Favorite Sources for Book Recommendations

These are my three favorite podcasts for book recommendations. They are fun to listen to, I always get a list of books to add to my library holds or goodreads.com list, and its a great way to expand my reading comfort zone.

I am always happy to give book recommendations too! If you’re looking for your next book to read, let me know, and if you aren’t using Goodreads yet, start today! It’s the only place I keep my list of books I want to read, and it also keeps an accurate list of books I have read too.

Quarantine Bread-Making

When it started to look like school was going to close, and we were going to quarantine for the foreseeable future, I started buying flour and yeast. I didn’t buy enough, but a couple bags of flour and a jar of yeast has lasted us quite a while. Add in a sourdough starter and we are in business!

I am including our master list of recipes we wanted to try, and I’ll rank them in order of what has been easiest and what was more challenging. So far they have all been delicious and we’ve learned a lot!

Ok, here’s how I made our sourdough starter. Its way easier than I thought it would be! We have a cold house, so I kept the starter in the oven with the light on, and even then it took about 10 days to make a viable starter. Now it is in the fridge and I feed it once a week unless I’m using it, and then I feed it after I use it. https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/

Here's what we made and loved:

Dutch Baby Pancakes. We make these a lot, one of our favorite weekend breakfasts. I like citrus zest and butter, the girls like powdered sugar and berries: 

Focaccia. So easy, and the girls loved making the holes with their fingers!  https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/rosemary-focaccia-bread/

Naan, with or without garlic and herbs. We made a plain version, and then added garlic herb butter for those of us that like that kind of thing. We also only cooked half the dough, leaving the other half in the fridge overnight to cook with dinner the next night. I think it was better the next day!

Cheese Sourdough with discarded starter

Hot Cross Buns- good for easter, but tasty anytime! https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-hot-cross-buns-recipe

Bagels. We didn’t have bread flour the first time, so we used all purpose and they turned out great. Better with bread flour though! Also, honey is a good substitute for barley malt syrup too. The best part was making the hole in the bagel, so much fun.

Sourdough Bread: This made two delicious, crusty loaves of sourdough and I had an amazing grilled cheese sandwich with two slices of it. So good.

Soft Pretzels. These are a favorite. We made them before quarantine and they are a staple in our house now. So fun to make different shapes besides the standard pretzel shape. We do braids, blobs, wreaths, etc.  

Challah. This one felt like a victory. Its so beautiful! We ate the first half fresh or toasted, and then used the second half for some really amazing french toast.  

Cinnamon Rolls. We made these for Christmas and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were! We made them again a couple weeks ago and cooked them a little longer. They were a little too doughy the first time.  https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/soft-cinnamon-rolls-recipe

Ebelskivers (Danish Pancakes): You need a special pan, here is the one we have from amazon. We also have a cast iron pan but it’s harder to use, they tend to stick.

And here is our list to make soon:

English Muffin with discarded sourdough starter:

Rosemary Bread. We have an over-producing rosemary plant and this is a favorite bread in our house. I need to start making it on constant rotation! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/almost-famous-rosemary-bread-recipe-1973622

Pita Bread: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-pita-bread-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-90844

Popovers: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/popovers-recipe-1914814

Donuts https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/45921/crispy-and-creamy-doughnuts/  We had to order a donut pan and are still waiting for it to come. This is the number one recipe the girls wanted to try so we are excited.

Top 12 Easter Books for Kids

Our top 12 Easter and springtime books:

Easter is one week away and there is still time to order a new book or two. These twelve are some of our absolute favorites, both in Honeybee and in our family. My daughters are 7 and 12 and really enjoy holiday picture books. They like to divide them up so they each have a couple next to their bed and then often trade back and forth so they each get a turn with the top favorites. Its very common for me to gather them up from their bedside tables on preschool days so I have some fun books to read to my class too!

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes: This is the number one book requested by my daughters and its a treasured book from my childhood too.

The Easter Egg by Jan Brett: We love Jan Brett books around here, and the preschoolers love watching the scenes that unfold in the side panels of each page.

Humbug Rabbit by Lorna Balian: This is the number two requested book. We love all of Balian’s books and this one is charming and clever and has two stories going on at the same time. If you don’t have this book already, this Easter is a great time to pick it up!

Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco: This is my favorite Easter/Springtime book. I love the classic illustrations, an introduction to beautiful Ukrainian eggs and the darling storyline. We make pysanky eggs each year because of this book!

Here Comes the Easter Cat: We don’t own this book but enjoy it from the library in Honeybee each year. All the books in this series are funny and cute.

The Little Rabbit: The Easter Bunny brought this book a couple years ago and we all loved the illustrations and sweet spring story.

Yoga Bunny: This book is on its way to us for Easter morning. It looks like a great addition to our easter picture book collection!

Bunny’s Book Club: This isn’t about easter but the bunny connection is strong. I love the illustrations and the kids love the story of a bunny who discovers the wonders of the library.

Bunny Roo, I Love You: This is a sweet little board book for the littlest one in the family. We have some board books that come out each year and this one, illustrated by Teagan White, would have been perfect when my girls were younger. Everything Teagen White touches is gold!

I Am A Bunny by Richard Scarry: This is the first Easter book I bought for my daughter and she still loves to read it, 12 years later! It’s a classic.

A Tale for Easter by Tasha Tudor: We love all of Tasha Tudor’s books and this one is a favorite for sure.

The Easter Egg Artists: This is considered a vintage book now, and it is my favorite from childhood. The illustrations are sweet and the story is inspiring.

If you have Overdrive through your local library, there are many easter books available now to read as an ebook or audiobook. They have thousands of picture books and if you use the filter with your search, you can narrow the results down to children’s books that are available now. We just did a search and found many of our favorites and also plenty of books we haven’t seen before that we want to read.

Don’t see your family’s favorite book on our list? Please comment to add it. I’m always looking for new favorites and I hope you choose a fun new book to add to your Easter book collection this year!

Great Storytime Options

Did you hear that Dolly Parton is reading bedtime books from her Imagination Library? As if we needed a reason to love her even more, now we can tune in via YouTube, to hear her read some of her favorite children’s stories. She’s done some incredible work with her Imagination Library, distributing millions of books to kids ages birth to 5, all around the world.

Oliver Jeffers has been reading one book a day since we started social distancing and quarantine. You can find all the past readings on his website here, and find out the schedule for future readings as well. We are HUGE fans of his books and its always fun to hear the author read their own books.

Mac Barnett is another one of our favorite authors and he is currently reading one chapter a day from his comic book autobiography. Its very entertaining and his black lab makes some funny cameos too. I think you can only find these on instagram right now but hopefully they will end up on his website as well. https://www.instagram.com/macbarnett/?hl=en

I have to put in a little plug for my storytime art series I’m working on right now too. I am reading a favorite book and then linking to some fun and creative projects that are extensions of themes found in the book. You can find all the details here.

Easter Basket Gift Ideas

Its time to make sure you have ordered what you need for Easter Baskets! I’m linking a few of my favorite basket stuffers below, and as of today, all can be delivered in time for Easter if you order soon.

• An Easter or Springtime puzzle. We love eeBoo puzzles and they are usually available on amazon. This Beatrix Potter puzzle is cute too.

• This Bunny Lego Set is quick to assemble and cute, but also has pieces that would be fun to build other shapes or animals with in the future.

• These spy pens are so fun. They use invisible ink that is only visible with the light built in to the end of the pen. This is a big pack that can be divided up between the baskets or the extras can be saved for later.

• We love Sleeping Queens and Wig Out! and both are compact games that would fit nicely into an Easter Basket. They are also both fun for kids and adults, so you know the Easter Bunny is delivering something that you won’t dread playing.

• Seed packets are fun to add to an easter basket and most grocery stores are carrying them right now. Add some in to your next grocery delivery! I give my girls seeds that are quick to germinate and easy to harvest: Radishes, Beets, Carrots and flowers like Sunflowers and Zinnias are great to start with.

• Don’t have a garden? A potted house plant like a succulent or jade plant are pretty hardy. A potted bulb like a tulip could also be fun for kids to care for.

• Water Beads are always a hit around here. After we play with them inside, they get added to potions outside, get frozen in the freezer and added to our water table outside, add little plastic animals or plastic easter eggs and the time flies by. Don’t have a place to keep them outside? A plastic tub full of water beads and an empty bathtub could work!

• Gathering a Garden game by eeBoo. Our girls got this game for Easter a few years ago and really loved it. A great game to play in the Spring! Good for ages 4+.

• Garden Gloves and Tools. We started out with cute cotton gloves when my kids were little and quickly moved on to these for more waterproof-ness. They also like to have their own tools that look and feel like my garden tools, and this set lasted us a long time. Plus, they double as beach tools!

• Don’t forget the chocolate bunny! Add them to your grocery order asap before they run out. Amazon is almost out of them already.

• We always give a new book for Easter. Sophie Mouse is a sweet series that is both a good read aloud and a great beginning chapter book. The pictures help predict harder words and the stories are wholesome and charming. I love it when we find a long series that we all enjoy! We also gave Sonya’s Chickens by Phoebe Wahl and this year my oldest is getting The Secret Lake.

• Rainboots are always useful and these ones from London Littles are darling. They are having a sale right now too! We’ve given kids umbrellas like this bunny one in the past too. A great combo for puddle stomping.

• New art supplies would round things out nicely. I order all my supplies from Blick now, with the exception of liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply. Blick has a great selection of brushes, sketchpads, paints and watercolor paper that are all great for kids and adults. Just choose student grade or search for kids supplies in the search bar.

Start your Easter Grass!

If you haven’t grown your own Easter grass, this year is a great time to start! We use wheat grass in our Easter baskets and as a decoration around the house in the Spring.

You will need:

Bowls, Egg Cups, Flower Pots or baskets made waterproof using aluminum foil and plastic wrap

potting soil

wheat berries (order online) or Bob’s Red Mill from local grocery or health food store

spray bottle with water

plastic wrap

I get our wheat berries in bulk at our grocery store. We use about 2 cups of seed for 3 baskets and a few extra pots for decoration.

Soak the seeds overnight to help speed up the sprouting process.

If you’re using a basket, line it with aluminum foil followed by a layer of plastic wrap. Fold down the foil below the edge of the basket so it doesn’t show above the soil. Fill with soil to the edge of the foil. Choose a plate or platter to put under the basket in case the foil fails and leaks.

Fill pots/cups/containers with soil just below the top edge.

Sprinkle a layer of wheat berries (seeds) on the soil. Try to keep them in a single layer while also covering the soil as best you can.

Using a spray bottle, spray the seeds with water to get wet, not soggy.

Cover each container with plastic wrap and place in a warm, dark place. Check daily to watch for sprouts and to spray with water.

When you see green blades of grass, remove the plastic wrap and move to a sunny window. Keep spraying with water each day.

When the grass is about 5 inches tall, trim back to about 4 inches so it continues to grow straight and tall. With daily watering and good light, it will continue to grow for a couple weeks!

Some people juice wheatgrass but we like to feed it to our chickens after easter. They love it!

On My Bookshelf

I have two bookshelves. One in real life, for print books and one digital shelf for audiobooks on Overdrive. I also keep lists on Goodreads of books I’ve read and those I want to read/listen to. If you are on goodreads, please find me there so we can share recommendations! If you aren’t on goodreads, get over there and get started! :)

I’m currently listening to Moby Dick and when I need something lighter, I switch to The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman. I have to say, I thought I would be reading more during this quarantine/self-distancing time, but I’ve been outside gardening, painting and crafting with the girls, and not doing much sitting still and reading. I am listening to podcasts and audiobooks though, and am setting a goal to sit down and read at lunchtime every day next week.

I’m reading Hoot by Carl Hiassen outloud at bedtime the girls. At 12 and 7 its been hard to find a book they both want to listen to, so until now I’ve been reading to them separately. This is so much easier! I’m happy that they are really liking the book, and even happier that Hiassen has so many more books we can read after this one.

I only listen to 4 podcasts right now and would love to add to my list. My current favorites are Heavyweight with Jonathan Goldstein, What Should I Read Next with Anne Bogel, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and Armchair Expert. What am I missing?

Got a lot of Toilet Paper Tubes?

Most Americans have more toilet paper on hand right now than ever before and those who don’t are having trouble finding any to buy. We always save our TP tubes for re-using and I’m anticipating the need for more toilet paper tube craft ideas in the coming weeks, what with all the toilet paper everyone will be using!

TP Tubes are a wonderful, open ended arts and crafts materials and I think kids of all ages love to come up with their own ideas for how to use them. In case your kids need some new ideas or inspiration, I gathered some of my favorite images to share here.

The toilet paper tube rocket ship looks like great fun and could inspire a whole solar system of crafts. Found on Instagram @ideasconpeques, this cute rocket ship looks simple enough for young ones to help make, and older kids could make it more intricate and detailed.

I can’t get over how cute this TP Tube fireplace is! Originally found in the book “DIY Dollhouse” by Alexia Henrion, this little scene was made by @greengroves on instagram.

I’m loving the cardboard tube sculpture that @artbarblog shared on her instagram feed. Cut the tubes, let kids paint and draw designs and patterns on them, then glue together to make a unique sculpture.

These toilet paper tube robots are simple to make but could provide hours of pretend play. Instructions are at Glue Sticks & Gumdrops and use items you probably have around the house already.

The Squirrely Mind always has projects that are beautiful and accessible. The fish kites are so sweet and a great way to learn more about Children’s Day in Japan which falls on May 5th.

Make a marble track or see how many tubes you can stack in a tower!

DIY Mini Animal Storage: Paint or decorate some tubes and then tuck them into a box for stability. Make a little roof and then add mini animals or any small creature or critter who is looking for a home. Found on Instagram @play_at_home_mummy

I’m saving this spooky cardboard castle idea for Halloween but it could easily be made to house knights or royalty or fairies and elves. A drawbridge seems essential and the details can be ramped up for older kids. The toilet paper tubes make perfect turrets! @littlettreefolk on Instagram.

These cute little hanging houses could be homes for Hatchimals, little animals, peg dolls or little birds. They are a great springtime craft and would look darling hanging on a branch together. @creatingcreatives on Instagram.

My kids have big plans to make a track for a big collection of bouncy balls. They have been saving tubes and cardboard for weeks and think they have enough to get started tomorrow. I showed them this colorful track and they loved the arrows and little viewing windows, so they are going to do some painting and cutting first. Its turning into quite the engineering project and I’m excited for them to get started. This picture is from @franzworks on instagram.

We use toilet paper tubes for these four purposes regularly at our house.

Little gift boxes are easy and pretty cute!

I have stuffed dryer lint into tubes for years to use as fire starters. We primarily use wood heat in our house so this is very helpful!

Start seeds in paper tubes. The whole thing can get planted in the ground and the tube will biodegrade as the stem and roots get stronger.

Bird Feeders. I’ve made these in the preschool for many years and its so fun to watch the birds do their balancing act on the tubes, looking like log rollers with wings!

Pinterest has more toilet paper tube crafts than you can even imagine, and instagram has some good hashtags to use for searching. I hope you find something fun to do with all your tubes, and I’d love to see what you make!

Screen Free Fun

We do a screen-free summer at our house, and while my girls love to watch Netflix and movies, they are also pretty independent when it comes to finding fun without screens. Our homeschool schedule is screen-free all day and then some screen time after dinner. They are using laptops for school work, math games and typing practice, but just for 15-30 minutes a day. That leaves about 10 hours of daytime without netflix. Sometimes that is daunting, sometimes the day just flies by. Here are some of our favorite screen-free activities:

Audiobooks. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but we really do rely on audiobooks to provide background entertainment while drawing, painting, building train tracks, playing with Legos, roller blading, biking, laying in the hammock, folding laundry, making potions, cleaning and organizing. Here’s the list of our favorites. And another great list.

Have a dance party! We have a little disco ball and a microphone and sometimes just turning on some loud music and having a free-for-all dance party makes all the difference in the moods and the attitudes in the house. I have some wickedly embarrassing dance moves and my kids cringe, but deep down I think they really like it.

Lego Challenge: You can find these on pinterest or make up your own. I challenged my kids to make a floor plan of a house and they both spent a couple hours tinkering with legos they haven’t looked at for weeks. No Legos? Use what you have. Blocks, magnatiles, tinker toys, lincoln logs, pattern blocks. Let the kids make a list of challenge items or use one like this!

Family Puzzles: Get a 500 piece puzzle started in a place where you can work on it as you please. We have a 1000 piece Harry Potter puzzle on one end of our dining table that we work on here and there. Sometimes we are all working on it, sometimes I stay up way too late looking for one particular piece. My favorite puzzle company is Eeboo and you can find some beautiful ones on Amazon right now.

Cookbook Challenge: Choose a cookbook and open it to a random page until you “randomly” find a recipe that sounds fun. We have a big list of bread products we are going to try during this quarantine period. Bagels! Naan Bread! Challah! Rosemary Diamante! Focaccia! We’ve tried these pretzels before and loved them, so we’ll make them again for sure. We’re finding tons of inspiration from @blondieandrye on Instagram right now:

Start Some Seeds: Use egg cartons or toilet paper tubes to start some seeds. If you’re local, you can find free seeds at Plum Forest Farm from Wild Dreams Farm. They are saved, heirloom seeds and they are free right now to encourage people to grow more of their own food! How cool. Not local to Vashon? Order some seeds from Fedco, Pinetree or Territorial Seeds and get your garden growing!

Make a Walking Stick: Find a stick that is a good walking stick height. Wrap the handle-end with yarn or rope. Paint the rest of the stick with bright, fun colors and patterns. A good walking stick makes hikes and trail walks so much more fun!

Change of Scenery: Go for a drive, take the bikes to the elementary school and ride around, go to the beach and balance on logs, find a trail to put those walking sticks to the test!

Make a Journal: Make a simple blank book, decorate the cover, and use it to document these uncertain times. Older kids can write their thoughts and feelings in their own journal, younger kids might want you to transcribe their thoughts.

Other fun screen free activities? Feel free to link them below.

Some fun stuff:

Mo Willems is live streaming a doodle video each day. You and your child can also email questions for him to answer during his doodles. So fun! LUNCHDOODLES@kennedy-center.org 

Betty White reading Harry the Dirty Dog

Actors reading children’s books: Storyline Online

Backwards Day: Wear clothes backwards, start the day with dessert, end with breakfast, and any other wacky backwards things you can think of!

For St. Patrick’s Day, search for items from each color of the rainbow or make a leprechaun trap.

Oliver Jeffers is reading a book each day on Instagram Live. His accent is so great, and I love his books. @oliverjeffers. If you don’t use Instagram he is adding them to his website too

Virtual Museum Tours!

Make an obstacle course outside with a map and then challenge each other to the course.

Make a list of photo challenges and set your kids loose with a camera.

The sun is out, go on a bug search! See how many different bugs you can find together outside. Make a list, do a sketch, see if you can identify them here.

Keep Calm and Take a Bath

I’ve felt a nagging, unsettled sensation for the past couple of weeks. These are very strange, uncertain times we are living in and each day brings significant changes. Schools are closed for 6 weeks, shops and businesses are closed and starting today, restaurants and bars are closed too. All of this change and disruption to routine brings anxiety and stress, right? I’ve been thinking about what we do at home to bring a sense of calm to when we are feeling anxious or unsure and the following are our favorites.

Meditation: I’ve been trying to remember a short meditation each day. I don’t fight my rambling, distracted brain, instead I just remind myself to quiet down. A meditation necklace helps me to stay quiet. This website is a great place to start a meditation practice.

Make mala mediation necklace: A couple years ago my kids and I made meditation necklaces with our friend Andrea Curry and learned how to use them with a simple meditation chant: So Hum (which means “I am that” in Sanskrit.) With each breath, you move one bead on the necklace until you get all the way around. Its very calming and centering and my girls use their necklaces if they can’t fall asleep, if they are feeling worried or if they just want something quiet to do. I keep mine in my car and have used it in long ferry lines, stressful doctor appointments and insomnia-filled hotel stays.

The necklace has 108 beads with one guru bead and tassel, which helps to know where to start and stop. We used small wooden beads mixed with gemstones, and the kids used plastic pony beads like these. We made tassels and used a lava stone for the guru bead because it absorbs essential oils nicely. Want more help or information? This site explains it nicely.

Bubble Bath: We have only been out of school for 4 days and already the kids have taken 2 bubble baths. They started with face paint and ended with a bubbly tub. Don’t forget the power of a good bubble bath for the kids or for yourself! They love Honest Company bubble bath, both lavender and orange scented.

Bath Salts: I add epsom salts to my bath every time. I make my own salts too, my current favorite is a mixture of epsom salts, pink sea salt, baking soda and a few drops of essential oils- bergamot and lavender are my go-to right now. Cedarwood and Lavender are a calming combo too.

Mandala drawing: I have always found doodling and drawing to be very calming and soothing. I like to start in a corner of a sketchbook page and start drawing a series of mandala style shapes, filling in with patterns and designs as I go. Pinterest has plenty of ideas for ways to start!

List of Delights: I just finished Ross Gay’s Book of Delights and I can’t stop thinking about it. He wrote a short note every day about something that delighted him. I think it would be really special to write down one thing that delights me during this unsettled time. It would serve as a quick way to refocus, tune in to the natural world, pay more attention to the positive, and stay present. I encourage you to check out the book, either in print, ebook or audio and start to notice the parts of your day that delight you too.

A long walk: If you can get away, take yourself out for a 30-60 minute walk. Just start walking and turn around when you’ve been gone for half of your available time. There’s something very relaxing about getting myself moving, putting one foot in front of the other, especially if I can end at the beach.

Have something to add? I’d love to know your tried and true ways to calm yourself or your kids down in stressful times…

Drawing (and activity) Prompts

We love to use a raffle ticket approach to things around here. We write chores on slips of paper and put them in a basket, drawing one slip out at a time to work together to get the house clean and tidy. We write ideas for screen-free summer time fun on slips of paper for inspiration to pass the time.

This morning we wrote drawing prompts on paper and had a great time pulling them out of the basket and drawing together. If you have a sketchbook or a stack of blank (or lined) paper, this is a great quiet time or family time activity!

Here are some ways we use the prompts:

• Use the word as a starting point for a drawing in a notebook or sketchbook

• Add a drawing to an existing drawing or large collaborative drawing or poster

• Use the word to start a story that is written and illustrated

• Use the word to inspire a completely different idea

• Act out the word like charades

• Use the words like Pictionary and try to guess what is being drawn

• Use the words to tell a collaborative story

There are no wrong ways to do this! Sometimes my kids pull a word from the basket and don’t want to draw it, so they choose another. Thats fine! If you try this, let me know! I’d love to hear how it works for you.

Get Outside (and Pick Nettles!)

Its Stinging Nettle season and even though we are staying home and social distancing, harvesting nettles is one way we are getting ourselves outside. Our tentative and loose schedule for life for the next six weeks includes a healthy amount of outside time. We’ve made a list of things that are fun to do, both at home and at the beaches or parks nearby:

Meet friends for walks and bike rides

Make some Andy Goldsworthy-esque nature art for others to find at the beach

Walk/Run on the trails at Paradise Valley and Island Center Forest

Make an obstacle course in the yard

Plan a treehouse/fort

Find a sunny spot and make a blanket fort on the porch

Look for frog eggs and tadpoles at Mukai or Chautauqua Pond

Build a new fairy house in the woods

Make potions with ferns, blossoms and cones

Pick Nettles and make soup, pesto, tea, pizza, frittata and vinegar in the hopes that I can preserve some of the health benefits that nettles offer this time of year! Haven’t picked nettles before? Read this for some important tips… and don’t pick them after they have flowered. The young plants and the first few leaves are the ones too look for.

Audiobook Activities

Ok. Now you have a list of audiobooks to try and the questions I’ve been getting are: “what do you use to play the audiobooks?” and “what do the kids do while they are listening?”

We have an old iPod and an old iPhone that are always available for using for a book, and the kids know how to add audiobooks using my iPad as well. Every once in a while we all listen together using my phone. We also get discs from the library and both kids have cd players in their rooms so they can listen that way as well.

The iPods are great because they can move around the house, put them in their bike basket or go outside with headphones.

My kids are multi-taskers and always have something to work on or play with while they are listening to books. Here are some of their go-to activities:

• Bike riding

• Legos

• Puzzles

• Watercolor painting

• Matching up pairs of socks

• Magnatiles

• Finger knitting

• Playdough

• Perler beads

• Whiteboard writing

• Origami

• Brio trains

• Friendship bracelets

I listen to books in the car, while I’m gardening, walking, folding laundry, washing dishes, cleaning the preschool and while I’m knitting. I don’t give myself much time to sit down and read printed paper books so I like to get my reading time in during the day while I’m getting things done.

So Now You Are Homeschooling.

Thanks to the Coronavirus, more than 1 millions students in Washington are going to be home for the next 6 weeks, which means many parents are now tasked with homeschooling. Every family will approach this task differently and I think that is great! We are still working out our loose plan and schedule and will start things up on Monday after a long weekend of netflix and quiet time with audiobooks. The transition of busy, school filled days to long, quiet days at home is going to be a rough one I think, so I’m allowing more screen time this weekend than usual, and I’ve loaded up a bunch of audiobooks to various devices around the house to help us ease into our new “normal.”

Our family loves to listen to books. I thought I would list some of our favorite audiobooks here in case you’re looking for a few to try. We use Overdrive and Libby through the King County Library System as well as RBDigital. There is always something available when we search for audiobooks and we put holds on other titles too. There is a great mix of chapter books and picture books available for audio too!

Preschool:

Mrs Piggle Wiggle by Betty McDonald: This series is charming and funny and both my kids loved listening to it over the years.

Stuart Little by E. B. White: We have enjoyed other books by this author but others were too sad (Charlotte’s Web) when my girls were really young. Stuart Little was perfect for them when they were 3-5 years old.

Paddington Bear series by Michael Bond: We loved the narrator and his accent and my girls would laugh out loud at the silly things Paddington would get himself into.

Winnie the Pooh series by A. A. Milne: Don’t forget an old favorite!

Elementary Grades:

Roald Dahl Books: My kids have loved every Roald Dahl book they’ve read or listened to but their favorites are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren: These books kept my then 6 year old occupied for several days while she rearranged her bedroom one summer.

Mr Poppers Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater: I’ve read this book to my preschoolers and they enjoy it, but I think 5-7 year olds like it even more!

The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warren: These books inspired several summers of imaginary play, both inside and outside, with friends and alone. We stopped reading after the 6th book so I can’t vouch for the whole series.

Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar: I remember these books from my childhood and I thought they were hilarious. My kids haven’t really been hooked yet but we’re trying again this week.

Upper Elementary:

Pax by Sara Pennypacker: This is an intense book that is two stories told parallel to each other, one from a young boy’s perspective and the other through the eyes of a fox.

The Poet’s Dog by Patricia MacLachlan: This is one of Ella’s favorite books and she has read it and listened to it several times.

The Greenglass House by Kate Milford: A little bit mystery, a little bit magical.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown: A great book with an ending that brought a tear to our eyes, we talked about this book for weeks after listening to it and reading it. The sequel is just as good!

Adult Books:

I listen to ALOT of audiobooks and these are some of my favorites. I listen at 1.25x or 1.5x speed because normal speed feels terribly/painfully slow. I also find that if I speed up the narration it helps with annoying narrators too.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota: This one took a little while to get into but I really loved the seperate story lines that wove together as the book progressed.

The Nix: This was similar, separate story lines around a common theme.

Children and Other Wild Animals: Short Stories that are sweet and thoughtful.

The Dutch House: Narrated by Tom Hanks and an engaging story.

Where the Crawdads Sing: Part mystery, part small town fiction, partly about the natural wonders found in the swamps of North Carolina, it adds up to a fascinating story.

Celine: I’m hoping this one has a sequel, I loved it so much!

City of Girls: Looking for a long audio book to keep your mind off things? This is the book for you right now. Told from a 95 year old woman looking back on her life, it starts in NYC in the 1940s and ends at the present. A beautiful story of growing up in the theater world in New York City.

Louise Penny Mystery Series: If you like cozy mysteries, you’ll love these. They are all available on audio, have charming and lovable characters and there are 15 books in the series so its a great series to start now. Set in a small town in Canada.

I’d love to hear about books that you or your children really enjoyed so we can add some new books to our list!

Pajaki: Polish Paper Chandeliers

Have you been seeing these amazing Polish paper chandeliers popping up on intsagram and pinterest lately? A few years ago I started looking into straw crafts, mostly in terms of Swedish Christmas decorations. You know what I mean? Those straws shaped into stars and tied with red thread. Gorgeous. The farther I searched into the straw crafts and traditions the more I knew I wanted to try them. (I tried straw stars. Hard.) 

I've had Polish Pajaki on my list of crafts to try for some time now, and last weekend I finally had a few hours to give it a try. The first one came together pretty quickly, thanks to this awesome tutorial from the one and only Martha Stewart. It really helped to read the whole article, get all the materials out and choose a color scheme before starting.

I made this one first, using tissue paper that I saved from my daughter's birthday party.

I think it took about 3 hours, start to finish, to make one Pajaki. Here are my tips and suggestions:

Buy straws at IKEA or Costco. IKEA didn't have any straws when I was there, but I found these bright ones at Costco for about $5 for a huge box.

Cut all the tissue paper circles ahead of time and make sure you have enough of each color to complete whatever pattern you have chosen.

Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors are the bomb. They cut through multiple layers of tissue to make those tassels and were so easy. I bought mine years ago and never really used them, but they are great for this project.

Use a sturdy yarn or thread for the base of the pajaki. A stiff cord would be nice too. I used a large tapestry needle and it would have saved time to be able to put the yarn through the straws and tissue without a needle.

I improvised a little bit on the second pajaki. My daughter wanted hers to be mostly purple and we didn't have any purple tissue, so we painted some egg cartons and used them for the flowers. Anything goes!

I followed the same shape and style for the second chandelier. Next time I will change things up a little bit. Maybe make it two-tiered? Maybe more pom pom and tassels?

The Mixing Brush

About a month ago I had a "lightbulb moment." I had been trying to help the kids keep the paints in the paint cups from getting mixed up with dirty brushes getting painted with, and then dipped back in the paint cup over and over again. It took me 2 1/2 years and a lot of paint to come up with this idea: THE MIXING BRUSH!

Here's how it works. I set out cups of tempera paint with one or two big brushes in each color. I put clean brushes in my pocket to use as "mixing brushes." I remind the class that they can use as many colors as they want to, but to not let the colors mix on their paper. That way, a brush with yellow paint doesn't pick up blue paint from the paper, and it doesn't turn the yellow paint cup green when it goes back in for another dip.

So, when the kids have put as much paint on their paper as they want, they ask for a mixing brush! This brush doesn't get dipped in paint, its usually a much smaller brush which makes it easy to tell the difference, and it's only job is to mix those colors together on the paper!

Now I should add that we paint almost every day at Honeybee, and there is almost always paint set up at the easel, and I don't give a lick about how the kids use that paint or if it gets mixed up a little bit. Other types of paints, like watercolors and tempera cakes, get water cups to rinse the brushes off between colors. So its really only when we use cups full of tempera at the art table together that we really rely on these mixing brushes!

Favorite Books for February

This month I like to read books at Honeybee that are about Valentine's Day, delivering mail, writing letters and spreading love and joy. Isn't it fun to celebrate holidays with beautiful books and meaningful messages?

Mail and Letter Writing:

Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier

The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Mr. Postmouse's Rounds by Marianne Dubuc

A Letter for Bear by David Lucas

Valentine's Day:

The Shape of my Heart by Mark Sperring

The Best Valentine in the World by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Catching Kisses by Amy Gibson

I Heart You by Meg Fleming

The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting and Jan Brett

Wool Geodes

We tried these for the first time last year in preschool. This was a group of 4 and 5 year olds and not only did they love the process (and the reveal!) but look at the results! Incredible.

I took inspiration from several tutorials I found online and on youtube and mixed them together to make it easy for little hands. My hands were soapy and wet the whole time, so I have very few pictures of the process.

Materials and Supplies:

• Wool roving in at least 5 colors. If you want it to look like a rock, make sure you have a brown or gray for the outer layer. You will use less than an ounce in total.
• Dish soap
• Large bowl
• Water, warm and hot to add gradually
• bubble wrap (optional)

Step One:

Using the color of roving you want for the center of the geode, roll a small piece into a ball about the size of a lime. Anything goes here, so all of these descriptions are approximate. Choose another color and a piece of wool a few inches longer than the first color. Wrap it around the wool ball to completely cover. Choose a third color and wrap it around across the first color to make the fibers cross each other. Keep changing colors and keep wrapping until you have a fluffy wool ball the size of a grapefruit. A little larger than that is fine too, but if you can't hold it easily, it will be hard to felt. Use at least 5 colors if you can, and end on a dark color if you want it to look like a geode.

Step Two:

Fill a large bowl about half way with very warm water. This should be comfortably warm, and depending on the age of the participants, you will adjust the temperature accordingly. The warmer the water, the quicker it will felt together. Add a few squirts of dish soap to the water and swirl around to mix. Its also nice to lay a bowl on the table in front of each person to catch all the drips and to use to wipe their arms if water starts to run down them.

Put the wool ball in the palm of your hand and cup the other hand around to make a cage for the wool. I told the kids it was kind of like making a snowball. With the wool secure in your hand, dunk it in the water and hold it under for a few seconds to fully saturate. Then lift the wool out of the water, keeping it safe in the cage of your hands, give it a gentle squeeze to get most of the water out and add a squirt of dish soap to the wool. 

Step Three:

Now the felting begins! Gently squeeze and turn and pat the wool between your palms, always keeping it safe in the "cage." I found that kids really understood the concept if I described it as being a little fragile and needing to stay safe in their hand cage.

Roll the ball, pat it, squish it, but keep it in a ball shape. If it flattens, just pat it back into shape. Roll and squeeze or a few minutes, then dunk it in the water again and if it seems like all the soap has washed out, add a little more. When the water gets cool, add some HOT water and mix it in.

With little hands, I kept a bowl of hot soapy water and occasionally dunked each child's wool ball in the hot water for them. 

It takes about 15 minutes of alternating between dunking in soapy water, rolling in the palm of your hands, and sometimes rolling on bubble wrap, if you have it. As you feel the ball starting to firm up, start applying more pressure.

Step Four:

When the ball starts to feel really firm, take it to the sink and rinse it thoroughly with cold water. You'll know it is clean when the water running out of it isn't soapy any more. Roll each ball up in  towel and squeeze to get most of the water out, then let dry. If you're impatient or really excited, toss them in the dryer with some towels to help speed up the process.

When they are dry, it is time to cut them open! Use very sharp scissors and make small cuts down the middle until you are able to cut it all the way through. On some small geodes I was able to cut it with my sewing scissors all the way through without snipping through the layers first. The larger ones took a little more time though. You can also use a very sharp knife, just not a serrated one!

Step Five:

THE REVEAL!!! This is the best part. The kids gathered around as I handed out the geodes and they opened them up to show their friends what the insides looked like. This part is so fun!

I hope you give this a try!