Reading Story Time: August 8-9, 2016

Books:
A Is for Salad by Mike Lester
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak *
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. *
Jeepers Creepers: A Monstrous ABC by Laura Leuck *
Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth

Craft: Monster Bookmark
Kids colored a monster-shaped bookmark and glued on horns and sequins.


Literacy Extensions:
- Play the alphabet game while in the car.  Take turns finding the various letters of the alphabet on signs or license plates.
- There are a lot of fun foods that incoporate letters that you can have kids identify while they eat (i.e. Scrabble Cheezits, Alphabet Soup, M&Ms, etc.)

Favorite Books of 2014: December 1-2, 2014

Books:
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak *
Hickory Dickory Dog by Alison Murray
Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet *
Oh So Brave Dragon by David Kirk *
Three Little Peas by Marine Rivoal

Craft: Color Wheel Coloring Sheet
We practiced mixing our colors this week by completing the coloring sheet at left.  The circles are labeled which color to use.  Kids had to figure out what color to use where the circles overlap.

Literacy Extensions:
- Play with color mixing.  Use watercolor paints to mix colors and explore how they change when mixed. (i.e. Mix It Up!)
- Read some nursery rhymes.  See if you and your child can come up with variations on them similar to the book Hickory Dickory Dog.

Notes:
We started out our series of favorite picture books from 2014 with my two favorite books -- The Book with No Pictures and Mix It Up!.
I have been amazed at the great reaction we get from The Book with No Pictures.  The kids giggle through the entire book.
Mix It Up! got a little more of a mixed reaction.  All of the children loved the "magic" of how the book changes based on the directions you follow.  However, the  younger children did not get the color mixing.
The same problem came up with the craft activity.  I went with just the simple coloring sheet as we had Play Time after the Story Times this week.  The kids usually  just want to get through the activity to get to the toys.  However, again the younger children didn't grasp the color mixing concept that the coloring sheet asked for.