Seasonal Books for Kindergarten 2015

Winter Holiday Books for Preschoolers and Kindergartners

The weather is getting colder. Children are dreaming of snow and the holiday season, and teachers and caregivers are looking for fun, new books to share with their students. These 2015 seasonal books are great for preschoolers and Kindergarten too. Enjoy!

We were given three adorable children's books for review, and they are perfect seasonal books for your little ones. One focuses on the joys of snow, one talks about Yetis, and the other focuses on Hanukkah... and Santa.

The Thing About Yetis is a perfect book for preschoolers.

The Thing About Yetis is Vin Vogel's debut book as author/illustrator. It is an adorable book about a fuzzy Yeti. What's a Yeti to do? Like children, Yetis get bored in the winter months.

If you have cabin fever, you'll need something to do to. After you read the story, grab some paper, markers, and cottonballs and make your own Yeti as a companion book project. Just grab some tracing paper and trace the picture on the book cover or let the kids freehand it.

Make a cottonball Abombinable Snowman Yeti Craft.

What's that you say? You don't have a book to trace? Well, you can get one at the library or buy one on Amazon: The Thing About Yetis*, or (if you are a resident of the U.S.) leave a comment to win your very own copy!

Dear Santa, Love Rachel Rosenstein is a cute book to teach about holiday traditions.

Dear Santa, Love Rachel Rosenstein is written by the actress, Amanda Peet and her friend, Andrea Troyer, with illustrations by Christine Davenier. This is a Santa story with a twist. Rachel Rosenstein's family doesn't celebrate Christmas. 

Published by Double Day, this picture book is full of vibrant illustrations that small children will love. It is cute, funny, and it describes some Jewish traditions. However, be prepared to explain why Santa doesn't visit all children- that can be a tricky subject. 

If you want to have a multi-cultural discussion with companion craft activities this book is a great launching point. Little Rachel runs into some friends who also don't celebrate Christmas. They celebrate Diwali and Chinese New Year. 

Recommended:

Make a Craft for Diwali

Make a Craft for Chinese New Year
Star of David Cookie Cutters*

Star of David Cookies

Max and Marla take many adventures. In this latest Peguin Young Readers picture book, by Alexandra Boiger, Max and his pet owl, Marla, are hopeful Olympians. The limited palette illustrations are primarily beautiful shades of blue that don't even need words. Children of all ages will enjoy the story, but the target audience is for preschoolers ages 3-5.

Life is always about the journey, not the destination!

Winter Holiday Books for Preschoolers.

Recommended:

Owl Crafts for Kids
Make a Snowman Craft for Preschoolers
Craft Snow*
How to Make Fake Snow
Mariah Carey Christmas Book Review

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products. *We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Book for Tween Boy: The Last Kids on Earth

Looking for Books for Tweens Who Don't Like to Read

Struggling to find a book your teen (or you) will like to read? "The Last Kids on Earth" by Max Brailler fits the bill. This is the ideal book for tween boys and girls. All we had to do was read the book blurb and our kids were clamoring to be the first one to read it! Want your own copy? Scroll down to find out how. Enjoy!

Book for Tween Boy: The Last Kids on Earth .

The Last Kids on Earth is a chapter book with lots of awesome
illustrations by Douglas Holgate. The illustrations are a great way to convince your reluctant reader to try it. The book is great as a group read for younger kids and a perfect tween read for kids 10-13 years old.

What's it about? Yeah, the title says it all.

Ever since the monster apocalypse hit town, average thirteen year old Jack Sullivan has been living in his tree house, which he's armed to the teeth with catapults and a moat, not to mention video games and an endless supply of Oreos and Mountain Dew scavenged from abandoned stores. But Jack alone is no match for the hoards of Zombies and Winged Wretches and Vine Thingies, and especially not for the eerily intelligent monster known only as Blarg. So Jack builds a team: his dorky best friend, Quint; the reformed middle school bully, Dirk; Jack's loyal pet monster, Rover; and Jack's crush, June. With their help, Jack is going to slay Blarg, achieve the ultimate Feat of Apocalyptic Success, and be average no longer! Can he do it? 

Want more? Here's a FREE PRINTABLE COMIC DOWNLOAD.

The Last Kids on Earth Book Review

Here's what Jake has to say about it:

• " I loved this book!" "If they don't make a sequel or a bunch of sequels they are crazy! I can't wait to read more."

Good news Jake; the sequel is coming in 2016!

• "I didn't like the idea of having a gigantic monster as the main enemy, but I did like teaming up with your enemies, the apocaplyptic scene, and having to survive as long as you can in a mutated world."

• "If I were writing a book like this, I would probably remove the gigantic monsters. Perhaps, add slightly more danger in it- make them basically nomads. I want more characters!"

• "To survive in a post apocalytpic world, I would gather up all useful supplies in the house and then be a nomad and collect things as I go along."

Want your own copy? Leave a comment below, and you are automatically entered to win. We'll choose a random winner on Oct. 31, 2015. Good luck!

Recommended:


Jake's Journey in Art

The Last Kids on Earth*


*This book was given to us for review, but it is not a sponsored post. All words and opinions are our own.


ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products. *We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Chitika, Google Adsense, and Social Spark ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

When is Roald Dahl Day: Activities

When is Roald Dahl Day?

It's Roald Dahl Day! Sept. 13, 2015. How will you celebrate? This year, we did several activities including, a "The Witches" party. We've included a list of our favorite Roald Dahl books which are perfect for Elementary Students. Scroll down to see how you can win a free copy of your favorite Roald Dahl book and a fun printable crossword puzzle. Enjoy!

Have a "The Witches" Party to Celebrate Roald Dahl Day or Halloween!

We found The Witches movie on Amazon. The movie has some scary moments, but we won't give those away. Depending on the child, the whole concept of the story could be traumatic. The Witches are everywhere wearing human masks! How can you tell a witch? She'll have purple, glowing eyes, among other things!

The Witches is an award-winning story by Roald Dahl about a boy, his grandmother, and a hotel full of witches. 

"This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches."  

Books by Roald Dahl include The Witches and James and the Giant Peach.

After we watched the movie, we visited the Roald Dahl website and chose some fun ideas for lessons. We made posters that explain how to spot a witch. Beware! They are everywhere.

We have a fun idea to make human masks!

• Copy a photo of someone in the classroom or house, paste it to tag board, and then decorate it with markers or colored pencils. When done, cut out, poke holes in the ears, tie an elastic string through each hole, and wear it!

• To make it more fun, also make a witch mask and wear it underneath your human mask. Tee Hee! Now, that's fun!

You'll want to make some spooky treats and creepy snacks for your party. We found these cute witch broom donuts at Giggles Galore.

Witch Broomstick Donuts! Find the How to at Giggles Galore.

We don't want to give the story away. You'll have to read it and watch the movie to understand why we made a mouse craft. We have lots of recyclables around the house, so we turned a styrofoam cup and a plastic grocery bag into a cute little mouse.

Make a mouse craft with recyclables.

To make the little mouse, paint a styrofoam cup your favorite color. Poke a pipecleaner in the bottom, curl it around a pencil to make a curly tail. Roll up a grocery bag, place it inside the cup, and then tape on foamy or construction paper eyes, nose, and ears. Eek! That was easy. Preschoolers will enjoy making this simple mouse craft.

Then, each kid chose a Roald Dahl book to read. We chose The BFE and Monster....

Roald Dahl Reading List

Charity
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Danny, the Champion of the World
Enormous Crocodile
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr Fox
George's Marvellous Medicine
James and the Giant Peach
Matilda
Museum
Revolting Rhymes
Short stories
The BFG
The Twits
The Witches

Hop over and like and comment on our Facebook Page post about Roald Dahl, and you can win a "The Witches" Prize pack and a Roald Dahl book. Contest ends Sept. 20, 2015.

Recommended:

Halloween Crafts on Pinterest

Room on the Broom*

5 Fishing Activities: Aquarium Crafts for Kids: Fun Microbiology Homeschool Lessons

These 5 Fun Fishing Activities and Kids' Aquarium Crafts make nice Companion Projects for Preschool Books or Homeschool Microbiology Lessons

Whether you have preschoolers, elementary students, or teenagers in homeschool, you'll find the perfect aquarium craft here. These easy fishing activities and projects work as companion lessons for microbiology or aquatic science too! Scroll down to find the right activity for your child's age level. Enjoy!

Aquarium ActivitiesL Fishing Crafts for Science Lesson Homeschool.

Paper plate fish aquarium activity.  Visit Make and Takes for details.

These paper plate fish from Make and Takes are great for an elementary or preschool classroom bulletin board. Just cover you board with blue paper, add a strip of black paper across the top, and you've got your own giant aquarium full of fish. 

To make this more than just an art project, use it as a companion activity for a lesson in microbiology or under the sea science. 

Have the students choose a different species of aquatic life to study, write about, and then design their own to display in the aquarium.

Manatee Viewing Center Field Trip

These Mason jar Aquariums by Hello Wonderful are ideal for children of all ages.

The Mason Jar. In Indiana, we are partial to Ball Jars, but either way the jars are so versatile! I recently purchased a set of 1/2 gallon Ball jars*.

Half Gallon Ball jars are perfect for aquarium crafts and mini terrariums.
Get yours here.

This little fishing theme activity from Hello Wonderful is great for a birthday party or a lesson in microbiology. Imagine the possibilities. Use it as an attractive way to display a Beta fish, study snails in the round, or even make a terrarium.

Goldfish Aquarium Craft from In Design Art and Craft.
I suggest filling yours with Goldfish Crackers for an edible snack  craft on the go.

This Goldfish is another recycled bottle craft. This is a fun, easy aquarium craft for preschoolers or after school activities. The children can learn to recycle and reuse too!

Why oh why is this filled with beads? Yeah, you know I like to focus on edible crafts for preschoolers. Let's fill ours with Goldfish Crackers and then the kids can use them as a fun snack on the go.

This is our aquarium craft for kids. Make a pretend aquarium in a Ziploc baggie.

1 Quart Ziploc Bags for Classroom*

Aquarium Crafts for Middle or High Science

Giant Stuffed Paper Activity from Teaching in Room 6.
What, these aren't fish crafts? I know, I know just continue reading.

So many years ago, I was the Program Director of a large (very) before and after school program. We used the giant paper rolls to make and decorate our parade float. We made giant, stuffed paper fish puppets. I took pictures with a film camera. I have no idea what happened to those pictures, but I'd love to share the idea with you.

Teaching in Room 6 is a fantastic blog to get ideas for classroom projects. I found the Colony Lesson (pictured above) which demonstrates the how to make giant fish puppets, plus you could go one step further and have your student detail the life cycle of aquatic life or fun facts about the fish on their fish puppet.

You will need:

Giant Rolls of Paper in various Colors

Heavy Duty Stapler

Markers, Paint, or Crayons

Trash! Use old newspapers or recycle classroom worksheets

Dowel Rod or Stick 2'-4' long

To Make a Giant Fish Aquarium or Sea Life Craft:

Allow 2-3 days to complete the project in a classroom.

Study the type of fish or sea life you want to create. Dolphins, Crabs, and Octopuses make awesome Parade Puppets.

Draw the sea creature on two layers of paper. Get that? You need to cut two of each sea creature. Try to make it life size or oversize. A great way to measure for a fun size puppet is to have a child lay on the paper and then make your fish the same length.

Once the creature is drawn, cut it out and decorate. You can give one side of the puppet the features of the animal (eyes, nose, fins, etc.). On the other side (to make an informative science project) draw the life cycle of the fish or illustrate fun facts about sea life.

After the drawings and decorations are completed, grab your stapler. Staple the edges about 1/4" from the edge of the paper, be sure to leave an opening in the creature's belly.

Now, grab some clean trash (old tests work great). Stuff your fish to desired fatness! Insert the dowel in the center most point of the base of the animal and staple around the dowel to attach. This might require some tape too. Ta Da! You have a giant fish puppet on a stick. Fish Sticks! These are great to carry around the school on a parade walk, enter into your local parade, or go one step further. 

We made lots of these, designed a large piece of cardboard to look like an aquarium and attached several to the cardboard aquarium. Older kids marched in the parade carrying the display while the younger ones danced around them with their fish sticks. Super Fun!

If you aren't feeling so social or industrious, replace the pole in the belly with a string in the back and hang them from the classroom ceiling.

Here's our tiny sample made with regular size construction paper.

Image coming soon.

Recommended Reading:

Pretend to go Fishing Creative Play Activity

Easy Recycled Paper Rainbow Fish Craft

My Visit to the Aquarium Children's Book*

The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums *






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)