Green Eggs and Ham Activities

To commemorate Dr.Seuss’s birthday many families and schools like to focus on Seuss activities in the month of March.  I am a big fan of Dr. Seuss because I think he taught extraordinary lessons to children all while entertaining them with his whimsical rhymes.   Here are some activities to go along with his “Green Eggs and Ham” book:

1.       Make scrambled eggs with green food coloring

This is very simple but kids love it.  Just make scrambled eggs as you always would but add a few drops a green food coloring to it.  Some kids will love it and gobble it up.  For those that don’t I’ve also put the eggs in a sensory table and just let them play with them. 

2.       Make a list of food the child likes and one the child doesn’t like

This is a great opportunity to have your child try new foods.  Talk about some foods the child doesn’t like but hasn’t tried.  Since the main character in the story is brave enough to try something new it may encourage your child to do the same.  This is a great activity for a picky eater.

3.       Have a food tasting, trying all new exotic foods

I like to pick easy foods my child hasn’t tried before like exotic fruits or different kinds of cheeses.  Encourage them to use all of their senses, noting the colors of the food, what it smells like, and the texture of it.  I’ve even made charts so we can decide which one we’d like to eat again.
Food Tasting Chart

4.       Pick out the rhyming words and make rhyming cards

Each card should have the word written on it as well as a picture, you can decide how much of the work the child should do based on age.  Once the cards are completed you can play the memory game.   Just turn all of the cards over and take turns flipping them over two at a time.  If the words rhyme you get a pair if not turn them back over and let the other person go.

5.       Continue the rhyme

After you’re done reading the book help the child think of more rhymes, for example, “would you like it at a game, would you like it in a frame?”  This is a good opportunity to get silly while learning.

6.       Green Eggs and Ham Word Search

I added a word search for you to print below.
Word Search

7.       Play an online game

This is a link to a cute Green Eggs and Ham game:

Green Eggs and Ham Game

8.   Watch the movie

Here’s a link to a good youtube.com video:
Green Eggs and Ham Movie

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Follow Friday: The Upbeat Dad

Well, the name says it all: The Upbeat Dad.  This is a great blog because Rodrick Walters tells it like it is but in such a positive way!  This is the first thing you see when you go to his site: Welcome! The Upbeat Dad is for all who believe in the positive influence fathers can have on kids' lives! Dads, moms, kids, everybody's welcome! Come back often because we're "Excited About Fatherhood!"  Let me tell you, his message is true, if you visit this blog you will come back often.  He is a divorced dad who remarried and now successfully blends his wife, daughter from his first marriage, and a new baby.  Although this is great site for parents dealing with divorce, remarriage, and blended familes because he has great advice on those subjects, it is also a site that is just about a dad who loves fatherhood and family.  Anyone who adores their children and puts their family first can relate to his blog and find something interesting to read.

Blog:
http://www.theupbeatdad.com/

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Upbeat-Dad/137381369641934

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/theupbeatdad

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Children's Book Review: The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff

“The Thing about Georgie” By Lisa Graff is a book about a fourth grade boy who struggles with being different.  He is a dwarf and at 42 inches is about as tall as he will ever get.  He deals with fights with his best friend, jealousy, a class bully, a crush on a pretty girl, and his parents having a new baby. 

The book evolves along with Georgie's understanding of the world and the people in it.  It starts out telling us the things Georgie can’t do because he is a dwarf.  Each person is labeled based on their surface looks or personality.  Then we begin to learn the things Georgie can do that others can do.  This is when Georgie begins to realize that we are all the same in many ways which joins us as human beings.  In the end we find out what Georgie can do that most people can't.  This is the final stage when Georgie realizes that although we are the same in many ways our differences are what make us special and unique.  Each and every one of us is exceptional. 

I would highly recommend this book.  It was an easy read and I found myself tearing up at the end.  Kid-friendly information about dwarfism is provided.  Information and understanding on a particular subject promotes acceptance and understanding.  Since my son has a child in his class with dwarfism I felt this was a book that could educate kids without preaching to them.  It contains important lessons for children about acceptance and not judging other by their cover.  This is a great message for children.



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Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Lyudmila Sizova who is the winner of the Less Than Perfect Parents Valentine's Day Giveaway!  I wish  I could have given everyone a prize because some of you left such sweet comments and every mom deserves a little something special!

I appreciate everyone who entered and I'll be having another similar giveaway in May for Mother's Day so stay tuned!

Ways to Laugh with your Child

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. 

~Victor Borge

      One thing I am so guilty of as a parent is being an overachiever.  I spend a lot of time accomplishing things and helping my child accomplish things.  I spend plenty of time with my son but much of it is studying, helping with homework, practicing piano, cooking healthy foods, cleaning and doing chores, practicing for whatever sport he’s involved in that season or driving him around.  In this day and age how much time do we give to our children just doing nothing or being silly?  I have a few activities that I’ve been doing with my family that is accomplishing absolutely nothing but having fun and bringing on some laughter.  Actually I’m lying, some of them do help kids learn skills, which I’ve listed here,  but I PROMISE that’s not why I’m doing them!!!  To tell you the truth I think pretty much any activity you do with your child is teaching them SOMETHING, whether you’re trying to or not.

1.    Buy a joke book and read the jokes to them or if they’re old enough, take turns reading the jokes to each other. (Helps, obviously, with reading aloud and reading comprehension)

2.    Have a silly photo shoot-make silly faces and poses. (Teaches kids you are weird and not even slightly cool-don’t worry, they were going to figure that out anyway)

3.    Tongue twisters (Helps with language development)

·         Double bubble gum, bubbles double.

·      Which watch did which witch wear and which witch wore which watch?

·         An Ape hates grape cakes.

·         Rubber baby-buggy bumpers.

·         Black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?

4.    Mad Libs (Teaches parts of speech and reading aloud)

Mad libs are a word substitution game invented in the fifties. The game is played by creating a word list that is inserted into a story. After the new words are inserted into the story it usually creates a wacky and hilarious story that brings laughter to all listening.

You can buy books and do them by hand but here are a few online ones too:

http://www.itsamadlibsworld.com/

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

What do you do to get silly with your kids?

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Follow Friday: Stress Free Kids

It’s Friday and each week I’m doing a post on a great blog to follow.  This week’s blog is Stress Free Kids by Lori Lite.  Stress Free Kids is focused on “helping children, teens, and adults decrease stress, anxiety, and anger.”  One of the reasons I value Lori so much is that I truly believe her mission in life is to help others, especially children, and making money is secondary to that goal.

Her blog features great articles on how to be a great caregiver without all the stress!  She also has a line of books and CD’s that would benefit both parents and teachers who want to create a calm environment for the children in their care.  Even her tweets are the best around, I always feel like she says something calming just as I’m getting stressed!  I’m not sure how she does it!

Blog:

www.stressfreekids.com/blog

Website:

www.stressfreekids.com

Twitter:

www.twitter.com/stressfreekids

Facebook

www.facebook.com/stressfreekids

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Valentine's Day Giveaway!

To celebrate Valentine’s Day I want to give a gift to my readers to show my love and appreciation!  Since I can’t buy everyone a gift (but believe me I would if I could) I am going to give a $25 Pottery Barn Kids Gift Certificate to one of my followers! 

To enter:

1. Follow Less Than Perfect Parents one of the following ways:
• Google Friend Connect
• Networked Blogs
• Email Subscription-You will receive an email with a confirmation link (Make sure you check your spam folder).  You must confirm to be eligible. 
2. Leave a comment below

You can sign up until noon EST on Valentine’s Day 2/14/2011.  I’ll send the winner an email within 24 hours.

*Judging: Less Than Perfect Parents will choose a winner based on a random drawing of comments below.

*Winner has 72 hours to claim prize.

Good luck everyone!

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Little Black Dress

"Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman."

~Coco Chanel 

With Valentine's Day coming up we all need something we can wear to wow that special someone in our lives.  A black dress is the easiest, most flattering way to look great for a special night out!   Once kids come into the picture it's harder to spend time looking our best.  Here are a few dresses that are perfect for those times when you have nothing to wear! 

Date Night/Party Dresses

Tadashi Rushed Matte Jersey Dress-$298

Ralph Lauren "Sheila" Empire Dress-SALE $107 

Aiden Mattox 'Cold Shoulder' Sequin Dress-$295

Wedding/Special Event

JS Boutique Strapless Ruched Satin Dress-$98

Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique Ruched Jersey Dress-$108

Ralph Lauren "Aurelia" Cap-Sleeve Dress-SALE $112

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Follow Friday: jmbthinks

Every Friday I will be featuring a blog that I think is really worth following.  This week I picked jmbthinks.  This blog is by Janis Meredith who's blog is aimed at "helping you on your journey of sports, family, faith, and life."  She is married to a coach of 27 years and has three kids who are actively involved in sports.  This gives her the unique perspective of life from both sides of the bench, as a coach's wife and as an athlete's parent. 

I personally love this blog because I am a girly girl raising a boyish boy who loves every sport out there.  I can't even count how many of her posts have helped me out!  Her advice ranges from how to help your kids in each sport to Super Bowl party ideas to dealing with the emotional aspects of having a child playing sports.  She even helps you ladies who aren't into the sporting scene at all (Pink jerseys to get us girls geared up for the game sounds fun to me)!

If you have anyone in your family who's involved in sports at all, from players to just men who watch from the couch, this is a great blog to follow.

Blog:
jmbthinks.com
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/jmbthinks
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/sportsparenting

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