Simple Saturday: Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade

Okay, my dear Simple Saturday friends. The guide I'm sharing today has been created for the most delightfully darling early chapter book I have ever read...and compadres, I've read a bushel of them. For real.

Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade, written by my partner in crime, Stephanie Greene, and illustrated by cutie-patootie Stephanie Roth Sisson, is the first book in series starring a charmingly complex first grader named Posey, whose persona is altered when she dons her pink tutu. The moment that circle of pink netting wraps around her tiny waist Posey is transformed into --- drum roll, please --- super-confident-ever-invincible Princess Posey!Well, in her six-year-old mind anyway.

The guide I made to compliment this treasure contains not only discussion questions, a compare and contrast activity, a word bank game, and a magic letter 'e' activity, there is a folder game that I'd like for you to take a look at. Access the guide HERE  to get a gander. 

To make the game you'll need a letter-sized manila file folder, glue, a paper clip, a pencil, some game movers, and download the game board. The directions to create the game are all spelled out in the guide. It's fun. Trust me.

I have to say though, that playing the game with the book by your side would be even more meaningful. And, if you have a new first grader who is in any way anxious about going back to school, Posey will help qualm any fears.

She's sweet that way.

Simple Saturday Prep: Back to School Blues

 It's that time again, my friends. Like it or not...back to school is just around the corner.

Take a long look at this bus-load of exuberant smiles, will you? Shoot, that bus is about to topple over with elation.

School!!!

Yippee!!!

We get to go back to school!!!!

Wahoo!!!! 

 Oh, come on. Get real. You know that there are tons of kids whose stomachs knot at the thought of buying a new backpack. For some kids, going to school is arduous...especially for a new first grader!

 I made a guide for a delightful chapter book which deals with the angst of entering first grade.  In the guide is a game that corresponds to various plot points of the book. It's great. You'll love it. I can't wait to show you.

So, I'll see you tomorrow, yes? In the meantime, let me see what I can do the flatten the tires on that derned zip-a-dee-do-da school bus. Sheesh.

Ghoulish Game on!

 I know...it's still summertime and the thought of spending extended periods of time with teachers is almost nauseating. Those ghoulish, monstrous, demonic beings that they are...Yikes!

That being said, what if your teachers were really ghouls? You know - blood thirsty, brainsucking beasts. Sweet love of Neptune...what would you do?

Well, read Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys: The Rat Brain Fiasco and you'll be all but kissing the feet of your human teachers come this fall - I'm telling you! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interpret this amazing story in a board game format, and, if I do say so myself, I pulled it off quite handsomely!

Now, when I originally created a game guide for my dear friend Julie Berry, it looked like THIS. But, once the Grosset & Dunlap's creative brains took a look at it, the game board was transformed to THIS. Neat, huh?

And...in the time that I created the game and sat back on my laurels for a while, Julie has published three more books in the series. Yeowza! How cool it that?

So, for today, my simplistic Simple Saturday friend, with your game pieces and die in hand, download that gameboard and have some last-chance, almost-over, summertime fun.

Prep: Ghoulish Game On!

Tomorrow I'm going to feature another guide that I've done to compliment a book that has now become a smash series!

All you need to bring with you in order to be-bop around the game board is one die/dice and game pieces/movers, which can be beans or buttons or tiny stones. This is Simple Saturday, remember? Keep it c-h-e-a-p!

I'll provide a link to the .pdf gameboard that can be printed out on cardstock with no trouble at all.

And, speaking of trouble...the book we'll be talking about is packed with trouble - interesting, mischievous, and deliciously dangerous trouble. Come by tomorrow and I'll show you then.

Simple Saturday Pudding Pops on Neighbor's Day

To begin with, let me tout the splendor of this amazing picture book, Around Our Way on Neighbor's Day, written by Tameka Fryer Brown and illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb. If you're looking for a lively book that celebrates a sense of community, diversity, and the joy of friendship look no further, pal. This book is a one stop shop for all things neighborly.

Speaking of shop...did you get the milk, Dixie cup, Popsicle stick, and box a instant pudding we talked about yesterday? Good. Now you're ready to mix up a little bit of tongue-tickling fun!

Access the Teacher's Activity Guide by clicking HERE. The recipe for Simple Saturday Pudding Pops can be found on page 6.  While you're at it you might like to check out the discussion questions, the other craft ideas, and the rockin'-sockin' song list. Get down with your bad self... Afterwards, go ahead and buy the book. You know want to!

Simple Saturday: Pudding Popsicles

We're going to do something a little different tomorrow. Change is good, right?

 Not to worry. We'll still be making something simple on Saturday, in fact tomorrow's treat with be deliciously divine! If you bring some milk, a box of instant pudding, a small Dixie cup, and a popsicle stick with you tomorrow, I'll show you how to make the most delcious pudding pops this side of border.

The deal is tomorrow we're going to feature an amazing picture book that I made a guide for, as well. The recipe will be found inside the guide. I'm not sure what you're going to like the most...the book or the pops. 

Now...quit that salivating on your keyboard, will you? See you tomorrow.

Simple Saturday: Time Lapse Photography in No Time!

Before showing you how to create instantaneous floral time lapse photography, I want to make sure that you know how to sing the proper back up music for the event.

I've been poking around the internet and have discovered a warm-up practice called the vocal melisma. I found out, thanks the the lovely girl in the linked YouTube video, that the vocal melisma is when a singer holds one note over one syllable while moving between notes...or something like that. So, practice your melismas and let's going.

 Now, go out there and find a crape myrtle tree. Pick off a few of the buds. Hold the between your thumb and pointer finger. While ripping a melisma, pinch the bud in a low, dramatic way. And then - ahhhhhhhh - a crape myrtle blossom will reveal itself in all of its brilliant splendor!

 A tip for maximizing the dramatic floral time lapse photography effect is to coordinate pinching the blossom to its peaked perfection in conjunction with your melisma's highest note.

It's all about the melisma, baby.

Ahhhhh!

Simple Saturday Prep: Time Lapse Photography in No Time!

Don't you find time lapse photography simply amazing?

I do. I always have.

Especially the kind that features flowers in bloom. Oh, my golly-goodness! I love it! Stuff like this...click HERE and check this out!

Well, my Simple Saturday friend, there is no need to gather up drums or that cool techno-quibbly instrument to do our Simple Saturday Time Lapse Photography tomorrow. No way, Jose'.

 What you will need, though, is a crape (crepe) myrtle tree. Got one? They look like this...click HERE to get a gander.They're kind of a southern tree...something that can endure the brutal heat we're dealing with right now.

 Even if you don't have a crape (crepe) myrtle nearby, stop by tomorrow for some Simple Saturday fun. You know you'll be glad that you did!

Simple Saturday: Geography - A Travel Game

So sorry to keep you waiting. Been busy loading up the car, getting geared up for a rowdy road trip. Now that the rig is all set, let's get playing Simple Saturday Geography - A Travel Game.

Here's how we play:

Among the available players in the car, decide on predictiable rotation pattern. Perhaps you might let the youngest player goes first. The person to the wee one's right goes next and around the horn from there.

The first player says a geographical location - any city, state, or country will do. Maybe our tiny tot says, "Austin." All right. Good start.

Austin ends in the letter 'N'. The next player has to think of a geographic location beginning with that letter. Maybe..how about..."Nashville"? That ends in the letter 'E', so let's think of somewhere in the world that begins with that letter.

Hmmm... What do you think?

Eureka?

Ethiopia?

Escondido?

Egypt?

Yeah! Let's go with Egypt!

So, think about the word 'Egypt'. What's the last letter in the word? What letter will the next player have to use for their geographical location? Right. You got it, Mr. Smart Guy... the letter 'T'.

 And that's how it goes. Each person comes up with a new city, state, or country based on the last letter of the previous player's chosen location. No repeating places, now. Each spot has to be original. When someone can't come up with a place, game over! Start again.

 And again. And again...all the way home.

Simple Saturday Prep: Geography - A Travel Game

 Taking another long road trip with the kiddies? Stuck in traffic with no end in sight and your rug rats are getting restless? Thinking, "Good Lord in heaven...throw me a bone!?"

Well, instead of a bone, let's use your travelers' knowledge of geography to pass the stressful time away!

Tomorrow join me as I show you one of the most entertaining, educational, and all-aged-family-member-inclusive travel game of all time - Simple Saturday Geography!

Now, to get you in the mood for tomorrow's fun, my good buddies Peter, Paul, and Mary (my all-time idols) have stopped by to sing you a little tune. See ya!

Simple Saturday: A Summer Melody

Hard to believe that, with one simple blade of grass, you can become a summertime musician! Well, believe it, my friend. What I'm telling you is the gospel truth!

Here's all you have to do:

Pick a piece of grass (wide-blade St. Augustine works the best) that is as long as your thumb - from the bottom knuckle to the fleshy pad at the top.

Lay the piece of grass flat, along the side of your thumb.

Align your thumbs together, knuckle to knuckle, stretching the piece of grass as if it were a reed. Make it straight and tight between your thumbs.  

  

Then, all you have to do is place your lips in the space between your knuckles and blow! When I did it my summer melody was so so high-pitched Tripod tilted his head in wonder and Cassius, the dog next door, began barking.

Play with the tension  of your blade of grass. For me, the tighter the tension the higher the pitch. Loose tension made a really comical sound...if you know what I mean.

Either way, get out there and make a joyful summertime noise. Toot! Toot!

Simple Saturday Prep: A Summer Melody

 Hey! Want to play a simple summer melody? No need to polish your flute or soak up a new clarinet reed. Nope. Tomorrow's Simple Saturday activity will be, truly, one of the most-simplistic-yet-oh-so-delightful posts yet.

I promise.

So, find yourself a clump of tall grass to park your little bootie in. It doesn't have to be, like, waist-high or anything. Just some long stuff on the verge of needing to be mowed. And then, get set to make a joyful summertime noise!!! All we need is the blue sky above, a grassy patch below, you and me.

Great company, wouldn't you say?

Simple Saturday: Birthday Money Cake

 Why pay a bunch of money on a store bought cake when you can have a ton of fun with a Simple Saturday Birthday Money Cake? I'm telling you, kids love this thing. They'll gobble up a desert-dry cake like a bayou full of gators! I know this from first hand experience.

Okay...you checked yesterday's list, right? Do you have the cake mix (if you're a cheater, like me), a can of frosting, a handful of coins, foil, and a button?

Go ahead and bake the cake in the same way that you would any regular one. Any cake pan will do. Square, round, rectangle - your choice.

After the cake has cooled, wrap the coins and the button in pieces of foil. Be sure to cover them good. Poke the coins and the button in random places in the cake. Lastly, conceal those treasures with a thick layer of frosting...yum!

 Slice the cake. Serve it. Ask the kids to wait until everyone's got their cake and then let them motor their way through.

The kid that gets the button may seem disappointed, but no...they are actually the winner! Have a special prize set aside for them. Nothing elaborate...maybe a toy car or small doll. Something thoughtful for the clever button-finder.

 My mother made this birthday cake for me when I was a child and I continued the tradition with my own children. I've once heard that the Money Cake originated in the Depression Era. Interesting, isn't it?

Actually, what I think is cool is that simplicity, thoughtfulness, and tradition never grow old.

Simple Saturday Prep: Birthday Money Cake

 Oh, my! Look who stopped by this morning to wish me a Happy Birthday! The Beatles!!!! Dang...I'm in for a good day, aren't I?

That's right, today's my birthday and I cannot think of better company to party with than YOU (and the Beatles).

So, in celebration of this momentous day, let's make a Simple Saturday  Money Birthday Cake, want to? For starters, I bought a cake mix and a can of frosting for my base. (I'm not a make-it-from-scratch kind of baker. Never have been . Never will be.)

 Now, to make this cake special, tomorrow you'll need to gather up about 6 or 7 coins, some foil, and a button. That's right, I said a button. Naturally I've got a game to go along with this. Trust me. It'll be a blast.

Now it's time for a little sing-a-long with Paul....the best birthday present a girl could ever ask for!

Simple Saturday: Nature Soup

 No need to sneak kitchen utensils to mix ingredients for our Simple Saturday Nature Soup. Everything we need - other than a 2 to 4 foot long string, a pencil, and notebook - can be found in nature. Be it the beach, a hiking trail, or a neighborhood park, the ingredients required to make Nature Soup can only be found in the great out-of-doors!

Here's what you do. Take your happy self and your Simple Saturday supplies outside someplace. Tripod and I went to a lovely shaded park. We strolled together along the creek. I admired the ducks' acrobatic buoyancy. Tri trash-talked with the squirrels. (I don't think they were too wary of him. He's all bark and no bite.)

Search the ground to find a nice bed for your Nature Soup.  Tie the ends of your string together to form a loop. Lay the loop on the ground, spreading it wide enough to capture as many interesting items as possible. Then simply sit and observe. What's inside the loop? Look close, close, close. What do you see? Make a detailed list of the items. Detailed now - colors, shapes, sizes - you know. And then write a recipe for your little looped spot of the Earth. Use your imagination. Get crazy. Have some fun!

Here's what I came up with:

Peaceful Park Pizza

4 ivory colored sea shells (various degrees of tiny)

2 rocks of chipped limestone

1 long, thin grey stick

1 chunk of weathered driftwood

1 piece of wood (perhaps chipped off of a picnic table) 

1 mega-McNasty cigarette butt

1 brave little green elm leaf (curled)

Sprigs of desperately dry grass ranging in shades of green to tan

Arrange ingredients on a dry bed of small leaves of multiple shades of brown and various decomposed states. Bake in the 104 degree Texas sun for weeks on end.

Pray for rain. 

Simple Saturday Prep: Nature Soup

 Me, again. The perpetual teacher. Can't help it. Erasers and rulers are just part of my DNA.

Once again I'm going to remind you that your child's teacher suggested that you do some language arts practice during the summer, didn't she? Good gosh....you're thinking with camps and vacations and ball games and perpetual pool time, when in the world can you fit language arts practice in, right? I feel your pain, honey. I do.

  Tomorrow I'll show you a little simple something that can be done as part of a summertime outing. Bring a pencil, a notebook, and piece of string and join Tri and I as we hit the park to make some Simple Saturday Nature Soup. East McPeasy.

It's fun, fun, fun! Tasty? Ummm, I'll let you be the judge.

Simple Saturday: Math Wheels

Parents, this little Math Wheel download just might be the summer time lifesaver of the century! (Well, maybe not the lifesaver of the whole century, but it will make math fact practice a bit more palatable around su casa.)

Stop the tooth-and-nail-squabbling and download a Simple Saturday Math Wheel worksheet HERE. Cut out the two wheels, grab a pencil and we're ready to roll!

You'll notice that one wheel has an addition sign printed in the center circle and the other has a multiplication sign. As you can see in the picture on the left, I practiced my 5's - both my addition facts and my multiplication facts. Aren't you proud of me?

 All you have to do is write a number in the center of the wheel and then compute working to the outside of the wheel. To practice another set of facts simply print off another sheet, choose a number - say 3, this time - and compute to your little heart's content.

Have your kiddos work a few of these every day and you've got that fact practice taken care of leaving plenty of time for summer time splish-splashing!

Simple Saturday Prep: Math Wheels

I know. I know. Your kiddos don't want to spend time practicing those math facts they struggled with during the school year. It's summer, for Pete's sake. Can you blame them?

But you vowed to the teacher that they would review those dreaded memorization tables, right? And, we are certain that the little bit of practice you do during the summer will make all the difference in next year's math class. The question is how can you make practice sessions short, sweet, and a wee bit fun to do? Is there some quick and easy way to run through addition or multiplication tables before bounding off to the pool?

 The Simple Saturday answer to that question is YES! Join me tomorrow as I show you an super simple, painless way to practice those facts. I'll have a download ready for you and your little summertime podnah to enjoy.

For now, jump back in the pool and don't forget the sunscreen!

Simple Saturday: Travel Bingo

 What kind of summer holiday do you have in mind?

A vacation?

Staycation?

Waycation?

Daycation?

Well, if you're riding in a car with kids for any length of time you might consider downloading the Simple Saturday Travel Bingo Game to use just in case things get a little hairy in the backseat. The download consists of two gameboards. Simply print off a few sheets, pre-cut before you leave, and pack a few pencils with you for the ride. 

All your sweet ones need to do is look out of the window and find the objects featured on the game board. It's that easy. When they spot an object, just mark it off of the board.

I suggest that you play Black Out. It keeps those kiddies busy for a long, long, l-o-n-g time.

Simple Saturday: Monkey Business

 Good morning, Erik Kuntz!

Isn't this little fella just the cutest thing, ever? And easy to make, too, thanks to the pattern found on Erik's site or the .pdf attached HERE.

All I did was print the pattern on cardstock. Cut it out and follow Erik's great folding directions. He suggests that you use glue to secure the edges of the folds. That might be a better idea than using tape, like I did. I also used part of a drinking straw to support the inside of the sign's handle. Don't want a floppy greeting sign, now do we?

 Wouldn't this little guy serve as a darling place card at a kid's birthday party? Or charming greeter at an event welcome table?

Or just a Simple Saturday way to say hello to a friend.

Now go and have a lovely weekend. See you next week.