Rachelle Doorley

Amazing stuff to do and not just for "little" inventors. Did you know you can dissolve sharpie ink with alcohol and make T-shirt art? Or use antacid tablets to make a little lava lamp? Neither did I, but now we do, and with this book, now we can!

The book has a lot of contributors speaking from their respective areas of expertise, which gives it unusual breadth and depth for a collection of family (or classroom) activities. What it unfortunately does NOT have is an index, so if you're eager to make the aforementioned sharpie T-shirt, you have to search line by line through the table of contents and figure out that the title of the project is Marker Explosion. And that it's in the section named Concoct, along with the ice cream and yeast activities, not in the section named Design, along with watercolour and paint activities. I dithered about how many stars to deduct for this egregious omission. I settled on one star off, but it might not be enough to offset the frustration.

So let's say two stars down? But it absolutely gains one star back for its thoughtful approach to decluttering your child's life and space to make room for a studio-cum-laboratory to engage in the activities in this book. I don't think I've ever seen a children's activities/creation/experiment book that dealt with all the stuff that needs to happen before the fun stuff happens. Four stars it is, then!… (mer)

You’ve probably seen the pictures on Pinterest and maybe other social media, but perhaps didn’t realize the activities were Tinkerlab. What is Tinkerlab? Maybe you have heard about Tinkerlab classes or activity events in your area. What is the difference between Tinkerlab and loose parts? Minnesota even has Teen Tinker Lab events, and I’m sure events and classes are available in many states. If you want to know more, this book will make it easy to set up this kind of learning in your own home or classroom as a special event for for indoor recess. The book has 55 activities for children to explore their world with creative experiments with easy to find materials.… (mer)

Creative Adventures in Cursive gives kids ideas for practicing writing skills, then guides them into cursive creativity. This book was not what I expected, but that is not a bad thing. As many educators lament the decline of skills in cursive writing, there are so many benefits of learning, practicing and using it. Using cursive provides cognitive benefits in memory, reading comprehension, language skills, and overall academic confidence. It improves fine motor, and can lead to many hours of creativity and some wonderful gifts made from the heart.

Author, Rachelle Doorley, shows twenty fun and colorful ways to use script to make posters, present school projects, design monograms, create greeting cards, and decorate many items such as book bags and t-shirts, cookies and cakes. Although this is a described as a children's books, many of the projects could become family activities and some would require adult or older person support. This is an amazing book for a crafter or for children who love to use their hands and make things. So many ideas and not all of them are expensive, in fact some quite cheap. Pick this book up for those crafty people you know or for someone who likes to explore new hobbies. I am going to get one to use with my grandchildren as they get older, to spend productive time together with me as well as their parents. The publisher, Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions are my own.… (mer)

I received an advance copy of the ebook Tinkerlab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors by Rachelle Doorley from NetGalley for review. I loved this book! As a parent, scout leader, and librarian, I will use many of the craft and experiment ideas in this book. The book is laid out VERY well, with instructions on how to use the book, ideas for creating your own tinkerlab and how to stock it. It also lists great ideas with nature, food, and recycled objects, showing photos each step of the way through the project. Beautiful photos! I would recommend this to crafty moms who are looking for something new to do with their kids, non-crafty moms as inspiration, art teachers, preschools, etc. Well done!… (mer)