Remembering some happier times today! Here’s a recent pre-pandemic baby storytime plan: Have you ever noticed how many bug books contain concepts like colors and sizes? Me either – unti…

Two weeks ago, I did my afternoon storytime for 3-7 year olds. I really love this storytime, but in particular this week was amazing. The amazing theme of bugs was a gigantic thumbs-up across the b…

These hands-on farm activities for preschoolers will be loved by toddlers kindergarteners too. Includes math and literacy activities.

Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for learning about bugs: insects and spiders Find more Bug Activities for Pre-K Books Check here for a complete list of

Recently my grandma asked on facebook if anyone would like “lots of colorful yarn and pieces of felt.” Yes! Sign me up for that one! I don’t know why I assumed it would just be a …

This storytime was for a preschool-aged group at my library. Today's storytime is brought to you by the letter 'B'. So, on the board when the kids walked in was: Read Aloud Books TelephoneWritten by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jen Corace Momma bird simply wants all the birds sitting on the telephone wire to pass the message down that Peter needs to come home for dinner. But each bird hears something slightly different. This book is pretty hilarious, even for the kids that have never played the game "Telephone." They just thought it was silly how each bird had their own take on the message. The parents were laughing quite a bit, too. FroodleWritten and illustrated by Antoinette Portis Every day it's the same. The birds say "Caw!" or "Coo!" or "Peep!" But Brown Bird is tired of it. He's going to try something new, even if the others aren't so sure. This book is really fun to read aloud because of all the silly things the birds start to say. For some reason, though, the kids didn't seem as amused as I thought they would be. Shh! We Have a PlanWritten and illustrated by Chris Haughton Look at the beautiful birdie! These three guys have a plan to catch it. But maybe the fourth guy is the one with the right idea. So, the funny thing about reading this book is the amount of times you read, "SHH!" The kids were extra quiet for this one! What, with it sounding like I was shushing them all the time. Ha! I think they still liked it. It makes for some good follow-along actions, too. Songs & Rhymes Hello Song Action Rhyme: Little Bird, Little Bird Little birds, little birds, jump up and down Little birds, little birds, don’t make a sound Little birds, little birds, tip-toe, tip-toe Little birds, little birds, fly down low Little birds, little birds, peep, peep, peep Little birds, little birds, sleep, sleep, sleep Little birds, little birds, bend your knees Little birds, little birds, sit down please (inspired by Greatest Resource Child Care) Fingerplay: Two Little Dickey Birds Two little dickey birds sitting on a wall (index fingers of both hands in front of you) One named Peter, the other named Paul (wiggle one finger, then the other) Fly away Peter! Fly away Paul! (fly one hand behind your back, then the other) Come back Peter! Come back Paul! (bring back one hand, then the other) …sitting on a cloud, one named Soft the other named Loud… …sitting down low, one named Fast and the other named SLOWWWW... …sitting on a lily, one named Serious, the other named Silly... (These last verses are super fun for the kids: e.g. making your finger silly) Song: We Shake Our Eggs Together (to sing with egg shakers) We shake our eggs together We shake our eggs together We shake our eggs together Because it's fun to do! We shake them up high We shake them down low We shake them in the middle Song: Rockin' Robin (we danced all around with our egg shakers!) Goodbye Song Games & Activities Felt: Bird Houses The inspiration for this idea came from all sorts of places, specifically what was on Flannel Friday's Bird pin board. But what I did differently with mine was to make sure that it was purely based on shape-matching (not color-matching) so that my preschoolers had a challenge. Here's mine: So the houses are all the same; the kids can only match the birds and houses by shape. (However, the roof pieces are removable and, if in the future I change my mind, they can color-coordinate with the birds.) Basically, I put the houses up first and had the kids name all the shapes (you should have seen the super intelligent kid who was so excited to yell, "TRAPEZOID!" when no one else knew it). Then I put the birds up and had the kids tell me which color bird went with which shape of house. Game: Baby Bird, Baby Bird, Where Do You Hide? Initially used for Easter, it worked well for the bird theme, too. Baby bird, baby bird, where do you hide? Are you in the (color) egg? Let's peek inside! Craft: Bird Feeders Thanks to Sunflower Storytime for this idea. The kids got to work on their fine motor skills and string Cheerios on the pipe cleaners. They could twist theirs into whichever shape, but I did mine as a 'B' for birdfeeder (a lot of kids ended up making the first letter of their name, which was adorable). Then they're ready to hang outside! Other Book Ideas Make Way for DucklingsWritten and illustrated by Robert McCloskey Hoot Owl, Master of DisguiseWritten by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien Click, Clack, Peep!Written by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin BirdsWritten and illustrated by Kevin Henkes

I started presenting in 1998 at a conference in Atlanta, GA with my friend Wendy Gilstrap ! A few wrinkles, a little more gray hair, and a ...

Birdsong by Ellie Sandall The illustrations are so beautiful I had to create a flannel to make them bigger for the kids to see. Unfortunately, my camera phone doesn't do justice to the bright flannel colors I used.

This is 10 Supercute FREE Amigurumi Dog Crochet Patterns that's easy to follow and very beginner friendly! These patterns are perfect for every child and will be their best friend! Most of the patterns use a soft yarn that's perfect for a baby to cuddle with the dog. These Dog patterns are some of my

Worms Up! It's the code worm. No matter where you say it, you know that you'll be heard. W.O.R.M. Up! There are all kinds of baby rhymes: tickles, bounces, fingerplays, peek-a-boo... "Worms Up" is an example from the genre "Baby Biting Rhymes." No one knows why caregivers like to bite babies...just make sure you don't draw blood. First, wiggle index finger to get baby's attention Worms up, worms down, hold opposite arm horizontal while moving worm finger above and then under arm Worms up, worms down, Worms up, worms down, Worms are hiding in the ground! wiggle finger under arm Worms down, worms up, hold opposite arm horizontal while moving worm finger under and then over arm Worms down, worms up, Worms down, worms up, Watch out birds will eat you up! pretend to bite finger and/or baby I found this rhyme on the KCLS Tell Me a Story database. Thanks to Wendy at Flannel Board Fun for hosting:

This week’s Flannel Friday is a special one because Seth wrote it, and I made it! I got the idea that I wanted caterpillars to be transformed into butterflies and asked him to write it for m…

This flannel set is based on the board book Hatch by Katie Cox. Though this book is completely appropriate for preschool, my Wiggleworms group has decided that board books are for babies. The book …

I always loved beginning a unit with Roxie Heart. When she visited our class with her new Ant dress she gave the children lots of information about insects. She even had an “ant egg” i…

Using clothespins to hang the laundry might be boring but making clothspin crafts, especially these bugs clothespin puppets is insanely fun. These lovely little creatures will bring a smile on your child face and are

This Wind in the Willows inspired felt baby mobile will be a lovely addition to your nursery decor or would become a perfect baby shower gift! Perfect cot mobile for boys and girls, it brings to life one of our favorite childhood stories. This needle felted baby mobile woodland features Toad, Badger, Mole and Rat caracters. There is canoe as a centerpiece, dragonflies and water lilies above caracters, which emphasize the river theme. The baby mobile felt details are handcrafted with 100% merino wool in needle felting technique, no internal frame or wire. The production process takes many hours and each felt sculpture is created without a pattern. Each figurine is unique, there will never be another quite like yours. Feel free to contact me if you would like to change something in the design of this cot mobile or the color scheme. I would be happy to create a special custom mobile for you! BABY CRIB MOBILE SIZE: Wood frame - 11,8 x 11,8 inches ( 30x30 cm) The total high of the mobile, from the wood frame to the bottom line is 11,8 inch ( 30cm). Each animal is approx. 3 inches tall. PRODUCTION TIME: All mobiles in my shop are made-to-order. The approximate production time is 2-3 weeks. You can check the estimated delivery window in the listing. SHIPPING: The shipping usually takes about 2-3 weeks (depending on country). IMPORTANT: This item is for decorative purposes only and should be hung out of a baby's reach. Once your baby is able to sit up, mobiles should be removed or moved higher.

Here's a quick easy filefolder rhyme to use as a color recognition activity. I traced the bird shape on the filefolder and cut it out. I added white paper cloud shapes and a brown construction paper branch before I laminated the folder. Then I traced the features on the lamination with a Sharpie. The cloud shapes could just as easily be green and be leaves. I've had this rhyme a long time and can't remember where I originally found it. This activity covers two of the ECRR components: Talking and Playing. I have another bird post here with some cute finger puppets. Color Birds Blue bird, blue bird, High in a tree, How many blue things can you see? Repeat for other colors. Talk about the objects in the room or outside the window or on the children's clothing, or even other things that the children know is that color. Pretty Color Birds are so much Fun With Friends at Storytime! There are more great posts on the Flannel Friday Roundup this week. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. If you want more info about Flannel Friday here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog.

Kids will be WOWED with this hands-on, fall science experiment where they will explore Why do Leaves Change Color for kids! Fun Leaf Activity!

Healthy high-protein vegan recipes packed with veggies for plant-based diets. Easy for beginners, perfect for mealtime madness.

I need to have this quilt finished fast, the wedding is next week! I was set back a bit with that nasty, no good, very bad, terrible flu! I ached and spiked a fever for ten days before I finally began to feel it would go away! So last Thursday I ventured out for the first time in 10 days and have been trying to catch up ever since. The couple for whom I make the quilt has a mid century modern style home/decor and this design seems to fit that. Here you can find details of the inspiration for my quilt. Suzy's free quilt pattern is only 58"x64" and I need a queen size about 95" square. Also I only have three colors requested by the couple, navy, gold and white, so I had to do a lot of math! Here is my version ready to go on the longarm. So I needed to add two rows across and two rows down. Adding up all the different fabrics that outline the center I then added about one third more of the the navy strips, the same with the white and the gold. I had ordered five yards each of navy and white and two yards of the gold for the centers and it is enough and then some with navy for binding. Now on the longarm. At first I planned to quilt it very modern a la Angela Walters but as I studied the finished top, more and more I wanted something clean and simple. I looked through a lot of designs and finally settled on the last design I did, clamshell, but this time right way up! It is pleasing to my eye, non fussy and perfect for a platform bed where it will be tucked under the mattress. With any "luck" at all I may get it all quilted tomorrow after the gym.

This classic pot pie recipe is loaded with veggies for a delicious dish that can easily be made vegan and gluten-free.

A couple of years ago I saw this post from In The Children's Room for the song, 'The Green Grass Grew All Around'. I loved the song and the idea! Here's a Youtube link for a longer version of the song. I set to work to make my version of each of the flannel pieces so that we could sing this fun song! I told the kiddos to pretend they saw the tree and then added the branch, nest, egg with bird, feather and flea. My nest has pieces of rafia and string glued to it. I used a feather with a piece of purple felt glued to the back. I used this with a bird theme but you could also do it with a theme about trees or homes! This was a lot of Fun with Friends at Storytime! There are more great ideas on the Flannel Friday Roundup. Check out the wonderful resources on the Flannel Friday Pinterest Boards. Here's the link for the official Flannel Friday blog for more info!

I cannot resist the dollar section of Target. It calls to me. It whispers my name. Lately for good reason- every season they have AMAZING felt pieces! I’ve scored candy canes, snowmen, cats, …

Zucchinipuffer kalorienarm, gesund und fettarm zubereiten, damit sie sich zum Abnehmen eignen? Kein Problem! Unser Zucchini Puffer Rezept erfüllt genau diese Ansprüche und ist trotzdem ein mega leckeres Mittag- oder Abendessen.

To wrap up our animal unit, we learned all about insects and life cycles! I used activities from my Insect/Life cycle unit if you are interested! We had already learned about insects back in kindergarten so we reviewed insects and did a sort in our science journals. The kids remembered lots of great characteristics such as six legs, three body parts, lays eggs, etc. They also remembered that a spider is not an insect! We then read books on insects and learned facts about different insects we were interested in. The kids then wrote 2 or 3 facts in their own insect books. They really enjoyed going to our classroom library to read insect books to use to find facts. Yay for research! :) To move on to life cycles, we started with the life cycle of a butterfly. In their science journals the kids illustrated the missing stage (pupa) and labeled all the stages. We also talked about the life cycle of a frog and did a similar activity but I forgot to take a picture! :) After talking about animal life cycles, we talked about how we have a life cycle also. The kids illustrated their own "I Grow and Change" books: At the beginning of the second week of our unit, I sent home a note asking parents to send in three pictures with their student (one of their child as a baby, one of them as a toddler and one of them now). I even showed them baby/toddler/kid pictures of myself and they LOVED THEM! I included some below so you could see :) I was so cute....what happened?? haha :) On Thursday, we used these pictures to write stories of what we were like at each stage of our life. The kids wrote what they looked like and could do at each age and drew a picture of the photograph they brought. Then they wrote a story about that time in their life. Here are a few examples: The kids really enjoyed learning about life cycles! We raised caterpillars last year so I didn't do it again....I wish I had taken pictures! I will try to remember to do that next year! :) We are about done with our Texas unit so I will have that up soon! And believe it or not we only have 9 school days left so we are right in the middle of our countdown to summer fun! Stay tuned for pictures!

Spaghetti alla Nerano ist ein italienisches Pasta Rezept mit Zucchini, das ziemlich einfach zubereitet ist! Perfektes Rezept für die Zucchini Saison!

Preschool songs are great for developing phonological awareness. I'm a Hungry Spider helps to build rhyming skills!

This storytime was a for a combined toddler and preschool-aged group at my library. We had some special guests for our storytime: exterminators! Read Aloud Books Bugs GaloreWritten by Peter Stein, illustrated by Bob Staake True to its title, it's bugs galore! All things that creep, slither, stick, flutter, and buzz. This was our guests' book of choice and was a great way to talk about all different kinds of bugs. They let the kids identify the bug on each page and then gave a little bit of supplemental information. I Love BugsWritten and illustrated by Emma Dodd A backyard bug safari! One little boy explores all of his favorite bugs. Sadly, we did not get to this one due to time, but is great for talking about safe bugs (like ladybugs!). Special Guests Some friendly, neighborhood exterminators came to storytime today to talk about bugs! They read a book and talked to the kids about which bugs were especially dangerous (e.g. the smaller the scorpion, the more venom) and which were helpful (e.g. crane flies eat mosquitoes--don't kill them). They also brought some examples along, of course... Scorpions on the left and a tarantula on the right (which you can see if you look closely in the cage, directly above that kid's elbow). They also showed the kids what scorpions look like under a black light--because they glow! The kids were totally engrossed. And some might have just been plain grossed out. Games & Activities Game: Bug Catcher This game was played afterwards, along with the craft. Each child would get a jar with the goal of catching six bugs. The way to catch them? Rolling the dice to see which color bug they could glue onto their paper. The dice we made with just some wooden cubes you find at the craft store. We got the idea and printables from Picklebums (though we made our jars a bit smaller). Craft: Bug hats And here I have my lovely coworker, Jenny, modeling our bug hats. Quite simply, the kids got to glue some eyes to a strip of paper, attach some pipe cleaner antennae, and buzz to their hearts' content. Songs & Rhymes Ideas Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider Song: The Ants Go Marching Song: Baby Bumblebee Rhyme: Bumblebee, Bumblebee Bumblebee, Bumblebee buzzing all around Bumblebee, Bumblebee buzzing on the ground Bumblebee, Bumblebee buzzing up so high Bumblebee, Bumblebee buzzing in the sky Bumblebee, Bumblebee buzzing past your toes Bumblebee, Bumblebee buzzing on your nose Other Book Ideas The Very Busy SpiderWritten and illustrated by Eric Carle Aaaarrgghh! Spider!Written and illustrated by Lydia Monks Ten Little CaterpillarsWritten by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!Written and illustrated by Bob Barner

Make the most of season with this surprisingly simple and delicious Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce. This sauce is delicious on pasta, sandwiches and pizza!

This eel sauce is perfect for dipping in sushi or using as a marinade for fish or chicken.

Use this free All About Me printable book to practice early literacy skills during preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten all about me theme.

Für Jamie Olivers Kultrezept brauchen Sie nur 3 Minuten. Die Tomatensoße passt zu allen Nudeln

This is my favorite peanut sauce recipe. It is made with just 6 key ingredients, and it is a great dipping sauce or dressing for salads.

With just a few simple ingredients, you can create beautiful and delicious charcuterie boards for beginners that everyone will love.

These cold lunch ideas for working man require no microwave or fridge. Packing a lunch can save money and be healthier for your construction worker husband.

Oven Roasted Asparagus Recipe – Looking for the perfect side dish? The roasted asparagus Recipe is the perfect springtime side dish, whether for brunch or dinner. Our garlic parmesan roasted …