Magna Doodle

I didn't have Magna Doodle as a kid. It entered my life seemingly innocuously a few years ago as a present for the kids thanks to D... er.. Santa. It has given me, um... the kids, countless hours of fun.

Bah, I might as well come clean. Yes, I love it. Have loved it since that first little strawberry shortcake one Ana had till this larger-than-my-laptop-screen one that Oggie can't seem to get enough of. And it seemed about time I accepted and acknowledged it duly. Why else would I dedicate a whole post for it, right?!

Initially, the physics behind it fascinated me, but nowadays, just doodling on it feels like a much-needed relaxation technique.

Anything magnetic works, and that's the best part for me and the kids. Ana used to write "messages" for us with the Melissa & Doug™ Wooden Magnetic Letters that somehow always littered the floor near the fridge or dishwasher rather than adorn the said appliances.



When Oggie discovered he could use the Tow Truck from one of his wooden "puzzles" for drawing on Magna Doodle (as it has a little magnet to tow the other vehicles in that puzzle set), it didn't take him long to draw an Octopus with reasonable likeness. (Looks more like a spidery bug, but, Og insisted it was an Octopus, apparently, the missing legs/tentacles are behind him).



Ana had a lot of practice drawing and writing on Magna Doodle saving paper. Of course, the trouble was, if it was something particularly well-executed (in her opinion, at least), she wanted to "save it" - i.e., not erase it. Which was a bit of a problem.

"Mama, can you draw a rooster?", "Can you make the rooster run?", "How about a Polar Bear?" "I want a spider, with a web", "Is this a pollywog?", "Can you show me how to do a caterpillar?", "Can you write the letters? How about start with A?", "Can you draw a hexagon?", "How about a Brachiosaurus?", "I want to draw a silly face and angry face"...

Over the last year, I've spent quite a chunk of time drawing on the Magna Doodle for/with Og, and it hasn't gotten tiresome at all. So far.

Laying in bed this past weekend, with our temperatures hovering around 101°F, Oggie and I could only moan and whine till that latest dose of Ibuprofen allowed us to sit up in bed and try to find something to keep us distracted from our temporary agony.

Besides the Monster Trucks (Mark Todd), Little Blue Truck (Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry), Cars & Trucks and Things that Go (Richard Scarry) that kept him entertained (and my throat abraded), Magna Doodle and Ed Emberley's Animals kept his spirits up.

I like that there are some shapes that came with it - circle, triangle etc., making it easy for a toddler to make a composite image without much effort.

Ana is slowly outgrowing the Magna Doodle, what with Mama's stash of various Wood Accents, Stencils, and Rubber Stamps offering fresh set of activities to explore. But, before Oggie outgrows it as well, I wanted to jot it down here.

A Day With No Crayons

A Day With No Crayons
by Elizabeth Rusch
illustrated by Chad Cameron

Ages 4-8

Publisher: Rising Moon

Liza loved her crayons.
She treasured turquoise,
adored apricot, and
flipped over fuchsia.

After pages and pages of colorful images, Liza ran out of paper and discovered one blank wall right in her room and promptly got to work. Of course, Mother took the crayons away with a strict, "No more crayons for you today." What is Liza to do?

As her day progresses, with her stomping and sulking, she sees color everywhere - indoors and outdoors! She drags a muddy stick across the park sketching a chocolate-brown tree trunk and branches, scrapes an old red brick along the sidewalk drawing a desert, some camels and a whole caravan...

As her color-filled day comes to a close, she finds herself back home where her mother offers her back her crayons if she promises not to color on the walls. And, guess what Liza says? "I think I can go one more day with no crayons".

This is one of the few picture books that resonated with Ana since our entry into the world of chapter books. Chad Cameron's illustrations are amazing, with some subtle references to famous artists. The page with the caravan of camels was her favorite. And mine. A single continuous line makes up each of the camels and Ana and I couldn't wait to try it out ourselves.

While simple in concept, the book shows that creativity need not be limited by the tools or the medium.

[image source: Elizabeth Rusch website]

[cross-posted at Saffron Tree]

Pass The Parcel... er... The Bug

We've, been passing some virus around in the house, even if not this exact one in the picture, with me getting the worst of it first and then the kids... 102°F and 103°F fevers intermittently for 3 days in a row, broken by Ibuprofen or Tylenol to 100-101°F, only to promptly shoot up again a couple of hours later. Shivers and Chills. Hacking Cough.

And when I thought I was away from blogging too long (well, just over a week actually) and wanted to check in, I realized that quite a few of my posts have come up right on schedule during my absence. I love the Scheduling feature in Blogger - Type it and Forget it! Er., Type it, Schedule it, and then Forget it, I mean.

Feels like I can finally sit up and focus on one thing for more than 10 minutes at a time without feeling dizzy. Kids are still struggling through the viral thing, Oggie being the most vocal of the two about registering his discomfort. Poor Ana, victim of the Squeaky Wheel Syndrome.

The storm, the teeny clump of non-stick snowfall, the power-loss as a result, all went by without registering any protest from us as we have no energy left for anything much.

Anyway, nothing else to share right now, just felt like writing a few words, that's all.

[image source: Medscape]

Bunny Money

Bunny Money
by Rosemary Wells

Max & Ruby books by Rosemary Wells are quite popular.

Somehow Ana (and Og) never liked much of Max & Ruby until Bunny Money. Ana fell in love with this book on first read.

Max and Ruby want to get a birthday present for Grandma. Ruby has 15 dollars in her wallet, and Max has his lucky quarter. They set off together into town. Ruby knows exactly what she wants to get her Grandma. And so does Max. Do they manage to buy exactly what they want for Grandma?

What made Ana like this book? Well, apparently, the subtraction exercise on practically every page. As Max and Ruby set about spending their money, Ana went about calculating how much they have left from the 15¼ dollars that they started out with.

It probably helped to see Max buy a set of vampire teeth with oozing cherry syrup, promptly try it on, drip cherry syrup all over his clothes, and get to the laundromat for clean-up.

Ruby was certainly not thrilled that Max kept incurring unexpected expenditures. These little situations Max gets into with Ruby coming to the rescue resonated with Ana who finds her little brother Oggie getting into more than a regular share of trouble.

The underlying theme of Earning, Saving, and Spending money and the math lesson along the way made this a wonderful read for me. Each page visually depicts the wallet getting depleted as they spend their money. No easy immediate way to replenish it. Once it is spent, that money is gone.

As Max spends the last dollar Ruby was hoping to use for the bus ride home, we wonder how will they get home. But, Max's lucky quarter comes to the rescue. Ruby uses it to telephone Grandma to pick them up.

Why does she need a quarter for the telephone? asked Ana. It helped introduce the concept of paying for phone usage, and for other utilities we use around the house.

Plus, front and back has "Bunny Money" - bunny dollar bills - that we can print out and use for our pretend "shopping trips".

Curiously, Oggie liked this book very much as evidenced by repeat requests for reading it at bedtime. "Max is silly, Mama" about sums up his attraction to the book. However, with every read, I was not allowed to skip the last bunny money page where various world famous people were depicted in the bunny dollar bills - from Mahatma Gandhi in his signature dhothi, to Frida Kahlo with the unmistakable uni-brow.

[image source: http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/bunny-money]

Kids Crafts: Valentine's Day Crafts

Valentine's Day has always been a low-key/no-stress event in our house even before the kids arrived. For the last couple of years, since Ana is interested in crafts, we do some themed craft activities around certain celebrations. And, since Valentine's Day has come to signify a celebration of friendship and love, we make something to give to friends and loved ones to show that we care.

This year, we made Salt Dough Hearts. The procedure is the same as described in the Salt Dough Creatures post. We used a cookie-cutter to cut the shape, poked a hole for the ribbon we wanted to add later on, and baked it. After it cooled overnight, we painted it red. Then, Ana added From: and To: for her friends.




We also made heart cards using card stock paper and one of our favorite techniques: rubber cement masking. Ana loves watercolors. She had fun combining rubber cement masking with salt sprinkled painting to make a few sheets of paper. We let it dry. Then, cut into hearts. Ana meticulously wrote the names on each card.



The technique of folding the paper in half and cutting a "question mark shape" as Ana puts it, is an easy way to get neat little hearts cut out from paper. But, card stock being thick, and not wanting a fold in the middle of the beautiful card, we went with tracing out the heart shape and cutting them out, even if slightly more tedious.



Oggie got into the spirit and wanted to "make hearts" too. So, we went with the old technique of ripping tissue paper and gluing them on several layers to make a thicker tissue paper sheet as described in the Paper Chain Fairies, Fairy Flower Chain and Fairy Wings post.

Rip tissue papers (various colors, patterns) - this is the only part Oggie really enjoyed - layer them on a plastic sheet and glue on more layers to get a thicker colorful ripped tissue paper. Allow to dry completely. Peel off the plastic. Cut out the shapes.

Kids Craft: Paste Batik

Those gorgeous batik prints are hard to ignore every time I walk by them at the fabric store. I wanted to make something like that with my 5¾ year old Ana.

Initially I was toying with wax-resist like I've done before. Rather than wax, I wanted something that can be made easily at home. (Washable) Glue batik seems popular for kids activity as it can be just washed off. But, rather than buying bottles and bottles of glue as for this project I had in mind, I settled on Paste Batik technique.

As Edward Teller noted, "No endeavor that is worthwhile is simple in prospect; if it is right, it will be simple in retrospect."

Not that this was such a great endeavor for me, but, it sure must've seemed like it to Ana: Making a Happy Birthday Flag which we can put up at home for birthdays!

Fortunately, thanks to her teacher, Ana and her friends had worked on this technique a couple of years ago when they made a lovely flag for the school's annual Spring Auction. So, she knew what to expect and was excited about it.

Items Used: Plain white muslin cloth, scissors, all purpose flour, water, acrylic paints in various colors, paint brush, mustard/ketchup dispenser, iron

1. We noted how many letters there were in "Happy Birthday" (13), and cut out as many plain white muslin cloth into about 9½ x 9½ inch squares - I used a 9½ x 9½ inch quilt square I had, but, any size would be fine. (We cut out a few extras to a total of 16 squares). I wanted the unbleached muslin, but, Ana chose the bleached white ones. Which is fine.



2. We made the paste: 1 cup (plus a few tablespoons) of all purpose or wheat flour plus 1 cup water. That's it. Add the water a little at a time, stirring constantly to remove lumps. The paste has the consistency of a slightly thick-ish crepe batter. Pour it into either an old mustard/ketchup dispenser or icing tube for easy dispensing. (This mustard dispenser is a favorite much-used tool for various activities at home, including making Roti Jala)
   
   



3. Squirt/squeeze the mustard bottle to make patterns as needed on the fabric. We wrote one letter per square piece of fabric to make up "Happy Birthday", and added some squiggles and swirls and dots for decoration.
   
   



4. Allow the paste to dry completely. We left it overnight by the heating vent, and hung it up on a clothesline indoors all day, for a total of 24 hours.



5. Working with one square piece at a time, scrunch the fabric a bit to crack up the dried paste. These cracks are where the colors can sneak in and create that beautiful batik print. Then, paint any combination of favorite colors using acrylic paint. Dilute the paint with a drop or two of water to help it flow smoothly. Paint all over the fabric, on top of the dried paste, as the paint will be resisted (masked off) by the paste anyway.
   
   



6. Allow the painted squares to dry completely. Again, we left it by the heating vent overnight and hung it up for drying off all next day.
   
   



7. Scrunch the now colorful fabric squares to loosen and lift off the dried paste. And start picking and peeling it off. This is the part Ana didn't enjoy, naturally. But, it has a certain monotony and rhythm to it. Make sure all the dried paste is off the fabric to reveal the beautiful print. The dried bits can be used for mosaic and collage projects.
   
   



8. Heat set the paint: using medium high setting, iron the fabric squares using parchment paper or even a thin old napkin to protect the iron.
   
   



9. Wash the fabric. Since I had only 13 small squares, I hand-washed them as I wasn't sure if any paint will rub off on the clothes if I washed it with a full load of laundry. Can zigzag the edges before washing to prevent excessive fraying. But, I washed first for that rustic unfinished look. Dry the fabric. This time I dried them in the dryer on low heat setting. Muslin will shrink. And it did - close to about ¾ inches all around.
   
   



10. When dry, iron it flat on medium heat setting. Finish the edges. Can simply zigzag, or use piping. Voilà! The gorgeous home-made flag pieces are ready.
    
    



11. I was debating sewing them together to make it easier for hanging up each time. But, decided to keep them separate. This way we could rearrange the letters any time and make up new words.
    
    We simply used a clothespin to put it up as decoration for D's birthday recently.
    
    

Of course, we cannot stop with just the flags, so, some potholders, coasters, place mats got made as well.

Penblwydd Hapus, Papa!

The earth went around the sun once more since the last time we marked this day.

Ana made a tiny little candle-holder/pen-holder using her new Pottery Wheel Apparatus she got as Xmas present. The contraption is easy enough to operate, however, coaxing the clay is not really as easy as professional potters make it look. The clay simply refused to get in shape! Well, in the shape we were trying to get it into at least :)



But, Ana had fun with it. For a short time. Then got frustrated as the clay kept jumping off the center and falling off. Of course, it was her first time using it. I didn't do any better either. Papa really loved the end result, naturally! And designated it the official candle-holder for meal times.



We have established a neat little Wish-list system which has been working for us for about a decade now. One of the items in D's wish list was an iPod armband. Of course, for as little as 3$ or so, I could've gotten him a decent one and be done with it. But, chronic DIY-ers as we sometimes are, I ended up sewing him one using some scrap corduroy I had.



Not as sporty, elegant and snazzy as these, but, it works.

Of course, it is not a birthday in kids' view unless we have some sort of cake and candles and such. So, Ana helped me make some cupcakes, much like the marbled cupcakes from last year. We went with simple cream cheese frosting, nothing fancy. Ana smeared the frosting and added some sprinkles. Oggie sang the Happy Birthday song in his loudest, most bubbly voice first thing in the morning, eyes transfixed on the cupcakes at the table.



Oh, and, since I penny-pinched on the iPod armband, I splurged on another item in D's wish list - viz., The Glengarry Hat, no feather hackles, just plain black/white dicing. Determining the hat size was the hard part, but, his Bavarian hat brought back from the vacation ages ago came in handy.

"Did you have a good birthday, Papa?" she asked that night.
"Hm. I guess so..." he responded in his characteristically ambiguous way.

Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park

"Mama, lookit! I got 'P'! It was next to the books on that shelf!"

"Oggie! Let's put it back. We do not pull the letters off the shelf."

"Mama! Read this! It says Yucky, Blucky Fruitcake?! That's silly!"

"Mmhmm... yes, it does sound silly, Ana... Can you keep an eye on Og? I need to find my books."

"Mama! I found Splat the Cat! I love him! No, no, Stoppit, Naanaa! I was holdeen it! Don't gwab it! Mama! Mama!"

"Oggie, what do you want to tell her? Ana, not polite to grab it. Give it back, please."

"Mama, can you weed Splat the Cat to me now, please?"

"In a minute, Og, when I am back. You can sit here and read by yourself for a short while. I will be right back."

"Oggie, do you want me to read Splat the Cat to you?"

"Yes, Naanaa. You could weed it to me!"

As they settle down at the table, I hurry to the holds shelf to get my books...

Library visits with Og and Ana are becoming more of a three-ring circus these days - too much excitement, too little self-control, especially on Og's part. He is still a toddler...

However, a few weeks ago, "What is a fruit cake? What does blucky mean?" inevitably led to "Can we take this home so I can read it, Mama?"

And read it she did. By herself. Silently. Wrapper to wrapper. In the first couple of hours after we got home. All 60-odd pages of this tiny chapter book.

And that's how Junie B. Jones insinuated herself into our lives.

"Mama, Junie B. Jones is a kindergartner. I am a kindergartner. Her little brother's name is Ollie. My little brother's name is Oggie. She is silly. She doesn't know how to spell some words. I can teach her. She makes a lot of mistakes, Mama. And, she doesn't even listen to her parents. She says stupid a lot, and that's not polite. But, I like her. She could be my friend."

Yes, indeed! She has zipped through nearly half a dozen Junie B. books - Kindergartner, not First Grader books yet.

Between Rainbow Fairies, Flower Fairies, Jack & Annie (Magic Tree House), The Littles, and now Junie B., it seems like I rarely get to read to my baby anymore!

She still enjoys a picture book or two and lets me read them to her on and off...
However, the larger volumes of classics are a great opportunity for me. We recently read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Thanks Mom!). The language style being a bit different from what she has been exposed to so far, she liked being read to. "What does beg your pardon mean?" made me smile...


[image source: Business & Heritage Clarksville (Banned Books)]

Living Sunlight

Living Sunlight
How Plants Bring The Earth To Life
by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm

Ages 4-8

The Blue Sky Press

As Molly Bang explains in this article, the book came about as a collaboration between an artist and a scientist to bring an important concept - viz., photosynthesis - to the children via simple language and gorgeous illustrations.

Listen to me. Do this one thing: Lay your hand over your heart, and feel. Feel your heart pump, pump, and pump. Feel how warm you are.

That is my light alive inside of you.

I am your sun, your golden star.

Thus starts this journey about understanding how Plants Bring The Earth To Life.

The sun is the narrator. This appealed to my five-year-old directly. The sun tells us how life on earth would not be possible without plants and their ability to process the sunlight via chlorophyll, make glucose, and release oxygen so we can exist.

The fact that all life on earth is connected and interdependent is brought out beautifully in this book. Not just photosynthesis. And, it sets the stage for understanding chemical, biological and physical processes down the road.

The text is easy enough for the five-year-old to follow, yet scientifically sound. The illustrations are simply magnificent! It is not easy to represent such an abstract chemical reaction or phenomenon as photosynthesis, and Molly Bang has done it.

Notes at the back of the book answers such questions as How Does Life Work?, What happens to water in Photosynthesis?, How do we get energy from the plants we've eaten? and so on, with additional information for older children.

Aside: Clare Norelle's The Same Earth Holds Us All CD is a big hit with both the kids, although the almost-3-year-old probably only understands half the lyrics with the exception of Chickees-and-Duckies. My favorite in this collection is called The Common Pot (La olla común) which seems to have struck a chord in Ana. Anyway, this CD has a very catchy song about Photosynthesis, which in conjunction with the book has proven invaluable to me as a parent and am glad we have these on our shelves at home to reach for at will.


[image source: http://www.mollybang.com/Pages/livingsun.html]

[cross-posted as Saffron Tree]

Kids Craft: Salt Dough Creatures

Salt dough is fun to work with, but, needs to be baked for several hours in a low-heat oven for it to harden. Then the fun starts all over again: to paint it. Some sort of sealant needs to be applied as a top coat so moisture doesn't wither it away.

There are lots of sites on the web dedicated to this simple craft activity. Our inspiration at home was the cute little book Salt Dough by Laura Torres, illustrated by Wendy Wallin Malinow. For some reason Oggie loves the bright colorful creations in this book and Ana seemed inspired by the simplicity of it, especially since the book is written with her (kids like her) in mind - it speaks directly to them, with simple instructions.

So we tried a few.

The book suggests using aluminum foil core around which to build/sculpt/shape the dough to cut down on cooking time, which I liked. Of course, if the object is thin/small, no Al core needed.

Items used: flour, salt, water, aluminum foil, acrylic paints, paint brush, white glue, googly-eyes.

1. Dissolve 1 cup salt in 1 cup water.
2. Add 2 cups flour to this solution and knead well till it forms a cohesive elastic dough. (Adjust flour as needed).
3. Roll it out to about ¼ inch thick.
4. Either cut shapes with cookie cutters, or wrap pieces of the rolled out dough around the Al foil core and shape the creature.

Should be baked for at least 4 hours at 200°F, we left it in for about 7 hours till we were sure it felt hard all the way through with no soft spots. Yes, it is a long time! No instant gratification with this project.



Since penguins are a rage at home still, we did a couple of them. And something that looks like a cross between a mouse and a Koala.

Anyway, once it has cooled enough, we painted it with acrylic paints. Allowed it to dry. Applied a second coat. Allowed it to dry. Applied diluted white glue as sealant. Added googly-eyes.

Conclusion: "It's like play dough, Mama, eksep, it has to cook for a long time and I don't like that part."

Thanks to Junie B. Jones, I get to hear a lot of I like it very much, except, I don't like it :)

But, we did make another batch where Ana enjoyed the whole process from start to finish. Except, I did not enjoy the incessant "is it done yet? how much longer? can we take it out of the oven now?"

I have a dream...

Wet Felting and Needle Felting

Felting was on my list of things to try in 2010. And thanks to my mum-in-law, I finally got over my inertia and did it over the Winter Holidays. And am in love with it!

(Thanks Mom! Not just for the wool and the book, but for being there when I first tried it).

Both Wet Felting and Needle Felting are simple and rewarding activities even children can try (Ana tried and seems to like it).

This is not the felting of knitted projects, no. No knitting involved. This is just taking some plain or dyed wool roving and working it into felted fabric/shape/sculpture, something useful.

There are a number of books and youtube videos explaining the technique so I won't try to rehash it here. Suffice it to say that it is lot simpler than it sounded when I read/heard about it. And it is addictive.

The only catch being the price of the wool. But considering it takes just about an ounce of wool roving to make the little girls' purse shown here, it should be nominal. Especially since I do it not just for the love of it but for the satisfaction and joy of giving handmade gifts for friends and family whenever I can.

(Mom, if you are reading this, your custom-dyed wool is something I am looking forward to this year!)

Some hot water, dish soap, an old roasting pan or any shallow container is all the equipment needed, along with wool roving and weighing scale and some patience and imagination, of course.

Creating the template and planning out the end product is about 70% of the work really. Since no sewing is involved, bag or shoes or hat for that matter needs to be planned out first to make sure the finished piece shapes up well. After that it is simply wet felting till the fabric passes the "pinch-test", then rinsing and drying and possibly blocking into shape as it dries.

Needle Felting is another technique by which the wool fibers are teased with a needle, or punched repeatedly, to create a pattern or design. A single felting needle is all that is needed, and some wool roving, of course, to create a needle-felted design on another felted fabric.



Project details for the purse:

Wet felting, shaping and drying the little bag, no sewing or knitting or any other skills needed. Which is why even children can try it. Of course, the water can be lukewarm (not hot) when kids try it. The hotter the water the faster the felting,

Materials for Wet Felting:
1 oz. dyed merino wool roving,
5x6 inch rectangle template (I used a bubble wrap sheet for the rectangular template),
shallow roasting pan or tub larger than the finished size of the piece,
hot water (as hot as the hand can tolerate),
plastic gloves if preferred,
a small amount of dish soap

Needle Felting is just for embellishment in this project. A couple of needle felted projects are lined up to share here someday.

Materials for the Needle Felted Butterfly:
small amount of wool roving in preferred colors
needle felting tool, or punch needle tool for larger designs

To finish the purse:
Coconut shell button
Leather thong

The finished purse after drying is about 4.5x5.5 inches (it shrinks a bit on drying). Needle felted butterfly is on one side, and the button is on the other.

Note to self: Reinforcing the edges, not developing any weak spots on the fabric are a couple of things that comes more naturally with experience. As with any craft, it takes practice to get good at it and it is something to work on this year.

Atlantis

Atlantis
The Legend of a Lost City
by Christina Balit

Ages 4-8

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (May 1, 2000)

Having heard and read (selected) stories from Indian mythology for a couple of years now, Ana seemed eager for more legends and fables from other parts of the world. We've been reading a few snippets online on and off (Greek, Norse, Chinese, Egyptian), nothing overwhelming or intense, but something child-friendly and minimally doctored. The inherent themes of wickedness, raciness, reparation, violence and the nature of good and evil in most of the tales could get overwhelming - at least for me, so I am not in a rush to read it all to her.

One of the books we read last November, Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City by Christina Balit seems to have made an impression on the 5¾ year old. The combination of illustrations and the ever-fascinating lore is probably the primary reason for this infatuation.

Poseidon and Cleito, with their 5 sets of twin boys, the description of the beautiful island city, the contentment and peace giving way to restlessness, resentment and wrath of the gods as people of the city give in to the baser nature of humanity, all seem to have created the right measure of drama and romance.

The short note at the back by Geoffrey Ashe sparked as much interest as the rest of the book, speculating on the possible location of Atlantis as well as the truth behind the tale.

As mentioned in this bio, Ms.Balit's illustrations have a distinctive style that draws from the Greek and Mediterranean art, with vibrant colors and striking impact.

When request for second and third and fourth reads immediately follow the first, back-to-back, with barely any pause for catching my breath, I know the book has made an impression.

The book spawned off a number of questions regarding god in the context of her own life and we had some interesting discussions. Zeus' wrath and Poseidon's decision to destroy the city watching people being hurtful to each other possibly triggered a number of thoughts in her head, trying to clearly demarcate the world of mythology from her own...

Now that dust has settled at home on this legend, with a satisfactory note to herself that the city is buried in the Atlantic Ocean and cannot ever be found as it all melted away (or perhaps, "Plato made it all up, Mama"), Ana has moved on to other fanciful tales, with Alice in Wonderland in the lead.

Bernard Evslin's Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths has been a favorite of mine, filling in for those in-between times when I am waiting for the next good book. It will be a while before Ana is ready for Evslin's tome, but in the meantime, I am sure I'll be on the lookout for more such picture books like Atlantis...



[image source: booksdirect.com.au]

Kids Art: Winter 'Magic' Painting

We are overly fond of Oil Pastel Resist. (I am. Corollary: Ana is too.)

And we love the amorphous effect of Salt Sprinkled Painting.

This Winter 'Magic' Painting seems to be the latest trend in Ana's impromptu art works. It combines Oil Pastel Resist and Salt Sprinkled Painting in cool watercolors on heavy-weight paper to create winter backdrop for some of the layered/collage pieces, or even as stand-alone pieces.

White oil pastel on white paper creates the 'magic': Since white on white is practically inconspicuous at first, when we wash over it with inky watercolors, it reveals itself.

Dots, snowflakes, stars, piles of snow etc., even snowman were Ana's favorite... snow-laden evergreens, penguins on icy shores and such were some of the things I initially shared with her, nothing breath-taking. Most of Ana's creations became Thank You cards we sent post-Xmas.



Items Used: Oil pastels, water colors, faux sable #12 flat brush (or any brush - large flat brush makes the wash easier), common salt (in shaker to minimize mess/wastage), heavy weight paper (card stock is fine, but effects vary with paper weight); optional: scissors, pinking shears, double-sided foam adhesive tape, glue

1. On white heavy weight paper, create some design/scene with white oil pastel for the 'magic' painting; (any colored oil pastel can be used for the scenery, reserving the white to depict snow/ice in the finished work)
2. Use a large flat brush with inky watercolors to wash over it
3. When it is still in the glossy state, not dry yet, but not soggy either, sprinkle salt on the wet watercolors just painted
4. Allow to dry completely and brush off the salt

Some of the things we used this for:

• Book Mark: Make Winter Magic Painting on a desired rectangular piece of medium heavy-weight paper; fold in half with a piece of Ric Rac ribbon or raffia in between, and glue together to make a book mark. For extra protection, I "laminated" it with clear contact sheet. For Nana, we glued one of the penguins Oggie made on this wintry background, and Ana wrote, "Happy Reading, Nana!", before I laminated it.


• Cut-paper Collage: Cut out pictures from old greeting cards or wrapping paper, or create your own figures - we went with the ubiquitous reindeer, penguins, snowman, pine tree and suchlike. Glue them on with double-sided foam tape for that extra dimension. We made small 3x5 inch or 4x6 inch ones for greeting cards


• Cards: Cut a 3x3 inch or so square using pinking shears with interesting edges; glue this with double-sided foam adhesive tape on to a piece of card stock paper that is slightly larger; then attach this combo to the front of a handmade paper card, with mild sprinkling of glitter where preferred


• Rubber-Stamp: We created a whole 8x11 heavy weight paper with teal, indigo, lilac, purple Winter Magic Painting; when completely dry, add snowflake or any favorite rubber stamp in interesting colors. (As before, I like to use food-color inks for rubber stamping). Apply a gentle layer of glitter for that extra magic little girls love

As always, inspiration comes from many places. This combination of Oil Pastel Resist and Salt Sprinkled Painting can be be used for non-winter themes as well, using the white oil pastel to preserve the whites/light where needed.

Merry Christmas!

Much like the last couple of years, we baked fresh cookies on Christmas Eve and left them with a mug of milk and a note for Santa.

All Ana could think of asking was, Why do you come only on Christmas?

(We are still working on the spelling, learning the rules and exceptions to the rules of standard/accepted writing, which is probably not a quick-and-short drill ...)

After he talked to the kids via PNP "web-cam" a couple of days ago, reminding Ana to try harder at getting ready for bed when her parents ask her to, and asking Oggie to listen to his parents when they want him to do something, we were expecting Santa to stop by. And he did.

Looks like he had most of the cookies and milk, and possibly carrots too, or maybe the reindeer ate the carrots, we can't be sure, we were asleep...

Anyway, he did leave a note for Ana explaining why he comes only once a year: apparently, he has to be there every day of the year (except Christmas), else the elves would get very playful and forget to get their work done... and how else can he get some presents to all the children in the world if the elves don't help with the toy-making?!

Merry Christmas!

Letters From Father Christmas

Letters From Father Christmas
J.R.R.Tolkien

Ages 4+

Houghton Mifflin, 2004

Nana always brings precious books for the kids. I'm sure working at a charming little book store helps her screen, sift, and sort through the huge collection out there and select only the ones that somehow resonated with her.

Her latest present for the kids is Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R.Tolkien. It is a collection of letters written by Tolkien to his children (as Father Christmas, and sometimes his Secretary Ilbereth), every year, from 1920 onwards for nearly twenty years, till about 1943. In one letter, Father Christmas asks the children to give his love to John who has stopped writing back, thus letting us learn a little about John.

The first letter was for his then 3-year old son John, and as the years passed the letters were addressed to his three sons John, Michael, Christopher, and his daughter Priscilla. "Cheer up, chaps (Also chaplet if that is the feminine)." says North Polar Bear in one of his postscript scrawls.

The elaborate world Tolkien created for his children, with Father Christmas in the North Pole, his chief assistant North Polar Bear, and even his Secretary Elf Ibereth, along with drawings and paintings, is a treat to read. The imagination, creativity and facility with which Middle Earth was created is hinted at in this collection of intimate and delightful letters.

The book reproduces many of the original letters and paintings, transcribed in print to make it easier to read the spidery old writing. A Goblin attack leading to an almost never-was Christmas, reindeer running loose, accident-prone North Polar Bear creating mini disasters everywhere and everywhen he could, all make for a magical experience of the world many children today learn to dismiss and disbelieve.

I fell in love with this book at first read. And after reading a few of the letters, looks like it is exercising its charm on Ana as well.

[image source: tolkien.co.uk]