Tooth Sleuth

tooth sleuthLose a tooth? No problem! Our magnetic Tooth Finder 2000 will locate your missing teeth in a jiffy! We also added a little alphabetical deduction game to the mix, as well as a magnetic tooth fairy wand variation.

We recommend reading Cousin Ruth’s Tooth, written by Amy MacDonald, and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (Houghton Mifflin, 1996). Cousin Ruth’s tooth has gone missing, and the entire Fister clan is on high alert. Uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparent, siblings, and various pets embark on a energetic search through the house, yard, and eventually, the town. In the meantime, cousin Ruth solves her own problem – a new tooth has appeared where the old one used to be!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box (ours was 2″ x 4″ x 4″)
  • 1 mini button magnet (ours was .5″ in diameter)
  • Tin foil
  • String or mesh tubing
  • 1 drinking straw
  • White card stock
  • Paper clips
  • Pen
  • Tape

To make a “Tooth-Finder 2000,” cover a small box with tin foil, then add any other shiny stuff you have on hand (we used silver mirror board and a mini aluminum pie tin). Make a card stock handle for the machine, and a sparkle stem antennae if desired. The machine’s “hose” is a piece of mesh tubing, but a simple piece of string works too! The “wand” for picking up teeth is a half a drinking straw with a mini button magnet taped or hot glued to one end. The other end of the straw is inserted into the mesh tubing.

tooth finder 2000Cut several teeth from card stock, then tape paperclips to the back. Wave the machine’s wand over the tooth, and it will magnetically connect! We came up with a spelling game as well. To play, write different letters on the teeth, then see if kids can can pick out a particular word or their name from the pile.

letter teeth If you’d like to skip the tooth finding machine and go even simpler, cut a star out of card stock, decorate it with markers, then tape it to a drinking straw. Tape or hot glue a mini button magnet to the back of the star and you have your very own magnetic tooth fairy wand!

tooth fairy magnetic wand

Historical Hairdos

historic hairdosVC Salon, you are amazing. Last week, 5 stylists donated their time and significant skills to give 6 girls totally historic makeovers. And we don’t mean “historic” as in slang for “awesome” (even though the results were awesome). We mean historic as let’s-go-back-in-history-and-do-a-Marie-Antoinette-updo historic.

Located in Robbinsville, New Jersey, VC Salon & Spa (now renamed Coterie 17) was founded in 1995 by Angela Pantaleon. A quick peek at the salon’s about us page confirms the dedication, playfulness and fun they bring to their workplace. Also, look how gorgeous it is!

vc salon and spa 1vc salon and spa 2vc salon and spa 3The collaboration was lead by stylist Delia Salguero. We provided her with the models and pages of historic photos, and Delia recruited the stylists. The stylists then selected the model, the hairdo, and also put together costumes and accessories for the photo shoot.

vc salon and spa 4The models were volunteers Cotsen Critix, our children’s literary society. You might recognize one of the faces below. Yes, that’s Hope, our blog’s teen tester and Cotsen Critix alumna!

modelsAlong with the costumes and the hair came makeup, including one wicked pair of fake eyelashes. So…are you ready to see some historic makeovers?


model 1

Hair: Jennifer Bossert Graziani
Makeup: Delia Salguero


model 2model 2 side

Hair: Bailey O’Brien


model 3

Hair: Tatiana Rivadeneira
Makeup: Tatiana Rivadeneira


model 4model 4 back

Hair: Brenna Roth
Makeup: Tatiana Rivadeneira


model 5

Hair: Tatiana Rivadeneira
Makeup: Delia Salguero


model 6 side

Hair: Delia Salguero
Makeup: Delia Salguero


Many thanks to VC Salon for hosting historic hairdos! A big round of applause to stylists Jennifer Bossert Graziani, Bailey O’Brien, Tatiana Rivadeneira, Brenna Roth, and Delia Salguero for sharing your talent with us. Thank you to our models, who patiently sat in chairs, got fogged with hairspray, and in some cases wore eye makeup for the first time, all in the name of style. Finally, much appreciation and gratitude to Delia Salguero for coordinating the event.

delia and the girls

Delia and the girls. You rock!

Play With Your Food

play with your foodIt’s dinner time and the peas are flying! Can your land the pom-pom peas on the plates, bowls, and cups? Bust out your pea catapult and get ready to do some physics and math!

We recommend reading Eat Your Peas, Ivy Louise by Leo Landry (HMH Books, 2005). Toddler Ivy Louise has been tasked with eating her dinner. However, those energetic peas are running a full-scale circus on her plate, complete with acrobatics, impressive weight-lifting, and a high dive act. The grand finale? We’ll let you guess. Very entertaining for Ivy Louise. Not so much fun for Mom and Dad to clean up!

You’ll need:

  • 2 jumbo craft sticks (ours were 8″ long)
  • 6 medium craft sticks (mine were 4.5″ long)
  • Masking tape
  • 4 medium rubber bands
  • 1 plastic spoon
  • 5-10 green pom-poms
  • Paper plates, bowl, and cup
  • Markers for decorating

Our awesome craft stick catapult is from this bouncing bedtime post, so I’ve repeated the instructions below. Stack 2 jumbo craft sticks on top of one another, then wrap a rubber band tightly around one side.

rubber banded craft sticks

Now stack 6 medium craft sticks on top of one another and wrap both ends tightly with masking tape.taped craft sticksWedge the stack of 6 craft sticks in between the jumbo crafts sticks like so:

wedged

Then wrap 2 rubber bands around both sets of craft sticks to secure the catapult mechanism in place (a criss-cross formation works best).

banded

An additional step for you pea catapult…secure a plastic spoon on the end of the catapult arm with a rubber band. Don’t secure the spoon with tape – you might want to adjust the placement of the spoon later when you’re launching peas. Here’s our finished pea catapult, all loaded up:

pea catapultNow for your targets! Use markers to decorate paper plates, bowls, and cups. Make sure to assign a numerical value to each item.

pea targetsReady to play? Set your table, load up your catapult, and launch some peas! Use your math skills to tally points, and play around with physics as you adjust your spoon and your catapult to achieve maximum results.