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Homemade Lemonade

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I’m not a huge fan of lemon, but my kids and hubby love lemonade.  During the school year, I did a cooking unit with my kindergartners and we made fresh squeezed lemonade.  (In all honesty, we squeezed some of the lemons and then used bottled lemon juice when we got tired of squeezing lemons.) Lemonade is really easy to make.  It’s just lemon juice, sugar, and water.  I thought it might be a good recipe to share with my bloggy friends, since the summer days are here and we might need a little cooling off!
Oh, how I love cooking in the classroom with my kids!  They were jumping with joy when they walked in the room and saw lemons and a lemon press.  Of course a few kids yelled, “What are we making Teacher?” (Yes, they still call me Teacher, even at the end of the school year.) I asked them what they thought we should do, and it didn’t take long for the suggestion of LEMONADE to come up!
I started by showing them an online book about lemonade that was on Reading Rainbow.  Our school has a subscription to the service, so I can’t share the link.  Then, we started squeezing lemons.  We needed 2 cups of lemon juice and all of our lemons made about 1/2 of a cup.  At that point I pulled out the bottled lemon juice and told them that we’d take the easy way out to come up with the rest of the juice.  (Although I think they would have squeezed lemons all day if I would have let them.)
Here is the recipe we used:
2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
2 cups lemon juice
1 gallon cold water
Dissolve the sugar in hot water.  Add lemon juice and then cold water.  Stir.
We made our lemonade on a very hot and sunny (by Pacific Northwest Standards) day.  The kids were thrilled with the cold treat and really loved sharing with the recess teachers who are outside for most of the day.  
If you are interested in more lemon activities, here is a post I wrote for LeapFrog Learning Path with more ideas.  Lemony Learning Activities
It might be a good time to break out the lemonade stand and share some lemonade with the neighbors!
Happy lemon squeezing!

LeapPad Platinum Review

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Oh, I can’t even begin to describe my joy when a LeapFrog box arrives in the mail for me!  There are a few LeapFrog products that I absolutely can’t live without in my classroom.

1.  The Letter Factory DVD
I’ve mentioned a time or 100 that this is the best product EVER made by any educational company.  I swear by this video and show it to my kindergarten class until they are singing the little songs that go along with every letter.

2.  The Letter Factory Board Game
Well, duh.  The game goes along with the DVD and it’s just brilliant.  It is no longer made, but you can find them on ebay.

3.  The Tablets
I have now been the proud owner of every single tablet made by LeapFrog, and they just keep getting better.

I use the tablets in my classroom during several times of the day.  I have them available during our Center time for kids to play on, during our Literacy block when I want them using the ebooks, and during our Math Centers.  My favorite thing about the tablets is that even when kids are “just playing” and have no specific activities that I have selected for them, they are still learning all the time!  Kart racing is one of the favorite games for my kids because they can race against each other, while they are each on their own tablet.  Now, you would think that a car race isn’t educational, but in order to power up their cars they have to solve math problems.  I’m telling you, learning is embedded everywhere!

The new LeapPad Platinum is one of the bigger tablets.  The LeapPad, LeapPad2, and LeapPad3 are not quite as large.  Personally, I really like the large screen and hefty feeling of the LeapPad Ultra and the LeapPad Platinum.  The LeapPads are super durable.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many times they are dropped by my kindergartners each day!  My only complaint about the tablet itself is the sylus that is attached.  It has a squishy top on the stylus that is kind of cool, but it was torn up within the first month.  If the stylus is my only complaint, then I’m ok with that!

As for the content, here are a few of my favorite things:

*Kid-Safe Web – LeapSearch is a kid safe web browser that has age appropriate content picked by the LeapFrog Learning Experts.

*New Imagicard Learning Games – Ok, these are pretty cool.  The interactive trading cards come to life on the LeapFrog tablets.  Kids can use the camera to bring their characters to life and unlock more ways to play.

Some of the games include THE LETTER FACTORY (woo hoo!), PAW Patrol, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Ummm, I can hardly wait to see how the kindergarten boys are going to fall in love with the Ninja Turtle game!

*E-books – During our Daily 5 time of our kindergarten literacy block,  I tell the kids that I want them reading or listening to reading.  If they are using the tablets, their only choice is to pick an ebook. Although, I think I will add in the Letter Factory games this year.  There are tons of different options for ebooks.  Frozen is the HUGE favorite, but I also have a space book that is a close second.  I was surprised that the fairy tales stories are not chosen too often and that the Pet Pals IS chosen.  Kids surprise me sometimes.  I often think they will love one thing and then they pick something that I think won’t be a favorite. Here’s a picture of the Sophia the First book.

I’m even able to customize the Ultra Ebooks to the level of the kids in the class.  Now, THAT is a cool feature!

Overall, I have to say this is the best tablet yet!  It’s one of those MUST-HAVE items for young kids.  I use these in my classroom, but my daughter also used them when she was younger.  As I mentioned above, I love that learning is constantly embedded into every single activity.  If there are two things your young kids need, they are: 1) The Letter Factory DVD   2) A LeapPad Tablet – and spend the few extra dollars to buy the bigger one.  You won’t be sorry!

Happy Learning!

**The opinions in this post are all my own.  I was provided a LeapPad Platinum in exchange for reviewing the product.**

Easy 4th Of July Fruit Kabobs

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Happy 4th of July Friends!  Here’s a repost of a favorite 4th of July snack that I wrote from LeapFrog last year!

A few weeks ago my friends at LeapFrog asked for some 4th of July activities.  I’ve been busy, over the past few weeks, getting these ready.  I’ve been creating, writing, and photographing some really fun activities to do with kids.  The 4th of July Fruit Kabobs turned out very pretty.  It was SO easy and involved a trip to the Farmer’s Market for fresh fruit.  What could be better?

(click here to go to the activity)
Several of my 4th of July activities are now posted on Learning Path. If you are not familiar with Learning Path, it’s a website (an an app if you have an ipad or iphone) that provides tons of different activities for kids of all ages.  You just click on the type of activity you are interested in or the age of your child and resources will be right there at your fingertips.  Honestly, I thought it was super-cool even before I was asked to start writing content for the website!
Speaking of writing content for the website, let me just spout off a bit about my happiness!  THIS IS THE COOLEST JOB EVER!  It is SOOOO much fun to get to combine all of the things I’m passionate about.  The activities, articles, and videos I’ve been making for LeapFrog are all about home, family, kids, literacy, artsy-craftsy stuff, early childhood, and trends in education.  I’m constantly reading teacher books, mainly about literacy, and I spend my down-time searching the web for articles about education, home and family, and photography.  I’ve taken a lot of classes too, in addition to my degrees and endorsements, and I’m surprised at how everything has all meshed together in the end.  I have a job (even if it’s just a side job) that incorporates my B.A. in Family and Consumer Science, my M.A. in Reading and Literacy, my endorsements in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education, AND all of the blogging courses and photography courses I’ve taken on my own.  Who knew that all of things I am passionate about could be rolled into one?  I feel so fortunate!
By the way, my kindergarten readiness videos and articles are starting to be rolled out on the Learning Path website too.  If you’re interested, pop on over and check them out.  (I’m totally amazed that they can take 5 hours of video where I ramble on and on, and turn it into a 30 second video that sounds so carefully planned out and rehearsed.)  Like I said, it’s a pretty cool job!
Happy Learning Path web browsing!

Easter Activities For The Kids

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One of my first assignments, when I started working for LeapFrog, was to create some Easter activities for their Learning Path app and website.  They were looking for a range of activities that would work for very young children and something that would be great for the older kids as well.  I came up with three activities including sensory play-doh, sensory egg shakers, and a scappy/artsy card for older kids to try.  The colors in the play-doh eggs made my heart go pitter patter.  Well, after completing this assignment, I sent it off and had the most wonderful response from LeapFrog.  They sent me an email telling me that they loved these activities, photography, and my writing so much that they were going to use these as the cover in their newsletter that was slated to go out to 2.75 million people.  That totally stopped me in my tracks, friends.  It was such a great feeling to know that my work would reach that many people!  Since Easter is coming quickly, I thought it would be a good time to share these again.  You can click on the links, below, to take you to Learning Path and find out the instructions for each of these activities.

Scrappy Easter Egg Card
I hope these activities keep your kids busy and you enjoy them as much as we did!
Happy Easter!

LeapFrog Delivery

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The greatest delivery in the history of free deliveries was waiting on my porch today!  I can’t wait to play around with the LeapPad 3.  I use the LeapPads in my classroom and the kids LOVE them. Plus, I have 5 new games to try out that are perfect for Kindergarten.  
I reviewed the LeapTV a while back (which is really awesome) and after posting my reviews, LeapFrog said they would be sending me the ultimate goody package.  Well, I’d say this really is the ULTIMATE goody package!  Oh, what a happy mail day this is!!!  Thank you, LeapFrog, for making me such a happy teacher!

LeapTV Review

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I was recently given a LeapTV to try out.  The product was provided to me by LeapFrog but the opinions here are all my own.

The LeapTV was sent pre-loaded with several games. Some of the games that were loaded into my LeapTV are normally sold separately, but they were included in ours so we could review them.  The LeapTV comes with 1 controller and I was sent a second controller so we could play partner games.  Kart Racing is always a favorite when played as a 2 player game.
Let me start with the good things.  I will start by telling you that this is SUPER cool.  Yes, we have other gaming systems in the house, but those were made for adults and just sell kid games to go along with them.  The LeapTV was designed just for kids.  It’s made for kids 3-8.  Not only is it made for kids, but it is also the PERFECT learning tool/gaming cross!  Kids combine activity and movement with educational curriculum.  So, your child might be playing the Spiderman game and all of a sudden they have to find all of the capital letters in order to gain more power, or find the capital letter A that is facing the right direction.  The cool thing about LeapFrog technology is that it is self-leveling.  So, your child might start out at a standard kindergarten level, but then if they breeze through things, the game will level up to a “just right” academic level.  In the same way, if your child is getting lots of answers wrong, it will level itself down to a more comfortable level.  Let me tell you, “just right levels” make this teacher very happy.  I was also thrilled with the kindergarten level skills I was seeing.  They were things that we are currently working on in the kindergarten clasroom!

The LeapTv has three different ways to play.  It uses body motion with a camera that senses movement, the regular controller which you play with the A and B button and the little joystick movement button, or you can convert the controller to a pointer and you kind of use it like a magic wand.  
The games that you can purchase are of high interest to kids.  They have games like Spiderman, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Sophia the First, a LeapFrog Sports game, and LeapFrog Dance.  We loved the sports games the best.
Now for the negative stuff.  We wished that the controller had another “notch” so you could open it up a bit more, for larger hands.  There were a couple of sport games that would pause and wouldn’t let us get out of that spot.  We ended up turning off that machine and turning it back on, and then just skipping that particular activity.  There were plenty of other activities, so it wasn’t a big deal.  We also had trouble with lighting at first.  We started playing with the windows open and the bright light behind us made it hard for the sensor to read.  My 13 year old was the first one to say, “Well, duh… you’re supposed to close the blinds when you play video games so the sensor doesn’t have to work so hard.”  Well, apparently that was a DUH moment that I would have understood if I spent any amount of time on the x-box.”  Oh, and it actually mentions that in the directions but I missed that part.  That was a mom-error I guess. Looking at the big picture, the negatives were really very minor and not a big deal.  
One thing I noticed in playing this system was the lack of frustration.  I remember when we first bought our Wii, X-Box, and Playstation (no, we don’t have all of those anymore), and the frustration my kids had.  I remember my husband coming to rescue many times because we couldn’t get Franklin to the picnic or couldn’t get Dora to fly where she was supposed to go.  Those gaming systems were HARD for little people.  The thing I love about LeapTV is that it’s made just for kids.  When something is made for kids and it’s just the right level, the frustration is gone and it’s all about pure learning fun!

If you are looking for a gaming system for the 3-8 year old crowd, look no further than LeapTV.  It is absolutely awesome.  I’ve told people that it’s the best thing LeapFrog has come out with since The Letter Factory DVD.  If you know me, you know how much I love The Letter Factory.  I love that this combines easy to play games that kids love with LEARNING!  I also love the self leveling that comes with LeapFrog products.  It’s pretty cool!  
Happy gaming and learning!

Back From Dallas and Ready To Tell You All About It

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I’m back from Dallas!  I have lots to share about the conference itself, but I think I’ll do that on my Literacy Blog.  I’m not sure everyone wants hear about the current trends in early childhood, songs to engage young children, or about the authors I heard speak.  If you’re interested in seeing a few cool photos of Dallas, you’re in the right place.
This is the hotel  I stayed at.  It was in the historic district and I thought it was really cool.  The sign said it was built in 1925.  It had old doors and door knobs, which I love.  The elevator made a really old sounding ding at each floor. 
The city was beautiful and filled with lights.
I was kind of in love with the buildings.  This one was the building I looked at when I walked out the front door of the hotel.
These next two pictures are the views from my hotel room.  Yes, that’s blue sky and sunshine out there too!  This Seattle native couldn’t have been happier.

Just down the street from my hotel was this building.  Recognize it?  Look one floor down from the top, all the way to the right.  See how that window looks like it’s open and there are a few boxes in the window?  That’s the window that Lee Harvey Oswald stood in.
 This is the old School Book Depository.
I had to really hurry to be able to see the building and museum.  My last class ended at 4:30 on Thursday and they let the last visitor in at 5:15.  I ran back to my hotel, changed my shoes, dropped off my bag, and hustled down the street.  Luckily, my hotel was only about 2 blocks away.  The lady at the front desk told me to go to the 7th floor first because it was the only floor I could take pictures on and it was getting dark.  
When I got to the 7th floor, it was completely empty.  The only person there was the security guard.  He told me I was really lucky because normally there would be 50-150 in that room with me. It was kind of eerie.  The only sound I could hear was my shoes, as I was walking. I stood in the corner window and saw the same view that Lee Harvey Oswald did.  Honestly, I got a little choked up.  I don’t know if it was seeing the same view or the eerie silence, but it got to me a bit.  I wasn’t even born when it happened, but it felt overwhelming to be in a spot where such an historic event took place.  

As you look out the window, down toward the road, you can see that car driving along.  That is just about the exact spot where John F. Kennedy was when he was shot and killed.
Really, the only thing in this room is the view and two large pictures. I went to the 6 floor, where the shooting took place, and went through the guided tour of the museum.  I wish I could have taken pictures there too, but that’s not allowed.

Here’s the view, looking down the other street, so you can see how close my hotel is.  It’s the smaller white building on the left.
As you walk down the sidewalk in the spot Kennedy was shot, you can see two X’s.  They mark the spots  on the road where he was hit.
I guess I always thought that exact spot would be turned into a tribute area or something, but it shocked me that it was just a road with 2 white X’s.

This is a view from across the street.  The far grassy area is the “grassy knoll” that you always hear about.

I can’t even begin to tell you what a cool trip this was.  Being asked to help present at the NAEYC conference was overwhelmingly awesome.  Staying in an historic building with an amazing amount of history right down the street just pushed the trip’s level of awesomeness over the top.
Thanks, LeapFrog, for the opportunity of a lifetime!

LeapFrog LeapBand Review

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Most of you know that I’ve been lucky enough to work with LeapFrog in two ways over the past year or so.  I’ve been writing content and taking photos for their Learning Path site for several months now, which has been an absolute dream come true! I’ve also been part of their network of bloggers who review new products.  The first job, as a writer and photographer, is a paid position.  The second job, as a product review, is not paid.  They just send me products and I tell my readers what I think, coming from the perspective of a teacher and a mom.  So, the opinions you read here are completely my own.  I’m not paid for posting about the new LeapBand.  I was simply given the product to review and share my honest opinions.

Now that the legal stuff is out of the way, let’s get to that “honest” part.  I was super excited to get the LeapBand in the mail.  I had heard a little about the concept of the LeapBand and couldn’t wait to see what LeapFrog would do with the idea.  As you might know, I think LeapFrog is THE MOST brilliant company on the face of the Earth when it comes to educational toys for kids.  I was a HUGE fan even before I worked for them.  So, the LeapBand arrived and I let my daughter play around with it first. (She’s 10, by the way, which is past the recommended age of 4-7 for this product.)  She opened it up, played around with it for about 3 minutes and said, “Hmmm.  I guess little kids might like it.”  Usually, with any new LeapFrog toy, she will at least show some interest.  After she tossed it aside, I decided to play around with it and – honestly – I thought it was slightly better than ok, but not the coolest thing LeapFrog has ever come out with. (Keep reading because things do get better!)

I played around with the LeapBand for a few more days, and I’m glad I did.  Not only did I learn a few things by playing with it, but I learned a TON by watching a few different online video reviews.

Cool LeapBand Facts:

*It’s the first activity tracker for kids!  I see people wearing activity trackers all the time and hear about how cool they are.  I’ve always kind of wanted one, but haven’t actually bought one yet.  If you were a “fit band” type of family, and you had a young, 4-7 year old, child… wouldn’t it be cool to have a an activity tracker just for the kids?  You can even connect it to the computer to track data and play with the settings.

*It visually shows activity done throughout the day. There is a little bar that colors itself in as you move.  The more you move, the more it lights up. It encourages kids to move and be active!

*The activity challenges are pretty cute.  I think I might need to put this band on the wrist of a few of my kindergarten students.  I can just see it now – sitting in Writer’s Workshop and all of a sudden I hear, “Jump like a kangaroo!”  I can name a handful of my little friends who would LOVE (and need) one of these!

*It doubles as a watch.  I had trouble with this feature at first.  For some reason, it wouldn’t let me set the time.  I finally noticed that I had checked a box on the computer setting that wasn’t allowing me to set the time.  Not only is it an activity tracker, but it’s also a watch, and it’s a personal pet you can take along with you all day long!  How cute is that?

*There is a great app called Petathlon.  You download the app on your phone, sign in with your email and LeapFrog password and you unlock new games to play that connect with your LeapBand.  It gives you “fit” advice and tips along the way as well. It even connects with your LeapFrog Tablet!

(Screen shot from my phone)

To sum it up, at first I thought it was good product, but not great.  After playing around, I’m thinking this is a keeper!  For the price of $39.99, this is kind of awesome!  It does SO much more than I expected.  I really think I might try this out in my classroom with a few of my bouncy friends.  Nice job LeapFrog!  This new product is pretty cool. (And I’m sorry I doubted you momentarily!)

Grow Your Own Pizza, Lemonade, and A Sensory Garden

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I get so excited each week when my friends at LeapFrog update the Learning Path app and website. New activities are posted every week and the app will even sort them out by age of your child. This week there are a few different activities I’ve written and photographed on the website. (Squeeeel!  I get SO excited to see me work on LeapFrog!) One of my favorites is the Grow Your Own Pizza activity.

My Lemonade Stand thematic exploration is also on there.  This was one of my favorite activities to take the photos for. Lemons and lemonade are just so pretty.
My Summer Sensory Garden was my favorite activity of ALL TIME to put together, and now my garden bench looks so pretty.
I hope you’ll stop by the LeapFrog Learning Path Website and check them out.  I also have a LeapFrog Pinterest Page where I post some of my favorite activities from the website.  
Happy learning!

4th of July Fruit Kabobs at LeapFrog Learning Path

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A few weeks ago my friends at LeapFrog asked for some 4th of July activities.  I’ve been busy, over the past few weeks, getting these ready.  I’ve been creating, writing, and photographing some really fun activities to do with kids.  The 4th of July Fruit Kabobs turned out very pretty.  It was SO easy and involved a trip to the Farmer’s Market for fresh fruit.  What could be better?

(click here to go to the activity)
Several of my 4th of July activities are now posted on Learning Path. If you are not familiar with Learning Path, it’s a website (an an app if you have an ipad or iphone) that provides tons of different activities for kids of all ages.  You just click on the type of activity you are interested in or the age of your child and resources will be right there at your fingertips.  Honestly, I thought it was super-cool even before I was asked to start writing content for the website!
Speaking of writing content for the website, let me just spout off a bit about my happiness!  THIS IS THE COOLEST JOB EVER!  It is SOOOO much fun to get to combine all of the things I’m passionate about.  The activities, articles, and videos I’ve been making for LeapFrog are all about home, family, kids, literacy, artsy-craftsy stuff, early childhood, and trends in education.  I’m constantly reading teacher books, mainly about literacy, and I spend my down-time searching the web for articles about education, home and family, and photography.  I’ve taken a lot of classes too, in addition to my degrees and endorsements, and I’m surprised at how everything has all meshed together in the end.  I have a job (even if it’s just a side job) that incorporates my B.A. in Family and Consumer Science, my M.A. in Reading and Literacy, my endorsements in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education, AND all of the blogging courses and photography courses I’ve taken on my own.  Who knew that all of things I am passionate about could be rolled into one?  I feel so fortunate!
By the way, my kindergarten readiness videos and articles are starting to be rolled out on the Learning Path website too.  If you’re interested, pop on over and check them out.  (I’m totally amazed that they can take 5 hours of video where I ramble on and on, and turn it into a 30 second video that sounds so carefully planned out and rehearsed.)  Like I said, it’s a pretty cool job!
Happy Learning Path web browsing!