Baby Lap Time, 2/1/12 and 2/2/12

Opening Song: Say Hello
I love singing hello to each child individually. My recall with names has been ten times better this series than last! 

Rhyme: Cheek Chin
Is there anything better than watching eighteen babies all lifted into the air at the same time? This is the first time the caregivers and parents got really into that part of it, and it was great to see. 

Rhyme: This is Big Big Big

Rhyme: Groundhog, Groundhog
I will explain how I did this rhyme in my flannel Friday post tomorrow, hopefully. 

Bounce: Mother and Father and Uncle John
Finally, after three weeks, this is catching on! I even had a dad tell me it's his son's new favorite thing. Which I could tell because it gave him the giggles.

Rhyme: Baby Game
Well, this was the weak link in the chain today. I thought the peek-a-boo idea would work, but the second half of the rhyme lingers too long over the part where the baby's eyes are covered, and it just didn't quite have that spark. I won't use it again.

Book: Uh-oh! by Rachel Isadora (2008)
I remember now why I don't use this book in story time. The illustrations are nice, but the changes from scene to scene aren't big or broad enough to get a reaction even from the parents. It was nice to hear a couple of babies seem to imitate the "uh-oh" refrain, but the book didn't really take hold of the group like some others I've read.

Rhymes and Songs with Shaker Eggs: 

• Mix a Pancake 
• Humpty Dumpty
• Shake My Sillies Out (a cappella)
• Shake Your Eggs (based on Roll Your Hands)

Finally, the perfect combination of shaker egg activities! One new rhyme, one well-known  rhyme, and two simple songs. Excellent. 

Song: Tony Chestnut
I love it when people figure out the "joke" of this song for the first time. It cracks me up every single time, especially because I think the whole thing is extremely clever. 

Song: Head and Shoulders (a cappella, to the tune of London Bridge)

Book: Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker (1999)
This is the perfect book for babies and toddlers, and their parents, too, because they know the original rhyme (One, Two, Buckle My Shoe) but don't see the surprises coming at the end.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (a cappella)
I traded in my flannel board for puppets this week. A good call on my part. This was a lot of fun.

Song: Row, Row, Row, Your Boat (a cappella)

Song: Where is Big Toe?
This is the BEST baby song. I love it. 

Goodbye Song: Open, Shut Them Goodbye Song

I love baby lap time so much. I seriously can't wait for the Spring session already!

Preschool Class Visit, 2/2/12

This was a last-minute story time for me, as I didn't know until I arrived that I needed to do it, so I pulled out some old favorites and did a story time similar to the one I've done for other class visits. The kids were a little young for a couple of the books, but it still worked out just fine. 

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes by Eric Litwin, pictures by Dean Martin (2011)
I only  read this because the original Pete the Cat is checked out. The group didn't enjoy this one nearly as much, and I found the song - which I sing without the recording - not to be as catchy as the first one either.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus (a cappella)

• wheels... round and round
• horn... beep beep beep
• door... open and shut
• driver... move on back
• wipers... swish swish swish
• babies ... waa waa waa
• grown-ups... shh shh shh

Book: Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea, illustrated by Tom Slaughter (2011)
This is the one book that was too old for them. It really works best with ages four to six. Still, they liked saying no to every question, even if they didn't know why they were saying it.


Song: Roll Your Hands

Book: Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by Jim Butler (2003)

I put the book on a music stand so I could stand up and model each movement. The kids seemed a little unsure of whether it was okay to join in, but they gave it a good try. I especially loved watching them try to wink like owls.  

Song: Cuddly Koalas
I am wondering if I'll ever get sick of this song. I pair it with Australia books every time I read them. 

Book:  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)

This book was pure magic today. The kids were just mesmerized. And I love that perfect ending. Gets me every time.  

Song: One Little Monster

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

In retrospect, I realize I probably could have included something involving groundhogs. Oh well. I'll get my chance this afternoon. 

8 Tween and Teen Novels About Crushes

	Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins Lola has conflicted feelings when Cricket, her first love, moves back into the house next door.
	Mallory's Guide to Boys, Brothers, Dads, and Dogs by Laurie Friedman Mallory's schoolwork begins to suffer when she develops a crush on her brother's friend and starts trying to impress him.
	The Boy Next Door by Laura Dower Taryn and Jeff have always been neighbors and good friends, but when sixth grade begins, everything changes.
	The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart Ruby Oliver tries to work through her feelings about being dumped and becoming a social outcast by visiting her therapist regularly.
	If We Kiss by Rachel Vail Charlie falls for a forbidden boy, wondering all the time what it would be like to kiss him.
	Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes by Lisa Greenwald On a snow day, three best friends deliver fortune cookies to their neighbors and grappled with the changes wrought by their new-found interest in boys.
	The Best Girl by Emma Harrison Farrah is taken by surprise when she discovers her long-time crush works at the same hotel where her brother will be married - and that he thinks she works there too!
	I Love You, I Hate You, Get Lost by Ellen Conford A collection of very short stories about the boys who love and annoy us.

Gettin Crafty Post #13: Hiding Owls

For an introduction to this series of Gettin' Crafty posts, visit Post #1.

I. Supplies

• Crayons
• Glue
• Hiding Owl kits from Oriental Trading

II. Prep

These come individually wrapped, so I unwrapped them and separated out the tree trunks from the owls. I also took and hid the extra owls provided in each package so that there would be some spares in the event of a ripped owl or some other such preschooler catastrophe. (We wound up using two or three extras.)

III. Instructions

Color  the owl first, then glue the owl to the front part of the tree, so that his face is peeking through the hole. Then glue on the back. Glue stick works fine - regular glue would have oozed out of the sides. I found that a lot of the parents were in a rush with this craft, and either didn't want the kids to do the tree part, or left out the coloring of the owl. But it's still a good-quality, quick, easy, and affordable craft, which fit everything I was looking for! I'm considering ordering more of these for the summer reading program.