Mariannes Motifs

Memorial Day coloring pages and worksheets

Here are some free Memorial Day worksheets, coloring pages, and printable activity pages for the young kids amongst us!  Gotta keep them busy on Memorial Day weekend and we all need a Flag Coloring page to color.   Especially check out the super cute kitty heart I Love the USA Coloring Page listed last.  It is seriously adorable - and a step above the average free clip art.

Memorial Day worksheets from Teach-nology.com

Memorial Day Word Search from ABC Teach

US Flag Coloring Page from About.com (with place to write the word flag) and another Accurate US flag coloring page  great for older kids from SherriAllen.com.

Super Cute Kitty Heart "I Love the USA" Coloring Page!

Ben's Preschool Graduation

We had Ben's graduation from Preschool last night.  It was a big to-do with the kids in caps and gowns, singing songs, getting diplomas, and the whole nine yards.  We are very proud of our little kindergardener Benjamin!  And also Mr. Adam who is now ready to move up to the Sophemore class (3 years old class) in school as well.

Here is a little video of one of the songs the kids sang - its like a zippity doo dah take off, if you can't tell. 

Here is Ben in his cap and gown.

Here he is getting his diploma.

Here is little brother on a bit of a sugar rush and wet from the rain.

Ben was very happy to get a special Lightning McQueen car as a reward for all his hard work.

PBS Show "World World" helped teach my 4 year old to read

Those of you with preschool children should check out the new PBS tv show called Word World.  Its very clever - all the animated animals, buildings, and items in the show are drawn out of of the letters that make up their word.

Its got cute plots and jazzy music, but the real genius of this show is how every episode hinges around the characters having to "build a word."  My kids go to a fantastic preschool and Ms. Octavia, Ben's teacher, deserves alot of the credit for his reading skills, but I swear that Word World is what brought it all together for him.  And Adam is trying valiantly to keep up.  Even though he is 17 months younger than Ben he doesn't seem to think that should hinder him from building words too.

So pooh on all those snooty people who say TV has no redeeming value for kids.  I do let me kids watch quality kids programming and I think there is alot of great stuff out there for kids these days.

Speaking of unconventional ways for kids to learn, I came across an interesting homeschooling and unschooling blog called Lifelong Learning.  I am probably the worlds least biggest fan of home schooling, however some of the ideas that the homeschoolers use are great.  I especially like some of the unschooling ideas because they focus on learning as a lifelong activity - which is perfect for weekend and evening projects for those of us with kids in school.  Plus unschooling can seem just plain old subversive and that piques my interest.  Have you noticed that I have been kind of subversive this week?  Hmm...  must be something in the air.

Word World, photo from web - credit PBS

Piano Recital Video!

There was a little mixup so I didn't get to see Ben play.  I did however get some good video of Adam playing, so here for your viewing pleasure is Adam playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Earth Day Coloring Pages

Happy Earth Day.

To help celebrate Earth Day, browse to the ABC Teach web site for some excellent free Earth Day printable activity pages and Earth Day Coloring Pages.   They have very high quality printables - not the average cheesy stuff.

Here is an Earth Day Word Search.

Endangered Species Coloring pages are another good bet - kids have a real affinity for animals and there are alot of great coloring pages here on the Enchanted Learning site.

As a follow up to my very popular post on "Plastic Water Bottles" here is the aluminum water bottle that my Mom recommends:  Sigg Aluminum Water Bottle.  Mom says these things are light, insulating, last forever, will not leach out any chemicals from plastic, and come in lots of sizes, including a really convenient size that fits in her car cup holder.

My Artist's Place

Let me go into some more detail about the GonnaBe production company, My Artist's Place.

The Emoryville, CA production company that produces the CW shows Kid's Unlimited, and Say What is found on the web at myartistsplace.com.   My Artist's place is a resource center for budding child actors, singers, dancers, and comedians. 

The head of the company, Erik DeSando, is a well respected Hollywood insider.  According to IMDB his casting credits include Bio-dome, and The Indian in the Cupboard. 

As part of their "Networking Center" My Artist's Place offers singing lessons, acting lessons, and assistance with professional headshots.

My Artists Place is not a talent agency, or a placement organization.  It is a subscription based networking center.  By signing up with My Artist's Place, children and their parents gain access to an entire network of Hollywood insiders.  They can not only audition for the internal shows produced by the production company, but also have access to the advice and career tips that come along with the network membership.

GonnaBe

As a parent, what do you do if you have a talented child who wants to "make it" in an acting, dancing, or modeling career?  You want would want to give them a safe head start, with good connections.

I've learned about a West Coast production company with just such credentials, called Gonna Be.  Their website is Gonnabe.com. What's special about  Gonna Be is that they are not a talent agency, nor are they a placement service.  What they do is provide a unique mixture of a production company (they produce the popular kids shows Say What, and Kid's Unlimited) and a membership based networking center for talented kids trying to make it in the entertainment industry.

The two TV shows they produce in their Berkely, CA, studio, are shown on the CW network.  The kids who are members of GonnaBe get to be part of making the show.  Other services provided to members include access to job postings, access to industry insiders such as casting directors, and discounts for services such as headshots.

For more information read this article on the San Francisco Chronicle website all about Gonnabe.com .

New Pics

Here's some new pics of the kids.  Ben is all decked out in his soccer gear.  (Go Dragons!) and Adam is just smelling the flowers.

United States map puzzle

Here is a great web page that has an free interactive  United States map puzzle.   Kids can click and drag each puzzle piece for each state to the map of the US.  Great free activity to help learn US Geography!

When I was a kid I used to have a United States map puzzle similar to the one below and I loved putting it together and daydreaming about all of the different states in the US.

Club Penguin - worth paying for?

I'm hearing some buzz about the Disney owned website for kids called Club Penguin.  You have to pay for membership though which I would personally want to avoid doing. 

I'm not sure how this compares with the ever popular Webkins or the new Build A Bear site BuildaBearVille.  I know my niece used to really like playing on Neopets.   (You should see what she's up to now - check out her Disco Alien T-shirt for sale on Cafepress.com!)

I am not ready to have to pay for a site membership for my rugrats, I think there's some really good free content out there for kids without having to pay the Mouse.

A Wee Bit O'Fun - St. Patrick's Day Coloring Pages

Here are some St. Patrick's Day links for kids to get ready for this fun Irish holiday.

St. patrick s day word search from abcteach.com.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts and Activities from Enchanted Learning Software.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for some great printables such as connect the dots, print your own books, activity pages and worksheets.

A Wee Bit O'Fun
St Patrick's Day activities for kids

St. Patricks Day Coloring Pages - Worksheets and Printables from abcteach.com

And don't forget to check out our fantastic St Patrick's Day Space Alien t-shirt available for kids and adults via our secure Sci Fi Jungle Cafepress store.  We have lots of other great designs available too - the Drake the Dragon is great for kids.

Dr. Seuss coloring pages and Seussville site

Happy 104th Birthday Dr. Seuss

First, check out the Seusville website - lots of cool Dr. Seuss games, activities, poems, etc.   Seussville University section of Seussville - go straight to the printables. 

Then, go print out some free dr. seuss coloring pages.

I want to thank thank the author of the 10 Kids and a dog blog for her great links. Cool blog and  thank you for the great link to Lucy Learns dr.seuss character coloring pictures.