We started off the first session of summer storytime using the theme fish. My storytimes are usually smaller in the summer so I try to plan them accordingly.
My newbies learned the bean bag rock song and then we read our three short stories and did some activities, including a Five Little Fishies flannel and a Sea Star Wish color flannel.
The three stories we read between activities were Paul Meets Bernadette by Rosy Lamb, Where is Little Fish? by Lucy Cousins, and In the Sea by Laura Ottina.
Out of all the stories, Paul Meets Bernadette was the most fun to read to the kids. I would recommend this one to slightly older kids because of the comparison of things throughout the book, but it is still short enough for storytime and I started with this one to allow for some more time to explain the story.
Where Is Little Fish? was the group's favorite because they loved the flap books and trying to find Little Fish. In the Sea was a great, short non-fiction book to incorporate into this fish storytime.
For our craft, we made a big fish eating a little fish using construction paper, pipe cleaners, and straws. The group I ended up having were on the younger side, so next time I'll use just a Popsicle stick.
I always enjoy this theme and the group had a good time learning a lot of new things.
Next week, we'll be having a safari storytime!
I haven't done a Drop-In Father's Day program in awhile and was feeling like it was long overdue. I had a great turnout and actually had to scramble to put more crafts together even after having 30 crafts ready, which is usually just fine for other drop-in craft programs.
We colored Father's Day cards and made paper plate award ribbons for our "World's Best Dad" and these crafts were perfect for the program. When I had ran out of crafts with the next group, I had them start coloring their cards while I prepared more crafts.
Everyone had such creative ideas on how to decorate their cards and crafts and it was a fun time seeing everyone. I really enjoyed this program!
Happy Father's Day!
We celebrated the Summer Reading Club: Reading Takes You Everywhere by reading a simple book on different cultures and doing some Earth crafts.
I chose to read Whoever You Are by Mem Fox because it was the simplest picture book I could find on cultures and was short enough to read to little ones. We are different, but the same.
I tried to make the theme I had planned as simple as I could for toddlers and this worked out great.
For our first craft, we made a smiling Earth using paper plates, paint, green tissue paper,and white strips of paper.
For our second craft, we made Earth using coffee filters, markers, and spray bottles for a bleeding/blending color effect. They glued their Earths onto black construction paper and added die-cut stars.
I was anticipating the group to finish both of these crafts quickly, but I was happy to see they took their time on them and enjoyed the experience of using paint and spray bottles.
Even though both of this month's Toddler Art and Preschool Picasso had the summer reading theme, I think I was successfully able to take the theme and make it a little more difficult for Preschoolers with the cultural direction and a little more easier for the Toddlers with a world direction.
I'm really enjoying these cultural themes.
This was a great turn-out and I'm glad I've decided to not take any monthly breaks with this program. Because of our summer reading club theme, Reading Takes You Everywhere, we read a cultural story and did crafts based on that story.
Drum Dream Girl is about a young girl in Cuba who loves to play the drums but isn't allowed because she's a girl. At the end of the story, her talent convinces her community that it's more than okay for a girl to play the drums. There are Cuban, Mexican, and Asian cultural elements in this story so I thought it would be perfect for the program theme and for the slightly older group.
We made drums out of Styrofoam cups, construction paper, and rubber bands. I opted for rubber bands since the ribbon was not too cooperative for me so I knew it would be very difficult for the kids. The group was able to paint their drums using the red and blue colors of Cuba's flag.
Our last craft was making maracas out of plastic Easter eggs, plastic spoons, beans, and masking tape.
Both crafts were just the right amount of difficulty for the group and luckily, we had Easter eggs lying around.
This was my first time incorporating a cultural element to a program and I really enjoyed it and it worked wonderfully.
Dream, drum girl, dream!
For this month's book, I wanted to switch things up a bit and review a chapter book. I was not disappointed with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's novel about a young girl named Ada and her life with an abusive mother during World War II.
Summary: A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.
"And even if it felt like Mam hated me, she had to love me, didn't she? She had to love me, because she was my mam, and Susan was just somebody who got stuck taking care of Jamie and me because of the war."
Age Range: 9-12
This was a very enjoyable and engaging read for me, partly because it reminded me so much of Anne of Green Gables with it's historical traits and Ada reminding me of Anne with her bravery and determination. The author has a fondness of L.M. Montgomery and it definitely shows in her own writing. As a writer, I enjoyed how this book proved the point that you can get inspired from other writers and their work and roll with that inspiration to make your own novels.
The descriptions for Ada's abuse from her mother and the feelings she has from them are attention-grabbing and powerful. These types of scenes make the reader fall in love with Ada and want to see her triumph. The relationship between her and her younger brother is also another touching element in this series.
The War That Saved My Life is a wonderful example of character growth throughout a novel. I guarantee you'll adore Ada and want to see her succeed and overcome her disability, her horrible upbringing, and the terror of World War II.
This is a 2016 Newbery Honor Book with additional awards.
In celebration of our summer reading club kick-off, we had a drop-in craft. Our club's theme is Reading Takes You Everywhere so we made a hot air balloon craft.
I needed to find a craft that was relatively easy, unique and fun, and wouldn't be hard to supply for a drop-in crowd. Despite having some concerns that the craft wouldn't be exciting for the kids, this hot air balloon craft fit the bill perfectly. The groups had fun coloring coffee filters and spraying them using water bottles to make the tie-dye/blending effect. Of course, the spraying of the water bottles was everyone's favorite part!
All the hot air balloons looked so pretty and individual that I wish I had a spot in the library to display them, but we have so many nice displays up for summer reading at the moment.
Reading Takes You Everywhere!
