Imagination Soup

Sherlock Holmes Books for Kids

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invented the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. Since Doyle’s writing is too difficult for most kids, I’ve good, easier-to-comprehend books for kids and teens related to Sherlock Holmes plus a few other fun goodies as well… Don’t miss the brilliant middle-grade chapter book series about Sherlock’s younger sister, Enola. (Which is […]

Storytelling Games That Will Get Your Kids Thinking Out of the Box

Engage kids with storytelling games. Once kids start telling fictional narrative stories out loud, it will improve their written stories. When I teach kids how to write stories, we generally start out loud. In other words, we think, plan, and share orally before writing silently. Of course, not all kids are oral processers but sharing out loud helps organize our thoughts and gives […]

17 Ways for Kids to Learn New Vocabulary

Fluent readers need a big vocabulary. The more words a child knows, the better reader and writer they are. (Anderson and Freebody, 1981; Graves, 1986; Stahl, 1998) (DOE, NAEP, 2011) It’s up to us as parents to help our children learn and develop a large vocabulary. The best way to learn new words is to […]

The Ultimate Parent Guide: Starting a Book Clubs for Kids

Updated: 8/2020 Parents, if you’re looking for directions on starting a book club for kids, get ideas for set-up, discussions, food, and activities here. The purpose of starting a book club for kids is for kids to get social time with friends AND for kids to read lots of books. But book clubs accomplish even […]

21 Children’s Books About the Immigrant Experience

SPONSORED: This post is sponsored by NILC and Resilience Force for #ImmigrantsAreEssential. Immigrants contribute to our society and community today just as much now as they have in the past. Which, unless you’re Native American, you are like me, a descendant of an immigrant. My ancestors came from northern Europe. Where did yours come from? […]

Edge-of-Your-Seat Survival Chapter Books For Kids

If your reader likes survival chapter books that are fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat adventures, I’ve got 27 great recommendations. Because a parent recently told me that her tween daughter only likes survival stories, I wanted to share with you the best of the best. (Incidentally, I think her daughter is not alone; lots of tween kids ages […]

Do It Yourself Summer Camp Ideas

An at home, do-it-yourself DIY summer camp can be an inexpensive and fun way to help your children grow intellectually, artistically, socially and spiritually over the summer. Think of the goals you have for your children this summer. This summer, I want my children to _________________ . (Fill in the blank.) Would a summer camp […]

2020 Virtual Summer Camps for Kids

We don’t need anything else virtual BUT, the challenge we have this summer is to keep kids learning and not regressing. To that end, I’ve updated my list with the most note worthy virtual summer camps for kids. I hope this will be helpful in preventing the summer slide and also your kids something to […]