BOOK WEEK 2018: Find Your Treasure

BOOK WEEK is here!! I just love this year's theme Find Your Treasure, don't you? Taking place across the country from the 18th - 24th August, teachers are preparing their engaging activities and parents have (most likely) organised their child's costume.

To me, books themselves are treasured items. Your child's favourite book is a treasure. The one you've read to them over and over again, so often that they can recite it by heart. But of course there are some more literal ways to interpret this year's theme... here are some of my favourite activities!

This is a sponsored post as part of my Brand Ambassadorship with Teach Starter. 

Image Credit - CBCA

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A Little Penguin's Guide to Life {Book Review}

When the title of this book first popped up in my Facebook feed, it immediately caught my eye. I was intrigued! I fell in love with the book even more when I received it, turned to the first page and began reading it to my children.

*cue heart melting

A Little Penguin's Guide to Life is a children's book about life's most important lessons (ten to be precise). In the words of the creator herself, it's more than a picture book. It's an emotional developmental tool. Think of it like a handbook.

The book has been written and developed by Chantelle and Ali Terai, and 'Little Penguin' is based on their son Marcel. He was at the forefront of their minds when writing the book. Chantelle, like me is a school teacher and Ali who has previously worked in education and now runs his own business. They are just your ordinary couple who dreamed of creating something special - and they have! So that's why I'm helping them to spread the word.

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. Not sponsored. 

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LATEST Book Release from Zanni Louise!

*1st March launch

You may have heard of the Australian author Zanni Louise as I've reviewed two of her books before; Archie and the Bear and Too Busy Sleeping (which is still a favourite of Miss M's - she's actually bringing it in to school for show and tell as her favourite book). Well, today on her launch day, I'd like to introduce you to a new super fun and quirky character who has just started school.

Everyone, meet Tiggy.

"Tiggy's special magic paintbrush can help her solve any problem... except sometimes her magic paintbrush creates brand new problems for Tiggy and her imagination to fix!"

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. 

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Our latest craft contributions for Inspire Book Box

Did you know that I'm one of the regular contributors to Inspire Book Box? Every second month I'll come up with an art and craft activity that ties in with the theme and key text from that month's book box. I really love how children's reading and literacy is being extended into the arts (and cooking too!) through these comprehensive packs. Here's my previous post with my very first activity contribution + review.

Inspire Book Box is so much more than a book delivery. It's almost like a mini unit of work carefully curated and themed to match the picture book perfectly, and that's why I'm so proud to be part of the team. It really warms my heart to see other children all over the country enjoying my activities after their Inspire Book Boxes have arrived in the post!

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How KAZOOPS Will Encourage Imaginative Play in your Child

One of the fundamental principals of child development I learnt when I was at Uni was that children learn through play. They make sense of their world, act out familiar experiences when playing and use their imaginations to process and solidify their understanding. Just a few examples you may have seen or experienced include home corner play, acting out "mums and dads", feeding dolls, pushing trains along a train track, making animal noises as they play with toys - it's all imaginary play! They are learning while they're playing and using their imaginations. An essential ingredient to a well rounded childhood.

The TV show Kazoops is embracing this philosophy as imagination is the key theme throughout each episode. Targeted to preschoolers, young children will be encouraged to use their own imaginations as they watch, and chances are it will spark some learning through play experiences of their own.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

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The Perfect Book for Literacy & Numeracy Week

This brainwave came to me the other day and I couldn't wait to write about it and explore the book Uno's Garden with my Year 2 class - as part of Literacy and Numeracy week.

Graeme Base would have to be one of my favourite Australian illustrators (and authors of course but I feel his art work really needed a mention - did you know that original art works from the books sell for up to $50,000???). They detail is absolutely brilliant and the reader gets completed enthralled in the story thanks to the imagery.

Uno's Garden at it's core, is a story about how fragile the environment is, and how society needs to strive to create a balance between creatures, man made structures, and plant life. It uses multiplication concepts to do so, both increasing in numbers, and decreasing - even touching on square numbers. The mythical creatures and plants are so fun and creative!

Image Credit

Literacy and Numeracy week is all about integrating these two learning areas together, and what better way to do that than with books about numbers?

Let me explain Uno's Garden a bit more...

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Brilliant Book Week Resources & Lesson Plans

BOOK WEEK is here! It's a time to celebrate our favourite books and immerse ourselves in the joy of reading. The CBCA winning books have been announced and children all over the country are getting their Book Week costumes organised. Teacher's are planning their lessons - and with the help of Teach Starter, I've found some fantastic resources you might like to check out.

This is a sponsored post as part of my Brand Ambassadorship with Teach Starter. 

Let's start by discussing the theme - Escape to Everywhere...

A very imaginative theme, as we explore how books allow us to escape into another world. Kicking off this collection of resources with a classroom banner - giving students a starting point for their thinking about the theme. Will they escape to outer space or into a fairy tale castle? A great story writing prompt or story book investigation.

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Be Inspired by Inspire Book Box

I'm a big fan of monthly subscription packs for kids, and I've been lucky enough to review a few of them on the blog (I'm actually planning a round up post of all of them!). But this month I actually got to contribute to one! Roxanne from Inspire Book Box contacted me to see if I'd be interested in partnering with her business to come up with a book inspired art + craft activity to be included with the July book boxes. I have always said that a child can never have too many books - so I thought this subscription program was a fantastic idea! This month's theme was friendship and the key text was "Oliver and Patch" by Claire Freedman. So I got my thinking cap on and got to work...

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review (not sponsored). 

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Games & Story Telling {My Little Set}

Hi everyone!
The blog has been a little quieter than normal this month, I've been busy at work taking on some extra relief days in a variety of classes across the school (which I've been loving) and of course the kids can be a handful when we're at home!

So today I'm pleased to bring you another brilliant product review with a focus on early learning (by the way if you're ever interested in browsing the other product reviews I've done, just look for the "review" label on my side bar, or if you're on mobile, scroll to the end and you should find it). 

We were recently sent two "My Little Set" sets of wooden discs that I'd love to share with you (kindly gifted for the purpose of this review).

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Archie and The Bear {Book Review}

Book reviews are one of my favourite types of posts here at Teacher Types! Books are such an important part of childhood and if I can introduce you to a new book, or give you some activity ideas based on a brilliant book - well then I'm going to do just that.

You may remember Zanni Louise, author of Too Busy Sleeping (which I reviewed back in 2015 before Little Man's arrival and it's still a favourite in this house). I was so excited to hear that Zanni's new book Archie and the Bear was going on a blog tour and of course I put my hand up! Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review.

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A Ferret Named Phil {The Sequel}

Remember this little guy?

If you don't, click here before you read on.

Phil the Ferret is back with a new story filled with fun and excitement at the circus - "A Ferret Named Phil and the old Ferris Wheel". Key themes of resilience, bravery, kindness, confidence, forgiveness, honesty, and remorse are woven throughout. In schools these are crucial for a student's emotional development. Aimed at children aged 3-8, both books are teaching valuable life lessons.

Gifted for the purpose of this review.

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A Very Hungry Caterpillar Tea Party {With Story Stones}

I'd be very surprised if you told me that your child didn't own a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (and if they don't I insist you get one!). It's one of my absolute favourites with so many opportunities for early learning. The clever way that Eric Carle integrates concepts of days of the week, numbers, healthy/unhealthy food as well as the life cycle of a caterpillar is like no other early childhood text.

So when Johanna from Hello Pear asked me if I would like to help her launch her 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' story stones, of course I said YES!

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. 
Not sponsored.

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Tailor Made Tales {Personalised Books for Kids}

There are so many nifty little products for kids out there these days, you just need to know where to FIND THEM! That's where I (and lots of other bloggers) come in. We love to discover unique and personalised items for your kids that you won't find in shops, try them out, and share them with you. We also love helping out small biz mums to get their awesome products seen by more eyes!

So today's product review is a pretty special one. It's a personalised story book, made by Kim from Tailor Made Tales. It's not just an ordinary photo book though, Kim will actually write a unique story especially for your child based on the photos you send her. I just love this idea, and I was so happy with what she came up with for Miss M (kindly gifted for the purpose of this review).

"The Big Adventures of a Big Sister"

I even love the title!

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Helping Kids Learn about Emergencies & Triple Zero

It's something that we hope our kids will never have to do - dial triple zero in an emergency. But it's important that they do know how to should they ever be in that situation. It's also important that they can differentiate between different 'emergencies' and identify 'is it really an emergency?'.

I was recently sent a fantastic book which gently introduces this concept to young children in a not-at-all scary way.

Meet Toby the Teddy...

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Reading Aloud is More Than Just a Bedtime Routine {Guest Post}

I'm so thrilled to have a special guest here today - author Amelia Trompf who is launching her book Who is Fitzy Fox? this month with a blog hop, and we are her last stop! You probably saw my review yesterday, and today Amelia's talking all about the importance of reading to our kids. 

{Sponsored}

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A couple of unexpected things have happened to me since I had my son. One is that I get ridiculously excited when I go past a yellow digger and absolutely beside myself when I see a really big crane, even when it’s just me in the car. The second is I am overjoyed when the toilet roll is finished because I have yet another cardboard cylinder to add to the ‘making box’. Actually the toilet roll excitement is relatively new and has started since I decided to challenge myself to get more ‘crafty’.

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{Book Review} Who is Fitzy Fox?

I love hosting book reviews here on my blog. I think it's just such an amazing thing that a person can write a story and go through the whole lengthy process to have it turned into an actual book! A book with pages and pictures and a front cover. What an achievement! And on top of that, books are such an important part of childhood and early learning, it's always great to find and share a new one. And that's what I'm all about :)

{Sponsored}

Who is Fitzy Fox? written by Primary school teacher Amelia Trompf and illustrated by Jennifer Bruce is a story about identity, belonging and bravery. Fitzy Fox is the most adorable character with his glasses and fancy outfits and accessories. He's so adorable and endearing!

See? He's just the cutest! So lovable!

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Bridge to Learn Educational Resources {Product Review}

It's always a joy to find and a pleasure to share educational resources that parents can use at home to help their children with early learning. Just a short scroll through my blog and you'll find some of my previous educational product reviews...

Bridge to Learn is a fun and engaging learning program targeted at children from birth to 8 years comprising of a series of storybooks, toy kits and learning books. The main character 'Ollie the Octopus' seems to always be off on new adventures with his sea creature friends. Key concepts such as shapes, numbers, colours and beginning sounds are introduced to the learner and woven through the 'under the sea' theme. The resources are developed, made and printed in Australia and aligned with the Australian Curriculum and Early Learning Years Framework which gets a tick from me!

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Book Week Book Review #2 {A Ferret Named Phil}

Book review day! Just in time for the end of Book Week!!

I am utterly amazed that a 22 year old from (you guessed it) ADELAIDE - William Reimer is a published author!! What an incredible achievement for such a young age. His children's book A Ferret Named Phil has a very important message to tell as it aims to help children deal with bullying.

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review :)

William has always wanted to be a writer, and settled on Phil the Ferret as the main character for his book after Mem Fox had already taken every other cute animal. He actually wrote the original version of this story at the last minute in Year 11 believe it or not!

Read more about his story here - his determination to have this book published is both remarkable and inspirational.

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Book Week Book Review #1 {The Day You Came Into The World}

It's Book Week! Hooray! I miss being in the classroom at this exciting time in Term 3, so I thought I'd share a couple of book reviews this week. This first one, The Day You Came Into The World by Frances Lalor is perfect for young children, toddlers, babies and new parents (it would also make the perfect baby shower or newborn baby arrival gift - I have a friend due in a few months and I'm planning to get her a copy).

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10 of The BEST Bedtime Stories

Aaaahhhh bedtime... A struggle for most parents at some stage in their parenting journey. We all know that a bedtime routine can really help little people know what comes next and what to expect in that wind down time to sleep. In our house it's dinner, bath, ABC kids until the goodnight song at 7pm - then off to bed for a book with dad, followed by cuddles and a chat with mum. But it's not as simple as it sounds - that whole procedure can take ages! No matter how much time, effort and patience I give her, she always wants "just one more hug" or "one more story".

So it really helps us when the bed time story we choose is one that encourages sleep - I always like the ones with a relaxing tone and where the main character falls asleep at the end. Here are 10 of my recommendations...

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