FingerPlay Friday! - 10 Little Turkeys

10 little turkeys sat in their pen (Hold up 10 fingers)"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
But the other ...9 decided to stay! (Hold up 9 fingers)

9 little turkeys sat in their pen (Hold up 9 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew out of the gate, (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
And when he was gone, there were...8. (Hold up 8 fingers)

8 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 8 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
But the other ...7 decided to stay. (Hold up 7 fingers)

7 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 7 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little  red hen.
One little turkey hid with the chicks, (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
And when she was gone, there were...6. (Hold up 6 fingers)

6 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 6 fingers)

"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
But the other ...5 decided to stay. (Hold up 5 fingers)

5 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 5 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey hopped out the door, (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
And when he was gone, there were 4. (Hold up 4 fingers)

4 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 4 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
But the other ...3 decided to stay. (Hold up 3 fingers)

3 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 3 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flapped her wings and flew. (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
And when she was gone, there were ...2. (Hold up 2 fingers)

2 little turkeys sat in their pen. (Hold up 2 fingers)
"Hide, turkeys, hide!" said the little red hen.
One little turkey flew far away. (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
But the last little turkey decided to stay. (Hold up 1 finger)

1 little turkey sat in his pen. (Hold up 1 finger)
"Hide, turkey, hide!" said the little red hen.
The last little turkey flew off toward the sun (Fly one turkey away from in front to behind your back with your index finger)
And when he was gone, there were none.

Corn Cob Prints--Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

I've heard of taking apples and cutting them in half and making prints of the "star" that appears. I've also heard of taking potatoes and carving images into them to make prints. One thing I hadn't thought of is using corn to make prints. It makes such a cool pattern!

Check out the directions on how to turn an ear of corn into a cool new stamp at Disney's Family Fun. Use the corn stamp to make place mats as suggested, or use fabric paints and decorate a canvas apron, or even cloth napkins. What a neat way to decorate your Thanksgiving table that will last for years to come! If you do decide to try this please leave a comment with a picture, I'd love to see how your creations turn out!

Wordless Wednesday-Chi Town Adventures with an Aussie

For the first time in my 25 years, I took a "girl's" trip. My friend Blair traveled roughly 9495 miles from Sydney, Austrailia to come see me. So, I left my husband and little man behind and ventured out--to Chicago!

*sings*
Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town
Chicago, Chicago, I'll show you around, I love it

I was sad, yet exhilarated! Ultimately it ended up being a brilliant whirlwind trip. And I'm so happy to have been able to share it with one of my best friends that I never get to see!


My foot in an Apatosaurus, formerly Brontosaurus, footprint




Blair and I taking the requiste picture of ourselves in "Cloud Gate"




Touching "The Bean", it's kind of like the Blarney Stone of Chicago




One of my favorite shots. "The Bean" in Autumn





Jellies at Shedd Aquarium




We had a beautiful day to sightsee!




Chicago: The City That Reads Together

 {Wordless Wednesday Link Up: 5 minutes for mom, jenni from the blog, the paper mama, resourceful mommy, Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia, And Then She Snapped, and Live and Love Outloud.}

Don't Miss the National Book Awards!

Want to know who's the best of the best in literature for both youth and adults? Don't miss The National Book Awards LIVE via webcast!

Next Halloween, Don't let this be your kid.

READ TO YOUR KIDS!

Twilight's Edward (Robert Pattinson) has a secret...

he likes to read!

If you missed Robert Pattinson's interview with Oprah where they discuss their love for reading, check it out!

The Case For The Written Word: Why YOU should be reading

Watch This. No. Read It!

By Lauren Duzbow
O, The Oprah Magazine  |  From the June 2008 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

 

In our high-speed-connection world, why bother to read when you can get it all electronically? We make the case for not closing the book.

When you can see Atonement in two hours and 10 minutes (enacted by the very appealing James McAvoy, no less) or listen to it on audiotape, why bother working through the 371-page novel? For that matter, why trudge through the newspaper when you can turn on CNN? Why puzzle over a manual when you can YouTube the instructions? Everyone knows the book is always better than the movie, but is there any real advantage to getting your information by reading it?

Yes, according to neuroscience—your mind will most definitely thank you.


This article is part of Oprah.com's 2011 Feel Good Challenge. Join now—and move closer to the life you want!

Just like muscles, the brain benefits from a good workout. And reading is more neurobiologically demanding than processing images or speech. As you're absorbing, say, this article, "parts of the brain that have evolved for other functions—such as vision, language, and associative learning—connect in a specific neural circuit for reading, which is very challenging," says Ken Pugh, PhD, president and director of research of Haskins Laboratories, which is devoted to the science of language and affiliated with Yale. "A sentence is shorthand for a lot of information that must be inferred by the brain." In general, your intelligence is called to action, as is greater concentration. "We are forced to construct, to produce narrative, to imagine," says Maryanne Wolf, director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University and author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. "Typically, when you read, you have more time to think. Reading gives you a unique pause button for comprehension and insight. By and large, with oral language—when you watch a film or listen to a tape—you don't press pause."

The benefits of all this mental activity include keeping your memory sharp, your learning capacity nimble, and your mind basically hardier as you age. No one's advising that you toss the DVD player—or books on tape, which, Pugh says, provide more work for your brain than seeing a movie—but print should take up part of your life too. A literate mind is a more complex one. "There's a richness that reading gives you," Wolf says, "an opportunity to probe more than any other medium I know of. Reading is about not being content with the surface." Even when it is superficial (what's a plane ride without a little celebrity gossip?), indulging in a tabloid beats watching TV—just processing the words boosts the brain. "If you had your druthers," Pugh says, "you'd rather be reading."

Keep Your Mind Sharp

• 4 ways to remember what you've learned
• This is your brain on happiness
• 11 empowering ways to strengthen your brain

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/health/How-Reading-Can-Improve-Your-Memory#ixzz1dosfhj3Q