* 10 Tips for Happy Family Camping - part 1

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5 Ideas for Reading Camp

Below are 5 ideas for reading camp which you can do at home. When some moms are spending half the day in their car driving kids to and fro to summer camps and shelling out $$$, I'm usually at home, making up my own entertainment to share with my kids. After all, I had kids so that they could be part of my life, not so that I could pay others to take care of them. YMMV.

5 Ideas for Reading Camp
Sometimes we descend into thinking that books are only about stories and learning to read. With these reading camp ideas you can expand your horizons and do a wide variety of activities.

#1 - Book treasure hunt - find the tallest, thickest, thinnest, smallest, longest and shortest book in your house. You can also search for specific words in the book titles. Or look for red books, green books, hardback books, and paperbacks. Do you have any spiral bound books - are they on a specific topic, like cookery?

#2 - Book I-Spy - you don't need I-Spy books to do Book I-Spy. Simply set a challenge, like counting the number of times a word is used on a page, finding a word your child can recognize, or looking for the page in the book that has a certain illustration. I'm sure you get the idea.

#3 - Lap Books, Scrap Books, and Journals - lap books, scrap books, and journals are very popular with many homeschoolers, but there's no reason they can't be great for all parents and kids. If you know of a good link to one of these topics, or if this is something you've written about, let me know. I'd like to add some links.

#4 - Library Raid and Reading Challenge - descend on your local public library and find books of as many different types as you can. What about a fun book on exercise, an I-Spy book, a pop-up book, a photo book, a field guide, a book on tape, an old-fashioned book, a brand new book, and a book which shows you how to build something. Remember to take the books home and use as many as you can! While you are there, most public libraries have summer reading programs where your kids can earn a free book or two. If your kid is not a reader yet, no worries, go ahead and read to him or her to earn the book.

#5 - Strange Reading
How many different places can you think of to read? What about in the bathroom? On the deck? Under a tree? In a tent pitched in your family room? Under the bedcovers? How about reading while upside down - many kids enjoy this one! Or you could go to the mall, take a bath book to the beach, or read in the shower. You could sit under the table, or under your desk, or maybe in the dog bed? Does it feel different reading there?

What other ideas do you have for a reading camp? How would you incorporate nature in your reading camp? Do you have any great links to share?

* Roots & Shoots

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* Going on a Treasure Hunt

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Kids Book Give Away

I have a double kids book give away for you this week, sponsored by my Usborne Books and More book business UsborneKC.com. Pictured here are two books which will start conversations with your kids about where your electricity and food come from. These are also great books to keep in the car for trips.

Pictured on the left is Where Does Electricity Come From. It's ideal for a 6-9 year old, or for a younger child who is already asking questions about this kind of thing. It covers information such as how electricity is made, what we use it for, and how it is transported. There are a couple of basic experiments included. There is also brief information on how batteries, turbines, and televisions work.

Pictured on the right is The Runaway Tractor. This is a cute mini book, which comes with a Rusty the Dog soft animal keychain. The Runaway Tractor is a story in the Usborne Farmyard Tales series. It's a simple story with a little duck to find on every page. It's ideal for reading to 2-5 year olds and is perfect for a beginning reader to manage by themself. The keychain is not suitable for kids under 3 years old.

Great Inspiration for a Summer Camp or Field Trip
If you are thinking of summer camps, what to do with your kids when school or preschool gets out, or for something new to inspire your homeschooling, you could plan a field trip around these books. Take the time to visit a local farm, or to just look for a tractor working in a field. Stop and watch for a while. Research where your electricity comes from and look up the location on a map. Explore your neighborhood and find your local transformer. Look for above ground electricity pylons or cables and draw a map of where they are, or just have fun spotting them when you are out and about. Find more tractor and farming books at your library and read together about how things work. Older kids can watch a video about the Hoover Dam. Look for food labels in the grocery store and talk about where your food comes from. Find out what kind of food is grown in your local area. Talk with a farmer.

Entering the Give Away
Just leave a comment by midnight on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009. Sorry, this give away is only open to those in the continental United States. If you live elsewhere and really want to enter, please leave a comment with your location - if your name is drawn I will look into the cost of mailing to you and if it's less than $5 they're yours!

If you liked this post you might like:

• A week in the life of The Homeschooler's Guide to the Galaxy.
  
• Teaching Nature and Science.
• Science Learning Links and Stuff.
• Community Supported Agriculture.

To see the full range of Usborne Books visit Usborne Books & More.

* Kids Can Make It - Beef Stew

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Easy, Fun, Lunch - Cheese Beanos

Here is one of my very favorite, easy, fun lunches for kids - Cheese Beanos. It's easy enough for them to make, with some supervision on the cooking part and, if you're not careful, it makes just enough mess to be fun. You can use this recipe to help your kids learn how to: open a can, and use the broiler. The origins of this recipe are lost in the family archive, but it really doesn't take a lot of imagination!

Ingredients
1 can of beans in tomato sauce
8 slices of bread
8 cheese slices or a block of cheese (vegan cheese slices, or cheese, work too)
Fresh tomatoes or fruit to serve with

Equipment
can opener
spoon
cheese slicer or knife (if you're using block cheese)
baking tray
oven mitts
broiler - put the shelf 2 rungs down

Directions
Open the can of beans. Place the bread slices on the baking tray. Spoon beans onto the bread slices. Slice off cheese if you're using a block. Top the beans with cheese slices. Place the tray under the broiler (of course you'll turn it on first). DO NOT walk away - stay and watch because it browns up fast. If the edges of the bread are brown before the cheese is, move the tray down to a lower shelf and watch it until the cheese is browned.

Serve the Cheese Beanos with a knife and fork and tomatoes or fruit. The mess comes when you try to lift up the beanos and get them in your mouth without dropping beans - it's a good exercise in motor control and it makes a little bit of a fun mess :-) My kids have learned to use the knife and fork and cut off small pieces instead.

Try it and let me know what your kids think.

Learning from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

Thomas the Tank Engine stories at Amazon.com

Boys and their trains, that's usually how it goes. Who'd have thought though that cute little Thomas the Tank Engine from the small Island of Sodor, written by Rev A. W. Awdry and illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby, would have captured so many imaginations. Thomas is nothing short of a phenomenon; a character, created by a British author, who's name has surely been spoken in the majority of American homes. Personally I can't say I'm a particular fan of the modernized Thomas - take me out and shoot me if you have to now - but he certainly appeals to small children! I'll admit I'm a fan of steam trains and I enjoy the Thomas stories in their original format. I thought it would be fun to share some information, activities, and educational links related to Thomas the Tank Engine. I hope your kids, and you, enjoy them.

• Adults who want to know more about Thomas and his history and development may want to start with Wikipedia on Thomas the Tank Engine - information on the books, TV series, models, toys and how Thomas relates to real railway engines and railroad routes.
• At Thomas and Friends are games and activities for kids to explore - it's one of those annoying Flash sites which my computer security throws up blocks to so check it out and make sure it works for you before you get your kids excited.
• The Random House Thomas site has stuff about the books, printable activities, and some information about the authors.
  
• Visit the Unofficial Thomas the Tank Engine site for a nice collection of information about the original books and lots of links.
• You can read about the authors at the Awdry Family Official Website.
• Download paper models of Thomas and friends - these are very detailed. The website is in Japanese, but just click on the blue links next to the PDF graphic and the rest is self-explanatory!
• Here's a blogger who has created some very elaborate Brio Thomas track layouts for his boys.
  
• How Stuff works has a guide to all of the Thomas episodes. Now you can have the fun of quizzing each other about what happened and see if parents or kids have the better memory!
• Check out Wendy's blog and see very detailed instructions on how to make a very impressive Thomas the Tank Engine Birthday Cake and Alexa has written a blog totally about Thomas.
  
• More Thomas activities, including birthday party ideas and things to make at DLTK's.
• Lesson ideas for using Thomas to help kids with Autism at About.com.
• Of course you may have heard of the huge recall during 2007 because of lead in paint on Thomas toys - The New York Times on the Thomas recall and a lesson in morality.

Of course Thomas maybe has a few girl fans too, like Lori Ann of Simple Makes. Know a Thomas fan or have more links for me to add? Let me know.
Shop for Thomas the Tank Engine items at Amazon.com.