The Simplest Scissor Safety Tip Ever

Flowers are Pretty

I have always enjoyed watching young children discover flowers. In our family, dandelions have always been a first opportunity for them to touch and learn about flowers. As toddlers, my children would pluck the yellow heads off the plant and pull the yellow petals apart. Usually when they were doing that, I would pick them by the stems and make a small bouquet to offer.

I suppose that is how they learned to hold a flower by the stem.

Scissors!

At home, my children loved the power of scissors. As we learned our way around the tool, I found myself (like many parents I assume) worried when they walked with the tool in hand. "Where were they going?" you ask. Well, usually if they were walking with scissors it was because they had been working on a project and wanted to cut something. They left the table, walked to our art cart, got the scissors and turned to head back to their working spot. 

Independent Workers

I fast realized that my children are so confident in knowing what they want and sure that they can do it themselves that I would have to come up with some safety rules. I wouldn't always be able to be sitting with them and offering to fetch the scissors on their behalf, nor should I.

A Reasonable and Easy Safety Rule

The problem I faced was how to explain to a child the best way to hold scissors. As I demonstrated to hold the scissors by the blade, I looked at my hand. I saw how the scissors looked like a small bouquet of flowers and I knew I had it. I explained:

The safe way to hold scissors (when you are not cutting) is like this. 

Pretend the scissors are a flower. 

Here is the stem, here is the flower.

This rule was what came from using positive language combined with our experience of picking flowers. 

"Positive language?" you ask. In essence, you say what you want from your child instead of what you don't want. For example:

Instead of saying "No running!" you say "Use your walking feet!"

and now

"Hold the scissors like a flower."

Magna-Tiles: They Aren't Just for Building Houses

Three years ago, I wrote this about great toys:

              A well-designed toy is the right toy time and time again. It scaffolds different lessons at different times.

              A well-designed toy has lasting and evolving value in the eyes of a child (and his or her parent, too).

At the time I was writing about wooden blocks. I marveled at all the ways my children used them and how their play with wooden blocks evolved over time.

Well, in our family, Magna-Tiles have had even more staying power than wooden blocks! Here are six surprising ways Magna-Tiles get used in my house.

One: First Exploration of Volume and Shape
This exercise never ceases to amaze me. A child has two Magna-Tiles, puts them together, and takes them apart. Two squares placed side-by-side become a rectangle and then squares again. Two squares placed on top of one another make a small stack, reminiscent of maths lessons in volume and space.

Read the rest at Fat Brain Toys...

How to be Creative When You're Not Creative

Togetherness. We love it. There are few things sweeter than hearing my four-year-old daughter ask, “Mama, will you play with me?”

It usually happens after she has been entertaining herself while I have been cooking. But that is kind of an awkward time because I am tiring out from the work of life and wishing for some downtime at the same time she’s craving attention and running out of her own creative power.

Make the Dolls Talk!
In fact, her request is almost always, “Will you make the dolls talk?”

This type of pretend play is a wonderful and important part of development. The back-and-forth of conversation between the dolls is an important lesson in communication and turn-taking. The subjects we discuss lend themselves well to social-emotional learning. Plus, it is fun.

However, sometimes my daughter is just spent and my job is to bring all the creative power to the play. I have to be creative when I am not feeling creative.

Read the answer at Fat Brain Toys...

Avant Garden: Seven Botanical Sculptures Inspired by Haute Couture

Vacation Tradition
Whenever we visit Ann Arbor, we make a trip to the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens. In the summers we spend most of our time in the Children's Garden building and exploring. In the winter, we look forward to the original exhibits in the conservatory.

Exhibits in Nature
This year's exhibit did not disappoint. I wandered through the conservatory with my little family, my mother-in-law and my sister and her husband. The theme? Fashion. We walked up and down the paths in search of seven fantasy outfits made from plants and organic materials. To our delight and surprise, there were a dozen other small treasures to spy - tiny dresses that could fit in the palm of my hand made from silk florals and imitation berries, bark, etc.

To Share with You
Since we're big fans of exploring nature, I had to share this discovery here, with you. (I asked permission to share these pictures with the staff at the gardens.) So without further adieu I offer you images from the University of Michigan's Avant Garden...

Avant Garden

Weaving Fashion & NatureTogether

Avant Garden brings to life the connection between plants and fashion. Seven fantasy outfits adorn the conservatory, each incorporating plant materials such as succulents, Spanish moss, ferns, and poinsettias. The result is topiary couture that ignites the imagination. Permission to try this at home!

Below are the fairy-sized garments we spotted on our journey...

Last but not least... This isn't fashion inspired per se but a fairy-sized castle made out of empty sparkling water cans screams "PRINCESS ENGINEERING!"

Setting the Tone for the New Year
I love everything about these treasures offered by the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens. The way they weave together art and nature echoes how they weave together knowledge and whimsy, which I think are key features for inviting people of all ages to explore, to learn, and to celebrate creativity. And I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of the new year.

Happy New Year!

How Custom Decorative Bows Make Gifts All the More Amazing

Pint-sized Independence at the Pumpkin Patch

In October, I wrote a story about finding a safe and appropriate place to let young children have complete freedom to make choices for themselves at the pumpkin patch. It is based on the premise that children learn to make good decisions by practicing making decisions, not following directions.

Past the Pumpkin Patch: Gift-Giving

The pumpkin patch isn't the only place that is low risk, high reward for inviting a young child to have full creative license. Any time you wrap a gift is also a good time to stop trying to control everything and let your child do it.. Since October, this is the first opportunity our family has had for a blog-worthy 

It was the day before Christmas. I had finished putting wrapping paper and labels on all the gifts I would be giving the next day. I turned to the box of bows and ribbons and thought, "I bet my daughter would like to do this with me." It was another opportunity to bite my tongue and let my daughter have free reign over something. (A rare thing when we are constrained by travel during the holidays.) 

Custom Bows

I invited her in to the gift-wrapping room. "Would you like to help me decorate the gifts with bows?" I asked. I imagined her choosing one bow for each gift, putting some tape on it, sticking it on the wrapped box, and being done. 

But no.

My daughter looked at the materials: bows, ribbons, yarn, tape, scissors, and saw an opportunity to be creative. Luckily, I wasn't in a hurry and I could stand by, watch in amazement, and be her assistant. 

Amazing Adornments

She proceeded to surprise me with her artistic aesthetic: 

• Ribbon was cut and wrapped only part-way around the box (the front, not the back). 
• Some ribbon was sliced up the middle into two strips of narrow sparkle. 
• Colors were certainly NOT coordinated with the wrapping paper. 
• In fact, when yarn and ribbon were alternated to make candy-cane stripes across the entire package, the paper was redundant.
• Tape was used down the middle of things instead of on the edges or hiding discretely underneath things. 

What resulted was a collection of completely custom-designed, hand-made adornments for our family. Treasures, indeed.

A Variety of Materials, Plus LOTS of Tape

If you're ready to hand over the job of decorating gifts to your young child then you'll need a couple of things:

• Patience (possibly in the form of a glass of wine while you watch your child work)
• An open mind
• Materials for decorating: stickers, ribbon, scissors, (developmentally-appropriate arts/crafts stuff).
• Tape. Lots and lots of tape.

Gift-giving is the kind of thing that happens year-round at birthdays, Thursdays, and holidays. I invite you to make time and space for your child to help make the gifts even more special, more unique, than you can probably imagine they could ever be.

It's Hers Now: the Unexpected Life Lessons of Gift-Giving

In the fall of 2015, my family listened to an audio recording of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. All of us enjoyed hearing how four children discovered a magical portal to the world of Narnia. First, the youngest child accidentally found her way to Narnia. Then the second-youngest child went by himself. Finally all four children went to the magical world together, explored, and ultimately became kings and queens. It was a wonderful examination of the paradox of humanity (especially childhood): becoming independent individuals within a group.

Around the same time we were listening to the story, I found inspiration for making peg dolls. Instantly, I felt the pull of my creative impulse. I knew I had to make peg dolls of Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter and the White Witch to give to my daughter, who loves dolls. Paired with a wooden lion, it would be perfect.

Read the rest at Fat Brain Toys...

The Best Way to Use Old Marker Ink - Paint the Snow!

Dried Up Markers
A couple months ago I explained how you can salvage ink in dried up markers. By putting them in bottles of water and letting the ink leach out into the bottle, you can create liquid water colors.

Mediocre Watercolors on Paper --> Color the Snow
In that post, you can see that the water colors do not make terribly vivid colors on paper. However, that isn't why I make these liquid water colors. I make these liquid water colors for winter.

The Biggest Canvas of All
When it snows, our backyard becomes the biggest canvas of all. The white snow practically screams "PAINT ME!" And so we do.

I stand at the back door to refill empty bottles. The kids squirt their colors all over the yard. Not only is it great fun to color such a large canvas, it is fun to watch the water erode the snow. We can fill an hour with this activity!

Tips that Work
- Dilute the colors. You don't need much liquid water color to make vivid colors on the snow. I use a finger of color and fill the rest of the bottle with water.
- Use hot water. It feels good on their hands in the cold weather.

Get Ready Before the Next Big Snow
These are the things we have on hand that you will need.
- DIY Liquid Water colors
- Condiment bottles. (I get mine for cheap at the local thrift store.)

If you do a little prep now then the next snow storm will bring your children the biggest art project of your lives...for now.

How to Invite Color Wars to Make Awesome Art

We are several weeks into the school year and I find myself returning to an often-used quotation by Pablo Picasso:

                    “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

No place makes my son dustier than school. Every day we spend a non-trivial amount of time decompressing from the pressures of first grade and coming back together as a family. The most potent tool I have to guide this process is art. The most heartwarming of which is art my son does with his little sister.

Together Art
Doing art together is tricky business. The artists have to share a canvas, share materials, and share a vision of what the process will be. And, like many siblings, there is sometimes conflict around these issues.

Here is how I approach doing art together that has been successful... Read the rest at Fat Brain Toys!

Don't be afraid to fall in love with something and pursue it with intensity

From E. Paul Torrance's Manifesto for Creativity:

Don't be afraid to fall in love with something and pursue it with intensity.

Simple Statements to Remember Loved Ones

When Grandpa Dies
Last year my father-in-law died. My son was five years old, my daughter was three. In his final days, we visited him in hospice, took him flowers, and read books with him. When he died it shook us all. My son was afraid to see his own father sleeping so I became the primary night-time parent. My daughter, who had been sleeping in her own room, took a new spot on the floor of our master bedroom.

The Day of the Dead
We have had a little more than a year to come to terms with the loss of the beloved man. And I have co-opted The Day of the Dead as a time and way to remember him.

The Day of the Dead is a holiday for remembering and celebrating people who have died. But how do we do that with young children? Like many things, I find it best to keep it simple.

Simple, Not Scary
For our family, coloring is a good way to come together. We sit together at the table and free-draw or color in coloring books. The Day of the Dead is no exception. I did an internet search for "day of the dead coloring pages" and chose one that seemed like it would be inviting to color.

I printed three copies of if, one for me, one for my son, and one for my daughter. Then I offered it as an invitation. He connected dots. She wanted to cut hers out.

How Sportcasting Helps
I said, "Today is the Day of the Dead. It is a special day for remembering people who have died. I remember visiting Grandpa when he was sick."

Then my daughter offered, "I remember when Grandpa shared his gummies with me." My son added, "Yeah. He was a really nice guy."

That was enough.

Sportcasting, stating the obvious, is a powerful tool in our home for communicating. It proved especially helpful for my children to say something about their Grandpa.

Get Started Coloring
Looking for something simple to do with your preschoolers today? Why not get started with an invitation to color.

Here is a link to the skull I chose: http://www.getcoloringpages.com/images/6r/6rfknay.jpg

Nerd Alert: An Electrical Engineer Tries to Make Sense of Fashion

I Just Don't Get It
I have struggled my ENTIRE life with clothes. In fact, I would not have been surprised if my family and friends nominated me for an intervention for What Not to Wear. Slowly but surely, and alongside my preschool-aged daughter, I am learning about how to match materials, how to coordinate colors and patterns, and how to work in layers. During my 40th trip around the sun, I think that I am finally learning a little about fashion.

Read the rest of my post over at Fat Brain Toys...

Cool Book Alert! - Scanimation

Eye-Catching
We were walking through the foyer of my daughter's preschool when I skidded to a stop. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a picture book atop a shelf. I had to pick it up and look. What I found inside the cover of "Gallup!" was a must-share.

Optical Illusions
The book was titled "Gallup!" but it was the subtitle that made me feel curious: "A Scanimation Picture Book."

After I picked it up and paged through it I called my kids over. "Look at this!" They both loved it. The publisher put together a short video so you can kind of see what flipping the pages is like. However, it pales in comparison to the actual experience of holding it in your hands.

"There's never before been a book like Gallop! Employing a patented new technology called Scanimation, each page is a marvel that brings animals, along with one shining star, to life with art that literally moves. It's impossible not to flip the page, and flip it again, and again, and again."

An Up-close Look at Scanimation
Rufus Butler Seder is an artist in the field of optical illusion. He has made installations for museums as well as single tiles for personal collections. Given his expertise in the field, these books are a drop in the bucket to enjoy his work. (8" tiles run $500, the picture books are less than $15.)

When I looked deeper into the Scanimation technology, I found this YouTube video. It is a better representation of the way the optical illusions are created for the books.

Start Your Scanimation Collection 
You can snag Gallup! on Amazon or at Fat Brain Toys. But don't feel limited to just that one. If you start at Seder's Amazon page, you will see that there are other books with popular themes like Star Wars, Santa, and The Wizard of Oz.

Dried Up Markers - Turn them into Watercolors!

You're Throwing Out "Dry" Markers Too Soon
One thing we are never in short supply of having? Dried up markers. It seems like a perpetual challenge for my children to replace the caps on the markers after they are done using them. I've tried showing them the convenient spot to "store" the cap while their drawing. I've tried reminding them to find and replace the caps. I've even threatened to not buy any more markers if they can't take care of the ones we have.

The only thing that has worked for our family so far is to shrug it off and find a new way to use the dried up markers.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

One of the basic tenets of environmentalism (and environmental education) is to reduce the amount of stuff we consume. So the threat to not buy more if we can't take care of it is OK in terms of preventing waste but it isn't a creative solution to the realities of life with young children.

Reusing/Recycling the markers is a more solutions-focused approach to the dried up marker problem. So this is how we do it.

Step 1: Collect your materials. You'll need:

- dried up markers
- water bottles
- funnel
- water

Step 2: Fill a bunch of little bottles with water.

Step 3: Place dried up marker in bottle and seal the bottle.

Step 4: Repeat with however many colors you want.

Voila! - Washable Markers become Liquid Watercolors

The longer you leave the markers in the water the more ink can come out. In the picture below the purple and the darker blue had been sitting the longest (weeks) and the others had only been sitting minutes.

Fluid Dynamics

There are two main features of fluid dynamics of this little project. First, pouring water from a large container into a smaller container using a funnel could be a physics/math lesson in and of itself. Watching the water pour, fill the funnel, and then spill (and sometimes overflow) from the small bottle is a learning experience. Second, putting the marker into the water and watching the ink slowly leach out and distribute in the water is mesmerizing.

Don't Scold for Carelessness, Model Problem-solving

No one should beat themselves up about dried up markers because they merely present a new problem to solve. That is why I invite you to model problem-solving for your child. Not only will they learn a new way to be responsible with their used goods, they will have fun with you doing it.

4 Sing-Along Books You’ll Never Get Tired Of

Elevated by Song

Nothing delights my four year old more than discovering a new "singing book." With these unique picture books, siting together and reading is elevated by song. Lyrics come to life through illustration; story comes alive through song.

Ubiquitous Songs and their Books

Classics have been made into finger puppet books like The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Old MacDonald Had a Farm. We return again and again to songs and books by Raffi (especially "Down by the Bay") and Sandra Boynton ("The Belly Button Book"). The classics have a place in our world but I often find myself rolling my eyes when they are requested.

More than Music, Extraordinary Sing-Along Books

Fortunately, there is a small handful of sing-along books that I find extraordinary. The melodies are simple and easy enough for me to sing my way through. But each book has something special that makes it stand out. The revised message by Sylvia Long in "Hush Little Baby" emphasizes mindfulness and finding comfort in everyday things instead of the classic message that "Papa will buy"cooperation and comfort. The artwork in "Ain't Gonna Paint" is joyful and colorful and intriguing. And Robert Sabuta's ornate pop-up version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" celebrate the song in a wildly imaginative and refreshing way.

These are Forever Books
I want to keep them on my shelf forever and ever.

Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long is my go-to gift for new parents. The melody is one most of us remember from our own childhoods. However, the lyrics are different. Instead of encouraging children to seek comfort in newly purchased possession ("Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring."), Ms. Long demonstrates how to appreciate the mundane ("If that hummingbird should fly, Mama's going to show you the evening sky.") Between this refreshing new perspective on finding peace and the beautiful images, this book stands out among other sing-along books.

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont illustrated by David Catrow tells the story of a young child who cannot help but paint. Set to the melody "Ain't Gonna Rain No More" the boy paints himself from head to toe. Catrow's illustrations show vibrant paint-dripping mischief and joy of Aelita Andre and aspiring painters everywhere.

"Puff, the Magic Dragon" was first a song by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton released in 1963 and re-recorded for release on "Peter, Paul, and Mommy" 1969. In 2007 illustrator by Eric Puybaret painted a story that evokes joy of adventure and tear-jerking sorrow of a friendship lost. (Indeed, my four year old daughter weeped when I sang/read the book to her.) Like the other books on this short list, the visual art rivals the quality of the song it depicts.

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is seasonal but when did that ever stop a young child from wanting to think about and sing about the beloved holiday? Robert Sabuta's pop-up book is a mechanical masterpiece. Enough said.

Again?! Of Course
Like many children, my daughter has gone through phases of requesting each of these four books on a daily (and sometimes more-than-once-daily) basis. Unlike some of her other requests, I find myself saying, "This one again!? Of course. Let's sing together."

Creativity will be Currency

Blow Your Children Out of the Water with these Coloring Books

Foot-Dragging Frustrations

My son was never interested in coloring. It was probably a combination of his vision problems and his sensory processing disorder. But over the years we have done plenty of occupational therapy to help him develop his fine motor skills so he could participate in the world - be more comfortable and more confident in himself. And once we addressed his self-esteem issues that surrounded being a young artist, the floodgates opened.

Turning the Corner

Nowadays he has embraced writing and coloring and drawing. I love to see the stuff he brings home, the gifts he makes for himself and the people he loves. And since his interest has grown, we all have had more opportunities to do art together, especially coloring. What I didn't see coming was how much my kids would LOVE "adult" coloring books.

Like Moths to a Flame

We have perpetually had character coloring books around the house, typically untouched. Strawberry shortcake, teenage mutant ninja turtles, Disney princesses...all of them partially used before being set aside for something "more interesting." When I got an "adult" coloring book for Christmas, my kids flocked to it, and to me, like moths to a flame. They exclaimed that the pictures were so interesting and begged to either help me with my coloring page or have one of their own.

See... Sharing IS Fun

I am very happy to have coloring together as a regular activity in the house. We often find ourselves sitting together after dinner has been eaten and the kitchen cleaned. We listen to a book on tape and take turns with markers or colored pencils. Sometimes we take turns with the page on which we are working. It turns out that adult coloring books are not just for adults. Preschoolers enjoy them, too!

Find One that Suits You (I Mean Them)

Here is a list of the different "adult" coloring books that my four year old and six year old enjoy:

Illusions

http://www.mindware.com/modern-patterns-illusions-coloring-book-a2-36017.fltr?Ntt=coloring

Garden

https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/chronicle_books/secret_garden.cfm#


Patterns of the Universe

https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/workman_publishing/patterns_of_the_universe.cfm

And some adult activity books:

Mosaics - Something for the older child who knows his or her numbers and letters.

http://www.mindware.com/mystery-mosaics-book-a2-56191.fltr

Extreme Dot to Dot (there are a lot of themes but for the Iggy Peck fans I'm showing you the "Around the World" one)

http://www.mindware.com/extreme-dot-to-dot-destinations-set-of-a2-69066.fltr?Ntt=extreme

https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/monkeying_around/the_greatest_dot_to_dot_books.cfm

Summer Tradition - Body Paint

One of my fondest memories from my childhood summers are about body painting at parties. So in preparation for our summer potluck, I snuck up to Michael's and used my 50% coupon to by a Snazaroo Face Painting Pallet and some Paint Sticks.

The sticks are good for broad application but the pallet, complete with fine-tipped brush, are pretty great for smaller detail work. Both of my kids are happy to paint themselves, which is not new to my daughter. And I hope that we can build body painting memories for years to come!

24 Books for Preschool Engineers

I recently realized that I have reviewed a handful of books for Preschool Engineering and I have a list of my favorite books at my aStore and our favorite truck books but I don't have a list of great engineering books on the blog yet. Wait no longer.

Trucks

For us the path to Preschool Engineering began with the wheel and rapidly moved into working trucks like the Front End Loader and Grader. That is why I'm starting with a list of our favorite truck books but I'll limit the list to books about creative work...

Three books by Sally Sutton: Construction, Demolition, and Roadwork.

There’s lots of noise and excitement involved in building a library! Preschoolers will clamor to take a close look. Award-winning duo Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock are back with another rhythmic read-aloud full of bustling illustrations and sound words that beg kids to join in.

From the huge crane with a swinging ball (crack! ) to the toothy jaws that ram the walls (thwock! ), this rambunctious demolition, reverberating with sound words, is guaranteed to have small kids rapt. Bright spreads showcase the gargantuan machines in all their glory, and a pictorial glossary explains what each one can do.

There are many big machines and busy people involved in building a road, and this riveting board book follows them every step of the way. From clearing a pathway (screek! ) to rolling the tar (squelch! ) to sweeping up at the end (swish! ), Roadwork is sure to delight young truck-lovers with its rambunctious rhymes and noisy fun.

Tip Tip Dig Dig by Maria Garcia.
Emma Garcia's popular debut title, Tip Tip Dig Dig, is now available as a chunky board book with moving parts on every spread, including the cover! Watch as each colourful vehicle does its own job as all the machines work together towards a surprise ending. 

The simple mechanisms in this new board book edition are prefect for little hands. Tip Tip Dig Dig has been shortlisted for the Read it Again! and the Southampton Favourite Book to Share picture book awards in 2008.

Tools &Machines

Next to trucks, tools and other machines have been of particular interest around here. At the top of our list are books by Gail Gibbons:

Tool Book, The Art Box, and Clocks and How They Go.

Basic tools and how they are used to make things.

Describes the many different kinds of tools and supplies which artists use to produce their work.

Describes the weight clock and the spring clock and how they work.

Thinking Outside the Box

A lot of what I see as preschool engineering work involves thinking outside the box, creating something out of nothing, and seeing the world with creative intention. Here are four books about thinking outside the box:

Meeow and the Big Box by Sebastien Braun

Start with an ordinary brown box. Get out the red paint. Add a chair and a mug. Then, watch as Meeow works his magic, transforming everyday objects into an amazing fire truck. What a clever kitty!

Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg
A life lesson that all parents want their children to learn: It’s OK to make a mistake. In fact, hooray for mistakes! A mistake is an adventure in creativity, a portal of discovery. A spill doesn’t ruin a drawing—not when it becomes the shape of a goofy animal. And an accidental tear in your paper? Don’t be upset about it when you can turn it into the roaring mouth of an alligator.

Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall
Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let's draw strawberries!), his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!), and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can't be red, no matter how hard he tries! Finally, a brand-new friend offers a brand-new perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He's blue! This funny, heartwarming, colorful picture book about finding the courage to be true to your inner self can be read on multiple levels, and it offers something for everyone.

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

Award-winning author and illustrator Ashley Spires has created a charming picture book about an unnamed girl and her very best friend, who happens to be a dog. The girl has a wonderful idea. ?She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!? But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeatedly. Eventually, the girl gets really, really mad. She is so mad, in fact, that she quits. But after her dog convinces her to take a walk, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right.

For the early grades' exploration of character education, this funny book offers a perfect example of the rewards of perseverance and creativity. The girl's frustration and anger are vividly depicted in the detailed art, and the story offers good options for dealing honestly with these feelings, while at the same time reassuring children that it's okay to make mistakes. The clever use of verbs in groups of threes is both fun and functional, offering opportunities for wonderful vocabulary enrichment. The girl doesn't just ?make? her magnificent thing --- she ?tinkers and hammers and measures,? she ?smoothes and wrenches and fiddles,? she ?twists and tweaks and fastens.? These precise action words are likely to fire up the imaginations of youngsters eager to create their own inventions and is a great tie-in to learning about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

People

These three books feature children who wrestle with the life of a creative person. They are persistent, creative thinking, generous people. They solve problems. Rosie, Iggy and Molly Lou serve as role models for the community of preschool engineers.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
Rosie may seem quiet during the day, but at night she's a brilliant inventor of gizmos and gadgets who dreams of becoming a great engineer. When her great-great-aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter) comes for a visit and mentions her one unfinished goal--to fly--Rosie sets to work building a contraption to make her aunt's dream come true. But when her contraption doesn't fl y but rather hovers for a moment and then crashes, Rosie deems the invention a failure. On the contrary, Aunt Rose inisists that Rosie's contraption was a raging success. You can only truly fail, she explains, if you quit.

Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
Iggy has one passion: building. His parents are proud of his fabulous creations, though they’re sometimes surprised by his materials—who could forget the tower he built of dirty diapers? When his second-grade teacher declares her dislike of architecture, Iggy faces a challenge. He loves building too much to give it up! With Andrea Beaty’s irresistible rhyming text and David Roberts’s puckish illustrations, this book will charm creative kids everywhere, and amuse their sometimes bewildered parents.

Have Fun Molly Lou Mellon by Patty Lovell and David Catrow
Molly Lou Melon's grandma taught her to be happy with herself no matter what, but  that's not all she learned. Molly Lou heard all about how her grandma didn't have fancy store-bought toys when she was little. She made dolls out of twigs and flowers and created her own fun in her backyard. 

So Molly Lou does just that, proving that the best thing to play with is a huge imagination!

The Sun, the Wind, and the Rain by Lisa Westberg Peters and Ted Rand

While Elizabeth builds a mountain out of wet sand, the geological concept of mountain formation is clearly explained and impressively illustrated. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Big Ideas

These books feature the problems that engineers aim to solve.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth's natural beauty. 

The Apple-Pip Princess by Jane Ray
*Starred Review* Ray celebrates the transforming power of growing things in this beautiful, original fairy tale. A once-green kingdom turns into a barren dust bowl after a queen’s death. The king, concerned about his land’s future, challenges his three daughters to “do something to make your mark.” The creator of the best project will rule the kingdom. Two princesses build towering structures, but the youngest, Serenity, plucks a tiny apple seed from a box of nature’s treasures that belonged to her mother. That seed’s sprout inspires more planting, and soon the kingdom becomes a lush paradise, and Serenity is named the new ruler. Ray’s rich language and sure pacing create a winning read-aloud, but it’s the shining collage artwork that really stands out. Mixing color photos into her typically fine, elaborately decorated illustrations, Ray creates dramatic scenes of a kingdom’s renewal while highlighting the close ties among the brown-skinned princesses and the kingdom’s diverse people. Link this celebratory story Claire Nivola’s Planting the Trees of Kenya (2008). Preschool-Grade 2. --Gillian Engberg

Dream Invent Create

• The first 32 pages refer to the many disciplines of engineering, using colorful and whimsical illustrations and fun, engaging poetry and rhymes.
• Kids will learn that engineers create rockets, sky scrapers, video games, robots, sports equipment and much more. 
• They will see that engineering is all around us, and that engineers make the world a better place.
• Fun facts about each type of engineering discipline wrap around the borders of the pages, providing more information for more advanced readers. 

Interesting Books

The last category of great preschool engineering books are ones that a mechanically interesting in and of themselves: pop-up books and touch-me books.

These two are our favorite books for tiny fingers. "Fish Eyes" features tiny little holes on each page. A young child can stick his or her fingers into the holes, inspecting how the finger tips "appears" on the back side of the page. I highly recommend the board book version of this one!

  Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
Now toddlers can dive into counting with this board book edition of one of Lois Ehlert’s most popular books. With cutout fish eyes to touch and an energetic fish friend to guide them, they’ll have so much fun they won't even notice they’re learning!

The Poke-A-Dot books feature "Pop-a-tronic" technology. Each circle is a a piece of plastic that makes a snapping sound when it is pushed. (See the video of my daughter poking the dots, below.) My only gripe about these books is that they are sooooooo loved that the pages are torn apart and carried around individually.

Poke-A-Dot by iKids

Once you start popping, there's just no stopping! These fun, tactile books help kids learn to count--without losing count! Raised buttons pop in on every page so kids can press them as they count in this casebound book with ten spreads and 30 poke-able dots. How many animals does Old MacDonald have on his farm? Count them all with this one-of-a-kind """"pop-at-tronic"""" book. This poke-able popping dots book lets kids keep track of how many animals are on each page. It's a great way to learn to count to ten!

Pop-up books are very very mechanically interesting. Opening pages reveals three dimensional artwork. The only trouble with these books? The youngest and touchiest readers will likely destroy them. Consider these books for four and five year old children.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book by Eric Carle
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of the most popular children’s books ever created, this pop-up edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the perfect new platform for the classic caterpillar, who literally pops off the pages of the book—crawling along branches, munching through food, and in one of the most memorable climaxes ever, emerging vibrantly as a three-dimensional beautiful butterfly.

This is a stunning, tour-de-force pop-up that no fan of Mr. Carle’s work will want to miss.

ABC3D by Marion Bataille

"Easily the most innovative alphabet book of the year, if not the decade... Beyond clever."―The Washington Post

Prepare to be amazed. From the lenticular cover that changes with the angle of your hands all the way to the Z, ABC3D is as much a work of art as it is a pop-up book. Each of the 26 three-dimensional letters move and change before your eyes. C turns into D with a snap. M stands at attention. X becomes Y with a flick of the wrist. And then there's U...Boldly conceived and brilliantly executed with a striking black, red, and white palette, this is a book that readers and art lovers of all ages will treasure for years to come.

ABC3D is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Books by Robert Sabuda. We have and enjoy Winter's Tale and The 12 Days of Christmas.

Winter's Tale is Robert Sabuda's most spectacular original pop-up story yet. The simple, elegant text is illustrated with breathtaking artwork and extraordinary paper engineering. Stunning visual effects of foil, glitter, and a twinkling surprise further capture the magic of winter. This is a must-have for everyone's bookshelf.

A true holiday classic literally comes to life in this stunning pop-up edition of a seasonal favorite. With a partridge popping, snow scattering, and lords a-leaping off the page, this lavish book is a gift for readers of all ages. For this special anniversary edition legendary paper engineer Robert Sabuda encloses his own gifts to the reader: extra pages with a pop-up Christmas tree with real lights aglow, and a beautiful pop-up ornament of two turtledoves. The ornament is packaged with the book and is perfect for adding a celebratory touch to your tree. This beautiful anniversary package is one to treasure!