Reading Comprehension - Book Club Style

Many local libraries have book clubs for children. Like with book clubs for adults, the members read a book and they discuss what they read. For more of a child friendly format a lot of times they will either read all the same title or they can read any of a select number of titles by a certain author. When they meet up for the program they'll talk about the books before they do related activities. Some clubs are just for children while others are meant for families (mother and daughter book clubs, for example)

As you may have caught on by now, book clubs are another great way to be aware of your child's reading comprehension progress!

Check out your local library system to see if they have a children's book club. This could be a in-library program or they have a virtual book club resource.

Create your own book club in the neighborhood. You can meet at home, at a community center or maybe even your library. There are a lot of resources online that will help you created your own club complete with guides.

• Duluth Public Library has a good page with all sorts of recommended links to help find what you need.  
• For example questions to ask see WP-CC's post on discussion questions: 

Join a Online/Virtual Reading Club. There are many bloggers out there in the world that participate a group initiative like a Virtual Reading Club. The blog Reading Confetti has such a club. You read a book that is chosen for the month and do an activity that matches the theme. A lot of people will post their activity ideas on their own blog, but if you don't have a blog you can do so on their Facebook page. The books in at least this group are pictures, which is great for families with young readers.

Other virtual book clubs around include:

• Al's Book Club (for those who enjoy Al Roker) - grades 4-5 
• ReadingtoKids.org - grades K-5 
• Each book that is part of the theme includes great discussion questions and other ideas and activities! 

Family Reading Club. It's a book club. It's just for the family. Not only are you getting some quality time together as a family, but you are also promoting reading and comprehension. Whether you are reading the same book or books by the same author or if you each are reading different books open up a discussion by what you are reading. It doesn't have to be deep discussions, but you all should share what you like about what you are reading and answer other simple questions. Then you should do some fun book related activities! 

Book Clubs is yet another fun way to be involved with the books you and your child are reading. The comprehension part of it comes from asking questions. However, the fun activities are extensions of the book and it created an opportunity for the children to connect what they read to something that they are doing themselves. Even if your child doesn't like to talk that's perfectly fine because they'll warm up eventually and participate in the verbal part. They'll at least enjoy the connecting activities! 

Reading Comprehension - Book Adventure and Other Tips

Year round I get this question every so often. The asking becomes be more prevalent when school is wrapping up and will be out for the summer. Parents will come in and ask:

What can I do to test my child's comprehension of the books he/she reads? 

Typically, in the past, my answers always consist of the strong suggestion of having the parent be involved with their child's reading. Read along with them (by using the same book or by checking out a second copy) and ask them questions. If one can't read along, one can still ask questions:  What is the story about? What character do you like? and so on.

Now, after being an alligator in a vest (an investigator!) I've come across some more helpful resources for the parents who need assistance in working their young readers.

BOOK ADVENTURE
One of the popular questions is if we have quizzes for the books or if we have access to the AR or Lexile quizzes that their child's school has. Answer: No, we don't. Some books have questions in the back and sometimes there are other resources available at the library that one can use. But actual quizzes that maps the progression of the reader's comprehension? No, not really.

Now, here is my new discovery: Book Adventure. This is a Sylvan Learning Center sponsored reading comprehension quiz program.

The Perks 

• Free(!) login profils for students (grades K-8), teachers, and parents
• Students can created reading lists to take to libraries
• Students can take quizzes on the books they read.
• Each quiz completed is graded and student can earn points 
• Points can be redeemed for prizes (such as a three-month free subscription to Highlights magazine as an incentive) 
• There is a Reading Level system set up that is similar to AR 
• Teachers/parents can create classroom settings that can keep track of their student/child's progress 
• Teacher/parents have access to the quizzes with the answers provided
• There is a large database of book quizzes that can be on a K - Grade 12 reading level and is searchable and can filtered for interests and the likes. 
• Many more

I've played around with the site under two test logins (a student and a teacher) and so far the sight is pretty awesome for a free resource. The quizzes are developed by volunteers, but I have the feeling that these are verified questions that were developed by the teachers who participate (I was asked to join as a volunteer when I registered).  I will definitely be recommending this to parents in the future.


MORE RESOURCES AND TIPS 
There are other resources that can be found other places:

• Book Publishers may have quizzes available among their games and activities site for children. HarperCollins, for example, have some. 
• Workbooks. Some schools will provide copies of their text books for patrons to have reference access to at the public library. Some libraries may also have workbooks in a Parent/Teacher collection. My system has both options and with a little thinking and prepping activities can be set up for working with reading comprehension.

The last tip I can never not provide:

Be Involved!

You, as parent/guardian/caregiver, are an important part of promoting reading for a child. Be involved by sharing the book and reading together. 

WP-CC EXTRAS 
For those who would like more ideas on Reading Comprehension, check out the list available under related tool bar tab with the same name. There you will find:

• Reading Comprehension for Homeschoolers that will have recommended tips for families (not just for homeschoolers!) 
• Reading Comprehension - The Questions that will have recommended questions to ask your reader. 

If you would like more information about reading as a family check out WP-CC's page about R.A.D. - Reading Aloud Daily. Reading Aloud, individually or as a family, has good benefits for comprehension too!


P.S. ~ FELLOW BLOGGER RECOMMENDATION 

A fellow blogger Superbrarian (Observe, Analyze... Blog) also posted on her blog information about the same topic at her library that has quick information. From her post, I learned about two websites: Reading Rockets and Start with Reading that have a wealth of information and resources, such as their Reading Adventure Packets that parents, teachers, and librarians have access too. 

Do you have any recommendations for working on reading comprehension with your child(ren)? 

Miss Dorothy's Favorites - A Storytime Outline

The last storytime for the Spring Season was the first in probably a series of programs that will simply be entitled Miss Dorothy's Favorites. Such a simple theme does not mean it was an easy to plan for. I have too many favorite books!

BOOKS
Where Is the Green Sheep? written by Mem Fox and illus. by Judy Horacek  (T) 
I ::love:: this books so much! It is my ultimate goal to make a flannel version someday.  The children were wonderful in asking the question "But where is the green sheep?" with me.

What Does Bunny See?: A Book of Colors and Flowers written by Linda Sue Park and illus. by Maggie Smith (T) 
This is such a lovely book, and my storytime friend Agnes came out to hear the story too. The Toddlers did a great job naming all the colors.

Cows in the Kitchen written by June Crebbin and illus. by Katharine McEwen (T, P)
Fun book + a knowable tune to sing to = one of my favorites! I love it when the families sing along too to make the room full with the silly animal song!

It's A Tiger! written by David LaRochelle and illus. by Jeremy Tankard (P) 
The Preschool kids caught on to the pattern of the tiger is hiding on each page, but did love the ending!

Mary Had a Little Lamp written by Jack Lechner and illus. by Bob Staake (P)
I remember this book back when I was an assistant for my local library, and had never forgotten it. The children thought it was so silly!

Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illus. by Mo Willems
Oh, Pigeon. All the books are my favorite!

SONGS & RHYMES
Open, Shut Them (T, P) 

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

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

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Cows in the Kitchen (T, P)

If you hadn't sung to this book... you must!

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, P)
We ALL love egg shakers!

FLANNEL BOARDS
Where Do I Live? (T, P)
I brought out of my success flannel boards from last year because, well, for one thing they have the star fish and whale pieces at which I squeal in delight whenever I see them. But also, it's just fun to see the kids play with this one.

CRAFTS
Where is the ______ Sheep? Coloring Page (T)
A really simple craft for the toddlers to choose a color (or use all colors) and to create an interactive hiding place for it.

I Had A Little ______ Drawing Page (P) 
When it came to planning the craft for the Preschool group I noticed that I ended up with a "pet" under theme. So, I simply created a drawing page for them to use their imagination to create their own pet a lot like Mary who had a lamp for a pet. Mine picked a pie-pan kite that could taken out for a flight or to simply walk along side me.

PICTURES

Where Do I Live? flannel board,
Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Where is the ____ Sheep? color page, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

There's the Red Sheep! 

_____ Had a Little ____ Drawing Page, Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Picture Perfect - A Storytime Outline

This was a really interesting storytime theme to plan. The only rule that I had to follow was that it had to include photographs instead of illustrations. I tried to find books about taking pictures and cameras that would be good for Toddlers and Preschoolers, but that was not going to happen. The idea of photographs was the perfect replacement and it went over extremely well.

BOOKS

Noisytime for Zoo Animals written by Caroline Arnold and photographs for Richard Hewett (T)
We started out with a really easy book with photos of zoo animals. The Toddlers always love making animal noises!

The Handiest Things in the World written by Andrew Clements (T)
This was a good book, but the Toddlers were not as interested in pictures of what hands can do.

Flamingos written by Cecilia Pinto McCarthy (T, P)
I shared this book with both storytime programs because I love the photos and the colors of flamingos(!). Everyone agreed with me.

City Colors written and photographs by Zoran Milich (T)
This is an extremely simple book with one color per page with a different photo of something found in the city that has that color. It worked great for my flannel board activity.

Here a Face, There a Face written and photographs by Arlene Adla (P)
I had a really small Preschool group and so the children were able to sit very close, and we took our time to try hard to find the faces in the photos. It was a lot of fun to see what the children found and did not find compared the librarians that I tested the book on. It was a joy to go through this book. Priceless moment #1.

Step Gently Out written by Helen Frost and photographs by Rick Lieder (P)
This is a new poem picture book that also happens to be on the new 2013 Texas 2x2 Reading List. The photographs are amazing and the poem is simply lovely. This is a great book.

If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet written and photographs by Leslie McGuirk
This was another great book to share with the kids. Just as with Here a Face, There a Face they all loved to study the rocks and decide they truly did look like the alphabet letter.

Sea Stars written by Jody Sullivan
Some of the photos of sea stars (or starfish to some kiddos) are amazing in the book.

SONGS & RHYME

Open, Shut Them (T, P) 

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

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

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Old McDonald Had a Farm (T, P)
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Continue with other farm animals:
Sheep, Chicken, Pig

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, P) 
Ohhhh, yeah!

FLANNEL BOARDS

City Color Match (T)
Needing a flannel board activity for the little ones I simply made different felt shapes that were in a array of different colors. When I read through the book City Colors the child(ren) with the matching colored flannels had to put their piece(s) on the board. This was a lot of fun.

Old McDonald Had a Farm Photos (T, P)
To have a visual for this song I printed out and laminated photographs of a barn and the different animals we had to sing about.

CRAFTS

Match the Colors Activity Page (T)
I loved this craft. I created an activity sheet page that had the names of different colors that were also printed in the corresponding color (does that make sense? If not, see the picture below!). The toddlers had to match little different photo cutouts. I overheard one mom say to her child that this was a really crafty and smart way of color matching. Big smile!

Foam Picture Frames (P)
What are photos without picture frames. Even in this digital day and age you need picture frames. Using a die cut, I created frame pieces out of fun foam for the children to glue together. They also decorated them with different foam shapes. Point to remember: don't glue one side of the outside frame because that is how you are going to slide your photo in!

PICTURES

"Old McDonald Had a Farm" photo flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Match the Color Activity Page, Toddler Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Poetry & Rhyme II - A Storytime Outline

For the second year in the row I've done a storytime that celebrates poetry and rhyming books for the kids. I truly wish there were more poem picture books out there in the world! The children from both programs did enjoy this theme!

By the way, you'll see the pattern of me using a lot of David Elliot books. He does such nice ones that are poem picture books that I could not help myself!

 

 

BOOKS

One Little Chicken: A Counting Book written by David Elliot and illus. by Ethan Long (T)
This was a cute book, but only some of the older toddler-level ones were able to help find out which chicken was not dancing.

Fiddle-I-Fee written and illus. by Will Hillenbrand (T)
I liked this book, but I was getting tongue tied after awhile doing the "fiddle-i-fee" refrain a lot. The children liked seeing all of the different animals.

Leap Back Home to Me written by Lauren Thompson and illus. by Matthew Cordell (T)
The Toddlers really liked this book. The older ones in the group that it was amazing that the frog could leap so high!

Sing a Song of Piglets: A Calendar in Verse written by Eve Bunting and illus. by Emily Arnold McCully(P)
The piglets in this book are a-d-o-r-a-b-l-! I had to read the whole thing because of the cuteness factor. The girls in the group agreed with me.

And Here's To You! written by David Elliot and illus. by Randy Cecil (P)
This poem picture book is like a celebration and appreciation of the world around you. I wish the Preschoolers appreciated it more than they did. Oh well, perhaps another day.

In the Sea written by David Elliot and illus. by Holly Meade (P)
This is one of my favorite poetry picture books and one by David Elliott. The illustrations are just lovely and I enjoy a good amount of the little poems.

SONGS & RHYMES

 Open, Shut Them (T, P) 

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

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

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Five Little Starfish (P)

Five little starfish by the shore,

The yellow one got lost and that left four

Four little starfish in the sea,

The blue one swam far, far away and that left three.

Three little starfish in the ocean so blue, 

The red one took a seahorse ride and that left two.

Two little starfish in the sun,

The orange one took a dive and that left one.

One little starfish swimming along, 

It was time for him to go home and that left none. 

Inspiration Source: Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime 

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)
Shake, shake, shake!

FLANNEL BOARDS

A Dozen Chickens (T)
Needing some sort of flannel board to get some wiggles out I made twelve chickens with a die cut shape. To give the birds a little more dimension I used the die cutter to make their beaks and combs. I had the Toddlers put them on board before we read the book One Little Chicken: A Counting Book.

Five Little Starfish (P)
This is one of my favorite flannel boards I've made. The Starfish are so dang cute and happy looking that I actually made more than five back when I made them for a Visit Magical Places storytime!

CRAFTS

Leaping Frog Pictures (T)
I'm so happy that the Toddlers really liked the book Leap Back Home to Me because the craft I did was inspired it. All they had to do was paste the a die cut frog onto a coloring page. Some frogs were leaping while others were relaxing their home. Mine was chilling at home.

Seashell Pictures (P)
The Preschool group got to make a picture out of construction paper of a seashell either under the water on the ocean floor or on the beach. Using construction paper crayons to recreate the Holly Meade's illustrations in the book In the Sea was awesome! Love!

PICTURES

A Dozen Chickens flannel board,
Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Five Little Starfish flannel board, Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Leaping For Picture craft, Toddler Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Seashell Picture craft, Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Hedgehogs - A Storytime Outline

Hedgehogs. Yes, hedgehogs. Let's all go, "Awwww!". A lot of this program was inspired by other storytime bloggers like Storytime ABC's and Notes from the Story Room because they did such a wonderful job. Thank you, ladies!

BOOKS

"Hedgehog" Draw-and-Tell story written by Linda Meuse (T, P)
I really enjoyed doing this draw-and-tell story. It was the very first thing that I did before we started the program so that the families had to guess what the program theme was. The preschoolers already had an idea because they saw one of books on the table before. The Toddlers really liked by drawing skills, and the Preschoolers were a little less than impressed.
Source: Notes from the Story Room

Harriet Dancing written by Ruth Symes and illus. by Caroline Jayne Church (T, P)
This is such a fun book. The girls in the Preschool Storytime thought it was fun to see Harriet covered in flowers. 

Hedgehogs: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual written by Sharon Vanderlip, D.V.M.
I showed this book to both groups because it had a good amount of photos of real hedgehogs. Everyone loved the little pink baby ones. Who doesn't?!

Ouch! written by Ragnhild Scamell and illus. by Michael Terry (P)
 Everyone loved this book! I will need to make a flannel version of this one someday.

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

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

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By (T)
tune: Bluebird, Bluebird On My Window
Butterfly, butterfly passing me by
Butterfly, butterfly passing me by
Butterfly, butterfly passing me by
Oh, what color are you?
(name the color)
Source: Me! Dorothy, WPCC

Ten Little Hedgehogs (T, P)
tune: Ten Little Indians
One little, two little, three little hedgehogs.
Four little, five little, six little hedgehogs.
Seven little, eight little, nine little hedgehogs.
Ten little hedgehogs sitting by some logs.

Ten little, nine little, eight little hedgehogs.
Seven little, six little, five little hedgehogs.
Four little, three little, two little hedgehogs.
One little hedgehog chasing a frog.
Source: Storytime ABC's

I'm A Little Hedgehog (P)
tune: I'm A Little Teapot
I'm a little hedgehog, short and round.
Here is my smile, here is my frown.
When I get scared, I roll around.
Just watch me spin across the ground.
Source: Storytime ABC's

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, P)
One of our egg shakers cracked because it was being slammed into another one during our play time. Time to think about making more of them!

FLANNEL BOARDS

Ten Little Hedgehogs (T, P)
To create the template for the hedgehogs I drew my own little critter then traced it on my felt. To add some life to each one, and so that I had another activity built into the flannel board, I give five of the hedgehogs little bows to signify them as girls and the boys are regular.

When we did the rhyme "Ten Little Hedgehogs" I had the children take turns and put them on the board. Then we did a little bit of math skills and we had to count how many were boys and how many were girls. Remember to ask: "If we add five boys and five girls, how many hedgehogs do we have total?" You'll find out how many already know how add. Awesome! I should make a frog flannel piece to slap on their at the for next time.

CRAFTS

Dancing Hedgehogs (T, P)
Inspired by the book Harriet Dancing we made our own dancing hedgehogs. To make the spiky part of the creature I actually used a die cut for a patch of grass. I will call myself a creative genius now. For the little head/body I basically cut out little bean shapes with a swoop for the nose. Each child also got flowers they could add to their page. For those who wanted them there were also little red bows too. Mine is enjoying a little ukulele music.

PICTURES

Ten Little Hedgehogs flannel board,
Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Dancing Hedgehog,
Toddler and Preschool Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

It's a Circus! - A Storytime Outline

And it was a circus! Literally! The public schools were out for the day and so there was a good influx in attendance, especially in Preschool Storytime. This storytime was a lot of fun because of theme and because the Toddlers LOVED their program.

But it was also one of the toughest.

All storytime librarians know that every so often a new child comes to storytime as shy as can be, and you make them feel welcome and to encourage them to have fun. Then it kinda backfires. The child opens up to being a very curious self that requires constant attention and answers to questions during the program. Everything that is normally hidden behind an easel is found in the middle of a story, which is also when you see that the caregiver is at the back of the room and is voluntarily immobile and mute. Knowing the condition of the child also makes you realize that cannot be nice but stern with the child because it would cause a breakdown in the middle of the program. Tough Preschool Storytime. I love a child with a curiosity, but I also love a child when there is an adult who help him/her understand the ways of behaving in storytime. Lesson learned: brush up on those authority figure skills.

Now, onto this fun storytime theme.

BOOKS

Where's Pup? written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illus. by Pierre Pratt (T)
The toddlers loved this book and would help me ask "but where is pup?" with adorable question-faces. 

Star of the Circus written by Michael and Mary Beth Sampson and illus. by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey (T)
This was fun book, but I decided that I'm not a huge fan of the color choices. 

Wolf Won't Bite written and illus. by Emily Gravett (P)
I love the illustrations of this book. The kids were dead-set on the wolf was going to bite those cute piggies at any minute. 

Little Monkey Says Good Night written by Ann Whitford Paul and illus. by David Walker (P)
This was a good book to end the program with. 

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P) 

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

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

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Popcorn (T, P)
You put the oil in the pot and you let it get hot
You put the popcorn in and you start to grin.
Sizzle, sizzle
Sizzle, sizzle
Sizzle, sizzle
POP!
Start the poem in a crouch position, knees bent, hands on the floor. At "sizzle," s-l-o-w-l-y rise until the POP!, then jump up in the air!
Source: PreschoolEducation.com via What Happens in Storytime...

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)

The name "Egg Shakers" should be synonymous to the word "nirvana" or to the sound of your favorite rock band's concert intro or the songs of angels as the light of Heaven beams through fluffy clouds. The kids love them!

Tight Rope Waking (T, P)
I used bright red masking tape to create two lines that ran through the threshold of the storytime room doors. If they wanted to, children could test their balancing skills as they came into the room.

Ring of Fire Walk Through (T, P)

I found this idea via Pinterest with a link to the blog Maya*Made and thought it'd be perfect for the program. I made he flames from colored printer paper (construction paper would also work). The children could go through the ring. Keep an eye out for little ones who can't step over a high bar, but also keep an eye one who won't noticed the top part and will bonk their head. Be warned and watch out for the over exuberant ones will cut the line! Safety is important!

FLANNEL BOARD

Sammy the Seal's Balancing Act (T, P)
I love this flannel board. To make my little Sammy the Seal I found a printable online and enlarged it (he's approximately 8 inches across). For the collar I simply created a half circle with squiggly edges and I added squiggly stripes for some flair. As for his different colored balancing balls, I used a die cut that my library has on hand.

The children (both Toddlers and Preschoolers) took turns placing the balls on top of each other. One thing you have to remember, especially if you have a lot of children in your program, to place Sammy at the bottom of your flannel board (I have an easel type, by the way) so that you have enough room for a very tall column of balls! The children loved this simple flannel activity and loved counting how many balls we got to balance on Sammy's nose!

CRAFTS

Popcorn Bag (T, P)

I saw this craft idea on Crafts for Kids ©'s MySpace page via Pinterest. It was so cute and it did not involve a clown. Everyone needs a snack when they go to the circus, so obviously we had to make some popcorn! Instead of just gluing small pieces to resemble individual popped kernels I had the children squish up their little pieces to make them appear to be puffy popcorn. The parents loved this craft.

PICTURES

Sammy the Seal's Balancing Act, Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Popcorn craft, Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Ring of Fire activity (after use), Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013