How Does Your Garden Grow?

For Tales for Twos, we read Lunch by Denise Fleming. The children had props of the food the mouse ate and brought them up to me. We also read I Have a Garden by Bob Barner which is a FANTASTIC book to get these little ones up and moving- lots of action.




For Preschool Pretend and Play, we read My Garden by Kevin Henkes, What Does Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park and Up, Down and Around by Katherine Ayres.

The Letter of the Week was G:

Songs: Tooty-Ta, a favorite and Super Silly Tango by Eric Litwin, yep, Pete the Cat author!

Wet Dirt is Mud- Ages 3-5

Songs: Go Bananas and Root Chy Cha by The Learning Station

Books: Stuck in the Mud, Mrs. Wishy Washy, Pete the Cat

The Letter of the week was D:

We did the 5 Clean and Squeaky Pigs flannelboard and had the same edible craft.

Craft: Mrs. Wishy Washy animals:

We were going to go outside and play in the dirt and do some dirt fingerpainting, but the weather did not cooperate!

Wet Dirt is Mud

Tales for Twos - Week 2 Summer 2013

As usual, we did our 5 Little Hot Dogs and our This is Big, Big, Big rhyme.

The two songs we use is the same this session- Shake Your Sillies Out and Octopus Song.

Books: Pete the Cat and Harry the Dirty Dog

I used this site to make a color activity to go along with the book.

I also made a large outline of Harry the Dirty Dog and as I read the story and Harry gets dirtier and dirtier, the children came up and put dirt spots on him.

Flannelboard:

Edible Craft: pudding and oreo cookie dirt cup with gummy worms

Crafts:

And Harry the Dirty Dog picture that they could make "dirty".

Worms and Ants- Ages 3-5

In Preschool Pretend & Play, we concentrate on the number 10, letters and sounds and rhyming words.

For this session, I used this "10" Rhyme:

I have 10 fingers
And they belong to me
I can make them do things
Just watch and see
I can shut them up tight
I can open them up wide
I can put them together
I can make then hide
I can make them jump high
I can make them go low
I can fold them quietly
And hold them just so!

The letter of the week was A for Ant:

Our songs were: Let Me See You Boogaloo by The Learning Station and Wiggle Waggle Sneeze from the Kids on the Move.

Books: Ned's New Home, Bob & Otto, Ants and I Saw an Ant in the Parking Lot.

Flannelboard: 5 Hungry Ants

We used brown pipe cleaners to shape the letter W and then make worms.

Flannelboard: 5 Worms Went Out to Play

Five little worms went out to play
On a bright and sunny day,
A banana peel is what one found
And he brought it home into the ground.

Four little worms ...
a cracked eggshell
Three little worms ...
some rotten leaves
Two little worms ...
a old newspaper
One little worm ...
a used tea bag

Those five little worms dug deep in the ground,
They wiggled their bodies around and around,
They ate those kitchen scraps, munch! munch! munch!
And made some DIRT from their garbage lunch!

Here's where I found it but I am not sure that is the original author.

Summer Storytime Themes- Worms and Ants

At the Franklin Public Library, we have our Tales for Twos program (age 2 with an adult) and our Preschool Pretend & Play program (age 3-5 with an adult). This summer, I used the same themes each week for both programs and just changed the books and activities.

TT
In Tales for Twos, we concentrate on the number 5. So, we begin with a "5" song. In the past, we have used Alice the Camel, 5 Green & Speckled Frogs, 5 Little Ducks, etc. This session, we are using 5 Little Hot Dogs.

I use the rhyme "This is Big, Big, Big" from Mel's Desk.
Books: Ants and Bob and Otto

Listening Station

We have a new listening station in the children's area.

"Hearing a book read on tape helps her see how the words on the page can come alive in a fluid, expressive way. It helps her focus on the sounds of words read without interruption and provides a model of fluent reading. Audio books also give her an important introduction to listening — a skill that she must master in order to learn to read."

Here's a great SHORT article on the benefits of listening to books...
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/developing-reading-skills/literacy-benefits-listening




Puzzle Table

We provide new puzzles on our puzzle table 3 times a year. Although the puzzles provides enjoyment and entertainment for our families when they visit, the puzzles also provide an important educational opportunity.





These skills are enhanced by playing with puzzles:

Cognitive skills:

•  they help improve problem-solving and reasoning
• they help a child see whole-part relationships
• they help increase a child's visual spatial awareness
• depending on the subject matter, can teach a variety of subjects like shape, letter and color recognition

Fine Motor skills:

• fine motor manipulation is the key to writing which begins long before a child holds a pencil

Hand-Eye Coordination:

• through the trial and error process of manipulating puzzle pieces into the proper spot, a child is strengthening their hand-eye coordination

Social Skills:

• these are great tools for fostering cooperative play- discussing where the next piece will go or asking for a piece to be passed to them
• it also can help a child learn to handle the frustration when a piece does not fit

http://sensoryedge.hubpages.com/hub/Educational-Toys-for-Kids-The-Benefits-of-Puzzles