This was a class made up of mostly regulars and I really enjoy having this group. We read a short, rhyming flower story by Eve Bunting called Flower Garden and did two easier crafts. Both the book and crafts paired well with their age, but I felt like the parents rushed through these crafts more today.
The group enjoyed painting their cupcake liners to make flowers and had fun playing with the texture of the paper grass and tissue paper. Both of these crafts were great for the kids.
For the cupcake liner flower paint craft, the group had to glue stems, petals, cupcake liners, and paper grass to make their flower scene. Then, they painted the cupcake liners anyway they liked.
For the tissue paper flower die-cut craft, they glued on two different types of flower die-cuts to a half sheet of light blue construction paper and added tissue paper on the flower petals to make their flowers more colorful.
This was a good drop-in craft program that was held a little earlier than previous years to accommodate Spanish families and their separate Mother's Day date. The turnout was pretty good, but I did notice that I might make it a little later next time.
For our crafts, we had a variety to choose from thanks to leftover crafts from previous programs. I had a flower pot craft that was new and a new card craft idea using tissue paper and construction paper with "Happy Mother's Day" printed inside. The extra crafts were Mother's Day crowns, frames, and magnets that were purchased from Oriental Trading.
Everyone had a fun time with their crafts and I was happy to see some older kids getting involved. Everyone's crafts turned out very unique and I love how they add their own touches to them.
Happy Mother's Day!
This is always a fun group and today was no different. Our theme was flowers, so we read My Garden by Kevin Henkes. This is about a young girl who helps her mother with her garden, but quickly imagines how her own garden would be, complete with jelly bean bushes and growing sea shells. The group liked this book and it's one of my favorites to read for a flower theme.
For our crafts, we started off by making sunflowers out of paper plates, construction paper, and mixing red and yellow paint. We also made a tulip flower scene using forks, q-tips, and paint.
The first craft was challenging for the kids because they had to have some patience to let the paint dry and practice their cutting for the flower pedals. It took more time, but the kids did great and I think they liked their end result.
They also had fun using forks pressed in paint to make their tulip flower scene. The crafts turned out well and went a bit longer than usual, but it was good to see the kids taking their time and practicing their cutting and other fine motor skills.
I had a program survey filled out that said, "Miss Denise is amazing" which was really nice and made my day!
I really enjoy coming across picture books with messages I feel are much needed, and this is one of them. Mister Yes by Carmen Gil teaches the message of the need of saying "no." What a great and necessary lesson to teach to children.
Summary: Mister Yes is great at a lot of things, especially tongue-twisters, but the one thing he isn't so great at is saying "no." When he is offered to taste humming bird poop and slug slime ice cream he can't say no and gets a tummy ache. When a salesman wants to sell him an umbrella full of holes he can't say no. When a troublemaker wants him to pull pranks at a supermarket he can't say no. All the while Mister Yes looks in the mirror and is disappointed in himself that he just can't seem to say "no."
With the help of a fly, he has the courage to finally say no to a colleague who wanted him to do his work for him. Suddenly, Mister Yes feels much better.
"Mr. Yes started to feel as if thousands of brightly colored bubbles were bursting in his heart. A huge grin spread across his face, and he felt like he was walking on air."
Age Range: 6 and up
I really don't have anything bad to say about this book, but I do think recognizing it's a picture book for somewhat older kids to comprehend is important.
I really liked how the fly helped Mister Yes get over his fears and caused him to get a "taste" of how saying no would feel.
