Catch the Possibilities

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

I really can't take any credit for this week's Flannel Friday. But in case some of you are newer members of the group and didn't get to see this idea when Melissa posted it originally... check out her 5 Little Nails post, which links to where she explains how to make this style of prop on her blog.

I emailed her posts to one of our information assistants who's got a great eye for paper engineering (she's an origami guru too!) and asked her if she'd be willing to monkey around with this idea. I've talked a bunch about different projects I've created using cardboard I saved from the boxes our rolls of RFID tags came in, and this is no exception. The tubes used in the boxes are wider and a bit shorter than a paper towel tube, but it worked just fine.


I had the kids make a fist with one hand and pound it into the palm of the other as I twisted the nail around during the rhyme. They got really excited about that.

Books:




ECRR2 Activities:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

In all honesty, I never actually did this Letter L storytime. We had some bad weather, so I read a few llama books to keep us on schedule to end at the right time, but mostly just re-did the Letter K storytime from the previous week.

Books:


ECRR2 Activities:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

I'm in the process, thanks to some donation money, of updating our storytime kits. Storytime kits include books, music, flannel boards, props, puppets, and activity sheets that correspond to a specific theme. Kits are marketed toward daycare providers & parents as a way to do "storytime at home."  Most were created in the early 1990s, so the donation money is allowing me to completely update and refresh them!

For flannels in the winter kit, I've made the 5 Little Snowflakes and this Snowman Glove, which will work with any of your favorite "10 Little" or "5 Little" snowpeople rhymes.

Stretchy gloves like the ones I used are in abundance in the Midwest right now, and cheap. I purchased a set of two pairs for $1.50 at Target during the holidays. Are these accessible in warmer climates?

Snowmen are made with my new favorite sparkly glitter felt, with felt scarves and noses. Eyes and buttons were drawn on with a permanent marker.

I attached the snowmen to the gloves using Tacky glue. We'll see how well it stands up to repeated circulation, but I was hesitant to pull out the hot glue gun for this one (as the directions suggest). I glued the pieces together, laid the glove on my desk, and shoved pencils and pens into each of the finger holes to keep the fronts and backs from sticking together.

Enjoy!

Books:
Mountain of Mittens didn't come in on time, so we just read the first two. I would normally have picked a different book to sub, but I was out Wed-Monday with a pair of sprained ankles!



ECRR2 Activities:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing) [Just ran out of time today!]

Books:




ECRR2 Activities:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing) [Just ran out of time today!]

Books:
We read all the books today! Yay!




ECRR2 Activities:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing) [Just ran out of time today!]

Books:
We read all the books today! Yay!




ECRR2 Activities:

• Put Talk about letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing Talking & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing) There were 40 people at storytime today. Not enough boards to cover that!

Music & Movement: Stop and Go
October 3rd, 10:15 and 11am

As this was the first class in a new session, I always include a short little speech about who I am, why I do these classes, and what I expect.

Opening Song: Glad to See You by Peter and Ellen Allard
"When I'm glad to see all of you, I like to clap my hands, stamp my feet, I especially like to shake my hips (wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!), I even like to nod my head, and then I like to see how many times I can blink my eyes (or open and close your hands)."

Parent Piece: We're going to work on active listening in the next couple sessions. Musicians learn, by listening, to anticipate changes in music, and to learn something called "phrasing," which has to do with playing or creating music with expression. This is similar to reading; once a child has a rudimentary grasp of words, we begin to coach them to read with expression, using clues from punctuation and the meaning of words to alter their pitch and pacing so they don't sound like little robots.

I brought out a stoplight prop made by the previous children's librarian from tagboard. We talked about each color and what adults do when they see the different colors when they are driving.

Learn: Green Says Go from Toddler Storytime
Green says, "Go" (march quickly)
Go! Go! Go!
Yellow says, "Slow!" (march slowly)
Slow...slow...slow.
And red says, "Stop!" (stop and freeze)
Go! Go! Go! (march fast)
Slow...slow...slow (march slow)
and STOP! (stop)

Song: "Beep Beep (Blue Danube Waltz)" by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Bouncy Blue from the Learning Groove. I handed out steering wheel props and we drove and beeped our way through.

Picture Book: Red Light, Green Light by Anastasia Suen.

I made Stop and Go paddles created by Library Quine (thank you!) and passed one of each out to all the kids. We used them for an action rhyme and a song.






Learn: I Have a Little Bicycle from Library Quine
I have a little bicycle (cycling motion with hands)
I got it at the shop.
And when I see that big red sign,
I know it's time to STOP! (hold palm out in front with Stop paddle, and a bit of a shout)

I have a little bicycle (cycling motion with hands)
I ride it to and fro.
And when I see a big green sign,
I know its time to Go, Go, Go! (jumping up and down with the Go paddle)

Learn: Sleeping, Sleeping, All the Kids are Sleeping adapted from Your Therapy Source
All the kids pretended to sleep. I sang with the caregivers (to the tune of Frere Jacques) "Sleeping, sleeping, all the kids are sleeping (repeat). Then I said "And when they woke up, they were.... " and picked silly things like chickens, cows, monkeys, and race cars.

Song: "Stop and Go" by Greg & Steve from Shake, Rattle, and Roll 

Parent Piece: Games and songs like the ones we've been sharing today are not only great for building active listening skills, but also for practing self control. It is hard to stop dancing and jumping when the music does! Practicing listening as well as "stopping and going" in fun ways will help your child learn when it is okay to "go, go, go," and when it is time to "stop, stop, stop."

Activity: Have the kids sit in the middle of a parachute as close together as possible. (I was prepared to do two circles, one with bigger kids on our large chute, and one with babes and tots on our small chute). Have the caregivers say or sing-song "shake and shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, and STOP!" as you shake the chute and stop. When I did this, I then turned the tables and asked the kids to tell us when to stop and go.
Several variations of this activity can be found on the Internet.

Closing Rhyme: (borrowed from the librarians at the Ames Public Library)
We read a book / We sang a song / Let's blow a kiss / And say so long.
Teach sign language for book & song, mimic blowing a kiss, wave for so long.

I held my first preschool dance party on Wednesday this week. Thanks to Cate's descriptive series of posts, planning was a cinch!

Here's the playlist I used:

1. Hello Hello by Miss Nina from Singing & Dancing Together
2. Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi from More Singable Songs
3. Shake It Up by Milkshake from Great Day
4. I Know a Chicken by Laurie Berkner from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band
5. I Can Shake My Shaker Egg (In the Hall of the Mountain King) by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Rockin' Red From The Learning Groove
6. Clap Your Hands by They Might Be Giants from Here Come the ABCs
7. All Together Now by Mflp Band from All Together Now
8. Watch Us Work It by Devo from Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome! Volume 3
9. High Fives by Yo Gabba Gabba from Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome! Volume 2
10. Five Little Monkeys by Go Fish from Party Like a Preschooler (M)
11. Octopus's Garden by The Beatles from Abbey Road (P)
12. Hot Poppin' Popcorn by The Wiggles from Hot Poppin' Popcorn (P)
13. Splish Splash by Bobby Darin (B)
14. Bubbles by Yo Gabba Gabba from Yo Gabba Gabba: Music is Awesome! (B)
15. Statues by Georgiana Stewart from Action Songs for Preschoolers (a Treasury of Fun!)
16. Hi, Ho, the Rattlin' Bog by The Nields from All Together Singing in the Kitchen
17. Shoes: Farewell, My Pants by The Nields from All Together Singing in the Kitchen
18. Sometimes I Like to Scream by Dino 5 from Baby Loves Hip Hop Presents the Dino 5
19. Shake It Off! by Uncle Rock from The Big Picture
20. A Monster Goes Rrraargh! by ScribbleMonster & His Pals from Best of Friends
21. Jump Jump by Genevieve Goings from Choo Choo Soul
22. Dizzy by Lunch Money from Dizzy
23. Hula Mula by The Happy Hatters from Exercise Party
24. I've Got Rhythm by Splash 'N Boots from Exercise Party
25. The Hokey Pokey by Dan Zanes & Friends from Family Dance
26. Come on Let's Hop by Big Giants from Fee, Fi, Fo, Fun!
27. The Crazy Dance by Go Fish from Party Like a Preschooler
28. Goodbye Song by Yo Gabba Gabba featuring Jack Black from Yo Gabba Gabba Music is Awesome! Volume 2

This set list clocks in at exactly one hour. I set out a bucket of egg shakers/maracas, bean bags, a pile of homemade ribbon things, a couple hula hoops, a couple balls, my five monkeys playset (M) and also brought out bubbles (B) and the parachute (P) during certain songs. I had a small crew-- just 3 littles and their caregivers, but the kids kept their attention the entire hour, which was pretty impressive. I was expecting things to fall apart much sooner than they did.

I've got another scheduled for early December, and I hope it catches on. It is such an easy program to host and the kids and caregivers who did come had a great time! I forgot to snap a photo before the destruction, but here's an action shot from midway through. That pile of blue are the homemade ribbon things I mentioned earlier.