Summer Reading!

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss

Time to gear up for children's Summer reading! Our local library, the Everett Public Library, will have reading logs available starting June 14th for "Make a Splash- Read!" Prizes include swim center passes, paperback books, entrance to the Imagine Children's Museum, and more.

I wasn't aware until preparing this post that there are three levels of the reading program: one for little children who don't read yet "Read to Me"; the main event which includes children who read up to 5th grade; and a teen program from 6th grade up to age 18 with extra credit for book reports. Each category has multiple prize choices that readers can choose from.

Summer's coming!

Sorticulture

Image from Sorticulture

We recently featured a post on our blog about gardening with children and what a great activity that is to do together; furthering that thought, you may want to visit Sorticulture, Everett's Garden Arts Festival at Legion Park on June 11th-13th.

Sorticulture is planning display gardens, children's activities, food, crafts, and plants for sale. Gardening experts including Cisco Morris will be there to answer questions. For location and more information, click HERE.

After all the excitement, use the opportunity for your child to communicate their experience with a friend or family member. Give them the opportunity to draw some pictures of the event from their perspective that they can proudly share as well.

Happy Spring!

Happy Mother's Day!

Clear Speech makes working with your child a family affair in our welcoming building modeled after a comforting home environment.

Making a decision to have a child--it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

Photo: Susan Emery

Gardening with Children

The arrival of Spring brings the promise of growth and renewal; trees are budding and flowers are beginning to bloom. There's a certain magic that comes along with the changing of the seasons, sharing that magic with children can be a wonderful opportunity for making memories and learning new things.



Activities to get kids involved:

- Get inspired by nature. Taking walks, hikes, or vising a park is great way to get out together and start talking about plants and trees. In the Everett area, try Forest Park or Spencer Island Natural Wildlife Preserve to get out and see nature. If you want to roam farther afield, try the Japanese Garden or the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle for family fun and to see some wonderful flora and fauna. If you want to take a drive North, consider going to see the tulip and daffodil fields in the Skagit Valley, or go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

-Make gardening a fun playtime opportunity by inviting a little friend over and providing all the necessaries to put together a Spring planter: soil, flower starts, and a planting pot or two. They'll be proud of their success. Expand the project by helping your child to be responsible to water the plants regularly; they'll have an important job and will be able to see rewarding results!

-If you have a garden area at home, set aside an area just for you child's garden. At harvest time, sharing homegrown produce with someone special or bringing a bouquet to their teacher can be a very proud moment.

-Pressing flowers together can be a fun project for children. The finished product can be incorporated into their very own art masterpiece.

-A funny and creative project is to grow grass "hair" for eggshell people. Click HERE for more information on eggshell people, more information HERE.

Children grow fast, you can't go wrong when you make time for them, talk to them, and spend time listening.


Photos from Lowes.com

Valentine's Fun

Paula Hible


A simple Valentine for friends, transform fun-size chocolate bars by cutting pretty paper to size, using a wrapper for a template. Have fun decorating them!


Gregory Boyd


King-sized candy bars make an impressive personalized valentine for someone special! Wrapping paper or craft paper are great for this project. Fingerpaints, ribbon, glitter, and glue, let your child take the lead and see what creative ideas they can come up with!



Paula Hible

Personal and inexpensive, making valentine's from plain paper and craft supplies will bring a smile to the recipients face and create a special memory for your child. Make sure and take a picture of you child making cards and some of the finished products for a lasting memory.

Happy Valentine's Day!

These pictures and ideas taken from Parents Magazine. To visit their website, click HERE.

Crafts and Recipes from Parents Magazine

Photo Scott Little

Yarn Cornucopia Treat Cup

This mini cornucopia is just the right size for filling with an after-Thanksgiving dinner treat.
Make It: First make a mold by covering a 6-inch plastic foam cone with aluminum foil, crumpling excess foil at the tip to make a curved end. Then dip a 3-foot length of brown yarn into a bowl of white glue, removing excess glue between your fingertips, and wind the wet yarn around the cone. Continue wrapping lengths of glue-covered yarn around the cone until covered. Let the cone dry for a few days, then twist the cornucopia off the cone.



Photo Scott Little

Bubble Wrap Indian Corn

Resist the temptation to pop those leftover scraps of bubble wrap and put them to good use as a colorful Indian corn display for Thanksgiving.
Make It: Cut three long ovals from bubble wrap scraps, then paint the ovals yellow, tan, and rust. When dry, go back and paint individual bubbles shades of brown, blue, and gold to mimic Indian corn colors. Glue the painted corn pieces onto card-stock backings, punch a hole at the top of each corn, and tie on raffia before hanging the grouping from a doorknob or on a wall.



Photo Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Curried Lentils and Butternut Squash

Ingredients
· 1 cup lentils
· 1 small butternut squash (1-1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 tablespoon curry powder
· 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
· Salt and pepper to taste
· Toasted coconut, optional
Directions
1. Butter an 8 x 11-inch baking pan and set aside. Combine lentils and enough cold water to cover in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; add butternut squash. Simmer until squash and lentils are tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Drain. Put chunks of squash in a medium bowl, then mash roughly with a fork or potato masher.
3. Heat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine lentils, squash, and remaining ingredients except coconut. Spoon mixture into baking dish. Bake 20 minutes. Top with coconut, if using. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.




Photo Brian Hagiwara

Spaghetti squash primavera

Ingredients
· 1 spaghetti squash (about 4 pounds), stem removed
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 medium-size onion, chopped
· 2 cloves garlic, chopped
· 1 can (8 ounces) stewed tomatoes
· 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
· 1/2 cup prebrowned all-protein vegetable crumbles, thawed (see Note, below)
· 1/2 teaspoon sugar
· 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon pepper
· 3 tablespoons heavy cream
· 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Directions
1. Halve squash; remove seeds. Place cut side down in microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high power 20 minutes, rotating once, until tender.
2. Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat until softened, 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, crumbles, sugar, seasoning, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in cream; cook to heat through, 2 minutes.
3. With fork, scrape strands from squash onto serving platter. Top with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 servings.
Note: This sausage-like product can be found with vegetarian products in frozen-food case.

To visit Parents Magazine online, click HERE.

Holiday Travel

Travel map, 1954, From RMC's Travel Brochure and Map Collection

The holidays are approaching!
As one of the biggest times of year for travel, your family may be one of the many who are planning a trip.

Click HERE to be linked to a fun quiz about whether your child is ready to travel.

Some ideas for traveling with children:

-Talk about your journey together with your child in advance. Show pictures of places or people you will see, plot out your destination on a map, and give your child a simple travel agenda so they know what to expect. Sometimes it's helpful to sketch simple pictures to go along with a written agenda.


-Let your child choose a favorite blanket or stuffed animal to take with them and let them know that while they may be away from home, they'll aways have their special item with them during their time away. Favorite books are always comforting too.

-Bring a blank book or spiral-bound notebook and create a travel diary with your child; older children can do this activity on their own to keep them busy while riding in a car or on an airplane. It's easy to do and will preserve special memories for a lifetime. In addition to recording each day's activities, you can add photos, postcards, ticket stubs, and even make your own drawings to commemorate the trip. For speech therapy clients, this could make a wonderful opportunity for your child to sit and talk about their activites with someone after they've returned from their trip.

-Travel Seek and Find: Create a list of things for your child to keep a look-out for during their travels and have them check them off as they see them.


-On car trips, older kids may enjoy keeping a list of license plates. See how many different state license plates you can spot!

-Buy inexpensive toys or books and wrap them. Dole them out to your child at prescribed intervals during the trip. This gives them something new to play with and something to look forward to.

-Definitely don't forget to bring non-sugary drinks and bags of healthy snacks to keep kids from getting thirsty, hungry, and cranky! You'll save money too.

-It is tempting to bring along enough DVDs to keep kids quiet during car rides, but seize the opportunity to exercise your child's creativity and imagination. Try an audio book; as they look out the window they can create images with their imagination as they listen to the story. Also consider a book by Oxford press called "250 Word Games"; they're verbal games you can play with your family. Create unique memories and great conversation!

Happy travels!