Today was a pretty self-indulgent storytime. I brought a selection of my favorite books and let the children decide which one I was going to read!
The first book chosen was Jazz Baby, by Lisa Wheeler
After a great time singing songs, and chanting rhymes we went on to read Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, by Candace Fleming.
After our storytime the children made easy paper ‘Popsicles’ and ‘icecream cones’!
To see the full list of my favorites read-alouds, please click here!
Today we talked about caterpillars- crawling, eating, and turning into butterflies!
Books:
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book” by Eric Carle
“The Crunching Munching Caterpillar” by Sheridan Cain
“Don’t Worry Bear” by Greg Foley
“In the Tall, Tall Grass’ by Denise Fleming
Click here to order these books from the Heights Library catalog
For our art activity, we made caterpillars out of styrofoam egg cartons. The large size cartons work well when you cut them into sections of 3. These were decorated with wiggly eyes, pipe cleaner antennae, and jewels and markers for color. This was a very easy, quick activity that the kids had fun with. Here is my finished example:
Today we read some awesome books about owls!
Our first book was:
A Book of Sleep, by Il Sung Na
After a few rhymes and songs our next book was:
I’m not Sleepy! by Jonathan Allen
Afterward we created our own simple owl crafts inspired by this one here:
Today we got messy and dirty with fun books about mud! We talked about how mud is made and how it feels. We used great words like: squishy, gloopy, and icky!
Our first book this morning was:
Stuck in the Mud, by Jane Clarke
After reading this fun book, we sang 5 Pigs so Squeaky Clean (to the tune of 5 Green and Speckled Frogs)
Five pigs so squeaky clean
Cleanest you’ve ever seen
Wanted to go outside and play (IN THE MUD)
One jumped into the mud
Landed with such a thud
Then there were four clean squeaky pigs (Oink, oink!)
Credit: Mel’s Desk / Miss Mary Liberry
Our next book was:
The Best Mud Pie, by Linn Quinn
We had TWO awesome activities for today after storytime. Of course we made MUD with potting soil, water, and plastic zipped baggies. I scooped some dirt into each bag, the parents poured some water and the children got to smash and mix it until it became glorious mud!
Our craft was a simple worm in the”mud” picture. The children cut the green construction paper to look like grass, and glued it to the brown construction paper. They made two small slits in the brown paper with scissors and stuck the worm inside!
As part of the weather-themed storytimes I have been doing lately, I did a wind theme for our first week of April’s ExploraStory.
Books:
“Wind Says Good Night” by Katy Rydell
“It Is the Wind” by Ferida Wolff
“I’ll Play With You” by Mary McKenna Siddals
“When the Wind Stops” by Charlotte Zolotow
Click here to order these books from the Heights Library catalog
We made our own windsocks after storytime. These were very easy. All you need are toilet paper rolls, string, crepe paper streamers, and glue sticks. Jewels and feathers or other mixed-media items to decorate the roll are optional. At one end of the roll, punch one hole with a hole puncher into each side and thread the yarn through it. The kids had lots of fun running with their windsocks, and I suggest hanging them from a front porch to watch them sway in the breeze. Here are some examples:
Today we read fun books about boxes! Our first book this morning was:
Not A Box, by Antoinette Portis
We also read: The Birthday Box, by Leslie Patricelli
We also learned a new song “I see a Box”.
| I See a Box–song (sung to “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)Someone’s at the door. I hear knocks. (knock on something 3 times)
I open up the door. I see a box. (shout hurray) I open up the box, but the box is full of locks. (open the box to show pictures of padlocks) I really do not want a box of locks. (say: “Better luck next time!) ***Repeat the song with socks & rocks (pulling out pictures of each item) then sing:*** Someone’s at the door. I hear knocks. (knock on something 3 times) I open up the door. I see a box. (shout hurray) I open up the box. The box is full of blocks. I really, really want a box of blocks! (clap and cheer) |
For our craft, I gave the children plain white takeout boxes for them to decorate any way they wished. I supplied, glue, fabric scraps, foam shapes, and construction paper. Here are a few photos.
a plain takeout box (before)
he called this an “Easter basket birthday box” for his mom!
For more books about boxes please CLICK HERE!
The first day of spring was yesterday (although it’s hard to tell by the weather!), so I thought it would be fun to talk about grass growing and other nature related topics.
Books:
“In the Tall, Tall Grass” by Denise Fleming
“A Fawn in the Grass” by Joanne Ryder
“Sheep Take a Hike” by Nancy Shaw
Click here to order these books from the Heights Library catalog
We also used a fun puppet from Folkmanis of a caterpillar that could turn inside out, into a butterfly.
Our art project today was to cut a half sheet of green construction paper along one side in a fringe-y manner to resemble grass. This was an attempt to do more process-oriented work that would help the younger kids develop scissor skills. As always, the creativity displayed was impressive, as you can see in these examples:
Today we had lots of story-time fun with pockets! Our first book this morning was:
A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes (a pocket book), by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon. This rhyming book about pockets has a fun, light cadence that kept the children laughing!
We also read: Peek in my Pocket (a lift-the-flap book), by Sarah Weeks. We had fun identifying the shapes inside the pockets of each animal on the page.
Rhymes/Songs
Here are few fun rhymes and songs we sang about pockets.
In my pocket is a Zoo (Old McDonald tune)
In my pocket is a zoo E-I-E-I-O
There’s a tiger in there too E-I-E-I-O
With a ROAR here, and a ROAR there
Here a ROAR, there a ROAR, everywhere a ROAR-ROAR
In my pocket is a zoo E-I-E-I-O
Repeat with other kinds of animals
**I used various animal puppets for this song and pulled them out of the pockets in my storytime apron. The children made the animal noises. I used a tiger, gorilla, and elephant puppet, but you can use any puppets you have handy**
I’ve Got Something in my Pocket (rhyme)
I’ve got something in my pocket,
It belongs across my face.
I keep it very close to me
In a very special place.
I know you’ll never guess it,
If you guess a long, long while.
So I’ll take it out and put it on -
It’s a great big happy smile!
**I used a stick puppet with a large toothy smile and put it near my face for the last line of this rhyme**
Craft/Activity
Pocket Craft (adapted from the Pokeball Craft)
http://www.dltk-kids.com/pokemon/mpokeball_pocket_craft.htm )
Instructions:
Today we had lots of storytime fun with our favorite mischievous and sly Pigeon.
Our first book this morning was:
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late!
Don’t worry, the children did NOT give in to the Pigeon-he made it to bed in time 
After a few rhymes and finger-plays we went on to read:
The Pigeon wants a Puppy!
Here are some bird-themed rhymes and finger-plays to complement this storytime:
Two Little Blackbirds
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill,
One named Jack.
One named Jill.
Fly away, Jack.
Fly away, Jill.
Come back, Jack.
Come back, Jill.
Five Little Ducks
Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
but only four little ducks came waddling back…
Four little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
but only three little ducks came waddling back…
Three little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
but only two little ducks came waddling back…
Two little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
but only one little duck came waddling back…
One little duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
but no little ducks came waddling back…
No little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack,”
and all five ducks came waddling back.
Our craft was Pigeon and Duckling finger puppets. You can find the instructions and templates to make your own at the Pigeon’s very own website ‘Pigeon Presents!’ http://www.pigeonpresents.com/teachersguides/pigeon-duckling-finger-puppets.pdf
Here’s an photo of the finished product!
To request more books about the Pigeon’s antics CLICK HERE
Crocodiles! Snakes, and Lizards! Oh my! Today we learned about creeping, crawling reptiles.
Our first book this morning was:
How to Hide a Crocodile and other reptiles, by Ruth Heller.
We then had tons of fun with the “5 Hungry Crocodiles” rhyme. I used a crocodile puppet and gave each child a different colored fish made out of construction paper. When I called out different color fish for the crocodile to eat, the children would ‘feed the crocodile”!
Five Hungry Crocodiles
5 hungry crocodiles each made a wish
5 hungry crocodiles wished for a fish
One wants a purple fish
Help him get his wish
MMMMM…MMMMMM!!!
Keep counting down to 1 until all the colored fish are gone
5-purple
4-red
3-green
2-yellow
1-blue
And that left none
Five crocodiles sleeping in the sun
After that we went on to read:
Stanley Mows the Lawn, by Craig Frazier
Our craft was a paper crocodile, which I found here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mpapercrocodile.htm
Here are some photos of the crocodile in progress:
Here is a photo of the finished product:
To order these books about reptiles from our catalog, please CLICK HERE
Snakes! Crocodiles! Lizards, oh my! Today we learned about creeping, crawling reptiles.
Our first book this morning was:
How to Hide a Crocodile and other reptiles, by Ruth Heller
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