Some Books Just Make You Smile - Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
by Nancy White Carlstrom
illustrated by Bruce Degan
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: toddler - kindergarten

"I'll wear my pants, My pants that Dance, My pants that dance in the morning."
This charming line absolutely sold me on this book. This is the kind of book that sings out the author's joy of life. Jesse bear doesn't just wear his shirt of red and pants that dance, but he wears a rose in his toes and sand on his hand. Jesse wears his day joyfully until he ends it with, "Sleep in his eyes, And stars in the skies...". Nancy White Carlstrom's sweet story is joined by Bruce Degan's wonderful illustrations of Jessie the bear going throughout his day. A wonderful reminder of the simple joys of childhood and the love of family.

Some books just say, "Cuddle up and read me." Sometimes cuddling up and reading is enough. But here are a couple of activities that you can do with Jesse Bear, What will you wear.

Laptime:
Play the What will you wear? game when it is time to get dressed. It is a good way to practice colors and rhyming and sequencing.
Say your child's name instead of Jesse, such as:
Riley bear, Riley bear what will you wear?
My shirt of blue (now, what rhymes with blue?)
And my purple shoes, ( or a red canoe or just like you, etc)
That's what I'll wear in the morning.

Story Circle:
Write your own story using this A,A, B formula. Make sure that the first two lines rhyme and the last line repeats the thought. Use the prompt - What will you wear in the morning? Let each child contribute a page by writing or dictating their own rhyme and then draw a picture to illustrate their rhyme. When everyone's page is complete allow each child to read their page of the book. Laminate the pages and bind the book then put it in your library center for all of the kids to enjoy over and over. If you don't have a way to bind the book you can take it to Office Max or Kinkos and they will do it for a small fee.

Party Time - If You Give a Pig a Party

If You Give a Pig a Party
by Laura Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - kindergarten

I love parties! There is always something to celebrate and a party with friends and balloons is a great celebration. In this darling companion story to If You Give a Pig a Pancake our friend the pig is back and this time she is throwing a party. Join the pig and her companion as they follow the party circuit from balloons to decorating to rounding up the party guests to a full blown sleep over complete with a pillow fight. Pay special attention to the hide and seek pages. Can you find all of pigs friends? Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond combine talents again to give us a fun and endearing story.

Laptime Activity
Invite friends over for a Friendship Party. Let the kids help decorate (don't forget the balloons). Read If You Give a Pig a Party. Play hide and seek. Build a blanket fort. If you're feeling brave turn it into a sleep over and have pancakes for breakfast. While the kids are eating read If You Give a Pig a Pancake to them.

Story Circle Activity
Have a class friendship party complete with cake, party hats and balloons. After the cake head out to the playground and play a game of hide and seek.
Before you begin the game be sure to explain the rules so that all of the class understands how to play the same way. Then go over the Absolutely Musts for Hide and Seek:

• You absolutely must treat each other with respect.
• If you are it, you absolutely must keep your eyes closed while counting.
• If you are hiding you absolutely must keep everyone's hiding place a secret.
• If you get found you absolutely must smile and have a good attitude.

Moose Madness – If You Give a Moose a Muffin

If You Give a Moose a Muffin
By Laura Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laptime: Toddler – Kindergarten
Story Circle: Preschool – Early Elementary

We have had a very snowy winter, and because the mountains and hills around us are still covered in snow the moose have moved down into the valleys. Occasionally we get moose in our yard. They nonchalantly lope across the grass until they reach the forest behind the house and disappear. Not really much trouble at all. But we have friends who have had a moose haunt their front steps making it impossible to leave the house by the front door. I just hope that they don’t give that moose a muffin!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin is a darling story about an unexpected house guest - a moose. In this story a rather large and hungry moose comes to visit. The young boy wants to be a good host, so he offers the moose a muffin. The problem – “If you give a moose a muffin he’ll want some jam to go with it”, and one thing will lead to another until your house is overrun with moose mayhem including a colorful sock puppet production. But just look at that charming moose......... how could anyone refuse to give him a muffin?

Laptime and Story Circle Activities

Make Muffins – Here is a great Muffin recipe with the jam already baked inside!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup combine the milk and the oil add the egg and beat with a fork until the egg is mixed in. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid into the well. Stir just until moist ( there will be lumps). Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or grease each cup well. Fill each cup about 1/3 full with batter. Add 1 tsp of your favorite jam to each cup then cover the jam with more batter so that the cups are about 2/3 full.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool so that the jam doesn’t burn any mouths.
This recipe makes a dozen so if you have a larger class double the recipe.
Check out Tips for successful cooking in the classroom.

Make Sock Puppets
This is a great activity to recycle all of those single socks whose mates have been sucked into the black hole of your dryer.
You will need:

• One sock per child
• White glue
• Q tips
• Small paper plates
• Scissors
• Fabric scraps
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Yarn

1. Give each child a sock and a small plate with a little puddle of glue and a Q tip.
2. Explain that too much glue will make their puppet soggy.
3. Then have them practice using their Q tip to get a dab of glue and put that dab onto a dry area of the paper plate. That is how much glue they should use.
4. Next have the children put the sock on their hands so that the toe can be opened and shut like a mouth.
5. Talk about where the eyes should go, and the hair and the tongue.
6. Talk about what else they might want on their puppets. Will the puppet be an animal? A person? A monster?
7. Allow the children to be as creative as they would like with the materials to make their puppets.
8. To avoid frustration be there to help cut a shape or a hard piece of yarn but always encourage them to do most of it themselves.

When the puppets are complete and dry, put on a puppet show.

Ideas for puppet stages:

• Cut a hole out of the center of an old sheet and hang it with clothespins on a string strung across a corner of the room
• A big old box with a rectangle cut out makes a great stage for two people.
• The frame of an old TV set (the kind of TVs before flatscreens)

I hope that these activities are helpful. Add to the fun and tell us what you would do to help your children enjoy If You Give a Moose a Muffin.

I Love Spiders! - The Very Busy Spider

The Very Busy Spider
by Eric Carle
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: toddler - early elementary



Shhhh! I'll tell you a secret, I don't really love spiders. But I do love spider webs. We have these great big barn spiders that spin the most beautiful webs on my front porch during the summer. They are true works of art. Eric Carle's busy spider works hard throughout the story even though various barnyard friends invite her to come and join them. On each page the spider diligently spins her web so that as the story moves her web grows. This is a tactile book. The spider web is raised as well at the wings of the fly and the spider's legs. As you share this book during your Laptime be sure and let your child feel each page. If you are reading this book for Story Circle, put the book out in your book corner or library center so that the children can take turns feeling the spider web.

Laptime Activities:

1. Take a walk and look for spiders and spider webs.
2. Capture a spider and put it in a jar for closer observation. Be sure to let it go later.
3. If you have dangerous spiders around your home, learn the difference between a helpful spider and a poisonous one. Look in books or on the internet for pictures and information about where the dangerous spiders like to live.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Check out this website for lesson plans for a spider unit.
2. Make a string spider web sculpture:

You will need:

• string or yarn
• white glue
• water
• plastic cup
• waxed paper
• pencils
• drawing paper
• newspaper
• paper clips

How to do it:

1. Cover the table with newspaper.
2. Mix 2 parts white glue with 1 part water in a plastic cups.
3. Cut drawing paper size pieces of wax paper - one for each child.
4. Give each child a piece of drawing paper and a pencil.
5. Draw a simple spider web. Be sure that it is not too complicated.
6. Cover the drawing with wax paper and secure with paper clips.
7. Soak the string or yarn in the glue mixture. Squeeze it out so it doesn't drip.
8. Lay the string over the outline until you have covered all of the lines of the drawing with string. It is alright if the string overlaps itself.
9. If you have to use another piece of string be sure that the ends overlap a piece that is already a part of the picture.
10. For a stronger sculpture double the strings.
11. Let the webs dry overnight and in the morning peel off the wax paper.
12. Your spider webs are ready to hang.
13. If a part of the web doesn't hold well, put it back on the wax paper and glue it with full strength white glue. Let dry completely.

For more fun Very Busy Spider activities visit The Official Eric Carle website.

More Mischevious Monkeys - Caps for Sale

Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Storytime: preschool - early elementary

A comment on my post about the book Seven Spunky Monkeys suggested the book Caps for Sale as another fun read about monkeys. Caps for Sale was written by Esphyr Slobodkina in 1938 when it won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. It has been a children's classic ever since.
Caps for Sale is based on a folktale about a peddler who sold caps. He walked from town to town with his caps stacked on his head calling, "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!". One afternoon he decided to stop under a tree for a nap. He leaned very carefully against the tree so he would not disturb the caps on his head. What he didn't know is that the tree is full of monkeys who each reach down and steal a cap. The peddler woke up and discovered that the tree was full of monkeys wearing caps! The peddler learned a monkey-see-monkey-do lesson.

This is a wonderful story to act out for a creative drama lesson. Here are some other activities that go along with Caps for Sale. If you have activity suggestions please leave a comment and share them.

Laptime Activities:

1. What can you balance on your head? The peddler balanced 17 caps. Find different things to balance on your head- bean bags, pillows, books, hats - and walk around the living room. See who can walk the farthest without the object falling off their head.
2. Mirror game: The monkeys copied everything that the peddler did. Stand facing each other one person will move and the other will follow their motions as if a mirror image.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Balancing Act: Have the class spread out around the room so they have space to move. As a group, pantomime putting the caps on your heads, one cap at a time - you'll have to stretch high to put on the red caps. Then carefully walk around the room pretending to balance 17 caps on your heads. What happens if they fall down? To add to the fun, put on some good walking music.
2. Monkey See Monkey Do: This is a Simon Says type of game. Choose one child to be the peddler (or the teacher may do this). Have the peddler stand facing the class. The rest of the class will be the monkeys. The peddler will do a motion - shake fist, point finger, clap hands, jump up and down, etc. - and say, "You monkeys you! You give me back my caps!" All of the monkeys should copy the peddler's motion. But if the peddler tricks the monkeys and just says while he is doing the motion, " Give me back my caps!" all of the monkeys should freeze. See how many monkeys the peddler can trick.

More Monkey Business - Monkeys in Love?

Seven Spunky Monkeys
written by Jackie French Koller
illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - kindergarten

I should have posted this book on Valentines Day. It is the perfect Valentines read, cute but not mushy. Seven monkey friends go out to spend a week together doing spunky monkey things but as the week goes on each monkey succumbs to love leaving one monkey less each day. The story comes full circle when the monkeys meet again at the park. But this time it's seven spunky monkeys, seven spunky spouses and 7 busy babies. Friends and families together having an
"ape-solutely awesome" time.
Once again Koller and Munsinger pair up to give us a cleverly illustrated and rhyming read.
Use it to teach the days of the week and basic math skills.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime Activities
1. Sing the days of the week to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The-ese are the days of the week. Let me sing them again.

2. Read the book one time through just for enjoyment's sake. Read the book again and this time count the spunky monkeys on each page. When one monkey leaves count the monkeys that are left, using math words, "six monkeys take away one monkey equals how many monkeys? Let's count and see." Have your child point to each monkey on the page as they count.

Story Circle Activities
1. Sing the days of the week to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The-ese are the days of the week. Let me sing them again.

2. Give each child 21 counting blocks or some other manipulative that they can use to count with (pretzels work well, just don't eat them until the activity is over). Start out by lining up 7 counting blocks - these are the spunky monkeys. As you read the story have the class take one spunky monkey away each time a monkey falls in love and leaves the group. Say, "Seven monkeys take away (minus) one monkey equals 6 monkeys. Let's count them." When you get to zero monkeys have the class make three groups of seven counting blocks - 7 spunky monkeys, 7 spunky spouses and 7 busy babies. Add "7 spunky monkeys plus 7 spunky spouses equals how many monkey? Let's count and see." Count the monkeys. Then add "14 monkey parents plus 7 busy babies equals how many monkeys? Let's count and see." Count the monkeys together. You can also use this to teach early multiplication.

Too Much Snow! - Annie and the Wild Annimals

Annie and the Wild Animals
By Jan Brett
Laptime: toddler – kindergarten
Story Circle: preschool – kindergarten

It is snowing – again – which is why I chose another of Jan Brett's snow books to post.
Annie and The Wild Animals starts out with this sentence, “It had been snowing for days. Winter was lasting too long.” I know just how Annie feels.
In this winter story Annie’s cat, Taffy, is acting strangely. She doesn’t want to play and she falls asleep in strange places. (Sound familiar to anyone who’s ever been pregnant?) Eventually Taffy disappears leaving Annie without any warm and fluffy companionship to help pass the snowy time. Annie is a very resourceful little girl and so she decides to find a new friend. A lot of forest creatures turn up but none of them can take the place of Taffy.
The text is simple, just a few words per page tell this charming story. The illustrations are far from simple. Each beautifully illustrated page gives depth to the story and Brett’s trademark borders foreshadow what’s coming next. Call the children’s attention to the borders to find out what has happened to Taffy and to watch the emergence of spring.
I only wish that spring would come as quickly as turning a few pages.

Laptime Activities

1. Take a trip to a pet store. What kind of pets would be right for Annie?
2. Eat some animal crackers. While you are eating look at each animal cracker and decide if that you be a good pet for Annie or not.

Story Circle Activities

1. Animal Charades – Sit in a circle. Allow each child to act out an animal using actions and sounds, but no words. Ask the class to guess what the animal is and then let the actor say if their animal would be a good pet for Annie and why it would be a good choice. If a child is hesitant, whisper a suggestion to them. If they still don’t want to try, skip them and tell them that you will come back to them. Some children just need to see other kids play the game before they are brave enough to try.
2. If you know someone that has kittens ask them to bring them in to your classroom for a visit.
3. Head and Whiskers, Knees and Tail – I found this movement song on Josh Jubinsky's fun site, Library Storytime. You can sing it to Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes just substitute the words, Head and Whiskers, Knees and Tail. Start slowly then go a little faster each time. See how fast you can sing and move.

Bunny Love - The Runaway Bunny

The Runaway Bunny
by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Clement Hurd
Laptime: toddler - kindergarten
Story Circle: preschool - kindergarten

This is a sweet story. This is the kind of story that you read snuggled on the couch and follow it with a hug and a kiss. Margaret Wise Brown captures love in her story of a little bunny who threatens to run away only to find that there is nowhere that he can go that his mother's love wont follow.

Laptime Activities

1. Play the if you are then I will game - The child says something that they want to be such as, "I will be a book." Then the parent can answer, "Then I will be a librarian and put you in my library." or "I will be a tooth" and "Then I will be the toothbrush that keeps you clean". It can turn into a very silly game but it gets everybody thinking.
2. Eat carrots for snack.

Story Circle Activities

1. Make a family love collage. Cut out pictures of children with parents, grandparents, siblings, pets and glue them into a collage. You can make a big collage on butcher paper to hang in your classroom or single collages for each child to take home.
2. Draw pictures of families. Children's families are often different but every child has someone in their family that is special to them. Ask each child to draw a picture of themselves with a special family member and then let them show their picture and tell about that family member.

Another McCloskey Favorite - Blueberries For Sal

Blueberries For Sal
By Robert McCloskey
Laptime:preschool - early elementary
Story Circle:preschool - early elementary

We have a few blueberry bushes in our back yard. After you plant the bush you have to wait a whole year before they will bear fruit and then you have to wait another year before there is enough fruit to even put on your cereal. So when I read about Little Sal and her mother picking blueberries on Blueberry Hill, it makes my mouth water. Imagine, a whole hill of blueberry bushes.
This Caldecott Honor book is one of Robert McCloskey's best loved books. It is the story of Little Sal and her mother who go blueberry picking on Blueberry Hill. Little Bear and his mother also go to Blueberry Hill to eat berries. Find out what happens when Little Sal and Little Bear have a mother mix-up.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime and Story Circle cooking activities
You're going to be hungry after you read this book and your mouth is going to be watering for blueberries. Of course you can be like Little Sal and gobble blueberries all by themselves or you can make blueberry pancakes or blueberry muffins. It's easy to find blueberries in the freezer section of your grocery store and they are often less expensive then buying them fresh. Here are two good and easy recipes. Be sure and check the sidebar for Tips for Successful Classroom Cooking.
Blueberry Pancakes
1 cup flour
1 Tbl sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk (plus a little more if needed)
As many blueberries as you can fit in a pancake.
In one mixing bowl stir together dry ingredients. In another bowl stir together wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just blended and slightly lumpy.
At this point you can stir the blueberries into the batter or add the blueberries to each individual pancake ( I like this way best because I can make sure that there are enough blueberries in every bite.)
Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot buttery griddle or frying pan. If you are adding the berries to each pancake, add them now. When the pancake turns bubbly and looks solid around the edges turn it over and and cook the other side.

Blueberry muffins
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup blueberries
In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. Combine egg, milk and oil and pour into well. Stir just until moist. Gently stir in the blueberries. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full and sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 20 min. or until golden brown.

Of course if cooking is too time consuming make some toast and put blueberry jam on top.

Story Circle Activities

1. Blueberry Count: On page 8 and 9 there is a wonderful opportunity to do a little math. Give each child real blueberries or pretend blueberries (paper circles, marbles, playdough berries) and count the berries with Sal.
2. Bears! I live in bear country so I feel that I must tell my children that it's not a good idea to follow a great big mama bear. Follow up this book with a some books about real bears or check out this site to get some great bear info, http://www.bears.org/

I Love Ducks! - Make Way For Ducklings

I have posted a link, in the Fun Places to Visit section, to a wonderful article - Real Resolutions for Moms by Karen Ehman. Be sure and check it out.


Make Way For Ducklings
By Robert McCloskey
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

I'm going to date myself. When I was a little girl I was a huge Captain Kangaroo fan. I first heard some of my favorite books read by the Captain. Make Way for Ducklings was one of them and I've been a huge fan of Robert McCloskey ever since. Make Way For Ducklings is about Mr. and Mrs. Mallard who are searching for the perfect place to raise their family. After their ducklings are born they decide to make the lagoon in the Public Garden their home. The trick for Mrs. Mallard is to maneuver the busy streets of Boston with her eight ducklings. Fortunately the Boston police force is on the job to help her out. Make Way For Ducklings won the Caldecott Medal in 1942 and is the official Children's Book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the Public Garden in Boston there is a statue of a mother duck and eight ducklings. McCloskey's charcoal drawings are charming. Each one of the ducklings reminds me of a child that I have known and I love the expressions of Michael the policeman.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime Activities
1.If you live in a place where there are lakes or ponds with ducks, take a duck walk and visit them. Don't forget the peanuts.
2.Visit the web: Visit the All About Birds site http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Mallard.html#sound
This site let's you listen to Mallard calls and tells you cool facts about these ducks.
Listen to the Mallard call and see if you can imitate it.

Story Circle Activities
Five Little Ducks Finger Play
5 little ducks went out to play (show 5 with your fingers)
Over the hills and far away (make an up and down hill motion with your hand)
When the mother duck said quack, quack, quack (make a duck bill with your hands for quacking)
4 little ducks came waddling back (either show 4 fingers or do a waddle wiggle)
Continue to count down until you say:
No little ducks came waddling back. But when the daddy duck said QUACK, QUACK, QUACK
5 little ducks came waddling back.
The mother and daddy parts are interchangeable

1. See the Laptime Activity #2 for a great website to learn about Mallards.
2. If you know someone who raises ducks, ask if they will bring one or two to your classroom. Another resource may be pet stores or the local zoo.

What's on Your Head? - The Hat

The Hat
by Jan Brett
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

Hats are so much fun. When I was homeschooling my daughter we had to do dissection for high school biology. Whenever we had a dissection lab we would put on our dissecting hats - lovely straw hats with flowers around the brim. I don't know that it made us much smarter but it certainly made cutting up dead things more fun.
The Hat by Jan Brett features a favorite character, Hedgie the hedgehog. Hedgie's curiosity over a lost sock results in the sock getting stuck on his head making a very silly looking hat. Hedgie's farmyard friends tease him but Hedgie assures each of them that the hat will come in very handy when winter comes. Soon each animal is looking for a hat of their own. Check out the border of each page to discover where the hats are coming from. Once again Jan Brett's illustrations are so detailed that each page should be lingered over.

Laptime Activities:

1. Go on a walk and wear a hat.
2. Have fun hats for different activities: a play time hat, a storytime hat, a clean up time hat, a cooking hat, etc.
3. Look around the house and find things that are not normally worn as hats and turn them into hats - i.e. a colander, a newspaper, a small trashcan, a pair of pants.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Act out the story using your classroom dress ups. One child can play Lisa who hangs up the clothes. Another child can be Hedgie who gets the sock hat stuck. Then each one of the other children can play an animal who says teasing things to Hedgie such as - what is that silly thing on your head? Hedgie can answer using the comebacks from the book or anything else that will make the other animals want a hat. After the animals have left Hedgie they may each choose something from the dress ups to wear as a hat. When all of the animals have their hats Lisa will come out and scold them for taking her clothes. If you have extra room you can end the story with a game of tag: Lisa will chase the animals and when she tags them they have to put their hat away and sit down.
2. Find objects in the room that can be used as hats. Let the children be as imaginative as they would like. Then have a fashion show.

How Tall Are You? - Tall

Tall
by Jez Alborough
Laptime: toddler - preschool
Story Circle: preschool

Little ones love it when adults recognize that they are getting bigger. They love to tell us that they are no longer little. They are bigger than the kitty and their baby brother and when they are on their Daddy's shoulders and can see the whole world around them, they are bigger than anyone.
Jez Alborough in his picture book Tall, captures that childlike desire to be bigger with expressive illustrations and only 15 words.
Bobo is a little chimp in a big jungle. He is small and wants to be tall, so his friends help him experience what it is like to be tall. Being tall is wonderful but he discovers that there is a place where small is best of all - safe in his mother's arms.

Laptime Activities: Be Tall

1. Take a tape measure and measure everyone in the family. Mark the heights in a place where the height differences are visible. Allow your child to stand on something stable and safe that will allow them to be as tall as each different family member. Measuring is a good time to talk about numbers, counting and spacial differences.
2. Go to a playground with safe climbing equipment. Stand on the ground and talk about what you see. Climb to the highest point that your child is comfortable with and talk about what you see now that you are taller.

Story Circle Activities:
Try this movement rhyme:
Children start curled up in a ball on the floor.
Jack- in- a-box, Jack-in-a-box, small and still.
Wont you come out?
Yes, I will!
Children jump up with arms stretched up high, making themselves as tall as possible.

1. Send your class on a scavenger hunt in your class library to find pictures of things that are tall and small. Sit in a circle and have each child share the picture that they found and say if it is tall or small.
2. Take your class out to the playground. Stand on the ground and talk about what they see. Then have each child climb the ladder to the top of the slide. When they get to the top ask them what they see. After they have a quick look around they can slide down and the next child can have a turn. When everyone has had a turn to see what the world looks like from a taller perspective go into the classroom and draw pictures of what they saw.

Winter Storytime - Owl Moon

Owl Moon
By Jane Yolen
Illustrated by John Schoenherr
Laptime: preschool - 3rd grade
Story Circle: preschool - 3rd grade

We have an owl that lives in the woods behind our house. Occasionally people hear its call. Unfortunately it discovered that our chickens make a delicious breakfast. But I still enjoy the thought that there is an owl in the woods.
In the book Owl Moon a father takes his child into the woods to go owling. The father calls to the owl, "Whoo, whoo, who, who, who, whoooooo" and they wait for the owl to answer back. The suspense builds as you wonder whether they will discover an owl or not. The relationship of trust between father and child is depicted simply and beautifully. The lessons of courage, strength, self discipline and appreciation of the world around are taught through the adventure of owling. I love Jane Yolen's word pictures and the Caldecott winning illustrations work together with her words in wonderful harmony.

Laptime Activities:

1. Go through the book and look at the illustrations. See if you can find the different forest creatures that the illustrator added. What page do you first see the owl's shadow?
2. Follow this book with a nonfiction book about owls. Make a list of what you learned.
3. Go outside and practice calling owls. Call them softly, call them loudly, call them with a high voice and with a low voice.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Paper bag owl puppets: You will need - one lunch size paper bag per child, crayons or markers, construction paper, scissors, glue sticks. Have the children cut 3 small triangles out of construction paper ( or if your preschoolers are younger, have the triangles precut). Lay the bag on the table upsidedown with the bottom of the bag on top and the folded flap facing out. The flap will be the owl's face and mouth. Glue two of the triangles on the top corners of the bag. Glue the other triangle upside down in the middle of the bottom of the flap. This will be the owl's beak. Use crayons or markers to draw large circle eyes on the face. Tear construction paper into small pieces and glue them to the body overlapping as mush as possible. These are the feathers. For younger preschoolers you may want to let them draw the feathers with markers.
2. Owl calling: Divide the class into two groups. Have one group stand at one end of the classroom and the other group stand at the opposite side. Group one can be the humans and group two, the owls. The teacher gives calling directions -i.e. call softly, call loudly, call with a high voice, call with a low voice. Group one calls first and then group two answers. The owl group could use their puppets at this time. As each group calls they take a step toward the center. When the groups meet in the middle it is time to switch and let group one be the owls and group two be the humans.

Christmas Storytime - Wake up, Dormouse, Santa Clause is here

Wake up, Dormouse, Santa Clause is Here
By Eleonore Schmid
Laptime preshcool - 2nd grade
Story Circle - preschool - 2nd grade

Gus the Dormouse always misses Santa's visit to the forest because he hibernates through the winter. This Christmas he doesn't want to miss Santa but how will he stay awake? Thanks to his friend the Owl, Gus gets his wish.
This book is illustrated with lovely watercolor and pencil pictures of the forest and the creatures who live there. It is a wonderful vehicle to prompt learning about the animals that live in the forest and about hibernation. A different view of Santa is presented here, which could prompt discussion of the ways that different cultures view Santa Clause.

Laptime and Story Circle Activity:
Talk about the different gifts of food that Santa brought to the animals. Which animals ate what treats? Have some of those treats for snack time.

Laptime Activity:
A good book to read before naptime or bedtime. After you read the story pretend to be Gus all curled up in his nest or in Santa's pocket falling...fast.....asleep.....

Story Circle Activities:

1. For older children - Break the class up into 5 groups and have each group learn about one of the animals from the story - dormouse, woodpecker, fox, squirrel, owl. Have them answer some basic questions: What does the animal eat? What part of the forest does the animal live in? Does this animal hibernate? You will have to do some research yourself to have appropriate books from the library and websites for the class to use. Have each group present their findings to the class.
2. Crayon resist water color forest pictures - You will need: newspaper to cover the tables, white sheets of drawing paper,dark color crayons, watercolor paints, paint brushes and smocks. Talk to the class about the way that the illustrator used watercolor paints and pencil for her pictures. Have the children draw a forest creature with a dark crayon, then paint over the picture with a watercolor wash (make your brush heavy with water but not dripping. Pull the brush a couple of times over the color of paint and apply to the paper, repeat until the entire paper is covered). The wax in the crayon will resist the paint and show the animal through the watercolor wash. Different colors of wash may be used for the sky, ground, and to fill in the body of the animal.

Christmas StoryTime - The Crippled Lamb

The Crippled Lamb
by Max Lucado with Jenna, Andrea, & Sara Lucado
Illustrated by Liz Bonham
Best for ages 4 - 9

Josh the lamb has one leg that doesn't work very well and so he can't walk to the other valley with the other sheep. Instead he shares the stable with his best friend, Abigail the cow. Abigail always tells Josh that God has a special place for him and on the most wondrous night of nights Joshua finds out just what that special place is.
This book is extra special because Max Lucado coauthored it with his daughters. The illustrations of this book are so rich that it is a lovely laptime story for younger preschoolers. Even if you can't read all of the text to your youngest child they can understand the content by looking at the pictures. For a preschool story circle I would recommend age 4 and above .

Laptime Activities:

1. Talk Abouts: Abigail was Joshua's best friend; who is your best friend? If you could go on an adventure with Abigail and Joshua where would like to go? What kind of stories do you think that Abigail told Joshua?
2. Bundle up and take a walk at night. Look at the stars. Pretend to be the shepherds who saw the Angels proclaiming the birth of Christ.
3. Write a story with your own children.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Play follow the shepherd. Choose a child to be the shepherd or let the teacher lead. The rest of the children can be the sheep. The shepherd will lead the sheep around the room in a follow the leader fashion: skipping, jumping, hopping on one foot, etc. You can end the game with the shepherd leading the sheep to the stable.
2. Cotton ball sheep. You will need: glue, paper cups, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, eyes (google eyes are fun but black paper circles work just fine.). Wrap the pipe cleaners around the paper cups - two pipe cleaners per cup for four feet- and twist leaving enough room on the end to bend for the feet. Put small puddles of glue on paper plates. Dip the cotton balls in the glue and stick on the cup, be careful not to let the cotton ball soak up too much glue. Cover the cup with cotton until you have a fluffy sheep. Glue the eyes on last. Don't forget to name your sheep.