Read It and Eat is our monthly Monday night book club for 'tweens. Read more about Read It and Eat here!
What We Read: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
What We Did:
While the kids ate, we discussed the book. Then we created our own "magic water." I brought in small plastic bottles with caps (about the size of a hotel shampoo bottle; you can buy these at drugstores or order them from American Science and Surplus) and food coloring, as well as blank address labels and pens.
Kids filled their magic water bottles with water, and they added any combination of food coloring. They wrote notes on the address labels; some of them said things like "Do Not Drink! You'll Be Sorry!" or "Drink for Everlasting Life... But Think Twice!" They stuck the address labels to the bottles and went on their merry ways. As families intercepted their children, I made sure to tell them not to drink the water in the bottles (not because I didn't want them to live forever, but because I hadn't washed the bottles ahead of time and I'd rather not accidentally poison anyone).
Highlights:
The kids loved writing labels for their magic water, and it was really fun to see what they came up with.
During the project, I overheard one book club member commenting to another about how Mae's prison escape in Tuck Everlasting is a lot like Andy's escape in The Shawshank Redemption. So true! Rainy night... tricky prisoner putting tools to good use... stumped prison guards...
Not So Hot:
If I would have been really smart, I would have just bought small bottles of water from the grocery store. That way, we could have skipped the step of filling the bottles with water (though that was a thrill for the participants), and they could have drunk the magic water... if they dared.
Sanity Savers:
This program lasts an hour, which includes eating dinner, discussing the book, and doing an activity or two. It can be really tough to know how long an activity is going to take, and I was surprised that making magic water filled the time. I had a second activity lined up (making advertisements for magic water), but since I hadn't sunk a lot of time into prepping for the back-up activity, I didn't mind at all that we didn't get to it.
What We Read: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
What We Did:
While the kids ate, we discussed the book. Then we created our own "magic water." I brought in small plastic bottles with caps (about the size of a hotel shampoo bottle; you can buy these at drugstores or order them from American Science and Surplus) and food coloring, as well as blank address labels and pens.
Kids filled their magic water bottles with water, and they added any combination of food coloring. They wrote notes on the address labels; some of them said things like "Do Not Drink! You'll Be Sorry!" or "Drink for Everlasting Life... But Think Twice!" They stuck the address labels to the bottles and went on their merry ways. As families intercepted their children, I made sure to tell them not to drink the water in the bottles (not because I didn't want them to live forever, but because I hadn't washed the bottles ahead of time and I'd rather not accidentally poison anyone).
Highlights:
The kids loved writing labels for their magic water, and it was really fun to see what they came up with.
During the project, I overheard one book club member commenting to another about how Mae's prison escape in Tuck Everlasting is a lot like Andy's escape in The Shawshank Redemption. So true! Rainy night... tricky prisoner putting tools to good use... stumped prison guards...
Not So Hot:
If I would have been really smart, I would have just bought small bottles of water from the grocery store. That way, we could have skipped the step of filling the bottles with water (though that was a thrill for the participants), and they could have drunk the magic water... if they dared.
Sanity Savers:
This program lasts an hour, which includes eating dinner, discussing the book, and doing an activity or two. It can be really tough to know how long an activity is going to take, and I was surprised that making magic water filled the time. I had a second activity lined up (making advertisements for magic water), but since I hadn't sunk a lot of time into prepping for the back-up activity, I didn't mind at all that we didn't get to it.
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