Food Find: Candy Corn Flavored Hershey Kisses

My husband came home from the store this week with an impulse buy (which is very unlike him): Candy Corn Flavored Hershey Kisses.

I fully admit that I am not, nor have I ever been, much of a candy corn fan. Don't get me wrong, I will eat candy corn if you have it out in a candy dish and I am visiting you. I also appreciate it for its asthetic purposes in the fall (for decorating cookies and its use in non-edible items as little knick-knacks). But I rarely ever buy candy corn for the purspose of consumption... if I want fall colored candy in a candy dish I buy Reeses Pieces (YUM!).

Now, back to the Hershey version. So when my husband came home with the bag I was only mildly curious, but couldn't ignore his excitement for his "find." So, I tried one, and now I am hooked! They taste like a combination of white chocolate, candy corn, and egg nog. Further, not only is their packaging perfect for the fall, but they look really cute unwrapped (great for cookie decorating, or if you are one who makes a cookie haunted house at Halloween these would be great additions to fences or tops of towers). If you are looking for a change of pace with Halloween candy, you need to try these.
(I put a link for them below so you know what to look for; but Amazon is charging $8.99 a bag!! We paid around $3.00 at our local grocery store.)





Happy Candy Corn Kisses-ing!!!

DVD Recommendation: Halloween

I love the Scholastic Video Collection dvds. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are children's books made into cartoons and placed on dvds with multiple stories in a single dvd. Some of them are on a specific topic, some highlight an author, but each has a good selection of children's stories.

At the first of October I always take out my copy of Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman...and 4 More Spine-Tingling Tales.

 This DVD has four stories on it plus one bonus story for a total of 5 stories and is a total 55 minutes in length. Since there are five different stories this is a great dvd to put for a little treat to watch either one at a time (for about a 10 minute story) or watch the entire 55 minutes at once. The cover story, Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman, is the story of three brothers who wonder off into the woods and stumble upon a witch's house and end up staying the night. The narrator of the story has the voice of an elderly woman and the voice of the witch is a bit chilling. In fact when my daughter was 5 she was a bit scared of this particular movie, but now that she is 6 she seems to really enjoy it.

Another favorite of mine on this dvd is: The Witch in the Cherry Tree. This is the story of a witch who wants to go into a little boy's house to eat cakes. However, the boy and his mother won't invite her in so she does things outside to try to get him to let her eat some of his homemade cakes. It is a cute story that will appeal to many children.

One of the other lovely things about the Scholastic Video Collection in either your home or classroom is that in addition to watching the stories on t.v. you can then read the stories to the children and there is something about seeing the book of the movie that appeals to children. One sequence I have used in my classroom and can be done at home as well is to 1. Read the book to the children, 2. Do a language arts activity with the book, 3. Watch the dvd of the book, 4. Do an art activity with the story, and 5. Re-read the book. In some instances I may spend an entire week on a story and also have a variety of centers based on the stories in my classroom. If you are at home, centers could look be a small activity done each day so by the end of the week they have done 5 activities with the story. I wouldn't do all 5 steps with every story, but those books that children really love, the kind children can't seem to get enough of, I always do so that they get their fill of the story. In future posts I will give specific examples of activities to do with different books for home and the classroom.

*I apologize for some of the above links. Some of the books are older books and you may need to either check them out from your local library or purchase a used copy. Also some of the used copies on Amazon are showing up at very high prices so do a little looking around on Amazon. I was able to find each of them listed separately for under $10.*

Happy Spine-Tingling!!!

Book Recommendations-We're Off to Find the Witch's House

One of my favorite Halloween books for children is We're Off to Find the Witch's House by Mr. Kreib who, as he puts it in his dedication, "...for thirty years, [I] shared the tricks of imagination and the treats of language and laughter..."

 
Each and every October I look forward to reading this book both in the classroom and to my little ones at home. You know a children's book is excellent when you can't decide if you like the words or the illustrations best. This is the case with We're Off to Find the Witch's House. The flowing words make me sing this book rather than "read" it, even though it is not accompanied with music: "...We're galloping past a ghastly ghost, a mostly misty, ghostly ghost, a flying floating, twisty ghost, swishing through the dark..." The illustrations are so delightful that each time we read the book my daughter and I notice details in the illutrations we hadn't noticed before.

The story is of a small group of children dressed up in Halloween costumes on their way to find a witch's house; along the way they encounter many Halloween creatures. Be sure to read the last few pages to yourself prior to reading this one aloud to children so you can be sure to read the ending with enthusiasm!

After devouring this book you will wish you could have entered Mr. Kreib's classroom.


    

(This book is available in soft or hard cover.)

Happy Witch House Hunting!!!

Terrific Toys - OBall

When my daughter was a baby one of my sisters gave her an OBall.



These balls are great toys for babies and toddlers. They are light weight and their design makes them easy for babies to grasp and for toddlers to play catch with. They are also soft so you needn't worry about anyone getting hurt playing with them, (making them an excellent toy to have in the classroom for games that require tossing something around).

Since they first hit the market years ago they have increased the colors, size, and design that they come in. There is one with rattles, which is very appealing to babies, and even football shaped OBalls for wee sport fans. My daughter has had hers since she was a baby. It has endured all types of baby and toddler "abuse" yet it still looks new! These are a great buy and last a long time.



Happy OBalling!!!

Mommy Quick Tip-Lunch Box Napkins

If you are the parent of a little one who takes lunches to school/daycare/etc. this quick tip is for you!

I keep a small box of crayons in the top kitchen drawer near where I make my daughter's lunches. Then, each day when I pack her lunch I write a little message ("I love you!" "Yummy!" "You're funny!", etc.) and/or draw a little picture/place a seasonal sticker on the napkin for her. I try to draw a different picture each day to add a small element of surprise.

She is in first grade and has told me that she turns the napkin over each day right after reading/looking at it so her friends won't see; but she insists that I continue sending napkin notes because "they make me think of Mommy". The pictures are just a little reminder that I love her and think about her while she's at school. If you don't keep the crayons & stickers in the kitchen, it is likely that the napkin notes won't happen on hectic mornings!

Here is a typical example that I drew today (some times they are less detailed and some days they are more detailed):

p.s. If you are intimidated by drawing pictures, skip the drawings and just write a little note and use stickers...

Happy Lunch Packing!!!