February Events for Kids

 

Animals in Snow - and a surprise!

 Under and Over the Snow by Kate Messner is the title of the book we read and talked about today at Storytime. It tells of the adventure a child has as she skis through the woods with her father and learns about the winter habits of the animals who live there. In the book, we found squirrels and chipmunks, mice and voles, rabbits and frogs, a fox and a bear, and many more animals!

At craft time, we took blank cardstock glued to a craft stick and decorated it to look like one of the animals in the story. After the mice and owls and other animals were finished, we played with them at our brand new table-top Puppet Theater, making their sounds as they moved over and under the cotton "snow"!

Polar Bears

This little polar bear appeared in the Children's Room on the day we were going to hear stories about polar bears! Everyone thinks that I brought it in, and I did not!

We read two books about polar bears at this week's Storytime. My favorite is A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett because the illustrator, Shawn Harris, makes the bear appear and disappear within the pages of the book! Amazing! Check it out next time you're in the library! We also read Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson, about a small bear who leaves his cave at night only to witness the Northern Lights. After our craft, we read Little Dog Lost, The True Story of a Brave Dog Named Baltic by Mônica Carnesi. The children were captivated by this true story of a dog in trouble on the icy sea.

Here's our craft - polar bear shapes collaged with lots of white matter. Some glued their polar bear to white paper for snow, some to black paper for night!

Re-reading the story on her own. 

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!