Catch the Possibilities

Talk about bang for your buck-- I spent $13 (only because I was out of bubble solution) and 15 minutes at the dollar store, 30 minutes getting ready (because every single bubble container had to have the foil peeled off. Oy!), and 40 or so kids and caregivers had smiles on their faces. Bubbles never seem to lose their magic no matter how old you get.

Here's what I bought:
3-pack Bubbles with wands (4)
32 oz. bottle Bubble Fun Bubbles (1)
Bubble sword (1)
Bubble Fun Bubble Blowers (2)
Touchable Bubbles (2)
Grab-a-Bubble Bubble Storm (2)
Bubble Wand Set- came with 10 different wands (1)

I had 4 different stations set up:

1. Bubble Painting
2. Make Your Own Bubble Wand (using wire I had on hand)
3. Bubble Wands (I just set out a bunch of bottles of bubbles and all the wands I could find)
4. Special Bubble Tools (the bubble sword, blowers, bubble storms, and touchable bubbles)

By far, simply letting the kids blow as many bubbles as they wanted was the most fun. The Touchable Bubbles were also a big hit. You wait a few seconds after you blow them, and then you can catch them in your hands!

I started to have a panic attack when I looked around and saw little white blobs all over the carpet, but they actually wiped up fine with a disinfecting wipe, and I think they would have even just sucked up with the vacuum, but once I started wiping them up I just kept going. I had hoped it would be warm enough to be outside, since Minnesota is having an early spring this year, but it was a little too cool yet this morning. But knowing that they don't stick permanently to the carpet, I would totally use them indoors again. Though I would bring a Swiffer from home to save the knees of my pants next time.

It hardly gets easier than this! Enjoy!

Anyone else choose a program in time for a publication deadline (say 4-6 months in advance) and by the time the program actually rolls around you're not excited for it?

Yeah. That was totally the Sing Along program I had scheduled for this morning. We're spending some time highlighting each of the five early literacy practices and this month's is SING, so it seemed like a fun way to create a program tie-in and stretch myself beyond a dance party.

And then I lost the key for the magical closet with all my musical instruments, ribbons, scarves, parachute, etc. Since this closet is in the original part of the library, from 1927, the key was a skeleton key. So not one you can just head over to the local hardware store to replace. When I inquired of our maintenance man how we could get another I learned that the locksmith "found" the key we had had. So after spending several days looking everywhere I could think of, and 45 minutes of trying to MacGyver my way into my own closet, I was feeling rather defeated about the probable success of a sing-along program for 2-5 year olds composed of only singing.

I thought about scrapping the whole thing, but I decided that would be too easy. So instead, I improvised like a good musician/librarian (and MacGyver. Without explosives.)


Here's what we did:

1. 5 Practices Song with ASL
2. ABC song. In regular and robot voices.
3. Down by the Bay (call and response) from the Learning Groove
4. Song Cube-- we rolled Itsy Bitsy Spider (and sang with the mommy and baby spider verses)
5. Song Cube-- we rolled Wheels on the Bus (I let the kids tell me which verses we were going to do)
6. You are Clapping from the Learning Groove
7. Shaker making! So I knew I wanted to have some other ways incoporate music making and movement to break up the flow and encourage kids who may not wish to sing to participate. So from my craft stash I grabbed: small paper cups, beans & small pasta noodles, and duct tape. Kids filled up one of their cups as much as they wanted with whatever they wanted, and then we taped the second cup on the top. Instant shaker things that were very easy to make.
8. I Can Shake My Shaker Egg from the Learning Groove
9. The Crazy Shakedown by Razzamatazz for Kids
10. Song Cube-- We rolled If You're Happy and You Know It (we clapped, stomped, shook our shakers, and said "whoo hoo!")
11. Song Cube-- We rolled Mary Had a Little Lamb (we sang and then talked about what fleece was, and then sang it again with fleece as red as an apple, purple as a bunch of grapes, as colorful as a rainbow)
12. Since I didn't have scarves or ribbons, I grabbed some crepe paper we had and cut ~1.5 ft. lengths. We listened to Roll With the Waves by the Learning Groove and played with the streamers.
13. I read the Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort.
14. Song Cube-- Row Row Row Your Boat (normal, then a little faster, faster still, through the rapids, calm again but I sing "gently down the waterfall! AHHHHHHHH! as the last part of the song)
15. I grabbed matching pairs of some of the different styles of wooden floor blocks we have for "rhythm sticks." We practiced tapping them together in different ways. Then I played Clap Your Hands by They Might Be Giants. We just used the blocks for all three verses, tapping slow and then fast.
15. Song Cube-- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in regular and underwater voices.
16. Book Baby.

In the end, most of the kids stayed engaged for the entire 45 minutes. I was definitely expecting to loose them earlier, especially without the aid of my magical closet.


It was a good lesson for me that well chosen material, a genuine, authentic enjoyment of participating in the activities, and some spontaneous creativity can go a long way. I realized I rely more heavily on props and instruments to compensate for the pizzazz? I assume I am lacking as a presenter. I trend toward the reserved, quiet end of the spectrum, enviously eyeing librarians who have 75 different character voices, confident puppet abilities that even adults enjoy, and facial expressions you can see across the room. But even with a scratchy, tired voice, homemade "instruments" and props, I really, really love to sing, dance, and hang out with kids. In the end, I think that was worth more than if I had emptied my entire magical closet.

(Speaking of, anyone have tips for picking the lock?) :)

Amy K mentioned a program NYPL does, where you tape roads onto the floor and kids drive cars on them. I thought, how easy and fun!

When it came time to prepare for the program, I didn't have any concrete ideas for the activity stations, but I thought I'd just pull together some easy activities the morning of.

And then the morning of, I work up at 6:15am with all these activity station ideas magically planned out. The brain does crazy wacky stuff sometimes.

Why not turn it into an opportunity to talk about what different places in our community do?!

Here are the 7 stations I went with:
1. Car Dealership -- I had a few extra cars in case families forgot to bring one from home. They could choose one to take for a "test drive" instead.

2. Car Wash -- I set out a bucket of lightly soapy water, one of clean water, and some dish towels from home for kids to wash their car and dry it off.

3. Construction Site -- I put our wooden blocks out along with legal sized plain white copy paper. Grownups were instructed to wrap the blocks in paper and the kids drew buildings that they got to set out on the road system.

4. Restaurant -- I have a set of food that velcros together. Kids cut up the food to help the chef get ready for dinner.

5. Library -- Kids were supposed to practice balancing a book on their heads and walking.

6. Art Gallery -- Kids drew pictures to add to the Art Show (aka, a piece of paper saying Art Show taped to the wall).

7. Police Station -- I printed off pictures of people stealing, vandalizing property, trespassing, fighting (no blood!), and bullying. On the sign I explained that the police help keep our community safe by finding people who are making very bad choices. Sometimes these people might have a consequence like picking trash up from the road, or maybe they need special classes to learn a new way of doing things, or they might even need to take a break from our community for a while so they don't hurt themselves or anyone else. I taped the pictures around the children's area and the kids were supposed to hunt for them.

By far, the car wash, construction site, restaurant, and art gallery were the most popular stations. Several kids just really liked driving their cars around on the roads. Which is just fine too.

If/when I do this program again, here are other ideas I came up with but didn't use. The possibilities are endless!

• Fire Station -- spray bottles with water at a chalk board to put out a fire; count spots on a Dalmatian
• Grocery Store -- flannelboard sort food into a grocery cart, toys into a toy box, etc. ; relay race with toy shopping carts
• Hospital -- science exploration with thermometers; putting pretend bandaids on stuffed animals
• Park -- raking pretend leaves; hula hoops; bean bag toss; activity cube
• Coffee Shop -- coffee grounds sensory play; coffee playdough; pouring from a pitcher
• Clothing Store -- pick out clothes and dress a doll
• Recycling Center -- Recycling sort boxes; sort actual items into recycling/trash/compost
• Community Garden -- plant seeds; does this grow in the ground or on a tree game
• Gym/Fitness Center -- physical activities
• Bank -- money identification (quarter, penny, dollar bill, etc.)

Feeling inspired by the Olympics, I thought it would be fun to do an artist study of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky for Little Learners in February.

A great new picture book about him just came out, The Noisy Paint Box: the Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Mary GrandPré. This picture book biography explains how as Kandinsky painted, he heard sounds. Upon receiving a gift of paints from his aunt, he painted and painted the music he heard. His paintings were unlike anything that had been done before, so his parents enrolled him in art classes so he could learn to paint "real" things. For a while, Kandinsky did this, but eventually, the sound of the colors could not be ignored. Naming his paintings like musical compositions, he painted what he heard and felt. This new kind of art we now call abstract art.


The book would be a fun read aloud, and I think could even work in a storytime setting with older groups, but it was a bit longer than what I wanted for this program. So instead, I just talked my way through the book and showed some of the illustrations.

I also read The Rainbow Book by Kate Ohrt. Tying colors and feelings together, this book is concise and has neat die-cut illustrations. Another good option would be My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss.

Inside view

I've always enjoyed Kandinsky's brightly colored, abstract paintings, and Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles stood out as one that would be accessible for preschoolers to recreate.

I started out with a print of the Color Study on an easel. I asked the kids who they thought made it. Then I asked them what title they would give it. Then I explained about the piece, and said we were going to make our own.

I gave them 12x18 sheets of paper and we folded them in half horizontally, and in thirds vertically, so we had 6 spaces to work in.

I warned the caregivers ahead of time that this would test their patience because unless an explosion of frustration was brewing inside their little person, or their scissor skills were bordering on unsafe, I encouraged the caregivers to let the kids do all the cutting. Not only is knowing how to operate scissors an important life skill, it also builds fine motor skills and hand muscles the kids will need when they start writing. The kids cut and glued their circles into layers. (For more on children and scissors from an OT standpoint, visit the Child Association, OT Mom Learning Activities, and Parents magazine)

As we worked, I played a variety of music from classical to jazz to rock to Raffi.  Kandinsky had synesthesia and for him sound and color were linked.

Here are some of the results:


Check out these resources to build your own Kandinsky art exploration!

Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga (pg 60)
Kandinsky Concentric Circles at Pre K and K Sharing
Kandinsky and the Rainbow Art Project at Deep Space Sparkle
Going in Circles with Kandinsky at Georgetown Elementary Art Blog
Wassily Kandinsky Printing Lesson at wecreate art tutorials

Book: Elephants Can Paint Too! by Katya Arnold
I didn't read every page, but just talked about how you don't have to have a brush, or even fingers to paint. I showed them some of the pages of the elephants painting, and told them we were going to explore ways to paint without any brushes. After we shared the story, I explained what the different activities were, and the kids worked their way through the stations at their own pace. Several returned to the "No Brushes Allowed" station more than once. Blow painting was the least successful.

Station 1: Finger painting on aluminum foil
Materials:

• Aluminum foil
• Paint with dishwashing liquid mixed in

Station 2: Circle Painting*
Materials:

• Cups, jars, anything that can make a circle print
• Paint
• Paper

Station 3: "No Brushes Allowed"
Materials:

• Assorted non-brushes (Dollar Tree is your friend!)
• Paper (on a roll)
• Paint

Station 4: Blow Painting*
Materials:

• various items that sink or float
• 2 trays, labeled sink and float
• large container for water 
• water

Materials:

Song: Hey, Hey, How Do You Do

Rhyme/Song: Monster, Monster
Monster, monster, turn around (littles can roll their hands instead of turning around)
Monster, monster, touch the ground.
Monster, monster, reach up high.
Monster, monster, find your nose.
Monster, monster, touch your toes.
Monster, monster, find your knees.
Monster, monster, sit down please.

Book: Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett

Song: We Will Stomp by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael (from Yummy Yellow from the Learning Groove)
With monster puppets based on these that Lisa made.

Sing: Five Little Monsters Sleeping in My Bed
Five little monsters sleeping in my bed
One crawled out from under my spread.
I called to Mama and Mama said,
"No more monsters sleeping in your bed!"
Repeat with 4,3,2,1.
No little monsters sleeping in my bed,
None crawled out from under my spread.
I called to Mama and Mama said,
"There aren't any monsters, so go to bed!"

Song: Monster Boogie by Laurie Berkner (from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band)

Song: Monster Mash by KidzBop (from Kidzbop Halloween Hits)-- with shakers

Song: If You're a Monster and You Know It by Adrian Emberley

Song: Skinnamarink

Song: Bye, Bye, We'll Miss You

Closing Rhyme: We read a book / We sang a song / Let's blow a kiss / And say so long. (ASL for underlined words)

Song: Hey, Hey, How Do You Do

Book: The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Rebecca Emberley

Rhyme/Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (extended version)

Song: Little Red Wagon by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Yummy Yellow by The Learning Groove

Song: See the Sun by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Groovy Green by The Learning Groove

Action Rhyme: Tiny Caterpillar
There's a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle, wiggle,
There's a tiny caterpillar, a tiny caterpillar, a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle, wiggle. (Children do wiggling action for this verse).

There's a big fat caterpillar on a leaf, munch, munch etc. (Pretend to munch and eat a lot)

There's a pretty butterfly on a leaf, flutter, flutter etc. (Fluttering action)

Song: Birds in the Trees by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Groovy Green by The Learning Groove

Book: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Song: Canon in D by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Outrageous Orange

Free play: Grab and instrument and see what kinds of sounds it can make.

Song: Bye, Bye, We'll Miss You by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael

Closing Rhyme: We read a book / We sang a song / Let's blow a kiss / And say so long. (ASL signs for underlined words)