Barnyard Book Club Review and Giveaway

I know my kids love to do crafts, but not being a very creative person, I have a hard time coming up with ideas so that is where Pinterest comes in. I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I find amazing craft ideas to do with the kids, but either they turn out totally horrific, are a lot harder than they look, or I don't have all the supplies I need. Mommy fail!

My kids also love books. Now books I can handle and we have tons to choose from. B is really in to reading on his own these days and I love to hear him read to us. It makes him seem so big but I sure am proud of him.

Combining books and crafts seems like a great idea and that is where this amazing company comes in to play. Barnyard Book Club contacted MBP and felt we were a great match for them to show off their products and let us try them out. I am so pleased with what they offer!

Barnyard Book Club was created by a busy lady named Lauren. Lauren is a mom (to an adventurous 1.5 year old) and an elementary school teacher (currently in her ninth year) with a passion for reading. She knew how busy life was and wanted to create something for other busy moms to help promote reading and making connections to the stories they are reading to their families. What started out as a small home book club idea turned into Barnyard Book Club launched in June and has attracted moms of all kinds all over the US.

Barnyard Book Club is a book club geared for moms and children ages 3-7 (but works for any age too). Barnyard Book Club will send you a "Barnyard Bundle" which includes an age appropriate book along with guided questions (aligned with Common Core Standards) and a craft related to the story (including all directions and all the needed supplies) for just $20 shipped. It is designed to promote early literacy, develop fine motor skills, and nurture creative thinking. This takes all the hassle out of book shopping and finding your own craft ideas and supplies, how amazing is that!?!

I couldn't wait to check them out and see what fun I could find. Barnyard Book Club can be found on their online shop- www.facebook.com/barnyardbook. Lauren asked me to look through the albums and choose a book that I would like to receive. I let B pick what he wanted to read to us and sure enough he found something right away that caught his eye. I love how Barnyard Book Club posts information about each book in the album, giving us a snippet of what the book is about and also the independent reading level, this is very helpful to parents (being a former teacher and mom myself). Here is the information about the book we chose: "Beep, Beep, Beep! Learn the importance of being nice to others with the adventures of Blue and his farm friends! Have fun creating a truck to carry your new farm friends after reading. Independent reading level: end of grade 1". After letting Lauren know what we chose, she shipped it off to us and we couldn't wait!

Our Barnyard Book Club package is here!

B loves getting packages in the mail and asked to open this one. I actually had to let both of them get in on it to be fair, so B got the start.

Inside he found a wrapped package and some crafting supplies

"What are we doing with glue, crayons, and brown paint?"

Now S gets her turn to open something too.

The package was nicely wrapped with tissue paper and raffia, it looked very pretty and professional.

Inside we found even more fun and a clue to what the crayons, glue, and paint would be for. A typed letter explaining the background to Barnyard Book Club, a book and guided questions, crafting supplies and craft instructions. What a great "Barnyard Bundle"!

Our book choice was "Little Blue Truck". B picked this because we have another book about Little Blue called "Little Blue Truck Leads the Way" which we love. He knew this would be a book he could read aloud to all of us and we all enjoy Little Blue.

A few days later, Daddy was out of town so we needed something more to keep us occupied as the day went on. What a perfect time to take out this great activity that we had been looking forward to doing. B got the book and read aloud to us, as a first grader he easily read most of the story and only needed help with a few of the words. He was so happy with himself too!

As we were reading the book, I would stop and ask them questions. These questions were all prepared by Barnyard Book Club in a PowerPoint print off. Each page of the story corresponded with a set of questions to encourage the kids to think more about the story. They really understood what I was asking them and even looked more into the story to find the answers. This was a great critical thinking/comprehension activity for them.

After we were done reading, it was craft time! S had been patiently waiting to get crafting and could hardly stand the brand new crayon box just waiting to be opened (who could blame her though, I love a new box of crayons too).

Barnyard Book Club provides all the instructions and materials needed for a craft specific to the book. Our craft looked cute and was perfect for the kids to do together. The instructions were very specific and easy to follow and all of the supplies were included (except scissors).

S getting all the crayons out.

B worked on cutting out some characters.

B drawing a farm scene.

S getting ready to finger paint some mud.

Tada! The finished project!

The kids had a great time working together and creating this lovely picture of Little Blue.

My kids and I loved our Barnyard Bundle. It was perfect for us to use on a day when they needed some good distraction for Daddy being gone and made them think and create something adorable. They had a great time working together and were so proud of themselves. Barnyard Book Club does an amazing job choosing great book titles, providing informative and thought provoking follow up questions, and creating a cute craft that is easy to follow and turns out like it should!

Want It? Buy It!

Think Barnyard Book Club would make a great gift for someone you know? I think it would! Head over the and find Barnyard Book Club on Facebook to shop. The holidays are coming up quickly and a Barnyard Bundle would make a great gift for the readers in your family.

Want It? Win It!

One MBP reader will win a Barnyard Bundle-choice of a new children's book along with guided reading questions and a craft related to the story. Just use the Rafflecopter entry form below to enter to win. Remember- if the entry field appears in BOLD, it's mandatory.

Thank you to Lauren and Barnyard Book Club!