Bears

Storytime in the Children's Area again because the elevator is still broken, but at least this time I felt more prepared because I knew there was a chance I'd be upstairs again.  It went so much better than last week's!! Whew!!

Hello, Hello

If You Were a Panda Bear

by Wendell and Florence Minor

Two Little Panda Bears

Two little panda bears sitting on a hill

One named Jack; one named Jill

Run away Jack; run away Jill

Come back Jack; come back Jill

Peering at the sky...Low and High

Sitting on a pole...Fast and Slow

Sitting on a car...Near and Far

Looking at a cloud...Quiet and Loud

My Hands

Where's My Teddy?

by Jez Alborough

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Turn around

Touch the ground

Dance on your toes

Touch your nose

Reach up high

Touch the sky

Bend down low

Touch your toes

Jump up now

Take a bow

Stomp your feet

Take a seat

Flannel Story

Used the script from Felt Board Magic

adapted from Polar Bear's Underwear by Tupera Tupera

Washing Machine made from a Kleenex box

My Hands Say Goodbye

I had quickly made up a bear scavenger hunt for children to do.  I hid pictures of a panda bear, brown bear, black bear, polar bear, and a teddy bear in the children's area for them to find and each had a half sheet of paper they could mark off the ones they found.  They absolutely love it!

Bear Scavenger Hunt around the children's area

Duplos

Weighted Bears and Balance

Wooden Beads

Coloring

Rosemary Wells Storytime

Another author storytime that I was very excited to do...as I have meet Rosemary Wells in person and have a signed copy of "Read To Your Bunny"!  She is a great advocate of the importance of reading everyday.  Her analogy--you brush your teeth every day, so read every day.  If you miss one day you don't stop, you get right back at it! I have fond memories of sharing Max and Ruby books with my own children.

Books

Noisy Nora

I edited the language of the sister--I just don't like the "Why are you so dumb?"  Instead I said,
"Quiet!", said her father.
"Hush!", said her mom.
"Nora!", said her sister,
"Why can't you stay calm?"

Max and Ruby's Treasure Hunt

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays

Sing a Song of Opposites (from The complete Daily Curriculum for Early Childhood, Revised (2011), Pam Schiller and Pat Phipps, p. 292)
(tune: Mary had a little lamb)
Actions to suit words

This is big and this is small
This is big, this is small
This is big and this is small
Sing along with me!

Tall and short
Happy and sad
Fast and slow
Loud and quiet

Hey Diddle Diddle
Hey diddle, diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon!

Activities

Treasure Hunt

I copied all the rhymes from Max and Ruby's Treasure Hunt.  I found clipart of all the things Max and Ruby had found in the book.  I put the clipart around the children's area and the children searched for each item.

When they finished the treasure hunt they received a gold coin--just like Max and Ruby!

I used Microsoft Word to make this fill in the blank rebus of Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme.  I chose this rhyme because 1. it was in Max and Ruby's Treasure Hunt and 2. it had a lot of nouns!

The pictures are from PreKinders.  I printed four sheets to a page to make them small enough to fit onto one page.  The picture cues help children to retell the nursery rhyme.  They also enjoyed cutting and pasting!

To honor Noisy Nora we made our own noise makers with paper plates and pony beads.  Very simple, but very fun (and noisy!!)

The children also got to explore a variety of musical insturments!

Coloring sheet from Rosemary Wells' website