*Read to the children in your life every day. You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!
Ten Magic Butterflies By: Danica McKellar Illustrated by: Jennifer Bricking
Ages: Preschool through First Grade
Danica McKellar has done it again with this beautiful book promoting math concepts for young children. In Ten Magic Butterflies, children will discover different ways to group numbers to make ten, as the flowers turn into beautiful butterflies. The author gives a list at the end of the book with math ideas to use with children. This book also provides literacy opportunities for comprehension and rhyming patterns. In addition, the flowers learn a very important lesson. We previously highlighted Ms. McKellar’s counting book called, Goodnight Numbers.
Tips for Reading:
- To promote math skills, count the flowers and butterflies on each page.
- As you read the pages, point out the combinations that make 10.
- Using M & M’s, pennies, etc., show different ways to group numbers to make 10.
- After reading the book, to promote comprehension, ask:
- Why did the flowers want to become butterflies?
- At the end of the story, ask what the flowers realized after they had become butterflies?
- Using magnetic letters, form a few rhyming patterns. (sky/fly, tall/small, etc.) (Refer to the book, Goodnight Numbers, on using magnetic letters.)
Additional Books:
- 100 Bugs! A Counting Book By: Kate Narita Illustrated by: Suzanne Kaufman
- Ten, Nine, Eight By: Molly Bang
- Ten Flashing Fireflies By: Philemon Sturges Illustrated by: Anna Vojtech
- Domino Addition By: Lynette Long, Ph.D.
- Ten Black Dots By: Donald Crews
Cooking Time:
Butterfly Chicken Salad Sandwiches
These delightful sandwiches will be fun for children to make and great to eat. This is a delicious and easy chicken salad, but you could make any kind of sandwich that you would like and make into butterflies. Children can use their imaginations to decorate the butterflies. Children can help by adding the ingredients, stirring, decorating and kitchen clean-up.
2 1/2 cups rotisserie white meat chicken, cut into bite sized cubes
2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups seedless grapes, cut in half
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup mayonnaise (We used Hellman’s.)
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of dry mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sandwich bread
Carrots
Stuffed olives
- Put the chicken, celery, grapes and pecans in a medium sized bowl and mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise, paprika, dry mustard, sugar and salt until combined.
- Add the mayonnaise mixture to the chicken mixture and stir completely.
- Put approximately 1 cup prepared chicken salad between two slices of bread.
- Cut the sandwich diagonally to form two halves.
- Now cut the halves in half. You will have 4 sections to make the butterfly wings.
- Use the carrots and celery to form the body and antennae of the butterfly.
- Decorate the wings of the butterfly with the olives and additional carrots.
Makes approximately 6 servings.
Butterfly Shortbread Cookies
These delicious shortbread cookies can be made into any shape that you like and decorated for the occasion. We have made them into colorful butterflies to match our book. Children can help by adding the ingredients, cutting out the shapes, decorating and kitchen clean-up.
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 cup cold butter, cubed
1 tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Colored sugars to decorate
Put parchment paper on baking sheets.
- Using a mixer, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
- Add the cubed cold butter and blend in mixer until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the cold water and vanilla.
- Mix until mixture forms a soft ball. (This may take a minute or two.)
- Divide the dough in half and place on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes.
- Place the cut cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Continue with the second half of the dough.
- Using colored sugars, sprinkle each cookie before baking.
- Cover cookies and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place the chilled cookie sheets into the oven.
- Bake for 13 to 16 minutes or until edges are slightly brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and place on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the trays and place back on the wire racks to continue cooling.
Makes 2 to 3 dozen depending on the size of the cookie cutter.
