Willy Wonka Wonderful

When I was a kid I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It's the story of a little boy named Charlie who is terribly poor.  He lives in the same town as the famous and mysterious Willy Wonka chocolate factory.  The whole story is based on Willy Wonka placing five golden tickets in his candybars.  Anyone could find them.  And whoever does gets a full tour of his magical factory.  I remembered that I loved this story but that was pretty much the extent of it.  Many many years have past since I even thought about this story...until a few weeks ago.  While we were on vacation my book loving eight year old found my old worn paperback copy in grandma's basement.  So, of course we started right into it.

I know, I'm adult...at least the numbers say so.  But I felt like a little kid who was being told a fantastic bedtime story.  I couldn't put it down. My kids gathered around wide eyed and soon grandma was listening too.  She was totally dissapointed if we read a chapter without her and would ask for an update and what happened. 

My kids went around chanting "Augustus Gloop the nincompoop" and rolling in laughter for days.  (No, I don't usually encourage calling people nincompoops...but really, Augustus Gloop was so overindulgent and put his whole face into the chocolate river...well, you have to read it, it was true humor)

When the story was over I tucked my kids into bed and my four year said with a grin on his face "that would be awesome!"  I could tell that finding the Golden Ticket and being in the wonderously magical Wonka Chocolate factory was a dream that would not soon leave his mind.

The next day I was at Wal-Mart and I passed these:

I couldn't resist.  Willy Wonka Chocolate bars complete with the chance to find your own Golden Ticket and win a trip.  They were two dollars a piece but I went ahead and got them anyways...one for each of us.   And when I got home my kids' eyes were wide with excitement. 

 They stood together with giddy anticipation and opened the first candybar together...no Golden Ticket.  But, they said that the chocolate was delicious (scrumdullyumptious as the package promised).  The other two candy bars were not winners either but, just as in the book, many will buy but only a few will win.

You have to read it to your kids...and yourself.  It's positively magical.  And when you're done head over to Wal-Mart and buy some Willy Wonka chocolate bars.  Make it a family event.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect story....I want to do it again.

Summer Journals

In an effort to help my kids maintain some sort of brain power in the summer we decided to start summer journals.  And, surprisingly enough, it has been a much anticipated highlight of the past few days.

The kids picked out their own notebooks from Target and I came up with a list of Summer Journal questions that I thought might get them thinking and smiling.  Every day just before dinner time and after the chores and swimming and lounging are coming to a close the kids crowd around the table and we pull out the journals.  Then they look at me with a twinkle in their eyes and say "so, what are we writing about today?  What's the question?"  Then, I say something like "If you were a superhero what kind of super powers would you want to have and what woul your costume be like?"  They grin and then my oldest gets to writing and my four year old starts gabbing.  While he talks I write down his words. 

Yesterday he said "I would have super power to shoot pirates out of my fingers."  Clever.  I mean, who wouldn't be a frightened of a guy who could shoot full size pirates out of his fingertips?  He went on to tell me that they would be very mean pirates with lava teeth.  He was totally into it an even acting it out.  After I wrote the words for him he signed his name at the bottom of the page and then drew pictures to go with his words.

My daughter, who is obviously from a different planet than my son is from, said that she would be have fairy powers.  She imagined "long flowing golden hair, a rainbow costume, and many fairy helpers that would work with her to help people in need."  Sometimes it so incredibly obvious to me why they can't see eye to eye.

It's fun and it gets them thinking and practicing their writing and drawing skills.  Afterwards my four year old writes his ABC's and my eight year old does some spelling and handwriting pages and then they both pick stickers to put in their books.  Today my daughter was asking at breakfast how long it would be before journal time.  In fact, she was going to play with a friend and was worried that she might miss out on writing with the family while she was gone.  Kids are so cool.

I think these journals will be great keepsakes in years to come.  The questions may seem random but they give me so much insight into who these little people are.  Plus, we're having a great time and that's what summer's all about.  Here's a starter list of questions if you want to start some summer journals of your own:

Summer Journal Questions

1. If you had to eat the same food and drink every day for the rest of your life what food and drink would you choose?



2. If you could be a Super Hero what super powers would you want to have? Invisibility, super strength, laser power, etc. What would your costume look like?



3. If you had a machine that could take you anywhere in the world instantly where would you go? What would you do there?



4. What would you do if you were as big as a giant? What fun could you have? What kind of problems would you have if you were a giant?



5. What would you do if you were as tiny as a ladybug? What fun could you have? What problems might you have being that tiny?



6. If you could be any animal which animal would you be? Why?



7. Would you rather live in a place that is always really hot or a place that is always very cold. Why? What would you do in that hot or cold weather?



8. Write a recipe for the yummiest treat you can think of. Include ingredients, amounts, and cooking time. Tell why you think it is so tasty.



9. Imagine the perfect day. A day that is exactly like you want it. What would it be like? Tell the details.



10. If you had three wishes what would you wish for? Why would you wish for those things?



11. Imagine you woke up and saw a dinosaur in your backyard. What would you do? Tell a story about it.



12. Imagine you opened you own restaurant. What would you call it? What food would you serve and what would the restaurant look like?



13. If you had one hundred dollars but you had to use it for someone else what would you do with the money? Who would you help and how?



14. If you had one hundred dollars to buy something for yourself what would you buy?



15. Describe one thing you’re really good at.



16. Describe something that you are really scared of. Why does it scare you so much?



17. What is your favorite thing about your home? It could be your favorite place to be, a favorite thing or person, anything in your home.



18. What do you think is the most beautiful thing that you’ve ever seen? Tell about what is so special about it in detail so that someone else could imagine its beauty.



19. Describe yourself. What do you look like? What do you act like?



20. Tell about your favorite toy that you’ve ever had. What did you love about it? What did it look like?



21. What is your favorite store to go to? Why?

ABC Walk

It was so sunny out today and the housework that needed to be done just wasn't calling my name. We needed to go on a walk and enjoy the fresh air. I haven't done and ABC walk with the kids for a long time so I thought today would be a great day to break it out again.  The concept is simple and it takes pretty much no time to prepare. 

1. First, you need an ABC chart.  We had one already but you could just write the letters on a piece of paper or print one out online..
Like this one. (click to go the pdf file)

2.Next, we put the paper on a clipboard along with a marker (we had a laminated chart so we used dry erase).  Something about a clipboard makes everything seem more fun and important.  If you don't have one it's worth the two dollar investment for all the fun stuff you can use it for.

3.We grabbed the camera and set out on our adventure. 

4. The goal is to find every letter of the alphabet (in order).  As you find a letter you get to cross it off on your chart and take a picture of it! 

My four year old was loving it...it was like some kid of ultimate challenge.  He loved looking at each and every picture and it lasted the perfect amount of time to wear us out but not over do it.  Actually we walked around the block and found all the letters and maybe 20 or 25 minutes. Sure, we got a few weird looks when people drove by and saw us taking pictures of sewer covers, street signs, and fire hydrants but they had no idea the fun we were having.  Here's what we found: