January 31, 2018 Story Time - Chinese New Year

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read

My First Chinese New Year  by Karen Katz*
Chinese New Year (The Library of Holidays)  by Leslie C. Kaplan
Bringing In the New Year  by Grace Lin*
Chinese New Year  by Rebecca Pettiford*
Chinese New Year  by Lisa J. Amstutz
PoPo's Lucky Chinese New Year  by Virginia Loh-Hagan

2018 is the year of the dog so we made a craft like this:





















Directions and a template for this craft can be found here:
https://goo.gl/QW8m2b

Extra activities
We talked about how the Chinese New Year is celebrated and that is marks the end of the long winter season and the beginning of spring. It celebrates the earth coming back to life and the beginning of the growing cycle. This is why it is also called the Spring Festival.
For Chinese people all over, the Lunar New Year is the celebration of the year, a time for happy reunions, family and friends, rich in colorful traditions and customs.
We used the Chinese Zodiac to see what animal corresponds to the year we were born.

January 24, 2018 Story Time - Polar Bears

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read

I Am A Polar Bear  by Steve Macleod*
Polar Bear Romp!  by Beatrice Costamagna
Who's Hiding with Penguin?  by Vincent Mathy*
Polar Bear Babies  by Susan Ring*
The Polar Bear  by Jenni Desmond
Little Polar Bear  by L. Rigo*
Hush Little Polar Bear  by Jeff Mack

For our craft we covered a polar bear like this one with cotton balls:

Extra activities
We shared facts about polar bears, like:
1. Their skin is actually black, even though their fur appears to be white. Their fur is actually hollow and reflects light making it appear white!
2. A boy polar bear can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds. Girl polar bears usually weigh only half that
3. Polar bears have 42 teeth, 10 more than humans do
4. Polar bear cubs are only the size of a kitten when they are born
5. Polar bears have water repellent fur due to its oily nature, which allows them to quickly shake dry after swimming

Walk Like a Bear
Papa polar bear takes BIG steps
mama bear takes medium steps
baby bear takes baby steps
brother bear hops on both feet
sister bear hops on one foot

Polar Bear, Polar Bear
Polar bear, polar bear turn around
polar bear, polar bear touch the ground
polar bear, polar bear bend down low
polar bear, polar bear touch your toe
polar bear, polar bear slide on the ice
polar bear, polar bear spin around, twice
polar bear, polar bear reach up high
polar bear, polar bear touch the sky
polar bear, polar bear turn around
polar bear, polar bear please sit down

January 17, 2018 Story Time - Penguins

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read

Penguins  by Kate Riggs*
Penguins Love Their ABC's  by Sarah Aspinall*
A Penguin Story  by Antoinette Portis
Penguins 1 2 3  by Kevin Schafer*
Penguins  by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld*
Penguin Cha-Cha  by Kristi Valiant

For our craft we made a penguin picture like the one found here:
https://goo.gl/bN9v6c







Extra activities

Two Little Penguins
Two little penguins sitting on the ice (hold up index fingers)
one bows once, the other bows twice (make fingers bow)
waddle little penguins, waddle away (put fingers behind your back)
come back penguins, time to play (bring fingers back to front)

January 10, 2018 Story Time - Whales

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read

Breathe  by Scott Magoon*
Whales and Dolphins by Peter and Connie Roop
The Best Book of Whales and Dolphins  by Christiane Gunzi
My World of Animals-Whales  by Frances E. Ruffin*
First Discovery-Whales  by Gallimard Jeunesse*
Hello, Baby Beluga  by Darrin Lunde

For our craft we colored a small whale then taped it to a craft stick to make a puppet. Each child was given a paper plate that had been cut through the middle. One half was colored blue to look like the ocean. The whale puppet could then be inserted through the slit in the plate to make it look like it was swimming in the water.

Extra activities
Have You Seen the Big Gray Whale?
(sung to "Do You Know the Muffin Man")
Have you seen the big gray whale,
the big gray whale, the big gray whale?
have you seen the big gray whale
that's swimming in the sea?

Yes, I've seen the big gray whale,
the big gray whale, the big gray whale
yes, I've seen the big gray whale
he waved his tail at me!

More verses: Have you seen the orca whale, the big blue whale, the beluga whale, etc

January 3, 2018 Story Time - Colors

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read

I Say, You Say, Colors!  by Tad Carpenter*
Looking for Colors with Lily and Milo  by Pauline Oud
I Know Colors  by Mary Rose Osburn*
The Crayons' Book of Colors  by Drew Daywalt
I Went Walking  by Sue Williams*
Magic Colors  by Patrick George*
The Madagascar Color Train  by Michele Boyd
Jane Foster's Brown Bear Color Book  by Jane Foster*


Directions for the craft can be found here:
https://goo.gl/CJtu2J

Extra activities

Colored shoes
Stomping in my red shoes, red shoes, red shoes
stomping in my red shoes, here at story time
running in my blue shoes, blue shoes, blue shoes
running in my blue shoes, here at story time
sliding in my green shoes, green shoes, green shoes
sliding in my green shoes, here at story time
twirling in my pink shoes, pink shoes, pink shoes
twirling in my pink shoes, here at story time
sitting in my white shoes, white shoes, white shoes
sitting in my white shoes, here at story time

Little mouse, little mouse
(I hid a paper mouse under a colored house and the children had to guess which colored house the mouse was hiding under). Each time we searched we said:
Little mouse, little mouse, are you in the RED house?
(we repeated with blue, green, orange, purple, pink and yellow houses)