This Week in Storytime: December 7th-11th

This week in Storytime with the Toddlers we are playing a game called " Lets all do a little clapping". The toddlers, especially the ones in the Gator room had a lot of fun add new things in addition to clapping. One of the West Chester Gator class really enjoyed acting like dinosaurs and requested to do it twice.

The Pre-School classrooms played freeze dance to the " Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel Song". They also played the "Reindeer Pokey". They kids shook their hooves, antlers, and red noses! :D

Finally in the Pre-Kindergarten class we played the Dreidel game. Lots of laughter could be heard when someone won all the coins in the "pot".

Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.

:D

Emily

This Week in Storytime: November 2nd-November 6th

Thanksgiving Game and Song Idea

Kids Say the Funniest Things

I was walking through the cafe today and heard the children talking. One of 3 years olds points the the Ketchup on his plate and says, "That has only 10 calories". Very funny!

:D Hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather!

Emily

Halloween Craft and Recipe Ideas

Halloween is a wonderful time to make crafts and to cook with your children.

Here are a few links to some of my favorite holiday crafts and recipes!

Grocery Bag Pumpkins

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Pasta Skeleton

Monster Light Jug

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Family Fun

A great resource for crafts, recipes, and other fun family stuff!

Shel Silverstein and this week in Storytime

Last Week in Storytime I read the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. I was in the Flamingo room at our 747 center. I showed the children the back cover of the book and the above picture was on it. I mentioned that this man was the author. One of the children yelled out

"He does not look happy at all."

The honesty of children

Book Chat

The Giving Tree

Birds Eat Gummy Worms!

At our Mason center this week I read a book called the "Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall.

Towards the middle of the book there is a page where the mother robbin is feeding worms to her baby birds. In three separate classrooms the children said, "Baby birds eat gummy worms!". Too funny!

In another classroom while reading the same book, a child was looking at a page that had a picture of a deer eating apples. Then the little child shouted out "Deer eat apples, coconuts, and squirrels." Than he hissed like a squirrel. Kids say the funniest things.

Fall is Finally Here!

Autumn is my favorite season. In honor of this beautiful Autumn weekend I made caramel apples! Yum!

Here is a How-to video that I found on Youtube so you can make some at home!

Enjoy!

This Week in Storytime Oct 5th-Oct 9th

Book Pick: Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey

A Funny Kid Quote

It was the end of the Monkey class storytime and I was passing out my stamps. This week my stamp is a squirrel. One of the boys told me, " I taught a squirrel to read and sing once!". So funny!

This Week in Storytime

An Art Project!

This Week in Storytime!

Flannel Box Pieces

I will post pictures later of what they look like finished!

Duck! Rabbit!

Cute Kid Quote of the Week

During naptime, I help out in the classrooms so that the classroom teachers can have some time to plan their lessons. I was in a classroom of 3.5 year olds. One of the little girls had just woken up. I asked her if she would like to read a book while her friends finished napping. She nodded and went to the bookcase. She pulled out the book "Corduroy". She brought it back to her cot. I asked her if she wanted me to read her the story.Then she said, " I'm Big like you, I can read just like you!" So the little girl held the book the same way that I do and she told me the whole story! So cute!

Back in the Classrooms!

I am so very excited being back in the classrooms. It has been wonderful seeing all my old friends and meeting new ones! I've received tons of hugs from the kids! It is soo good to be back

This week we have been reading books about Monkeys!! We have also been singing the "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" song using our flannel box.

Also in our Toddler classrooms we have been playing a bean bag game

We end our time together by saying our goodbye poem and again using our flannel box

See you later Alligator

In a while crocodile

Bye-Bye Butterfly

Toot-a-loo Kanga-Roo

Time to go Buffalo

Just like that Fat Cat

It's the End my friend!

Have a great rest of the week!

Ms. Emily

Meet The Special Programs Instuctors

I know this is a blog for Creative Storytime, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to the other Special Programs Instructors!

Looking forward to seeing you around Kids "R" Kids



Special Thanks to our Photographer, Ms. Sara for taking such great photos!

Meet Hannah Olivia Monkey

Storytime will be starting soon! Just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to our new friend who will be helping with storytime!

Name: Hannah Olivia MonkeyAge: 3 and a half years old
Favorite Colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow
Favorite Foods: Bananas, Banana Muffins, Banana Soup, Banana's Foster, Banana Ice Cream. Chocolate Covered Bananas, and Tootsie Rolls
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Favorite Books:

Curious George Makes Pancakes

by Margret & H.A Rey's
Curious George Goes to the Hospital

by Margret & H.A Rey's

Curious George Goes to the Chocolate Factory

by Margret and H.A Rey

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina


Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

by Eileen Christelow

Favorite Things to do outside: Roller Skate, Play on the Monkey Bars, Help Wash the Car, and Jump Rope

Favorite Things to do inside: Read, Dance, Sing, Go to the Library, and Monkey Around

Favorite Bands: The Monkeys and BananaRama (I'm into old-school stuff)

Libraries in Trouble

During my free-time I can often be found at a library or bookstore. I love to look through all the shelves of beautiful new books! It's wonderful!I highly recommend getting a library cards. Libraries are really the best kept secret. You can take out books, DVDS, books on tape, and magazines. Many libraries offer outstanding programs. Within the last month I have attended two concerts and a Children's storytime. All fun and free!

Libraries across the country and even in this area are in trouble. Many are having to shut their doors or limiting hours of operation and programs. Please don't let this happen. Contact your local governments to let them know how important you feel libraries are! Don't let our children live without such a precious resource.

Special Programs will be starting in just about a month! I can't wait!!!!

Wow! A New Update!

Wow! I have not updated in a very long time! The new school year is fast approaching and plans are well underway here at Kids-R-Kids. We have just received the new curriculum that the classrooms will be using this year. I've had the opportunity to take a sneak peek and it is outstanding!

I've have already been preparing for Storytime! I've had the opportunity to attend several storytime events at local libraries and have learned a few new finger plays, songs,crafts, and games to add to the program!

If you are new to Kids 'R' Kids, I would like to welcome you! Thank you for sharing your child with us! You may not be familar with Creative Storytime. At each of the five Kids "R" Kids centers I visit all of the Toddler, Pre-School, and Pre-Kindergarten classrooms. I bring stories, games, puppets, crafts, and other special surprises to bring books and stories alive. For example last year during the week of St. Patrick's Day the Pre-Schoolers, PreKindergarteners, and Kindergarteners went on a Scavenger Hunt to find the book that the Leprechauns had hidden. The children followed clues to lead us to our "treasure of books and a craft project."

Studies has shown that the introduction of quality books and stories makes a significant difference in creating life long readers.

Here is a list of some Favorite Books Read Last Year!

The is a great foot stomper of a book! Excellent for Toddlers and Young Pre-Schoolers. A great book to get 'um up and movin'. Don't forget to read it with a country accent!

My two-year old nephew introduced me to this book! He is all about trains! This is a great book to help the little ones learn colors and words such as fast and slow!

This is one of those rare books that is equally enjoyable to children ages 2 through 6. A great book for animal noises and repetition. Pre-Schoolers and Kindergarteners love repetition and love to repeat phrases that are said over and over again in books! I adore this book!

This book is a favorite. This is an interactive book where children are asked to make sure the pigeon doesn't drive the bus. Not a good choice before bedtime as this book usually hypes kids up! It's hillarious!

This is was one of my favorites as a child. A good choice for older Pre-K through 4 grade students. This is a blast to read-aloud. I love to do the voices! Especially the voice of "Viola Swamp".

I would love to hear from you! If you have questions, comments, and concerns about the Creative Storytime program please feel free to e-mail me at eevt@hotmail.com

See you soon!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Young McDonald
David Milgrim

I added this book to this weeks storytime! It was a huge hit!! The kids had so much fun guessing what animals Young McDonald made! I read this to the older 3 years olds through Kindergarten! It was enjoyed by all!

One of the challenges of my job as a Storyteller is finding books and stories that will appeal to a variety of children! I want children to love books! Its also nice to find books that are enjoyable to me as well as I read them over and over again at the five Kids-R-Kids centers. I truely love what I do!

Check the Auntie Em Twitter site as well

http://twitter.com/AuntieEmKrk

Creepy Crawly :D

This week's theme at Kids-R-Kids has to do with things that are Creepy Crawly!

So check out these activities that you can do at home!

Wiggle Worm Craft.

You can find the directions here!

You can find more Creepy Crawly Crafts here

and here

Bug Snacks

Make snack time extra fun and tasting with creepy, crawly snacks. For this tasty sensory activity you can make "bugs on a log" with a celery stick, peanut butter and raisins. Make some spider cookies with oreo cookies, black licorice for the legs, and red hots for the eyes. Use a bit of frosting to hold the eyes and legs in place. You can even make a caterpillar with slices of bananas, peanut butter, small pretzel sticks and raisins. Simply spread peanut butter on the banana slices and squish together to form the body. Place the pretzel sticks to create legs and plop on the raisins for the eyes.

Dirt Sundae

Ingredients

Oreo Cookies

Instant Chocolate Pudding

Milk

Gummy Worm Candy

Directions

1. We poured the package of chocolate pudding into a gallon size ziploc bag

2. We poured in milk according to the pudding package directions

3. We let the kids shake the bag for a few minutes

4. We placed the oreo cookies in another gallon size ziploc bag.

5. We let the kids crush the cookies using a small hammer. (This was a lot of fun)

6. We poured the pudding into bowls and topped the pudding with the crushed oreo cookies and gummy worms!

Flip Flop Bop

Reading of a Pigeon Book!

This books has been a very popular one here at Kids-R-Kids!

It's called "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus".

Here is a very creative and enthusiastic reading of Mo Willems awesome book!

Enjoy!