Today it was the garage. Our garage, like most, lacks air conditioning. When the sun is out and it’s 90o, the mood is not likely to strike to go clean it. Today, however, it rained most of the day - thereby keeping out the mosquitoes and lowering the heat (the humidity, however, is another issue).
Working through some of the kids stuff, I found myself sorting the Play-Doh (tossing the old stuff while they weren’t looking), putting the right color Play-Doh back in the “can” with the coordinating lid - thanks to my OCD. I gathered all the cap gun stuff back in it’s box, put all the propellers back with their respective shooters, and put all the paint supplies back in the paint drawer. It’s a very cleansing feeling - getting everything sorted and back in it’s proper place . . . of course it’ll all be undone by this time tomorrow.
See, when things are cleaned and in their proper places, the kids can find them - it’s like having Christmas all over again! Including the fallout afterwards. Now, I do have my kids clean up after themselves like any self-respecting parent would, but they aren’t as good at putting everything in it’s proper place - their method is more a cram it somewhere and run off to get something else out.
I’m hoping Packy the pack rat can help us a bit with our sorting. Sort it Out! is a wonderful tale about a pack rat who collects things. When his mother has enough and instructs him to sort it out and put it all away, that’s just what he does. This rhyming story by Sylvan Dell Publishing is such a fun read, but I think I love the pictures by Sherry Rogers the most. The fun, bright animations remind me of “I Spy” books - there are so many fun things to find on each and every page. On the first page, for example, the fence is made of paper clips; the wagon wheels are tinker toys; the doormat is made of dominoes - LOTS of fun things to find.
As the pages go by, Packy, discovers lots of different ways to sort out his treasures. I love the way the sorted items are put into one succinct rhyming word that is to be found on the adjoining page . . .
“The turtle, the clover, the skinny string bean,
he placed in a pile made of things that are . . . green.”
This has been great for my almost five-year-old who is learning to read. She has just enough clues to find the word on the adjoining page and shout out, “Green!” Now, if I could just get her to carry that enthusiasm over into sorting out her stuffed animals into a pile that we could find a new home for, I’d be excited too!
As with all the Sylvan Dell Publishing books, there are activities at the end of the book to keep you talking with your kids about the story. There are hidden picture challenges
, a scientist’s sorting chart, Packy’s sorting cards (which we’ll copy and cut out to “practice” our sorting), and a writing project to stimulate kids’ creativity.
I think I’m gonna head over to their store and buy me a cuddly packrat . . . just to remind me to sort out my own stuff and keep it in it’s place (and toss anything that doesn’t have a place as I’m sure Packy’s mom will do when he’s not looking :-) ).
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