Kids Science Books - spring

Thinking about spring gifts for Easter or birthdays? Do you value education? Kids science books are a great choice for a gift. To be more green we can all abide by the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle and "needs before wants" when we shop. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - "Everyone has the right to education." With that in mind, choose something educational, something you know for sure will be useful to the recipient - don't guess, ask them for input, assuming they are old enough! Here are my ideas and suggestions for shopping kids science books for gifts this spring.

For Easter and Spring Birthdays
It's nice to have a fun, educational, book or two in your Easter basket. Earth Day is also coming up, and you might know a kid or two with a spring birthday. Here are some best selling choices from Usborne:

• Early science understanding for infants and toddlers is really about observation, cause and effect, exploring with the senses, and learning to understand life, the environment, and what to expect. Books can be used to grow children in all these respects and to prepare for the reading part of their learning. Some great choices for infants to 3 years - Animal Hide and Seek, That's Not My Bunny, Noisy Animals, This is My Tractor.
• Three to six year olds are figuring out the difference between living and non-living. They can learn about lifecycles, habitats, and the seasons. They begin to notice that each living thing has needs and thrives under a set of circumstances. Good choices for 3 to 6 year olds include - The Butterfly, Creepy Crawlies Lift the Flap, 1001 Bugs to Spot.
• In the early elementary years books that are both educational and fun with easy reading are the best choices. 6 to 9 year olds can become confident readers while learning about the Earth and nature. Science books and reference shelf items start to become more important, such as - Great Planet Earth Search, See Inside Planet Earth, Trash and Recycling and more, Why Should I Bother About the Planet?
  

Usborne Books and More are very efficient at shipping and typically have a one business day turn-around. The warehouse is in Tulsa Oklahoma, which means it's too late for Easter delivery to either coast. However, I am in the Midwest and will be placing my own Easter order on Monday. If you need an estimate of shipping time to you please ask rather than assuming one way or the other. E-mail me or call me - my phone number is listed at UsborneKC.com.

Does your child have a favorite Usborne book or a favorite science book?

One of my friends just alerted me to a going out of business sale for certified organic candy. Some of their items are selling for less than half price. The company is College Farm and they have a very cute candy tin with organic lollipops which becomes a traditional metal lunch box and it's selling for $1.99 at 75% off. Excuse the pun, but that's a sweet deal! They also have certified organic lemon hard candy and my mouth is watering just thinking of it.

Give Away Winner - Crinkle Cutter

I used my Excel spreadsheet to generate a random number between 1 and 5. I forgot to round to the nearest whole number - the number which came up was: 3.16582. Which makes the winner of the Crinkle Cutter Giveaway commenter number 3, who is Laura. Congratulations Laura of Global Mama! I'll be e-mailing you to get your snail mail address, then a crinkle cutter will be on it's way to you :-)

Thank you Mia, Jen, Janet (who excluded herself) and Jessica for entering. Better luck next time. Please come back for my next give away.

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.