Gina L. Grandi

Talking to Your Kids About Hate

posted by Gina

While today brought us a bright, shining, rainbow beacon of hope, we’ve been having a tough go of it. The world is proving a brutal place. How do we talk to our children about hatred? About violence? About racism? How do we answer their questions and how do we raise them to be a part of the solution?

I don’t know the answer. I wonder daily how to talk to my students. I’ve spent some time recently looking for advice and for resources, and thought I’d take this opportunity to share them with you.

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Early Onset Activism

posted by Gina

Let’s make this month a trifecta of book posts, shall we?

We’re approaching May 1st, and I was remembering the day of protests back in 2006, when I was teaching in San Francisco. My high school students, many first generation, took the protests incredibly seriously, and I remember being impressed at how many of them took the day to do thoughtful work, and how few looked upon the boycott as an excuse to just miss school.

I was lucky enough to be at a school that encouraged discussion with and support of our students, so we spent a lot of time talking that week – in advisory, in class, in the hall. We don’t often give our young people enough credit for their thoughts and ideas, particularly as they think upon the state of the world and the way in which they can make their voices heard.

I stumbled across this post recently. You know how I love lists of book recommendations – well, this one seems timely.

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Spring Reading

posted by Gina

As Spring Break approaches, the cry arises: Help! What should I read?

If you’re looking to put together your kiddo’s Spring Reading List (or sneak in a few good reads yourself), I found a fabulous compilation from BookRiot – a new favorite blog.

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Alternative Advent Calendars

posted by Gina

This is a Christmas-centric post. For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, I apologize. A number of these ideas could be repurposed to count down towards other events, or just as a festive anticipatory game.

So I realize this is several days after the first of December, but hey – if you’re like me, you’re just starting to realize you better get in gear for holiday type stuff. I love decorating more than pretty much anyone in the world, and even I can’t get it together for the first of the month.

1969346_10204383538042285_3255368834441714535_n — My sister’s house, the day after Thanksgiving. I can’t live up to this.

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Lobestir Special Guest Edition: Clark B.

posted by Gina

Join me in conversation with Clark B., comic book expert and avid reader.

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Things To Do With A Cardboard Box – Part One

posted by Gina

I am inspired to write about cardboard this week for three reasons. One (1): There is a stack of boxes outside my apartment door, patiently waiting to be recycled, since I have gone a little bonkers decorating for Halloween. (AMAZON HAS EVERYTHING Y’ALL.) Two (2): My cat’s favorite thing to do is to sit in a box. He is doing so as we speak. And Three (3): This fabulous photo from my esteemed colleague Beret:

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Color Explosions

posted by Gina

Welcome back, everyone!

I bring to you one of those experiments that can be a brief moment-of-awesome or a longer predict-and-experiment-and-try-again hootennany. The amazing MILK COLOR EXPLOSION.

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Lobestir’s Gone A-Fishin’

We’re taking a much-needed break until Labor Day.

In the meantime, why not revisit some former fabulousness? Mummify a chicken! Make a cloud at home! Find DNA in a strawberry! Read something fabulous while you wait for Mockingjay to come out!

Please let us know if you could use book or activity advice – we’d love to hear from you, and to meet all your needs come September.

Love, Gina and Beret

Three Car Games for Carsick Kids

posted by Gina

As a kid, my family drove to Tahoe every summer. That’s a long drive from Southern California, and we stopped roughly three times each way for me to throw up. Oh, the magic that is carsickness. Family car trips were rough on me, since everything that might entertain me – books, crayons, notebooks – was out of the question. Especially in the backseat.

My friend Aliza and I just drove from North Carolina to New York, closing out a delightful mountain vacation. The drive is both lovely and long, and since we both have the carsick issue, there was very little reading, facebooking, texting, or any kind of looking anywhere but straight ahead.

So, for those of you with kids that suffer similarly, I present to you: The Car Games Aliza and I Played While Driving to New York That Were Actually Kind of Fun.

Gina and Aliza leave North Carolina, counting cows.

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Soap Clouds

posted by Gina

Were you cloud-inspired by Beret’s DIY Clouds? Have you been wishing there were more sort-of-cloud-related activities to do with your kiddos? Have you ever wondered what happens when you put Ivory Soap in a microwave? I am here to help.

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