ABC ROAR is here!

It’s an animal and alphabet adventure!
Creating the illustrations and design for ABC ROAR was such a joy,
with so much inspiration from my animal-loving family.

Kids will learn animal names and write the letter of the alphabet in this
colorful and interactive novelty.  Each spread with cut-out layers
and glossy paths feature a different creature living in their
environment for a hands-on exploration of letters and animals.

Kids can touch and trace letters from A to Z, whether it’s
a bear fishing in the stream, dolphins splashing in the ocean, 
or a leopard roaring from the trees above!

ABC ROAR is now available and I’ve updated my website
to include a fun, book-themed stick puppet activity to pair with storytime.

Happy Book-Birthday 123 ZOOM!

 

 It's publication day for 123 ZOOM and I'm excited to share

with you this colorful, interactive novelty board book!

Each spread with cut-out layers and glossy paths features

a different mode of transportation for a hands-on 

exploration of numbers and vehicles.

Count, touch, and trace from one to eleven,

whether it's one plane on the runway, two dump trucks

on the construction site, or ten bicycles on a bike path.

Then fly, sail, race, and count backwards through
clouds, ocean, and land to find hidden surprises.

 

 

It's companion book, ABC ROAR releases in July.

This hands-on novelty introduces the alphabet and animals in their habitats.

123 ZOOM is available now, at Barnes & Noble and fine stores.

If you'd like to read about my journey and process creating

123 ZOOM, please swing by Tara Lazar's blog,

Writing For Kids (While Raising Them).

Mixing Colors - A Colorful Spring Visit!

I had the pleasure of kicking-off the spring season
with these preschool cuties.

We flapped, stomped, cheered, buzzed, and wiggled through
storytime with our spring bug friends from

Color Wonder Hooray for Spring!

A spring book about color-mixing lends itself to 

a fun and colorful experiment! 

Next, I handed each child a spring egg filled with Playdoh™

that I had cut into flowers.  Each egg contained two of

each primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

As you can imagine, the kids were excited to begin blending colors.

We kneaded the red and yellow flowers to make orange.

The blue and red flowers made purple.

And the blue and yellow flowers made green.

To prepare for this activity, be sure the depth of the yellow

flowers are twice as thick as the red and blue ones.

The children were thrilled to see the colors blend!

Lastly, we made stick puppets of the book characters.

We colored ladybugs, grasshoppers, bees, caterpillars, butterflies and crickets,

and decorated them with flower stickers.

Click here to print out the coloring templates for this activity.

We had a great time celebrating the spring season!

For more spring and color activities, visit:

Fun Rainbow Color Activities for Kids!

Color Wonder: Hooray for Spring! Book Launch Party

Color Wonder: Hooray for Spring! Book Launch Party

It may have been a cold and gray winter day, 
but the book launch celebration for Color Wonder: Hooray for Spring!
was certainly a bright and cheerful one.

I was impressed with the children’s knowledge of their colors; many knew
the color combinations needed to turn the color-mixing wheels in the book.
They loved mixing and matching the colors to the spring flowers.

A garden party with refreshments was enjoyed by all.
I'm blessed to have the support of my wonderful family and friends
who put together this lovely spread.  The Joy of Cupcakes
generously treated the guests to these festive and amazingly tasty cupcakes.

And what good is a spring party without the spring crafts?
The super fun FunFit joined in, making craft projects with the children.

And a book about colors certainly needs some coloring activities.
Children made puppets and colored bug characters from Hooray for Spring!
Click here to download the Color Wonder printables and incorporate
these fun activities with your story time.

The lollipop flowers were sweet and easy to make.
Use a heart shape craft-puncher for the petals and a circle
craft-puncher for the leaf.  Fold green paper in half and punch out
a leaf shape by using the top arch of the circle craft-puncher.

Fold the heart-shape petals in half, punch small holes on the bottom
of all the paper pieces, and thread them onto the lollipop stick.  
Adhere clear tape around the base of the lollipop wrapper.
Be sure the tape is also touching the leaf, to serve as a stopper.

The younger children enjoyed coloring
big butterflies, or perhaps it was the Smarties® they liked?

This little caterpillar critter was made by threading a handful of beads
onto a pipe cleaner that was folded in half for strength.

The older kids twisted and shaped colorful spring buggies.

To make the butterfly, you'll need two pipe cleaners, 
 three .75 pompoms, wiggly eyes, and glue dots.
Shape the pipe cleaners as shown above and assemble all the pieces.

To make the bee, you'll need 1/2 of a white pipe cleaner,  1/4 of a green one,
1 inch yellow pompom, .5 black pompom, wiggly eyes, and glue dots.
Shape the pipe cleaners as shown above and assemble all the pieces.

Hooray!  Cheers to a warm and colorful spring season to come.
I hope your kids enjoy Color Wonder: Hooray for Spring!,
and have fun coloring their favorite spring bug characters.

Happy New Year 2015!

I can't believe it's New Year's Eve!

I woke up this morning thinking I need to start on some fun craft

activities with the girls, to prepare for our celebration.

I pulled out my craft box and found beads, bells, pipe cleaners,

pencils, and New Year's toys saved from last year.

Perfect!

 To make the sparkly crown, you need four pipe cleaners and

some beads.  Twist two pipe cleaners together for the base of the crown.

Thread colorful beads through the remaining two pipe cleaners,

and twist them around the base and make loops.

Have fun with this, and create your own design. You can't go wrong.

My girls and I are calling this a noise-maker wishing wand.

It's easier to manage if you thread the bells and beads first, and then

bend the pipe cleaner into a star shape - or any fun shape you wish.

Tape the end of the star to the pencil top.  Twist another pipe cleaner 

around the pencil to cover the taped pipe cleaner base.

Goody bags are nice to have.

I filled a zip-lock sandwich bag with a noise-maker, 

horn, bell necklace, and bracelet.

We are ready for tonight, and had lots of fun this afternoon with the crafts. 

I love my daughter's "fireworks" crown.

Have a happy and safe New Year's celebration.

May this be your best year yet!

Operation Shower - Happy 4th of July!

I'm very excited to ship this Away We Go! diaper cake and signed books

to Operation Shower, a non-profit organization with a mission of providing joyful 

baby showers for military families to ease the stress of deployment. 

This is my second time making a diaper cake, 

but my first time making a five-tier cake.  I'm going to shrink-wrap 

this fragile baby, and let's hope it arrives in one piece.

Have a great 4th of July everyone!

Away We Go! Shapes and Transportation Activities

 

Yay! I'm super excited to have Away We Go! preschool activities
and party printables up on my website.  Enjoy Away We Go! story-time with
your little ones, followed by fun shapes and transportation projects.
Check out the coloring, cut and paste, counting, and matching activities.

Print the activities and party printables to your heart's content.
If you have an Away We Go! celebration,  please do share!
Great fun for birthdays, baby showers, transportation, and preschool events.

How about snack time?!  Here's a template I created 
for a tasty shape-sorting activity.

Be sure to lay down wax paper over the printable before beginning.

Strawberries make good heart shapes, and these stars are baby cereal puffs.
I also spotted some star-shaped crackers at the grocery store.

These shapely fruit rockets were a big hit with my kids!

Don't forget the crafts!  Candy airplanes are cute, and very easy to make.
The shapes highlighted here are circles, rectangles, and squares.

A cool summer craft that really floats!

Using foam sheets, cut out a 2 3/4" x 4" rectangle, and a triangle sail.

Cut 7 slits, each a centimeter apart, as seen in the photo.

Be careful not to cut too close to the edge.  Have your little sailors weave
three crafts sticks (4 3/8" long), and attach the triangle sail.

Let kids be creative, gluing shapes together to make colorful, 
shapely transportation vehicles.  Here are samples of 
a spaceship, ice cream truck, and train.

I'm reposting the Away We Go! treats.

Check out my Book Launch Celebration blog post for details.

Have a shapetastic time reading Away We Go! with the kiddos, 
and getting creative with shapes and transportation!