Is April Fools Really Just for Fools?

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My kids love April Fools –possibly because it’s a way to get back at Dad for his years of tomfoolery. You see it’s been their dad’s practice to make outrageous claims to our kids for as long as any of us can remember. In fact it’s standard family practice for the kids to look to me for confirmation (or not) whenever Dad tells them anything.

Since toddlerhood my kids have been told that fried chicken is actually “gicken”, a genetically modified chicken that has six legs and runs as fast as a gopher. They’ve been told that that we used to have to cut holes in their diapers when the boys were babies because they were born with tails –which subsequently “dried up and fell off”; when Will or Thom ask where mom is the standard answer is that I’ve “run away with the ice-cream man.”

Our children’s true parentage has ranged from aliens to monkeys and Charley Cat is actually a superior being sent to study humans. Apparently we’ve agreed to allow him to board with us free of charge in exchange for immunity when the cat aliens take over the planet.

Thankfully my children have learned from a very young age that you can’t believe everything you hear. And they’ve gotten really good at questioning what they’re told –even the believable stuff.

According to Wikipedia April Fools has been around for a very long time with possible origins going as far back as 536 BC, Persia (now Iran). It makes me wonder whether these ancients recognized a benefit to foolery on the development of critical thinking skills.  Has April Fools actually helped us to become smarter, more discerning human beings? Or is it just one more way to produce what many refer to as “the best medicine”; laughter.

~ Trina

You can download a free larger printable PDF version of this April Fool’s colouring page by clicking here >>> Colouring Pages

Butterfly Mobile! Fun Kid’s Craft!

Published on by Hannah Greentree5 Comments

This morning we woke up to nearly 4 inches of snow in our neck of the woods! Craziness!!! So my daughter, Hannah, and I decided that we should post a fun SPRING craft for you all – we worked hard on it this morning and we hope it brings you a bit of warm indoor fun today.  🙂

Here’s what you’ll need;

– Scissors – Clear Mac-Tac – Three sheets of colourful construction or scraping paper – Sparkles – Tape – 3 straws – 90 cm/35.5 in of ribbon – Three craft beads.

And our three printable butterfly templates – click on PDF files below to download and print each one >>>

Big butterfly template

Medium butterfly template

Small butterfly template

Cut out butterfly templates and then cut two butterflies out of each colour of paper.

Then cut a sheet of the clear Mac-Tac to fit butterflies.

Peel cut Mac-Tac sheets and stick first side of the butterfly right-side down onto the sticky side of Mac-Tac.

With sticky side up sprinkle sparkles into the center of the butterfly.

Lay second butterfly cut out on top of the first and then apply another sheet of clear Mac-Tac on top – sticky sides together.

Cut around the outside edge of the butterfly being sure to leave some Mac-Tac around the edge so that the butterfly sticks together.

Finish the next two butterflies in the same fashion.

Once all three butterflies are finished cut straws as shown below >>>

With clear scotch tape adhere straws to center of each butterfly.

Then take cut ribbon and tie a large enough knot at bottom to hold first bead.

After first bead is on – string ribbon through the straw on the largest butterfly.

In equal lengths up ribbon – tie knots – add bead and butterfly – as pictured below >>>

Then hang and enjoy! Hopefully hanging these little butterflies will make you feel like spring is coming soon!

~Micheline

Pencil Holder Craft for Kids

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If you are like me – you didn’t get to go on holiday to Mexico for spring break – <big sigh..>.

A home based spring break might just induce a few – “I’m boooorrreeed Mommy…” – so here’s a fun craft to fill up an hour or so. 🙂

You’ll need some ribbon of various sorts, a clean half-sized Pringles potatoe chip container, (that should fill an additional 10 minutes of time while they empty it 😉 ), and a hot glue gun (you could probably use regular white glue as well – just give it lots of  drying time).

My daughter and I just used scrap ribbon and cording that we had around the house but you could certainly get fancy and buy ribbons that matched nicely.  You will need to wrap the ribbons around the container and cut to size.

Starting at the bottom glue the first ribbon – make sure the ribbon is pulled tight and the edge is up against the metal rim on the bottom.

Working your way up – keep ribbons tight together and tight around – feel free to overlap or even put one kind of ribbon on top of another. Always start and end your ribbon wrap in the same place so the cut ends meet at the back.

Once you have finished applying the ribbon all the way up cut another piece to cover over the ends at the back – this makes for a tidy finish.

Voila – a master piece! If you decide that you didn’t really want a pencil holder after all then you can easily use the lid and have it as a container to hold your precious items instead.

Happy spring break, Micheline

Congratulations Mrs. Hammond!

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Two of Micheline’s paintings hang in my dining room. My first acquisition hangs on my feature wall and was painted by Mich especially for my fortieth birthday. The second –and equally treasured painting—is a simple ladder leaning against a stone wall.

Both paintings are large, bold and imaginative and they suit my living space and my personality perfectly. But lately I’ve been admiring much smaller and quite different yet equally impressive works of art by Mich and wondering “aren’t they just as worthy of framing”? I’m referring of course to Mich’s amazing illustrations for our Miss Emily Goes to Bat children’s book.

Colourful, animated and well, yes…just a bit whimsical, these illustrations are so delightful I just couldn’t imagine confining them strictly to the pages of our story. And so I decided we wouldn’t. 🙂

Instead, Mich and I decided to offer up a contest to all of the wonderful teachers, librarians and booksellers who’ve opened up their classrooms, story-times and bookshelves to Miss Emily with the chance to win a signed, framed and numbered print of Miss Emily Goes to Bat.

We invited everyone who supported our Kootenay Child Development Fundraiser by hosting a reading to review our book for a chance to enter the draw. On Wednesday my son (and loveable story character), Thom, drew Marysville’s grade two elementary teacher Mrs. Josie Hammond as our winner. Congratulations Mrs. Hammond, and thanks for entering!

We’ve posted her review –along with a few other favourites—on our blog under the “News & Reviews” section. We had so much fun doing this contest that we’d love to do another one in the near future.  If anyone has an idea for a fun and creative contest, we’d love to hear from you!  Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next person to sport a signed, numbered Miss Emily print as part of your art collection…

~Trina