March 18, 2015 Story Time - Colors - Orange

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

*marks the books we read

Monsters Love Colors  by Mike Austin*
It's an Orange Aardvark!  by Michael Hall
Colors in Nature - Orange  by Martha E. H. Rustad*
Armadillo's Orange  by Jim Arnosky
Orange Food Fun  by Lisa Bullard*
Orange Pear Apple Bear  by Emily Gravett
Orange - Seeing Orange All Around Us  by Sarah L. Schuette*
Colors - Orange  by Sharon Gordon

For our craft we tore orange strips of paper and put them in an icing bag then tied that off with green ribbon to make a carrot

Extra activities:

We sang and danced the Hokey Pokey with different colored shapes
You put your green shamrock in, you take your green shamrock out
you put your green shamrock in, and you shake it all about
you do the color Polka and then turn yourself around
that's what it's all about (then we threw our green shamrocks in the air)
(we repeated with red apple, orange pumpkin, blue snowflake and yellow chick)

Sensory activity:

Children were given a zip lock bag with ketchup and mustard in it. They were encouraged to mush the bag around to see what color they would get by mixing the red ketchup and the yellow mustard together

March 11, 2015 Story Time - Colors - Green

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

*marks the books we read

Nighty Night, Little Green Monster  by Ed Emberley*
Green Shamrocks  by Eve Bunting
Teeny, Tiny Mouse a Book About Colors  by Laura Leuck*
Green  by Patricia M. Stockland
It's St. Patrick's Day  by Rebecca Gomez*
Green  by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Where is the Green Sheep?  by Mem Fox*
Green Food Fun  by Lisa Bullard*

For our craft we colored sheep shapes and glued them on a craft stick to make a puppet

Extra activities:
Five Green Apples
Five green apples hanging in a tree
the juiciest apples you ever did see
the wind came by
and gave an angry frown
and one little apple came tumbling down
(repeat with four, three, two, etc)

We sang along with Raffi to "Five Green and Speckled Frogs"

We played Hokey Pokey with different colored shapes
You put your green shamrock in, you take your green shamrock out
you put your green shamrock in, and you shake it all about
you do the shamrock polka and turn yourself around
that's what it's all about (then we threw our shamrocks in the air)
(we repeated with red apple, orange pumpkin, blue snowflake, and yellow chick)

March 4, 2015 Story Time - Colors-Yellow

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

*marks the books we read

Yellow Everywhere  by Kristin Sterling*
In My New Yellow Shirt  by Hideko Takahashi
It's a Good Thing There Are Bees  by Lisa M. Herrington
White Rabbit's Color Book  by Alan Baker*
Yellow  by Patricia M. Stockland
Yellow Food Fun  by Lisa Bullard*
Happy Bees!  by Arthur Yorinks

Our craft can be found here: http://goo.gl/9ti5sB

Extra activities

Color Song (sung to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star")
(I pre-cut shapes from colored paper red-apple, green-shamrock, orange-pumpkin, yellow-chick, blue snowflake. Each child received one of each color and then we sang this song substituting the colors each time we sang the song.)
Put your red shape in the air
hold it high & leave it there
put your red shape on your back
now please lay it in your lap
hold your red shape in your hand
now everyone please stand
wave your red shape at the door
now please lay it on the floor
hold your red shape and jump, jump, jump
throw your red shape way, way up!

If Your Clothes Have Any Red (sung to "If You're Happy and You Know It")
If your clothes have any red, any red
if your clothes have any red, any red
if your clothes have any red, put your finger on your head
if your clothes have any red, any red
Additional verses:
If your clothes have any blue, put your finger on your shoe
If your clothes have any yellow, smile like a happy fellow
If your clothes have any brown, turn your smile into a frown
If your clothes have any black, put your hands behind your back

February 25, 2015 Story Time - Polar Bears

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

*marks the books we read

Hush Little Polar Bear  by Jeff Mack*
Polar Bear Morning  by Lauren Thompson
Polar Bears  by Jacqueline S. Cotton*
Waiting for Ice  by Sandra Markle
Animal Babies in Polar Lands  by Jennifer Schofield*
The Lonesome Polar Bear  by Jane Cabera
Afraid of the Dark!  by Karen Sapp
Polar Animals  by Paul Hess

The craft we made can be found here:
http://goo.gl/2PFYbK

Extra activities:

MOVE LIKE A 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 POLKA
You put your right paw in
you take your right paw out
you put your right paw in
and you shake it all about
you do the polar bear polka
and give a great big roar
that's what it's all about
(repeat with left paw, right foot, left foot, tail, etc)

February 18, 2015 Story Time - Penguins

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

*marks the books we read

Baby Penguins Everywhere!  by Melissa Guion*
A Penguin Colony  by Autumn Leigh
365 Penguins  by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet
Baby Penguins Love Their Mama!  by Melissa Guion
Penguins  by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Penguin Cha-Cha  by Kristi Valiant*
Penguins and Their Chicks  by Margaret Hall
Please Say Please!  by Margery Cuyler
20 Fun Facts About Penguins  by Heather Moore Niver

For our craft we made a paper penguin puppet found in the book "Storytime Crafts" by Kathryn Totten on page 85

February 11, 2015 Story Time - Valentines Day

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

*marks the books we read

The Very Special Valentine  by Maggie Kneen*
Who Will be my Valentine This Year  by Jerry Pallotta
One Heart - A Valentine Counting Book  by Maryann Cocca-Leffler*
Rhyme Time Valentine  by Nancy Poydar
10 Valentine Friends  by Janet Schulman*
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose!  by Lucille Colandro*

For our craft we made a crown and decorated it with heart shapes

Extra activities
Five Big Valentines
Five big valentines from the corner drug store
I mailed one to a friend - then there were four
four big valentines, lovely ones to see
I mailed one to my Mommy, then there were three
three big valentines - red, shiny and new
I mailed one to my Daddy - then there were two
two big valentines, the best is yet to come
I mailed one to Grandma - then there was one
one big valentine, the giving is almost done
I mailed it to Grandpa - and now there is none

February 4, 2015 Story Time - Color Red

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

*marks the books we read

Last year we read all of the Missouri Building Block picture book nominees for 2014 and voted on our favorites. The winner of 2014 was "Mustache Baby" by Bridget Heos* so we read it again!

The Little Red Hen  by Christianne C. Jones*
The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)  by Philemon Sturges*

For our craft we made a red hen like this one: http://goo.gl/yEf0pt

Extra activities:

We re-read the book and used puppets to act out the story

If you are wearing.....(sung to "If You're Happy and You Know it)
If you are wearing red, shake your head
if you are wearing red, shake your head
if you are wearing red,
then please shake your head
if you are wearing red, shake your head
Other verses:
blue, touch your shoe
black, pat your back
green, bow like a queen
yellow, shake like Jell-O
brown, turn around
pink, give us a wink