N - Nuts & Nests: March 30-31, 2015

Books:
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward *
The Nose Book by Al Perkins *
The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin *
A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester

Craft: Night Sky Picture
Our craft this week was based on the picture at left.  The kids colored a half piece of cardstock to make a night sky.  They then colored and glued on a letter "N", moon, and cloud before putting on star stickers.

Literacy Extensions:
- After reading The Nose Book, have your child "write" books for other parts of the body.
- If your child colored their night sky picture with a colorful sky, point out that they added the "Northern Lights".  Then learn a little about the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.

Notes:
I wasn't sure how the book Mama Built a Little Nest would go over.  It is a little longer than I would usually share in story time -- especially with all the captions throughout the book.  However, I just shared a small snippet of information from the captions.  The kids were fascinated by the different types of nests that birds built.

Hands & Fingers Story Time: November 10, 2014

Books:
Barry, the Fish with Fingers by Sue Hendra *
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins *
Three Little Kittens by Jerry Pinkney
Wash Your Hands! by Tony Ross *
We've All Got Bellybuttons! by David Martin *

Craft: Handprint Butterfly
This week's craft was based on the picture to the left.  Each child was given a sheet of paper with a butterfly body on it.  They then traced their hands on either side of the body.  They could then color in the handprints and glue on sparkles.

Literacy Extensions:
- See how many activities your child can come up with that they need to use their hands for (ex. pointing, writing, etc.)
- Have your child trace his/her handprint onto several pieces of paper.  See how many different animals they can make out of their handprints.

Notes:
Story time was only held on Monday this week due to the library being closed for Veteran's Day.

The books all went over pretty good this week.  I probably would not do Wash Your Hands! again though.  While the children were engrossed by the story, there were some that were grossed out by the idea of small crocodile-like germs on their hands.