My family and I are big fans of Eye Can Art kits.  These are great kits for your kids to  make great art projects for the house.  The latest kit we tried out was the Wax Drawing Kit.  I love that each kit comes with everything (and I mean everything) you need.  There is no going around the house hoping you have all the supplies. Not only do they give you enough supplies to make one, you actually get enough supplies to make two!  The Wax Drawing kit was easy enough for a 5 year old to do!  See:

Eye Can Art kits are a great present for the kid who has everything or just likes to create unique pieces of art.  I highly recommend them.

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Will is very texture oriented. He loves books that allow him to touch the page and feel the items on there.  We recently checked out two of the Touch The Art Books:  Tickle Tuts Toes and Catch Picassos Rooster.  These books definitely fit the bill for us.  These are both board books, so there is no destroying them.  Each page has something for your kids to interact with be it feeling the bumpy pyramids to feeling a pet cat.  Wills favorite though has to be the mummies.  I love that this is a great introduction to both art and history.  I love how they are able to incorporate famous works (like van Gogh’s Two Rats) into a children’s book.  At the end of each book, there is also a section that gives background information for both you (the parent) and your kids.  It helps you gain a better understanding of what you are looking at and gives you some additional things to talk to your kids about.  These books are geared for the 4-6 age group, but my two year old loved them just as much as his five year old sister!

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I love this book. When Snowflakes Fall is one of the most beautiful books I’ve seen. The book is filled with beautiful real pictures. The book is cardboard, so your little ones can’t wreck it (which with Will is great!). The book is simple and short and really keeps the kids attention. The story is about how animals of the forest find food and stay warm once winter comes. The nice thing is that Madison is learning to read now, and this book is simple enough that she can read a lot of it herself! I have to admit though — my favorite picture is the deer on the cover. It’s just so cute!

This is a great book for toddlers. It’ll hold their attention, and they’ll enjoy it as much as you!

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I’ve never had a book come to me in squawking stereo, but Chicken Dance is not like any book you’ve seen before.  The story is funny and the graphics are awesome.  It’s almost like watching a movie.  The story itself is quite simple:  Marge and Lola are two chickens with a mission.  They are wanting to win two tickets to see Elvis Poultry in concert, but to get them they have to win a talent contest.  You will see some familiar faces (like cows jumping over the moon).  I hate to tell you too much more, because this is a really good book.  It makes my kids laugh, and as an adult, I found myself laughing too!  The inside covers of the book even have dance steps for your kids to do with the chickens!  I also love the message of be yourself and try your hardest.

My kids loved Chicken Dance.  I can only highly recommend this fun book!

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Has their ever been something you would love to learn how to do? For me, it is knitting and quilting.  When I heard about these Show Me How books, I knew I had to get my hands on them.  Now, these books are geared for the 8 – 12 year old age group.  However, I have seen adult how to books that I can’t figure out.  Instead, I decided to check out the kids books.

I give Show Me How: Knitting and Show Me How:  Quilting two thumbs up.  Each set comes with a story about Mary Ruth and how her grandmother teaches her how to both quilt and knit.  Both stories are good reads (and my 4 year old loves them).  There is also another book that shows you how to do each step to quilt and knit.  I found the directions and illustrations very easy to do and follow.  For me, I love how they assume you don’t know anything and talk at that level (which is exactly what I needed!)  From the book alone, I learned how to read the labeling on yarn and how it tells you on the yarn what type of needle you should be using with it.  They start you with easy projects, so that you or your kids don’t get frustrated.

I have no problems admiting that it will take me using these books to learn how to both knit and quilt.  I would recommend them to anyone who wants to learn how to do either!