Well, Sharon will be happy to know that I finished her delightful new book last night! I have been savoring each and every page. If you have been thinking about a gift for a friend who may be a new grandparent or parent. The subtitle is Grandma's Bag of Tricks, but I think it would be a great tool for a new mom and dad as well. Here are my favorite chapters. It turns out I like them all!
Under
Preparing Camp Granny, I loved the
Faerie Mailboxes, the
Faerie Home Furnishings and
Bubbles at the Ready. All very simple and yet great ways to get your child outside in the fresh air, running around and enjoying the day with you. I had flashbacks to when I was a kid in
The Neighborhood Naturalist. I really was an outdoor kid when I was little. We spent days in the woods and learning about nature. I guess that is why I like it so much now. My mom was bed ridden with arthritis so she wasn't the main influence in my nature walks, but just the curiosity of a child is enough .
A Five-Senses Walkabout, Sensory Sack, Leaves, Leaves Everywhere, Bird Words, Underwater Viewer and Firefly Lanterns were my favorite sections of this chapter. I made a leave book in one of my science classes that was a favorite project and the underwater viewer brought back days of searching for underwater creatures in the stream near my house and I always loved the fireflies when I was little.
I loved the entire chapter of Kids in the Kitchen. I had sporadic kitchen training when I was young. I was mostly outside playing! Under Kitchen Garbage Garden, I enjoyed Spit and Save and
Foolproof Herbs. I wonder why? Get those kiddos interested in herbs early. Under
Kids in the Garden, I loved A Mini Italian Herb Garden,
Barrels, Buckets and Bales, Greens and Edible Flowers and Bale Planting. That sounds like the entire chapter! I think Sharon goes with simple and tested activities and they love doing new fun activities every time they are with her. I bet when her older grandchildren visit, they will still want to do activities with her. Getting your children involved with you is what they want most. The final chapter,
Rainy Day Activities again brought my childhood back to me. I remember doing skits for our parents when we had neighborhood cookouts in the summer. It does have to be the most expensive toy. I remember playing with the boxes and Sharon shows you how to make a house with the right box! So Acting Out Off Broadway, Ephemeral Art, Worm Hotel, Make Your Own Floral Paper, Hollyhock Doll, Leaf and Flower Collages, The Memory Game, Mother Nature's Toy Chest and Letters from the Heart brought back my childhood for me.
This book is a great gift for yourself or for a new parent or grandparent. It just brought back so many great memories for me of my childhood. Get going and enjoy your kids and grand kids! Having said that, I really have been slacking this winter as far as items I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to start reading the many, many herb books and talk about my favorite chapters like I did with Sharon's book. I've been drinking too much tea and exercising to get my weight down! (It's working!) Hopefully, My Favorite Chapters will be a continuing post to give you some herbal or gardening inspiration.
