Buttons & Figs

On this episode we sail our sieve to the land of POETRY! Rosemarie Dombrowski, poet laureate for Phoenix, celebrated National Poetry Month by writing two special poems for Buttons & Figs! Rosemarie shares her poem "Why I Want to Be a Lizard." The 3rd graders at Camelview Elementary School play with the poetry prompt "Why I Want to Be....," creating original wordplay poems of their own. Enjoy the writing and voices of the students in Ms. Cowen's class and Ms. Stiles class. Poetry everyday, we say! www.buttonsandfigs.com

extra! extra! we have a bit of improv play for you today! on this episode, these Buttons & Figs kids share and play two improv games. we hope you'll play along. be sure to share your way to play at 623-282-4080. we say, play is the way! www.buttonsandfigs.com

On this episode we set sail to the cave of repetition, repetition, repetition. You'll hear many, many, many ways to play with this literary device with original stories from our Buttons & Figs kids. We were inspired by Julian Sheer's book, Rain Makes Applesauce, and several of Dr. Seuss's books too. We hope you'll listen, listen, listen and play, play, play. Visit ButtonsandFigs.com for more wordplay fun.

Nonsense appeared to be on a collision course with reason...presenting Buttons & Figs and the Oyster Actors on the Air in The War of the Fools. It was on this day, April 1st, in which weird happenings began to happen. Reporters began to report reportable events, reportable strange happenings, reportable odd sightings - a meat shower, a weird alphabet song, odd creatures sailing in a sieve making demands...what if it were all true?! Featuring voices from the pod-o-sphere, including The Past & The Curious, Composer Dad, and What If World. Tune in to Buttons & Figs to find out what the reporters are reporting this April Fool’s day. btw...does anyone have any stilton cheese?!

extra! extra! They say we have an astronomical, astrological double header here, March 20th, to be clear - a Super Moon and Equinox! Only one thing is certain on this day, when the tilt is tilted in just the right way, we can hear a telephone conversation, but just one side, of a gentleman with a great deal of pride, who happens to like carnations….listen in.... For more one-sided phone conversation play, check out Chris Raschka's book, "Ring, Yo!" and of course, call Buttons & Figs at 623-282-4080 if you have a one-sided conversation to share with me. Thanks for listening to me and you and you and me.

extra! Welcome to the Librarian Library Lounge featuring the fabulous book recommends of Erin Meadows, librarian at the Desert Foothills Library in Cave Creek, Arizona, and the fabulous voices of kids playing with alliteration at the library. Join us here and there, or at a library near you. You can find the free downloadable activity sheet we used on Read Across America day to play with alliteration, alright? www.buttonsandfigs.com

Alliterate-ate-ate-ate-ate! On this Nonsensilicious episode we share a great way to remember how to play with alliteration...with our very own Buttons & Figs song! Hear the debut of "What a Word!" as we celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd. Find a Read Across America event near you and play with nerds...I mean words! Play-play-play-play-play-play-play

Wow, wow, wow! On this episode we're sailing our sieve to the land of palindromes where we get to meet the master of wordplay himself -Jon Agee. Our Buttons & Figs kids, Elle, Sophie, Samuel, Asher, Claire and Jayleigh, will define and play with palindromes and they’ll share how they used Jon Agee’s palindrome books to inspire their play AND Jon Agee will be answering their questions….like - how did you make a job out of palindromes?! Visit www.buttonsandfigs.com for more word play fun.

extra! extra! We've got a little extra! nonsense to celebrate Thesaurus Day! On this extra! episode we celebrate words by sharing a Thesaurus Day game YOU can play here or there and you also get to meet a few peculiar Buttons & Figs kids! AND...Be sure to call in and share YOUR list of synonyms that best describe YOU 623-282-4080. Wishing you and your family a Happy, Delightful, Cheerful, Joyous, Peaceful, Pleasant, Jubilant (Belated) Thesaurus Day from Buttons & Figs!!! Thanks for listening to me and you.

On this episode we introduce new Buttons & Figs kids who set us sailing to the land of Rhymes...isn't it about time?! We'll be sharing three literary devices for creating rhymes, Consonance, Assonance and Rhyme, we'll have great examples of each, and we'll also try to sell you a C.A.R. so you can go far. Visit ButtonsandFigs.com for more wordplay fun.

a little extra nonsense to celebrate Peculiar People Day! What makes YOU peculiar?! So celebrate those who are different, unique! Even if sometimes they have smelly feet. Thanks for listening to me and you.

As we adapt to the new year, take a listen to this special episode of adaptation stories written by the 4th grade students in Ms. LaBrie's class at Simis Elementary School in Phoenix, Az. The student's combined researched facts and scientific concepts about adaptations to create imaginary beings that have adapted to Arizona National Parks. Have fun listening closely to these stories, because they are filled with fact and fiction...see if you can tell which is which! Enjoy the unique, playful, creative voices of Ms. LaBrie's class and be sure to visit a National Park this year and create your own imaginary beings. www.buttonsandfigs.com

On this episode we sail our sieve to the land of food and song with award winning children's musician Gunnar Madsen. We share a track from Gunnar's latest album, "I Am Your Food," and Gunnar shares some tips and tricks for playing with your food! The episode also features 1st graders from Ms. Allegrina's class at Simis Elementary School in Phoenix, AZ who take up Gunnar's food play challenge by becoming the foods they like best. Visit www.buttonsandfigs.com for more word play fun.

Enjoy the full, fun interview with musician Gunnar Madsen. Learn about his inspiration for some of the songs on his latest album, "I Am Your Food" and can you guess what band influenced him when he was young? (hint: they sold wigs so kids could look like one of the members of this band!). Be sure to listen to the episode "Sing! Food Play with Gunnar Madsen" featuring the song "I Am Your Food" and you'll get to hear kids playing with their food. Enjoy.

On this wordplay extra! we have a real live National Park Ranger, a real live 4th grader, and a couple of funny Buttons & Figs fans who all LOVE U.S. National Parks! Sarah Stannard, Park Ranger at Glen Canyon and Rainbow Bridge, and Aurora, 4th grader from Washington, D.C., share fabulous information about our National Parks and the 4th Grade Pass. Ms. Sarah also shares a fun wordplay challenge played by Reese and Linnea...and hopefully by you too! Visit your parks, listen and play with words! www.buttonsandfigs.com

On this episode Buttons & Figs is proud to feature original ghost stories, for brave kids, by Nathaly and Zoe, students at Independence High School in Glendale, Arizona. Nathaly shares stories from her childhood, stories of haunting, stories of mystery and asks you - do you have any ghosts stories of your own? Zoe then shared a story told by her father, about a time when a dead lizard turns a kind ghost into a ghoulish one! Happy, spooky Halloween from all of us at Buttons & Figs, a podcast for kids about playing with words and stories....Bawhahahaha!

Sail in our way-back sieve to visit the ghost of Halloween past with a listener favorite from 2016 - Halloween Nonsense with the Kit-Kats! This was a special Halloween episode hosted by the Kit-Kats, Mr. Kaegi's 2nd grade class in Oak Park, IL. Be sure to download our spooky activity sheet filled with ideas for the season....and stay tuned....we will have more spooky stories heading your way...Bawhahahahaaaaaa! #kidslistensweeps #podghasts

On this Odcast episode we sail our sieve to the land of letter take aways...wait, did Alex just steal the letter P from Podcast?! Join Alex, Chloe, Olivia, Sophia and Ava as they play with letter take aways. And see if you can help May and Bad solve the mystery of the missing letters. Take away play was inspired by the book, "Take Away the A" by Michael Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo. Visit www.buttonsandfigs.com for more word play fun.

Ballyhooooooo!!! You should listen to this episode because it's the most musical, entertaining, funny and colorful episode EVER! On this episode we sail our sieve to the land of Hyperbole. Join Catherine, Ellie, Lucy, and Sophie as they define, play and plot using as much hyperbole and sound FX as humanly possible, see if you can write a hyperbolic sentence about you, and if you are looking for hyperbole inspiration, check-out Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky! Ballyhooooooo!

On this Nonsensilicious Buttons & Figs episode The Onomatopoeia Man has a challenge for you...to see if you can make some onomatopoeia sounds too. The Onomatopoeia Man is an interactive word play song, so we hope you'll sing along. We also recommend another great kids podcast that plays with words and sounds - Noodle Loaf. For more onomatopoeia word play, listen to episode #25 of Buttons & Figs.