Eric VanRaepenbusch's Blog, page 6

Earth Fare Community Block Party - My First Author Event

The Earth Fare Community Block Party was a blast. The weather was perfect! I got to talk to so many cool kids and families.  We read my books, played games, and colored Three Ghost Friends activity sheets.  I was so appreciative of the Earth Fare staff and the Solon community for welcoming me.  I could not have asked for a better experience for my first author event.

I owe a big "THANK YOU" to my dad for helping me get everything ready. My books were only $5 each!
(Just like on Amazon! Did you get your copies yet?) My favorite part of the day was sitting down with the kids!
There is nothing more cool than reading a book to a child and it makes them smile! Boo!  My youngest daughter is one of my biggest fans.  She makes me so happy when she brings me one of my books to read to her. After I read to her, she asked Grandpa to read to her too.  I had just read Three Ghost Friends: Learn About the ABCs  with these two girls.  Then, they each got to pick out a Three Ghost Friends trading card. Thank you to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for bringing my niece to the event (and for taking these great photos!).  My niece brought her books for me to sign! How cool!More thank yous --- I need to thank my wife, Lisa, for supporting me, my kids for behaving so well at the event, to Earth Fare for having the bouncy house (which helped them behave so well), and to my Mom and Dad for helping all day! It was a very memorable day!

Monster Spray

Monster Spray -- It really works for our family!
Yesterday, after weeks of begging from the kids, I pulled out all the Halloween decorations and books. (I can't believe we have two huge crates full of stuff!) In the weeks leading up to Halloween, we will be talking about vampires, monsters, zombies, and of course GHOSTS. It is only a matter of time until my boys say they are scared of monsters in their room.

Ever since, my six-year-old son was in a big-boy-bed we have kept a bottle of air freshener in his room for times when he was scared that their may be monsters.  When we started using the MONSTER SPRAY, my wife or I would simply say, "Oh, let me spray the MONSTER SPRAY under your bed to keep the monsters from coming into your room."  Magically it worked! It was all he needed.

Along came his little brother and he had the same fears.  This time we didn't have to explain the power of the MONSTER SPRAY.  His big brother told him how it worked, "Mom and Dad will spray under the bed and everything will be okay." I was a little more creative this time around and created a hand-drawn label for the bottle of air freshener.  I even drew a silly monster and added a few advertising slogans.

Last night, I had a few spare moments so I designed a printable MONSTER SPRAY label. I hope this keeps all those creepy creatures from bothering your little ones this Halloween.  Just download, print, cut to the size of your air freshener bottle, and tape it on.

Wishing your family only SMILES this Halloween!

Click here to download and print!

New FREE Halloween Activity Sheets and Coloring Pages - NOW AVAILABLE!

Download and Print the FREE Halloween Activity Sheets and Coloring Pages below:

Click here to download! Click here to download! Click here to download! Click here to download!
Still great prices on paperback Three Ghost Friends books at Amazon.com!

Oreo Ghost Pops

I'll never claim to be a baker or a confectioner, but in the kitchen I like to give things a try.

I must say this up front...There are no hard feelings if you think my Oreo Ghost Pops don't really look like ghosts.  I say this because I had an image in my mind that these Oreo Ghost Pops were going to look fabulous, but I was left thinking that they looked just okay -- tasted great, but looked okay.

I hope by posting this and pinning it to Pinterest that someone with more experience working with chocolate will be inspired to make Oreo ghost pops. Because one thing is for sure, chocolate covered Oreos taste awesome, and having an Oreo pop that really looks like a ghost would be doubly-awesome!

First, I twisted apart all my Oreos. As you can see, I broke one and I had to eat it. I melted the white chocolate wafers in a double-boiler on the stove. Then, I used a spoon to place a glob of chocolate on the oreo.  I placed the pop stick in the chocolate then placed the other part of the Oreo on top. I let the chocolate set.  You could read all of my Three Ghost Friends books while you wait, or you could go pick up your preschooler from school like I did. As soon as he got home he wanted to help. I dipped the Oreo pops in the melted chocolate and placed them on an empty cereal bag.  He added mini-chocolate chips for eyes. Some even got mouths! Then, I drizzled chocolate on the bottom to make the Oreo have more of a ghost shape. (Not bad, but not fabulous either.) This was my attempt at a really awesome photo for Pinterest. (Kinda just okay too.) I think she is thinking, "Wow, Dad gave me something really yummy.  Usually it is just healthy stuff." I think she liked it. He did too. Thanks for your help, little guy!Ha! I have been redeemed! After writing this blog, my oldest son came home from school and said, "All the kids at school wanted one of those oreo ghost pops.  One kid asked if you were a baker!"

OH MY! Amazon dropped the prices again on two of my books.  Opposites and Colors are both under $5! (as of September 19, 2013)

Pick up your copy today:

Come See Me at Earth Fare Solon - September 28, 12-4pm

The THREE GHOST FRIENDS and I will be at Earth Fare Solon on September 28 from 12-4pm for their Community Block Party.

Location:
Earth Fare Solon
33321 Aurora Rd.
Solon, Ohio 44139

I will have lots of activities for the kids! Bring your camera or phone to take a picture with the THREE GHOST FRIENDS. Plus, Earth Fare is having a bouncy house!

I will be signing books too! They will be available for purchase or you can bring the copies you already have!

Hope to see you there!

Guarantee that you get your books signed for your children. Buy them today and bring them the day of the party. I will only have a limited number available for purchase:

Fresh Paint Job for our Three Ghost Friends Lawn Ornaments

We put a fresh coat of paint on our Three Ghost Friends lawn ornaments. I can't wait to put them out in the front yard.

We also added ghost faces to the other side! Now we have white ghosts on one side and colored ghosts on the other side! I can't believe I didn't think of this last year! Now we will be able to act out parts of Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Colors ! (But, I still need to get blue spray paint!)

Halloween Ice Cream Ghosts

Have you ever served ice cream at a party by opening the carton completely and slicing pieces for all your guests?  It is genius and so much easier than scooping!  This ice cream ghost is a great idea for dessert with your family, or as a treat at a Halloween party!
Recently, when serving ice cream, I grabbed the knife and rounded the top of the rectangle, cut a few triangles out of the bottom to make a ghost!  Then, I quickly got a few chocolate chips out of the cupboard to make eyes before the ice cream started to melt.
Open and slice!  Create!  Would you like your ice cream ghost with just eyes? Or with a mouth too?Here are a few additional ideas: 

1. Create the ice cream ghosts, place them on a cookie sheet, and put them back in the freezer until the party! 
2. If serving the ice cream ghosts immediately to many guests, try creating your ghosts on a chilled cookie sheet to keep your ghosts from melting.

Ice cream served with books? Sounds good to me!:

Three Ghost Friends Paper Doll Chain: A Simple Halloween Ghost Craft and Activity

Today my son and I were coloring, cutting, and creating cards for Mom.  In the middle of the madness of spilling crayons and flying paper scraps, I had the idea to make a paper doll chain of ghosts.

How to make two chains of three ghosts from a half of sheet of paper:

Start with a half sheet of paper (5.5" x 8.5"). Fold in thirds. Trim off the top of the rectangle to make the top of your ghosts. Rotate the paper and do the same to the bottom. Cut the oval shape in half. Trim the bottom of the ghost shape to make the bottom of your ghosts.  Draw ghost faces. My son said, "I really like this activity!" He sure did! The ghost on the right with the purple hair he called the "grandma ghost." I wish my orange marker worked better. This was an attempt to show coloring mixing (red + yellow = orange) like in Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Colors . 

Toddler Busy Bag - "Lift and Find" Shapes and Colors from Baby Wipes Package Lids

I have saved the hinged-lids from baby wipe packaging for quite some time now. I hoped that someday I could use them to create a toddler busy bag activity. This week, I made a "Lift and Find" matching game for young children to learn their colors and shapes. I am offering the activity sheets for free at the bottom of this page. All you need to do is save your lids!
Honestly, I thought this activity was going to be only for my youngest daughter, but my three-year-old son liked it too! Many different brands of toddler and baby wipe packaging have a hinged plastic lid attached to a ring. The lid and ring is attached with a sticky goo, but pull hard and the lid and ring will come right off! I stuck the lids onto a piece of thick clear laminate that I ran through a lamination machine.  This was the easiest way for me to get the sturdy piece of clear plastic that I needed.  (Can you think of another paper-sized clear plastic option?) 

Many of the rings attached to the hinged-lids still had the sticky goo from the packaging while others needed a little glue. I just used Elmer's white glue. Then, I let the glue dry overnight to make sure they were secure. In the morning, I taped a clear sheet protector to the back of the clear plastic. The clear sheet protector will hold the FREE interchangeable-printable sheets available below.  Eight lids fit perfectly!   Initially, I slipped in a sheet of colored ghosts and just let my daughter explore.  She got as excited as she does for lift-the-flap board books. 

In the FREE printables below is an activity sheet that has ghosts in many colors.  This sheet is not a matching activity.  This sheet can be used to create dialog with your child.  "What color do you see?" or "Find green." or "Where is orange?" There is a sheet like this for shapes too. My three-year-old son wanted to try the activity too. I slipped in an activity sheet that allowed him to find ghosts of matching colors. A match! Two white ghosts! This toddler busy bag activity can be used anywhere -- on a lap, in a car, at the doctor's office, in the high chair before lunch!  Once you are finished with the activity, store all the activity sheets in the sheet protector!

FREE PRINTABLES ALERT!!! Color Ghosts - 8 different colors
Color Ghosts - Matching Sheet 1
Color Ghosts - Matching Sheet 2
Color Ghosts - Matching Sheet 3
Color Ghosts - Matching Sheet 4 Shape Ghosts - 8 Different shapes
Shape Ghosts - Matching Sheet 1
Shape Ghosts - Matching Sheet 2Check out more Three Ghost Friends Toddler Busy Bag Ideas - Click Here!
This activity can be used with two of my books available at Amazon and the iBookstore:

Ghost Full of Shapes: A Glue and Stick Halloween Activity for Young Children

My book Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Shapes provides an opportunity for young children to explore shapes. In this book, the Three Ghost Friends play hide-and-go-seek at a campground. Each time the ghosts hide they make their body into a shape -- circles, squares, triangles, ovals (ellipses), trapezoids, and rectangles. The ghost shapes are quiet and still. Will you be able to find them?  If you do make sure you shout, "BOO! I found you!"

The book features repeated text which makes it fun to read aloud and also predictable for young children to anticipate the words. Multi-page view of the Three Ghost Friends: Learn About ShapesI have four children.  My youngest are 18 months and 3 years old and they love to use glue sticks.  My oldest daughter helped me prepare an activity for the little ones by cutting all the shapes featured in the book with a Cricket machine.  (If you don't have a machine you could always cut your own shapes.)

She cut squares, circles, triangles, ovals (ellipses), trapezoids, and rectangles.  Some shapes were as small as 1 inch and others were as big as 3 inches.  Then, we read Three Ghost Friends: Learn About Shapes .  This was the first time that my daughter heard the book. My son hasn't heard my story since last Halloween. I was happy to see how excited he was to have me read it to him again. It was like he was hearing it for the first time!  He looked for the ghost circles. "Boo! I found you!" My youngest daughter wanted to have a closer look after we finished reading. She loved pointing out the ghosts.  I drew a ghost shape on a black piece of construction paper to give an area for her to glue the shapes. I reminded her how to use the glue stick.   Then, she was gluing on her own.  She filled a ghost with rectangles, circles, squares, and ovals. I did one too! My 3 year old was really into this project. He loves open ended projects like this where he can be creative.  He drew his own ghost shape, filled the ghost with shapes and coloring. Then, he trimmed it to the size he wanted. He was very proud of his ghost! I left the shapes out with black markers and later he made a shape family!  My oldest daughter made her own ghost shapes too!Check out all the Three Ghost Friends books in paperback!  Also available as eBooks for iPad and iPhone (Click here).