Learned Tot: Think Inside the Box

Apparently much like summer reading, summer learning is all the rage. To keep our own tots on their toes we stocked up on workbooks and educational toys reside in the living room for easy access.This year we are also trying something different. Each evening we assemble "the boxes." Each sturdy box (we had a few Brooks Brothers boxes laying around waiting for a purpose) is an activity with a slip explaining the task and all the necessary provisions. Each box has a theme and the contents of the box are usually a surprise. Here are some that proved popular with the Klatch youngsters:


This strange mammal is aardvark (a mammal). 

Special Assignment: Animals (Parent Involvement: MEDIUM to HIGH)
Supplies: sheets of animals stickers (pulled from a sticker book) and firm paper and labeled "mammals," "reptiles," "amphibians," "birds," "fish," and "insects." Tot's job is to organize animal stickers putting them where they belong. If you have not discussed animal classes before, including a book would be helpful (or National Geographic has a great online resource about different animal types).

Skills: in addition to learning about biology, this box is an opportunity to teach new vocabulary, logic (sorting animals where they belong) and critical thinking (like debating where the lobster belongs).

Beading a pattern was a favorite at our house - and it was the simplest to put together!

Special Assignment: Bead a Pattern (Parent Involvement: LOW)
Supplies: shoelaces and plastic pony beads; Tot's assignment is to make patterns lacing beads on the shoelaces. You can either provide a list of simple patterns (ie green-pink-green-pink) or let them create their own.

Skills: fine motor skills and math reasoning.

You could also include modeling clay to make terracotta warriors.

Special Assignment: China (Parent Involvement: MEDIUM-HIGH)
Supplies: With boxes spotlighting a country the variety is really endless. Here are a few ideas from Michael's (yes, the one that sells every imaginable craft supply). In addition to the craft (a coloring page of Chinese flag), this box included a book about the Terracotta Army and assignment to build the Great Wall of China using wooden blocks.

Skills: Geography, History, Art - check out Geography post for more ideas

Here are some additional ready-made kits to consider:

• Kiwi Crates are available as subscriptions - way cool packaging thought looking at the sample crates these kits veer more towards crafts than our own tots like.
• Highlights Top Secret Adventures - these are packets of "whodunit" variety set around the world. The clues lead to answers. The kits are for 7+ kids so while younger set will enjoy the journey, be prepared for more hands-on involvement.
• Little Passports - I am a fan of this around the world adventure subscription concept.

June: Summer on My Mind

Summer, sweet summer. I have been so preoccupied that I have quite neglected Klatch. So time to make up with June picks filled with summer memories.

For starters watermelons, the bright red ripe goodness. To this day I remember my cousin, seven or eight at the time, slinking away from the kitchen table after one too many slices and trotting towards the lavatory. Only this year, for the very first time, did I attempt to elevate watermelon to new heights.

Turns out a splash of olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, black pepper, and some chopped basil turn watermelon into summer party worthy side dish. Many recipes call for mint by the way, which does sound so very refreshing, but there is no mint to be had in my scrappy little herb garden so Basil genovese it was. Grapefruit chunks added a nice burst of acidity. Don't believe me? Check out this watermelon salad from Marcus Samuelsson.



The Merchant's Wife - 1918 painting by Boris Kustodiev

 Around here we are fond of books, reading them and about them. And summer books are like a burst of warm moist air that hits you when you leave air conditioned building. Sure, you could stick with tried and true, like Georgette Heyer. Or you could try Jasper Fforde poolside. Fforde's Thursday Next saga is terribly clever, with word play and books within book references. A book lover's book. Where else does a heroine befriend generic characters, hop around literary classics (in them that is), and has a kid fluent in Lorem Ipsum? Check it out.



The Well of Lost Plots - this one was one of my favorites! Thursday Next hangs out in the well of Unpublished Books, fights grammasites and eavesdrops on gossip about Anna Karenina.


Lastly, let me leave you with a wine pick. Vino Verde, usually Portuguese, isn't a serious wine, it is crispy and effervescent. Perfect just out of the fridge, a bust of freshness on a hot day. And at $6-7 a pop, surly you cannot afford NOT to stock up. Gazela or Casal Garcia are sure picks (despite the garish labels).

Chilled on its own or with food, crisp and refreshing.

• Check out other wine picks

Learned Tot: Feelings

 Discussions about feelings are just too squishy for my taste, too imprecise and smacking of self indulgence. It came as a surprise that one ought to educate tots about feelings much like teaching letters and counting. Telling one's offspring to 'get over it and carry on' would be considered callous and so here are some resources for the parents of my ilk.

First come Kimochis. In the little dolls we found a hip way to compartmentalize and, truth be told, open conversations that do not come naturally. Kimochis is Japanese for feelings and are possibly the only emotional-education toy in the market that actually looks fun.

Kimochis characters have a little pouch to hold their feelings. Meet cloud. Sometimes he is happy. And when he is happy the world is happy with him.

Parent Involvement: VARIES, just depends on you and the tot.

And sometimes cloud is sad - presto, quick spin of the head and he is frowning. Admittedly rotating happy/sad head reminded me of the Voldermort scene in the first Harry Potter movie.

Get it? It's the same dolly as above just with his head spun around.

If happy/sad doesn't cover it, there are options, from curious to loved and everything in between.

There is no shortage of books on feelings. Here are two we like. First, My Many Colored Days from Seuss because it relates feelings to colors.

And who doesn't love the crabby pigeon? Especially since he is no goody-goody.

You might also like:

• Learned Tot Astronomy
• Learned Tot Human Body
• Learned Tot Geography

Wednesday: Butterflies by an Edwardian Lady

If Persephone store ever comes to U.S. what a lovely place that would be to spend a rainy afternoon. And their blog is not too shabby often featuring lovely works of art by unknown artists, many of them women.

I do love art plates of insects and flowers. This plate featured on Persephone Post came from an antique rather dull book by an Edwardian Lady. But the meticulous watercolors are lovely.

Until next Wednesday!

Learned Tot: Human Body

Gotta be honest, anatomy is not my favorite subject. Reading about pancreas is a sure way to lose one's appetite. Thankfully human body subject is often covered in preschool.  Here are a few of our favorite resources.

"Can you please get me swine flu?"  You don't hear that every day. But several of these plush guys, including the ever-precious brain cell, made it to our Amazon wish list. You can round out your tot's collection of cells with models of their favorite diseases - ulcer, herpes, gangrene, syphilis, pneumonia.

Parent Involvement: LOW but you may find yourself explaining a range of horrid diseases.

Of course this won't substitute Gray's Anatomy but the Skeleton floor puzzle is an accessible way to teach wee ones about major bones in the body. 

Parent Involvement: VARIES - depending on aptitude for puzzles and age.

Our latest download, Human Anatomy App (Free!). Some reviewers complain that 29 bones isn't nearly enough to learn about skull. But there is plenty to introduce major muscle groups and digestive system to the tot and pick up a thing or two yourself.

Parent Involvement: HIGH

"I want a statue of the brain!" We quite like the look of anatomy models around here, though they are itty-bitty for little hands to manipulate.

Parent Involvement: VARIES

We do not have any of The Magic School Bus books around here - junior Klatch set doesn't seem as keen on it, but I quite like the idea of a journey through the digestive system on a yellow bus.

Parent Involvement: HIGH, unless child is of reading age

Of course there is the inescapable Basher book that covers major body functions and structures and even DNA and T Cells in an engaging and easy to understand way.

Parent Involvement: HIGH, unless child is of reading age

Other useful links:

• Human Body activities from Sid the Science Kid. Digestion Investigation is our favorite!
• Science of Human Body - ideas on educating your kids from PBS Parents website

You might also enjoy Astronomy and  Geography resources.

May:Bookish Picks

I love books, is it not obvious? So May's picks are about books of all different kinds.


First, of course we must mention The Wild Things. Even with a twinge of sadness, it is magical.  There is a version read by the author on B&N Storytime. Good-bye, Maurice Sendak.

My other favorite is In The Night Kitchen.

Onto cookbooks. I've been pondering BabyCakes from Erin McKenna - cupcakes and cookies, gluten-free and mostly vegan. But more about that later this month.

Xanthan Gum has firmly established itself in my vocabulary

I am about half-way through E.F. Benson's Queen Lucia. Setting: Provincial English town between the two World Wars. Cast of characters includes a Guru/Curry Cook, an opera diva, and brash sisters Ursy and Hermy. It is hilarious, get your free e-copy from Gutenberg!

Lastly, I ran across DailyLit website that delivers books, mostly free, into your inbox or reader in itty-bitty chunks. Perhaps it is time to tackle Proust after all.


More of my book picks are here

Wednesday: HRH by Lucian Freud

I have been slacking all April but Wednesdays are back with Lucian Freud's depiction of HRH Queen Elizabeth.  Because he is related to the other Freud and has a way with a paintbrush and she is thoroughly modern.


I don't know where the portrait actually resides but this came from BBC. Apparently there is come controversy about the depiction but I like it!