Category — Writing Activities

During the winter months many birds benefit from fat in their diet so why not make a suet bell or suet pine cone bird feeder with your grandchildren.
You will need:
Fat (lard or drippings from a roast or bacon ). If you don’t have enough fat you can add unsalted peanut butter.
Filler (bird seed, dried fruit, cookie or cake crumbs).
For each ½ pound of fat you will need 1 pound of filler.
Paper cup
String
Make a small hole in the bottom of the paper cup and insert the string. Be sure it is long enough so you can hang the bell on a tree branch. Tie a not on the inside of the cup so the string won’t pull through. Leave some string hanging inside the paper cup.
Melt the fat in a heavy saucepan and add filler. Mix well. Let the mixture cool slightly then pour into paper cut. When the mixture has hardened tear off the paper cup. Hang on a branch and see what birds come.

There are lots of activities to do once the suet bell is hung.
1. Predict and count how many birds will come in 10 minutes.
2. Predict and count how many different birds will come.
3. Take a picture of a bird eating the suet bell and write a poem or a story.
4. When your grandchildren leave, keep an eye on the suet bell and call or write them about what you’ve noticed. How long until it was all eaten.
5. Make 2 bells, one to keep at your home and one for your grandchild to take home. They can call or write you about what they have noticed.
For a pine cone bird feeder, I used the same mixture and spread it all around the pine cone. Hang with string or wire.

More Bird Feeder Ideas

Everyone has a story to tell. Help your child develop their writing skills while telling about their life.
How to get started:
1. Make a “memory chart” by dividing a sheet of paper into three columns: people, places, activities.
2. Using the chart write a memory to go with each person, place or activity.
3. Organize the information. It can be done sequentially by months or seasons of the year.
I read about this idea in the Home & School Connection sent out by Granite School District each month.

This is a humorous story written from the perspective of a dog that is sent to obedience school by his owner Mrs. LaRue. He writes letters to her each day trying to convince her that he needs to come home. The illustrations show that he is really living the life of luxury but he tells things in a different way. This is a great book for ages 5-12yrs.
When you are finished reading the book to your child or grandchild, they can practice writing a letter.
Letter writing ideas:
Pretend you are a pet and write about something funny that happened
Pretend you are the pet’s owner and write about the same funny thing
Write to the author of the book and tell he what you liked
Write to whomever read you the story and tell them how you would change the ending
Write to a friend and tell them about something secial you have done

This is a great book for ages 4-12 years. It’s written from the perspective of two ants who are searching for food. They end up in a kitchen where they encounter lots of trouble in a toaster, a garbage disposal and an electrical outlet.
The illustrations are fantastic. It’s sure to be a favorite.
Writing & Reading Activity
When you’re grandchild or child has finished the book they can write their own story. Pick a creature such as a bug or spider and a room in your home and let the adventure begin. If your child is to young to write, you write the story as they tell it and let them do the illustrations. Then they can read it back to you.

Hugs from my grandsons.

My 6th grade students had an assignment to write a poem about something they loved, so I decided to write one also.

Hugs and Kisses by E. Naccarato
What a delight it is to see,
My darling grandchildren run to me.
Their arms around my neck so tight,
Hugging me with all their might.
Their kisses are sometimes sloppy and wet,
But I don’t care, I’m not going to fret!
I’ll take their hugs and kisses anyway,
And cherish their love each and every day.
I would love for you to share a poem about your children or grandchildren.

My Mother with my daughter, Callee

My mother taught me to always be kind and include everyone in activities and games that I was playing with my friends. I would often look for kids standing on the sidelines and invite them to join the fun. Because my father had a disability (he lost a leg serving in WWII), my brothers and I never thought twice about including someone with a disability to join us. Even now when I’m at the park with my grandchildren I often invite other children to play our games.

Even if your grandchildren don’t live near you, they can still share their favorite books. If your family has a blog or a website have your grandchildren write a review of a book they read recently. It will help boost their reading comprehension and writing skills. It will also help you to know the kind of books they like to read which is great for gift ideas.

If you enjoy gardening, invite your grandchildren to help plant your garden. This can be a great time to talk and you can use the ideas below to make it a fun learning time for math, reading and writing.
Have your grandchild:
Measure how far apart to plant the seeds.
Measure the perimeter of the garden.
Count how many rows will be needed.
Estimate how tall specific plants will grow.
Make a list of everything needed to plant and care for the garden.
Read the instructions for planting.
Read the instructions for caring for what is planted.
Design a marker for each thing planted.

My friend Barbara shared this fun idea with me.

You’ll need:
Paper
Crayons or markers
Scissors
Tongue depressor or popsicle stick
Pipe cleaner
Directions:
1. Trace your child’s hand on a piece of paper. Only do the fingers and have them spread out as if they are wings.
2. Cut out the shape and color.
3. Color the tongue depressor. If will be the head and body of the butterfly. Glue it onto the handprint.
4. Make the antennae using the pipe cleaner and glue on the head.
Your grandchild can hold the tongue depressor body and make it fly.
Learn this poem to say as the butterfly is flying around.

Butterfly
Butterfly, oh butterfly
Dancing across the sky.
Butterfly, oh butterfly.
First you are low then you are high.
E. Naccarato

I would really like to write a personal history for my children and grandchildren but it seems overwhelming. How do I begin and what should I include? I often find myself saying “I remember when ……” and sharing a memory , so I decided to begin writing short “I remember when” memories. Now whenever I saying something like , “I remember a Christmas when…” or “I remember a birthday when…” , I jot it down. I don’t worry about the order right now, I can organized them later. But for me right now, it’s a start. My first entry was: I remember when Megan, Logan and Kimball spent the night with me. In the morning Logan came into my room and told me he thought there was a bear in my house. Guess what, it was me snoring. I knew I snored but I didn’t realize it sounded like a bear. I hope I haven’t traumatized him!