Yesterday was Easter Sunday, so, but of course, the EASTER BUNNY CAME! Every year the Easter Bunny does it up something fantasmo (even when times weren’t as good as they are now), but NOW that my cute little chick is officially a “Tween” (YES, ages 9 through 12 are deemed tweens ::faint::), this years basket had a bit of a different theme… This year’s basket wasn’t all Play-Doh eggs & Peeps, it was more of a basket for the brain.

It is true that this year Mini Maven did indeed get some Peeps, bubblegum robin eggs, a bunny-shaped sucker, and her traditional chocolate bunny she asks for every single year (as well a Max & Ruby Ty plush because no matter how “tween” they are, they still suffer from nostalgia just like the best of us #love), but… In the past, the Easter Bunny always filled Mini Maven’s baskets with books, developmental toys, fun things she liked to play with (at the time), random doodads, and *some* candy (the Bunny knows we don’t like to keep a lot of candy around the house because Mini Maven is a sugar addict!). They looked a little something like this:

This year the Easter Bunny reeeally delved deep into the developing mind of a young lady. (Oh, WHERE for art thou did the time go?!) That silly rabbit really hit it on the nail, too! This year he took a lot of time finding very educational, liberating, empowering, & quite personal prizes to engage and inspire the mind of one experimental & explorative child. I love being in cahoots with the Easter Bunny because it means that I have a say-so in what the imagination imagines. ::winkwink:: So here are some of the items that showed up Easter morning, and *I* can help you find them, if you’re interested, in acquiring any of them for YOUR little explorers & experimenters. ::grin::

Rosie the Riveter Paper Dolls!

Tom Tierney turns back the clock to World War II when women took over the nation’s workforce and made history with these paper dolls. This book of vintage fashions honors Rosie and her female co-workers with three paper dolls and 26 authentic outfits of the 1940s including work clothes, casual dresses, smart suits, evening gowns and a war-time wedding dress. Included is a story about Rosie the Riveter plus fashion many a-notes about her fabulousness.

You can find these paper dolls at Barnes & Nobles bookstore, as well as all over the Internet (like amazon.com, etc.). The illustrations are really something else! Mini Maven has had a blast playing with these already. This makes us both happy campers — super fun, and it has urged her to learn the history behind the famous Rosie the Riveter and what she represents.

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women [book]!

In kitchens and living rooms, in garages and labs and basements, even in converted chicken coops, women and girls have invented ingenious innovations that have made our lives simpler and better. Their creations are some of the most enduring (the windshield wiper) and best loved (the chocolate chip cookie)! Mini Maven taught *ME* all about both of these ingenious inventions/creations today on a car ride, one of which was a happy accident (you have to read on to know which)!

At Christmas, ‘Santa’ brought Mini Maven a fantastic puzzle with all our famous inventors on it. She was severely disheartened & daunted that there was only ONE woman featured on the puzzle. The Easter Bunny gave her this book to help counterbalance that very hearty & understandable disapproval. ::smile:: And I must note that a fellow member of the Ravin’ Maven community, Stacey, sent me the link because it “made her think of me”. #LOVEthat!

(This book can be purchased through scholastic.com, says the Easter Bunny.)

Dragonborn by Toby Forward

Mini Maven is HOOKED on Skyrim! (This is a vast understatement and a product of being under the gaming geekdom of Darling Hotbuns ::sticktongueout::) This book is *not* about Skyrim, though, but since she is — so proud of being — “dragonborn”, this book was one of her favorite things in her basket, of all!

This beautifully written fantasy stars Sam, an unworldly wizard’s apprentice whose beloved master dies unexpectedly, leaving the 12-year-old boy half-trained, without clear direction, and fought over by a number of other wizards, not all of whom have his best interests at heart. Here’s the synopsis:

When Flaxfield the great wizard dies, his apprentice, Sam, is left alone. With only his dragon at his side, Sam sets out on his quest to find a new master. But there are dangerous forces who want Sam’s powers for themselves. When Sam is tricked into making a mortal error, the only one who can save him is his dragon.

It, also, can be found at any local bookstore, or online. I purchased it through Amazon.com while looking for great young adult fantasy novels. So glad I did because Mini Maven is LOVING it!

Who Was Rosa Parks? [book]

Mini Maven is now collecting the Who Was series. She gets a new legendary, revolutionary, inspiring biography for every holiday or special occasion. Her favorites are Ann Frank & Roald Dahl, and now Rosa Parks. #sogreat!

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America and earned Rosa Parks the title Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. This biography has black and white illustrations so poignantly throughout its pages. These wonderful paperbacks can be found in the young adult section of any bookstore, and they have so many to choose from! They are a quick & simple read, but simply grand in every way! I am a huge fan of enlightening our youth through the written word, and these books are a foolproof way of doing so — they draw our spongy babies in with superb depth & lure. I highly recommend them. They make educating our little people easy like 1, 2, 3.

Pretend & Play® Checkbook with Calculator

It’s fun to play like you’re a grown up, any way you look at it! With this smart tool/toy, children fill out pretend checks, make payments and calculate their balance as they learn about check writing. The calculator is solar-powered, and the checks are actual-size for even more realistic play/learning. This package includes 25 checks, a check register, a pen, the calculator, & deposit slips with an instructional card teaching them how to use all of the above.

I am trying to instill the value of money on Mini Maven, and how money does NOT grow on trees like apples & magnolias. What better way than to have her balance her spending of her allowances?! She is also knee-deep in AIG math homework, so this is a stupendously FUN way to teach & learn addition (of deposits), subtraction (of spending), & the balance of, well…… life, independence, & the value of a dollar. This checkbook & calculator set can be purchased via learningresources.com, for your future frugal little ladies & gents needs + education.

Professor Noggin’s Extraordinary Women *Card Game*

Professor Noggin helps you learn interesting facts about extraordinary women in science, the arts, politics, and more. These card games are really exceptional learning tools!

Professor Noggin’s series of educational games encourages kids to learn interesting facts about their favorite, individual subjects. Each of the thirty game cards combines trivia, true or false, and multiple choice questions. A special three-numbered die is included, which creates interaction and promotes communication between players. Easy to hard levels keep little people interested and challenged, while of course having fun — KEY to really soaking up the knowledge!

The Bunny informed me he purchased this game via boardgamegeek.com — and you can learn more about all of the Professor Noggin games at professornoggin.com, too!

Forensics Fingerprint Lab

This is a field/concept that Mini Maven is *really* interested in! In this regard, she’s like her mum. ::beam:: Anything that has to do with being in forensic science or a spy, she’s intrigued!  So, this got her suuuper hyped. The Bunny very well may have outdone Santa this year. Yep! Woot there it is!

The Ignition Series™ includes kits exploring chemistry, physics, energy and much more. A child can become a science sleuth using the Forensics Fingerprint Lab Kit — it comes with all the necessary supplies and instruction manuals (and the Easter Bunny found it at feedachildsmind.org). There’s no getting away with murder around this little investigator anymore! I guess I can’t steal any of her jellybeans unless I am stealthier than I think I am. ::lookaskance::

Easter Eggs Filled with Baby Dinosaur Erasers!

Though Mini Maven DID get some animal print eggs filled with candy, she also got these eggs that hatch DINOSAURS! So…… the fixation with dinosaurs may have influenced the Bunny some because *I* have a great love for the prehistoric creatures (I was in high school and still had dinosaur sheets, I must not hate at all to admit), yet, Mini Maven has taken to collecting erasers like I did when I was a wee maven. She is now adding onto my collection that has been passed down to her. ::flicker:: These were a nice reprieve from eggs filled with cavities, and she adored them! The Bunny found them through amazon.com, as well. A much better alternative to a sugar high — now she can learn all about the clade Dinosauria during the Triassic period ***AND*** erase stuff! Now THAT’S multi-purposed!

And though this photo was already featured at the top of this blog, I wanted to make sure to note that this basket was made by MonkeyDoodleKids on Etsy.com. I got to choose from many different fabrics for the combo, different ribbons, & fonts for the embroider to design my own basket cover for her! Because Mini Maven’s name is 10 letters long [Wilhelmina], it was hard to find someone who had a loop large enough for it. When I did, many of the embroiderers stressed that her name would have to be stitched super small. MonkeyDoodleKids was the *only* one who said they would “get her name as large as they could”; and as you can see, they did an exceptional job doing so! MonkeyDoodleKids’ basket supplier provides very broad & deep baskets that hold ample amount of loot, which is highly critical for the Bunny who packs Mini Maven’s each year. ::smirk:: If you are looking for an Easter basket equip to carry you out for years upon years to come, MonkeyDoodleKids makes a delectably mean basket that you’ll looove seeing annually. We are no longer going to buy a new basket each year — we’ve finally gotten one to serve us for the duration (because no matter what, Mini Maven is getting one until she’s 50, like it or not!). We couldn’t be more pleased with this perfectly prim basket for the petite maven!

The Easter Bunny: Helping parents raise inventive, creative, independent & curious children since 1682, or for as long as they believe…… in themselves. #<3

Keep calm & CELEBRATE on, Mavens!
~Angelika Frangelico *Gros bisous*

<—- This photo is not in jest. This is literally what I looked like on Easter Sunday (and every Easter Sunday, in some — but different — regard). We take it to a whole new — strange & peculiar — level. To see other photos from our Easter celebrations, go to our Facebook page and check out our Mad Hatter’s Easter! (More to come! We’re still in the moving process and the only pictures I have uploaded are off my phone, hence the quality of these within this blog. (To enlarge them, just click on them!))