{Virtual Book Club for Kids} Move, Eat, Draw, Learn with Trains by Gail Gibbons

Wild Thing (3.5 years-old) has been a train fan for awhile now (probably for two years). He loves all things that go, but trains were his first obsession in this area, which begin when he was probably Caterpillar's age (18 months) or perhaps a bit younger, so when it came time to select a Gail Gibbons book for us for the Virtual Book Club for Kids, her book Trains was the obvious choice. Each month with the Virtual Book Club for Kids we share a way that we move, eat, draw and learn with the book. So, here's 4(+) fun ways to play (and learn) with Trains! (Though I am flipping the order and sharing move, draw, eat, learn - you'll see why). 

Move - Pretending to be a train gets my boys moving every time. Sometimes we pretend to be trains while walking in a specific way. Sometimes, we use a good old cardboard box. Wild Thing will push Caterpillar. Then, I will push Wild Thing. Wild Thing also likes to turn blankets into trains as I pull them around the house (okay, so that one gets me moving, not them). Another way we move with trains is when we visit a nearby train station that offers special train rides, but which has trains parked on the tracks on a regular basis for children and adults to explore. They can climb up on the trains and run and walk alongside the tracks looking at many different types of trains. There are even trains that have been converted into shops. It is a great free outing that we do regularly. 

I also absolutely love the Pool Noodle Train Tracks that Play-Trains recently shared on her blog. What an awesome way to get train-loving kids moving and outside this summer! 

Draw - For our art component this week, we made trains using recycled boxes and milk caps. (If you read the blog, you know how much I love to use milk caps!) The boys had lots of fun painting their trains and glueing on the wheels. 

Wild Thing is making sure we have what we need to get started.

After he glued the wheels on the train, he enjoyed painting the train.

Caterpillar enjoyed transferring milk caps between freight cars too.

Eat - Then, we used our new trains to help carry our ingredients when we made a simple batch of 3-ingredient, no bake cookies. In Trains by Gail Gibbons, she shares about many types of trains, including freight trains that often carry food and the hopper cars that carry grains. So, we thought it would be perfect for our trains to be freight cars. My next goal is to transform them into true hopper cars so the ingredients can come out of the bottom of the train! When we do that, I will definitely share it. The simple 3-ingredient no bake cookies we made this time were a variation on a peanut butter oat variety that we really like. This time, I used sunflower seed butter instead, a perfect way to make the cookies for children with nut allergies. (We have also made krispy treats that look like trains in the past. You can find them here, as well as 10+ fun ways to learn, play, create with trains including a DIY train table.) 

Staple ingredients are: honey, rolled oats, sunflower seed butter.
Wild Thing added in some peanut butter cups, which we typically do not do.

The Freight cars delivering the ingredients.

We mixed 1 cup oats, 1 cup sunflower seed butter and eyeballed the honey.
You want enough to get it all to stick together. Then I made cookie balls
and put them in the muffin tin to go in the fridge and set.

Now the cookies are ready to eat.

Learn - The book is such a great learning tool as it is full of fun facts and information about trains, including some brief history about trains, that some trains are steam trains, others are diesel and others are powered by electricity, and the different ways that trains are used (for passengers, for freight and details about types of freight). As we read it, we talk about the types of trains we have been on and seen. We also have extended the learning opportunity regarding how trains work into everyday life -- talking about coal powering steam engines when we grill (we have a charcoal grill) or discussing the power of steam when I make a pot of tea. Learning opportunities are all around us! I have also used the book to reinforce Wild Thing's interest and awareness of blending sounds (which began many months ago) as we read the word train and track and recognize their common beginning sounds. (You can read about and see the TR learning activities we did with Trouble with Trolls and GR learning activities we did with There Was a Tree. I have added to the TR cards we made with Trouble with Trolls adding words like train, track and others to further reinforce his understanding of these blended letter sounds). Finally, I have to share another cool activity from Play-Trains: Coal and Water Steam Engine Sensory Play. 

As you can see, Trains by Gail Gibbons offers many fun learning and play activities. We have also been enjoying some other books by Gibbons. Our other favorites are Dinosaurs, Corn and Vegetables. Dinosaurs and Vegetables both lend themselves quite well to sorting activities. We plan to sort Wild Thing's dinosaur fact cards using the book putting all of the sauropods together and such. I also plan to have Wild Thing and Caterpillar sort vegetables too. I also thought I would share some other dinosaur, vegetable and corn activities we have done in the past that would work as extensions/connections to those Gibbons' books: Composting and Dinosaurs, Cornmeal Sensory Bin, Popcorn on the Cob and Vegetable Recipes for Kids from A-Z. 

Have you read any books by Gail Gibbons? Which are your favorites? 

(P.S. My son is actually playing trains with chairs as I finish this post right now!) 


Sharing at: Eco-Kids Tuesday, Artsy Play Wednesday, Mom's Library, and It's Playtime!

5 Great Films About Fathers -- Selected by a Father + Filmmaker

Not only is my husband a great father to our two sons, but he is also a talented independent filmmaker. SMUGGLED, the latest independent film that he wrote and directed, which our production company released a couple of months ago, won 5 awards on the film festival circuit with 15 selections and has been featured by NBCLatino, ABC and many other media outlets, including a great write-up by Mamiverse praising the way the film portrays a beautiful mother-son relationship (largely in honor of his own mother who passed away over 10 years ago). I also love this post from Kid World Citizen about the way the film can be utilized to teach youth about immigration. 

For Father's Day, I decided to ask him to pick 5 of his favorite films featuring fathers. Some of his picks were as I expected, but some surprised me -- in a good way. I also wrote down my own top 5 films featuring fathers before he shared his. So, here's his picks (and mine!) 

1. Pursuit of Happyness - Based on the life of Chris Gardner, this film shows the sacrifices and risks a father will take to give his son a better life -- and to be a father that models courage and commitment. This touching film will make you life and cry -- and, most likely, will leave you inspired. 


2. I Am Sam - More than any other film, I Am Sam gets to the core of what it really means to be a great father as it tells the story of a mentally disabled father struggling to raise his 7 year-old daughter whose mother skipped out immediately after the child was born. Sean Penn's performance as Sam is amazing. His character's love and dedication for his daughter is juxtaposed against a hard-working, high profile (and high strung) lawyer who struggles to connect to her son. Ultimately, as well, the film is a testament to the most basic parenting reality -- that it does indeed take a village to raise a child. 


3. The Karate Kid (1984 version) - This was the first film on the list that surprised me (in fact, my #1 and 2 films were the same as my husband's). Though there is no traditional father in The Karate Kid, but certainly Mr. Miyagi ends up assuming the role of father for Daniel (played by Ralph Maccio). Likewise, Daniel fulfills the role of son for Miyagi as well, who even calls him Danielson. I loved that this film was included because it highlights the reality that being a father is not about blood, but about the roles that people play in each other's life. Certainly, there are several fathers who should (and hopefully will) be honored on Father's Day by children who appreciative them, even if those individuals are not fathers in the traditional sense of the word.


4. John Q - This is an often overlooked film. (In fact, when he mentioned it, I realized that I had forgotten about this film). Yet, it certainly makes sense on the list. In John Q, Denzel Washington plays a father who will go to any length to save his son. Can't get much more fatherly than that. 


5. Daddy Day Care - The list definitely needed a comedy, and this is a perfect comedic film to include as it tells the story of two fathers (Charlie played by Eddie Murphy and Phil played by Jeff Garlin) who open up a day care after being laid off from their advertising jobs. We need films/books/media that demonstrate the value of men as caregivers and that underscore that men can excel as child caregivers. Additionally, through the film, Charlie realizes that spending time with his son and being available for his son is more important than making lots of money -- an important reminder indeed for all parents. 

I have to also share that Delta Force 3: The Killing Game almost made the list, even though my husband wanted me to make it very clear that he in NO WAY is recommending that anyone see this film or that it is good -- quite the opposite, the film is AWFUL. However, it almost made the list because it is a film he always thinks about when he thinks about fathers because his father was a huge fan of all of the film. He thinks that it is quite possible that this is one of the last movies he ever watched with his dad. So, really it is the memory connected with the film that makes it important. 

How about you? What are your favorite films about fathers? Is their a film that makes you think of your dad or that the two of you always watched together? Right now, at our house, my 3.5 year-old loves to The Sandlot with his daddy! 

As for me, my top 5 are: Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Sam, Life Is Beautiful, Annie (my father and I actually performed songs from Annie together at our church. My mom made me a perfect red dress, and my dad was a fabulous Daddy Warbucks!). #5 for me is Be Kind Rewind. Be Kind Rewind is my surprise film on the list as it, like The Karate Kid, portrays a father-son like relationship between two individuals that are not related, but who certainly play the role of father and son in one another's lives -- each teaching the other some valuable things along the way. 

My husband and I also discussed some of our favorite television and film fathers of all time, which include: Cliff Huxtable (of course), Clark Griswold and Al Bunker with honorable mentions for Homer Simpson and Al Bundy. Whose on your list?

Ramon, my husband and Wild Thing + Caterpillar's daddy, shooting Smuggled. 

I also have to say that another really cool thing about my boys having a filmmaker for a father is the videos he makes each year that highlight different, wonderful family moments. I LOVE that we have these gems. You can watch them (and other work by Ramon and our company, Think Ten Media Group, on our Vimeo page).