Bagels for Benny

Mommy and Me Book Club wrote a guest post for Make and Takes Storybook Summer Series!  We chose to feature Bagels from Benny by Audrey Davis.   It was a new to me book, but one that has become an instant family favorite.  We had so much fun making bagels together and delivering them to a local day shelter for homeless men and women in our community.  If you have not read this book, I highly recommend that you head to your library and check it out today!

Please take a moment to visit Make and Takes and even comment and let them know you dropped by!  I am grateful for the chance they gave me to share Mommy and Me Book Club with their readers. 

Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

We are so excited to be participating in the July Summer Virtual Book Club with some of my very favorite kid bloggers!  This month we each selected a book by Audrey or Don Wood to read with our children.  We created activities for our children, inspired by the chosen book.

We chose to read Silly Sally by Audrey Wood.  It is a fun, nonsensical rhyming book about a lady who walks on her hands backwards to go to town.  She meets lots of fun friends along the way.   The illustrations are delightful, and it is a book my children request often.


We had 4 friends over for a Silly Sally play date.  With my 3, we had a total of 7 kids ranging in age from 3-11 years old.  All of them liked the book and had a blast with our activities!  

SILLY COSTUME PARTY

After reading the book, I let the children raid the costume bins. I challenged them to come up with the silliest costume they could think imagine.  They were hilarious, and had a great time trying to outdo each other.  They mismatched pieces of several different costumes, pulled in items that were not traditionally dress up clothes, and laughed.  I loved the sound of laughter filling my home.  Is there anything better?   (For the sake of my future relationship with my son, I will NOT post the picture of him in his sister's pink fairy dress accessorized with clean underwear on his head, red sunglasses, and a sword).

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CUPCAKES


How could we read Silly Sally and NOT make Upside Down Cake????  Family Fun Magazine has a delicious and simple recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes.  It was perfect for a group cooking activity.  Each of the 5 boys took turns helping with all of the steps.  (For some reason, the 2 girls weren't interested in cooking that day.  And I wasn't interested in forcing them to cook.  We were here to have fun)!  The only part of the recipe I helped with was to put the pan in and out of the oven! 


They cut the pineapple by themselves.

They measured out the brown sugar and butter by themselves.

While the brown sugar and butter melted, the boys took turns telling the silliest jokes they could think of.  It morphed into a game of "Who would...(fill in the blank with some crazy thing a 5 year old can imagine.  Like, "Who would eat a Bionicle?").  Again, my house was delightfully filled with the laughter of silly children.

The boys took turns placing the pineapple pieces into the pan.  The only substitution we made from the original recipe was to change the cherries to raspberries.  (Only because I had no cherries).

The boys measured and mixed the dry and wet ingredients.  They even cracked the eggs!

All to make this yummy treat!  They were so proud of themselves! 

SILLY SELF

Our final activity was to create life sized silly versions of ourselves, walking upside down.

I traced an outline of each child onto large white butcher paper, with their hands reached above their heads.  (I don't have a pic of this, since I was the one doing the tracing). 


Then each child decorated his or her own Silly Self.  My two boys did theirs completely on their own.  My daughter told me what she wanted to do and we worked together.

I am so excited to see what fun book inspired activities you did with your children, based on the incredible Woods' Books! Here are the blogs of the other amazing bloggers participating!


Toddler Approved

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Rainy Day Mum

Reading Confetti

Inspiration Laboratories

Play Dr. Mom

Mommy and Me Book Club

Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Two Big Two Little

Creative Connections for Kids

The Golden Gleam

Juggling with Kids

Taming the Goblin

Crafty Moms Share

Not Twiddle Twaddle

Ready Set Read 2 Me

Famiglia & Seoul

The Good Long Road

The Educator's Spin On It

Imagination Soup

3 Dinosaurs

Royal Baloo

BeingAConsciousParent

Smile Play Learn


Want to get a head start on August?  We will be selecting books written by Kevin Henkes!

Please link up your own activities based on a book written by a member of the Wood Family below! 

If You Give A Mouse a Cookie

Gathering Activity: We read stories with our Mommies about mice.


Circle Time: We read the Book Club Selection If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff  and sang songs and did finger plays about mice and cookies.  We acted out the story using props such as a straw, tape, and blanket and tried to place them in the right order. 


Snack:  We started snack time right after circle time today because of our special activity.  We made cookies with our Mommies!  All of the ingredients were pre-measured and placed in containers.  Each child was given an item to place in the bowl.  As the recipe was read aloud, the children took turns placing their items into the mix.  Then they each got to help beat the cookie dough and scoop the cookies onto trays.  When they were ready to eat, we drank milk out of straws with our cookies.

Playtime Activity: While we waited for our cookies to bake, we played Cookie Monster Bingo.  If you don't have this game, you could play any type of bingo game and make small brown circles as cookie bingo markers.

Art Activity: When we finished enjoying our cookies and milk, we laid on the floor and drew pictures of our families on large paper, just like the mouse did in the book!