Chinese New Year and a Sweet Valentine

Happy Chinese New Year!  We couldn't resist making some dragon claws for good luck!  The recipe is from Gourmet Mom on the Go.  They are Nutter Butters covered with melted chocolate and cashew claws.

We are also very excited about Valentine's Day today, and I was thrilled to receive this box of Godiva from my children!

I'm going to enjoy them now!  Happy Valentine's Day!

A Winter Hike

We went out for a long winter hike yesterday.  It was tough, but the kids did great.  Everyone got some exercise and fresh air.  My favorite thing about winter hikes is the lack of mosquitoes!

 

 

A Chapter Book

Can you guess which chapter book I am currently reading to C? 

The Year of the Tiger

We read two books in honor of Chinese New Year (February 14th this year).  D is for Dancing Dragon, A China Alphabet by Carol Crane and Zong-Zhou Wang is a nice way to learn a little about China.

This year is the year of the tiger.  We read Who is the Beast?  by Keith Baker.  This book is not about China or Chinese New Year, but it is a great picture book featuring a tiger, and we happen to love reading it.   

After reading this book, I gave C and R white card stock with the outline of a tiger's face drawn by me on the paper.  They placed the paper in a cardboard box, added a few squirts of orange and black paint, and dropped in a few marbles.

They worked together to shake, tilt, and spin the box for some fun marble painting.

Once the paint dried, I cut out their tiger faces.  Then we cut out holes for the eyes and attached craft sticks to the back for them to hold.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Armadillos

This is our final project for the state of Texas.  We really enjoyed learning about this state.  There is so much to learn about, and so many fun things to explore.

C, R, and I enjoyed two books about armadillos.   

 (C did not want his picture taken, can you tell?)

Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett is about a young armadillo in Texas who wanders away from his mother and brothers because he thinks he has spotted a red armadillo.  That "red armadillo" is actually a pair of cowgirl boots on the feet of a young girl heading to the rodeo.  The armadillo has quite the adventure while trying to talk to his new "friend".  If you don't know already, armadillos don't have very good vision!

The second book is Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller.  Groundhog gets the flu right before Groundhog Day and decides to look for a substitute to fill in for him on the big day.  Many animals audition, but most have some trouble doing the job right.  Finally, an armadillo on vacation visiting her cousin Badger comes along and offers to get the job done right.  She fills in perfectly, sees her shadow, and tells Groundhog that winter will be sticking around for a while.  Groundhog was a bit upset that spring would not be coming early, but then Armadillo invites Groundhog to go home to Texas where the weather is already spring-like. 

After reading these books, C and R made their own armadillos.  First, cut an oval out of corrugated cardboard.  You have to make sure the ripples go across the short width of the oval.  Then peel off the cardboard to expose the corrugated ripples.

Now you have the armadillo's body.  Glue the oval on to a piece of paper and draw a head, legs, and a tail.  Finally, draw the setting in the background.

That is a cowgirl boot with a blue bandanna sticking out of it (C was inspired by the illustrations in Jan Brett's book) behind C's armadillo.  He also drew a few bluebonnets in the background.

This is a great tactile project!  It's also a great way to finish up the state of Texas.  We'll miss you Texas!

For more book/art projects, check out stArt at A Mommy's Adventures.

Love is in the Air

I think it is so cute how excited my children get about Valentine's Day.  I only planned one Valentine's Day craft, but my children had other ideas.  We have been making a lot of hearts around here.  This valentine was all C's idea.  He was getting ready for bed one night and ran to find me and tell me that his hands made a heart shape and he wanted to use paint to make hand print hearts.  The next day we were all ready to make them, but C changed his mind.  I'm not surprised.  He doesn't like paint on his hands.  R was willing and able though.

She doesn't mind a little paint on her hands.  We had a lot of trouble trying to position her hands just right on paper to make them look like a heart.  We went through a lot of paint and paper with our efforts.  We finally got one that was close enough.

I drew a heart around her hands.  Then she took a bath!

This week we are enjoying a few great books about love:

• Porcupining, A Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler  (this is my personal favorite of the week and it is a fun read any time of year so definitely look for it at your library)
• Henry in Love by Peter McCarty
• The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
• The Story of Valentine's Day by Nancy J. Skarmeas (this is a great book to explain to young children why we celebrate Valentine's Day)
• The Best Thing about Valentines by Eleanor Hudson
• My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

You can find all of these books on my Shelfari on the left sidebar of my blog.

Sweet Hearts

We made some sweet hearts yesterday.  My inspiration for these was the Mickey Mouse marshmallow crispy treats from Disney World.  The ears are dipped in chocolate and they look so cute.  My children loved those treats when we were there.  To make these, I followed the directions on the Rice Krispies box to make Rice Krispies treats and then cut them with a heart shaped cookie cutter.  I melted chocolate following the directions on the package and then C and R added sprinkles and candy.  They look great and taste better!

Notice the chocolate on R's chin!

YUM!