learning what sounds each animal makes.

   

   

 

       Some of us also gathered at a local park to paint birdhouses, coincidentally, little barns. We gathered at another park to participate in arts and crafts, singing, splashing, and reading, titled "Farm Animals Round Up & Little Readers". The arts and crafts portion involved the children and us moms painting farm animals from reusable toilet paper rolls. Then add the essential googly eyes, and other cute bits, and the result was adorable little creatures, later to be used in singing "Old Macdonald". The little ones, ran,climbed,slid,tumbled in the park, and also enjoyed running around in the splash park, mine in particular,lol. After some playing and snacking, some of us gathered for circle time,while Chani read this month's children book club pick, "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, what do you see?", a new version from the Eric Carle series, with the focus being North American animals. We actually picked this book up soon after it was announced it would be this month's book, and I have to say,it is one of my little guy's favorites now. Afterwards, Chani led us through a few songs, including Old Macdonald.

      To end off this month's theme of farm animals, I hosted a "Milk and Cookies" party, with the focus being cows and their milk. A couple of us even had our own picture twists of the well known, "Got Milk?" campaign, with the help of our cute kids,sporting milk mustaches. Included was a milk and food coloring experiment, which I highly recommend, it was very neat! We all enjoyed this day, from playing outside in the water, to snacking on homemade desserts from our potluck,and washing everything down with milk. A big thank you to all our moms who helped with all the activities,so that we and our children,could learn, laugh, and play!

June is brain injury awareness month in Canada

We all love our children; we all want our children to be safe and secure!  We all want our children to reach their full potential and watch their little minds sparkle as they learn and grow!  June is brain injury awareness month I wanted to touch on the subject.  


The full impact of a childhood brain injury is very difficult to determine, since a child`s brain is still developing and growing.  I have heard that we grow into our brain injuries and often the full impact is not known for many years.  As we grow from baby to toddler, toddler to preschooler, preschooler to school age child and to adult; the damage can come to light.  


Did you know that approximately 20% of all brain injury ER visits occur in children under the age of 4?  And half of all brain injuries in children (under the age of 14) are due to falls?  Luckily as parents there are many things we can do to help prevent falls.  There is the obvious supervision, baby proofing, safe play areas and many more that we are all very aware of.  


Food for thought - the human skull is just one centimeter thick.  A properly fitted and correctly worn bicycle helmet can prevent up to 90% of serious brain injuries; any child who rides a bicycle, tricycle, wheeled toy, or in a trailer or a bicycle-mounted child seat should wear an approved and properly fitted bicycle helmet. (Skateboarders and in-line skaters should use a skateboard helmet which put more protection at the back of the head - who knew).

Did you know that there are special helmets for toddlers (under age five) that provide more protection at the back of the head.

Now I am no expert by any means - but there are a few things that I know about helmets.

1. The helmet should sit level and be snug all the way around (please do not buy a helmet that your child can grow into). Different brands come in different shapes and sizes, so you may need to try on several before you find the best fit. Helmets come with extra padding that can be added to the inside of the helmet. Your child may need extra padding at the front or the back of the helmet so that it fits correctly. If you child shakes their head and the helmet moves at all - it does not fit!)

The helmet should cover the top of the forehead and should rest about 2 fingers' width above the eyebrows. The side straps should fit snugly around your child's ears in a "V"shape. The buckles on the side strap should fit right under the ear. Buckle the chin strap. Until you can only fit one finger between the strap and your child's chin.

2. Helmets are not manufactured to fit children under one year old. Children younger than this do not have sufficient neck strength to support the weight of a helmet or to control head movement during a sudden stop. Occasionally toddler helmets will be too big to fit a small child over one year of age. Wait until the child grows big enough to fit into a toddler helmet or consult a professional about possibilities for proper fitting.

3. Bicycle helmets are designed for one fall. Any helmet that has been through a crash should be replaced even if it appears to have no damage. Just like car seats!

4. Bike helmets should be replaced after five years or a crash where the cyclist has hit their head or if they no longer fit properly.  

After 5 years, the plastics of the helmet dry out and may become brittle with age. Also, older helmets may not meet current safety standards.

Bike helmets are designed to protect your head against only one crash. After a crash in which the cyclist has hit his or her head, the foam inside the helmet is compressed. The helmet should be replaced, even if it does not look damaged.

5. Anything that could change the way your child's helmet fits should not be worn. Baseball hats, big hair clips and headphones should never be worn under a helmet. Ponytails should be worn low on the neck when wearing a helmet.

6. your child should never use a helmet that has missing parts. Make sure that all of the straps, adjusters and fasteners on your child's helmet are secure and are in working order. If the sliders or buckles on the side straps are loose, the helmet will not fit correctly and should not be worn.

7. Ready to get really particular? Every sticker has some type of adhesive to hold it on, and adhesives have solvents in them that aid the sticking process. These solvents may make the plastic of the helmet weak. Only allow your child to put stickers on her helmet if you know the adhesive is compatible with the plastic of the helmet. If you don't know, it's better to not put the stickers on the helmet.

If you take one thing away from this post - please don't be the person that says Helmets? We don't need a stinking helmet. Please provide your child with a properly fitted helmet. It is always better to be safe than sorry. 

Busy Bags!

For anyone not familiar with a busy bag, it is an activity for your child to do, and should be able to easily transport (in a bag).  From planes, to cars, to resturaunts, and to even just use at home, I have personally found these to be great things to have on hand, especially with a busy toddler. This past month, a few of us moms participated in a Busy Bag Swap.  That is, each of us chose a project and duplicated it for as many of the moms involved.  In the end, we each went home with 6 different busy bags.  If you've never done this, i highly reccommend it.  And you don't have to be a super creative person to do this either, a lot of our ideas are from pinterest or blogs, there are many ideas!  Here are the ones we made, with their respective links.   Lacing Cards / Button Snake / No Sew Felt Fish / Discovery Bottle / DVD Coloring Kit / Sensory Balloons