funforkids

    Theodor Seuss Geisel

Some interesting facts about Dr. Seuss

1.  His real name is Theodor Seuss Geisel

2.  He published over 60 books in his career–not all of which were children’s books

3.  He worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns working on ads for companies like General Electric and NBC

4.  He was a political cartoonist

5,  During World War II he worked in the Animation Department of The US Army

6.  Although he wrote lots and lots of wonderful children’s books, he never had any children of his own.

7.  His first wife committed suicide while suffering from a serious illness.

8.  He took on the pen name of Dr. Seuss during college so that he could continue writing for the college magazine The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern which he had been banned from after being caught throwing a party and serving liquor–which at the time was forbidden due to National Prohibition Laws.  He wrote dropped his first and last name and published an article using his middle name Seuss and the title Dr. before it.

9.   He used “Dr.” before Seuss in acknowledgement of his dad’s wish that he would one day get his Doctorate from Oxford.

10.  He wrote the book “Green Eggs and Ham” on a dare made by his publisher Bennet Cerf who bet him $50 that he could not write a children’s story using ONLY 50 words; 49 of which were one syllable words.    He succeeded.  The words Dr Seuss used were:

“Green Eggs and Ham” is an all time favorite childrens’ book in the United States of America.  In fact, According to Publishers Weekly “Green Eggs and Ham” is the 4th best selling English Language children’s book of all time.  The book was written, of course, by Dr. Seuss and was first published by Random House in 1960. 

The story is based on two main characters: The first is a somewhat grumpy soul who refuses to try the green eggs and ham.  The second is named Sam-I-Am who is a rather chipper and pestering soul who is unwilling to believe someone would not or could not like such a delicious meal such as green eggs and ham.

The story is about Sam-I-Am trying to convince the crabby un-named creature to eat a dish of green eggs and ham. The creature refuses to even take a taste.   Sam goes through great lengths of trouble trying to convince the creature to at least try the meal .   In the end, Sam manages to convince him to taste the food and the unnamed creature decides that he loves the dish.

The moral of the story is of course, try new things, don’t judge something by the way it looks, or perhaps even in the case of Sam:  persistence pays off.  I am sure there are more lessons to be learned from the story, but in the end, most of us just like it because it is so much fun to read the rhymes!    I hope you enjoy the video version of this classic story.  

I recently asked the principal of my older son’s school when Pre-K registration letters would be coming home so that I could register my 3 and 1/2 year old.  She informed me that parents no longer register their children at the individual schools and told me to log on to the Board of Education’s web site for more details.  I was glad that I asked; I would have missed the registration period had I waited for a letter from the school.   Here is the most recent information regarding Pre-Kindergarten registration for the school year 2009-2010 as outlined on the New York City Department of Education’s website:

     “Children born between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 who will turn four years old between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 and who reside in New York City and are eligible to participate in UPK (Universal Pre-Kindergarten) programs that are offered by the New York City Department of Education are eligible to file an application for consideration with regards to pre-kindergarten placement. 

The following are important dates regarding the application process:

Friday March 6th  2009–  Application process begins; directories and applications available

Friday April 3 2009–  Application period ENDS

Week of May 18th 2009–  Families notified regarding assignment offers

May 18th -May 29th 2009–Families PRE-REGISTER at schools.

For more information or to download a registration application go to the New York City Department of Education’s website.  I have provided a link for you here:

http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/PreK/default.htm   

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is a very famous children’s book by Eric Carle.  A classic among toddlers, pre-kindergartners, kindergarten children and parents alike, ”The Very Hungry Caterpillar” tells the story of the cycle of life for a caterpillar.  From the moment the caterpillar hatches from its egg, its entire life is spent searching and eating in preparation for its metamorphosis.   The pictures are beautiful and the story simple, educational, and entertaining.   I recently found a video on youtube which brings this lovable story to life.  The narration and the illustrations are wonderful and the film truly captures the magic of Eric Carle’s story. 

      What makes this story such a great book to have in a classroom and home is the fact that it is not only simple enough for a young child to read, but also educational.  ”The Very Hungry Caterpillar” teaches and indentifies the days of the week as well as basic number counting from 1 to 6 as the caterpillar eats 1 thing on Monday, two things on Tuesday and etc.  through Saturday when he eats a combination of 6 things.  (On Sunday he eats just one item because he isn’t hungry any longer.)  The story, of course, also teaches the life cycle of of a caterpillar from its initial egg stage and hatching as a caterpillar, to its short week long quest for enough food to sustain itself inside its chrysalis, to the actual forming of its pupus (chrysalis) and then on to the final stage of butterfly.    

     If you have not read this story to your little one, I highly recommend that you read it together soon.  In the meantime, enjoy the video version of this wonderful classic.

The Hot Wheels Jurrasic Starter Set, is it Worth Your Money?

     My 3 year old and I were browsing the toy section of our local store this morning looking for something new and fun to bring home and play with together. After about 20 minutes of looking at ALL of the toys, he decided that he wanted the Jurassic Starter Set by Hot Wheels. I had seen the advertisement for it on television and decided that it looked like a good choice. He sat so nicely in the wagon in awe of his soon to be new toy and we of course purchased it and brought it home.

When we got home we opened up the box and started to set up its contents. The diagram was descriptive enough for me to assemble the set and it went together pretty quickly. I am not, however, happy with the set for several reasons.

First, the tracks don’t all snap together. Some slide together into a groove, but others just lay or overlap one another. The places that overlap easily slide apart when children try to drive the cars over that section. The whole set separates in three places. Who wants to drive their car over a track the keeps separating?

Secondly, the cars don’t fit correctly into the track. It is almost as if they made these tracks without even measuring the width of the cars. The wheels drive on the ridge of the track instead of securely inside of the track–the way one would think they should.

Third, the chain reactions that are supposed to be set off when the car hits into the trigger points do not set off the chain reactions as promised. The first trigger does push the car onto the track, however, the car never reaches the second trigger point because the tracks separate and the car is sent rushing across the living room floor and under the couch rather than acroos the track.   My son was completely frustrated with this set. I brought it back to the store and allowed him to pick out another toy.   I do not recommend purchasing this toy at all.

      If your house is like mine, you have lots of play-dough or clay in stock and in an array of bright colors.  If your children are like mine though, those bright hues will be smashed together very quickly and turn a very gross muted gray, or orangish-brown ball of dough. This, however,  is probably a good thing because then they can’t fight over which color they want.  =)   

       Clay is in my opinion easier to sculpt with for adults with its firmer texture .  I prefer to work with the clay over the play-dough which is very soft and doesn’t stand up should you want to make an animal or human figure. That being said, we don’t use it as much as play-dough in my house because it is harder for the kids to manipulate.  In my house, play-dough is the best remedy I know of for boredom on a cold or rainy day when they are driving me nuts.   Of course their creations are not as good as those depicted in the video but to them (and to me) they are masterpieces. The key is to have them explain what it is without actually admitting that you have no idea what it is!  True parents know this trick and I know that I don’t have to explain it here.  Someday I will learn how to keep the 3 year old from mixing all of the colors together and making one huge grey slab of play-dough, but for the time being, it keeps him busy and allows him to use his imagination when creating that huge gray alien that is defeated (or afeated as he says) by the space man.  Happy playing!

“Diaper Wars”   Such a cute parody of Star Wars using babies in the animation.  I love Princess Leah lounging in the cell.  LOL

Five Little monkeys is one of my son’s favorite books and songs.  We found this movie on youtube and thought you’d like it too.

My friend Brian posted this on his Facebook page and I thought many of you would enjoy watching it with your children.  Gotta love Davey Jones!   “I’ll never wash this cheek again!”.  lol