Preschool Picasso: Andy Warhol

This was a great Preschool Picasso turnout for the unique theme of Andy Warhol. I'm finding that the parents are excited for the specific artist themes I've been incorporating into this program. As long as I can find age-appropriate crafts and books for both preschoolers and toddlers, the artist-related theme is something I would like to stick to in the future.

We started off Preschool Picasso with our story, Uncle Andy's Cats by James Warhola that explained a little bit about Andy Warhol's life and included a fun story on his cats that inspired his artwork.

Once we finished our story, I explained the two crafts we would have for the day. Our first craft involved paint and green bell peppers. A unique artist requires a unique craft. The kids used cut green pepper and black paint to stamp on a flower-like outline that was inspired by Warhol's flower artwork. Once the outlines were stamped on their colorful neon card stock, they could paint inside with different color paint.

Their next craft was making a Warhol inspired block pop art using different colorful squares and colorful cat die-cuts, inspired by the story. The kids glued on their squares to their paper and added their cats on top to give it that pop art look.

Other Books:

ABC Pop! Rachel Isadora

Uncle Andy's James Warhola

Family Storytime: New Picture Books

For this final week's storytime before winter break, we decided to use this as an opportunity to use some of the library's newer picture books. I took some time to look through our new picture book display and chose a few that I thought would be entertaining enough for storytime. I settled on a Pete the Cat book, a dinosaur story, and a cat story.

We got some wiggles out by following along to the bean bag song and then we read our first book, Pete the Kitty and the Groovy Playdate by Kimberly and James Dean. Pete the Cat is always a hit with the storytime crowd and this book was exciting for them because it was one that they haven't read yet.

Since we read a story about a cat, I pulled out our colored cats flannel and we went over colors and how many were on the board.

Our next book really captivated the group and it's no surprise because of the author. That's What Dinosaurs Do by Jory John was a silly story about a dinosaur who was told not to roar.

Since it was time for another flannel board story and the holidays are right around the corner, I thought it was perfect for us to decorate our own storytime holiday tree. I put up a bare flannel tree on the board and everyone had a couple chances to put their ornaments on the tree. We talked about colors and how many were on the tree and even did some adding since I had a few older kids.

Our final book was a rhyming book about cats and hats…no, not that Dr. Seuss book. This story was Hats are Not for Cats by Jacqueline K. Rayner. This was another book that the group thought was so funny.

I could really tell these books were a hit because all these books were equally well-received with probably Jory John's book being the favorite.

For our craft, we made our own bookmarks using die-cuts and Popsicle sticks.

Toddler Art: Yarn

I had two new families join our group for Toddler Art: Yarn so that was definitely a great start to the program. 

I started off by reading our story, Cat Knit, by Jacob Grant. This story is about a cat who loves his ball of yarn, but his owner ends up making him a sweater with it and his yarn isn't so fun anymore. This is a cute story that was simple enough for the toddlers.

Our first craft was using yarn, paint, and glue. We made some process art by first painting using pom poms attached to clothespins, added some glue, and then added some cut up yarn. They had a lot of fun with this and liked playing with the materials.

Our second craft was coloring a cat with yarn just like in our story. We used long pieces of yarn to glue onto the paper and this was simple enough for the toddlers to practice getting used to coloring before some playtime.

Family Storytime: Cats

For our cat storytime, we were able to read four books, use the flannel board twice, and sing "If You're Happy and You Know It."

There was a lot of cat books and activities to choose from, which always makes it easier. I usually bring out a few extra books and activity ideas that I custom to how the group is for that day. 

The four books that we read were Cat Knit by Jacob Grant, I Like Cats by Patricia Hubbell, They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel, and What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas. 

I told a story about The Cat of Many Colors on the flannel board and made it in season by saying that the white cat wanted to be a black cat for Halloween. Of course he gets into things in the house that makes him change colors. I had a small enough group to have each child bring up their colored cat to the board.

The other activity we did that used the flannel board was Little Mouse in a House. I had a flannel mouse behind different colored houses and the group had to guess which house the mouse was in. They always like to guess! 

I decided to add another song to storytime. We did the Bean Bag Rock song with bean bags at the beginning, but I also sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" so we could all stretch a little and get our wiggles out. 

For our craft, we made standing cats out of card stock paper. I added a dotted line for them to practice their cutting and make their cat legs. I also used a die-cut "O" and cut that in half to make the tail. We used sticker eyes from Oriental Trading and I cut out cat head templates. This craft turned out so cute and every child makes their cat their own! 

I love animal storytimes and this one was no exception! 

Other Books on Cats:

Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! by Susan Meyers

Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper

Top Cat by Lois Ehlert

Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward

There Are Cats In This Book by Viviane Schwarz

A Kitten's Year by Nancy Raines Day

Black Cat, White Cat Silvia Borando

How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats? by Jane Yolen