St. Patrick's Day Fun, Spring Time Activities, & Easter Celebration

St. Patrick's Day is Monday of this week and I found a great web-site that caters specifically to children and fun holidays such as this one. Log onto http://holidays.kaboose.com/saint-patricks-day/ and let your children enjoy the St. Patrick's day themed crafts and games. They can make Leprechaun hats, and get some fun recipe ideas for the whole family. It gives the history of this Irish celebrated holiday and much more. Of course, I can't move on without taking the opportunity to highlight a book special for the occasion.

Check out Hooray for St. Patrick's Day by Joan Holub and Paul Meisel which is a lift the flap interactive fun read.

Fun Spring Time Activities For Kids

This is the best week of fun for kids as it not only marks the St. Patrick's Day holiday but it marks the first day of Spring on March 20th. I love this season so much with all of the bright colored flowers and wonderful weather, that I had to include it as part of the Sunny's Adventures mystery story (to be released at the end of the month). The main character Sunny loves Spring and helping her mom to plant beautiful flowers in their garden bed. She even uncovers a mystery in that very garden! Again, log onto the same site as above but a different link at http://resources.kaboose.com/games/spring-online-games.html for some fun Spring time activities for the little ones. There's too many activities to list here but they will have fun as they can play everything online.

Older children already know how to play outside and appreciate the wonders of Spring. However, to share the beauty with smaller children, pick up the new board book Ready For Spring by Marthe Jocelyn which highlights colors and textures of clothes worn during a particular season.

Easter Season is Here

What a busy week it is! Easter is this week too which follows on the heals of Good Friday. Again, this web-site is awesome for children as it covers every holiday there is. Once again, check out http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/easter/index.html for fun Easter activities, games, and puzzles on and off-line. This time I'd like to recommend a DVD because my daughter is such a big fan of VeggieTales - An Easter Carol by Dan Anderson and others. These are Christian videos of wonderful little live vegetables that always teach a wholesome message in every show. I love them and kids adore them too!

Sunny's Adventure's, a children's mystery book is coming at the end of the month - stay tuned!

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Home School Rights in Jeopardy, 9 & 7 Year Old Book Authors, Free Printables, & Books About Blind Children

Per the LA Times (http://latimes.com/california) on February 28th, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that parents must have a teaching credential to home school. Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger has since called for the reversal of this ruling which has many parents fearful of what this sort of decision will mean for their rights to teach their children. I do not home school but I do believe that parents rights should be protected in being able to do so if they chose to go this route. Hopefully, whatever happens moving forward is favorable for both students and parents as education is the primary concern here. For parents that do home school, or if you're interested in more information about it, check out one site at http://homeschool.com/.


9 & 7 Year Old Book Authors of My Grandma's Backyard

Do your children have dreams that they would like to fulfill when they grow up such as being a writer, artist, humanitarian, etc? Well, it's never too early to start working towards those goals. Just ask Miles and William Rabun who are brothers and the authors of My Grandma's Backyard (http://www.mygrandmasbackyard.com/). The two young brothers are only 9 and 7 years old and wrote this book inspired by their real life experiences in their grandmother's backyard. They've won some awards for their work and have been instrumental in inspiring many other young children to start reading and writing for sheer enjoyment. Truly inspirational!


Free Printables For Kids

FREE! This is the word that always works for me. If you're looking for some fun, free, and educational games and activities that your children can download, check out http://printables4kids.com/. Your kids can choose a theme they want to work on such as Easter, a birthday, Christmas, preschool fun, Mother's Day, and so much more. It has puzzles, crafts, and games that your little one's will enjoy.


Books About Visually Impaired (Blind) Children

Sunny's Adventure's, a children's mystery book will be released in the next month. And one of the things I know I want to do is have Sunny's Adventures available in braille format for blind children. I believe that whether a child is blind or hearing impaired, they should have every opportunity to be able to access children's books too. For books geared towards the experiences of blind children, you can check out: http://www.blindchildrensfund.org/products/characters_blind.asp as there are some really great stories available that even children who can see would enjoy as well.

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NBA Star Ricky Pierce Publishes a New Children's Book, & Children's Health Improved With Breakfast

Bouncing Billy: A Learning Adventure by NBA Star Ricky Pierce

Retired NBA basketball star Ricky Pierce just came out with a new children's book called Bouncing Billy: A Learning Adventure (http://www.bouncingbilly.com/). This book has an important message of acceptance, encourages a love for reading, and promotes sports and health awareness. It's not just a book, but offers a whole program which you can check out at the above site - very inspirational for little ones.


Eating Breakfast Helps Promote Creativity in Children

Per Medical News Today (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/98898.php), children should eat breakfast each morning before going off to school as it increases their creativity and concentration in class. I believe this to be true as I survive on coffee early in the morning but soon mid day, my body tells me it requires more fuel than just caffeine. Because of this, more schools are starting to serve breakfast to help fuel kid's energy and brain function. Over all awareness of good health and eating is good to start employing at any age. Check out Carol Goodrow's site at http://www.kidsrunning.com/ as she has some very cool children's books and journal's that kid's can log their personal eating and exercise habits in.

Sunny's Adventures by Leketha Marie Johnson coming soon - stay tuned!

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