We're Going on a Picnic and We're Leaving Right Away

Picnic song...Raffi's We're Going on a Picnic from his The Corner Grocery Store cd. I printed pictures of all the food items and taped them to popsicle sticks. There were enough for everyone. So, as we marched along to our picnic, we raised whatever food item we had in response to Raffi's question "Did you bring the apples?" "Yes, we brought the apples!"

Books...We're Going on a Picnic by Pat Hutchins, The Most Perfect Spot by Diane Goode, The Picnic by Ruth Brown

Flannel Board...5 Hungry Ants...funnnnny! Achoo!

5 hungry ants,
marching in a line,
came upon a picnic
where they could dine.
They marched into the salad,
they marched into the cake,
they marched into the pepper….
Uh oh, that was a mistake!
AHHHH-CHOOO!
4 hungry ants….etc….


Fun Movement Song...Boom Chicka Boom on Peter Allard's Sing it! Say it! Stamp it! Swing it! cd

Then we had a picnic- take-home craft was a picnic basket (easy peasy with die-cut) and food clip art

Nature Books

We just talked about insects in our Terrific Tuesday class recently. There's a new book by Jim Arnosky, Creep and Flutter, that I just cataloged.

That got me thinking about authors that are well-known for nature books. Jim Arnosky is a prolific author of nature books.






Nic Bishop also comes to mind...

More New Books

If you have a little one with an attachment to a blankie, two new books are out that are very cute!

And if you have a little girl who likes to put together her own ensembles, this book is just for you!





New Books

There are a lot of new books coming in and I wanted to highlight a few that I found interesting as I was cataloging them.

Most people are cat people or dog people, but not both, because cats and dogs are so very different pets. Here are two new books with this idea in mind!

Dog is left in charge as his people go out, but what will he do with those cats to keep them out of trouble so he will get a treat?


Bobo is a good dog and volunteers to watch Bonkers when his owner needs a sitter, but Bonkers just doesn't behave!




Two new board books are beautifully and simply done to help teach letters and numbers. They are great interactive books that are tactile as well. Your little one can trace the letter and numbers.

On-the-Go-Learning

I love being outdoors- not in this heat we have had recently- but generally I enjoy being outside in every season. While you are taking a walk or at the park or in the backyard...stop and close your eyes and listen with your child. Ask them what they hear and have a conversation about it. If they heard a bird, ask them what type of bird they think it is, what color, where it is- did it sound close or far away, etc. Do they hear water dripping? Is it raining? Is there a sprinkler on, a bubbler nearby, etc. Is there a dog barking?

This simple moment of relaxing and taking in all that is around you can be a great time to develop so many early learning skills.

Now, open your eyes and look at the clouds! An oldy but a goody! Why? Because playing the game of guessing what the clouds look like not only develops creativity and imagination in your child, but also develops recognition, spatial concepts and abstract thinking skills.

I believe nature has been and always will be the best classroom in which to learn. Everything you read about in a book, can be learned through observing nature in all its forms.

On-the-Go-Learning

Talk, talk, talk...

Talk about what will happen next...You are about to go in a store, ask "what are we going to see in the store, what are we going to look for in the store, etc."

You are about to go into the doctor's office, ask "what is going to happen next, what do you think you will see?, etc."

You are about to visit grandma or go to a friend's house, ask "what do you think will happen?"

You are going to the library, ask "what do you think will happen in the library?, who do you think we will see, etc."

These little conversations develop logical thinking skills, vocabulary, language and conversation skills and more! It seems so simple, but generally we don't discuss things with children and I don't mean treating them like little adults because they are not, but simply just talking to them. It's such a simple thing that it is often not thought of having such a big impact, but it helps a child's brain develop during the crucial time when permanent connections in the brain are being formed.