It’s time to go! (Round 2!)

Me: Can I take a break?

Gentle Reader: Sure…sure! Yes, of course! But…um….

Me: Why?

GR: Yes…why?

Me: I want to try new things. I want to go outside to play, get some fresh air, and do some much needed people watching. Plus, I haven’t baked blueberry muffins in *ages*.

GR: Ahhhhh. All right. You won’t be gone long, though, will you? Will you come back?

Me: Well, I did this once before, and you know me: when the muffins are ready to share, I’ll be back. Big hugs and thank you!

GR: See you later!

Principals: They *are* your pals!

Principal Number One: The Arts Have It

• A Roxbury, Massachusetts school principal fired the security guards and replaced them with art teachers. The result? The school boasts “one of the fastest student improvement rates statewide”. On a large scale such as this school, these results are amazing. On a smaller scale, such as a single classroom or at home, you achieve something similar when you make crafts, sing songs, and talk with puppets.

Principal Number Two: Sunny Days

• Principal Bob Samson of Bellingham Christian School in Bellingham, Washington, canceled school on May 3 because the weather was good. Not “bad weather”, as in snowy, rainy, or typhoony. Good weather, as in sunny, warm, and perfect for playing outdoors. Brilliant idea, yes? Who else is making a beeline for the principal’s office right now? (Be careful: no running in the halls!)

Got a bright idea for your principal? Oh I know you do! Share?

What, you *are* the principal? Saaaay, I’ve got and idea or two for you…….

Q as in Quapple

Out of habit, I’m almost always likely to say, “A as in Apple”.

B is pretty much always “Banana”.

C is “Carrot”.

Naturally, all of my ears perk up when I hear what other languages do.

Take a look at Nicole Designs’ fruit and vegetable alphabet.

Gorgeous isn’t it? (Oh, you should see the rest of the site!!)

And no, I wasn’t really thinking, because I immediately galloped off to find out in which language people say, “Q as in…Quapple??”

Oh silly me.

[Nicole Designs]

Button cookie, button cookie, who’s got the button cookie?

Just a quick question or three before I find out exactly how easy it is to make button cookies:

It says here to sew thread through a small stack of buttons. Do I use one of those sharp metal pointy thingies? Can you help me with that part, please?

Or can I skip all that decorating stuff and go straight to eating the cookies?

Eh? I should share the cookies??

Maybe you can help me with that part, too.

There are a bazillion button cookie recipes out there. Today I like For Chic Sake‘s version best.

Crunch! Squirt! Squish! (A noisy food game)

From the pages of Mudluscious (page 86, to be exact) comes this noisy food game.

It looks like a great fun activity, yes?

However I haven’t tried it yet, and I am therefore still anticipating how things might go.

I am also picturing all the bottles of pop I know and can’t figure out how I would “bite” into one to get a squirt.

Suggestions?

******

Children love to make noises with food. In this game, they will have to think what makes noise. There aren’t “right” or “wrong” answers — just lots of possibilities.

Children are seated in a circle. The leader takes a bite of an imaginary food and says, “Crunch,” then passes the “food” to the child on her right. This child repeats the action and the sound. The last child in the circle names a crunch food. Potato chips? Celery? A frozen icicle? (You may need to prompt shy children at first.)

Next, the leader bites into a “squirt” and passes it on. Is it a grapefruit? A dill pickle? A bottle of pop?

Finally, try a “squish.” What sounds “squish”? A ripe banana? Mashed potatoes? Mud pie?

Make up your own sounds and let the children try their own!

A Galapagos tortoise walks into a room and says….

…says not a whole lot for at least 4 minutes.

This is a fascinating video! Here, read more about G. Tortoise and the Camera Guy, and start discussing.

And I mention all of this in case you’re planning to read The Tortoise and the Hare any time soon: you’re going to have to allow pleeeeeeeeeeennty of time  for that okay-let’s-race dialog, right?

I’ll go get snackage and a stack of jokes to help pass the time.

[Arlo Midgett via The Kid Should See This]