Literary Lunches: Mortimer’s First Garden – Sweet Sunflowers

Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson, is a great book to read in the springtime!  Mortimer, a little mouse, learns about the miracle of God’s creation through a little sunflower seed.  He finds out that with a little sunlight, water and a lot of patience something amazing transforms his one seed into many, enough to have some to share with a friend!  My boys and I read this book and then enjoyed these tasty, sweet sunflowers.    



the day I photographed these we threw on some cheerios too
but they are not necessary



Ingredients:
mini bagel
peanut butter
banana
raisins
honey

Directions:

1.       Spread peanut butter on the mini bagel. 

2.       Slice the banana lengthwise and then into coins to create semicircles for the petals that are then arranged around the edge of the bagel (hanging half over the edge).

3.       Fill the center of the circle with raisins.

4.       Top it off with a swirl of sweet honey and enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

Photography Walk

My husband and I have given our preschooler our old digital camera.  We came across it while looking for items for a yard sale and since it is over ten years old we decided that instead of selling it for $5, we’d outfit it with a neck strap and hand it over to our preschooler.  It is pretty fun to see pictures he takes from around our house from his point of view.  He takes pictures of things that are important to him and that he finds interesting.





from our flamingo tour



Now that warm spring-like weather has arrived, we’ve been able to break out the sit- and-stand stroller and take the boys for walks in our neighborhood.  One of the fun things to do with my little budding photographer is to go on a photo walk.  Sometimes we decide ahead of time what we are going to look for and take pictures of.  We’ve been on a flamingo tour of the neighborhood.  We’ve watched for flags, pumpkins, shapes, birds, flowers and litter (which we picked up along the way).  Our most recent excursion was to take pictures of signs of spring.  Sometimes we have a certain destination like the post office or library and we have created a game for him to practice counting.  He knows how many pictures he has room for on his card.  We divide that number in two and he pays attention to the number on the screen and tries to pace himself, taking half the photos on the way out to our destination and half on the way home. 





When we return home we watch a slide show on our computer of the photos he took and choose the best ones.  We then upload these to Facebook where we can share them with friends and family, especially his grandparents who have an interest in photography and are probably his biggest fans.  We sometimes do some more counting as we figure out how many photos were taken in a certain category.  For example, we add up the total number of flamingos in our neighborhood, how many flags were American flags, or the total of each shape he found.

 Our photography walks are a fun way to get some fresh air and exercise while taking in our surroundings, teaching my little one a creative way to be more observant of the world around him.  Dust off that obsolete camera in your closet or keep a lookout for a cheap one that has been tossed aside.  It may turn out to be very valuable to your creative little heart.



Our Fall foliage walk

Signs of Spring walk

Pumpkins

some fantastic fungus caught his eye on this walk

I know I am biased, but I have to admit some of his photos are pretty impressive!



Make your own Valentine's Day card for loads of fun!

For Valentine’s Day my son and I usually break out the scissors, doilies, glue, and glitter.  This year we designed a card to give his friends at Preschool that’s a little more boyish with a cheesy joke that most preschoolers will appreciate.  My mother had bought him a hole punch in the shape of a dump truck so we dug it out of the scrapbooking supplies and put it to good use.  You could use the same design and change up the hole punch for a different shape that suits your child’s personality and interests.  Help your child come up with a joke or rhyme to go with the shape. 

Tips: If you don’t want to handwrite the words on every card, type it up in an easy to read font and print it in a fun color.  Remember to give yourself plenty of time to get the job done.  This is supposed to be a fun activity, so break it up over a few days so the task doesn’t become frustrating to you or your preschooler.  For example, punch the holes and cut out the hearts one day, glue on the words and hearts the next, and finish with signing and sealing the cards during the last crafting session.  

Your child will look forward to giving out valentines that they helped make.  We hope our card inspires you to get creative with your kid!

Supplies:

Cardstock – cut in half to make two 5 ½” x 8 ½” rectangles and folded
Shaped hole punch
Colored construction paper
Child safety scissors
Glue stick
Markers
Valentine’s Day themed stickers

1. Prepare the cards by cutting an 8 ½” x 11” piece of heavy cardstock into two 5 ½” x 8 ½” rectangles and fold in half.  You will get two cards out of each piece of cardstock.

2. Punch out three dump trucks across the top (folded side) of the card.

3. Fold construction paper the long way and trace the heart template onto the colored paper with the center of the heart lined up with the fold.  Let your child cut out the heart.  This is good hand eye coordination and practice for cutting with scissors.

4. Using the gluestick, glue the hearts in place on the inside of each card covering the punched shaped holes on the back side of the card so that the color shows through the front of the card when closed. 

5. At the bottom of the heart write:    Happy Valentine’s Day!  from,  
(leaving room for your child to write his name.)

6. On the front write:                     Friends like you
are loads of fun!

7. With the card closed flip it over and have your child write their classmate’s name or write it with pencil and have them trace the pencil lines with marker.

8. Seal the card with a Valentine’s Day themed sticker and your child is ready for his or her valentine exchange!

Heart Template