Busy Little Hands

Preschoolers learn how to prepare their own food with activities that foster fun in the kitchen and promote healthy eating habits. Colorful photo-driven recipes for making fruit wands, noodle bowls, chocolate smoothies, and more encourage kids to discover and expand their tastes and experience the joy and pride that come from making with their own hands the foods they eat. Amy Palanjian is a writer, editor, recipe developer, and an expert at helping families find easier ways to enjoy wholesome, delicious meals together. She is the founder of Yummy Toddler Food, a website filled with practical food advice and nourishing recipes for families with little kids, and a contributor to Allrecipes magazine. Her work has appeared in many print and online outlets, including Better Homes and Gardens, Bon Appétit, Parents, Real Simple, the Wall Street Journal, The Kitchn, and Mother.ly. She lives near Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband and three children. Measure. Mix. Eat! - Create some Frosted Fruity Grahams - Stir up a Green Monster Macaroni Salad - Shake up some Grab-and-Go Morning Mix - Squish watermelon to make Magic Melon Juice "Busy Little Hands: Food Play! is a fun tool you can add to your parenting toolbox that can hopefully take away a bit of the stress that normally comes with cooking with kids. The delicious treats your kids get to whip up and enjoy are merely a bonus." Ashley Jones, Romper.com "This is crammed with great photos and instructions and basically, I couldn't love it more." Jansen Bradshaw, Everyday-reading.com "This is such a cute, easy-to-use book. Highly recommended!" Heather Wish Staller, author of Little Helpers Toddler Cookbook

Get ready for an art adventure! Using paint, colored paper, clay, and other basic art supplies, preschoolers learn to tap into their natural artistic abilities with fun-filled projects shown through easy-to-follow, colorful photos. From making bubble prints and color collages to turning a T-shirt into a Super Kid cape, every activity is designed to spark imagination, learning, and creativity. Meredith Magee Donnelly holds a master's degree in early childhood education, specializing in children from birth to age 8, from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. A former preschool and kindergarten teacher, she runs Homegrown Studio, a play-based art studio in West Hartford, Connecticut, and Homegrown Friends, a blog focused on hands-on activities and process art. She is the mother of three children who fill the family home with creativity, laughter, and just the right amount of chaos. Find her online at homegrownfriends.com. Imagine. Make. Play! - Create your own drip paint artwork! - Cast a spell with your magic wand! - Make a collage with your favorite color!

In this third book in the Busy Little Hands series, (Busy Little Hands: Art Play! and Busy Little Hands: Food Play!) preschoolers are introduced to the idea that math is everywhere, and numbers are fun! Each page features lots of bright pictures for pre-readers and each activity is designed for little mathematicians to play with numbers as they count, compare, measure, and make patterns using toys, snacks, and other items that are part of everyday life. From Counting Cars and Shape Stamping to Number Hide & Seek and Pattern Hunt, this book is packed with learning fun that will set preschoolers on the path to math success. Durable cards and stickers add hands-on learning elements.  Dr. Linda Dauksas is the director of the early childhood and special education programs at Elmhurst University. With a doctorate in instructional leadership from National Louis University, Dr. Dauksas specializes in early childhood special education, engaging families in the education of young children, and retaining novice teachers in high-need settings. She resides in Illinois.   Dr. Jeanne White holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction and is a professor at Elmhurst University, where she teaches math methods courses in the early childhood and elementary education programs. She presents internationally on topics of math education, specializing in the use of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in primary and elementary grades. She resides in Illinois.   Count. Build. Learn! Use toys to count, sort, and compare! Create your own shape stamps! Experiment with patterns! Includes Pop-Out Activity Cards & Stickers