Tear-Away Placemats for Kids from Blue Apple Books

Getting my kids to sit at the table quietly and calmly is a challenge I face at many mealtimes in our house. Part of it is transitioning from being active to sitting quietly and the other part is probably just hyper hunger energy.

Crystal at Raincoast Books sent me a few books to review for my Write A Review Wednesday post on my personal blog but two placemat style books included in my shipment caught my attention.

Chicken Doodle Soup: 36 Tear-Off Placemats (Blue Apple Books, age 6+)

This book, or rather tear-away pad, consists of 36 rectangle placemats made with heavy paper. What makes these placemats so cool is that they teach kids how to draw animals in a few simple doodles. And in this case the doodles are made with noodles, as in noodles from chicken noodle soup. Each stroke is broken down into easy to follow steps. The animal sketches are based on real animals but with a food twist: giant panadacakes, koala slaw, peanut butterfly. The placemats have a big empty area for the kids to make their drawing. Kids will also enjoy reading the small paragraph on the animal they are drawing too. Also in the doodle placemat series is Doodles at Dinner and Doodles at Lunch.

My seven-year-old loved these, to the point that she would work on 2 or 3 in a sitting. She still uses her original placemat and is very careful not to make it messy. At first I thought the doodles would be difficult based on looking at the final image, but the steps made it easy for her to duplicate. Her drawings in the end were fabulous and she would colour them too.

Are You Eating Something Green: 36 Color-and-Learn Placemats (Blue Apple Books, 0-3)

These placemats are ideal for the younger set. Each placemat is double-sided. The front consists of a little green apple-like creature pointing out a large drawing of a piece of fruit or vegetable surrounded by other similar colored items: I am green, cantaloupe is orange. Are you eating something orange? The back side of the placemat includes a black-and-white drawing of the fruit or vegetable referenced on the front, like purple berries or orange yams.

My three-year-old loved discovering various foods in specific colours and than coloring the image in the back. It offered a great activity before eating but also reinforced her colour recognition as well as vocabulary. It made for interesting lunch conversations about what we were eating (or not) base on the colour on her placemat. My daughter proudly uses her placemats when eating.

* Product was provided for the purpose of this review

GIVEAWAY!

The folks at Raincoast Books want to entertain your kids and keep things calm at mealtime. They are offering one (1) EverythingMom member a copy of both Chicken Doodle Soup and Are You Eating Something Green. To enter tell us if anyone is your family is a doodler.

This contest is only open to EverythingMom members. Not a member? It’s quick and easy to join. Contest is only open to Canadian residents and ends April 19, 2010. One (1) EverythingMom member will be randomly chosen after that.

Tags:

About the Author

Managing Partner and Editor-in-Chief at one of the best social networking and lifestyle sites for moms, EverythingMom.com. Trying to balance life at home with my 3 kids (all under 8), while building my business, working at EverythingMom.com and developing my writing. Oh and throw a load of laundry in and a dinner that isn't burnt. Wasn't working from home suppose to be easier?

Posted by Carrie Anne in craft reviews on April 04, 2010

More posts by this author

See all posts

More Great Reads...
Kids Painting Crafts from Janlynn	Memory Mixer: Digital Scrapbook Software Review

Comments

0 # Mom of 4 2010-04-04 21:58

What a great idea! I would love to try these with my four children (ages 4 and 3 year old triplets). All four love to draw/doodle; however, lately the girls are very into drawing whole stories and telling me all about them.

Tear-Away Placemats for Kids from Blue Apple Books