The Not-Very-Good Drawer
Some not very good drawing leads to a lot of very good fun!
ADDED February 04, 2010
At some point, kids become quite self-critical of their artwork. "That picture is no good," they say. "That doesn't look anything like a fireman." Or a baseball player. Or a dragon. Or ballerina. Or whatever.
Well, here at Today is Fun, we do appreciate people who strive for perfection. That's good and healthy. But -- as with everything else in life -- perfectionism is good . . . in moderation.
Today's activity is all about making artwork communicate with very little effort and with no perfectionism! It's fun to boot.
Today you'll be doing some drawing and your kids will be doing some guessing. So get some blank paper and some writing implements . . . and off we go.
Tell your kids that they have to guess what you're going to draw. And then draw a banana. Try to do it very, very quickly and very, very simply. Give yourself no more than five seconds to do it. And use as few lines as you can get away with. Here's a really fast banana I drew:. . .
Half of Half of Half of a Piece of Toast
Breakfast fun with fractions!
ADDED February 03, 2010
I've started doing something with my kindergartner that is turning out to be a nice introduction to fractions, I think. He just thinks it's funny and interesting.
At breakfast time, we cut his piece of toast in half. Then we leave one of the pieces alone and cut the other one in half again.
We repeat this process: we leave one of the new pieces intact and cut the other one in half. (This gives us two pieces that are now one quarter the size of the original piece of toast.)
We keep doing this: leaving one piece and cutting one piece.
In this way, we create:
half the piece of toast
a quarter of the piece of toast
an eighth
a sixteenth
a thirty-second
Sometimes we can even get down to a sixty-fourth!
As I said above, this toast trick is just an introduction to fractions. We're not learning higher math here.
But my son is really learning the concepts.
He understands that there can only be two halves.
With the smaller pieces, he understands what information is communicated by the names. He has learned that if you need two halves to make one whole, you need eight eighths to make a whole.
I'll ask him: if you have one sixteenth, how many more sixteenths do you need to get back to the whole piece of bread? I'm proud to say, my boy answers correctly.. . .
Guest Vegetable of the Week
(And also, its Fruit Friend)
ADDED February 02, 2010
Do your kids eat their vegetables?
We think you can persuade your children to consume their vegetables by raising your voice ("EAT YOUR CARROTS!") or you can opt for a softer approach.
In the spirit of persuading without raising one's voice, we'd like to present: the Guest Vegetable of the Week!
But, wait — there's more. We're also unveiling today the concept of "the Fruit Friend of the Week."
Each week, introduce a new vegetable and fruit to your kids. Each week, pick up a "new" fruit and vegetable from the supermarket and try it out on your family.
When was the last time your family enjoyed jicama? (It's good cut into sticks and served alongside carrots with a dip.)
Have you ever added a parsnip to a soup?
How do your kids feel about kohlrabi?
If an item is a hit, however, it can certainly make more frequent visits to your family's dinner table in the future.
If your kids (or, truth be told, you) aren't wild about the Guest Vegetable or Fruit Friend, not to worry. You guys have only got to put up with it for a week!
Here are some tips to make the new fruits and vegetables welcome and easy guests for your family:
1. Choose fresh foods that are in season, of course. Ask your grocer for some help!
2. Choose items that don't require too much preparation or cooking. Brussel sprouts and zucchini -- while fine, upstanding members of the produce family -- cannot be eaten raw. Pomegranates are totally perplexing. If you're usually pressed for time, don't buy these.
3. Try to vary the appearance and preparation of the produce. Can the item be served raw in a salad? Or with a dip? Can it be cooked and added to other dishes, such as pastas? A few minutes online will bring up hundreds of recipes and ideas to help you be a good host to each guest vegetable.
4. Be adventurous if you can. Try new things. Exotic is okay!
5. Have fun! Remember, the idea here is to "sell" healthy eating with creativity and positivity.
We hope this idea goes over big in your house. And we are now accepting invitations to taste your guest vegetables and fruit friends. Let us know when we can swing by. (Also, we would like some dessert.)
(Thanks to
heydrienne for showing us so many fruit options!)
Mental Inventory
Tabulating is fun!
ADDED February 01, 2010
Today we are proud to present one of my kids' all-time favorite activities. I'm not exactly sure why this one excites them so, but it does.
For today's activity, your kids are going to help you make a mental inventory. You guys can choose to mentally inventory all the kids' toys--or just certain ones. For instance, my boys have a bunch of action figures called Playmobil. For this activity, we sat down at the kitchen table -- away from the actual toys -- and made a list of every item of Playmobil they own.
I got out a pencil and a blank piece of paper. I asked my kids to name everything in their "Playmobil bin." Everything means everything, no matter how big or how small.
For truly exciting results, it's important to pursue details.. . .
Weekend Reading: A Crazy Day at the Critter Café
A lively (and messy) book!
ADDED January 30, 2010
Here's the story in a nutshell: a group of animals travelling by bus stops at a restaurant, the Critter Cafe. Unfortunately for the waiter and the chef, the animals behave like, well, animals. They make a huge mess and cause commplete (and comedic) pandemonium.
Children's books -- as you certainly know -- often feature whimsical and preposterous story lines. Well, A Crazy Day at the Critter Café is fully and satisfyingly preposterous. The prime example: one of the animals is a skateboarding cow with questionable coordination. To say the least, this clumsy bovine contibutes more than her fair share to the mess.
The restaurant's waiter and chef try to re-establish order with predictably poor results. You wouldn't be thrilled if you were one of the restaurant's patrons that day. Viewing the scene from the comfort of your clean couch, however, makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
My kids love the outrageous occurrences in this book.
The rhymes and images are very nice here. But it's the crazy, slapstick story that leads to a lot of fun for readers of all ages.
Grab a copy today, and read to those kids!
