Spring is sprung!

School is out this week, so that changes the storytime dynamics a bit. I missed some of the regular attendees (who probably went to Disneyland or something), but was glad to see some old friends who are usually in school. So it all evened out.

Spring is one of my favorite times of year, because in spring we can sing "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree." If you don't know this song, look for it on Youtube---you'll find lots of little videos of it. It's a fun song with plenty of hand motions.

Our spring books today were Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms (Fletcher the fox mistakes falling petals for snow) and Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck. We sang Popcorn Popping, Where is Thumbkin, Put Your Finger in the Air, and When the Spring Comes Rolling In.  This is my version, sung to the tune of When the Saints Go Marching In:

Oh, when the spring comes rolling in,
Oh, when the spring comes rolling in.
All the bees will start a-buzzing,
Oh, when the spring comes rolling in.

Oh, when the spring comes rolling in
Oh, when the spring comes rolling in.
All the trees will be a-blooming
Oh, when the spring comes rolling in.

Oh, when the spring comes rolling in
Oh, when the spring comes rolling in
 Oh, the rain will start a-falling,
Oh, when the spring comes rolling in.

Have the kids roll their arms around while singing "when the spring comes rolling in," and use other matching gestures for the third line. I asked for suggestions from the kids, and we added "the butterflies will start a-flitting." Think of all the other verses you could add: grass a-growing, sun a-shining, or bunnies a-hopping. 

Our craft was almond blossom pictures. The trees were cut from paper grocery bags. I got 20 trees out of two bags. Glue your tree onto a 8.5 x 11 piece of construction paper, then add more glue on the branches to stick the blossoms to.

The pink and white blossoms are little square of tissue paper. One mom came up with a cute and easy way to attach these. I was just crumpling the paper and sticking it on the glue. She wrapped the paper around the eraser end of a pencil, and used that to stick down the blossom. This method made the blossoms look more like flowers, and less like crumpled up bits of paper. And there you have an easy springtime picture!

Happy Birthday, Orland Free Library!!

The Orland Free Library is celebrating its 100th birthday! In honor of the centennial, the library has special events all week. Today we had our regular preschool storytime, with a birthday theme.

Our books were Happy Birthday, Moon, by Frank Asch, a few pages of Happy Birthday to You, by Dr. Seuss, and a new book, Children make Terrible Pets, by Peter Brown. (The grownups especially enjoyed the humor of the last book, although the kids liked it too.) We put a birthday cake on the felt board and counted the candles---only 10.

We sang a chorus of Happy Birthday to You, of course. We also sang this little ditty:

Zippity doo dah, zippity ay,

My oh my what a wonderful day!
Orland Library is 100 today,
Zippity doo dah,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

The craft was birthday crowns, which the kids colored, stickered, and decorated. They also each got a new library book bag and a free book. All in all, a very happy birthday party!

Valentine's Day is on its Way!

Today our books were Secret Valentine, by Catherine Stock, and The Mommy Book, by Todd Parr. Getting in the mood for Valentine's Day. We talked about O's for hugs and X's for kisses, as these feature in both books.

Here are two cute rhymes we used today. You can make up the hand motions to go along with them.

Valentine Fingerplay
(to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, sort of)

Cut, cut, cut with scissors
Paste, paste, paste with glue,
Color, color, color with crayons
Here's a valentine just for you!


My Valentine is Red
(to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell)

My valentine is red,
My valentine is blue,
I drop it in the letterbox
And mail it off to you.

We sang the second one over and over, faster and faster, along with hand motions.

And then we made---  Butterfly Valentines! 

Just---

construction paper
doilies
valentine stickers
wiggly eyes
pipe cleaner for antenna (I stapled mine on, some were glued)

about miner's lettuce

Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) is a short, bright green annual plant with fleshy leaves, with a texture like spinach. It grows in the wintertime in the Central Valley and along the Pacific Coast, and in early spring in the Sierra foothills. The gold rush miners ate it to augment their limited diet, and to prevent scurvy.

In January and February miner’s lettuce springs up all over the patch of ground between our front lawn and the road. We have quite a spread of it. I pick it to put in salads, and my grand-daughters like it to snack on when they are playing at grandma’s place. When I nibble on it, I like to think of the connection to the forty-niners, and the native Californians who also enjoyed this springtime delicacy.

Easy Homemade Playdough

About twice a year I'll make up some playdough at home and bring it for a craft.When the kids are done playing with it, they put their pieces in plastic bags and take it home. It's very easy to make, and cheap, but you do have to have cream of tartar to make the chemical reaction work. You can find it in the grocery store with the spices. It's a white powder used in baking.

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Playdough

2 cups water
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup salt
2 cups flour
few drops of food coloring

Mix all the ingredients together in a large saucepan. Add the food coloring to the water if you are making one color of playdough. If you want to make more than one color, mix in the food coloring after it is cooked, when you knead it. Heat ingredients on medium setting, stirring constantly. It will set up quickly. Playdough is done when it holds together and pulls away from the side of the pan. Turn it out on a plate or cutting board to cool. Knead when cool enough to handle, and have fun!

Journey to Japan

Today for after-school storytime we went on a journey to Japan and learned how the Japanese celebrate their biggest holiday of the year---New Year's Day.

This year is the Year of the Rabbit. How did the years get their animal names? There is a story that explains how there was a race between the animals that decided the order of the animal zodiac cycle.

It's a Chinese story known throughout Asia. Rather than a book, my version is on story cards known as kamishibai. This was actually the first time that I have used kamishibai. I don't have a wooden theater to slide the cards into, I just hold them on my lap. Each card has part of the story on the back, so that the storyteller can read the story while the children look at the card. It worked very well.

We talked about New Year's customs in Japan, including this fellow---he's a daruma. A daruma is the image of a famous old monk, the founderof Zen Buddhism. He sat so long in meditation that he lost the use of his legs, and developed such great wisdom and virtue that he became a buddha, and can answer prayers. A daruma doll comes with his eyes blank. It is customary to buy a daruma at the beginning of the year, make a wish or set a goal, and paint in one eye. Then when the goal is accomplished, or the wish granted, the other eye is painted in.

Finally, as an activity, we did some origami. We folded paper balloons, a traditional origami model. It was kind of hard for most of the kids, since they were mostly under 6, but with some help from the moms they all ended up with a balloon to blow up and take home.

Stories and Songs for a Rainy Day

Well, it's not really raining outside right now, but it did yesterday and it will tomorrow.

We read Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy, which is a simple. repetitive doggy book, and In the Rain with Baby Duck, a sweet and satisfying story about a little duck who doesn't like the rain, until she gets boots and an umbrella.

We sang a bunch of songs: Five Little Sausages, Two Little Blackbirds, Hands on Shoulders, and Shake My Sillies. We sang Pop Goes the Weasel with flannelboard pictures.

I meant to sing Rain Is Falling All Around, but forgot. But it's a good one for a rainy day, and can easily be changed to "sun is shining," "leaves are falling," etc. Here it is on YouTube:

This little video has nice pictures, but doesn't show the actions for the song. But the actions just follow the words. Wiggle your fingers while you drop your hands down for "rain is falling." Form a roof with your arms for "on the housetops," and bend right over for "on the ground."  You get the picture.

Rain is falling all around,
On the housetops, on the ground.
Rain is falling on my nose,
On my head, an hands and toes.


YouTube is exceedingly useful when it comes to children's songs and fingerplays. If you only have the words for a song and don't know the tune, or don't know the actions, YouTube may well have it. 

Our craft was umbrella pictures. I got the idea from www.notimeforflashcards.com, one of my favorite sites for kids' crafts. This one is really easy---just cupcake liners, pipecleaners, paper, and glue.