High Maintenance Mom

I'm in Hawaii for work and sitting in the observation tower looking over Kilauea. It's a beautiful sight. I don't have an internet connection in the park housing where I am staying so I'm not able to write as much as I would like. I will be posting the winners from the past giveaway and announcing our next giveaway with TOTE-a-TOT soon. Before I run to dinner, I wanted to show off my beautiful Flat Stanley. I heard about Flat Stanley on a flight in February when I helped take a picture for the niece of a flight attendant (the flight attendant was also quite good at Suduko)...

A few weeks ago I found the first Flat Stanley book at our library and brought it home for the kids. Now both kids have a Flat Stanley. N's is here with me in Hawaii and B's is in Alaska with a friend hoping to visit Augustine. I've wanted something fun to travel with that I could take pictures of for my kids and Flat Stanley is perfect because my kids helped make him, he's small, he's light, and he's laminated. He also likes to travel through the mail so we could send him to the grandparents and friends for visits (see below).

I drew Flat Stanley on white paper and had the kids color him in. Then I cut him out and took him to Kinkos where he was laminated. I then cut out the Flat Stanley, so he's a little smaller, and I take pictures of him when I travel. It's fun to send pictures home to the kids about Flat Stanley's adventures. And two weeks ago, B took his Flat Stanley up to Canada.

Here's more information about Flat Stanley from The Flat Stanley Project. Maybe we'll start our own journal that the kids can add to when they're older.

In the book, Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown, Stanley is squashed flat by a falling bulletin board. One of the many advantages is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by travelling in an envelope. This premise provides a reason for us to keep in touch with each other. The Flat Stanley Project is a group of teachers who want to provide students with another reason to write. Students' written work goes to other places by conventional mail and e-mail. Check out the Flat Stanley List of Participants to see where you can send a Flat Stanley or who might be sending a Flat Stanley to you.

Students make paper Flat Stanleys and begin a journal with him for a few days. Then Flat Stanley and the journal are sent to another school where students there treat Flat Stanley as a guest and complete the journal. Flat Stanley and the journal are then returned to the original sender. Students can plot his travels on maps and share the contents of the journal. Often, a Flat Stanley returns with a pin or postcard from his visit. Some teachers prefer to use e-mail only, and this is noted in the List of Participants.