Author Archives: TodayWeDid

About TodayWeDid

I spend my time sharing my love of reading, arts and crafts with my four children. I also review children's and YA books.

Mar27

Humf is a Furry Thing by Andrew Brenner

Posted on March 27, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

Humf is a Furry Thing created by Andrew Brenner, children’s boardbook, published by Igloo Books Ltd in 2011.

Humf is a little purple monster, and he is also a furry thing, just like his mum and dad. He thinks he might like to be a feathery thing like his friend Loon, or a scaly thing like a lizard, or maybe a slippery thing. But maybe he likes being a furry thing best after all.

Humf is one of our favourite friendly monsters, along with his friends Loon and Wallace. There have been times when the kids have wanted to watch him on TV over and over, until they know the episodes backwards and forwards 🙂 So finding some Humf books was exciting. Humf is a Furry Thing is a sturdy boardbook with colourful illustrations, and a simple story great for sharing with a toddler or pre-schooler (older children can still enjoy Humf too!)

Mar27

Monster Horns

Posted on March 27, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

My little monster!

Using some green paper and green cardboard we made some monster horns to wear. I cut the green paper into strips, stapling two together and then placing it around the each child’s head to get the right size for the headband.

Monster horns.

The monster headband.

I cut out some horn shapes from the green cardboard, and then we stapled two horns to each headband. Then the kids used glitter confetti glue to decorate their monster horns. They became very sparkly, and A described her horns as monster tiaras (currently she would like to be a princess when she grows up).

A spreading glitter glue.

L adding glitter glue carefully.

My big monster!

Mar26

Counting Pom Poms

Posted on March 26, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

I wrote numbers in the inside base of twelve muffin cases (numbers 1 to 12), and placed the muffin cases into our muffin trays. Then I asked A to place the correct number of pom poms into each muffin case. She used some big plastic tweezers and some scoop tweezers to pick up the pom poms and transfer them to the muffin cases.

The muffin cases numbered and set out.

The plastic tweezers.

For each muffin case I would ask A how many she needed to put in, and she would read the number out loud. She counted each pom pom as she went, and then re-counted them at the end to make sure she had them all right. As she went, I asked her to do some basic subtraction and addition to work out how many pom poms she had to get to reach the right number.

Scooping up some pom poms.

A liked practicing her numbers and it was fun using the tweezers. Some of the little pom poms were hard to pick up, and this was a good chance for her to practice her fine motor skills.

Placing a pom pom into the muffin case.

Using the tweezers to grab a pom pom.

Mar26

Alice-Miranda at School by Jacqueline Harvey

Posted on March 26, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

Alice-Miranda at School by Jacqueline Harvey, paperback children’s novel, 281 pages, published by Random House Australia in 2010.

Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones is a precocious seven year old who is starting at her new boarding school, Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies. There is something not quite right about the school though. The headmistress, Miss Grimm, never emerges from her office, the school cook has never had a holiday, and the Gardner is not allowed to plant flowers. Alice-Miranda decides to set things right, but she must also deal with Alethea, the school bully, and a series of difficult and near impossible tasks set by Miss Grimm as an entrance test.

The Alice-Miranda series is written by the same author as the Clementine Rose series, but these books are longer and more challenging. While this book is probably best for middle primary school children, I decided to read this with my second grader, each of us taking turns to read. She was quite capable of reading it, but we did come across some words that were new to her. We took this as a learning opportunity and discussed these words, and then we looked some of them up in the dictionary. This didn’t diminish her enjoyment of the story though, and she has already begun reading the second book in the series by herself.

As Alice-Miranda is the only child of very wealthy parents who have spared no expense in raising their daughter, she had the potential to be a bit spoilt, and she is quite outspoken, so I expected her to be somewhat annoying, and ergo unlikable, but that actually wasn’t the case. She is very forthright and opinionated, but she was also intelligent, charming, interesting and confident, adventurous, charitable and kind. I found myself hoping that everything would work out for her as we read. The story is well written and interesting, with plenty of description of both characters and surroundings allowing for an immersion in the tale. I really liked sharing this story with my daughter.

Alice-Miranda’s future adventures are definitely on our to-read list!

Mar25

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

Posted on March 25, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass, paperback novel, 267 pages, published by Scholastic Inc. in 2009.

Amanda and Leo were born on the same day in the same hospital and were to become best friends, and celebrate their birthdays together every year. That is until their tenth birthday when they have a falling out, and then don’t speak to each other for an entire year. Amanda is miserable on the day of her eleventh birthday, and she is glad when the day finally ends and she goes to sleep. But when she wakes up in the morning she discovers that her birthday is happening again, and she seems to be the only one that realises it. Why is her birthday repeating and how does she make it end?

I enjoyed this story, it reminded me of the movie Groundhog Day, which I have always loved. The possibility of getting a “do-over” could be enticing, with no consequences, you could do anything you’ve always wanted to, but never been game to. Though, it could also be depressing when nothing you do actually matters, as each day resets and no one else remembers your actions. I think that the emotions that Amanda displays in the book when she discovers her birthday is repeating, mirror how I think I would react in the same situation. The characters were well written and felt real. The storyline was interesting and engaging, and I hope my kids will like it too. This book is probably best for middle to upper primary school students, though I didn’t think it had themes that would preclude a younger child from enjoying the story.

Mar25

Ava Anne Appleton Accidental Adventurer by Wendy Harmer

Posted on March 25, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

Ava Anne Appleton Accidental Adventurer by Wendy Harmer, illustrated by Andrea Edmonds, paperback chapter book, 90 pages, published by Scholastic Australia in 2013.

There are a lot of ‘A’s in Ava Anne Appleton’s life. Her parents are Alan and Anne Appleton, and her dog is called Angus. She even lives at 3A Australia Avenue. She is very comfortable in her ordinary and predictable life, but all that changes when her father brings home a large mobile home named the Adventurer, and announces that their whole family will be traveling around Australia for the next year. Ava isn’t sure this sounds like a great idea, but as her parents are obviously thrilled about their trip, she just has to go along with it. When they set down for the night near a lake, Angus runs off into the bush, and Ava follows after him, quickly becoming lost in the unfamiliar surroundings. She has to find Angus and get back to her parents. Luckily she meets a new friend that can help show her how to enjoy her first adventure.

This is a chapter book with easy to read (and largish) text, and a simple storyline with simple language. This book would be great for lower primary school kids that are moving into independent reading of chapter books. There are some black and white illustrations through the book, and the chapters are reasonably short. At first I thought Ava didn’t seem much like an ordinary eight year old, with her need for order and neatness, but perhaps I just have too much experience with kids that whip through the room like a tornado! Perhaps Ava has been attributed with some more adult-like qualities because she is an only child in the story. Despite her reluctance to adventure, run about and get dirty, she is still a likeable character, and my own children liked her. I read this to my preschooler, and she loved it. We have now started reading Ava’s second adventure. Though this was a very easy read for my second grader, she still enjoyed the story too.

Mar25

Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster by Jacqueline Harvey

Posted on March 25, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

Clementine Rose and the Pet Day Disaster by Jacqueline Harvey, paperback children’s novel, 151 pages, published by Random House Australia in 2013.

Clementine Rose Appleby is just five years old and she’s starting school with her two best friends. She is very excited about starting kindergarten until she meets her teacher, Mrs Bottomley, a very stern and scary older teacher who has lost her enthusiasm for teaching and for children. And if that wasn’t bad enough, some of the boys in her class, especially Angus, are mean to her, even telling lies about her to the teacher, right from the start. However, even though things don’t get off to a great start, the announcement of a pet day at school cheers Clementine up. Clementine takes her little tea cup pig, Lavender, along to the pet day, and enters her into a number of categories. She invites her Great-aunt Violet to bring her cat to the pet day too, and though Violet has no plans of attending, that is where they end up, with some interesting consequences.

This fun tale of Clementine Rose is a junior novel suitable for lower to middle primary school children. The story and language is easy to follow and understand. There are some black and white illustrations throughout, and a list of the characters and how they fit into the story at the end of the book as well. Clementine Rose is a very likeable and sweet character, and we enjoyed reading about her first days at school. Both my preschooler and my second grader liked this story, and I’d be happy to read more Clementine Rose adventures with them.

Mar25

Monster Fingers

Posted on March 25, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

Monster themed finger food just right for a snack or party is monster fingers. A chose to use cheese sticks for this activity, while L chose to use carrot sticks. We used dried strawberries for the finger nails. I was going to use pecan halves or slivered almonds for this, but we’d run out, and the kids couldn’t wait for me to go to the store. I think the dried strawberries worked well though.

Adding dip to the finger to stick the fingernail on.

I broke the cheese sticks in half and cut the carrots into sticks. The kids used a little bit of french onion dip to stick the fingernails to the fingers. We could have used cream cheese or something like that to stick them together too.

Adding a fingernail.

This was pretty quick and easy, fun and tasty. The kids pulled theirs apart to eat them though, as the dried strawberries were quite sweet while the cheese and carrot were not, and they didn’t like the mixed tastes. I think they would have eaten them together if we’d used the nuts instead of strawberries. We can use nuts next time we feel a bit peckish for some monster fingers.

A plateful of monster fingers.

Mar23

A Monster Wrote Me a Letter by Nick Bland

Posted on March 23, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

A Monster Wrote Me a Letter by Nick Bland, paperback picture book, first published by Scholastic Australia in 2005.

When the boy intercepts a letter from a monster that was meant for the monster living under his bed, an unusual play date occurs. Both the boy and the monster are rather nervous about their play date and they each try to do some things to impress the other. The boy puts out prickles and piranhas, while the monster bathes and combs his hair. The play date is a roaring success (pun intended!) as they teach each other some new things.

This is a delightful story with rhyming text that my kids want to read over and over. It is amusing and different, and very entertaining. This is a perfect book for preschool through lower primary school, but all ages can enjoy this funny tale. I certainly do!

Mar23

Coloured Rice for Sensory Play

Posted on March 23, 2014 by TodayWeDid

Standard

L’s school has been running a ‘paint and play’ or ‘stay and play’ program on a Friday morning for a while now. And we like to go along and enjoy it. There is usually some art and/or craft activities, toys, music, books, and sensory play. L liked in when she was still in preschool, and would probably still like to come to it if she didn’t have to be in class instead 🙂 I’ve been taking A regularly and she has made friends with some of the other kids that come regularly too. It is mostly other families that have older kids at the school. It is nice and easy to take L to class and then read books or do puzzles in the library until it’s time to gather under the trees at the front of the school for a play.

One of the sensory play items they sometimes have out is a huge tub of rainbow coloured rice. A loves it. A few times we’ve been, that is the only thing she has played with the entire time. She loves to run her fingers through it, pour it into different containers, spoon it around, put play animals in it, tell the other children it is hers and they can’t play with it…

I’d been thinking for a while that I should find out how to colour rice and make some for home, so I finally did. Turns out it’s pretty easy to do (thanks Powerful Mothering for showing me how!) A little bit of white vinegar mixed with food colouring in a ziploc sandwich bag made it super easy. I used about a cup of rice for each colour until I ran out of rice. A helped by putting the rice into the cup measure for me. I wish I’d taken a photo of the kids mixing the colour through the rice in the bag. They really liked squishing it around and shaking it to get the colour on all of the rice. The colour would have been more vibrant had we used white rice, but we had some old brown rice in the cupboard that we weren’t going to eat, so we put it to good use. I think the colour still took fairly well, though the red and pink look rather similar.

Coloured rice drying.

The rice needed some time to dry so I spread it out on baking trays. I popped it in the oven on low

Coloured rice drying in the oven on low.

with the door propped open for a little while to speed up the drying time, since it’s still so cold here I thought it would take ages to completely dry, and I couldn’t put it outside in the sun as it was too windy. It didn’t take too long to dry like this, though the kids asked when it would be ready several dozen times.

Ready to play with.

The kids started out with one colour each, but predictably, that didn’t last long, and we soon had rainbow rice. They also wanted a little bit more, so we added some plain white rice to the mix as well.

Feeling the rice.

Mixing the colours together.

They ran their hands through it, put their feet in it, mixed it with whisks and spoons, measured it, put it in sieves and poured it through funnels. They really enjoyed the feel of the rice.

Feeling the rice with their feet.

Sifting the rice through a slotted spoon.

A’s pet store.

L made her tub into a Chinese Restaurant, while A opened a pet store in her tub. A offered snakes, frogs, lizards, bugs, a polar bear and a camel for sale. She charged Big L $28 for a couple of lizards. L made us entrees of spring rolls and prawn crackers, mains of rainbow pork, and dessert of deep fried ice cream. She used the sieve to deep fry the ice cream, and some containers became the stove where she cooked the pork.

Making deep fried ice cream.

We had a wonderful time playing with the coloured rice. Not only was it a good sensory play activity, it also inspired some beautiful pretend play. I love watching the kids bringing their imaginations to life during pretend play, and it’s even better if I’m allowed to play too!

I have stored the rice in an airtight container for more play later, and the kids have asked that I make some more colours to add to the tub for next time.

Update March 29 2014:

Colouring the rice yellow.

I made two new batches of coloured rice today using white rice. The colours are much more vibrant, and I’m very happy with them. The kids wanted yellow, and I made some more red. It was sunny and calm today too, so I was able to put the trays outside to dry. It took much less time than our earlier batches. Once it was all dry, I mixed the new colours in with the others. The kids are very happy with their rainbow rice.