This video won the Storytelling with Children Award for 2009. Show it to the child in your life — be spellbound by this silly, energetic, wonderfully told story that involves the audience.
Archive for the ‘Raising children’ Category
Storytelling with Children and Chickens
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010The Thrill of Storytelling
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Have you ever listened to a really good storyteller – someone whose choice of words, twist of thought, lilt of voice and turn of body had you totally captivated? Perhaps the storyteller you remember was a grandparent or parent, or your pastor, or a teacher, or maybe your physician. Few of us realize how critical storytelling is to passing on information in a way that makes the information relevant and ensures that it sticks with us. It also can be just plain entertaining.
For children, storytelling can be critical for development. Think of little girls playing with dolls or boys with cars and trucks, for example. They tell stories to their playmates — or just to themselves — one after the other in endless variety. These stories help figure out how to deal with the world.
Storytelling has been a fascination for me since childhood. My father and uncles (one complete with pipe for the perfect pause effect) could turn an everyday event into a story that was totally enthralling, even to a young child. They delighted in this art and everyone who heard them did, too. The enjoyment of that was one motivation for creating Storybook Quilts.
Our new Storybook Quilts contest, set to begin on March 21st, is all about storytelling. More details appear below in our March 4th blog post and additional information will appear as we near the start date.
We also will be posting a series of blog articles here about storytelling – the renaissance of the art that has taken place, how children can become involved, and the value to us all.
So, come back here to visit us often! And start thinking now about which theme you might pick for your storytelling entry.
Read Across America Day: March 2nd
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Reading. As adults, we take for granted the ability to read and what we learn from reading. Those of us who love books know that nothing is a better escape than a good one — reality flies away and we inhabit an entirely different world.
Reading, and literacy in general, is an essential component of everyday life. Anyone who’s traveled to a country where the language is unfamiliar is suddenly struck by the importance of reading.
Passing this skill and love of reading on to children is not just a good idea, it’s essential to their development. Brain cells are turned on when a toddler is read to; reading aloud to children is essential to the development of literacy; and learning to read English, a recent study showed, requires “a rich home literacy environment” and that reading “lots of books to children. . . is absolutely necessary.”
Reading the Luna the Turtle Storybook Quilt
A Storybook Quilt is a great way to achieve at least half the daily goal! Each story takes about 10-15 minutes to read; each also provides an additional opportunity for building language and visual skills by matching the events in the story to the fabrics in the quilt.
Oh — one last thing. Do you know why Read Across American is celebrated in March 2nd? Why, it’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday, of course!
Read, read, read!
As the World Turns – Too Fast!
Saturday, January 16th, 2010Has your 2010 begun like mine – full speed ahead? For many of us, it’s been a jolt back into days in which every minute is consumed by an obligation. This isn’t good, for adults or for children.
Our minds need to get off the Merry Go Round. We all need to make a point of scheduling in quiet time. This can be any number of things. For an adult, it might be reading, sewing or needlework, playing the piano, listening to soothing music, waxing the car, praying or meditating, light gardening, walking – just about any activity that requires focus and/or slow and methodical action.
Schedule quiet time
For children, quiet time is even more important than it is for adults. The whirl of activity in which they are engaged is more extensive than ever, with organized activities of one kind or another taking a huge chunk of a child’s day. Quiet time can easily get lost. Unstructured time alone — daily, not just once in a while — helps children learn self-reliance, enhances their abilities to make decisions, encourages independent thought, and fosters their imaginations. (Quiet time does not include outside stimulation, such as electronic games, DVDs or television.) Some parents say that quiet time makes their children both more thoughtful and more adaptive.
Adia and Luna the Turtle
Quiet time doesn’t necessarily mean idle time. Play is an important part of a child’s quiet time. Parents and grandparents can help by ensuring children have ready access to the right “tools” – a Storybook Quilt, for example. Making up a new story based on a Storybook Quilt would be a great way to spend quiet time – the fabrics in the quilt enhance an appreciation of color and making up a new story builds imagination. It’s also something the child can share, if he or she choses, when quiet time is over.
To see all our themes, visit our website at www.storybookquilts.biz
Childhood Gifts: Treasures for a Lifetime
Monday, September 28th, 2009Unless some disaster has befallen them, I suspect all of us have one or two gift treasures from childhood – an old toy train, maybe, or part of one; a doll, which may have “features” that were added purposely or by mistake; a teddy bear or other stuffed animal that is hug-worn; maybe even a surviving blanky.
What’s your childhood gift treasure?
My favorite gift treasure is a doll I received for my second birthday from my Great-Aunt Brownie and which I named, appropriately enough, “Happy Birthday.” She has been with me through thick and thin, for more decades than I care to admit, and never has lost her ability to comfort.
Happy got a little tattered after three or four years. My grandmother, a seamstress, took her away to make her a new body. I was bereft! When she came back, though, she was even more precious because she had been “remade” by Grandma. She also returned in a fancy new dress, which she wears now.
This lifelong connection is the idea behind Storybook Quilts. These are special gifts, each one as individual and customized as the buyer cares to make it. Most customers order an
embroidered square with a message from them to the child for whom it is intended. And most also opt for a special message and a photograph, printed in the book.
Combining the quilt with a matching adventure story ensures that the child who loves this quilt will have strong ties to those with whom it was shared. Imagine looking at that quilt when times are tough – at any age! – and remembering sitting on the lap of a parent or grandparent covered with the quilt and listening to the story being read. What a wonderful lifelong comfort that can be!
Amos the Bear quilt with storybook
The Storybook Quilts are available in eight themes, with more in development. For details, visit us at www.storybookquilts.biz
How would you customize your Storybook Quilt?
A-maze-ing Facts
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009Here in the Northeast the hummingbirds are fattening up for their long flight south, (did you know they fly alone all the way to Central America and across the Gulf of Mexico in one go?!), the mums are coming into bloom, baseball is reaching its peak, and the corn fields are disappearing into winter storage silos. But not all the corn fields — some are becoming corn mazes, at least for a little while.
One of our Storybook Quilts features a corn maze: Lost in a Maze: Zach and Max the Dog Visit the Farm. When we designed that quilt, we got interested in them and did some research. Here are a few things we learned.
Where did corn mazes originate?
Well, there might be a battle about this, but the first corn mazes probably were in England. This is not a surprise, really, since mazes of other kinds have been common there for centuries. Kings, queens and other royalty loved the challenge of finding the path through the maze.
The British call theirs “maize mazes,” maze being the British word for corn and corn being what they call wheat. Confusing!
Where was the first corn maze in the US?
The first “modern” corn maze in America was created in 1993 for Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Where is the largest corn maze?
It’s in Dixon, California, and is 43 acres. Click here for the Cool Patch Pumpkins website. Sure looks like fun!
How many corn mazes are there in the US each year?
Keeping an exact count is difficult, but estimates are 800 or more. This is up from maybe 50-100 a decade ago.
Who designs the corn mazes?
Depends. Some farmers design their own. Several companies now design corn mazes professionally. The advent of the GPS has made it much easier to follow a pattern when cutting the maze. In our Storybook Quilt story, Zach’s uncle designed the maze himself.
How long does it take to go through a maze?
Anywhere from 20 minutes to over 2 hours, depending on the size and complexity of the maze. In our story, Zach and his dog are in there, really lost, for hours while his aunt and uncle search for him.
Is there more to a maze than just paths?
Oh, yes! Mazes often include puzzles and games, even food stations in case it takes a really long time to solve the maze. The one in Dixon has a Starbuck’s!
Farmers often also offer hayrides at the site, sell pumpkins and may have a petting zoo.
I’m excited! Where can I find the nearest maze?
Every State has mazes. Local newspapers usually publish a list this time of year. The websites we found that may be helpful include: The Corn Maze Directory, Corn Maze American, the Corn Mazing Directory, and The MAiZE. Some of these sites have wonderful pictures of the mazes from the air.
What’s the number one rule for a visit to a corn maze?
Always come out with as many kids as you had when you went in!
Number 2 is never, never follow your Dalmation puppy as he chases a wily old barn cat into a corn maze — as Zach finds out in our story!
What’s in a Name? For a Child, It’s a Lot!
Thursday, August 13th, 2009His or her name often is the first word that a child truly “owns.” Response to the sound of his own name begins in infancy; it isn’t long before the child realizes that the sound is only used to talk to him, that it is “his.” This awareness is important in developing a sense of self, the beginning of understanding interpersonal connections and relationships.
It isn’t long before the child can recognize his name, perhaps not the letters as letters, but certainly the overall shape. Seeing one’s name “in print” becomes a thrill, providing a sense of self-validation. Personalized children’s products, from pencils to baseball caps and even books, are important to children in part for this reason.
At Storybook Quilts, we go beyond personalization. Our customized versions make your child the hero or heroine in the story, which also may include sayings and interests that are particular to your family. The child’s name also appears on the quilt, embroidered on a square with the occasion, date and name of the giver. These are the things we treasure for a lifetime.
Here’s what one mother had to say about the Storybook Quilts given to her daughters by their grandparents:
“About the stories: [my two daughters] loved that their names are in the stories. Their eyes lit up when they heard the stories were about them.”
Until the end of August, we’re running a contest to win a gift certificate for a Storybook Quilt by suggesting a name for the latest theme character, a sea turtle. Join us and provide the child in your life with the thrill that lasts a lifetime!
A Nap with a [Turtle] or a Bear?
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009No, not a nap for me, although that sure does sound good right about now.
I remember my mother being insistent on my brother and me taking naps (partly for her own sanity, I now know!). I fought it, of course, but only when I was old enough to think I should. As I grew older, Mom had a compromise — after a half hour or so, she would tap lightly on the ceiling below my bedroom with a broom handle. If I was awake, I then was allowed to tiptop downstairs while my younger brother slept on in the next room. He was (is) three years younger.
That memory got me to wondering how old children should be before naps gradually disappear. Donna Friener, a nurse at the St Louis Children’s hospital, explains the importance of naps for children and offers a guide as to when they can — and probably should — cease. See that short article here.
Monkey Business: Noah and Amos the Bear Go to the Zoo
One of my inspirations for starting Storybook Quilts was naps — what could be better than taking a nap with a quilt story that’s your old friend? Teddy bears, favorite dolls and other wonderful cuddles are important. The quilts usually win on warmth, though!
I see [Turtle], and the other themes, as both nap companions and an inspiration for children to make up new stories about the fabrics in the quilt — maybe while they are waiting for that tap with the broom!
You can win [Turtle] or one of the other themes by helping us give him a name. Enter the Name the Turtle Contest here. We look forward to you ideas!
