By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 18, 2009
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 20 pages
Publisher: Chicken Socks; Pap/Toy edition (August 19, 2009)
Source: Publisher
I love activity books for many reasons. They often keep children busy, inspire creativity, refine different motor and cognitive skills, but the most clever of all is that they are the best form of reading trickery. In other words, kids who prefer to be busy with their hands will not even realize they are reading — provided the activity is one that they enjoy and that the instructions are not too difficult. This is where Chicken Socks, a collection of younger books by the Klutz team, comes in handy. The activities in the Chicken Socks collection are usually designed for 4 & up, and are well suited to less refined motor-skills and reading levels. Often with a little parental help, a 3-year-old will also have a lot of fun with these projects — I know from experience.
“Ready, Set, Sew!
…Soon you’ll be able to sew like a pro!”
Super Simple Sewing is a neat little set of 4 sewing activities: purse, bracelet, bird, and a door tag. Each project comes with precut fabrics that have nicely sized perforations that are well spaced. The needle is large, plastic, and not sharp — perfect for small hands. The string is a good weight and thickness for beginning sewers, it threads easily and comes with snap together cord-catchers that cinch the string together, eliminating the need for any knot tieing. The instructions were brief and well illustrated. My daughter and I had a lot of fun working together, and the neat part was that everything we made (minus the door tag) fit right inside the little purse. Great for hand and eye co-ordination, plus lots of fun! Also works as a good travel activity.