Meet Teadre & Saucie!

Meet Teadre & Saucie, the inspiration behind Aunt Jen & Alexa’s 2014 fundraiser to benefit Dementia UK!

This year, we have chosen to try and send these two lovely, FLAT, stuffies around the world and we need YOUR help!

This is only Phase 1 of what is a much larger plan to bring awareness to, and a deeper understanding of, dementia to people of all ages the world over. By taking part in housing and making sure Teadre & Saucie get to their next destination, you are actively creating their story! You see, our ultimate goal is to write & illustrate a children’s book, The Adventures of Teadre & Saucie, which will serve to address dementia through the eyes of a child who is experiencing life with a grandparent who is afflicted with the condition. A portion of sales from each book sold will be donated to Dementia UK. (Phase 2)

An even more exciting development is that we are already in talks to turn the story into an animated short! (Phase 3?)

For a donation to Dementia UK through our Virgin Money Giving page, along with the willingness to take Teadre & Saucie on some adventures in your hometown and pass them along to the next destination, you will mark a destination that will be documented in the story and receive a personal thank you in the acknowledgements.

I first thought of Teadre & Saucie as something cute to pass back & forth with Alexa along with handwritten letters. (We now live around 1000 miles apart. Quite an adjustment for both of us, to be sure!) Alexa enjoys typing and is a crackerjack storyteller, but she has a great aversion to writing. We have dealt with plenty a meltdown over writing homework. (I blame the overwhelming amount of perfectionistic genes that kid got.) By opening our little world to the greater one at large, we hope to use our collective talents to raise funds for Admiral Nurses in a brand new, and more exciting, way!

To donate to our 2014 campaign, and get on the receiving list for Teadre & Saucie, visit us at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/TeaTimeWithAuntJenAndAlexa ; if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at sillyauntjen@gmail.com.

Teadre & Saucie cannot wait to start their travels!

Pittsburgh!

Teadre and Saucie’s first trip was to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Pittsburgh was once the steel making capital of the world, creating the material that would be used to construct the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. Pittsburgh is also the home of childhood favorite ‘Mister Rodgers’ Neighborhood’, the now infamous Abby Lee Dance Company, and very avid sports fans of the Steelers (football), the Pirates (baseball), and the Penguins (hockey).

Teadre & Saucie had a very nice stay with their new friend Monica. They made friends and enjoyed having lots of fun, and a good cuddle, with Batman the dog and Bill Murray the cat.

They even got to go visit everyone at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. Even the cheeky pirate monkey!

 

The most fun was getting a pretend CT scan on the pirate ship! They were very brave little soldiers.

Next up… The Sunshine State!

 

 

Let the Travels Commence!

Teadre & Saucie have made it to their first stop traveling cross country from The City by the Bay (San Francisco, CA) to Steel Town (Pittsburgh, PA)! Stay turned for future travel updates.

Breaking Limits

We are starting to realize that maybe we’ve been a bit too ‘pie in the sky’ with our hopes for the fundraiser portion of The Adventures of Teadre & Saucie. Call it wishful thinking, a bit of hubris, or just plain overestimation of the fun we saw in the idea, but the fact is, we’re off to a slow start.

Initially, the thought of a £5 minimum donation sprouted from the idea that we might be inundated with requests, extending the time for the mailing/posting part of the project longer than when we are seeking to have the book completed. Again, perhaps a puffed up ideal on our part. We apologize if setting a minimum discouraged anyone. Now that I’ve taken a step back and looked at it from a different perspective, I realize that maybe I have broken what I wished to impart to Alexa all along:

EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS

So, from this point forward, ANY donation to the fundraising (mailing/posting) phase of The Adventures of Teadre & Saucie will automatically book you a visit from our beloved flat friends. By using our Virgin Money Giving page, all donations go directly to Dementia UK.

We hope that you will consider hosting a visit from Teadre & Saucie and helping contribute to their story. If you are unable to give at this time, please consider passing the word along. The power of sharing is immeasurable in this digital age. Please help us go viral to support the fine work of Admiral Nurses!

Calling all Teachers!

Calling all Educators!

Here are just a few things that The Adventures of Teadre & Saucie project can help teach your students:

Reading

Blog – Keep up to date with Teadre & Saucie’s adventures by reading their Travel Log.

Book – Until our book is written (at the end of this project), check out one of our inspirations, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown!

Geography 

Blog/Map – Use a map to pin and record Teadre & Saucie’s travels.

Math

Distance – Calculate how far Teadre & Saucie have traveled.

Units of Measurement – Discuss how different places in the world use different units of measurement.

Social Studies

Culture – Research and discuss some of the unique cultural attributes of countries/places where Teadre & Saucie have traveled.

If you choose to take part in the mailing portion of our fundraiser, you can additionally address the following skills with your students:

Research 

Information About Your City – We want to know about your city! Students can learn how to look up information in the library or online about your town, village, city, state, and/or country and include it in your adventure log entry.

Writing 

How to Address an Envelope – Students can learn how to address an envelope to someone in their own country and possibly discover differences in posting methods to other nations (if sending internationally).

How to Write a Letter – Your class may want to write a letter to the next recipient of Teadre & Saucie (in addition to their travel log entry). Parts of a letter can be introduced and/or strengthened by this exercise.

Spelling – See if you can incorporate your current (or past) spelling words into your adventure log entry!

And for a spot of fun…

Art

Create your own Flat “Student’s Names”! Consider mailing to friends and family, just as we are doing with Teadre & Saucie, as a class project!

Draw/paint/sculpt how YOU see Teadre & Saucie or create new friends for them! Send pictures of your creations to us to feature here on the blog.

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As a fellow teacher, I know how pressed we are to find time in the day to go beyond the Common Core and outside the Standardized Testing box, but we cannot forget the importance of life lessons we can also impart to children by teaching them how to help and support others with our own talents!

***This content will remain static under the Educator tab of our website.***

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We have received a few inquiries about our fundraiser and figured it would be easier to address them all in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) post!

Drum roll please…

1) Is this a Kickstarter thing?

Not exactly. At this stage, we are collecting our donations through Virgin Money Giving as Dementia UK is a recognized charity set up to receive donations directly. We are considering a Kickstarter campaign to help us with publishing and development costs when we move onto creating the actual book later this year.

2) What percentage of my donation goes to Dementia UK?

100% . All transactions go from Virgin Money Giving to Dementia UK.

3) Do I have to pledge £5?

NO. As I frequently tell Alexa, every little bit helps. The £5 was originally a figure we came up with to try and encourage participation. We wanted to stay reasonable but offer something special (a bit like Kickstarter) to those who could meet, or pass, the £5 mark. That said, we more than welcome any amount you can spare for such an amazing cause. Any donation will book you a visit from Teadre & Saucie.

4) What do I get for my donation?

The £5 pledge will put you on the mailing list to receive Teadre & Saucie. The list is private; your address will only be given to the person before you for mailing purposes. Your location will be featured in the book, and you will receive a personal Thank You on the acknowledgements page of the book.

5) Can I just donate without participating in the mailing?

You most certainly can opt out of receiving Teadre & Saucie through the post, but can you really resist those little faces? Plus, snail mail is exciting in this day and age, no? 😉

6) I don’t really live anywhere exciting. I’m afraid an adventure with me would be quite boring.

Every new place Teadre & Saucie visit promises a new adventure as they are seeing new things and experiencing new friends. They have fun doing just about anything! They have often gone to class with Aunt Jen and will eventually go to school with Alexa on the tail end of their adventures. There is no such thing as a boring adventure!

7) What do I do with them?

We want to know (and SEE) what it is like where you live. Are you buried under 3 feet of snow? Take a picture with them outside! Do you have unique plants or animals/pets where you live? More photo ops! The obvious photos are ones taken with famous landmarks, which we would undoubtedly love to see but are not necessary!

8) After I make my donation, how do I get on the mailing list?

Contact Jen directly at sillyauntjen@gmail.com to be placed on the mailing list.

9) Will you still have your tumblr page?

We will still have our tumblr page but have found that some schools and businesses have tumblr blocked as it is primarily a social media site. We have started this wordpress blog to open our fundraiser to a wider audience and allow our teacher friends to participate either with their classrooms directly or by simply tracking the travels over time.

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If you have any OTHER questions not address by the FAQs, please do not hesitate to comment below or send an email to Jen at sillyauntjen@gmail.com.

Hope to hear from you, and SEE you, soon!

Love,

Teadre & Saucie