Summer Fun Passport: Reading Club

Summer Reading Club at our library is something we look forward to each year — this is our 5th year running. I love how each year a new illustrator is featured. And a new theme is explored with games and activities at the local branches. And weekly contests! Spud has won something every year. Lucky bum. 

At the end of the summer, when you've got 50 days of reading done, you have a little booklet with all the books you've read, as a keepsake ... then they present you with a medal (so cute!) AND you get to go "shopping" at a shelving truck stocked full of a wide range of new books.

I'm not sure what the future holds for libraries. I worry about them. It makes me particularly happy when I see them finding clever, well put together ways to connect with the community. I heart our library. 

I would love to know what sort of summer reading programs other libraries do!

Check out this year's Summer Bucket list here and all our past Summer Fun entries here.

Book: Party Origami

Chronicle Books popped this crazy-cute book in the mail for us to take a look at ... and share ... it's Party Origami by Jessica Okui who you may know from Zakka Life, a favourite blog of ours.

We recently acquired a cake stand and I can't wait to pretty it up with the origami mini banners! So darling. But in the meantime we made little paper baubles for adding to party beverages. They are both decorative AND practical as they help party guests keep track of their drinks.

The instructions for each of the 14 paper projects are well thought out and illustrated. And I can't even express how much I love the pretty little modern paper that comes with book. That would be a kind of a dream job for me ... designing such pretty little patterns.

This book would just make the sweetest little gift to a budding event planner ... or anyone with a passion for paper.

Summer Fun Passport: Summer Reading Clubs!

Spud has signed up for the Summer Reading Club at the public library again. And his school's reading club too! Fourth year in a row for both.

So that means he's committed to 15 minutes of reading per club for 50 days. He's got a bit of list going on chapter books he's looking forward to. We'll be visiting the library a lot too. Check out the goodreads sidebar to see what we have on the go at any given time.


Here's our full Summer Fun Passport List for 2013 and our passport we made to keep track of everything we accomplish this year!

Book: Art Lab for Kids

Look what Spud and I got for Christmas! Some of my favourite weekend time is doing arty things with my boy and this Art Lab for Kids is going to make it that much more fun. It has 52 art projects in all, presumably designed for one per week for a year ... well, I'm not promising that we are going to be able to fit it in every week but we are starting at "Lab 1" and working our way through, when we can.

We just completed Lab 3 — scribble drawings.

Spud found 4 animals in his scribble. A fish, a penguin (rear view), a whale, and a seal.

He cut them out and put them on this icy scene.

I found one giant snail in my scribble.

There are 3 things I love about this book. First, it's full of "real" art projects; in that they are not "kiddie crafts" per se. Not that there's anything wrong with kiddie crafts, they are good clean fun too, but sometimes I find them to be a little patronizing and can lack imagination and opportunities to build skills. These "labs", as they call them, really get you thinking or seeing things in a new way. They are real exercises in learning skills through experimentation and while they are appropriate for kids, they are good for anyone.

The second thing I love about this book is the range of media it exposes us too. I've never used soft pastels before, for example (Lab 2). I knew about oil pastels but had never even heard of soft pastels. A little trip to our local art store helped me discover gorgeous, vibrantly coloured media that blends brilliantly. I'm hooked. Even the kid, who doesn't like getting his hands dirty, was smitten with them.

The third thing I love about this book, are the little blurbs that encourage us to take risks and lose our obsessions with being perfectly representational. Perfectionism can kill creativity. Our boy has a healthy dose of each so he can be conflicted sometimes. Whenever Spud is hesitating to delve into something scary, like doing a still life, without an eraser! ... I read some of the wisdom from the book and it seems to make it easier for him to just go for it.

Really looking forward to Lab 4 and beyond.

Book Review: Make Magic! Do Good!

Hubs and I grew up on poetry. Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, of course. And I have special memories of the Canadian classic Alligator Pie too. Page after page of thought provoking words, unimaginable worlds and pure silliness in all of them, crafted to draw in and inspire little readers. Spud loves them as much as we did. And now we have another to add to the list ...

Dallas Clayton, of An Awesome Book (which is truly awesome), is launching a book of poetry called Make Magic! Do Good! this month and I have a copy! It was the perfect book to bring on our little vacay last week; so many late nights meant very little time for reading before bed. A few charming little poems with charming little illustrations did the trick though! The quirky, whimsical, and at times inspiring messages always left Spud asking for more.

Spud's Book Review: Amulet Series

SUMMER FUN PASSPORT ENTRY  |  TICK!

Ah, Spud's (8), first book review. It's about one of his favourite graphic novel series: Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi. The 5th one just came out, in our neck of the woods, last week and he's already devoured it, so to speak, twice, at least. Read below to find out what he has to say.

1. The Stonekeeper, 2008
2. The Stonekeeper's Curse, 2009
3. The Cloud Searcher, 2010
4. The Last Council, 2011
5. Prince of the Elves, 2012

"When Emily experiences the death of her father she discovers all sorts of mysterious things and creatures including the Amulet. The elves are taking over and fighting cities. Emily uses the magic of the Amulet to try to stop them. Three words I would use to describe the books are: magic, war, and imaginative. I like the books a lot. No, I love them. They are very interesting. I liked it when Vigo and Emily were making a tribute to the fallen stonekeepers. I also like that Emily has very helpful friends. I think the illustrations are intricate, sad, and full of fantasy. I recommend these books!!! I give them a 10/10."

Thanks Spud! I hope you'll want to do more of these ...

Another entry in our Summer Fun Passport

We took the Summer Bucket List Challenge. Our working list is here.

Paper Toy Monsters and Dragons

SUMMER FUN PASSPORT ENTRY  |  TICK!

Fun with paper toys: Djeco Dragons & Chimeras Folding Paper Toy Kit AND Papertoy Monsters

Another entry in our Summer Fun Passport

We took the Summer Bucket List Challenge. Our working list is here.

Summer Reading Club

SUMMER FUN PASSPORT ENTRY  |  TICK!

It's officially the last day of school! Which is bitter sweet. But we are definitely looking forward to some summer fun and lots of reading! Signing up to our library's summer reading club is on our Summer Fun Passport list this year ... and we got a tick! This is our 3rd year running. You can tell we love it. Here's this year's booklet ...

Inside there is an opportunity to collaborate on a story.

On the other side is a place to keep track of all the titles you read. A great keepsake! And some sticker fun too (as a designer, I'm thinking this would be such a fun project to work on!) At the bottom right you see the calendar for marking off every day you read for 15 minutes (or get read to). Piece of cake. After 50 days, you get a medal!

They also have weekly programs including an altered book workshop this year that sounds interesting as well as scavenger hunts and family movies on Monday afternoons. Oh, and weekly contests where you can win books! Spud has one a book each year so far. I hope everyone has access to something as cool as this! But if not, it's pretty inspiring for coming up with your own club.

And here is our running list of books we want to read kept on shelfari. What's on your list this summer?

We took the Summer Bucket List Challenge. Our working list is here.

Cardboard Cityscape and Give-Away

Here are some process shots from the cityscape nightlight that Spud and I did for Jenny Doh's Hand in Hand. The full how-to is in the book. Along with 19 other amazing kiddie crafting projects.


We are giving away a copy ... click here, leave a comment, and you will be entered in a random draw ... ends tomorrow! For an extra entry, tweet this post tagging @jackieatweelife.

UPDATE: Contest closed ... we have a winner!

Big thanks to our photographer Kiley Redhead.

Give-Away: Hand In Hand, Crafting with Kids

It's so exciting to finally talk about this! A long time ago Jenny Doh asked if Spenser and I would participate in this book she was putting together, a book full of truly kid-friendly projects done by crafty bloggers and their kids. See below for details on how to win a copy of Hand in Hand for your own personal library.

But first check out the line up! We are in some big-hitter company here ...

Jenny Doh  |  Crescendoh
Samantha Cotterill  |  mummysam
Maya Donenfeld  |  Maya*Made
Ali Edwards  |  AE blog
Rachel Faucett  |  handmade charlotte
Pam Garrison  |  pamela garrison
Abby Glassenberg  |  While She Naps
Cindy Hopper  |  Skip to My Lou
Beki Lambert  |  artsy-craftsy babe
Merrilee Liddiard  |  mer mag
Jhoanna Monte Aranez  |  One Red Robin
Jessica Okui  |  zakka life
Ella Pedersen  |  Little Red Caboose
Carly Schwerdt  |  moopy & me
Amanda Soule  |  SouleMama
Nicole Spring  |  Frontier Dreams
Dana Willard  |  made
Kristin Zecchinelli  |  maine momma
Jean Van't Hul  |  Artful Parent

So what did Spud and I make? Well, a cityscape. Of course. He loves building cities. And we did it using stuff from the recycle bin. We also learned how to make paste paper to add texture to the front of our buildings.

And we turned it into a nightlight.

But there are 19 other projects that are perfect for little hands that run the gamut from mask making to felting to embroidery. You name it!

Here are a just a few that are going on our crafty to do list right now ...

So, want a copy of your own? Leave a comment here and I'll put your name in a "hat" for a random draw. If you want an extra entry then tweet this post tagging @jackieatweelife.

Contest will close Friday, June 8, 2012 at midnight. Good luck!


UPDATE: Contest is Closed! Thanks to everyone who participated. I will be drawing and announcing the winner soon!


AND THE WINNER IS ...

KarenK, I need your address ... email me at jackie at weelife dot com. Congratulations!


Photography of Spud, me and our process was done by Kiley Redhead (BFF) and Adrian Mandy (Hubs).

Guess Where We Are Going!?

LONDON  |  TRAVELS WITH KID

It's official. Vienna and London, here we come!

I posted about the launch of this Lonely Planet travel book set for kids on Apartment Therapy last October. Little did I know we would be in the need of purchasing one ourselves! So excited. I wish they had one for Vienna too but alas only Rome, Paris and New York so far.

Gryffindor Scarf Bookmark!

Look what came in the mail for Spud's valentine's day. All the way from Toronto, a wee Harry Potter scarf, handmade by his gran (affectionately known as GrandMary).

We so happen to be in the middle of the fourth book, The Goblet of Fire. The bookmark could not have arrived at a better time. Thank you GrandMary! We have a very happy Harry Potter fan on our hands.

Playful Learning: Poetry Puzzle

This was a fun activity, found in Playful Learning, to add to our newly created Poetry Bin. Fun, and in my case, totally nostalgic.

Spud and I started reading through a Canadian classic kids poetry book from my childhood, by Dennis Lee, called Alligator Pie (circa 1970s). The title poem is one I remember repeating over and over as child.

Spud responded to a couple of them right away. I printed them out on letter sized paper and cut the sentences into strips then jumbled them all up. The first poem: Ookpik. I think I even used to own an Ookpik ... made out of seal skin or something. Anyway, I found an image of it that I knew Spud could not resist.

The moment he saw this activity, his eyes lit up and he proceeded to take the jumbled pile of sentences to an orderly comprehensive poem, using the book as a reference.

I simply observed. Once completed, he read it over and over, maybe 6 times, with such intent and concentration. It was fascinating to see how engaged he was. This morning he woke up and recited the poem from memory. Oh to have the memory of a child! Next step? Cut the sentences into words.

OTHER POSTS OF INTEREST:
Write a Poem Printable
Playful Learning: Poetry Box