Book Giveaway: Mack and Missy

Missy and her brother Mack go crabbing with their Grandpa. The rhythmic text and collage illustrations are likely to warm your heart. Many of us who grew up on the East Coast have many fond memories of the sights, smells, and sounds of crab season. Tweet me @LiteracyCounts to win a copy. 

What are your favorite Father's Day books and activities? (Comment for a chance to win!)

Here are some of  favorite books that feature dads! Click on the image for more details.

Please tell us your favorite Father's Day Books and Activities in the comments below. Or you can tell us how you handle children in your class that might not have a dad. One randomly selected commenter will win a children's book! Deadline for comments is June 19 at midnight.

June 14th is Flag Day!

• Footprint flag:
1. Take a sheet of blue construction paper and allow children to cut and paste 50 star shapes on the paper.
2. On white tagboard, lightly pencil off a section in the left corner (you will later glue the blue starred paper here).
3. This part may be best done outside: fill a shallow tray with red paint. Let children step in the red paint and walk across the white tagboard, making the red "stripes" of the flag. Tips: make sure to add a shallow thin layer of paint to the tray (too much paint will make blobs instead of footprints; hold the child's hand while they walk across the paper so that they don't slip; after they walk across, have a hose to rinse children's feet off.)
4. After the paint dries, attach the blue stars and tadahhhh, you have a flag!
• Flag Cake:
1. Bake a yellow cake in a rectangular 9x13 pan.
2. While cake is cooling, rinse strawberries and blueberries. Hull and slice strawberries length wise.
3. After cake cools, add white frosting. Then add blueberries in the left corner and add strawberries for the stripes.
4. OR, you can try this no-bake recipe from Kraft!
• Craft Stick Flag: The directions from Enchanted Learning suggest that you cut tiny stars but you can also use a star hole punch like this one this one from Amazon and the kids love it! 
• Learn about Betsy Ross.

S is for S'mores

S Is for S'Mores: A Camping Alphabet by Helen Foster James

I loved K is for Kick and P is for Putt so, it's natural that I'd like S Is for S'Mores: A Camping Alphabet! As with the other books in the series, there is catchy text associated with each letter of the alphabet in addition to several facts about camping. Here are some more fun activities to try:

• Trail Mix S'mores: Mix mini marshmallows, teddy grahams, and mini chocolate chip cookies in a bag and you have all of the fixings (without the mess) for the perfect s'more!
• Animal Collage: Make a collage of animals that you might see while camping.
• Map It: Mark the National Parks on a map of the United States.
• Pop Up Tent: Add a small pop up tent to housekeeping or block area. Add a few props such as blankets, flashlights, sleeping bags etc
• Starry Night: Buy glow in the dark stars to put around your classroom (particularly on the ceiling) and turn off the lights to pretend you are camping under the stars.
• Coloring Pages and Patterns: Use these coloring pages to enhance the theme. Children can color them or teachers can use them to create bulletin boards or concept activities.
• S is for S'more and C is for Camping: Print and color 2 tent patterns. On one tent, write the letter S and on the other, write the letter C. Have a variety of pictures or objects that begin with the letters C and S. Children sort the objects by placing them on top of the correct tent.
• North, South, East, and West: Teach children to use a compass.
• Camp Fire: Make logs by wrapping paper towel tubes in brown construction paper. Use red, yellow and orange tissue paper "flames" to add to the logs. Add a small mini-flashlight under the "fire" to make it glow! Large white cotton balls attached to the end of the stick make great "marshmallows!"
• Nature Sounds: Play a CD of nature sounds such as Echoes of Nature: American Wilds.
• Camp Fire Stories: Have children bring sleeping bags. Sit around the pretend campfire, turn out the lights (remember to have your Starry Sky ready), eat your s'more trailmix and tell camping stories.

More Camping Books