Brown Mommy Diary

Motherhood & Lifestyle

The BEST Children’s Books For Brown Boys

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

When I search for books, I always try to find books that are illustrated with brown boys. I believe I have said this before, and I will continue to say this over and over again. I think it is important that EJ reads books with little boys that look like him.


I wanted to create this list of books for brown boys to make it easier for others. As I find more books, I will continue to add to this list.
Feel free to comment a book that I do not have on this list.

4 Ways To Include Busy Kids When Decorating

This is our first year decorating the house with an almost toddler. Let’s just say there’s been a lot of “hey, don’t touch that. No, no, EJ”. I can’t blame him for being so fascinated being that this time last year he was nowhere near interested in what was going on.


After realizing that it would just be easier to include him, I began to count and identify colors as I was unpacking the decorations. Here are 4 ways that you can include your little one as you are decorating the house this holiday season.

Count


As you’re unpacking your decor, either have your little one count or count to them. When I was unpacking the ornaments, I just counted each ornament as I placed them on the floor.

“EJ, let’s count the ornaments. 1,2,3….”

Identify Colors


Simply ask your little one the color of a decor item or tell them the color.
“EJ, this ornament is silver”.

Match

Have your little one place alike objects in one pile. I guided EJ to place alike objects in a pile as I was unpacking decorations.
“Hey EJ, here are two angels. Let’s place them together.”

Identify Shapes/Objects


When it comes to Christmas decorations, there are so many unique shapes and objects. You can either ask your little one to identify the shape/object or tell your little one the shape/object.
“Look EJ! It’s a snowflake”

Including your little one serves as fun, interactive learning opportunity all while decorating the house. Happy decorating!

The Most EPIC Halloween Costume Prop: DIY Space Shuttle

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Let me start off by saying that building a space shuttle with cardboard is not easy! Some days I felt like this space shuttle was not going to happen, but I got so motivated once I started seeing the space shuttle take shape as I continued to work on it.

I’m not into scary costumes, so I chose something that has meaning behind it. My husband is from Huntsville and we met there while attending college. Since the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is located in Huntsville, I chose to do family costumes that made the connection’.

This was definitely a team effort. My co-worker allowed us to borrow their red wagon, my husband built the wooden frame for the wagon, and the exterior (cardboard placement, painting, design) was completed by me.

I love that the space shuttle doesn’t have to just be used for Halloween. It can be used for a parade, talent show, birthday, which is why I wanted to share with you how we built this space shuttle. Here are the items that you will need.

  1. 2 Seater Radio Flyer Deluxe Wagon
  2. Wood
  3. Screws
  4. Electric Drill
  5. Wood Glue
  6. Wood Saw
  7. Cardboard (various sizes)
  8. White Spray Paint (gloss)
  9. Black Duct Tape
  10. Self-Adhesive Sticker Letters
  11. Red, Yellow, and Orange Tissue Paper
  12. Small and Large Black Planters
  13. Hot Glue Gun
  14. Scissors
  15. Ruler
  16. Staple Gun
  17. Astronaut Suit*

*We found EJ’s astronaut suit on Amazon. We purchased the toddler size, which was too long, but we just rolled the pants legs to make it work.


We used this Pinterest Pin as a reference for the frame and exterior, but our shuttle differed slightly because the back of the wagon was made differently. Overall, it was built exactly like this reference. I jazzed up our space shuttle by adding the tissue paper flames in the back, which made it look even more cool. Again, always use Pinterest as a reference and then you can do other things to make it your own–just like we added Massey (our last name) to the left side of the wing.

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