I’ve written once or twice in the past about the importance of helping kids (and adults!) find ways to relax. #thebigone is a child who is always thinking, a trait likely passed down from me. We were able to check out Traveling the Twisting Troubling Tanglelows’ Trail from author Greg McGoon recently. After one reading, we were convinced it was a great book to help my oldest sort out some of his non-stop thinking.

Standard Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

If you have followed along with the blog, you may remember me writing that #thebigone has dealt with a lot for a 6 1/2 year old. He has split time between my home and his father’s since he was a baby. My oldest endured the death of his baby brother three years ago, as well as a subsequent miscarriage. He welcomed a new baby brother a month before starting kindergarten. In the last year, he lost 5 great grandparents across his three families.

We are blessed that he generally adjusted well in the face of these changes. However, it’s clear from his questions and remarks at times that his mind is still working to process everything. Tools that help us facilitate this process are invaluable. Traveling the Twisting Troubling Tanglelows’ Trail is the perfect addition to our ‘tool kit’.

Traveling the twisting troubling tanglelows’ trail

McGoon takes a light and whimsical approach to a serious topic, ensuring the book will appeal to children. The text is a series of tricky tongue twisters, adding novelty to the often heavy work of processing anxiety. Young readers will love the lyrical quality of the rhymes. The book is perfect for read-a-louds as adults are likely to get tripped up in the twisters a time or two- giggles guaranteed! The tale provides basic guidelines for kids to re-frame their thinking. Traveling the Twisting Troubling Tanglelows’ Trail is able to relay these ideas in a playful, engaging way that never feels ‘teachy’. It’s an excellent jumping off point for a discussion with your child about what thoughts they are struggling with.

The Tanglelows are the invasive little thoughts that fill both the book and your mind. Illustrator Jessa Orr has rendered them in a quirky, almost cute style. This is ideal as the last thing an already anxious child needs is a threatening or frightening image of something within them. The bright, vibrant illustrations do an amazing job of visually representing just how snarled and entwined our thoughts can be.

Inspired by the colorful art in the book, I created a fun project to accompany the book. This craft is fairly simple, and easy for young readers to work on almost independently. The beauty in this is that you can sit side by side with your child while you both create your own Tanglelows. I find that sometimes it is easier for children (anyone, really) to open up when they are engaged in a project. The bit of distraction a simple project can provide often makes a world of difference.

Make your own tanglelows

You will need:

• Free printable Tanglelows’ trail page. (Scroll to the end of the post to grab yours!)
• Colored pencils, crayons, or markers.
• Acrylic craft paint.
• Straw.
• Wiggle eyes.
• Craft glue.
• Black marker.

How To create your tanglelows:

1. Start by adding some color to the printable trail page. We used colored pencils, but you can use whatever supplies you have on hand. We used colors inspired by the illustrations in the book, but this is totally flexible. Consider having your child use the colors that best represent their current thoughts and emotions. This is a great chance to start getting a peek at what is on their mind.
2. Add a bit of acrylic craft paint to the trail page. If your paint is very thick, you will want to water it down a bit.
3. Next, use a straw to blow the craft paint into a Tanglelows sort of shape. Some Tanglelows may be big, and trap a lot of the trails. Others may be smaller, and not as invasive. There’s no right or wrong here. Add as many Tanglelows as you like.
4. Add wiggle eyes to your Tanglelows. If your paint is thick enough, you can likely add the eyes to wet paint. If the paint is dry, or very thin, use some craft glue to stick them on.
5. After the paint and glue are completely dry, use the black marker to add some of the Tanglelows’ details. You’ll notice curly little tails that intertwine the characters in the book- the marker is perfect for adding these, as well as additional facial features.
6. Admire you finished artwork with your child! Be sure to follow up with them going forward about the thoughts and concerns they shared with your during the reading and craft sessions.

Gotta Have it?

Traveling the Twisting Troubling Tanglelows’ Trail is available through both Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Please note- Amazon’s stock information has not been updating correctly, shipping should not be as long as the estimate states. 

> > > GRAB YOUR TANGLELOWS’ TRAIL PAGE RIGHT HERE! < < <

Do you have tools or tricks you use to help your children work through their thoughts? Share your tips in the comments below!

Lately, #thelittleone has been learning all sorts of new words. It’s fun to watch him label everything around him- kitties, balls, and recently, ‘choo-choos’. He and #thebigone were both understandably pretty excited when Old Tracks, New Tricks arrived in the mail for review. The mix of trains and crafts was especially appealing to my 6 year old who could not wait to jump in.

Disclosures: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post (at no additional cost to you), which allows me to continue providing free content on the blog. I received a free copy of the book in order to facilitate this review, but all opinions expressed here are my own. 

Old Tracks, New Tricks is the creation of Jessica Petersen, who blogs at Play Trains! Jessica has crafted a fun and engaging tale for young readers. Published by The Innovation Press, the book is bright and cheerful. (You may remember The Innovation Press from my recent review of their newest series, Zoey and Sassafras!) The story centers around some run-of-the-mill toy train tracks that are eager to find some fun. As Trixie, Tracky, and Tinker explore different ideas for novel tricks, the trains realize they want in on the action too. Ultimately, both tracks and trains are having fun together as they engage in new antics together.

My son was enamored with the photographs through out the book. The pictures are bright and vibrant, featuring toys with expressive little faces added on. There’s a sense of familiarity in the images- so many families have a stack of train tracks at home, a bin full of duplos, etc. The illustrative style makes it easy for children to make the leap from observing in the book to imagining what their next steps will be. They see the toys they have on hand represented in the book, and their minds start racing with possible tricks. Some of the photographs are so detailed, it’s easy to spend extra time poring over them and discovering little touches you may miss during a quick read-through.

The text itself has a lyrical, sing-song quality that will appeal to children. The rhyming structure will help both pre-readers and emerging readers gain confidence by helping them predict the last words in each line. Jessica includes tons of great ideas to customize and update the trains and tracks you likely already have at home. How much fun would a glow in the dark train set be?! Tracks decorated with foil, and train sets that are set up outside are other fun ideas she has included. The photographs will likely be enough inspiration for your children, but if not, Jessica has included a brief how-to for each idea as well.

Interested in a sneak peek at the first ten pages? You’re in luck!

Teaching OUR old Tracks, New Tricks!

Old Tracks, New Tricks was the perfect book for our family, as it’s such a fun example of children’s literature inspiring craftiness and tinkering. (Even if your child isn’t a huge fan of artsy activities, there are ideas for building and balancing as well, so don’t let them be turned off by the craft talk!) Of course, we wanted to come up with a few fun and simple ways to update some of our train tracks with supplies we already had on hand. Check them out below!

Shine Bright

We used some shiny, foil tape in a few colors to add some holographic stripes down our train tracks.

Wishy Washi

We picked a few of our favorite rolls of washi tape to add some fun, bright detail to some train tracks. (Bonus! Washi tape removes easily, so this modification isn’t permanent. Perfect for indecisive kiddos!)

Fabric-ated

Some adhesive fabric tape in different patterns added some vibrant interest to our train tracks. (Trims like ric rac or ribbon with a bit of craft glue would be another great option.)

water works

A little bit of water, some paintbrushes, and some washable markers made a simple, low stress project for us. We took two approaches, and both worked well. My son drew directly on a track with his markers. When he was happy with his design, he used a paintbrush to add water. The washable ink bled a bit, creating a washed out version of his drawing. We also tried wetting the track with water first, and then holding the markers to the track. This method produced watery splotches of color in an almost tie-dyed effect. After painting, we let the tracks dry thoroughly before playing with them.

I’ve got my eye on you

There are a few other simple options to recreate the look of the characters found in the book. Eye stickers are a great option, and very simple to use. Google eyes are another good choice, and with a bit of craft glue are also easy to attach. Our review copy of Old Tracks, New Tricks came with some adorable fake tattoo eyes, which may be a bit difficult to find. Some other fun eye add-ons that are perfect for tech-obsessed kiddos are emoji stickers and emoji tattoos.

We had so much fun reading and creating with Old Tracks New Tricks. I hope you’ll think about checking it out for all the little engineers and conductors in your life!

What sort of new tricks would your kids love to see their old tracks perform? Let me know in the comments below!

It’s time for another monthly themed picture book link up with some other creative bloggers. This month we are focusing on a perennial favorite- Giraffes Can’t Dance. I have to be honest- despite it’s popularity, I had not read this book until a few years ago. When I finally did, I loved Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees‘ tale of Gerald, an unsure, self-conscious giraffe who pays too much attention to the taunts of the other animals.

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post (at no additional cost to you), which allows me to continue providing free content on the blog. 

While the other creatures of the jungle dance confidently, Gerald internalizes their remarks. He must be too clumsy, too useless, and clearly- he can’t dance. A friendly little cricket comes along, and helps Gerald realize that he can dance- he just needs to find his music. With that boost, Gerald is able to dance freely and share his new-found moves with the rest of the awed animals. It turns out that Gerald – and giraffes – can dance! The illustrations are bright and lively, sure to draw in young readers. The text is full of novel words, making read-a-louds engaging and enriching.

My entire life, I’ve been Gerald. As a child, going up to bat during a softball game was a panicky experience- all eyes were on me! Public speaking assignments in high school were nerve wracking, and I would shake throughout them. I am the wife sitting down at weddings because I don’t feel comfortable dancing in front of others. I don’t even like to call to order a pizza! Not surprisingly, there’s also an awful lot of Gerald in my mom as well – like mother, like daughter I suppose. I love Giraffes Can’t Dance as an opportunity to share an example of finding inner confidence to my boys. I don’t want them to grow up with my same level of nerves. Ultimately, I want them to feel comfortable dancing freely. I know they can find a role model for this in Gerald.

Giraffes Can’t Dance?! Stamp A Confident Giraffe!

You will need:

• Canvas (we used 9″ x 12″, but size is fairly flexible).
• Base acrylic craft paint (if desired). We used aqua.
• Yellow acrylic craft paint.
• Brown acrylic craft paint. (Or a brown stamp pad, if you prefer).
• Paint brushes. (We used assorted sponge brushes, with 1 small bristle brush).
• Small wooden candlestick holder.
• Craft foam shape. (We used a peel and stick hexagon. You can cut your own shape and glue it on as well).
  • Alternatively, you can use a ready-made rubber or foam stamp. We couldn’t find what we wanted locally, so we just made our own.
• Black permanent marker.
• Eye stickers or google eyes.
• Removable contact paper.
• Scissors.
• Printable giraffe template.
  • 
• Pencil/pen.

1. First, paint the canvas your desired base color using a sponge brush and acrylic craft paint. Keep in mind that the yellow for the giraffe is pretty light, so you don’t want your base to be too dark. We did two coats of aqua, letting each coat dry completely.
   
2. Next, use your printable template to trace the giraffe outline onto your contact paper. Cut the inside of the giraffe shape out, leaving a stencil that covers the rest of the canvas. (Kids may need extra help with the cutting- it’s a tricky step for some!) Stick the contact paper stencil down, and make sure the edges of the giraffe are well ‘stuck’.
   
3. Paint the giraffe body with yellow acrylic craft paint and a sponge brush. Depending on your base color, you may need a few coats. Allow each coat to dry completely between applications.
   
4. While the yellow paint dries, you can create your stamp. Attach the craft foam shape to the flat bottom of a small wooden candlestick holder. Use a small sponge brush to add a light coat of brown acrylic craft paint to the stamp. Stamp the giraffe’s spots across the body. I suggest using washable paint, and cleaning up promptly. A damp paper towel should clean the foam shape easily, and the stamp can be used again in the future.
   
5. Next, peel up the contact paper template, revealing your giraffe! Make sure to let all the paint dry completely.
   
6. Add details like a tail to the giraffe using a small paint brush and brown acrylic craft paint. This is a chance for kids to really add some personal touches and infuse some personality in their giraffes!
   
7. Next, attach a pair of eye stickers, or glue down some google eyes to give your giraffe sight.
   
8. As the final step, use a fine black permanent marker to add some music notes around the giraffe. After all, it’s easier to dance when you’re surrounded by music!
   

Finally- crank some tunes and have a giraffe-inspired dance party of your own!

what are your kids favorite board books? Let me know in the comments below!

Scroll on for more fun Giraffes Can’t Dance ideas!

 Babies To Bookworms

 Chocolate N Children

 Mixed Bag Mama

 The Adventure Starts Here

Syncopated Mama

Raising Fairies And Knights