A Used Book Swap

It’s summer holidays here and the centre has been closed for a couple of weeks now.  But before we closed a parent suggested we start a group email list for anyone interested in getting together during the summer break.  I included myself on that list, knowing that I would be around for part of the time. 
Families have been getting together at the beach and the park, staying in touch and getting to know each other better.

Today I invited the families to participate in a used book swap at a park.  I brought a box of books I’ve been collecting from thrift stores and library book sales.  The families brought a book, added it to the collection and then chose a new one.
       
We made our own books using a single piece of paper and no staples.
 
Here’s a good tutorial of how to fold the book.
 
We spent sometime on the playground then shared some songs and stories.

This activity worked to encourage the children's interest in books and stories.
          
I'm sure there will more get togethers this summer.

Glorius Goop

A couple of months ago my computer crashed and took all my photos and videos with it.  Fortunately I had most of them saved on my computer at work.  So now that I'm on holidays I have time to transfer them to my home computer.  It's been fun finding old videos that I haven't shared on this blog. 

Here is one about a child experiencing 'goop' in the sensory table. 

Goop is a simple recipe of cornstarch and water but it changes consistency as you play with it.  On impact it becomes a solid but when you let it go it changes back to a liquid.

This video is of a little girl, her mom and another child the same age. 

The mom is encouraging the child to try it and refers to the change as melting which her daughter picks up on and plays with that notion.

At one point her mom challenges her to think that the ball of goop she has made will not melt this time but the little girl is positive it will and when she is right she is delighted.

The child continues to explore the sensation of the goop on her skin by applying it to her arms.  At one point she quietly lets her mom know that she doesn't like it and mom is supportive by wiping it off for her.

I think what I really like about this video is that the child's excitement experimenting with the goop is the same that I had when I first was introduced to it some 30 years ago.

Drum Play

Parents have been saving coffee cans, infant formula cans and any other big can with a lid and bringing them in to StrongStart.  We finally had enough for a larger group, approximately 30, to use.  Here are a few songs that we sang using our DIY drums.

Boom Ditty Boom

Boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom
Down in the jungle where nobody goes
Lives a great big gorilla washing his clothes.
Playing boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom
Boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom

Down in the jungle where nobody goes
Was a very tall giraffe walking on his toes
 Playing boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom
Boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom

Down in the jungle where nobody goes
Was a great big elephant blowing his nose.
Playing boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom
Boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom

Down in the jungle where nobody goes
Was a pack of lemurs walking in a row
Playing boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom
Boom ditty boom ditty boom boom boom

 Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Jingle Bells

And lastly Twinkle Little Star.

The Caterpillar and the Polliwog

I’ve mentioned before that I belong to a storytellers group and we get together once a month to share stories.  This month, Jenny shared a story from an old book that she had created into a felt story. 
       The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent.

It was a great choice to use to finish up our study of butterflies and frogs.
To make the felt board I coloured copied some of the pictures from the book, laminated them, then attached a magnet to the back and I was ready to tell the story.

Below are the highlights of the story.
        
Down by the pond there lives a caterpillar who was very proud of being different. 
She bragged to her friends “When I grow up, I’m going to turn into something else.”
 
Her friends weren’t too impressed by the caterpillar but the polliwog thought it
was great and wished that he could change into something else too.  The fish
reassures the polliwog that he will change too but doesn’t tell him what.
 
On her second time around the pond the caterpillar brags to the polliwog that she
will change and the polliwog replies that he will too.  That stops the caterpillar in
it’s tracks and feels a little sad that she isn’t the only unique creature.  When the
polliwog is asked what it will change into, he doesn’t know but decides to be the
same as the caterpillar.  So he watches while she spins her chrysalis and waits for
her to come out.
 
All the time he is waiting he is changing.  The polliwog is very excited to see the
butterfly emerge and begins jumping up and down like a frog, “I was so busy
watching you, I didn’t notice what was happening to me!” he says.
      
As a new caterpillar crawls by bragging that he will turn into something else
the frog doesn’t pay attention.  He is too distracted admiring his reflection in
the water.  “I am, you know, a handsome frog!”

Releasing Our Tadpoles

We’ve been watching and learning about frogs for several months.
 
         We’ve been reading lots of books,

             and feeding the tadpoles,
         
         and watching them grow their legs.
        
       But now it’s time to release them back to their pond.

At the pond we had one more look before setting the tank into the water
to help the temperature adjust.

            Then we said good bye and let them go.

Five Green Frogs

As we were studying frogs and watching our tadpoles grow we
played with the old rhyme “Five Green and Speckled Frogs”.
     
At the flannel board the children could retell the rhyme and
move the frogs on and off the log.
     
   
We played with the rhyme on the carpet using stuffies and a piece of driftwood.
          
         We played with the rhyme at the water table.
    
On one side held 5 little frogs on a log and the other side held rubbery frogs
with 'plastercine-made' tadpoles and water beads.
      
   The frogs hopped on and off the logs and rocks,
        that were added on the second day.

We pretended the water beads were the frog eggs.  The clear beads are hard
to see in the water so the children were surprised when they reach into the
water and felt the beads.

The Legend of the Golden Snail

                 
"The Legend of the Golden Snail" by Graeme Base is a book I read when we are studying snails and pirates.  It is about imagination, challenges, helping others, adventure and more.
                  
 
Graeme’s illustrations pop off of each page in beautiful deep colours.

But what I really like about the book is that it contains a book within a book.  When you open the cover you will find a miniature version of the bedtime story that the main character is read and that begins his adventure.
   
I found a real shell that matches the one that Wilbur, the main character and his cat, eventually find.  I painted it gold and will use it as a conversation prompt when we read the book in September for "Talk Like a Pirate Day”.