Archive | One World Many Stories RSS feed for this section

Food Around the World

13 Jul

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

OPENING SONG – Can’t Wait to Celebrate
from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem album

BOOK 1 -  How to Make an Apple Pie and See the Worldby Marjorie Priceman
“Making an apple pie is really very easy.  First, get all of the ingredients at the market. . . “  But what happens if the market is closed?  A shopping trip around the world of course!  The little girl in this story travels to England, Sri Lanka, Jamaica and more to find the perfect ingredients to make the perfect apple pie.

Continue reading →

Tags: ,

One World Many Animals

6 Jul

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

OPENING SONG - Can’t Wait to Celebrate
from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem album

FLANNEL STORY -   Uwungelema: A South African Tale
If you do an internet search for Uwungelema, you’ll find many different variations on this folktale.  I’ve posted the version that I used below.

Uwungemela: A South African Tale

Uwungemela Flannel Board Clip Art

ACTION RHYME – Five Little Monkeys
Ask your group to jump up and down and then fall to the ground, along with the rhyme.  Call the doctor with telephone action and then shake your finger back and forth for the “no more monkeys…”

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
Continue with four little monkeys, three, two, one.

BOOK 1 -   Snappy Little Jungle (Pop-up Book) by Dugald Steer

SHAKER EGG SONG- I Know A Chicken by Laurie Berkner
from The Best Of The Laurie Berkner Band album

Get out your shaker eggs (or any other instruments you have that shake.)  This is a funny, funky song that incorporates instructions on shaking the eggs into the lyrics  (e.g. “shake them fast, shake them slow, etc.)

BOOK 2 -   Sea Creatures Pop-up  by Sally Hewitt
You absolutely cannot go wrong with this book as a read-aloud for storytime!  It is my go-to book when I need to add some excitement to storytime or I need to really grab everyone’s attention.  Before reading this, I tell the class that this book has some reeeaaally scary creatures in it.  Sometimes I don’t even read the text, I’ll peek at the picture, act very scared, maybe peek at it again, and tell the class that this one “has really big, sharp teeth.  He is really scary!  Are you sure you want to see him?  Ok then – It’s a (turn book around and show picture) TIGER SHARK!”

SONG- The Animals on the Bus
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus

The tigers on the bus go Roar, roar, roar
Roar, roar, roar
Roar, roar, roar
The tigers on the bus go roar, roar, roar
All around the town.

The monkeys on the bus go Oo-oo Aah-ah…
The kangaroos on the bus go Up and Down…
The rhinoceroses on the bus play their Horn, horn, horn…
The elephants on the bus go Stomp, stomp, stomp…

TAKE HOME –   Animal Crackers with “Animals on the Bus” song

After singing the above song,  I handed out baggies filled with animal crackers to which I had attached the words to the “Animals on the Bus.”  You can print out the words here: Animals on the Bus.

This was very inexpensive!  1 bag of Animal Crackers at the dollar store: $1.00. + 1 box of plastic baggies at the dollar store: $1 = Take Home bags for 40 children: $2.00 total

GOODBYE SONG - If You’re Happy

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands….
If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet….
If you’re happy and you know it, wave goodbye…..

Tags: ,

Once Upon a Time

24 Jun

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

Today’s theme was all about dragons, princesses and knights….but heavy on the dragons.

OPENING SONG - Can’t Wait to Celebrate
from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem album

POEM – The Dragon’s Are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky
I replaced the difficult vocab words in this poem for my preschool class.  I put the words I used in parentheses. 

Tonight is the night all the dragons
Awake in their lairs (homes) underground,
To sing in a cacophonous (very loud) chorus
And fill the whole world with their sound

They sing of the days of their glory,
They sing of their exploits (adventures) of old,
Of maidens (princesses) and knights, and of fiery fights,
And guarding vast caches (great treasures) of gold.

Some of their voices are treble (high),
And some of their voices are deep,
But all of their voices are thunderous,
And no one can get any sleep.

I lie in my bed and I listen,
Enchanted and filled with delight,
To songs I can hear only one night a year-
The dragons are singing tonight.

ACTIVITY/WIGGLER - Magic Wand
I told my class that I brought my magic wand with me to storytime today.  “And when I wave my magic wand, everyone must do what it says!  My magic wand says Jump!”  I have my magic wand say things like: touch your toes, wiggle your nose, clap your hands, stomp your feet, touch your elbow, touch your elbow to your nose, spin around in a circle….sit down!

I made my magic wand by cutting a star out of cardboard and covering it with felt and craft foam. I glued the star to a paint stirrer, and decorated with ribbon, beads and glitter.

BOOK 1 – Princess Justina Albertina by Ellen Dee Davidson
Princess Justina Albertina is a very spoiled princess who is used to getting her own way….and when she doesn’t get her way she throws horrible tantrums that give her nanny headaches.  When the princess asks for a new pet, her nanny searches to the ends of the earth – literally – to find her her perfect pet.  The princess is not easily pleased (Note: if you are low on time or attention span, you can skip a few pages of pets – she goes through a long list!), but when her nanny returns with a giant gryphon the princess declares him “just perfect.”  However, we find out that this is not a happy ending for Princess Justina Albertina – this story is a cautionary tale, warning about the dangers of acting like a spoiled princess.

FLANNEL RHYME - Ten Dizzy Dragons
“Ten dizzy dragons lived long, long ago. In a land filled with magic where few people can go….”  Complete words and templates are from Super Storytelling by Carol Elaine Catron & Barbara Catron Parks.

I ended up changing the verses for the ninth and tenth dragons.  The tenth dragon is supposed to be a “liar,” but I didn’t want to end the rhyme that way.  So I switched the dragons, and made my ninth dragon “very sad – he was a bit of a crier.”  This elicited many giggles from the audience.  And the tenth dragon “breathed smokey red fire.”

After reading through the rhyme, point to different dragons and ask your audience if they can remember what each dragon did (…wore a crown of gold, blew bubbles, rescued people etc.)  It’s a fun memory game and it’s a good test of their listening skills.

Notes about this flannel board:

  1. On the back of each dragon, I wrote the words to the rhyme corresponding with that dragon.  I also numbered them according to the order they appear in the rhyme.  That way I don’t have to read from a sheet or memorize the rhyme – all of the words are right there in front of me while I’m showing the dragons to the audience.  Easy peasy.
  2. Psst!  I’ll share with you my new favorite coloring short-cut:  I scanned the black and white dragon templates onto my computer, and then “colored” them using Paint.net.  I’m not sure if I’m clever, or just incredibly lazy, but I’ll definitely be using this technique again!

BOOK 2 - A Dragon on the Doorstep by Stella Blackstone
This book comes with an audio CD, so I used the CD to sing this book instead of reading it.  The tune is catchy and the pictures are bright and colorful.  The CD also has a version of the song without words, so if you have great timing and a good singing voice you can use the CD simply as accompaniment.  I am not this talented and had to use the version with words.

RHYME - Dragon, Dragon Turn Around
I think I saw a rhyme like this somewhere, but I couldn’t find it when putting together this storytime.  Here are the words I came up with:

Dragon, dragon, turn around
Dragon, dragon, touch the ground
Dragon, dragon, fly up high
Dragon, dragon, touch the sky

Dragon, dragon, swing your tail
Dragon, dragon, shake your scales
Dragon, dragon, give a ROAR
Dragon, dragon, sit on the floor

SONG - Dragon Hunt
MP3 Download: from the Imagination Workshop Band’s album Subway Train
This is the dragon version of “Going on a Bear Hunt.”

BOOK 3 – When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore
A new book released summer 2011.

GOODBYE SONG - If You’re Happy

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands….
If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet….
If you’re happy and you know it, wave goodbye…..

CRAFT - Dragon Mask

Printable dragon masks, in color and black & white, are available here on Animal Jr.  A simple craft – all you need is the coloring sheet, scissors, and yarn to tie on the mask.

ADDITIONAL BOOKS

  • The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
  • Max’s Dragon by Kate Banks
  • The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be by Mini Grey
  • Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox
  • Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox
  • Take Care, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas
  • Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Tags:

Italy

22 Jun

SCHOOL AGE PROGRAM

Our school-age class learned about ITALY today.  We found Italy on a map and talked about how it is easy to find because it is in the shape of a boot.

BOOKS

Our class started with a few non-fiction books about Italy.  We discussed the Colosseum, Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, food (pasta, pizza, gelato), and the Italian language.  We then learned a few words in Italian:

  • Hello – Ciao
  • Goodbye – Ciao
  • Thank You – Grazie
  • You’re Welcome – Prego
  • Friend – Amico/ Amica

Italy by Walter Simmons

Strega Nona by Tommie de Paola
A retelling of an ancient tale that appeals to all ages.  Strega nona, or “Grandma Witch,” has a magic pot that makes never-ending pasta.  Big Anthony discovers her secret, and one day when Strega Nona goes over the mountain for a visit, Big Anthony decides to use the magic pot.  But he quickly discovers that doesn’t know how to tell the pot to stop making pasta, which is potentially disastrous for the town.

 GAMES

We played two different traditional Italian games (I modified the rules a bit to avoid any running in the library!)
Credit: eHow.com

Lupo Delle Ore
This game requires learning how to count in Italian (a little bit.)  Before we began, I went over the numbers 1-10 in Italian with the group.  About.com has a web page where you can hear how to correctly pronounce the numbers 1-20 in Italian.

  • uno
  • due
  • tre
  • quattro
  • cinque
  • sie
  • sette
  • otto
  • nove
  • dice

To begin the game, one player is the “lupo” (wolf) and stands at the opposite end of the room from the other players, who form a line.  The players call out “Lupo che ore sono?” (Wolf, what time is it?), and the wolf answers with a number in Italian (for example: “tre.”)  The players must then take that many steps (3 steps in our example) toward the Lupo.  After everyone has taken their steps, the Lupo tells the players in English the correct number of steps (“three.”)  If the players took the correct number of steps they can stay where they are; if they took the wrong number of steps, they must return to the line.  The first person to cross the room to where the Lupo is standing, wins.

Strega Comanda Color
One player is the “Strega” (Witch), who calls out a color (in English!)  The others must touch an object of that color, whether it be an article of clothing or something in the surrounding environment before the “Strega” can count to five (in Italian!): “Uno – Due – Tre – Quattro – Cinque!”  The players that aren’t touching something of the chosen color on “cinque” are out.  After a couple of rounds, make it more challenging by only counting to 3: “Uno – Due – Tre!”

Before beginning this game, make sure to go over a few basic rules: Be respectful to others, No running, No pushing, shoving etc.

CRAFT

After discussing the Alps and finding the mountain range in northern Italy on a map, we made mountain climbers, climbing the Alps.  Instructions and templates can be found on Busy Bee Kids Crafts. 

MUSIC

We put some Italian music on during the craft.  I played some songs from Mob Hits.   A few favorites:

  • Oh Marie by Louis Prima
  • Mambo Italiano by Rosemary Clooney
  • Lazy Mary
  • Eh, Cumpari by Julius LaRosa

Viva Italia! Festive Italian Classics is another good CD.

FOOD

Pizza was a little too messy, so we ate Totino’s Pizza Rolls!

Tags:

Away we GO!

21 Jun

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

Wow!  70 children and adults came to storytime again this week!

OPENING SONG - Can’t Wait to Celebrate
from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem album

BOOK 1 -   Dinosaur Train by John Guerney

FLANNEL GUESSING GAME– Vehicle Guessing Game
Credit:  Storytime Magic by Kathy Macmillan

Print my Vehicle Guessing Game CLIPART here.

I have headlights and a steering wheel,
I take you near and far.
My horn says honk! And my engine says VRROOOM!
Hop in!  I am a (car) ……

Find the rest of the words in Kathy Macmillan’s book Storytime Magic.

RHYME – Helicopter; Sign Language
Sign “Helicopter” as you say this rhyme:  Right thumb in palm of Left hand. Left hand fingers spread and shake.  Watch a video clip of the sign here.

Helicopter goes up
Helicopter goes down
Helicopter turns, turns all around

Helicopter goes left
Helicopter goes right
Helicopter goes up, up, and out of sight (hands behind back)

Learning the sign for "Helicopter"

BOOK 2  -   What Do Wheels Do All Day? By April Jones Prince

SONG -  Row, Row, Row Your Boat
MP3 download:  Old Town School of Folk’s album Songs for Wiggleworms. 
This song has everyone rowing, bouncing, wiggling, and swaying  your way down the stream!

BOOK 3  -   Flying by Donald Crews
Have your audience be active participants while reading this book.  Have everyone start out by standing and walking in place to board the plane.  Then crouch down to get ready for take-off.  Everyone stands up with arms out (like a plane’s wings) when the plane takes off.  Everyone keeps their arms out while flying over mountains, through clouds, over cities, etc.  Then slowly drop down, down, down to the ground for the landing.

CRAFT-  Paper Plate Steering Wheels
Credit: Collaborative Summer Library Program Manual
Print INSTRUCTIONS HERE.


Have children make the steering wheels and then sing the following rhyme:

Drive, Drive, Drive
(Tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”)
Credit: Collaborative Summer Library Program Manual

Drive, drive, drive your car,
All around the town.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Up the hills and down.

Turn, turn, turn the key,
Make the engine roar. VROOOOM!
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Let’s go to the store.

Press, press, press the pedal,
Give the engine gas.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Now we’re going fast.

Turn, turn, turn the wheel,
That is how we steer.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Make a turn right here.

CLOSING SONG– If You’re Happy and You Know It
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands…
If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet…
If you’re happy and you know it wave goodbye…

ADDITIONAL BOOK
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

Tags:

China

15 Jun

SCHOOL AGE PROGRAM

Here are some of the ideas we used for our school-age program this week.   Today we learned about CHINA!

BOOKS TO READ:

Great Big Scary Dog by Libby Gleeson

White Tiger, Blue Serpent by Grace Tseng

Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story From China by Ai-Ling Louie

STORYTELLING

Shen and the Magic Brush by Dianne de las Casas
You can read the story on her website http://www.storyconnection.net

The Girl Who Used Her Wits by Dianna de las Casas
This is a paper-cutting story in which you’ll make a paper lantern and a fan.

ACTIVITY

Chopstick Relay Race
MP3 download: Chinese Traditional Music

In small groups, have children form two lines facing each other.  Each child is given a pair of chopsticks.  The two lines will be racing one other, while passing items (buttons, marshmallows, cereal) down the line and the last person in line places them in a bowl or cup.  Have children pass the items, using only their chopsticks, while the music plays.  Everyone must stop when the music stops.  Whichever team has the most items in their bowl when the music stops, wins!

STORYTELLING/ CRAFT

Tangrams
Tangrams are ancient Chinese puzzles.  Each is made from a square tile that is divided into seven geometric pieces.  The pieces can be arranged to form different shapes and pictures, in which all seven pieces must be used and must touch, but cannot overlap.  They can be used in storytelling, where the pieces form a character in the tale.

After telling one of the stories from Dianne de las Casas book, Tangram Tales: Story Theater Using the Ancient Chinese Puzzle, each child was given a square piece of craft foam and was taught how to cut it into seven geometric pieces.  Children could take their tangrams home in a ziplock bag and use them to tell stories!

Here’s a youtube video demonstrating how to create a tangram:


Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert is an excellent folktale that uses tangrams as part of the story.  Diagrams are given with each new character introduced.

Making Tangrams

Tags:

Colors of My World

13 Jun

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

OPENING SONG – Can’t Wait to Celebrate
from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem album

INTRODUCE THEME – Colors!

  • Ask “What is your favorite color – Can you name some colors? – What color is this chair, etc.?”
  • Play a quick game of “I spy.”  I spy something blue, yellow, green, etc.

STORYTELLING/BOOK 1 -  White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker


Instead of reading this book, tell the story using red, yellow and blue pails,  and bunnies cut out of colored felt.  When little white rabbit hops in the sunshine yellow bucket, he comes out yellow! The children won’t know that you switched the bunnies in the pail – to them it will be magic!

STORY AND INSTRUCTIONS for telling White Rabbit’s Color Book

RABBIT PATTERN  to use with White Rabbit’s Color Book

The supplies you'll need for telling White Rabbit's Color Book

FLANNEL RHYME - Green Square, Green Square
Based on the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin.

Have children identify each color and shape, post on flannelboard, then say:
Green square, green square, what do you see?
I see a red circle looking at me.
Red circle, red circle, what do you see?
I see a blue rectangle looking at me…. Etc.

PRINT COLORED SHAPES HERE or make your own out of colored paper.  These are the shapes you will need:

  • Green square
  • Red circle
  • Blue rectangle
  • Orange triangle
  • Pink diamond
  • Yellow star
  • Purple heart

MOVEMENT RHYME – Put Your Hands in the Air
A silly little rhyme/chant I wrote to get the wiggles out.

Put your hands in the air like trees.
Move them like they’re swaying in the breeze.

Put your hands on your thighs.
Put your hands out wide.
Now swing them from side to side.

Make your hands go ’round (roll hands)
Put your hands on the ground.
Now, everybody sit back down!

BOOK 3 -  Red is a Dragon: A Book of Colors by Roseanne Thong

SONG ON CD -  De Colores from Dora the Explorer’s World Adventure
Dance with colored scarves to the song.  I usually find that my groups do better with some direction than simply “dance!”  I typically ask them to copy my movements (and this is great for building listening, movement and rhythmn skills.)  If your group is not shy and has lots of energy, have fun being creative and  free-dancing!

Movement ideas:

  • Make figure eights with scarves
  • Make circles to one side
  • Draw  circles overhead
  • Switch hands and make circles
  • Reach up with scarf as high as you can (on tip toes) then bring it down to the ground
  • Brush the ground from side to side
  • Spin in circle, change directions

BOOK 3/FLANNEL -  Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd
“Splurt! Splosh! Squish!”  Dog picks up many different colored spots during his messy day – red jam, blue paint, brown chocolate, green grass stain, etc. – and each makes a unique sound as it lands on him.  Children will laugh at the funny sounds and will help you keep count of Dog’s colorful spots.  This works especially well using a flannelboard as a visual aid, while reading the book.


Pattern from Kathy MacMillan’s book Storytime Magic.  You can  download the pattern (#45) here from ALA’s website.   I used white velcro to attach the pom poms. (I had to use a little hot glue to get the velcro to stick to the pom poms.)

CRAFT IDEAS -  Dog’s Colorful Day Crafts

Making Learning Fun has several craft ideas to use with Dog’s Colorful Day.

ANOTHER GREAT BOOK-  I Ain’t Gonna Paint No Moreby Karen Beaumont

Tags:

México

10 Jun

SCHOOL AGE PROGRAM

¡Hola mis amigos!  This week we took a trip to México during our library program for school-aged children.

INTRODUCTION - Our program began with a short introduction to México.  We asked the children:

  •  to find Mexico on a big world map
  • what language they speak in Mexico
  • if they knew any words in Spanish

The Spanish teacher at our local high school had some  masks and statues to show, as well as piñatas, maracas, sombreros, and clothing.

READ: Non-Fiction Books
This is a great point in the program to pull out the non-fiction books in your collection and read excerpts while showing pictures.  Books we browsed:

READ – Oh No, Gotta Go! by Susan Middleton Elya
A book mostly written in English, but sprinkled with words in Spanish.  The book starts, “We were out driving, down the camino.  Papá and Mamá were dressed muy fino.”  Have children guess what the words in Spanish mean by using the context of the story and pictures.

VIDEO - About Mexico/Dances
We showed a few minutes of a DVD showing traditional Latin dances, but any type of informative video would work here.  Again, we borrowed ours from our local Spanish teacher and I don’t remember the name of it.

DANCE – The Mexican Hat Dance
MP3 download:  by The Hit Crew from the album Cinco De Mayo Party Music

To begin:  We had children form two lines facing eachother.

For the first part of the song:   Place hands on hips and put right foot out in front of you, touching your heel to the ground.  Then switch feet, touching left heel to ground in front of you. Clap! Clap!  (Keep repeating these actions until the music changes.)

For the second part of the song:  The person standing across from you in line is your partner.  Link arms and skip in circle, changing directions once.  We found that girls and boys most definitely did not want to link arms.  Instead, we had the two lines switch places (practice this first so that no one runs into eachother and bumps heads!)

READ - If I Had a Dragon/ Si Yo Tuviera un Dragón by Amanda Ellery
This book is written both in English and Spanish. (This is a great time to promote your bilingual collection!)  I read it through in Spanish first, asking children to pay attention to the pictures to see if they could figure out the story.  I also used lots of actions (walking, swimming, playing basketball) to help out.  Then I asked them what they thought happened in the story, and finally I did a quick read through in English.

CRAFT – Tissue Paper Flowers
All you need to make this quick and easy craft is tissue paper and chenille sticks.

FOOD TASTING – Mexican soda and Chiclets
Our local grocery store has a great Hispanic foods section where we found sodas in pineapple, mandarin, guava and tamarind.  Each child got to taste a few different kinds and sample some Chiclets!

Tags:

I Like ME

8 Jun

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

It’s the first week of summer reading classes at the library!  It sure has been a whirlwind of fun!  We had a great turnout for our first preschool storytime class, which was “I Like ME.”  Going along with the summer theme – One World, Many Stories – we celebrated differences and individuality in today’s storytime, from freckles to feelings to skin color.  We also learned some words in Spanish and sang and danced to a Hispanic Folk Song.

OPENING SONG - Can’t Wait to Celebrate
from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem album
In this song, children have to pay attention to the words and freeze during certain parts.

RHYME -  Feelings by Karen Folk

Sometimes on my face you’ll see (Point to face)
How I feel inside of me. (Point to chest)
A smile means happy, a frown means sad, (Smile, then frown)
And when I grit my teeth, I’m mad. (Grit teeth and frown)
When I’m shy, my head hangs low, (Bow head)
But when I’m proud I beam and glow. (Smile)

SONG -  If You’re Happy and You Know It (Emotion Version)

BOOK 1 -    Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore (yes, the actress!)
A little girl desperately wants to get rid of her freckles.  She tries scrubbing them, using lemon juice, covering them up with markers, and wearing a ski-mask to school every day.  She eventually learns to love her freckles and lives happily ever after.

SONG ON CD -  Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes
MP3 download:  The Hit Crew from 50 Bestest Kids Songs
A classic favorite that everyone will know.

BOOK 2 -    The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
Honey, butterscotch, cinnamon, chocolate, peaches…..these are just some of the delicious descriptions of our shades of skin color.  In this book, Lena learns that her friends are all beautiful shades of brown.  I have this one in a big book – it has big, colorful pictures!


SONG ON CD –  Mi Cuerpo Hace Música /My Body Makes Music   (Hispanic Folk Song)
MP3 download: Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Bouncy Blue

This song will need a bit of an introduction.  I start by telling the group that this song is in Spanish, so “we are going to learn a few words in Spanish before we start.”  I cover these words:

  • cuerpo-body
  • manos-hands
  • pies-feet
  • boca-mouth

Working through them one at a time, point to each body part as you say it and then have children repeat each word in Spanish.   Then,  sing the song without the CD slowly one or two times.  Then try it full tempo with the CD!

My body, my body, makes music
My hands say, clap clap clap
My feet say, ta, ta, ta
My mouth says, la la la
My waist says, cha cha cha

Mi cuerpo, mi cuerpo hace música
Mis manos hace, clap clap clap
Mis pies hace, ta, ta, ta
Mi boca hace la la la
Mi cintura hace cha cha cha

BOOK 3 -   I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont
A humorous read, written in rhyming verse.  This little girl likes herself just the way she is.  She would like herself even with “beaver breath”  or “horns protruding from her nose.”  This one is sure to get some laughs.

CLOSING SONG – If You’re Happy and You Know It

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands…
If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet…
If you’re happy and you know it wave goodbye…

CRAFT -   Self-Portraits

I am not actually doing crafts with my group for the summer due to time constraints (we have another program starting the minute mine is over!), but I gave each child a self-portrait handout to take home with them to color. Get the handout here.

For a true craft, here are instructions to make more complicated self-portraits.
You will need: Shredded paper for hair, paper plates for faces, crayons or markers to draw facial features, glue, white construction paper to draw arms and trace their hands, scissors and paint.

  • Children glue some shredded paper (their hair) onto the paper plate. Make sure to offer a variety of colors.
  • Have the children add facial features to the paper plate to make their portrait.
  • Glue on arms using construction paper (these must be wide enough to add the hands).
  • Children paint a hand and make two prints on white paper
  • When their hand print is dry, they cut and glue them onto their arms. They now have a portrait showing their helping hands.

ADDITIONAL BOOK:

Sometimes I’m Bombaloo by Rachel Vail

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 447 other followers