Kid Explorers Archives – Winter 2010
January 28: We were delighted to have such a large & well behaved group! We had a snack & then went over the rules. Then the kids got to vote on which book we’d read. The overwhelming winner was (drumroll please) No Talking by Andrew Clements. So we started this humorous & thought-provoking story & then crafted. We made our very own glitter paint using liquid starch & glitter & then painted up a storm!
February 4: We continued the fun No Talking today. The reading time today was shortened in order to allow more time to get creative. And what did we do that took so much time? We made graham cracker trains! With frosting, candies, 
chocolates and more each train was unique and yummy. A huge thank you to McKinney’s for supplying the frosting and trays for us!
February 11: We continued Clements’ No Talking. Miss Rebecca’s voice gave out after a few pages so Miss Jean and a nice number of kids volunteered to keep reading. Then we made our own unique bookmarks out of duct tape and ribbon.
February 18: We’re nearing the end of No Talking where the plot is in full swing. More and more adults figure out why the 5th graders are so quiet. And the 5th graders are discovering how interesting it is to be silent. For our craft the 
kids used all their skills to create their very own board games. From the extremely difficult to the simply elegant – it was great to see all the inventive ideas for games.
February 25: We celebrated National Tell a Fairytale Day by listening to an audio book production of Rumpelstiltskin from Rabbit Ears World Tales vol. 2. Then we made paper bag puppets of our own unique fairy tale characters.
March 4: This week we took another break from No Talking and celebrated the NEA’s 14th annual Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’ birthday. We read the funny Dr. Seuss story Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Then we got a little overly-messy and made our very own oobleck to take home.
March 11: We came so very close to finishing the book No Talking – only 2 chapters to go until its exciting conclusion! Then we had a fun time creating our very own volcanos. Miss Rebecca and the volunteers set out a bunch of crafting supplies and let the kids create their very own designer volcanos.
March 18: We finished No Talking in record time! The ending was definitely a surprise for those who hadn’t read the story. Next week we’ll have a “free read” time before our final craft. Finally we made our own versions of Chia Pets with potatoes and other craft supplies.
March 25: We had a very pleasant free-read time today since we’d finished No Talking last week. Then, after our reading time the kids had a blast making their very own homemade fudge in a bag! It was a fun and yummy treat for our last time together until the Summer Reading Program.