August 17, 2016 Story Time - Counting & Numbers

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

*marks the books we read

Ten in the Den  by John Butler*
Two at the Zoo-A Counting Book  by Danna Smith
Ones and Twos  by Marthe & Nell Jocelyn
Ten Hungry Pigs  by Derek Anderson*
1..2 Buckle My Shoe  by Anna Grossnickle Hines
My First Look at Numbers  by Jane Yorke*
One Tractor-A Counting Book  by Alexandra Siy
Fish Eyes-A Book You Can Count On  by Lois Ehlert
One Two That's My Shoe!  by Alison Murray*
Ten Pigs-An Epic Bath Adventure  by Derek Anderson
Steam Train, Dream Train 1-2-3  by Sherri Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld
1-2-3 Peas  by Keith Baker
One Big Pair of Underwear  by Laura Gehl
Ten in the Bed  by Jane Cabrera

For our craft we made this:
http://goo.gl/G0AGdy

Extra activities
We played a number guessing game and counted forward up to 10 then down again

Song-
One, two, buckle my shoe
three, four, shut the door
five, six, pick up sticks
seven, eight, lay them straight
nine, ten, a big fat hen

Ten in the Bed
There were ten in the bed, and the little one said "roll over, roll over"
so they all rolled over and one fell out
there were nine in the bed, and the little one said "roll over, roll over"
so they all rolled over and one fell out.....
(repeat until you reach one; then sing there was one in the bed and the little one said "good night!"

August 10, 2016 Story Time - Colors

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

*marks the books we read

A Book of Colors Butterfly Butterfly  by Petr Horacek*
Colors  by Nina Filipek
The Deep Blue Sea-A Book of Colors  by Audrey Wood*
The Red Hen  by Rebecca Emberley
Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color  by Julia Denos
Red: A Crayon's Story  by Michael Hall
My First Look At Colors  by Jane Yorke*
The Day the Crayons Came Home  by Drew Daywalt
Lemons Are NOT Red  by Laura Vaccaro Seeger*

For our craft we colored a cat like this, then taped on a stick to make it a puppet

Extra activities:
Find the color (sung to the muffin man)
Oh, can you find the color blue
the color blue, the color blue
oh, can you find the color blue
somewhere in this room?

The Color That I See
Blue, blue is the color that I see
if you are wearing blue, then show it to me!
stand up! turn around!
show me your blue and sit back down!
(add more colors like; red, yellow, green orange, etc)

Scat the Cat
Once upon a time there was a little black cat and his name was Scat the Cat (put up black cat).
One day he looked around and noticed that there were so many beautiful colors and he wanted to be a different color too! so he said:
"I'm Scat the Cat. I'm sassy and fat and I can change my color just like that"! (take black cat down and clap your hands)

All of a sudden he was green (put up green cat) like the trees and the grass (ask children what other things are green). He went out to play with his friends but they couldn't see him. He was so sad and decided he didn't want to be green anymore, so he said:
"I'm Scat the Cat. I'm sassy and fat and I can change my color just like that! (take green cat down and clap your hands)

All of a sudden he was blue (put blue cat up) like the water and sky (ask children what other things are blue). He walked to the lake to look in the water but he fell in! He couldn't swim but his friend Timothy Turtle found him and carried him back to shore. Scat was very sad and decided he didn't want to be blue anymore, so he said:
"I'm Scat the Cat. I'm sassy and fat and I can change my color just like that! (take blue cat down and clap your hands)

All of a sudden Scat was yellow (put yellow cat up) like the sun! (ask the children what other things are yellow). He walked into the jungle and came across Leo the Lion who roared "I'm the only one who is yellow in this jungle!" Scat was so afraid he decided he didn't want to be yellow any more so he said:
I"m Scat the Cat. I'm sassy and fat and I can change my color just like that!" (take yellow cat down and clap your hands)

All of a sudden Scat was red (put up red cat) like an apple. (ask the children what other things are red). He went to play with his friends but they laughed at him. After all, who ever heard of a red cat?
Scat was very sad and decided he didn't want to be red anymore, so he said:
"I'm Scat the Cat. I'm sassy and fat and I can change my color just like that!" (take red cat down and clap your hands)

I don't want to be red, I don't want to be yellow, I don't want to be blue and I don't want to be green. I want to be Scat the black cat again
Scat changed back to black (put black cat up) and was happy just being himself

August 3, 2016 Story Time - Alphabet (ABC's)

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

*marks the books we read

Sleepy ABC  by Margaret Wise Brown*
Apple Pie ABC  by Alison Murray
ABC School's for Me!  by Susan B. Katz*
All the Awake Animals are Almost Asleep  by Crescent Dragonwagon
Square Cat ABC  by Elizabeth Schoonmaker*
Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First  by Alethea Kontis*
ABCs on Wheels  by Ramon Olivera

For our craft we made a picture like this one:
 http://goo.gl/TBFZiF

Extra activities
The Alphabet Song
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, I, J, K,
L, M, N, O, P,
Q, R, S,
T, U, V,
W, X,
Y and Z
now I know my ABC's next time won't you sing with me

We talked about words that start with the letter "U" like: umbrella, up, under, underwear, etc.

We played "Thumbs Up" a game about words that start with the letter "U". If I said a word that started with "U" the children gave me a thumbs up; if I said a word that didn't start with the letter "U" they gave me a thumbs down

July 27, 2016 Story Time - Sea Turtles

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

*marks the books we read

Sea Turtle  by Anders Hanson*
Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!  April Pulley Sayre
Turtle in the Sea  by Jim Arnosky
Sea Turtles  by Martha E. H. Rustad*
Sea Turtle Journey-The Story of a Loggerhead Turtle  by Lorraine A. Jay*
Under the Sea  by Fiona Patchett*

For our craft we made a CD turtle like this:
http://goo.gl/Yy8NLc

Extra activities

We talked about sea turtles; where they live, what they eat, etc

This is My Turtle
This is my turtle (make fist)
she lives in a shell
she likes her home very well
she pokes her head out (stick out your thumb)
when she wants to eat
and pulls it back in (tuck thumb in)
when she wants to sleep

July 20, 2016 Story Time - Fish

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

*marks the books we read

Hooray for Fish!  by Lucy Cousins*
A School of Fish  by Alex Kuskowski*
Starfish by Edith Thacher Hurd
Fish  by Karen Perez
Rain Fish  by Lois Ehlert*
How to Catch a Fish  by John Frank
Sea Stars  by Ryan Nagelhout
Discovering Starfish  by Lorijo Metz
Oceans Alive - Sea Stars  by Ann Herriges*
Secret Seahorse  by Stella Blackstone
Fish Had a Wish  by Michael Garland

For our craft we made starfish necklaces like the one here:
http://goo.gl/E0ELcU

Extra activities:

We talked about fish, where they live, what they eat, etc

Five Little Fish
One little fishy swimming in the ocean blue
here comes another one, then there were two
two little fishies swimming in the sea
here comes another one, then there were three
three little fishies swimming near the shore
here comes another one, then there were four
four little fishies getting ready to dive
here comes another one and now there are five
here comes a shark, looking for some fun
look out little fishies and away then run

Five Little Fishies
Five little fish swimming by the shore
one got caught, now there are four
four little fish swimming in the sea
one got caught, now there are three
three little fish swimming in the blue
one got caught, now there are two
two little fish swimming in the sun
one got caught, now there's only one
one little fish swimming straight for home
he decided it was better not to roam

July 13, 2016 Story Time - Dolphins

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

*marks the books we read

A Day in the Life: Sea Animals Dolphin  by Louise Spilsbury*
The Curious Little Dolphin  by Patricia Jensen
Dolphins  by Martha E. H. Rustad
Whales and Dolphins  by Peter & Connie Roop*
Dolphin Dive  by James Buckley, Jr.
A Pod of Dolphins  by Matthew Fenner*
Diving Dolphins  by Karen Wallace

For our craft we made a picture like this one:
http://goo.gl/wihiFw

Extra activities:

We talked about dolphins; where they live, what they eat, what they look like, etc.

We watched a video about dolphins:
https://goo.gl/2gwbU4

July 6, 2016 Story Time - Octopuses

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

*marks the books we read

My Octopus Arms  by Keith Baker*
Can You Imagine? Being an Octopus  by Kevin Pearce
Good Thing You're Not an Octopus!  by Julie Markes*
An Octopus is Amazing  by Patricia Lauber
Octopus Under the Sea  by Connie and Peter Roop*
Out of the Blue  by Alison Jay
Octopuses  by Lola M. Schaefer
Octopus Opposites  by Stella Blackstone*
Oceans Alive - Octopuses  by Ann Herriges

For our craft we made an octopus from a paper plate. We decorated half a paper plate, then glued on 8 crepe paper arms and added big googly eyes.

Extra activities:

We talked about octopuses. How many arms they have, that they have suction cups on their arms, that they shoot ink out when they are frightened and about what they like to eat.