4th Grade Girls' Book Club: The Girls' Book of Excellence

4th Grade Book Club for Girls

My mom friend Katherine just did this book as a book club for our 4th grade girls book club. She, like the book, is excellent at everything including hosting an amazing kids’ book club. The book came home to great excitement. Not only did my book club kid love the book, but it fascinated her older sister.

How to Make Ice Cream in a Plastic Bag (pg. 12 and 13) were immediately attempted by my middle child along with her chum who is also in the book club. Excessive salt was used but the ice cream (not quite frozen) was pronounced a success and eagerly consumed.

You will need:

1 gallon-size reclosable plastic bag (ie ziplock)
ice cubes
6 tablespoons rock salt (we didn’t have any so sea salt was used instead which we don’t recommend)
1/2 cup cold milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pint-size reclosable plastic bag
gloves (to keep your hands warm when handling the ice)

1. Fill the large plastic bag halfway with ice and add the rock salt. (I think some salt accidentally went into the ice cream mixture so be careful!)

2. Pour the milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small plastic bag and seal it tightly. Be sure to squeeze out any extra air.

3. Place the small bag inside the large one and seal it tightly. Be sure to squeeze out any extra air.

4. Shake vigorously for five to ten minutes

5. Take the small bag out of the large bag and wipe off the small bag to keep the salt out of your ice cream. Open the bag and enjoy!

At the actual book club, the girls made snow globes, page 119, How to Make a Snow Globe. They loved this and the snow globes turned out really great!

The final activity was page 124, How to Amaze Yourself (Levitate Your Arm, Long Arm/Short Arm). They were truly amazed. There were further demonstrations of this at home the next day!

Science on the Loose: Amazing Activities and Science Facts You’ll Never Believe by Helaine Becker

I am excited to find a boy equivalent of The Girls’ Book of Excellence that can also make a great boys’ club meeting. This book also has interesting factoids and fun experiments. In fact, there is an ice cream version for boys: Kick the Can! Like the girls’ version, you use two layers to freeze ice cream. In this case, it’s two coffee cans. And the action for freezing the ice cream? Feet power. Yes, you play Kick The Can to make the ice cream (page 42-42). The arm levitation amazing feat is also in this book (page 7)!

The Girls’ Book of Excellence: Even More Ways to Be the Best at Everything by Sally Norton, illustrated by Katy Jackson

p.s. All my posts on Book Club for Kids are here.

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (3rd-5th grade)

A Million Miles from Boston (3rd-7th grade)

Because of Winn Dixie (2nd-5th grade)

The Uglies (5th-8th grade)

The Lost Boys of Sudan (2th-6th grade)

No Cream Puffs (3rd-6th grade)

A Cricket in Times Square (2nd-5th grade)

How to Create a Great Kids’ Book Club (with 2 dozen other books and activities)

To examine any of the items listed, please click on image of item.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Follow PragmaticMom’s board Multicultural Books for Kids on Pinterest.

Follow PragmaticMom’s board Children’s Book Activities on Pinterest.

My books:

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

Junior Library Guild Gold selection
Massachusetts Book Award Long List
Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Starred review from School Library Journal
Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
Green Earth Book Award Long List
Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me