Not Your Traditional Mary Had a Little Lamb

This weekend I discovered two books that take the sweetness and timelessness of Mary Had a Little Lamb and add a twist. You need to check these out. 

Screenshot from Amazon

Jonas Sickler takes a look at Mary and her lamb in Africa. It is a simple wordless picture book that follows the nursery rhyme exactly. I found it in my local toy store. It is on Amazon. Ages 0+

Screenshot from Amazon

Kayla Harren's Mary Had a Little Lizard is also a wordless picture book. It takes you through the rhyme, but adds many details to it. You'll love the friendship between the lizard and the girl, how the lizard sneaks to school, and the silliness. My family's favorite part is when the lizard, who is covered in paint, is discovered by Mary's teacher. I checked it out from the library yesterday. We've read it at least 8 times already. Any age that knows the nursery rhyme will love this book. It is on Amazon. 

Tiny & Organized Kitchen Writing Area

Most of the time while my husband and I are cooking the girls like to be with us in the kitchen. We try to find jobs for them like ripping up lettuce or broccoli, sprinkling cheese, or even just being a spoon holder. Sometimes it is just not possible to give them a job, but (even though I'm tempted many times) I don't want to say, "Go away." After all, I want them to eventually to be able to do more in the kitchen to help, and I don't want to send them to college only knowing how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Experience is the best teacher.

Because of this, I've been giving them pieces of scrap paper and pens to write with while we are in the kitchen. They love it, but it's always a mess for me. After reading an article about the habits of neat and organized people, I decided it's time to make organization and less clutter a habit. Here's what we made to control the pens and scrap paper:

I took an instant Quaker oatmeal box and ripped off the sides. Then I wrapped it with pretty wrapping paper that we thankfully had. It's simple, but effective. The girls now get up on the stools and grab the box when I tell them I don't have a job for them to do right now. 

Other materials you could use:

• Cereal box with 3/4 of it cut off and wrapped up
• Soup can (cover those edges)
• Cute basket
• Mason jars
• Cookie jar
• Anything that can hold paper, pencils, or pens

How can you make it even better? Make it with your child. Show us yours on FB or comment below.