Apples and Oranges - Harvest Time!

We read Pumpkin Harvest by Martha E. Rustad which is the perfect length and just the right amount of information about pumpkins for two- year-olds.

Then everyone got a pumpkin on a stick for our The Pumpkins Are Here song and activity from The Mailbox Magazine. It goes like this to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell:

The pumpkins are here, the pumpkins are there.
The pumpkins, the pumpkins are everywhere!
The pumpkins are up, the pumpkins are down
The pumpkins, the pumpkins are all around!
The pumpkins are in, the pumpkins are out
The pumpkins are all about!
The pumpkins are low, the pumpkins are high
Now all the pumpkins wave good-bye!

We read Apple Harvest by Martha E. Rustad as well!

We did a Apple Tree fingerplay:
Way up high in the apple tree (two hands in air)
Two little apples smiled at me
I shook that tree as hard as I could (shake)
Down came the apples (hands come down)
UMMMMMM!UMMMMM! Good! (rub tummy)

Crazy Alphabets

I usually get my ideas for storytimes from books as I catalog new books. That's exactly what happened with Crazy Alphabets. I saw two new books that were hilarious!

Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham is adorable. Moose so much wants to be in the alphabet book and is a little impatient. The crew decides to use Mouse instead of Moose on the M page and Moose sort of loses it! There are tons of alphabet books, but this one stands out for me.

Wild about Animals

Our theme for Tales for Twos last week was 'Wild About Animals'. We read I Love Animals by Flora McDonnell, 1,2,3 What Do You See? by Susi Bohdal and You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo.

Of course, we did our 5 Song- this session it's One Elephant Went Out to Play! Our rhyme, This is Big, Big, Big and our Monkey Drum song! These are all regular repeating pieces this session. See the last post about Tales for Twos for that info!

We ended by pretending to be animals with Greg & Steve's Animal Action song!

We made animal collages that could be used as placemats, too!

Sunflowers

In Preschool Pretend & Play this week, we talked about sunflowers- big, round and yellow like the sun.


We started with our "10" action rhyme which we will do each program to concentrate on the number 10:
Apples Everywhere

Apples in the orchard (hold arms out like tree)
Apples on the ground (bend to ground)
Apples in my basket (hold one arm like holding a basket)
Apples all around (turn)

Apples in my cider (drink)
Apples in my pie (eat)
Apples everywhere
My, oh my, oh my!

Ten red apples grow on a tree
Five for you and five for me (show 5 and 5)
Help me shake the tree just so (shake body)
And count the apples as they grow
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

(Apple cutouts and words to rhyme were sent home so parents could do at home)

Feelings

In Tales for Twos today, we talked about feelings. We began with our 5 song! This session, we are using "One Elephant Went Out to Play" as our 5 song.

We read Todd Parr's The Feeling Book and Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley.

We did our This is Big, Big, Big action rhyme. Great to learn new vocabulary and our big rhyme went well with the elephants having enormous fun!

(From http://melissa.depperfamily.net/blog/)

This is big big big
Hold arms out to side

This is small small small
Cup hands together
This is short short short
Hold hands with palms facing each other
This is tall tall tall
Reach one hand above head
This is fast fast fast
Circle fists quickly
This is slow slow slow
Circle fists slowly
This is yes yes yes
Nod

This is no no no
Shake head

We did our action song. This session we are using Monkey Drum. (not available on cd)
And ended with a rhyme about feelings. Using 'puppets' with different moods, we sang...

Where is happy
Where is happy
Here I am
Here I am
I am very happy
I am very happy
Yes, I am
Yes, I am

Here are the crafts that were available for take-home:

Take Some Love to School

Today, in our Back-to-School Program, I gave the grownups a heart box to hold some hugs and kisses that they could share with their little one when they went off to school. The idea came to me when I read this book...Take a Kiss to School by Angela McAllister.

Digby is excited about starting school, but he refuses to get out of bed the next morning. I want to stay here with you, he tells his mother. When they arrive at school, the youngster hangs back. His mom places 12 kisses that she has blown into her hands into Digby's pocket. There! If you're worried, you can take a kiss from your pocket and imagine I am with you she says.

With our die-cut machine, I made heart boxes and little hearts to put inside and moms and dads can kiss the hearts and give one to their child to put in their pocket when they go to school. If they feel lonely or they miss mom or home, if they are having a rough day, they can hold their heart full of love and be reassured that they are loved! :) Aww

Word Family Worms from Kizclub

The Kizclub is a great site for early literacy ideas! These are Word Family Worms that you can print and make. All you do is slide the window to form a word and the picture of that word shows in the other window!

Checkout the site http://www.kizclub.com/index.html