Come In From the Cold

Our stories today were all about animals seeking warmth from the cold for the winter. In The Big Snuggle Up by Brian Patten, a scarecrow is invited into a warm house on a snowy day. One by one, he's joined by other animals coming in from the storm. Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovicz is about a duck who needs a place to live after deciding not to migrate with his flock. In Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, a group of animals holds a party in a sleeping bear's den.

We also looked at drawings of birds in Backyard Birds of Winter by Carol Learner. We identified a few birds that stay in New Hampshire for the winter. Then we made bird feeders by covering paper tubes with peanut butter and rolling them in bird seed. Some of us strung Cheerios on pipe cleaners as another type of feeder. We hope birds will like our work!

Silly Snowmen

This Storytime was all about snowmen! Today's favorite book was Perfect Soup by Lisa Moser, about the folks Mouse had to deal with as he tried to find a carrot to make his soup perfect. In Snowbaby Could Not Sleep by Kara LaReau, Snowbaby's snowparents think of lots of different ways to try to help Snowbaby fall asleep. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jacks Keats is a classic about Peter, who spends his day playing in new snow and his night dreaming about it. Lastly, if you ever wonder what happens to Snowmen at Night, read this funny book by Caralyn Buehner to find out!

We made snowmen from a large and small paper plate. He had a paper carrot nose, and crayon-colored hat and mittens. Pompoms and stickers made eyes, mouths, and buttons. This snowman certainly was fun to decorate and they were all uniquely individual!

These snowmen certainly were fun to decorate - and they were all uniquely individual!

Penguins

Today, we read about penguins, and then we made one of our own. Playful Little Penguins by Tony Mitton showed us penguins sliding, swimming, and diving together, and later helping a new friend. In Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester, we laughed at Tacky's odd behavior, which saved the day for his friends. Finally, Virgil and Owen by Paulette Bogan showed us how not to make friends!


Since we read so many books about fictional penguins, we also looked at the photographs in Seymour Simon's book, Penguins. There are so many different kinds!

With precut shapes, we assembled our own penguin, then collaged white materials onto his front. We even gave him a fish to hold in his beak!

STEM Saturday: Let It Snow!

Our January STEM Saturday featured snow of the indoor kind! We mixed baking soda with shaving cream and made cool, white, moldable "snow" to squish and squeeze and make snowballs with! We also sprayed vinegar on it to see what would happen. The snow "melted"! Very messy but so much fun!

We tried an experiment to see if mittens really are warm. Using a thermometer, we measured the temperature of the air in the Children's Room. It was 23°C. Then we measured the temperature in the glove, and were surprised to find it was the same 23°C! Finally, we measured the temperature inside the glove with a hand in there too. That brought the temperature up to around 32°C. So, are mittens warm? Only when there's a hand in them!

Our last activity challenged us to find a way to stack three marshmallows to make a standing marshmallow snowman. Marshmallow Fluff did the trick! We also decorated the marshmallow man with m&ms and mini chips for eyes and buttons, and pretzel sticks for arms. Only after kids left, did I find in the candy corn for noses! What a sticky, messy, delicious, fun STEM Saturday!

Mitten Weather!

On this chilly January morning, we gathered in the Children's Room to read about winter clothes. One Mitten by Kristine George, was about a yellow mitten that could be used in lots of imaginative ways. Then we read The Mitten by Jim Aylesworth. This story is based on the Ukrainian tale about a child who loses a hand-knit mitten, only to have it taken over by animals looking for a cozy place to warm up. We loved this story, especially when the mitten exploded when the tiniest creature climbed in! There are many different version of this wonderful story, and the mitten bursts in all of them!

We decorated cardstock mittens with drawings, shiny jewels, stars, dots, and sparkly ribbon. Then we added fluffy cotton to the bottom and sewed up along the edges. Beautiful mittens for a winter display!