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.

Rattlebang - bang! - The Rattlebang Picnic

The Rattlebang Picnic
By Margaret Mahy
Illustrated by Steven Kellogg
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

When the newly married McTavishes have to choose between "a wonderfully speedy car that never breaks down" and lots of children, they choose lots of children and a rattlebang car. Packed to overflowing with The McTavish family, including seven children, Granny McTavish and the family pets the rattlebang takes them on adventurous picnics to shark infested beaches and volcanic hot springs.
Steven Kellogg's colorful and imaginatively detailed illustrations take you along with the family on a picnic full of adventure. Join Margaret Mahy's McTavishes on their rattlebang journey and don't forget the pizza!


Laptime Activities

• Go to somewhere adventuresome and have a picnic.
• Make English Muffin Pizzas - Spoon spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce on an English Muffin. Top with cheese and your favorite pizza topping. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly or, if you want them done quickly, put the pizzas under the broiler but watch them carefully so they don't burn.

Story Circle Activities

• From the materials in your scrap box (see Ideas from Miss Kay) have the children design their own Rattlebangs.
• Once their Rattlebangs are finished have each child write or dictate where they would drive on a picnic adventure.

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.

How To Make a Butterfly - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle
Laptime: toddler - kindergarten

Strory Circle - toddler - kindergarten

One night I was standing on the back porch looking at the stars and I heard this crunch, crunch, crunch. It was coming from the elderberry bush. On one of the leaves was a very hungry caterpillar. This little guy was munching his way through the leaves like crazy. I wonder what kind of butterfly he became?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar starts out with a little egg on a leaf who becomes a starving caterpillar who eats his way through various favorite foods, the days of the week and the pages of the book and finishes with the grand finale, a beautiful butterfly.
I love this colorful book by Eric Carle. My copy at home is looking very worn from being in my preschool bag and then in the hands of my 3 children. This is a great story for science units, nutrition, counting and the days of the week. One of the reasons that I think children love this book so much is that the main character eats his way through all of their favorite foods and they can empathize with his tummy ache after his feast. Of course, another reason is that everyone loves the thought of becoming a butterfly.

Laptime Activities:

1. For family lunch or dinner, have a caterpillar feast. Feature all of the foods listed in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. You might want to finish with some parsley or peppermint leaves to settle any tummy aches.
2. Make a butterfly with squashed paint: You will need - Tempera paints, drawing paper, paint brushes, paper or Styrofoam cups, newspaper.

• Cover your table with newspaper.
• Put different colors of paint in cups with a paint brush in each color.
• Give each child one piece of paper.
• Have the children fold the paper in half.
• On one half of the paper only have the children drop or dribble paint. Using different colors.
• Fold the unpainted half over onto the painted half and rub over the whole paper so that the paint is transfered onto the unpainted half.
• Carefully unfold the paper and you will have a butterfly with wings that are identical.

Use this activity to teach colors and symmetry.

Story Circle Activities:
Caterpillar and Butterfly finger plays:
I found these delightful finger plays on PreschoolEducation.com. This site is a great resource and I hope that you take some time to check it out.

Flutter, flutter, Butterfly Original Author unknown

Sung to: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

Flutter, flutter, butterfly.
Floating in the summer sky.
Floating by for all to see,
Floating by so merrily.
Flutter, flutter, butterfly,
Floating in the summer sky.

Roly-Poly Caterpillar Original Author unknown

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)
Into a corner crept, (place right pointer finger in left cupped hand)
Spun around himself a blanket (spin around)
Then for a long time slept. (place head on folded hands)
Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)
Wakening by and by, ("stretch" right pointer finger)
Found himself with beautiful wings
Changed to a butterfly. (flutter arms like wings)

Caterpillar Chant Original Author Unknown

A caterpillar looks so small.
It is hardly there at all.
It munches on green leafy treats,
And it gets bigger as it eats.

It eats and eats, 'til pretty soon,
It wraps up tight in a cocoon.
When it wakes up it blinks its eyes
And says, "I'm now a butterfly!"

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.

Ideas from Miss Kay - Paperclip Math

My last two posts were about counting books, Seven Spunky Monkeys and One Monkey Too Many by Jackie French Koller. This prompted my mom, Miss Kay, to send this wonderfully simple hands on math idea. Miss Kay is a retired kindergarten teacher whose teaching is always creative and hands on. For more Ideas by Miss Kay see Fun Places to Visit in the sidebar.

I love to think of inexpensive things to use around the house to help our children learn. A pack or two of large, plastic- coated, colored paper clips will do just fine. These activities are especially good for 4 and 5 year olds. First lay them out on the table and let your child explore what he might want to do. Try these activities. Sort them by color. Count each set. Use the terms, more, less, and same. Help your child make a chain using a pattern( red, yellow, blue etc.) See if your child can keep the pattern going. Vary the pattern, making it more difficult. See if you can make sets of 5's and tens and practice counting to 100. Now see what ideas you and your child can come up with. Have fun! Don't push. Give them time to develop in their own time. If they are not interested they are probably not ready.

Image by stock.xchng

Snowy Mystery - The Missing Mitten Mystery

The Missing Mitten Mystery
by Steven Kellogg
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

Our weather today is almost identical to the weather in this darling story. There is enough snow on the ground for snowmen and snow forts and sledding but it is warming up and starting to rain. You can find all kinds of treasures when the snow starts to melt which is just what happens in The Missing Mitten Mystery.
After a long day of snowplay Annie discovers that she has lost her mitten. Since this is the fifth mitten that she has lost Annie and her dog, Oscar, decide that they had better backtrack and find it. As Annie retraces her steps you discover what a fun day she and her playmates had. Annie is also wonderfully creative as she imagines all of the places that her mitten could have ended up. Is the mitten now a hat for a baby eaglet? A sleeping bag for a mouse? Or maybe a seed for a mitten tree?
Author Illustrator, Steven Kellogg, combines beautiful watercolor illustrations with a story that keeps you guessing - which is the point of a mystery.

Laptime Activities

1. Put on your mittens and go outside and build a snowman. Don't forget to give him a mitten heart.
2. In the story Annie imagines planting a mitten tree and giving the mittens that she grows away to her family and friends. Donate mittens to a local clothing bank or school.

Story Circle Activities

1. Hide the Mitten - Choose one child to be Annie (or Oscar if they are a boy). Annie should leave the room or close her eyes. Hide a mitten somewhere in the classroom. When Annie begins to look for it have the class give hints by clapping slowly if Annie is far away from the mitten and quickly if Annie is closer. When Annie finds the mitten let her/him draw a name to be the next Annie.
2. Make a Mitten Tree - You will need: butcher paper, construction paper, scissors, Pencils for tracing, lace, yarn, buttons, fabric scraps, etc., glue, sticky tack. In the story Annie imagines a tree full of mittens. Draw an outline of a tree with branches on a large sheet of butcher paper. Give each child a sheet of brightly colored paper. Have the children place one hand on the paper and trace around it to get a mitten shape and then cut out the mittens. If you have younger children you may want to provide precut mittens. Provide lace, yarn, buttons fabric scraps - whatever you can think of to decorate the mittens. When the mittens are finished hang them on the tree with sticky tack so that the kids can take their mittens home later.

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.

Sal Grows Up - One Morning in Maine

One Morning in Main
By Robert McCloskey
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: Kindergarten - early elementary

Remember little Sal toddling after her mother in Blueberries for Sal? In One Morning in Maine, Sal has grown up to be a big girl who has lost her first tooth. In my children's kindergarten and first grade classes there was always a Lost Tooth Chart. It was usually a big tooth on a bulletin board decorated with pictures of classmates who had lost a tooth; each big smile showing a gap in a different place. It was an honor to have your picture posted on the tooth. I always looked at the pictures with the bittersweet sense of wonder that our babies were growing up. The first lost tooth truly is a rite of passage from babyhood to being a big girl or boy.
In One Morning in Maine, Sal looses her tooth while digging for clams with her father. It disappears right into the mud. Sal shows what a grown up girl she is becoming in the way that she handles the disappointment of the lost tooth, the way that she cares for her little sister, and in the way that she imaginatively solves the problem of not being able to put the tooth under her pillow to get her secret wish. The illustrations in this Caldecott Honor Book give insight into life in Maine in 1952 and make you want to be there to enjoy the wind and the waves , the gulls and the clam chowder.

Laptime Activities

1. Start a Lost Tooth scrapbook. Fill it with gapped grins from various family members. Don't forget to include pictures of parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents when they lost their first teeth.
2. Make clam chowder for lunch. Have an ice cream cone for dessert.
   

Story Circle Activities

1. In the story Sal discusses with her father which animals have teeth and which ones don't. Make a large collage with one side covered in pictures of animals that have teeth and the other side covered in pictures of birds and animals that don't have teeth. You will need: Large sheet of butcher paper with a line drawn down the middle and the words - Teeth and No Teeth - written on each half. Pictures of animals, birds, fish, reptiles, etc., scissors, glue stick. Take some time before class to pull the pictures from magazines of different animals and birds. Try to find enough pictures with teeth and without so that your collage will have good balance and everyone will have a picture to cut out. Put all of the pictures out on a table and have each child cut around one picture. When all of the pictures have been cut out, put them in a basket. One at a time ask each child to pick a picture out of the basket and ask the class if it is has teeth or no teeth. Then rub glue stick on the back of the picture and have the child put it on the butcher paper on the correct side.
2. Clam Chowder for snack time. Buy a good canned version of clam chowder and heat it up in a crock pot. Spoon it into small hot/cold cups. Be sure and serve it with lots of crackers just in case some kids don't like the chowder.

Berries, Berries, Berries! - Jamberry

Before we get to Jamberry I would like to introduce you to someone. My daughter works for a wonderfully inventive woman named Heather. She is the founder and owner of the on-line store, Mom 4 Life. Heather's site is listed in the sidebar under Friends. Be sure and give her a visit.
Here is some interesting info on Heather and Mom 4 Life:

“Mom 4 Life.com is a unique website specializing in products that are 100% mom invented. Started by a mom of two in 2003, Heather Ledeboer has grown Mom 4 Life at a breathtaking speed. Her website now offers over 900 products. Ledeboer is passionate about being a mom and has built her business around her children’s sleep schedule and hired employees when Mom 4 Life experiences growth spurts in order to allow her to be a stay at home mom (her original goal when starting her business). Desiring to help other moms in business, Heather searches out products that are new, unique to the market and (most importantly) comprised from the handiwork of a mother. Knowing how difficult it can be to take a new product and get it in front of the target audience, Mom 4 Life steps in to do just that successfully marketing products by moms (over 250 of them), for moms. Not only passionate about helping moms in business, Heather also seeks to help moms in need. Mom 4 Life donates 10% of its proceeds to local pregnancy centers. Heather believes that it when you are blessed, you are called to be a blessing to others. Helping moms is the way that she feels compelled to fulfill that calling.”

Jamberry
by Bruce Degan
Laptime: toddler - Kindergarten
Story time: toddler - Kindergarten

While I was writing my last post about Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey the opening line from Jamberry kept running through my heard, "One berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry". I read Jamberry so many time to my children that I can still recite most of it from memory.
A berry loving bear invites a boy to go berry picking with him. They go for a canoe ride and discover a berry adventure around every turn until they end up "buried in berries".
This is a great laptime read for toddlers and younger preschoolers because the rhythms are bouncy and fun and the illustrations are full of berrylicious things to look at. I especially like the way that Bruce Degan foreshadows the next section by adding a character or an item from the next berry discovery to the current page. Linger over the illustrations, there are so many yummy things to see.

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

Laptime and Story Circle Activities
I combined the laptime and story circle activities because I would use these activities in both areas.

1. Toast Jamboree! - All you need is a toaster (preferably one that stays cool on the outside), bread, plastic knives for spreading, and jams made out of the berries listed in the story. Toast slices of bread and cut into fourths. Let the children spread a different jam on each slice. Be sure and discuss the different colors and tastes of the jams.
2. "Dancing in Meadows of Strawberry Jam" - In the middle of the book the bear and the boy meet up with some ponies and sheep and have a dance. For a fun movement activity, give the children berry colored scarves or streamers, put on some music and dance. Choose instrumental music that is lively, perhaps something Celtic or this is a good chance to introduce your favorite piece of danceable classical music . Whenever you do this kind of movement activity be sure that you have enough room for the kids to spread out. Set the guidelines about where they dance - move in a circle, move across the room, stay in place. Also set the guidelines for when the dancing starts and stops. For example, when the music starts, dance and when the music stops, freeze.

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.

Let's eat! - The Seven Silly Eaters

The Seven Silly Eaters
by Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

As parents we all know the stress of trying to get our children to eat foods that they don't like or trying to coax them to try new foods. In The Seven Silly Eaters Mary Ann Hoberman captures family food frustrations in comic reality. The story starts with one little Peters baby who will drink only warm milk. Mrs. Peters indulges this whim with a smile. As each new child comes into the family Mrs. Peters realizes that she has seven silly eaters, each with their own favorite food: applesauce, fresh bread, fried eggs, oatmeal (with no lumps!), pink lemonade. She is run to a frazzle trying to keep up with the different food demands and finally, "Mrs. Peters was a wreck." The children decide to help their mother out by making her a special breakfast in bed, "A breakfast made of all the foods that keep them in such happy moods." The result is an episode of wonderfully chaotic cooking.
Mary Ann Hoberman is a critically acclaimed poet and author. This story is written in rhyme and the wonderful rhythms and expressive words make reading aloud effortless. Illustrator Marla Frazee captures the Peters family perfectly. Each child is as unique as their favorite food and Mr. and Mrs. Peters look like people that I would like to know living in a home that I would like to visit.
Though I put preschool - early elementary for the age range. I have successfully read this book to upper elementary kids.
I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime Activities:
1.Have a Peters Family Picnic - Plan a picnic and serve all of the Peters family's favorite foods:Milk, applesauce, Oatmeal (cookies), fresh bread, eggs (hard boiled), lemonade and finish with a "pink and plump and perfect cake".
2.Cook together - In the story Mrs. Peters did all of the cooking, but this is an important life skill for our children to learn. When children cook they learn reading skills - following a recipe, math skills - measuring and fractions, nutrition and how to follow directions. Don't forget to have them help in the set up and the clean up.

Story Circle Activities:
The laptime activities work in the classroom as well. Plan a Peters Family Picnic with your class. If you are allowed to cook in your classroom make some of the dishes with the children's help. If you are not allowed to cook you can buy everything that you need prepackaged.
Below are two recipes that work well in the classroom. See Fun Places to Visit in the sidebar for tips on cooking with children. Remember: Wash hands, Wash hands, Wash hands and use gloves if your school requires it.
Apple Sauce
1 small apple for each child
1 1/2 cups water for every 6 apples or use apple juice
Cinnamon and sugar to taste
Set up a table with vegetable peelers and the apples and one teacher to supervise. Send the children in small groups to the table. Meanwhile have the other children do other activities or play at different centers. When each child finishes their apple they may take the apple to another teacher who will core it and cut it and place it in a crock pot with the water or juice.
Cook the apples until tender then let each child mash the apples 3 times with a masher or until they have the consistency of apple sauce. Sprinkle with Cinnamon and sugar and serve.
If you start this first thing in the morning you should have applesauce with your afternoon snack.
Lemonade
You will need:
For every 4 lemons - dissolve 1/2 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of hot water. So if you have a class of 12 children you will need 12 lemons, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of hot water.
1 large plastic pitcher
bowl for dissolving sugar in hot water
spoon for stirring
ice
Teacher prep: cut each lemon in half.
Allow each child to use a hand juicer and squeeze the juice from their lemon, then pour the juice through a strainer into a pitcher. When all of the lemons are juiced, add the hot sugar water and stir. Add approximately 4 - 6 cups cold water (start with 4 and taste to see if you need more). Add ice and stir to chill. Serve.

Christmas StoryTime - Max's Christmas

Max's Christmas
by Rosemary Wells
Laptime - toddler - K
Story Circle - Toddler - K

Rosemary Wells' adorable white rabbits, Max and Ruby are all time favorites of mine. In this Christmas story, Ruby, in bossy big sister fashion, is hurrying Max to get ready for bed so that Santa will come. Max is full of questions but Ruby only answers with a very unsatisfactory - because. Max decides to stay up and see Santa for himself. Will Max's questions send Santa right back up the chimney?
Wells' illustrations accompanied by her simple story line make this book an easy laptime read for toddlers but older children and adults will appreciate the humor and insight into sibling relationships and the toddler mind. I often read Rosemary Wells' books to older children because they appreciate the humorous situations that Max and Ruby get into and since the text is uncomplicated they are good books for new readers to read aloud to younger brothers or sisters.

Laptime Activities:

1. Ask your Toddler or preschooler questions about Santa and write down their answers. Send the questions and answers in an holiday email to grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles.
2. When you read this book for the second and third time (which I guarantee that you will) Let your preschooler "read" Max's questions when you come to them and then say together the constant answer - because.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Make a brother and sister collage by cutting pictures of siblings out of magazines and gluing them to a big sheet of butcher paper.
2. Have the children draw pictures of their favorite Christmas things that they do with their siblings and/or their families and dictate a caption for their picture. Put all of the pictures together in a book to keep on the storytime bookshelf.