Sparkle Stories Blog
A home for Sparkle audio stories, crafts, recipes, and kind words!
Sparkle Craft: Soft Sculpture Take-Alongs
In the Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story, “Can’t Wait to Wait," Sylvia feels anxious about the long wait at a local restaurant. Have that problem? Make a soft sculpture take-along for the next time you're faced with a wait.
Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! Printable Project Page: Thank You Notes
Martin and Sylvia learn a creative way to “write” thank you notes in the Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story “Picture Thank You’s”. They draw pictures to represent the words in the card, and create a “key” so that the thank you note can be decoded! It’s fun for the creator and the reader.
Sparkle Craft: Watercolor Thank You Cards
Hand-painted and graphic, these beautiful cards will be a joy to both send and receive!
Sparkle Kitchen: Bierocks
A bierock (also called a “runza” in some parts of the world) is a meat-and-cabbage filed pocket pastry with Eastern European origins. They’re delicious, they’re filling, and they can totally be eaten one-handed. Follow the directions from the Sparkle Kitchen to make your own!
Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! Printable Project Page: Mouse House
This printable teaches kids to collect dried grass and bark and other soft natural materials to make little mouse houses next to stumps and big rocks.
Sparkle Craft: A Mouse and a House
In the Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story, “Mouse Houses”, Sylvia finds a little mouse nest nestled in their woodpile. You too can build a little mouse house indoors with this sweet little hand-stitched mouse!
Sparkle Kitchen: Breakfast Burrito Bar
The next time you’re faced with a sleep-over’s worth of hungry, tired kiddos, why not try a breakfast burrito bar?
How to Use the “Diversity” Stories
The words difference and diversity come from the same Latin root — which is to "turn aside."
Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! Printable Project Page: Our Own Town
Use these materials (or others you have on hand) to make a model of your town! In the story "Our Town" Daddy gives Martin & Sylvia clay, toothpicks and popsicle sticks to make a gazebo, a town hall and a police station. What will you build in your town?
Sparkle Kitchen: Cinnamon Honey Snowflakes
These cinnamon and honey “snowflakes” — cut from regular tortillas — are not only appropriate for the season, they’ll leave your kitchen smelling warm and cozy, too.
Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! Printable Project Page: Sudden Story
Here is a page to help you plan your own story performance — whether it is in your downtown park or your kitchen!
Sparkle Craft: Painted Story Seashells
Inspire some impromptu storytelling with these painted seashells, just like Martin and Sylvia in the Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story, “Sudden Story.”
Sparkle Kitchen: Homemade Soup Broth
There’s nothing for a sick day like a pot of soup made with good, homemade broth. By preparing the broth ahead of time, even a sick person who doesn’t have helpers as good as Martin and Sylvia can enjoy a bowl of soothing soup.
Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! Printable Project Page: Free Sledding
In the story “Free Sledding,” Martin & Sylvia find the most fun way to sled is to make up your own unique ways of going down the hill. Here are some of their favorites - what are yours?
Sparkle Kitchen: Clementine & Pomegranate Salad
The salad is quite simple, but by using crisp butter lettuce and bright, seasonal citrus, it doesn’t feel drab. Enjoy it some winter evening when you need a little break from “too much."
Sparkle Craft: Secret Messages
As it turns out, there are many ways to communicate without using words or without being able to see. For example, you can make secret messages using milk. With a little bit of magic – and with supplies you already have around the house – you can reveal the message for all to see!
Martin & Sylvia's: Saturdays!: Printable Project Page: Messages
Use the paper airplane instructions in this printable project page, and you will end up with a paper airplane with ridged wings that can fly as far as Martin’s!
Sparkle Kitchen: Fruitcake
Fruit cake can be quite delicious. Its dark maple-y texture is sweet, but not too sweet. Studded with red cranberries and green pistachios, it can even wear the colors of the season.
Martin & Sylvia's: Saturdays! Printable Project Page: Pet Portraits
Here are some of Sylvia’s drawings of her pets, plus a few beloved insects. And here is a space for you to draw a portrait of your pets or beloved animals or insects!
Sparkle Craft: Colorful Silhouettes
Why not create some colorful silhouettes to add to your own family wall? Or use our silhouettes to get a wall of your own started!
