Kinetic Sand is a three-dimensional building toy made of 98% sand and 2% polydimethylsiloxane that mimics the physical properties of wet sand. Think of it as a concoction of sand + Silly Putty. That’s actually what it is. It has an addicting “feel” quality to it. It looks like brown sugar but you can use…
Month: December 2015
Processing: Coding for Kids
This week is Computer Science Education Week! I have been trying to get my 11-year-old son to program as a way to combat his love of screen time. It turns out that he likes making his own games so it’s a win-win situation. We started off when he was in third grade — he’s now in…
Stock up and Save on Kimberly Clark at Walmart
Thank you to Cottonelle, Kleenex, Scott and Viva for sponsoring this post. You can find great deals on all these products for the holidays at your local Walmart via the Ibotta app. I’m way over due hosting my neighborhood moms’ book club. I had it all scheduled a year ago, only to find myself at…
18 Diversity Picture Books for 5th Grade
I spent more time in my kids’ 5th grade classroom because I was the parent coordinator for our PTO Creative Arts and Sciences. I know that there are always shifts in curriculum due to Common Core but leeway, as well, for teachers to cover what they typically have done in the past. My kids studied…
14 Diversity Picture Books for 4th Grade
Multicultural Children’s Book Day has a new Classroom Reading Challenge in which we gift a FREE diversity hardcover book to teachers who commit to reading four diversity books to their students during the month of January. This program is generously underwritten by the Junior Library Guild. A sample of the books that we will be…
12 Left Brain STEM Toys for Kids
Jeanette and I love doing the Left Brain/Right Brain Gifts for Kids list. She is taking the Right Brain art toys today and I’m tackling Left Brain STEM toys with a math or science bent. Is that even right? I looked it up from About Education: The Right Brain According to the left-brain, right-brain dominance…