Banana for Two and Grocery Games

Yellow, brown, green, and every shade in between. How do you like your bananas? Maybe a banana is best when shared with a friend, as in "Banana for Two", the next book in Star Bright Books "Small Talk Books" series.  You can read my review of the first book, "A Fish to Feed" here.

One Banana, Two Banana

 "Banana for Two" is a cute, simple story for young children and their families.  This entertaining board book, is perfect for babies and young toddlers.  The illustrations are warm and inviting, and young children will likely recognize the familiar setting of a grocery store, and the experience of shopping with a caregiver.  This book features a mother and small child (as well as a cameo by the family from "A Fish to Feed", which is a cute touch). Also of note is the fact that both "A Fish to Feed" and "Banana for Two" depict diverse families. Beyond being a cute story for little ones, this book is a great resource for parents and caregivers.  As with the other books in the Small Talk series, "Banana for Two" features an educational message for parents, as well as modeling throughout the text.  The goal lesson in "Bananas for Two" is in the importance of incorporating conversations at math from a young age, and in noticing the importance of math in everyday life.  From my teaching days, I can certainly confirm that many children (and even adults) often question why they must learn math, or how it relates to them.  Incorporating math into simple everyday conversations from an early age could certainly have a positive impact on a child's interest in math and early math skills. "Banana for Two" shows how simple it is to do just that-and provides parents with a little extra confidence in their math talk skills.

This mom is lucky her child hasn't figured out how
to escape from grocery carts yet...

After reading "Banana for Two" with E and C, I decided to incorporate a few grocery and counting related games into our play time.  The stars aligned and I just so happened to receive an email from Melissa & Doug with a free healthy eating grocery list printable recently, and it is a great resource to save for both learning and play.  You can print your own copy here .

Coloring-loved by kids and moms alike

E practices coloring in each box-and used a
colored pencil for the first time.

Since the Grocery List printable has different foods in nice, neat little squares I took this as the perfect opportunity to practice on some focused coloring with E. I pointed out to him that each food could be colored a different color, and helped him slow down and think about which color he wanted to make each food (as opposed to large scribbles across the entire sheet).  It turned out to be a very good fine motor exercise for him, as well as a chance to slow down a little bit-which is a pretty big feat for an active almost three year old. Depending on your child's age and skills, you can also use this sheet for practice cutting, gluing, or even drawing.  It would also be fun to make a grocery list using pictures cut from store flyers.  Another fun way we played with the food list was as a matching game-I simply laid out a few different sets of food pictures and showed E how to match the items, and then count "one, two".  I think after playing this way for a little while longer, we will be able to flip the food cards over and turn it into our own homemade memory game.

Healthy Food Match

Everyone needs double onions

After making our grocery list, we set up a small grocery store with our play foods, and made sure to set out foods we have multiples of so we could have some good counting opportunities.  E had a great time choosing between his shopping cart or shopping basket, and picking out the different foods from his "store".  Grocery store is definitely the new favorite pretend play activity in our house!  E has a little bit of a "Supermarket Sweep" shopping mentality (who else thinks they should bring that show back?!), but we also make sure to take the time and look at the foods he is "shopping" for.  This is where I incorporated some of the Small Talk tips from "Banana for Two".  As E shopped, I pointed out if he was choosing one or two of each item. E loves to count, and two is his absolute favorite number, so he really enjoyed counting the foods he chose, looking at the foods on his list and counting there, and checking off the items on his list as we shopped.

Pretend veggies-a fun way to encourage real veggie love!

Everything on the list!

Picking peppers!

It really is amazing to see how much enjoyment talking about these simple day to day tasks can bring to a toddler.  It can be easy, in our busy and stressful adult worlds, to forget how new and exciting even the most dreaded chores like grocery shopping can be for a young child.  This morning I let E know that we were going to be going to the grocery store. He's gone grocery shopping many times, and generally enjoys it-but today it turned into a whole new adventure.  With all of his focus on our grocery games in the last few weeks, he really had a new level of enthusiasm for this simple trip we've  made countless times before.  E ran to find a grocery list, his shopping basket, and his puppy and waited by our front door to eagerly head to the store.  He was so proud to walk the aisles of the grocery store and choose a treat to carry in his basket-and he brought smiles to lots of faces as he shopped!

A happy little shopper!

For the Birds

This month we are celebrating our feathered friends!  Now that the weather has started to be more consistently on the warm side (despite a chilly, rain filled week here in New England), we are seeing plenty of birds at our feeders, hopping across the lawn, and perching on the telephone wires.  Since E loves pointing out birds and calling "eeeeeee" or "awww awww"to them, its the perfect time to take up his interest in the avian type, and maybe inspire a lifelong bird watching hobby. I'd certainly love to see E as a friend to birds (among other creatures), as it seems to be an interest that runs in the family.  E's great-great grandfather (whom his middle name is after) wrote popular columns for a Boston newspaper about birds.  His great grandmother happily fed and housed all sorts of flying friends, tending to gardens filled with plants to attract hummingbirds, orioles, and others.  E's grandfather can identify pretty much any bird call you hear in our region, and identify even more species.  And I personally am enjoying feeding the birds in our own yard, and hoping to add a few bluebird or wren houses, or maybe a bird bath this spring.

Here's a look at what we are reading this month:

A bird book variety

#shelfie
Notice E's own bird nest on the wall?

"Birds" by Kevin Henkes:

Many recognize Kevin Henkes as the author of the mouse stories (has your child met Chrysanthemum, Owen, Chester, or Wemberly yet?)  You might be surprised that Henkes also has some equally lovely stories that are not about mice.   I love "Birds" because it is light and airy, and the whimsical imaginings of the narrator seem so relatable to young ones.  Filled with simple observations about birds, and childlike questions without any of the "right" answers, this book could inspire many happy talks about birds while taking notice of them all around you.

A rainbow of colors all the time.

"Owl Babies" by Martin Waddell:

Since May is also host to Mother's Day, here is a bird story about an owl momma and her babies.  Mommy Owl leaves the nest for the night to find food, and her three little ones worry about her return while they wait for her, alone in the dark forest.  Each owlet has a different personality, trying to be brave, or in charge, or just plain honestly missing mom.  The sweet story ends with Mommy's return and the owlets' realization that their Mommy wouldn't leave them alone for long.  The story is also reassuring for toddlers or preschoolers who may be dealing with a little separation anxiety of their own, whether it is facing preschool, daycare, or just the night in their own room apart from the person who makes them feel safest.

Whooooo doesn't love owls? 

"Wings on the Wind: Bird Poems" collected and illustrated by Kate Kiesler:

Poems do not get nearly enough love.  I'll admit that I am also guilty of some degree of poetry aversion. Maybe it's from the trauma of middle school poetry units...being forced to create rhyme after rhyme, or having to read your own poems aloud to your peers at a poetry slam, even the  memorizing and reciting boring, ancient poems with points off your grade for each error...there could be a lot of long built up resentment for poor poems, but they really don't deserve it!

DISCARD...
This little book didn't even get the love it deserved at the library!
Hopefully it is happy to have found it's home on our shelf.

Honestly, poems are fantastic for younger readers.  A collection of poems can be flipped through, stopping to read just one or a few, as your interest is spiked.  The rhymes, flows, and melodic nature of the lines of a poem appeal to little listeners as well.  After all, so much of early literacy is just about playing around with language, having fun, engaging with words and sounds.

This collection of poems is beautifully illustrated, and  features many different bird species-from the ordinary to the exotic.  It follows birds through the seasons, as they arrive in the spring and fly south in the fall.  I love that it follows that cycle, and it is easy to pick a few poems every now and then, as they are appropriate for the time or what your child is seeing in their own world right then.

Red wing blackbirds are one of our feeder's frequent visitors.

"Birds"by Jill McDonald:

Baby C was just given this book and she loves it! The illustrations are bright and cheery, and she gets the biggest happy smiles on her face while turning the pages.  The brief text introduces you to a handful of birds that may be familiar to little ones, including some which kiddos might find in their own back yards, and others that they would only meet at the zoo.  The book also introduces some opposite concepts, meeting birds who are big and small, fast or slow, like noise or like quiet, and so on. Each page also includes a starred fact, giving it the feel of a very early reference or nonfiction book with the added text feature.

Truth! 

"Garden Bird Facts" by Marcus Schneck:

This is a pretty simple adult reference book, but E loves flipping through it and pointing out the different birds.  Honestly, I am loving the addition of a reference book to our stack, since it can never be too early to expose the littles to a different type of book, varied text features, captions, diagrams. etc. I also believe it is great for the adult to learn right alongside the child.  While I do know a bit about the birds in our area, I could definitely learn a whole lot more.  And it is important for my kids to see this happen, all the time, and without it being any big special occasion.  I like to keep myself thinking, wondering, asking and answering questions.  And while my own babies won't be in school for a few years still, I know that when they do get there, I want them to understand that school isn't the only place where you learn, that the whole world around them has lessons to teach and important things to notice!

Lots to learn if you want to be a birding expert!

Beyond the Books-Bird Activities:

Bird Observers/Bird Detectives:

Watch for birds in your yard, when you are out for a walk, or playing at the park.  Keep a little journal to record which ones you see! Hear a bird singing in the morning-can you figure out which bird makes that song?   Use your reference book (or Google) to identify any bird species you do not know that name of.  Find a feather, egg, or birds nest that you might be able to identify-which type of bird did this come from?  Can you add a feature to your yard to attract more birds (feeder, houses, water)?

Being a bird watcher can incorporate a few senses (sight, hearing, maybe touch with a discarded feather...but please use common sense and don't touch an active nest or wild animal); as well as working on skills such as patience, quiet, and movement! Enjoy the outdoors and make a new feathered friend or two!

E is kind of little still, and I know that he doesn't fully understand what we are doing when I write in his little bird journal, but I am pleased just to have him see his momma writing.  It is so important for the little ones to see adults writing, or reading, and for all different purposes.  I just figure this quick little activity is a way to help get E immersed in that world, and it is a simple and fun activity we can add to and expand upon as he grows!

E's illustration reminds me a lot of the page out of "Birds", above.

Our first few sightings and entries.