Happy New Year!

Here's December's drop-in craft - to help countdown from noon to midnight, embellished with the glittery elements I could find! Happy New Year!!

Light in the Dark

The Winter Solstice is coming and, with it, lots of December holidays with that involve light sources. In Storytime last week, we read The House in the Night by Susan Swanson, with beautiful Caldecott-winning illustrations by New Hampshire artist Beth Krommes. We also read Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Kate Toms, a story that elaborated on the song that we all know. 

Our craft began with a flat house or evergreen tree shape. We colored, decorated, stickered, and hole punched our creation, then stood it up over a small tea light. We lit our candles, then watched as the light shone through. We brought them home to be a light in the darkness this holiday season. 

December Events

 

It's December!

Our Storytime craft today:

a countdown chain for December holidays! 

Tear off a ring for each day until the

BIG day!

Thanksgiving Visits & Read-Alouds

Two days before the holiday, I spent some time the New Hampton Community School reading a Thanksgiving book to each class. What good listeners the kids were and we had some interesting conversations based on parts of the books. I hope it was as much fun for the children as it was for me!! Thanks to Ms. Holloran and the teachers there for allowing me this time to visit classrooms!  

November Drop-in Craft: Thankful Turkeys

With a stuffed paper bag body, accordian folded legs, and colorful paper feathers, kids made a turkey to take home for their Thanksgiving celebrations. Some wrote things they were thankful for on their feathers!

Turkey Time

After reading a few Thanksgiving stories at this week's Thursday Storytime, kids used a paper plate and lots of different materials and shapes to make a unique turkey to take home for the holiday! Gobble-gobble!

Balloons Over Broadway - and Main Street

For Storytime this week, we read Balloons Over Broadway, The True Story of the Puppeteer of the Macy's Parade. It's the story of Tony Sarg, who was commissioned by Macy's in New York City to design make-believe animals to represent the real zoo animals that didn't work out in their holiday parades. This is a beautifully illustrated story of innovation, creative thinking, and perseverance - and it's one of my favorite books!

Children chose a balloon color and spent time designing their animal (or person)! They had many materials from which to choose - yarn and streamers, construction paper, paper circles, permanent Sharpie markers, tape and glue. 

Kids problem-solved as they worked on their creations and were very careful when they used scissors! They artfully constructed their balloon, then attached it to two milkshake straws, joined together to make it fly high.

And later, they paraded out the door on their way home. 

November Events

Halloween!!

After a few not-so-scary stories, pumpkins for the Halloween craft! They were decorated using a variety of techniques, materials, and lots of choice.

And our Saturday drop-in craft for October - spooky decorations lit from within by a battery-operated tea light! Have a Happy Halloween!! 

Scarecrows for Fall

Fall may be dwindling a little bit, but scarecrows still stand in our gardens, by our doorways, and even in common areas for all to see. Today we read Scarecrow by Beth Terry, a beautiful rhyming story about a scarecrow through the seasons and his relationships with nature around him. We also read a funny story called The Not-So-Scary Scarecrow by Mamie Tauk. It was about Jack, trying so hard to be scary, but he was just too nice! I loved this book because it showed how important it is to be kind.

Next we made a scarecrow"frame" by gluing two large craft sticks together. Paper, markers, some brown shreds for stuffing and we were finished!

Autumn Leaves

This is certainly is a most beautiful autumn season! At Storytime today, we read these three stories about fall. 

Remember last week's apple trees? Using the same trunk and crown, this week kids made autumn trees in all their colorful splendor! With construction and tissue papers, streamers, cut out leaves, and some sparkles, each child made a beautiful fall tree to take home. 

Time for Apples

At Storytime today, after reading a few books about apples, applesauce, and apple pies, kids set to work making their own apple trees. Each child had a simple green "crown" and a brown trunk to start a tree. They used lots of different materials and different techniques to represent the fruit and the details of their tree.