Creative Writing Workshop: Mythical Creatures

This was a fun writing program to present and it was all inspired by Myth Match: A Fantastical Flipbook of Extraordinary Beasts and Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: 20 Chilling Tales from the Wilderness. 

I started off our discussion on mythical creatures by asking if anyone knew what mythical creatures meant and if they could give me some examples. The group was a little shy at first, but once we got our creative energies flowing the group was able to come up with each of their characters.

I presented a short Powerpoint presentation on mythical creatures, explaining what a mythical creature was and giving some examples. The rest of the Powerpoint was questions they could ask about their character to come up with ideas. This was nice prompt time because it encouraged the group to think deeper on how their characters will be and why.

Once we talked a little bit about these creatures, I read an excerpt from Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods that was a great example of a mythical beast with lots of descriptive language and a storyline. We discussed what was read a bit, pointed out the variety of books we had available for inspiration and reference, and put the Powerpoint back on so the group could look at the questions they could answer when writing their character descriptions.

The rest of the time was given for designing and decorating their characters and writing their character descriptions. I gave each of the kids a long piece of construction paper that had drawing paper and lined paper pre-glued on so they had a space to draw their mythical creature and a space to write their descriptions. I also showed them my example. Colored pencils, markers, jewels, feathers, and glue were put on the tables.

It took a while for the group to get going, but it was hard for them to stop at the end of the program and we ended up using the room for an additional 15 minutes. The kids came up with a magical mermaid, an astronaut beast, a wolf with great powers, and a cat that had the ability to read minds.

I asked the group if they had any ideas for future writing programs and let them know that I would be happy to read any stories they might have. In the group, Emily decided to use the computer in the library to work more on her mythical creature and Donovan's mother asked if we had any more writing programs coming up.

It's always a nice challenge to come up with writing program ideas that are different and have that "cool" element to it.

Family Storytime: Dancing

This was a smaller group that attended the last storytime of the session, but we had fun with dancing books and dancing along to songs.

They really enjoyed Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andrede and it kept their attention throughout the whole story.

We followed along and danced to the song "Hands are for Clapping" by Jim Gill. At first we practiced all the movements and then we tried to follow along. The group was a little shy, but they tried their best.

After our song, we read Everybunny Dance! by Ellie Sandall and Horse & Buggy Dance, Dance, Dance! by Ethan Long. I could tell the group really enjoyed the first book over these, but they were still great listeners.

For our second activity, we danced using scarves to "Let's Dance Now!" by Jim Gill. This was a freestyle dance and I encouraged the kids to wave their scarves high, low, to the side, etc.

Our final book was Wiggle by Doreen Cronin. The group enjoyed this one and thought it was funny when the dog had a pancake on his head.

For our craft, we each made our own Hollywood Walk of Fame Star using our handprints, star diecuts, and star stickers.

Other Books:

Zombelina Kristyn Crow

Groovy Joe Dance Party Countdown Eric Litwin

I Got the Rhythm Connie Schofield-Morrison

Duck Sock Hop Jane Kohuth

Brontorina James Howe

Wiggle Doreen Cronin

Dancing Feet! Lindsey Craig

Hilda Must Be Dancing Karma Wilson

Family Storytime: Outer Space

Outer space is always a fun theme that both the kids and I love. There's tons of books and activity ideas and it was special this time because we celebrated the anniversary of the moon landing.

After we followed along to our opening bean bag song, we read Mousetronaut by Astronaut Mark Kelly. I have read this book before and everytime I read it, it keeps the kids attentive throughout the whole story even though it is on the longer side. The illustrations of the mice going up into space are so cute and funny!

Once we got through with our first book, we used the flannelboard and each put up a different colored spaceship on the moon. Of course we had to count the spaceships too.

Our next book was Green Wilma,Frog in Space by Tedd Arnold. This was a silly, rhyming story that also kept everyone's attention.

For our next activity, I put up Earth on the flannelboard and we talked a little bit about our planet. Then, each child was able to put up a star on the flannelboard. They really enjoy having their moment of putting something up on the board, so I always try to incorporate that into storytime.

Our last book was a short, but sweet book called I Wish I Were an Alien by Vivian French. I've also used this book before because it is short, rhyming, and tells a story of a boy who would like to be an alien and of an alien who would like to be a boy.

Once we were done with our last book, we started with our space scene craft. First, everyone glued their moon, earth, rocket, and astronaut onto their construction paper. These were made by using coffee filters for both the moon and earth and clipart/diecuts for the rest. Once everyone glued their pieces on and added star stickers, it was time to color their moon and earth using markers and then lightly spraying them with water to make the colors blend together. This craft turned out perfect and the kids loved piecing it all together.

 

Other Books:

Sidney, Stella, and the Moon Emma Yarlett

Astro Bunnies Christine Loomis

The Way Back Home Oliver Jeffers

Sheep Blast Off! Nancy Shaw

Other Activities:

-One Little Rocket Came Out to Play Flannel

-If You're Happy and You Know It

-Shake Your Sillies Out

Toddler Art: Noodle Art

We had a nice group that had some new faces. The kids did really well listening to Noodles for Baby by Jamie Meckel. This board book was perfect for the noodle theme because it was about babies eating all kinds of noodles and getting messy. The kids thought the messy parts were funny.

For our first craft, we made our own plate of spaghetti using a paper plate with red and brown paint, yellow yarn, and cut out brown circles. We used pom poms attached to clothespins for the one and two years to get a better grip and they swirled their colors together to get "sauce." Then they added their yarn noodles and construction paper meatballs. The group really enjoyed playing with the paint with this one.

For our second craft, we decorated butterflies using colored pasta. The kids practiced their gluing and some of the older kids even made patterns using the different colors. In the future, I would like to try dying pasta with vinegar and try using half-down spaghetti as paint brushes.

This was a fun one and we had some playtime afterwards.

Family Storytime: Camping

Camping is always a fun theme for storytime because there are a variety of good picture books and the kids seem to always enjoy it.

After our bean bag song, we dove into our first and longest book, Scare a Bear by Kathy-jo Wargin. This book rhymes beautifully and is funny enough to keep the kids engaged.

We packed up our cars and headed for our campsite and played a matching car and luggage game on the flannelboard. I handed out different colored suitcases and they each had to match their suitcase to the same colored car. They liked being able to interact with the flannelboard.

Our next book, Into the Outdoors by Susan Gal is a good book with interesting illustrations that explains what it means to go camping. It's also great practice for learning your directional words, such as top/bottom, over/under etc.

For our next activity, we made animal noises. Everyone put up their animal on the flannelboard and we practiced making their noises. We had some pretty silly animals up there that we wouldn't see while camping and we pointed those out.

Do Princesses Make Happy Campers? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle is another rhyming camping book that was enjoyed by everyone.

Once we read that book, we sang and did movements to "A Camping We Will Go," a song I found on Youtube. The group was a little shy to sing and move along, but we all gave it a good try.

Our last book was Maisy Goes Camping by Lucy Cousins. I always seem to pick this book for camping. It's just a great, short read that explains the whole camping experience and has a humor element in it with all the animals not being able to fit inside one tent.

For our craft, we made campfires using orange and yellow paint, our handprints, and brown construction paper for logs and a stick. We even had marshmallows for our craft!

Other Books:

The Great Indoors Julie Falatko

Into the Outdoors Susan Gal

Do Princesses Make Happy Campers? Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Maisy Goes Camping Lucy Cousins

Scare a Bear Kathy-jo Wargin

Camp Rex Molly Idle

First Star: A Bear and Mole Story Will Hillenbrand

Other Activities:

Who Sank the Boat Animal Flannel

Five Frogs

Five Owls

Five Birds

Preschool Picasso: Noodle Art

The theme of noodles was a nice, unique change for this Preschool Picasso program. 

We read Dragons Eat Noodles on Tuesdays by Jon Stahl, which the group really enjoyed and thought was funny.

For our first craft, we made flowers using noodles and construction paper. The group had construction paper stems they glued on and dot die-cuts to use as the center of their flowers. A variety of dyed noodles were put out for them to use as their flower petals. I dyed the pasta a day before using rubbing alcohol and food coloring. 

There is also another option of using vinegar and food coloring that I would probably try next time.

For our second craft, the group made fish using dyed macaroni noodles. They really enjoyed this craft and liked adding the googly eye to their fish.

This program definitely took more prep time because of dying the noodles, but it was really worth it to try something new and to see the kids enjoy making their crafts.

Other Books:

The Super Hungry Dinosaur Martin Waddell

The Great Pasta Escape Miranda Paul

Spaghetti-Slurping Sewer Serpent Laura Ripes

Oodles of Noodles Diana Hendry

Family Storytime: Music

This was a nice storytime that had a good blend of reading and music. I was able to read four short books because we had a smaller group due to the Independence Day holiday coming up and they were outgoing for a small group.

I read Groovy Joe Ice Cream & Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin. They liked this book and thought it was funny when Groovy Joe would sing.

Next, we used scarves and followed along to a song on the cd "Ribbons & Rhythms Movement Activities for Learning." I chose track 1 because it was short and had actions for them to follow along to with the beat of the music.

Our next book was Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig. The group enjoyed guessing which animal was dancing on each page and gave an interactive feel.

For our next music activity, I brought out the instruments and we followed along with a song I found on Youtube that was just the right amount of length and not too difficult. We used maracas, tambourines, and other shakers to this song.

Next up was Pigs Rock by Melanie Davis Jones. The group liked the illustrations of this book. And our last book was AHop is Up by Kristy Dempsey. This was a quick movement book to end our music storytime.

For our craft, the kids had to glue their cardboard guitars together and decorate them. All of them had rubberbands on them so the kids could play their craft.

Other Books:

Rappy the Raptor Dan Gutman

The Nuts Sing and Dance in Your Polka-Dot Pants Eric Litwin

Kat Writes a Song Greg Foley

Play this Book Jessica Young

Other Activities:

-If You're Happy and You Know It

-*Shake My Sillies Out

-*The Jingle Song

(move shaker egg or jingle bells to the directions in the lyrics)

We jingle up high,

We jingle down low,

We jingle fast,

We jingle slow,

We jingle to the ceiling,

We jingle to the ground,

We jingle and we jangle

As we dance all around!

Brain Breaks Action Songs: Let's Move! happy Dance, Chili Chili

Book of the Month: The Remember Balloons

The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros has a little bit of everything. A sweet message about memories using balloons as a concept children can understand, a way to explain Alzheimer's/dementia to kids, and connecting all of that to colors and moods.  Also, a real tear-jerker with a perfect tie-in ending.

Summary: James has a bunch of balloons, each of which holds a special memory, but as his grandfather ages and loses his own balloons, James discovers that he is gaining new ones. 

Ages: 5-9 years

"Grandpa's balloons start floating away faster and faster. Running down streets and up hills, I watch the balloons grow smaller." 

This book is definitely sad and beautiful at the same time. This is a perfect book to use to explain how an elderly family member is forgetful. The ending really got to me because it brings a sense of hope to a sorrowful situation. The illustrations done by Dana Wulfekotte also support this picture book's message by making only the balloons colorful and using symbolism that what colors life is our memories.