Toddler Art: Curious George

We started off Toddler Art with our Curious George board book story, Curious George and the Bunny by H.A. Rey. The toddlers were having a little trouble paying attention, but we got through the story quickly and had craft time.

We had the usual two crafts, but I used two crafts from Preschool Picasso since I had leftovers and thought they were easy enough for toddlers.

There was a paper plate craft where the toddlers had to paint with a big paintbrush or clothespin pom pom brown to make Curious Georges' face.

The other two crafts were those  taken from Preschool Picasso. We made The Man in the Yellow Hat's tie and the hand print craft.

The parents enjoyed having these options and the kids had fun playing with our toddler toys after our crafts.

Preschool Picasso: Curious George

I had an extra big group for Preschool Picasso: Curious George since we had a mom's group attend, as well as my regulars. It was so nice to see everybody and they got to see me as "The Man in the Yellow Hat."

We started off with the story, Curious George: Librarian for a Day by Julie Tibbott. This was a shorter Curious George story to read that was just the right length, was about the library, and taught about how we arrange the books in the library.

After talking a little bit about the book and how we put books back in the library, it was time to introduce our Curious George crafts.

Our first craft was a painting craft using their handprints to make Curious George's body, green paint for the vines he was hanging off of, and to glue on Curious George's face to their handprint. They used brown and green paint, watercolor paint brushes for their leaves and vines, and had practice gluing.

Our next craft was to make a Man in the Yellow Hat tie. They had a fun time using stickers and markers to decorate their tie and wear it around the library.

The kids really do love Curious George!

Spring Displays!

Book of the Month: Yoga Storytime

Yoga Storytime by Miriam R. Aventos is a simple picture book that explains how yoga began in India and gives easy instruction on how to start yoga, the poses, and what is so beneficial about practicing it.

Summary: Discover the basics of practicing yoga by tracing the story of its beginnings in India, showing how its earliest practitioners observed things in nature, such as trees, cats, snakes, and lions, and then imitated their poses. 

 Ages: For children of all ages

"Just breathe, nothing more."

The illustrations were as calming as the subject and this can be a very interactive book with your child. Poses can be tried, breathing exercises can be done, all while learning about the subject and India. 

I would recommend this book for any parents interested in introducing yoga to their child or practicing yoga together. 

Family Storytime: Australian Animals

We ended winter storytime on the theme of Australian animals. We read books about koalas and kangaroos and then made a cute, koala craft.

To start off storytime, we participated in our bean bag dance song and then we read The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright. This books rhymes perfectly and is great for this theme. It is on the bit of the longer side, but this book rhymes so well and kept the kids' attentions.

After our first book, we used the flannel board to do an alphabet activity. We fed the alligator alphabet pieces and everyone had a chance to put their pieces on the board.

Our next book was Don't Call Me Bear! by Aaron Blabey. This is such a silly, fun book about a poor koala who keeps getting called a bear. The kids laughed at how bothered he was by being called a different animal.

We ended up reading two more books since the kids were paying attention so well. Noni the Pony Rescues a Joey by Alison Lester and Bubbles by Kit Chase were perfect fits for this theme.

After our bubble story, we blew some bubbles and started making our construction paper koala craft. They each took times coloring their koala and adding leaves on to their "K" branch.

Other Books:

Eee-Moo! Annika Dunklee

The Koala Who Could Rahcel Bright

Koala and the Flower Mary Murphy

Over in Australia Amazing Animals Down Under Marianne Berkes

Two Tough Crocs David Bedford

Bubbles Kit Chase

A Hungry Lion Lucy Ruth Cummins

Oh No, Bobo! You're In Trouble Phil Gosier

Run, Run, Koala! Erica David

Platypus and the Lucky Day Chris Riddell

If I Were a Kangaroo Mylisa Larsen

Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? Eric Carle

Who are you, Baby Kangaroo? Stella Blackstone

The Koala Who Could Rachel Bright

Other Activity: Kookaburra Song

Creative Writing Workshop: The Five Senses

For a creative writing workshop on the five senses, I wanted to focus on how using our senses as writers can help with our descriptive writing. This was a program for ages 8 to 12. 

I had a Power Point to present what the five senses are and it showed examples of excellent descriptive writing taken from children books and examples that we as a group could write about and share. 

I also had worksheets available that went along with the Power Point examples so everyone would have a spot to write their descriptive writing and follow along.

Some of the examples were a busy city street, a beach, a carnival, old socks, cupcakes, and a rainstorm. Going over each of the fives senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, brief descriptions of the examples would be made. Pictures, objects, and sound clips were provided during the writing activity. 

I also pulled aside some other examples in case we needed more objects/scenarios to practice our writing and planned on using cupcakes and tangerines for our taste senses.  

The books I used for descriptive writing examples varied from picture books to chapter books, but the point was to show how different levels of writing still need descriptors and that a good description is a thorough description that takes you there and utilizes your imagination.

Below is a list of the books I've used for examples.
Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper
Carnival Magic by Amy Ephron
Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena
Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea by Lynne Rae Perkins
A Family of Poems compiled by Caroline Kennedy (Ode to Socks poem) 

Family Storytime: Snowmen

We started off our snowman storytime with our opening bean bag song and then got started with our first story, Snowzilla by Janet Lawler. This is a story about building the biggest snowman ever. The kids enjoyed this one and we talked a little bit about the concept big and small.

Our first activity was making our own snowman together on the flannel board. Everyone got a piece to complete our snowman and since the kids were so proud of it, we left it on the flannel board for the rest of storytime.

Our next story was All You Need for a Snowman by Barbara LaValle. This is a good read because it explains what makes a snowman and was a nice transition from the flannel board to this.

For our next activity, we each had a snowman piece to put into our magic envelope. Once we said "Abracadabra" our snowman magically was put together. This is a fun one that the kids really love because it is surprising. My magic was having two envelopes with one of the envelopes having a snowman already made.

Our final book was 100 Snowmen by Jen Arena. What a way to get the kids counting and following along. Loved all these books for our theme!

Our craft was making a snowman using paint, construction paper, and markers.

Other Snowman and Snow Books:

When the Snow Is Deeper Than My Boots Are Tall Jean Reidy

The Biggest Snowman Ever Steven Kroll

The Snowy Day Ezra Jack Keats

The Most Perfect Snowman Chris Britt

Waiting For Snow Marsha Diane Arnold

Dinos in the Snow! Karma Wilson

Pip and Posy The Snowy Day Axel Scheffler

Snowballs Lois Ehlert

Snowmen at Night Caralyn Buehner

The Biggest, Best Snowman Margery Cuyler

The Smiley Snowman M. Christina Butler

Here Comes Jack Frost Kazuno Kohara

Hello, Snow! Hope Vestergaard

Mouse's First Snow Lauren Thompson

There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow! Lucille Colandro

Big Snow Jonathan Bean

You Make Me Smile Layn Marlow

A Very Special Snowflake Don Hoffman

When the Snow Falls Linda Booth Sweeney

Into the Snow Yuki Kaneko

I See Winter Charles Ghigna

Best In Snow April Pulley Sayre

Mine, All Mine! Claire Hawcock

Sugar White Snow and Evergreens Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

Snowballs Lois Ehlert

Little Penguins Cynthia Rylant

The Reader Amy Hest