Kids love to play. In fact it’s their work. It’s how they are learning about their world. Think how amazing our lives would be if we made the quantum leaps in knowledge that a baby does between 6 months and 3 years.

A few years ago I attended a Playing for Keeps conference in Washington, DC. Schools are cutting back on recess and even young children are over scheduled. I was inspired by that very caring group of professionals to write a story about a little lion Cecilia and all of the ways she loves to play:

1. with her pillow in the morning
2. with socks on her ears
3. with a ball of string
4. with pots and pans to make a band
5. with an umbrella in the rain

We have all seen the toddler playing the with box that the gift came in long after the gift has been forgotten. Constructive play is free and all around us. Encourage your children to spend time using their imagination to play under the table, or make a tent out of a sheet or make little twig and moss houses in the yard. Playing helps develop both gross and fine motor skills, fuels children’s imagination, sparks creativity and makes learning fun. And best of all you can join them.

The Bees Take Off/Las abejas se toman un descanso is one of my favorite stories. Don’t ask me where I got the idea. I do love drawing attention to animals natural characteristics in a humorous way. If you have ever watched bees, and most of us have, they are always busy. I had the great pleasure of spending an afternoon with Dr. Laura Decanini, a bee expert at the Bee Research Laboratory at theUSDA Agricultural facility in Beltsville, MD. (Unfortunately Dr. Decanini is no longer there.) http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12-75-05-00 She smoked some of the hives and showed me the frantic activity of the bees inside the hives. I was amazed to learn that every bee routinely touches the queen to get her scent. That is how they are able to regain access to the hive. Any bee attempting to enter without the scent of the queen is considered an intruder. Bees are getting a lot of press these days because of their dwindling numbers. Take your kids outside today and spend a few minutes looking at some flowers or clover in the yard or at the park and watch these amazing little creatures. A good time to also reinforce the idea of look but don’t touch.

I hate to admit that I was most proficient in Spanish when I was 19 years old (and that was a number of years ago).  One of my parents wonderful gifts to me as a child was to let me travel to learn languages.  I went to Paris with my sister and mother for seven weeks when I was 13.  I spent two summers in Mexico when I was in high school.  My graduation present from high school was to go to the University of Madrid that summer.  I am glad to have a background in French, but it was my exposure to Spanish and Latino culture that has been a life long love affair.  When I decided to create bilingual media for young children, I knew I would work with the best native translators and voice talent to make sure that my products were providing the exposure to authentic accents.  Cecilia Domeyko  of Accent Media was a great asset in the production of  Bees Buzz & Lions Roar/Las abejas zumban y los leones rugen.   http://www.accentmediainc.com/people.htm.  Cecilia is an award winning producer in her own right.  A native of Chile, she has lived all over the world.  Our paths crossed through Women in Film & Video in DC. Thanks, Cecilia for your assistance.

I am currently reviewing a wonderful series of books that will be of interest to parents of young children and animal lovers. My choice of subject matter for our DVD series “A World of Animals Just for You” was of course very deliberate. Reason number one is that all kids love animals. What better way to engage them in learning anything than with a favorite topic. Reason number two is that as parents we have a responsiblity to help our children understand that we are one of many different kinds of creatures living on Earth. Those other creatures are just as deserving as we are of safe homes and good food.

Back to the books I mentioned. The series is Pebble Plus, Under the Sea published by Capstone Press. I have nine titles, which include Rays, Manatees, Walruses, Eels, Sponges, Lobsters, Sea Urchins, Squids and Puffer Fish. You can tell just by the titles how much fun it is to introduce young children to this menagerie of characters. They are hard bound books with very large gorgeous photographs and simple text for very beginning readers. I have read these books to a group of 2+ year olds at Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center here in Lynchburg, VA. They loved them.

Welcome to the new Turtles In Ties blog.  I am very excited about sharing my thoughts with you about young children and educational media, learning English and Spanish, art for kids, book reviews and other topics of interest to those of us who care about young children.

Watch this blog for our new products and special deals when they become available.

I look forward to having you be a part of my blog, please sign up for the RSS feed and book mark this site.  You won’t want to miss out!

Here’s the preview our new DVD, Bees Buzz and Lions Roar/Las abejas zumban y los leones rugen

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