Family Storytime: Valentine's Day

There are always a lot of sweet books to choose from for Valentine's Day to read during storytime. I try to look for ones with a fun storyline as opposed to just describing what the holiday is about, but those are good too. 

We followed along to the bean bag song and then read How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen. What a cute story with a sweet lesson...that no matter how naughty of a dinosaur you are, Mom and Dad will love you anyway. Dinosaurs are always a hit with my groups and we enjoyed the funny illustrations.

For our first flannel board activity, we played Matching Hearts. I used our die-cut machine to stamp out different colored hearts and then cut them in half. The hearts were broken and we had to fix them. I put up one half of the heart and the child in the group who had the matching color came up to the flannel board and made the heart whole. They always enjoy being part of the flannel board activity, so I really try to find ideas that get the kids involved and up to the board. It also helps those who are shy by giving them the option to participate. 

After our color matching activity, it was time to read our next Valentine story, Valentines for Everyone by Cecilia Minden and Joanne Meier. Herbie Bear's class makes sure to include the new student during Valentine's Day. Another book with a sweet message. 

Since we just got through reading a bear story, I used the flannel board to count 5 Little Valentine Bears. This group is pretty advanced in their counting, but they still enjoyed the activity before our final book. 

What I Love About You by Susan Farrington is one of our newer books at the library. This one was mainly for the parents since it is about all the things you love about your child. Definitely an "aww" book with fun pictures. 

For our craft, we made Valentine's Bears out of construction paper. I let my group choose what to write in their hearts, with some choosing "I love you" or writing their name inside. 

Love is in the air!