Category: Parenting

Books, Holidays, Parenting

Advent Idea: A Holiday Book a Day

Kirsten W. Larson

Happy holiday season all!

My Christmas tree is decorated, my nutcracker collection is out, and I have Harry (Connick Jr.) for the Holidays playing at top volume over my speakers. Can you feel my excitement?

I hope you’ll join me on X or Instagram starting Friday, Dec. 1 where I’ll share a holiday book a day. It’s a tradition I started years ago when my kids were tiny (see above photo). Now that they are teens (and tower over me), I’m inviting you to explore these books with me, one for each day of the advent season. I have a whole bunch of new titles on hold at the library thanks to recommendation by my writer friends at the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge.

Coming Friday...a holiday book a day!

In the meantime, if you are a caregiver or teacher and want a fun countdown to the holidays, here’s my original post about creating a book a day advent calendar.

Reposted from Nov. 29, 2011–

Growing up, I remember our advent calendar held a small candy cane  for each day until Christmas. My brother, sister and I would eagerly take turns removing the candies (even though peppermint isn’t my favorite). We have a traditional advent calendar in our house now; each day the boys remove a different figure from a numbered pocket and velcro it onto the manger scene. Since Thanksgiving, my older son has been asking me if it’s December 1st yet, so he can start creating the scene.

Because this is such a special time of year, I’m always interested in new ways to count down to Christmas. My friend Nancy recently shared a good one: a holiday book a day. Here’s how it works. Scour your children’s book collection for 25 books about the holiday season. Don’t have 25 books? Neither do I, so I also included books about winter and snow. For example, I include The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton. You can also visit your local library to supplement your collection. Just make sure to keep those at the front of the pile so they don’t become overdue! Also consider that booksellers may have holiday books on sale during the holiday season.

Once you’ve amassed your pile, find a nice basket to hold all your books, and put it in a special spot, for example under your tree, by your fireplace or on a side table in the family room. Then it’s time to start wrapping! Pull out the wrapping paper, ribbon and bows, wrap each book and place it in the basket. (Note: You could use your recycled holiday cards to help decorate.) There’s nothing children love more during the holidays than unwrapping a present. Designate a special time each day (first thing in the morning or bedtime, for example), and let each child take turns unwrapping a “present.” Then you can all enjoy reading the book together. What a nice holiday tradition!

Arts/Crafts, Holidays, Parenting

Thankful Turkeys: A Thanksgiving Craft

Kirsten W. Larson

What’s the best part of Thanksgiving (besides the sweet potatoes and pecan pie)? Gratitude! This month I’m reviving a 2012 arts and craft activity, that invites kids to reflect on what they are grateful for.

Getting into a grateful mood

This is the cover to We Are Grateful, Otsaliheliga.

Before you get crafting, I highly recommend helping your kids get into a grateful mood. One of my favorite picture books for cultivating gratitude is We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Tracy Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac. After you read the book, brainstorm as a whole group some things to be grateful for.

Now on to the turkeys…

Thankful turkeys

Originally posted November 2012 — My little turkeys are thankful for many things this year: mostly LEGOs, chocolate, and their stuffed animals. Sigh. At least they’re honest.

In an effort to infuse some gratitude into the Thanksgiving season, we built these “thankful turkeys” out of pinecones. We will add a new feather each day (for five total) with things we are thankful for.

To build these turkey’s here’s what you’ll need:

  • Pinecone
  • Construction paper: brown, orange, red
  • School glue
  • Black marker
  • Googlie eyes (optional)

Here’s what you do:

  • Cut turkey body by tracing a figure eight on the brown construction paper. Make the lower circle (body) larger than the upper circle (head).
  • Using orange paper, cut a triangular beak. Cut a couple of oval-shaped orange feathers while you are at it.
  • Using red paper, cut a waddle. Cut a couple of red feathers too.
  • Glue waddle, then beak to the turkey’s head. Add eyes using marker or googlie eyes if you have them.
  • Write things you are thankful for on each feather, one item per feather.
  • Lay pinecone on its side. Glue turkey body to short, pointy end of the pinecone. Glue feathers to wide base of pinecone.

These make a great centerpiece. We’ll be using them to decorate the kids’ table. Now if only we can get some non-material items listed on those feathers…

Arts/Crafts, Cultivating curiosity, Education, Homeschool, Parenting, Reading

Tools and Activities for Keeping At-Home Kids Busy

Kirsten W. Larson

For those who have students home from school due to COVID-19, children’s book creators are putting together a number of resources to keep your students occupied and engaged. Aside from creator content, I am also sharing some of my favorite sites for kid-friendly activities and content. My goal is to keep this site updated as I find out about more.

Arts/Crafts, Homeschool, Parenting

Summer Plans

Kirsten W. Larson

Yowza! I looked at the calendar and realized there are less than three weeks left in the school year. It’s time to start planning for at-home summer fun.

  • First up? Makerspace. The kiddos recently expressed an interest in having their own robot lab. Right now, this has included scavenging parts from the garage (old training wheels and wood, for example) and toting around their toolboxes. I think we could build an outdoor makerspace using tips I found here.
  • Random Acts of Kindness. We are brainstorming ideas for ways that we can be kind to others, especially people outside of our own family/friend circle. We’ll put strips of paper in a jar so we can pull out one or two ideas a week.
  • In fourth grade, my gifted and talented class did lessons based on DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN. I ordered the book several months ago and hope we can all do the lessons together.
  • Writing and Reading. Of course! We’ll set aside time for everyone to write and read. Here’s a great idea for DIYing a journal. Also, Barnes and Noble is offering a free book for students who compete a reading journal. Download it here.

What are your summer plans?

Organization, Parenting, Writing

Mea Culpa and Group Tool Review

Kirsten W. Larson

First, mea culpa! I feel terrible for neglecting Curious Kids. I’m talking about the blog, mind you, not the actual kids. The real kids are rested, fed and dressed in clean clothes. At least their clothes were clean this morning. Right now, there are no guarantees.

I do have a good excuse for not posting…I’ve been writing and submitting. I’ve sent out one picture book manuscript and two articles this week. And I have two leveled readers almost ready to go out on submission. It’s a lot of hurry up and wait. That waiting is definitely the hardest part! Cross your fingers for me.

Now, on to the subject of this post. Are you looking for group tools for your in-person critique group, book club, PTA, or Scout troop? By group tools, I mean one place you can privately share a calendar, post photos and video, RSVP for events, maintain a discussion board, and so on. I recently reviewed a whole host of these sites for one of my groups and would like to share a couple with you.

My group opted to set up a Shutterfly Share Site. Shutterfly has designed these free sites for families, classrooms, sports teams, events (like weddings or graduations), and so on. They are private, and you decide who can access the site. There is a group calendar, discussion board and places to share photos, videos and files. As a user, you can adjust your settings so you receive any updates in your email box rather than having to log into the site.

The main reason my group chose Shutterfly is that we can easily use the photos shared on the site to create photo books and other photo gifts. I can already tell you we’ll be making a photo book at the end of the year. We thought using Shutterfly from the get-go would be much easier than downloading photos from another site and uploading them to Shutterfly or Snapfish.

Another popular free site is Big Tent. Big Tent is like a free version of Meetup.com, for those of you who are familiar with Meetup. (Note: Meetup is free for users, but organizers pay $150 a year to maintain sites). On Big Tent you can make your site public or private. Or, you can have a public page and a private section for members only. Essentially Big Tent has the same capabilities at Shutterfly, but if you wanted to create photo books or gifts, you would have to export the photos and upload your them elsewhere. It’s just an extra step.

I suspect many of you have your own curious kids who are involved in lots of activities. Maybe one of these sites will work for you. Or, if you have an in-person critique group or book club, Shutterfly or Big Tent might help with ongoing communications.

Enjoy!

Parenting, Science/Math

Curious about money

Kirsten W. Larson

A few weeks ago I put out the call on my Facebook profile: “How much allowance should one give a kindergartener.” My favorite responses included, “two graham crackers” and “hugs and kisses.” (You know who you are.) Others chimed in with suggestions like “$1 per year of age” or  “10 cents per chore per week.”

After sifting through a wealth of information and opinions and examining our convictions, we decided upon the following: Cooper will get $2 per week, and Finley will get $1 per week. Honestly, $5 a week for Cooper just seemed like a lot. That’s $250 a year, a whole month of preschool tuition! Plus we aren’t requiring the boys to buy all their toys.

The allowance comes with some requirements, modeled after those instituted by the parents of 10-year-old twins. The boys can spend half of their allowance on toys and treats. They have to save 25% until they meet the required “reserve.” Cooper has to save $20 and then can spend anything above his $20 savings. For Finley, it’s $10 savings. Hopefully this will be the beginning of teaching about the importance of saving and interest once we open savings accounts.

The boys also have to donate 25%. We may reduce this amount over time (10% seems pretty reasonable), but right now it’s easier to dole out the allowance in quarters. Most of this money goes to church now, but I can picture saving up and matching funds to give Thanksgiving baskets, angel tree gifts at Christmas etc.

As for the age-old debate about tying allowance to chores, we decided against it. I want the boys to do chores because they are part of the family, and we all pitch in. That’s what being a part of the family means. I don’t cook dinner or clean dishes because someone hands me $20 every time I do it (though it would be nice!). Similarly, studies have shown offering children money for effort does improve their school performance. But again, I want my kids to be self-motivated to learn and do well in school rather than externally motivated. What happens when you stop paying them?

With that said, I’m not opposed to paying for extra chores (some day). When the boys are ready, I’m sure I can come up with some odd jobs to earn some cash. And perhaps we can undertake some entrepreneurial adventures, like the folks over at Shafer…Power!

So what do you think? How much allowance should a kindergartener get? Should it come with strings attached?

Holidays, Parenting, Writing

The Curious Kids’ First Day of School

Kirsten W. Larson

Today was the first day of school. It was a day of new beginnings. Cooper started kindergarten. Finley started preschool. Both were at a new school.

I made a new start too. Today is the first day I spent more than a few stolen minutes on my writing. To date writing has been confined to nap time, after-bed time, when-the-kids-are-otherwise-occupied time.

Now I have some “me time,” three mornings a week, 12 whole hours. I’ll be able to hole up in the library or the bookstore, draft my freelance articles, write manuscripts and shop those manuscripts to publishers.

I relished my first day. After drop off and first day of school activities, I headed to the library with coffee in hand. Before the library opened, I had nearly completed an article for BirdBrain Science while perched on a park bench. Once inside I picked up some children’s books — inspiration and information for two leveled readers I’ll work on tomorrow. All-in-all it was a productive morning. I can’t wait until tomorrow!

Cultivating curiosity, Geography, Parenting

The Olympics: Studies in Geography and Perseverance

Kirsten W. Larson

My children are obsessed with the U.S. Women’s Volleyball team and their quest for gold. The boys cheered on Destinee Hooker, Jordan Larson and the others during their first two matches against South Korea and Brazil. Now we are waiting for the Wednesday match against China. My oldest son also has asked to watch swimming and archery (inspired by the Marvel Superhero Hawkeye, I’m guessing). Though we don’t watch a lot of daytime TV, I’m indulging him, because the Olympics can be a valuable learning experience for curious kids.

The most obvious Olympics lessons include geography and map skills. With each volleyball match we look up the competing countries on the globe and read about them in our atlas. The Web site Living Montessori Now has some wonderful Olympic geography activities including DIY globes and a whole Montessori-inspired unit for those who are interested.

Still, I think the real value in the Olympics is teaching children the value of perseverance and mastery. The kids and I talk about what it takes to win gold and to be the best in the world. It requires some natural talent, luck and timing but also practice, practice, practice. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that one reason greats like Bill Gates or the Beatles are so successful is they’ve accumulated 10,000 hours of experience and practice in their disciplines, essentially 20 hours a week for 10 years.

So let’s look at 17-year-old Missy Franklin, who just earned gold in the 100m backstroke. (Go Missy!) She’s extremely young, but she swims 2 to 4 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week, essentially 20ish hours a week. She started swimming 12 years ago at age 5, so she’s probably pretty close to the 10,000-hour mark despite her young age.

Now, before you go all “Tiger Mother” on your kids and force them to practice the piano for four hours a day, bear in mind that your child’s passion and desire has to underlie all this practice. Psychology Professor Todd Kashdan, author of Curious, had this to say on Huffington Post: “Try to ensure that the bulk of activities in their lives map onto their interests and give them challenges that push their skills to the limit,” he wrote. “Children need to feel a sense of ownership over their own actions instead of feeling controlled like ‘pawns’ by pressure, guilt, and the rules and regulations of adults.” With young children, it’s great to try out lots of things — not all at the same time — and see what sticks. They might try gymnastics today and cooking club next month. But once they really enjoy something, encourage them to master it.

Are you watching the Olympics with your children? What’s your favorite part of watching the games with your kids?

Parenting, Writing

When Curious Kids Get Sick

Kirsten W. Larson

Sick boy

Well, we’re all still in our pajamas. Nobody’s going to school or “Mommy and Me” today. We had a sleepless night marked by raging fevers and barking coughs. So now I’m contemplating how best to keep two housebound, curious kids entertained until nap time.

Right now the kids are playing Starfall on the computer. Normally, I’m pretty strict about how much “screen time” they get, but these are extenuating circumstances. We’ve snuggled up with several favorite picture books and magazines, like Wild Animal Baby. (Note: We also love Highlights High Five, Big Backyard, LEGO Club Jr., and National Geographic Little Kids, which have lots of activities and puzzles.)

After a couple of PBS Kids shows, we have a science experiment to finish up. Yesterday we grew red and blue polyacrylamide crystals. We stacked them in a test tube and are awaiting the “sunset” it should produce. Sometimes being sick slows the boys down just enough that they are game for coloring, activity books or craft activities. When they are healthy, these things don’t keep them occupied for long. And there’s always our mountains of LEGOs to build and board games to play.

As for me, I will try to take advantage of this “slow” day to get some extra writing in. Since there’s been a marked downturn in wrestling and fighting, I’m revising my January manuscript so I can share it with my newly formed critique group. I’m hoping to finish a critique of another member’s draft today. I plan to go through and “Like” or “Follow” all my 12 x 12 in 2012 pals. Oh, and I need to get together a submission for Query Tracker’s logline contest. I better get moving before Mr. Rogers is over!