This week my sons school had the privilege of having three children’s book authors and one illustrator! This is an opportunity too good to miss for many reasons. Firstly it is a great way to get your child into reading and books and to get an insight into the authors mind and their ideas. It is also  a great chance to meet the authors and illustrators  after the presentations, readings, illustrations and book signings with tea and biscuits.

ALEESAH DARLINSON

Here Aleesah is talking about her love of animals and answering questions about her books.

Aleesah showed a great you tube video sketch about a baby echidna which the children were fascinated in (you could tell this because the room was soooo quiet while they watched the clip). Aleesah has recently released a lovely book called  ‘Puggles Problem‘ about a baby echidna who is in a rush to grow his spines.

She also talked about her new books called ‘Totally Twins‘ which is about two twin sisters who may look the same but have very different personalities. This wa great as there were two twin girls in the audience.

To get involved in workshops with Aleesah during SYDNEYS CHILDRENS FESTIVAL (27 September – 9 October) click on the following link:

Stories from the Teller – Presentations by Authors and Illustrators

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ANNA FEINBERG

Anna Feinberg was very entertaining while reading out a new story to the children making them laugh from the comical events in her reading.

Anna is entertaining the young audience with a funny story about a dragon.

Anna has written the very popular ‘Tashi‘ books which my 6 year old has recently discovered and is enjoying.

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KIM GAMBLE

Kim is the great illustrator for the Tashi books and much to the children’s delight he illustrated a great picture in pastels to the words Anna was reading. It was fascinating and a great opportunity for the children to see a work of art and an artist in action. The story was about a dragon who had eaten his sister ( which of course made the children laugh!)

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FELICITY PULMAN

Felicity had some very interesting tales to tell for the older child. She has a great interest in historical stories and explained how she has to do quite a lot of research to get the stories right. She mentioned the Quarantine Station as a great source of information for her book Ghost Boy.

Felicity also has a great webpage especially about interesting and funny words and expressions used in the ‘olden days’ called Medieval Muck and Mumbo Jumbo.

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To get involved in more activities based around books the Sydney Children’s Festival during the next school holidays has the following:

CARTOON CHARACTER DESIGN STUDIO for 5 – 12 year olds

FUN ‘N’ FURRY STORYBOOK MAKING WORKSHOP for 5 12 year olds

A selection of my favourite children's picture books.

It is Book Week next week (23rd – 27th August) and this is a great occasion to get your children engrossed into the world of books (if they haven’t already!) There are so many different activities you can do to celebrate Book Week. Here are some ideas:

Make a book

Here are some ideas on how to make home made books: Books

Here are some printable books for you to make:

What is inside? Make your very own lift-the-flap book and surprise everybody with what’s inside!

What is inside?

I love my World (pdf) – Draw all the things you love in your world and make the book for others to read.

I love my World!

My name is… - Is your name Joseph, Lexie, Grace, Rose or Ruby, then this activity is just for you. Print out this A4 Booklet and fill it in to your hearts content.

My name is...

Read & learn about Authors

Do you or your child have a favourite author, then check out their website. Many authors now have a blog or website going and they can have a page especially for children  filled with great activites to do. Here are some of my favourites:

ANNA FEINBERG

www.tashibooks.com - Anna has written many books including Madeline the Mermaid and Tashi. Did you know she created the popular character ‘Tashi’ with her mother. Have a go at some of the ‘Fun & Games‘ to do with Tashi.

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ALEESAH DARLINSON

www.aleesahdarlison.com Aleesah is just about to launch 2 new books called ‘Totally Twins‘ which look great. She has also written some picture books about animals for all those children that love animals, including ‘Puggles Problem‘. Check her site out to read more about her or do some of the fun activities available.

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QUENTIN BLAKE

www.quentinblake.com Quentin Blake has written and illustrated many great books including Mrs Armitage on Wheels which is one of my favourites. Check out his site for games and to find out more about him.

Read & learn about Illustrators

FREYA BLACKWOOD

www.freyablackwood.net - Freya has illustrated many books with her beautiful pictures including Clancy & Millie and the very fine house. Visit her website to see more of her beautiful illustrations and the books she has illustrated.

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And many more:

ANDREW DADDO

JEANNE WILLIS

There is so much more I could write on this subject…

Children enjoy using a variety of sized paint brushes when creating an artwork. Young children do not need to be limited to using chunky paintbrushes. Give them a variety of sizes including your household paintbrush. This week we used very thin watercolour brushes as the children wanted to paint on small pebbles to make them into pets. This is how we did it:

• Collect the pebbles and eyes together

An ice lolly mould was a perfect paint pot for the small brushes.

• Get the paints and brushes ready.

A cute pebble pet - the outcomes are endless!

• The final product! Children really enjoy painting pebbles whether it is to make a whole family of imaginary pets or just to purely decorate them for the house or garden.

'Stand Guard - who goes there!'

We have had quite alot of rain in Australia during these winter holidays. Therefore it was time to come up with some more indoor activities! Luckily I still had a few boxes left over from when we moved house last year and one of them in particular gave me some inspiration…

USEFUL RESOURCES:

cardboard box, tape, stanley knife, marker pen, paper kitchen towell rolls, small toys

STEP 1

The great thing about this fruit and veg box was that it already had the little windows cut out of it's walls which lend itself brilliantly to looking like archers windows.

• draw the drawbridge door

• • use a Stanley knife to cut the door shape out

• add on the towers ( otherwise known as paper kitchen rolls) using tape

Now that the bit with the knives and scissors is over, the children can join in with the making part!

• decorate castle walls to make it look authentic!

A cheap and easy way to get the children to play and develop their imaginary skills!

I love recycling!

Every now and then I catch an advert on the TV advertising their variety of board games under the catch phrase ‘Family Games Night’.

It’s a clever way to advertise. Firstly, it makes you question yourself about whether or not you save a special night in the week just for the family to play games together. No TV! You ask yourself, if you are not doing this then why not? Are we watching too much TV? Probably. So secondly the guilt sets in and you give this idea some more thought.

I keep telling my family that I think it’s a great idea. Have we got around to it yet? Yes and No. We have tried it  in a sporadic kind of fashion not on a set night. Although I would like to have the determination to save a night for it each week. I know that the few times we have had a games night the children love it.

It has also been an eye opener regarding my children’s playing skills. I have discovered that one child is a very bad loser! Therefore, more experience at playing board games or card games together can develop many skills such as : turn taking, losng, understanding rules and team cooperation. It is also a great way to deal with all these new feelings.

Anyway, with this topic in mind, I have made a game using recycled resources:

TIC TAC TOE or NOUGHTS & CROSSES

Step 1 - collect resources

Bottletops - from juice cartons and cleaned

Card - recycled from a Duvet label

Stickers – old out of date computer labels cut in half

Ruler, pencil, pen and scissors.

Step 2 – line the board

• Cut the card into a square shape
• Divide it into 9 squares

Step 3 - make the counters

You can use a variety of colours to make the game more attractive or choose your child's favourite colours!

• Draw ‘O’  shapes and ‘X’ shapes on the stickers
• Cut the stickers out and stick them onto the lids.

Enjoy the game!

For more recycled activities to keep your young ones busy during the school holidays click on the following link: Reduce, reuse, recycle

This Saturday there is a full moon, which has inspired this weeks artful project:

Planets are a great theme for exploring colour and shape.

Here are the steps we took to achieve this activity:

Step 1 -

White chalk on black paper look really effective!

Use white chalk to create a circular shape.  Create some shade by using darker shades and smudging the colour in on one edge. Use an eraser to rub out holes to create craters on the surface of the moon.

Step 2 -

Some children will be able to cut out the moon themselves - remember it does not have to be a perfect circle and it is great practice for their fine motor skills.

Now we have the moon, lets make some planets:

Food colouring dripped and tilted onto a pink pastel background.

Cut them out and then put them all together!

This topic brings out some great conversation and some interesting questions:

• What’s at the end of the Universe?
• Are Aliens real?
• Which is the biggest planet?

The holidays are coming soon and a visit to your nearest Observatorium might come in useful. It might help to answer all the questions about the Universe that your young ones asked but you didn’t have the answers for!

PLACES TO VISIT:

Sydney Observatory – Check out the  July school holiday program.

Very aware that I am sitting down at the computer a lot more than I used to through writing two different types of blogs / websites, I felt a great need for lots of exercise! So we visited Manly Dam which has lots of walks and nature trails around it.

We weren’t meant to go for as long a walk as we did, but we made it around the whole Dam and 3 hours later we could finally sit down and enjoy the beautiful dusky view!

• We walked

Children love the sense of adventure.

• we talked

• we spotted exciting new things like Blue mushrooms

Blue mushrooms or Fairy Lanterns?

More mushrooms…

• we looked out for animals

• we found pretty plants

Giant Banksia

• we read signs

There are quite a few picnic areas with chopped wood provided and BBQ's.

Reading signs that you come across is a good way to raise a child’s awareness that signs have meanings and sometimes important safety messages. It is also a fun way to teach reading as a game. Signs are everywhere you go, point them out and play at reading them together. There were also direction arrows to spot which was another game we played – who would spot the arrow first and lead the way?

• we discussed safety posters

The children enjoy trying to interpret the safety signs - a useful lesson!

• we discovered waterfalls

It was a great day! We all learnt so much, and the children learnt how to look and appreciate the natural things around them…

To find out more about Manly Dam what is there and how to  reserve a picnic area, go to the Council website at the following link: Manly Dam

Tip: There were many steps, board tracks, mud holes, bolders to climb, etc. It is not suitable to take a buggy/pram/stroller around the long walks. But from the carparks to the picnic and play areas it is fine.

Since I have started blogging and posting my ideas and activities I have become aware of the huge world that is out there doing similar things. Although I don’t blog and post just to receive lots of feedback to boost my ego I will admit that it is always lovely to receive a appreciative comment. I have also posted a few comments myself on blogs where I felt the person had written about something that was of great interest to me. Recently I came across a post about the ups and downs of Blogging Long Term from Veronica Foales  ‘Sleepless Nights. Looking at the amount of comments she got in response quite a few people had had the same experience or felt the same way.

I was recently invited to be a guest blogger on Catherine Way’s ‘adventures with kids’ blogspot which delighted me and made me quite nervous at the same time! Check it out here:

http://adventureskids.blogspot.com/2010/06/australia-with-kids-sydney.html

So today my post is about the blogs I have found interesting and would like to share with you…

CRAFTY BLOGS

www.kidscraftweekly.com

EARTHY BLOGS

Little Humbugs

hearmumroar.com

EDUCATIVE BLOGS

childhood101.com

Science at home

Teaching Money to kids

MOTHERHOOD BLOGS

hearmumroar.com

The Byron Life

PLAYFUL BLOGS

let the children play

play-activities.com

That’s it for now, I may add to it later on as I discover more that catch my eye!

Flags at Walsh bay for Sydney Writers Festival 2010

On Sunday I made the effort to get up early and go  to listen to two of the many discussions, talks and shows on at the Sydney writers Festival for 2010. I had never been before, but the outcome was that I will definately be going again to the next one!

AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS

It was just so interesting listening to authors and publishers talk about the business of making childrens books. The first  discussion I went to was ‘Writing Children’s Books in the Digital Age’. On the panel were  authors Tristan Bancks and Wendy Harmer, author and publisher David Levithan and publisher Laura Harris. Later on in the day I went to listen to children’s authors Tristan Bancks again, along with Deborah Abela and their publishers Kristina Schulz (University of Queensland Press) and Zoe Walton (Random House). They were discussing ‘Behind the scenes of Children’s Publishing.

YOU AS A WRITER

I queued up with people of all  ages. This got me to wondering whether any hopeful ‘wannabe’ children authors in the queue with me felt slightly intimidated or concerned at how many other people there are out there that are wanting to do the same thing. And does it feel like trying to achieve the impossible? To launch into writing of any kind is daunting enough. To be reminded that there is a new generation of people every year about to do the same heightens that feeling of insecurity tenfold, surely!

Do you even stand a chance? Why, Hell yes – just go for it, is what I say!

Unlike acting where some actors must dread the yearly flow of new younger fresher faced actors entering into the acting world, I feel writing is somewhat different.

Writing has no age restrictions or boundaries. Just like ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ – so is ‘imagination in the brain of the reader’. Your age is not a determiner of how good our stories are going to be.

So if you woke up in the middle of the night with a ‘book in your head’  - remember it – even better – get up and write it down there and then.

TEACHERS AND CHILDREN WRITING

If you are also a teacher and have been encouraging your class to write stories in timing with the Sydney Writers Festival this week, remember we ask alot of a child when we ask them to write a story. We ask children to write for us when we are ready, but they may not be in the mood or right frame of mind. Could you do this? We may give them a title as a prompt which they have no or very little interest in.  And if you are not a writer, when was the last time you wrote a story? Many teachers use prompts to stimulate young imaginations. Children have great imaginations but sometimes need a little encouragement…

Here are some story writing prompts you may want to try at home or in your class:

• Story cards – who, what & where cards. Who cards have pictures of people, animals, fairytale characters. What cards have an object on them. Where cards have a place on them, such as an island, a cottage, a tree, etc…It is up to you how many of each the children can choose.
• objects pulled from a suitcase – Use the object inside to build up a story. Whose case do you think it belonged to? Where were they going? How old do you think they were?
• Stories from Paintings - this is one of my favourite activities to do with 8-12 year olds. Give them a really interesting painting and look for clues as to what is going on. This will help build up a story line.
• Pass the story – a bit like pass the whisper, one person starts the beginning of the story, and the next person  adds another sentence to the story. This goes all the way around the circle of children until someone comes up with an ending.
• Writers Corner – this is an area I always had in my classroom and I still have in my house now as a ’stay-at-home-mum’. All writing implements are available. Allsorts of paper is available sometimes stapled together to form little booklets).

writers corner

So, to conclude, if you wake up ‘with a story in your head’ write it down and goodluck!

Young children can read to each other - either reading the text or making up the story as they go along.

Mondays is the day I go into my sons class to help with reading groups. I really enjoy this for a number of reasons:

1. I get to see my son in action in class
2. I get to see what kind of reading activities and word recognition games are going on in class which I can then try at home
3. I get to see the teacher in action and watch her teach.

I am a primary teacher but have taken time out (so far 4 years) to bring up my children. Because I have had quite a bit of time out I am slightly nervous about the prospect of re-entering the working world and the classroom. I feel that I may be out of date or out of touch with what is going on. Therefore being actively involved in some aspects of school life is important to me and best of all I enjoy it!

This is also one of the reasons I started this website and blog once a week. It keeps my brain working and I enjoy the research that goes with it. I enjoy reading other mothers blogs, educational sites and discovering more activities to engage my children in.

There are many different kinds of reading activities out there and finding the ones that suit your child best is the key. But that doesn’t mean to say that one activity will suit all your children! Here are some ideas…

READ COMICS OR MAGAZINES

One mum asked me how to get her son to enjoy reading when he struggles at it and as a result doesn’t enjoy it. This is always a difficult one! One of the activities I suggested to her was to find out who his favourite hero, character or topic is (eg: football) and get him to try and read comics. He could try and read it himself or take it in turns with an adult to read a page. Maybe this could be a treat every Saturday. If not a comic then a magazine about surfing or whatever he is into. If a child is stimulated enough in the content then the reading will not feel like such a chore.

WALL OF WORDS

Paste your childs key words or sight words from school around the house.

At the beginning of the year my son came home with sheets of paper with his keywords or sight words  written on them. I cut them out and he stuck them around the house. If he happens to stand near one then I quickly ask him what it says. This way he is not confronted with a whole list of words which can appear daunting times. When he seems to know them really well I move them around just to check he really does recognise them. His younger sister likes to join in  too which means she is already becoming familiar with the keywords.

As it happens, the carpet was being replaced in the classroom so I had the opportunity to help out with the computer lesson instead. To my surprise they were using one of my favourite children’s educational websites: www.starfall.com

This site is a great resource for reading activities and games. But first of all, they had to log in!