Get Ready For Star Wars Reads Day

October 5th bookstores, libraries and schools all around the world will be taking part in a one day celebration of literacy celebrating all things Star Wars. Star Wars Reads Day II is coming to Canada so don't forget to join in the fun and participate in reading about Star Wars. If you are in Toronto check out the Chapters at the Bayview Village location.

Wonderful Books At The Back to School Boutique To Help Our Children Learn

It's back to school time, and DK wants to help us make the start to the school year the best ever for our children and us. There is a wonderful range of titles covering geography, history, science and more at DK Back to School Boutique for children of all ages, all specially priced for a limited time. Check out their Back to school boutique and take advantage of the sale.

My Inspiration To Origami

The big book of things to make has a cool variety of things we can make, do and learn about. Although, I would love to be good at origami, I am not :). My uncle masters the art of origami and makes admirable things with origami paper. 

Summer Reading Adventures with DK Readers

I have always found DK Readers to be very useful in encouraging and teaching my children to read in English. I like that the DK Readers have stunning photographs and illustrations, which make the context in the books interesting. We enjoy the engaging, age appropriate stories and information found in these books. The DK Readers are separated into five different levels that enable children to progress in their reading skills. 

Summer Digital Reads for Children

Dr. Seuss's classic The Butter Battle Book tells the tale of the Yooks and the Zooks who are in a long-running feud. The Yooks eat their bread with the butter side up, while the Zooks eat their bread with the butter side down. The two groups do not see eye to eye, so they develop more and more elaborate weaponry to outdo each other.

Digital books that children will enjoy learning from

On Beyond Bugs is an educational digital book about insects from The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library series. I recommend this fun, fact-filled app that will benefit our children.

My Children's Fondness for Geronimo Stilton

My children are very fond of Geronimo Stilton. I introduced the fun stories of Geronimo Stilton to my children through the comic collection by papercutz. Both my children enjoy listening to and looking through the colourful images of these graphic novels, which allow them to imagine the story more easily. 

Fun to Read Digital Books for Children

Dr. Seuss's Short Story Collection has eight classic titles all in one digital book app. Each of these stories entertain in classic Seuss style and provides timeless moral lessons for readers young and old. 

Time for Play with these DK books and making gooey slime

For children play is a form of serious learning, so let this March Break be a Time for Play.  This list of specially priced DK Books will inspire and help solve the problem of "What should I do?" questions especially during the upcoming March Break.  These books will allow fun and creativity to flow. 

This Alien Robots Science Book will be enjoyed by all the children and parents, although it is recommended for children age 7 to 12 years.  I like this super cool book as it has lots of fun robots that we can assemble with our children.  

I got my children's help to find the correct pieces to assemble and make six awesome robots.  

We learned about friction, motors, levers, gears, axles and propellers.  It explains physics, mechanics, forces and motion theories.  

This video will show how the robot spun, while the robot spun against the wood it made noise so lower the volume on your computer if needed :)

This Book Made Me Do It is a fun book that we can keep looking and learning from.  We can learn many interesting things from this book and I really recommend it for everyone.  We can brush up our know how about so many things such as arts, crafts, horoscope, interesting facts, origami, sports, food and more.  

We made this gooey slime, which is a messy but a fun experiment that children and adults will enjoy.  

To make this you will need...

1 cup cornstarch plus more
1/2 cup water
few drops food colouring

Put the cornstarch in a bowl then slowly add about 1/2 cup of water, stirring all the time.  It will become a gooey mixture.  Add the colouring then stir.  We can also add glitter at this point but we didn't do this part.  

Add more cornstarch to make the mixture roll into a dough between the hands and you will notice the gooey slime melt but when it drops it will become a solid and stick to the table.    

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Hats Off to Dr. Seuss and March Digital books for little ones

Happy birthday to Dr. Seuss.

This week because of Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd there are sales on Dr. Seuss digital books from March 1 to 7th on the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Barnes and Noble NOOK Store and Windows Store.  
Here are some reviews of wonderful Dr. Seuss books that both children and adults will enjoy reading.

Hunches in Bunches

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins 

Collection of Dr. Seuss books

Other Digital books that will benefit children are from the popular Berenstain Bears and Little Critter series.  Check out these three terrific new interactive book apps available.

The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Chores (iOS and Android, intro price of $2.99) - Papa Bear and the cubs always seem to find a reason not to do their chores. When Mama Bear decides to avoid doing her chores as well, the mess builds up ... and up ... and up!  I really enjoyed reading this book to my little ones and reminding them that everyone in the family needs to pitch in to do chores i.e. cleaning up.  Sometimes I feel just like the mama bear when the chores don't get done :) and when my children surprise me by pitching in and helping out, it makes my day.     

Just Me and My Puppy (iOS, intro price of 99 cents) - Little Critter is proud of the job he's doing taking care of his new puppy. The funny illustrations show that having a puppy is a lot of work and quite a handful! 

It was cute to read how he describes all the help his puppy did i.e being a guard dog and bringing the paper for Little Critter's dad. 

What a Bad Dream (iOS and Android, intro price of 99 cents) - Little Critter dreams that a magic potion turns him into a scary, disagreeable monster that no one wants to be around. Luckily for Little Critter, it's all just a bad dream.

The sound effects in all these stories are lots of fun to listen to while we read the stories to ourselves or read it on auto play.

All rights reserved on mentioned photographs and opinion of the written content Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

Fabulous digital books that children will enjoy

Literacy is an essential part of our life, so we can gain knowledge and awareness.  ABC Life Literacy Canada has made January 27th to be Literacy day since 1999 to raise awareness for the importance of reading and engaging in literacy related activites. 

Teaching our children the importance of literacy in a fun manner is something we can do as parents.   My children like using the iPad to read as there are features that make it interactive.  Digital books such as Little Critter, Five Little Monkeys and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins are fun books that we can purchase from iTunes.  We really enjoy the "record and share" feature of these books similar to the Dr. Seuss's collection.  

The digital book Little Critter is a fabulous book for young children as they will be able to relate with Little Critter going to the dentist.  This story is beautifully illustrated with colourful pictures to show everything that happens at the dentist such as having a checkup, cleaning, taking dental x-rays, finding a cavity and bravely getting a filling.  

This book will encourage young children to not think of the dentist visits as a scary place, rather as something that will benefit them to take care of their teeth.  

My children liked inferring their experience with Little Critter's.  After reading the book we had a conversation about taking care of our teeth so we don't have to get a filling :)

The digital book Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek is about Lulu, the babysitter being in charge of the five little monkeys while their mama is out dancing.  During bedtime the monkeys persuade Lulu to play hide-and-seek and they hide in a place where their babysitter couldn't find them. 

I don't want to tell you where the monkey's hid as I don't want to spoil the fun.  Read this funny book with your little ones to find out where the monkey hid; I would have never thought to look in that place either :)  
This book will encourage children to count and play a game of hide-and-seek.

Dr. Seuss's The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins is celebrating its 75th anniversary and is available on the App Store.  

In this story, Kind Derwin of Didd demands "hats off to the King" when he passes by his citizens.  But young Bartholomew Cubbins has a problem, every time he removes his hat another hat appears atop of his head.  It is a humorous book that children six years and over will enjoy reading.  

All rights reserved on written content and photographs which are screen shots from my iPad Createwithmom © 2011 - 2013. Please Ask First

Win a copy of a sewing book: Get Started and Learn Something New

In the beginning of 2013 everyone in our home made plans to do many things this year.  One of the top things in our New Year's resolution list was to learn a new skill.
DK books are helping us to start something new.  They have a wonderful collection of books for us to learn new skills such as

• Crafting, needlework, beading, sewing, crocheting and knitting
• Food based; baking, cooking, making cakes and bread
• Learning to dance
• Exercising, yoga etc...
• The list goes on, as there are many wonderful things to learn.  

Learning never really stops and these fabulous DK books encourage children and adults to learn.  I really like the formats on DK books and believe they are a worthy investment to have in any home or school.  
The step-by-step books are encouraging as it shows how to do things clearly.  The instructions and the type of language they use make it is easy to understand for beginners who are trying to learn the skills.  Even those who have expert knowledge about a certain skill, will like having these DK books to refer to after all we can't remember all the details :)
Here are more detailed reviews of DK books that I have done in the past such as the needlecraft and art book.  I refer to these books quite often to follow patterns and remember things when I am doing crafts.

This book Get Started: Sewing and Learn Something New is a fabulous book to learn how to sew by hand and machine.  It is separated into 3 parts; start simple, build on it and take it further.  I like the structure of this book as it helps us learn or improve our sewing skills.  The step-by-step pictures of the 30 projects and details about materials and tools in the book are useful.  
I am planning to do the projects from this book, and looking forward to share them with all of you :)

Giveaway: 
If you live in Canada you can win this fabulous sewing book.  Please enter through the rafflecopter below before January 30th.
Please let me know in the comments if you have made any resolutions to learn something new and why you want to win this book?  
2nd comment on any other craft related post.
Update: The winner is Sarah
To be eligible please make sure you are following all my social media networks and DK Facebook and twitter.  Winner will have 24 hours to respond from the time of contact. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Learning Through Play with LEGO DUPLO

Large Brick Box

My children enjoy learning and playing with LEGO.  I think the best and easiest way to learn is through play.  My son is a big fan of LEGO DUPLO and spends lots of his time building, creating and discovering many ways he can use the LEGO pieces to make things.

I like having toys like LEGO DUPLO because these learning toys are valuable as children think and manipulate objects to build things.  I think this type of unstructured learning is beneficial to parents and children.  We can spend quality time teaching, building and learning about what children are thinking.  When children get positive feedback and encouragement from us they feel excited, and we too feel really happy about the creative things they build.

Children tend to relate things they see in daily life when they play, I like that LEGO DUPLO keeps their products colourful, detailed and make the characters, animals, train, farms in the sets something that children can relate to.

I like the size of the LEGO DUPLO bricks.  The products are aimed for children over the age of 1 1/2 years.  We don't have to worry about children accidentally putting the pieces in their mouth because the pieces are big and easy for children to hold on to; however, as with anything use with care and watch as the little ones play :)  LEGO helps children develop their fine motor skills and become creative. 

Bricks and Books

I like the idea of having a book to go with the LEGO pieces.  I was able to teach my son to follow each page of the book as we read the story.  I also got his help in building and finding the correct piece that were shown in the book to match the LEGO.  I like how we get to read and play at the same time, so reading becomes a natural part of play.  Children learn to match 2D shapes on the book with the 3D LEGO pieces at a young age with toys like this.  It is easy to follow the illustrations and become engaged in the story of this book about a caterpillar and his friends.  

Play with letters

My son is learning his alphabets and it fun to learn with these colourful bricks with letters and matching pictures.  My daughter and son try to find the letters in the alphabet and have found so many ways to play with these useful LEGO DUPLO pieces.

Large Brick Box

Children will enjoy getting creative with this fun collection of bricks that come in a sturdy, reusable storage container with a transparent lid that makes clean up time easy.  The set includes a book of building instructions and inspirations.  The box has special elements to create rolling cars, planes, houses that allow children to become creative.

I enjoyed capturing these memories with the Samsung Wi-Fi Digital Camera.

Learn through play Contest

Support learning and literacy in your own community and home by nominating your favourite local library and win.  Starting October 3rd, Canadian Library Association and LEGO DUPLO will have a contest, where 13 libraries in Canada can win $500 worth of LEGO DUPLO products and the 13 people who nominate the library will win $350 of LEGO DUPLO products.

Giveaway

With LEGO DUPLO products you will see your children learning as they play.  As the holiday season is approaching I would like to share some coupons with the readers of Createwithmom.

5 Canadian readers of Createwithmom can win (5) $5 off coupons to buy LEGO DUPLO products by leaving a comment on this post and entering through the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I am a LEGO DUPLO play ambassador and receive special perks for being part of this.  All rights reserved on opinion, written content and photographs Createwithmom © 2012. Please Ask First

Campus books

If any of you are looking to get textbooks and want to save money, then check out this CampusBookRentals program where we can rent the books instead of buying it.

By using this program we can save 40 to 90% off bookstore prices, free shipping both ways, can use it like our own book by highlighting if needed :), flexible renting periods just in case we end up needing the book for longer, this program makes donations to operation smile with each textbook that is rented and many more perks.  Here are all the details on how to rent the textbooks.

We have to type either the name of the book, author, keyword or ISBN number and it will show the details on the side, it also has a link to amazon on the page so we can buy the book from Amazon if we need to.

Although I haven't used this program firsthand, I think it is a good idea.  When I was in Campus, I spent hundreds of dollars on textbooks and got stuck with the books when the editions changed.  It is hard to get rid of valuable books once we no longer need it. I am glad CampusBookRentals also buys our textbooks.  

 

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March break giveaway from DK books and Face plate craft

Next week is March break :) We get to spend some quality time with our children during the day. It is better to plan the week;) at least some of the days so it will be smooth.

Books like My Art book and Make it today, give inspiring ideas. They have lots of familiar and new crafts and art to do with our children i.e. painting faces, making masks, picture frames and painting stones.

My Art Book published by DK publishing is a fabulous, creative book with glossy step-by-step pictures and instructions that explain and inspire children to watercolour landscapes, pastel portraits, to make mosaics etc... It is a lovely introduction to history and technique of art with young children.

Make it by Jane Bull is a book filled with craft ideas made from recycled material and things we find around our home. It teaches eco-friendly ideas to children as they create personalized artwork and jewelry.

We look forward to put these books to good use during the break.

Here is an idea from Createwithmom to make Face plates

paper plates

construction paper

oil pastel

glue

scissors

popsicle sticks optional

Let the children imagine any type of face they want to make. Then tell them to think big :) draw the features of the character i.e. bunny, a person etc... on the construction paper. Then cut the shapes. Older children can cut it by themselves and help the young children to cut.

Let the children stick the features however they imagine on to the paper plates. They might want to put popsicle sticks to create a play. You can improve their literacy and imagination by asking them to tell you a story about the characters they have made.

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REAL educational magazine and pattern for knit slippers

R.E.A.L which stands for Read Everything And Learn is a Canadian kids' magazine written and printed in Canada. It has 2 editions, one targeted towards elementary students from kindergarten to grade 3; and a Junior edition targeted to students from grade 4 to 6.

This magazine is colourful; and it is beautifully written and illustrated. There is no advertising in the magazine. The children's literature is levelled on the table of content the same way it is taught in Canadian schools.

It is definitely an interesting media for children to read during their spare time at home, school or while travelling. The magazine has lots of poems, fiction, non-fiction, folk tales, funny stories, short stories, word puzzles and cross word puzzles.

Here is a funny example of a short story from Vol 8 Summer 2011 Tamara's toes.

This story is about a little girl who wanted to learn tap dancing. Her mother said that she will buy Tamara the dancing shoes on her birthday. But the dance lessons were starting before her birthday. So Tamara was in a dilemma, and decides that she will practice the dance moves with her fuzzy slippers so she would know how to dance when she gets her dancing shoes.

My daughter inferred this story to her own slippers, that I just knitted for her as it looks like the one in the illustration; and she is quite like Tamara :) The pattern to make the silly slippers is in the bottom of this post.

The attractive pictures and creative writing kept my children excited as they looked through the magazine several times. As a parent, I like this type of media has it opens up many topics to discuss with the children. It is also handy and perfect when travelling to keep the children entertained.

Here is the pattern to make these silly slippers from the book Quick knits.

Knitted with 8 mm needles using eyelash novelty yarn or fun fur and chunky weight yarn.

Measure the bare feet and subtract 1" and make the slippers that length.

Use both the yarns at the same time, hold the ends together make a slipknot about 40" from the end and cast 14 for small leg or 18 for large. You will need the long yarn tail to sew it up.

Knit every row (garter stitch) for up to 2/3 rd the length of the finished slipper.

Then Purl one row and Knit one row (stockinette stitch) until it measure the length you need.

Cut the yarn 20" tail and thread the yarn needle. Slide the stitches from the knitting needle to the yarn needle catching all the double loops.

With the slippers inside out pull the yarn to gather the stitches into a toe circle and stitch the hole with the yarn needle.

Stitch the top of the slipper from the toe to just past the end of the stockinette stitched area. Then finish the stitch, weave in and trim the yarn.

Use the other yarn tail to stitch the heel together, weave in and trim. Turn the slipper right side out. Stitch a button or anything decorative on top of the slipper (optional). Make another slipper and enjoy or give it as a gift.

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