DIY Toys, Birthday, Resources, & Giveaways for 4 people! 🎉
June wrap-up with books, cake, merengue, and also resources for the community
Hi Friend,
Happy June! The world is still on fire but I’m trying to live each day with meaning. Having a child definitely forces you to slow down and enjoy the present. This month we’ve picked about 8-9 passion fruits from a parcha vine attached to our tree. I ordered homemade Mexican food from a Mexican friend also living in Puerto Rico. I also attended a fun storytime where the library brought musicians to play alongside my board book ¡123 Merengue! Lastly I am celebrating my birthday today (June 30). Anyways, let’s dive in with my collection of DIY kid’s toys, writer tips when revising, resources for the immigrant community, two amazing giveaways, & more!
DIY Toys for Kids
After moving around so much, I’ve been trying to live more minimal and only purchase things I know I need or that I can see my child will use plenty of times. I’m also in teacher brain mode thinking What skills can my child learn with this toy? Here are a few ideas you can make with items at home. Also these are simple ideas (no pipe-cleaners, glue, food coloring, cutesy ideas…because who has the time?)
Gallon water + Q-tips: Cut a slit at the top of the gallon cap and have your child slide the Q-tips through (works on on their fine motor skills)
Water bottle + dry pasta: Another way to practice fine motor skills with fun pasta shapes and on the go with a smaller bottle
Cardboard box: Make two holes to practice making choices. You can draw options above the holes or place items above the holes and have them put a token/ball/etc through the hole for their choice. We used this to practice the word VOTE
Save the toilet paper rolls: Have them paper clip or tape them together to roll or send their figurines through. They can create their own routes.
Paper roll bowling: Use the carton from the napkin roll to set them up as pins for kids to roll a ball onto
Oatmeal container or any container with a plastic lid: Make a line slit and draw on some eyes. Kids can feed their animal/monster etc by sliding things through the slit or make the slit really big so they can use kitchen tongs to feed items into the container.
These are a few that have kept my child engaged during independent play.
AVENTURAS EN ESL is a reader-supported publication for all. If you’d like to support me, please forward it to a friend, buy me a coffee, or shop my book lists below. Your support is so greatly appreciated!
Father’s Day + Book Recs (for all year)
This year we celebrated Father’s Day with a homemade card with my son’s hand print and a family visit. I’m so grateful my husband is such a great role model, expresses his emotions, does the housework, and shows our son lots of love. I’m so glad it didn’t work out with my past exes, they could never match up (lol). Anyways, here are some book recs celebrating Latino dads. To the dad with big dreams, the dad who's a single parent, the dad who shares his talents, and many more stories featuring Latino fathers for all year! Request these from your local library so others can have access (it’s free to request). Click this post to view them all:
Writer Tips: Revision
I love the drafting stage of novels but drag my feet to revise. I do the opposite with picture books, I tend to have the ideas ready to go and love working on revisions like a puzzle. Here are some tips from author friends on revising your work (click post below):
Phonics Before Two?
So no, I’m not trying to get my kid to learn to read now BUT I did see he had an interest in the box of Lit Letters (not sponsored, I just love them) a few months back. We started with one letter (P) and the sound /p/. During this time my child was a year and 3 month and knew how to say papá for this sound. He also understood that although some items are called X they might say Y (Ex. It’s called a cow but says moo, sheep says baa, etc). So learning that it’s called the letter P but says /p/ came naturally. Overtime we made games with the letters by finding things with that sound, watching me draw the letter and try chalk/crayon drawing, using a pocket chart and finding the letter/picture to stick to the chart, singing songs with the letter sounds, and overall making it about play. Today (1year and 6 month), he knows 17/26 letters and sounds. If he learns to put them together, cool but if it takes him awhile, that’s fine too. I’m using his interest to lead our play and exploration. We spend only 10ish minutes when we review our letter in the morning and fill in his pocket chart. After, I’ll bring up the letter/sound throughout the day. A typical convo might go like: Song C says /c/ C says /c/ cat, cow, /c/, /c/, /c/. Lunchtime: Look we have a cup. Cup starts with a C /c/, /c/, Cup! Outside: I’m looking for things that sound like /c/…I see a /c/ cat, /c/ caterpillar, /c/ car. Bath time: we’ll sing a phonics song and point to things with the letter or have the bathtub toys learn the /c/ sound along: The turtle is going into the water to look for things with the letter C…oh look we found a /c/ carrot, /c/ crab, etc. We keep the same letter for two weeks before we switch. Letter recognization is still tricky at this age so we celebrate when he identifies one but turning over a letter card or a magnetic letter upside down looks like a brand new item. No, I’m not telling you to teach your child letters/sounds now, this is what worked for us based on his interest in the flash cards (and Ms. Rachel’s songs). For now, we’ll keep practicing when he’s up for it, pause when he wants to do something else, and continue working on his fine motor skills and crossing the mid-line activities that’ll help with reading/writing in the future. Watch a mini review video [here]. My inspo to keep going with the cards and letters came from Amelia and Jess’s account, check them out for fun ideas (here).
Author Guests+GIVEAWAY!
Welcome Justin Colón & Cassie Silva! Let’s jump in with all things books & 2 giveaways!
Justin Colón
Justin Colón is a professional actor and children's book author. His humorous storylines have made me a fan! Justin’s newest book THE ZOMBEES features a Halloween story filled with rhyming and alliteration with a cast of zombie bumblebees buzzing from the graveyard with a surprising ending! Check out inside pages in our mini interview. Press play ▶️
Follow Justin on Instagram at @justincolonbooks & get copies of his books (here). Don’t forget to request Justin’s books from your local library too (It’s free to request and receive!) 🎉 P.S. Check out some free printable activities here.
Cassie Silva
Cassie Silva is a social worker and author with an amazing book about an ESL father. Her story, THE FEARLESS STORYTELLER, was inspired by her childhood growing up with an ESL parent. As a former ESL teacher I LOVED finding a story that featured this kind of household and the rich storytelling that can happen when you follow the pictures instead of the words (especially if they’re in another language). Check out out interview below to learn more about this new release: ▶️
Follow Cassie on Instagram at @cassiesilvawriting & get copies of her books (here). Don’t forget to request Cassie’s books from your local library too (It’s free to request and receive!) 🎉
⭐️G I V E A W A Y⭐️
Special giveaway for newsletter subscribers! Both authors are giving away goodies! Cassie is giving away a picture book manuscript critique (non-rhyming) and Justin’s publisher is giving away 3 books!
How to enter:
Stay subscribed to my newsletter & fill out this giveaway form ️
Giveaway closes on July 25, 2025. Winners will be announced on on the next newsletter, you have time to enter!
*Winners of the May newsletter are Erika Milla for Daniela’s book and Kendra Bonilla for Jackie’s PB critique. Congrats!
🧊 Resources:
Please help me and share this spreadsheet with family/friends. The spreadsheet is full of immigration resources: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QKrUNqQJsVqnHWBqnNDJctbQb5TEH9M7YcCeoCaKbyg/htmlview
How to add a shortcut on your phone to alert your family 🧊 is present with a click of a button (here for Android) / (here for Apple)
What to do if you’re a U.S. citizen detained by 🧊 (here)
More immigrant resources by state (please share) available (here)
As a daughter of immigrant parents, my heart is super heavy with everything going on. If I come across more resources, I will be sharing them on my socials and here.
💜 Things I’m currently Into / ❓Questions for you:
💜Song on repeat: It’s an oldie my dad used to play:
💜Reading: Popo the Xolo
❓What are you reading/listening to?
❓Do you have any 🧊 resources that can help the community?
❓How are you feeling with the world in fire?
❓Is there anything specific you’d like me to cover in upcoming newsletters?
Mini Photo Dump:
More pictures/video on the merengue storytime (here).
📝 Feel free to comment here or respond to this email if anything stuck with you.
💛All social media and newsletter content is FREE but if you’d like to help out, I could also use book reviews for my books on Amazon (linked) or Goodreads (porfis)
📚Looking for book lists by themes or new titles? View here for Bookshop or here for Amazon
✨Did you know I do educator guides & other work? Check out more of my work (here).
Until next month!
P.S. Excuse the typos, I promise there’s a human behind the screen and not a 🤖.
-Delia Ruiz @Aventuras.En.ESL