Moms!!!! With summer on the way I want to give you a few fun, (and super easy), crafts that you can do with your kiddos. Here is great project that requires nothing more than salt, paraffin wax or old candle, food coloring, a glass jar and a candle wick.
Using food coloring, color as many different shades and colors of salt as desired. Layer the different colors by spooning a few spoonfuls of colored salt at a time until you reach the desired depth. Force a candle wick, long enough to reach the top of your jar, into the center of your candle. Using a bamboo or metal shish-kabob stick, poke channels down the outside of the bottle, forcing the last color you layered into the channels. The candle in the picture is supposed to look like fire. My yellow layer was a less intense color and the black bled into the yellow. If you don't want colors to bleed then use similar colors. Once you have completed all the sand design then melt paraffin in a coffee can over a burner, (I placed my can in boiling water until the wax was melted). You can also melt an old candle instead of the wax, this will give you color and perhaps fragrance if you use a scented candle. The wax seals the salt in place, once it has dried.
You can really use your imagination with this project. I discussed with the kids the properties of salt...will salt burn?
Welcome to Read And Write 4 Kids, I'm glad you have visited! This blog features children's, "light", literature. Books featured here will not be those where the themes relate to vampires, mysticism, occult, or other dark subjects. I also like to discuss other kid's issues that are pertinent to reading, writing and quality learning.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Masterpiece
4 Hoo-Rahs!
Masterpiece is a sweet book with a lot of cute illustrations. The story line is interesting but slow. Being an ADD personality, the books I read have to be fast movers or I'm likely to put them down and not soon return. This book actually took me 3 months to read. It wasn't that the story didn't interest me, it's just that it took a long time to get into the plot.
If you and your children are art lovers this book is perfect for you. Marvin, the beetle, is an exquisite artist who's talents are undiscovered until James enters the picture. James is a young boy living in New York City, his parents are affluent and his mother borderlines snobbish. James, his father and Marvin visit an art gallery where Marvin's artistic talents, (in disguise as Jame's talents) are used in an undercover scheme to discover stolen art. The antics are funny, conversations are great but the plot moves a little too slowly for me.
Overall, it's a fun book, but probably not one I would read again.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Number 4 of the Top 10 List
The, Top Ten, list of children's current issues are as follows:
10.Violence through Indoctrination
9.Poverty
8.Life as Refugees
7.Lack of Access to Education
6.Child Neglect
5.Child Labor
4.Child Prostitution
3.Internet Child Pornography
2.Trafficking and Slavery
1.Military Use of Children
Child prostitution is becoming more prevalent in the United States. Although we would like to think America is above such disgust, we are not. In fact, the problem grows, exponentially. There are things we can do as citizens to stop this horrible abuse to our young people. Below is a link to a You Tube video that gives some excellent information about our vigilance to the issue.
I apologize for the profanity in the first few moments of the video, I wish the creators of the video would have bleeped it out.
You Tube - Child Prostitution
Another great institution making a difference:
http://www.ijm.org/
10.Violence through Indoctrination
9.Poverty
8.Life as Refugees
7.Lack of Access to Education
6.Child Neglect
5.Child Labor
4.Child Prostitution
3.Internet Child Pornography
2.Trafficking and Slavery
1.Military Use of Children
Child prostitution is becoming more prevalent in the United States. Although we would like to think America is above such disgust, we are not. In fact, the problem grows, exponentially. There are things we can do as citizens to stop this horrible abuse to our young people. Below is a link to a You Tube video that gives some excellent information about our vigilance to the issue.
I apologize for the profanity in the first few moments of the video, I wish the creators of the video would have bleeped it out.
You Tube - Child Prostitution
Another great institution making a difference:
http://www.ijm.org/
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Star Girl
Rating: 5 Hoo-Rahs
In case you can't see in the picture, the dog-eared corners and edges show how much I love this book!!
Jerry Spinelli completely outdid himself on this one. Even though its copyright date is 2000, this book should not be passed over. The subject matter is appropriate for 10 year olds, even though it is written in a high school students voice. This story is all about peer pressure. The amazing message that laces its way throughout this book is, individuality. Stargirl is beautifully eccentric, as her name suggests. She appears at Mica High School as a new student, a unique new student. Someone forgets to give her the fashion memo, and even if they had, she'd have tossed it. Stargirl lives HER life HER way. Leo finds her unique qualities mesmerizing. He is completely smitten.
What I love about this book is how confounded Mica High students become in the presence of someone who dares to be different. Her strength of character is motivating, and the world she lives in is enchanting. I wish every 10 year old would read this book, that is, before they enter mid-high school. If one out of every 10 young readers felt prompted to live their life following their dream, rather than the crowd, then high school would look quite different. Which, as I think about it, adult readers might change the way they lived too.
I don't want to give too much of the story away, I hope I piqued your curiosity ;-)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Do Kids Get It?
How many books have been written for the adult audience about the stock market crash, the banking heist of the 2000's, and the mortgage crisis? To name a few, (and only a few of the 116): The Great Contraction, The Sub-prime Solution, The Case For Big Government, and Reckless Endangerment. The American adult population gets it, even if we don't like it. But, what about the typical American kid? How much do they understand? The history of events leading up to these misfortunes are not necessarily the focus, but the character flaws are, and that is what our young people should understand.
Greed got us here! Plain and simple, don't have, wanna get... Just because we believe history repeats itself does that mean it has to? For some of us, our parents survived the Depression, leaving a mark on us. Present day parents will survive the mortgage crisis, but in doing so, a mark will be left on their children. Let's not sweep it under the rug. Our kids deserve to know that the reason mom and dad lost their homes was not because the banks made unwise loans, it was because greed was allowed to overshadow good judgement.
Oli's Uncommon Cents takes greed to task. What if money could talk? What would it hear, and for that matter, what would it say? Here is a great book that cracks open the door to greed and helps children take a peek in. In this fantasy fiction money does talk, and contrary to some belief, it thinks more clearly than the humans who carry it around.
Let's help our young people make a different mistake, because they will. We need to be responsible stewards of our mistakes and allow our kids to know the truth, ugly as it may be. Why not let them meet greed, face to face.
Oli's Uncommon Cents
Greed got us here! Plain and simple, don't have, wanna get... Just because we believe history repeats itself does that mean it has to? For some of us, our parents survived the Depression, leaving a mark on us. Present day parents will survive the mortgage crisis, but in doing so, a mark will be left on their children. Let's not sweep it under the rug. Our kids deserve to know that the reason mom and dad lost their homes was not because the banks made unwise loans, it was because greed was allowed to overshadow good judgement.
Oli's Uncommon Cents takes greed to task. What if money could talk? What would it hear, and for that matter, what would it say? Here is a great book that cracks open the door to greed and helps children take a peek in. In this fantasy fiction money does talk, and contrary to some belief, it thinks more clearly than the humans who carry it around.
Let's help our young people make a different mistake, because they will. We need to be responsible stewards of our mistakes and allow our kids to know the truth, ugly as it may be. Why not let them meet greed, face to face.
Oli's Uncommon Cents
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Publishers Weekly Features Self Publishers
Recently on, Publishers Weekly.com, an article was
written about children's self published books thriving in the mainstream. How refreshing to see authors and
their books recognized for excellence even though they were not considered by
the big publishing houses.
With a trend
swinging towards self publishing, at least for first time authors, this
featured article was a breath of fresh air.
If writers could only have a reality show like, The Voice, or America’s
Got Talent, we might see many self published authors become the stars that they
deserve to be.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Writing for Middle Graders
I was curious about the difference in middle grade readers and young adult readers. Where is the cut-off, and what enthuses MG that bores YA readers. As best I can tell it's puberty... :)
MG checklist: Authentic characters, powerful verbs, lots of dialogue, lively plots, a bread crumb trail leading to the mystery, and hooks that keep readers hanging chapter to chapter; (there's a tasty menu that will attract nearly anyone), are the basic elements that captivate tweeners. While burying my head in plenty of middle grade books I've detected what might be the difference between MG and YA, taa daa... the presence of humor. I'm not the guru of middle graders but I have detected their keen interest in a good laugh. So... here's my hypothesis...since puberty is a high-drama event in a child's life I'm guessing their hormones are screaming, "grow up", hence, the absence of humor.
This should be a, 'note-to-self', we adults have maneuvered the puberty phase so let's get back to our youth and laugh more. Someone out there who writes grown-up books, please consider using the MG criteria in your next novel.
Thanks!!
MG checklist: Authentic characters, powerful verbs, lots of dialogue, lively plots, a bread crumb trail leading to the mystery, and hooks that keep readers hanging chapter to chapter; (there's a tasty menu that will attract nearly anyone), are the basic elements that captivate tweeners. While burying my head in plenty of middle grade books I've detected what might be the difference between MG and YA, taa daa... the presence of humor. I'm not the guru of middle graders but I have detected their keen interest in a good laugh. So... here's my hypothesis...since puberty is a high-drama event in a child's life I'm guessing their hormones are screaming, "grow up", hence, the absence of humor.
This should be a, 'note-to-self', we adults have maneuvered the puberty phase so let's get back to our youth and laugh more. Someone out there who writes grown-up books, please consider using the MG criteria in your next novel.
Thanks!!
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