The Wielded Pen - Children's Corner: Funky Patterns

The first storytime of my Spring season was about patterns. It is said that National Argyle Day is January 8, and my storytime was the day before, so obviously I had to do funky patterns! The families enjoyed the program

BOOKS
Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting written and illus. by Emma Dodd (T)
The toddlers loved this story. One little boy continuously said "very messy" whenever Dog got a new spot.

The House in the Night written by Susan Marie Swanson and illus. Beth Krommes (T)
I read this Caldecott Medal winning book because I loved the illustrations. The texture and patterns of the black and white lines and the selective yellow was a lot of fun. The toddlers were not into it as much as I would have liked them to be.

Elmer written and illus. by David McKee (P)
I had to read Elmer because, well, he's a patchwork elephant! The children got the story, which was awesome!

Stripe written and illus. by Joanne Partis (P)
The children enjoyed this book, and many thought that little Stripe was very cute. Other were excited because my library system's big tiger puppet had been resting on my storytime table that morning.

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)

follow actions

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap

Creep them, creep them up to your chin

Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

I Can See A Circle (T, P)
I can see a circle shape, circle shape, circle shape
I can see a circle shape, how about you?
(continue with square, triangle, rectangle, diamond)
Source: The Story Place via Storytime Katie

Touch Your Nose (T, P)

follow actions

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it bends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

ACTIVITIES
Egg Shakers (T)
Need I say more?

Pattern Identification (T, P)
For each program I had printed out examples of different patterns: chevrons, polka dots, stripes, floral, argyle, and etc. for the children to see. I had the preschools try to guess what type of pattern they were seeing.

FLANNEL BOARD
I Can See A Circle (T, P)
To go along with the song I simply used my die cutter to create felt shapes. While we sang the song, the children took turns putting the current shape on the board.

Elmer's Patchwork Flannel Board (P)
This flannel board was super simple. I created the Elmer body by finding a coloring page online to use as my template. I had to enlarge it a little so that Elmer was big enough for lots of patchwork pieces. After gray Elmer was completed, I cut out lots and lots of different color squares. During the program the children had to put on the patchwork pieces. I had them do it by color so that there was some organization to the chaotic-flannel-board-acticity-excitement that happens.

CRAFTS
Pattern Shapes (T)
Almost an exact repeat of our I Can See A Circle flannel board activity, the toddlers got to create their own pattern to take home. Using the same die cuts I created different color shapes that the little ones had to glue onto a sheet of construction paper.

Kaleidoscopes (P)
I must say that this was on the coolest crafts that I have ever done! Inspired by other blog posts, such as one made by Little Birdie Secrets, about kaleidoscopes, which helped in figuring out what to place inside of the toilet paper tube. What I used was scraps of leftover laminate that I kept after laminating posters and fliers. I cut the plastic into rectangles and folded them into long triangles. What the preschoolers had to do was (1) tape a black circle to one end of the toilet paper tube (this circle had a hole punched in the middle, which served as the eye piece), (2) insert the laminate triangle, (3) cover the other end of the tube with a square piece of wax paper and tape or rubber band it down, (4) cover the wax paper with glue stick glue, and finally, (5) dip the scope into a bin of tissue paper confetti to create their custom pattern. The children :: LOVED :: their kaleidoscopes!

PICTURES