Toddler Time 2/11/13 Valentine's Day

  I had thought we would only get one or two kids because of the weather (snow is done, but parking was tough). It turns out that we got 6 kids. I was pleasantly surprised. Our theme this week was Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day


Start by introducing Mr. Monkey. Mr. Monkey introduces our books:
1.  Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
2.  If You'll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant
3.  Biscuits Valentine's Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

• Good Morning, Good Morning (song)
• Shake Shake Your Hands (song)

Book #1

•       Five Little Valentines (with heart valentine's on craft sticks, children participation)
•       Old McDonald Had a Farm 

 

Five Little Valentines

Five pretty valentines waiting at the store.
(Child's name) bought one and then there were four.
Four pretty valentines shaped like a V,
(Child's name) bought one and then there were three.
Three pretty valentines said: 'I love you'
(Child's name) bought one and then there were two.
Two pretty valentines, this was so much fun.
(Child's name) bought one and then there was one.
One pretty valentine sitting on the shelf.
I felt sorry for it, so I bought it for myself

(good song if you want to get to know the names of your kids at storytime)

Book #2

• 5 Little Monkeys
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Book #3

• If You're Happy and You Know It (song)
• Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes (song)
• Ring Around the Rosie (song)
• Hokey Pokey (song)
• Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

Coloring pages

 

Mother Goose Thursday Feb. 6th

  Mother Goose is our storytime for our youngest library users. The children range from 9 mos-23 mos. We get an average of 8-10 children each week. That seems like a good amount. I enjoy this group because they are so cute and I like their reactions to the songs and the books. Here is what we did for this week's storytime:

Song: Good Morning, Good Morning

Song: To Market, To Market

Song: Sing with Me

Book: The Big Baby Book by Guido Van Genechten

Song: Shake, Shake, Your Hands

Song: This Little Piggy

Song:  Now It's Time

Book: Swing Like a Monkey by Harriet Ziefert

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Song: Hey Diddle Diddle

Song: Patty-Cake, Patty-Cake

Song: Gray Squirrel

Book: Red Truck by Kersten Hamilton

Song: Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Song: ABC Song

Song: Ring Around The Rosie

Song: Goodbye Song

  We spent the last twenty minutes with puzzles and blocks. They had a good time.

Toddler Time Monday February 4th

   We just had our second session of Toddler Time for our winter/spring session. Our program is for children ages 2-4. Most of the children are 3-3 1/2. Our program is 50 minutes long, with stories, songs and coloring pages. Each week has a different theme. Here are the themes, books, and songs for the first two weeks.

Week 1: Snowmen

• Start by introducing Mr. Bear. Mr. Bear introduces our books:

1.  Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
2.  All You Need For a Snowman by Alice Schertle
3.  Snowmen at Night by Carolyn Buehner

• Good Morning, Good Morning (song)
• Shake Shake Your Hands (song)

Book #1

•       Five Little Monkeys (song)
•       Five Little Snowmen (song with snowmen puppets on craft sticks, pictures to follow later

Five Little Snowmen

Five little snowmen sitting on the ground, (stomp feet on floor)
The first one said; 'oh my aren't we round' (make circle with arms)
The second one said; "'there are snowflakes in the air"(point and wiggle fingers)
The third one said; "but we don't care." (shrug shoulders)
The fourth one said; "lets run and run and run. (Run in place)
The fifth one said; "I'm ready for some fun." (Smile Big)
Whew went the wind (blow) and out came the sun (point)
And the five little snowman knew their fun was done. (Hang head sadly)

Book #2

• I'm a Little Snowman (song)

I'm a Little Snowman (sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")

I'm a little snowperson short and fat.
Here are my buttons, here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, I cannot play.
I just slowly melt away!

• Itsy Bitsy Spider (song)

Book #3

• If You're Happy and You Know It (song)
• Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes (song)
• Ring Around the Rosie (song)
• Hokey Pokey (song)
• Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

Coloring pages

Week 2: Bears

Start by introducing Mr. Bear. Mr. Bear introduces our books:

1.  Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
2.  Can You Growl Like a Bear by John Butler
3.  Maybe A Bear Ate It by Robie Harris

• Good Morning, Good Morning (song)
• Shake Shake Your Hands (song)

Book #1

• Five Little Ducks (song)
• Five Little Bears (song) (use bear puppets with craft sticks)

Five Little Bears:

Five little bears little bears were dancing on the floor
One fell down and that left four
Four little bears climbed up a tree
One found a bee hive that left three
Three little bears were wondering what to do
One chased a bunny rabbit that left two
Two little bears were looking for some fun
One took a swim that left one
One little bear sitting all alone
He looked all around and then ran home.

Book #2

• Itsy Bitsy Spider (song)
• Open Shut Them (song)

Book #3

• If You're Happy and You Know It (song)
• Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes (song)
• Ring Around the Rosie (song)
• Hokey Pokey (song)
• Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

Coloring pages

Week 1: The children loved the snowmen song and enjoyed participating by holding the snowmen puppets

Week 2: The children also loved the bear song and holding up the bear puppets

Attendance was good both weeks.

Caldecott and Newbery Winners

 I just wanted to quickly mention in response to last week's post, that we are having an interesting program coming up. It is Zumba for kids. I can't wait to see what this is like. I will keep you posted.

 The winner of the Caldecott and Newbery Awards were announced today. "This is Not my Hat" by Jon Klassen was the winner. I like Jon Klassen's books. While I think the illustrations are not out of the ordinary, his books are very funny and very well done. The honor books are: "Creepy Carrots" by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown, "Extra Yarn" by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen, "Green" by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, "One Cool Friend" by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by David Small and "Sleep Like a Tiger" by Mary Logue and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski.

  I remember reading about "Creepy Carrots" and thinking how funny it sounded. When I read it. I thought it was cute how it was depicted as a scary picture book but was really very humorous. I liked it and felt it would be popular with the kids in the library. Indeed the book has proved to be enjoyed by many children in the library. Three of the books, "Extra Yarn", "Green" and "One Cool Friend" were picked by our librarians for the Mock Caldecott. Green was selected as our winner. I really was impressed by the books. I liked the ingeniuity of the cutouts and the concept of the book. I know several children's librarians from our library system have used it for storytimes. I would like to incorporate in a storytime too. "Extra Yarn" and "One Cool Friend" were both well done. The storylines were enjoyable and the illustrations were creative and sometimes funny.

  I have heard of some of the Newbery Award books from this year, but admit I was not familar with the winner, "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate. We do not carry this book. I know about the "Bomb: The Race to Build" and we have it at our library.. I believe it was one of the honor books in our Mock Newbery. I will probably want to read some of these. I noticed that "Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage is very popular in my library.

  So how do you all feel about the winners and honors books? Please comment and let me know.

Fun and Successful Children's Programs

  I know its been a while since I have posted here. I been really busy. I think it is easier (and more realistic) if I post just once or twice a week.

   This post's topic is about recent children's programs done at your library. Have you done any programs recently that the children really enjoyed? If you did, please tell us about the program. Please mention the type of program, activities, audience and attendance.

   The most recent program I have done that was very successful, was the Dewey Scavenger Hunt. I geared this program for children ages 8 and up. Before the program, I would give them a brief background of the Dewey Decimal system and the way the books are arranged in our library. I placed them on teams of 4 or 5 kids. I had them find books, magazines, DVDs or audiobooks based on clues relating to the Dewey Decimal system or the organization of materials in our children's room. When they were done, my volunteers and I would add up the amount of books they found and each child on the winning team would get a prize. There was also a small prize for participating in the program.

  I will probably do this program again in the late winter or Spring. I also want to do a storytelling program. We will do some interactive storytelling activities and a related craft. I have done some of these stories befoer and they have been well received.

Monday's Topic: Halloween Preschool Craft

  This program started with the story of 13 Days of Halloween by Carol Greene. I think this is a terrific story because it is great for all ages. I have done this book with older kids and they are great at chiming in on the different days once we hit midsong. The younger kids don't join in as much but they definitely love finding the different animals, creatures and items in the book.



   The craft was the Jack O Lantern Paper Craft  http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/mpaperjack.htm
I do not have a sample, but you can get an idea of this craft at the website. The children loved coloring and gluing all the parts together. In addition, I gave them a Halloween coloring sheet to complete.

Tuesday's Book Talk: Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Book 2: New Girl at School

   The second entry in this cute series deals with starting a new school and bullying. Allie is excited to start her new school because she met three very nice girls, Erica, Sophie and Caroline, who will be in her class. Also she really likes the teacher, Mrs. Hunter. She has a great time at school until she meets a bully, Rosemary. Allie becomes worried and tries to figure out how to deal with the bully. She feels the one thing you shouldn't do is to tattle, because it will make it worse. She asks family and friends for advice. The somewhat surprising advice she gets at the end, is interesting. The advice will not be revealed, so the ending will not be spoiled. Also a side plot about Allie and her new kitten is discussed in this book. Meg Cabot continues with her funny but endearing portrayal of Allie, her family and her friends. This book is recommended for girls 9-11.