Cookies!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...well, you know what he'll want! That favorite book by Laura Numeroff was one we read today as we heard stories about our favorite snack! We also read The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson and The Duckling Wants a Cookie by Mo Willems. 

Then we made a paper bag puppet of the mouse in the book. We gave him big ears, colored overalls and yarn whiskers - and a cookie for him to hold! Yum!

Green for St. Patricks & Green for Spring

In mid-March, two days after the winter's biggest snowstorm, it's time to turn our thoughts to all things green!! This week, we read about about a little green truck, a lost green sock, a little green snake, and a missing green sheep! Then we used white hearts from Valentine's Day to collage with green and glue into a shamrock or a lucky four leaf clover!

We Love Cats!

Last week, we read about dogs, so this week we gave equal time to cats! Last week, author Laura Numeroff told what happens if you give a dog a donut - this week we read what happens If You Give a Cat a Cupcake! We also read Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup, about a cat who was, well, grumpy - and the friend who changed all that! Lastly we read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, and we tried to sing the song. If you want to hear how it really sounds, click here to watch the movie!

Then we made a paper stand-up cat. We colored it with stripes or spots, the gave it whiskers, a long tail, and googly eyes - of course!

Crazy 8s: It's in the Cards

This week, we begin a new Bedtime Math session at the New Hampton Community School's after school program, Project Promise. This session's Crazy 8s Club will be with younger students, in kindergarten, first, and second grade.

We began this week by learning to play Crazy 8s, the card game! We learned about the names of suits and the values of face cards as we played the game. Then we played 13 Pyramid, a tricky game where you have to add up available cards to get to thirteen. We were having so much fun, we did not have time for the Solitaire game, but each member of the Crazy 8s Club took home a sheet with directions for al the card games and a brand new deck of Bedtime Math playing cards, so they could play at home!

S.T.E.M. Saturday: Air & Wind

On a March morning while the wind was howling outside, we stayed inside and learned about moving air. We experimented with a wind tunnel, predicting whether various materials would sink, hover, or fly out the top. Some objects like feathers and crepe paper flew out and twirled around in the air above the wind tunnel before they finally floated to the ground.

Then we read the story of The Three Little Pigs, the silly James Marshall version where the Wolf gets eaten at the end of the book.  After that, we were challenged to make a house that the Wolf (which was really a hair dryer!) couldn't blow down. We had lots of fun making predictions and testing to see if we had a sturdy construction, like the pig who made his house out of bricks. 

We had so much fun making sturdy houses, we didn't have time to make and fly airplanes! Next time!

We Love Dogs!

Who loves dogs? We do! This week we read lots of books with dogs as characters. The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest was about the adventures of a dog, wandering alone through the town, hoping for a friend. Little Dog Lost by Monica Carnesi was based on a true story about another dog, lost and alone at sea. A Dog Needs A Bone by Audrey Wood was a funny story about a dog looking everywhere for a bone - when actually, there were bones everywhere! And If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff told how one thing could lead to another when a dog gets a donut!

After we read about dogs, we made one! Using toilet paper tubes and yarn, we made marionette strings, then gave our dogs yarn legs and tails. We each decorated our dog puppet differently...some with spots and some with stripes for fur. When we were done, we took our dancing dogs home. Hmmm, I wonder if you can make a cat marionette the same way?