Unfortunately, we are going to have to limit attendance next week to 45 or 50 kids, because there were just too many to do these activities smoothly. 64 kids 5 babies 52 adults 121 total I don't know if there is any rain in the forecast, but it is officially monsoon season in Arizona so we celebrated it with a rain theme. Rhymes (skipped the "Good Morning" song since it was going to be a very active storytime) "Come Under My Umbrella" Watch video of song here Come under my umbrella, umbrella, umbrella (make umbrella with hands above head) Come under my umbrella It's starting to rain (fingers wiggle moving downward) With thunder and lightning (clap and spread arms above head) and thunder and lightning Come under my umbrella It's starting to rain "Rain is Falling Down" Rain is falling down (wiggle fingers moving downward) Rain is falling down Pitter patter, pitter patter (clap hands gently) Rain is falling down.... SPLASH! (clap above head) "Itsy Bitsy Spider" Books: The Thingamabob by Il Sung Na: An elephant finds a "thingamabob" and experiments until he discovers what to do with it. If you have an umbrella, it's fun to OPEN it unexpectedly when reading about how the thingamabob sometimes surprised the elephant. Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle: It's a mad dash for shelter as rain sweeps into an urban neighborhood. The subway is a perfect place to go for shelter. I previously read this book with group of kiddos (ages 3-5) letting them use rhythm stick to tap together whenever I read, "Tap, tap," and tap above their heads whenever I read, "Boom, boom," - which comes up often. They quietly held the sticks while I was reading and waited for their cue. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN in my group today. The kids were banging incessantly while I read even though I stopped a couple of times and asked parents for their help. I had to stop this activity, collect the sticks, and read The Big Storm by Nancy Tafuri instead. Movement Songs: Here is Sara, a teen volunteer, working hard to put a scarf and a long piece of string into 55 bags (yes, we ran out) to use in our movement activities today: "Mud Puddle Jump" Listen here The kids used their pieces of yarn to form a mud puddle in which to walk around, jump into, splash in, and shake the water off. "The Ants Go Marching" I always play a little of this video so the kids understand what the song is about before we march like ants using our scarves as umbrellas: Ending Activity: Make a rainstorm using your hands. I tell an Arizona monsoon version of this activity. It's really cool if you actually listen to what's going on: http://bronxriver.org/puma/images/usersubmitted/file/015_CreateARainstorm.pdf Evening Family Storytime: I decided not to try the Tap Tap Boom Boom book in the evening since there are often many little guys there and read The Big Storm by Nancy Tafuri instead. The lovely Miss Erica helped bring this story to life by puppeteering the critters who scamper out of the rain into shelter while I read the book. The two bears were in the back of the "cave" the whole time but no one seemed to notice so it was a fun surprise when they came out at the end of the book: Miss Erica (fantastic, creative librarian that she is!): Check out this week's full Flannel Friday Roundup. Thanks for hosting, Hannah at Lovin' the Library! Flannel Friday Roundups on Pinterest
This storytime was for a preschool-aged group at my library. Today's storytime was brought to you by the letter "U." So on the board when the kids walked in was: Read Aloud Books One Big Pair of UnderwearWritten by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld There's one pair of underwear, but two bears. Or only two salty snacks, but three yaks. This counting book has amazing rhymes and teaches all about sharing. This was a great book to start with because it is on the longer side, but I'm glad it teaches more of a lesson instead of just looking at underwear. Of course, the kids just laughed and laughed at the size of underwear... Polar Bear's UnderwearWritten and illustrated by Tupela Tupela Polar Bear can't find his underwear. So his friend mouse has decided to help him. They certainly find a lot of other animal's underwear, but Polar Bear's is a mystery. This one definitely incited a LOT of giggles and, of course, Polar Bear was the star of my flannel and craft (see below). So needless to say, I enjoyed this book. And so did the kids and parents. Vegetables in UnderwearWritten and illustrated by Jared Chapman Different vegetables in all different kids of underwear. I actually ran out of time before I read this one since I spent so much time on the flannel, but I wasn't heartbroken about it. It would be another giggly one, though, for sure. Songs & Rhymes Hello Song Song: The Grand Old Duke of York Oh the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men. He marched them up to the top of the hill And he marched them down again. And when they were up, they were up. And when they were down, they were down. And when they were only halfway up, They were neither up nor down! Fingerplay: Opposites Up and down, round and round put your fingers on the ground. Over, under, in between-- Now my fingers can't be seen! Hands in front, hands behind, now my hands I cannot find. Here's my left hand, here's my right, Hands and fingers back in sight Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees and UNDERWEAR! Head, shoulders, knees and UNDERWEAR! Head, shoulders, knees and UNDERWEAR! Eyes and ears and mouth and UNDERWEAR! Head, shoulders, knees and UNDERWEAR! Goodbye Song Games & Activities Flannel: Polar Bear's Underwear Polar Bear has just done a wash with ALL of his underwear in all its colorful glory. I asked for volunteers and went around to the kids so they could pull out one pair of underwear from my handy-dandy washing machine prop (I built mine from foam core, but you could just use a tissue box or the like). Then we helped Polar Bear by organizing by color. I called out each color and whoever had that color of underwear would put it on the board... I then asked questions like, "What color does he have the most of?" "What color does he have the least of?" and we counted to make sure. Then, to be extra helpful (after giving Polar Bear a pair to wear), we planned his week for him. First we did a different color for every day. Then, we practiced patterns. "If Polar Bear where's purple on Sunday, then red on Monday, what will he wear Tuesday to repeat the pattern?" and so forth. Math questions are a great way to get kids ready for school and ready to learn. Any kids who didn't get a turn pulling out a pair initially helped me during play time at the end. It was a long flannel, and you could certainly just do one or the other (organizing or planning). But we just had so much fun with it! Craft: Unique Underwear From Polar Bear's publisher, I found some activity sheets to use for our craft. I had the kids design their own unique pair of underwear for Polar Bear with crayons, stickers, and glitter glue. There were some pretty cute creations! Other Book Ideas Aliens Love UnderpantsWritten by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort (Freedman has a whole series of underpants books!) The Underpants Zoo Written and illustrated by Brian Sendelbach The Underwear Book Written and illustrated by Todd Parr
After way too many Christmas posts, I'm finally back to writing about homeschool stuff (although you shouldn't assume Christmas p...
If you ask my kids what my favorite animal is, my youngest will answer that my favorite mythical creature is a dragon and my favorite real animal is a rabbit. I love that he makes that distinction and that he knows how much I love dragons! Because of that love, I am sharing a dragon […]
This free collection of resources is designed to accompany the reading of You Should Meet Katherine Johnson
You can get all the details and the free printables HERE.
Printable alliteration activity for literacy centers, group lessons. Use them in small group to work on phonological awareness skills.
Looking to build a unit about owls? Check out these owl activities for preschool and kindergarten. There are a lot of ideas to choose from.
Free inspirational posters and motivational quotes for teachers. Colorful posters for teachers with motivating quotes.
Unlock the world of early math skills with our collection of fun and engaging measurement activities for preschoolers, designed to spark curiosity and build a strong foundation for future mathematical learning.
Read aloud is a great addition to any homeschool. You don't have to do all the reading yourself, but use audiobooks instead.
Monster Week has been filled with fun activities! So far we've done Mess Free Monster Painting and a Feed the Monster Game. We loved doing this simple disappearing alphabet letters activity shared by No Time for Flashcards so
Storytelling for Kids! Try this hands-on class for your homeschool co-op.
Crafts are a great way to visualize stories! In the classroom or homeschool, use these 25+ crafts that were inspired by children's books!
Hands-on unit study to learn about the human body along with a human body lapbook.
If you want to begin teaching diversity to young kids, then you will definitely want to check out these crafts and activities that are fun and hands-on!
Need inspiration for hosting poetry teatime with your homeschool group? I've got a year of homeschool co-op poetry teatime themes waiting for you here!
Make a fake lung in this easy science activity using a plastic bottle, balloon, play dough and a straw to find out how lungs work.
Fabulous open-ended kids process art project.Yarn art is all about the fun, messy hands, the freedom to create. A great art project for preschoolers!
This fresh from the farmyard paper plate chicken craft is not only super cute but it’s also super easy to make too!
Learn why the preschool ages is the best time to start music and movement activities with your young children, and how to do it.
These indoor and outdoor group games for preschoolers are simple, fun and educational. Build social skills while having fun.
Teach the kids how plants grow with this DIY Sandwich Bag Green House kids activity. All you need is a bean or seed, paper towel and a ziplock baggie. We have an awesome printable greenhouse and worksheet set to go along with it to make it an educational learning lesson for the kids if you want to.
A blog for primary teachers that offers ideas, inspiration, classroom resources and freebies!
Are you looking to keep a large group of kids busy? We have the best activities you can do in class or at home with a large group of kids.
Reading level measurements aren't perfect and neither are the conversions but as a general guide, it's a handy tool to keep around.
For the culminating activity for my first grade girls group with the goal to identify qualities of positive friends I adapted the idea I saw on Pinterest. I cut out clouds, wrote each girls name in a cloud, and precut the rays in rainbow colors. At the beginning of the session we reviewed positive qualities we had covered in previous sessions and I wrote them on the white board. Then I gave each girls her set of materials and told them to write 5 positive qualities they have now (red-blue) and on the two purple strips (representing indigo and violet) they think about and write 2 they still need to work on after the group. I was very impressed with their discussion of which ones they already have, including checking for feedback with fellow members, and which ones should be goals for the future. They loved the activity and were eager to take it home with them to share with family. This could be adapted for a classroom lesson in first or second grade.
We spent the last two weeks learning about animal classification. This all came about last year when we were doing our rain forest animal reports. Many of
Free printable Bible lesson on the Battle of Jericho. Learn about Rahab and Joshua through Games, Crafts, Activities, songs, lesson, worksheets and more.
This perfectly simple preschool game about colors requires no prep, gets kids moving, and helps them practice colors and counting skills.
Students can color each of the characters, cut out the cards, and use these to retell the story Are You My Mother? You can also print the larger characters and attach them to popsicle sticks for students to retell the story whole group or in your library center. I have also added a sequencing sheet.
Are you looking to inspire your pre- or beginning writers to learn about subjects that interest them? Here's an easy way for your youngest students to create a small book style report that they can use to show what they've learned.
It's all good.
Storytimes open a new world of possibilities for children by encouraging a love for books and reading. Create your own storytime – anytime you want – with these charming books and activity sheets for kids! And don’t forget to check out our Ten Tips For A Successful Storytime below! By Character Fresh & New By […]
