"How I Became a Pirate" Pre-K Book Club

I started a summer book club for my 4 1/2 year old daughter and some of her friends. We're meeting once a week through the summer. Each time we will read a book, do a few activities, and have a snack. Yesterday was the first meeting and it was FUN!
We read the book "How I Became a Pirate" by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon. The kids all repeated Braid Beard's (the pirate captain's) instructions as though they were the crew.
A pirate crew needs proper attire, so we made ourselves some pirate hats following these instructions.
Next we played Captain, Captain, Pirate (Duck, Duck, Goose) on the trampoline.
A sword is very important to a pirate, so the children all painted a sword made out of the free paint sticks from Home Depot. I used a large paint stick for the blade and glue gunned half of a small paint stick for the hilt.
In the beginning of the book, the boy Jeremy Jacob is making sand castles when he notices the pirates approaching the shore. We made sand castles out of rice krispy treats. This was really fun. I spread out a rectangle of Press 'N Hold paper on the table and gave them each a good amount of Rice Krispy treat to play with. I greased their hands so it wouldn't stick to the treats. They molded and snacked.
The whole morning was really fun!

Hooray America!

My kids love learning about America, and I thought I'd share some of our favorite things that have taught us about our country.

Liberty's Kids

I bought this set of 6 DVDs when they were on sale some time last year, and the kids have loved them.  They have learned so much about the revolutionary war from watching them.  Last year they were so inspired by them that they created a club called the "Rescue Kids Club" who's purpose was to plan and perform historical plays.  (Yes, the name doesn't fit, but I wasn't in charge).  They planned a whole "patriotical" play (I always laughed when my daughter said that) with written scripts that included my son and his friend facing off as General Howe and General Washington, plus speeches by Abigail Adams and Betsy Ross. There was also to be an intermission with refreshments and a parade.  Alas, we were out with pneumonia for 6 weeks last summer and the kids never had the chance to perform it for us, and now those dear friends have moved out of the state. Boo.  But, the point of all this rambling is that the DVDs are great.

Stack the States

This is a great app for the iphone or ipad.  My kids love it.  They have learned a lot about the states, including capitals, bordering states, landmarks, and the shape of the states. My 6 year old was skipping rocks with his grandpa the other day, and held up one rock and said "Hey grandpa!  This rock looks like New Hampshire!" and it did.  He also likes to find states in pieces of his cut up pancakes.

"From Sea to Shining Sea" compiled by Amy L. Cohn

This is a great book!  It's a "treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs" illustrated by great artists.  I highly recommend checking it out of the library or seeing if you can get a copy on amazon.

Wooden States Puzzle by Melissa and Doug

My kids just enjoy putting this together.  They also like to reference it when they're playing "stack the states".

Scrambled States of America card game

The game is simple to play and my 6 year old loves it.  It helps them get familiar with state capitals and nicknames and bordering states.

Bill Harley Stories in the Car

During the summer, I know a lot of people go on road trips with their kids, and I thought I would share one of our favorite things to listen to in the car.  He's a storyteller, and his name is Bill Harley.  He tells very funny stories about growing up, and the kids love him.  There are a few stories that use words like "stupid" and "hate" a bit too much, but usually his stories are very funny.  The kids like listening to them over and over again, and grownups enjoy them too.  You can find his stories on iTunes. He has song albums, but what you want are the audiobooks. They're between 3 and 4 dollars each, which isn't too bad.  You do get just one long track for some reason though, instead of the stories being split up into different tracks, but this has never bothered us.  My kids absolute all-time favorite is "The Battle of the Mad Scientists".  It is full of delightful silliness.  Other favorites include "Weezie and the Moon Pies", and "Cool in School", which has my husband's favorite story, "Zanzibar".  He used to listen to it when he was a kid.  So, try them out, and let me know what you think. But I'm not refunding your money if you don't like them, just so you know.