The Alpahbet: "A" -- 1/7/21

Join us weekly on Tuesdays for an online Story Time featuring books read by Miss Amy.  The video will be available to view for a week before a new online is uploaded.

Click HERE for this week's Story Time video.

Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman
What Does an Anteater Eat? by Ross Collins

Books:

Airplanes: Soaring! Diving! Turning! by Patricia Hubbell

Alligator Boy by Cynthia Rylant

Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy

Aunt Lucy Went to Buy a Hat by Alice Low

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes

Ten Apples Up on Top! by Dr. Seuss

Your Alien by Tammi Sauer

Craft: A Is for Astronaut

- Print template on heavy paper or cardstock

- Cut out pieces (A, arms, shoes, helmet)

- Color pieces and add facial features to helmet's face

- Glue shoes to bottom legs of A

- Glue helmet to top point of A

- Glue arms to sides

Extension Activites:

- Practice letter recognition.  Ask your child to point out all the letter "A"s on a page.

- Make "Ants on a Log" for a snack.  Fill a piece of celery with peanut butter or other spread.  Add raisins on top of spread for ants.

Template --

Green Story Time: March 16-17, 2020

Books:
The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal *
Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman *
Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox *

Craft: Shamrock Necklace
The kids colored a shamrock cutout which was then strung onto a length of curling ribbon along with beads to make into a necklace.

Extension Activities --
- Where Is the Green Sheep is a great lead in to going on a scavenger hunt.  Ask your child to find items of different colors throughout your house.
- Learn about St. Patrick's Day.  There are several books at the library that can be checked out or search online for kid friendly websites and videos.

Scared Story Time: February 19, 2019

Books:
Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson *
The Doghouse by Jan Thomas
I Am (Not) Scared by Anna Kang
Oh So Brave Dragon by David Kirk *
Sea Monkey & Bob by Aaron Reynolds
Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman *

Craft: Dragon
This week's craft is based on the picture above.  Children glued a half sheet of green paper into a roll to make the dragon's body.  They then colored a dragon head and wings before gluing them to the body.

Extension Activities:
- Have a discussion with your child(ren) about their fears.  What are they scared of?  What makes they feel better when they are scared?
- Monsters are a common fear for children.  Help allay that fear by making a silly monster out of craft supplies found around the house.

A - Alligators & Apples: January 5-6, 2014

Books:
Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl *
Ned's New Home by Kevin Tseng *
One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman *
Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo LeSieg

Craft: Alien Headband
Children were given two strips of cardstock (8-1/2" x 1-1/2") to color and glue into a circle for the headband.  They then colored three cardstock eyeballs.  The eyeballs were taped to half pieces of pipe cleaner which were then taped to the headband.

Literacy Extensions:
- Practice letter recognition by having your child point out all the letter "A"s in the book you are reading.  Start with the capital letters.  Then see if they can point out the lower case letters.  Finally have then point out both types.
- Talk about how some letters have more than one sound - especially vowels.  Practice the two sounds - long and short - for the letter "A".

Notes:
This is the first week of our five-month series on the Alphabet.  Each week we will focus on one letter of the alphabet.  This week we read about ants, alligators and apples.  We then made an alien headband as our craft.
Unfortunately, my voice was not up to story time this week.  I only made it through two of the books on Monday before my voice went out.
The favorite book by far was Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl.  Although it was a simple listing of everything the ants stole at a picnic, the kids absolutely loved it.

What Do You Feel? Scared Story Times: February 24-25, 2014

Books:
Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson *
I'm Not Scared! by Jonathan Allen *
Itsy Bitsy Baby Mouse by Michelle Meadows *
Sheila Rae, the Brave by Kevin Henkes
Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman *

Craft: Owl Mask
These were some of the easiest masks we've made in story time.  The eyes were much easier to cut out in these.  The kids simply colored and glued the various pieces (face, eyebrow feathers, beak) together before gluing on a stick handle.

Literacy Extensions:
- Have a discussion with your child about the different fears you have.  Suggest ways to handle those fears.
- One common fear for children is a fear of the dark.  On a nice evening take your child outside to look at the stars.  See if you can identify any constellations.  Reassure your child that the stars and constellations are always there at night -- just sometimes they are behind the clouds.