Week at a Glance:

• Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: Growing Frogs by Vivian French
• word work and sentence writing
• FREE printable book: Life Cycle of a Frog Blank
• FREE printable book: Life Cycle of a Frog Illustrated
• FREE printable cards: Life Cycle of a Frog Illustrated
• FREE printable cards: Life Cycle of a Frog Blank

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY with Read-Along CD : Growing Frogs by Vivian French

Why we love this book:

Read along as a little girl and her mother collect frog spawn from a pond. Bright illustrations chronicle their frog adventure. Through the story and facts on each page, children learn about the life cycle of a frog. If your children are lucky enough to collect frog spawn of their own, the book teaches how to care for the developing tadpoles.

The book is narrated by Alan Marriott, best known for the voices on the Bob the Builder T.V. show.

Life Cycle of a Frog

Alrighty, let me try to summarize all of this:

• I’ve included the Life Cycles of a Frog blank book Miss Enigma illustrated. Your children can create their own illustrations.
• Miss Enigma was so proud of the her illustrated book that she asked me to make her version available for you to print.
• If you have little ones, you may want to print the illustrated version of Life Cycles of a Frog.
• In addition, MacGyver illustrated picture cards of each stage of the frog’s life cycle.
• Little ones can simply glue the correct picture on the correct page of the blank book.
• The cards can also be cut apart and kiddos can put them in the correct order.
• I’ve also included a blank template of the picture cards, so children can create their own illustrations.

So here we go . . .

Word Work and Sentence Writing

I have started a little box of word cards with Miss Enigma. It includes family names and a few easy familiar words. I’ve selected the words from our easy reader books and her journal writing.

• First, I introduced the new word frog. I always write the word card with Miss Enigma. I do not do it before class.
• Next, I dictated the sentence, “I see a frog.”
• Miss Enigma selected the correct word cards from her known words.
• Miss Enigma used the cards to build the sentence, “I see a frog.” She always leaves a finger space between the words.
• Last she wrote the sentence, with spaces between each word and a period at the end of the sentence.

Life Cycle of a Frog Book

FREE printable book

Life Cycle of a Frog Picture Cards

Print this book FREE: Life Cycle of a Frog Blank

Print this book FREE: Life Cycle of a Frog Illustrated

Print these picture cards FREE: Life Cycle of a Frog (blank & illustrated)

We’re GIVING AWAY one copy of Growing Frogs by Vivian French Read-Along CD

To enter this contest, use the Rafflecopter to answer the following question. After you leave a comment, you can move ahead with more entries.

Answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

Have you ever grown frogs, chicks, seeds, crystals, triops . . .? How did it go?  (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

No entries after 11:59 pm Central Time, Thursday, April 11, 2013

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Friday, April 12, 2013. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharing this week at:

Hip Homeschool Moms

3 Boys and a Dog

Movie Rating: Four Thumbs Up from a Daddy, Mommy and two kiddos, ages 9 and 6.

The kiddos were absolutely mesmerized by Flight of the Butterflies IMAX movie. More latter about our IMAX experience.

Photo from the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Flight of the Butterflies tells two stories. The movie follows the monarchs’, mysterious migration to and from Mexico. The journey of the monarch integrates the life cycle of the butterfly. Glorious up close filming of the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly emerging with it’s amazing wings.

Of special interest to us was the fact that the Texas Hill Country is prominently featured in the film. Each spring the Monarchs make their way through the Texas Hill Country stopping to feast on the nectar of the Texas wildflowers.

One fact we learned during the movie is that monarchs only lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. The next day, MacGyver purchased a tropical milkweed plant and planted it in his self-made square foot garden. He inspects daily for monarch eggs! Keep your fingers crossed.

This was our first IMAX 3D movie. We’ve seen a couple of those Disney 3D movies but gave up on those because they left us unimpressed. Flight of the Butterflies was a different experience! From the moment the movie began we were enchanted by the butterflies flying right before our eyes. It was so very cute to see Miss Enigma continue to catch butterflies throughout the movie. She was determined.

Movie Review by the children:

• Miss Enigma, age 6 – “This movie is about the monarch butterfly and its life. When the people came to Mexico they saw thousands of butterflies in the trees flying around. I liked it so much because it was 3D and the butterflies come out of the movie and fly around your face. I tried to catch them.”

• MacGyver, age 9:  “The movie shows one of the greatest journeys that has ever existed. The movie has awesome 3D. The best 3D I’ve ever seen in my life. You could catch the butterflies if they weren’t an illusion. I learned things I never knew about monarchs. If you’re making a butterfly garden you should plant milkweed. Milkweed is the only plant the monarchs lay their eggs on.  Dr. Fred Urquhart studied and tagged the butterflies his whole life trying to find out where the butterflies were going every winter. “

As a parent and a teacher, the part of the film I found most inspiring was the second part of the monarch story, the story of scientist Dr. Fred Urquhart. As a young boy, Fred spent his summers chasing the monarch butterflies but in the winter they disappeared. He began to wonder where they went every winter. The quest to solve this mystery continued throughout his life. Dr. Urquhart and his wife Norah recruited “citizen scientist” to tag monarch butterflies. In 1975, Kenneth C. Brugger and his wife Catalina Trail found the monarchs in their winter refuge on a mountaintop in Michoacán, Mexico. Dr. Urquhart’s passion and tagging solved the mystery of the monarchs’ amazing migration.

What a powerful message for a child. Pursue what fascinates you and make a life for yourself studying and learning. I can see MacGyver in the story of Dr. Urquhart. MacGyver’s interests may reside a bit outside of the norm, but we he encourage him to research and learn.

Butterfly Resources

Caterpillar Rearing Kit & Resources

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

The Butterfly Garden: FREE printable book

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer

• Exploring Habitats with Children

MacGyver’s Adapation: The Butterfly Room

• MacGyver is currently saving to build a butterfly house.

Our family will definitely be researching more IMAX documentaries.

Which IMAX movies do you recommend?

-Life with Jeannine

Little edible birdie nest. Cute! Right? Who knew you could mix marshmallows and chow mein noodles up into a tasty spring treat. I realize chow mein noodles sound weird but they basically taste like pretzels without all of the salt. I saw a photo of these sweet treats years ago but never got around to making a batch. This was the year. The kiddos and I experimented with the traditional Rice Krispies Treats recipe and everyone was very pleased with the results. Cute and tasty. We will be sharing these bird nests this weekend at church to raise money for Cambodia. And of course we’ll make them when hosting our family Easter gathering.

Robin Eggs Bird Nests Treats

FREE printable recipe guide

Ingredients:

• 20 marshmallows -or-
• (2 cups mini marshmallows)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 cups chow mein noodles
• Mini Robin Eggs

*If you double the recipe you can use one – 10 oz. bag of marshmallows and one – 12 oz bag of chow mein noodles

Tools:

• bowl (microwave safe)
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• cupcake pan
• * silicone baking cupcakes (optional)

Step 1:  Microwave butter and marshmallows on high for about 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. * Microwave times will vary.

Step 2: Mix in chow mein noodles. Stir until well coated.

* I bought a set of inexpensive silicone baking cups at TJMaxx. They are fabulous for no-stick baking. If you don’t have a set you’ll need to spray or butter the the cupcake pan.

Step 3: Spoon nests into buttered cupcake pan or silicone baking cups.

Step 4: Add robin eggs.

Print this FREE recipe Guide: Robin Eggs Bird Nests Treats

Happy Spring! Happy Bird Watching! Happy Easter!

Happy Tasty Sweet Treats!

Sharing this week at:

Adventurez in Child’Rearing

Hip Homeschool Moms

Homeschooling, or not, the Wildflower Farm in Fredericksburg, Texas makes an outstanding family day trip. In the next few weeks, we will make our annual journey to the Wildflower Farm. There is no better time than spring as the weather is inviting and the flowers are in full bloom.

• You can pack a lunch or grab a sandwich at the cafe at onsite. You might also like to take a drive into Fredericksburg for a bite to eat.
• Before you go, check the bloom-update on the Wildseed Farms website. That way you’ll know what to expect for the time of year you’re visiting.
• photo gallery and very cool 360 tour
• address and directions

Wildflower Farm Photo Tour

Bluebonnet Fields

Poppy Fields

Wildflower Fields

Butterfly Garden

Want to see more?

More Photos, Posts and Information on The Wildflower Farm in Fredericksbug, Texas:

• Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas: A Fabulous Field-trip
• The Butterfly Garden: FREE printable book

Life with Jeannine

Where are you  headed this spring?

My children are totally and completely in love with Hill Country Gardens, a local native plant nursery. They have adopted the owner, Andrea Sanger, as one of their best friends. When I say, “Let’s go  to Hill Country Gardens” a loud cheer erupts, accompanied by fist pumping. Andrea has created a Secret Garden and the kiddos would absolutely move in if I would let them!

I enjoy visiting Hill Country Gardens for inspiration. Every time we stop by, Andrea has tackled a new project. I never know what I’m going to find . . .

Colorful Birdhouse Display

I’ve had my eye on this display for a while now. As you drive along the road up to Hill Country Gardens, a delightful display of cheerful birdhouses decorate the fence. An otherwise brown, gray fence has come to life with color. It is extremely eye catching. This is just one section. The birdhouses adorn the length of the fence.

This bright turquoise is my favorite! That re-purposed junk perch is calling my name. We have a garage full of this kind of junk treasure. MacGyver will go wild re-purposing our junk treasures for the little birdies!

I have a very asymmetrical personality. (Whatever that says about me. ) So I’m totally digging the haphazard pattern, shapes and colors . . .

Big ones, Little ones . . .

Tall ones, Short ones, Skinny ones . . . Even crooked ones!

Pink ones . . .

Purple ones, Sunshine yellow ones . . .

Dream Sickle Orange ones . . . Margarita Lime Ones . . .

These birdhouse are so on my to do garden list. I have a boring, long wall along my garage that is begging me, “Color, color, little birdie houses  please!”

The kiddos and I are going to have a blast painting our birdie town! Such an easy DIY project for kids.

Yeah, spring is just around the corner! Bring it on sunshine! Looking for some simple ideas for connecting your children to nature? Checkout my book recommendation i love dirt! 52 actvities to help you & your kids discover the wonders of nature.

• Chapter 8: Going on a Bird Hunt
• Chapter 9: Be Like Audubon
• Chapter 10: A Little Birdie Told Me
• Chapter 11: Up, Up and Away
• Chapter 12: Build that Nest

Looking for some little birdie books and learning activities? Look no further . . . My posts on the book COUNT and activities will get you started.

• COUNT easy to read repetitive pattern and counting book.
• FREE printable bird books.
• FREE printable bird counters.
• Counting and Number activities.
• Art lesson (replace white lace with green tulle for spring tree.)
• Bird book recommendations

More Gardening Ideas for You Family