Weather!

This Power Up With Books! Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on Wednesday, July 2 and Thursday, June 3, 2014.

Books:
Hello, Sun! by Dayle Ann Dodds, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa

Who Cares About the Weather? by Melvin Berger

Songs:

Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")

Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!

(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song.  Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us.  At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)

Mr. Sun

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,

Please shine down on me.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,

Hiding behind a tree.

These little children are asking you,

To please come out so we can play with you.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,

Please shine down on me.

Body Parts

I discovered this song on Youtube and purchased it on iTunes for use during Storytime. 

Everybody has a body.

And everybody has body parts.  Body parts.

You have ten fingers.  You have ten toes.

You have two eyes and you have one nose.

You have two arms.  You have two legs.

And you have hair on top of your head. (REFRAIN)

You use your hands to pick things up,

You use your arms to give great big hugs.

You use your legs to run around.

And your feet always touch the ground.  (REFRAIN)

You use your eyes when you're  lookin'

You use your nose to smell what's cooking.

You use your ears to hear this song,

You use your mouth to sing along.   (REFRAIN)

Hey everyone!  I have an idea!

Why don't we all play a game?

Okay, here we go!

Touch your head...

Touch your toes...

Touch your arms...

Touch your nose...

Shake your head...

Wiggle your toes...

Wave your arms...

Wrinkle your nose...

Rhyme:

Open, Shut Them

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,
Give a little clap, clap, clap!

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Lay them in your lap, lap, lap!

Waving, waving, waving, waving,

High up in the sky, sky, sky.

Wave to me...I'll wave to you.

Now let's all say goodbye, bye, bye.

Each Power Up With Books! Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Every Child Ready to Read^® @ your library^®, PLA and ALSC logos are registered trademarks of the American Library Association and are used with permission.

Stories and S'Mores

This event was held at the Bellevue Public Library on Monday, June 30, 2014.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell

Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat

Prairie Chicken Little by Jackie Mims Hopkins, illustrated by Henry Cole

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Deam

Park and Read June 30

Monday morning dawned with news of a tornado watch extending all the way to 6 PM! Despite this forecast, it was actually fairly comfortable outside, even with the high humidity. Everything looked to be going well until I reached Washington Park...
Within seconds of starting to lay out prizes, I was surrounded by MOSQUITOES.  As I told the staff back at the library, "I'm not exaggerating.  The mosquitoes were the size of squirrels!"  (Please note: the mosquito shown below does not accurately represent the size of the mosquitoes at the park.  The ones we swatted away were actually BIGGER!  Haha!)

Needless to say, those who arrived realized immediately that this was not a good time and place for a picnic storytime!  The children quickly picked a prize, then we all hurried to the shelter of our vans!

 

We have one more week of Park and Read Storytime: next Monday, July 7.  We'll keep our fingers crossed!
  ~ Mrs. B.

Books:

Wake Up, Rupert! by Mike Twohy

Crankenstein by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat

Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Mims Hopkins, illustrated by John Manders

DIY Table: WEATHER!

This week the Library's  DIY Table features activities associated with our week's "Weather" theme.  Miss Michelle has put together some fun activities to be enjoyed while children are at the library.

Kids can make a snowman puppet using the supplies shown here:

Young children can sharpen their color recognition skills with this fun activity which uses magnet-backed pom-poms, a laminated rainbow picture, and a cookie sheet.

Update: We have had several instances of unsupervised children pulling the magnets off the back of the pom-poms so that the pom-poms can be glued onto their coloring sheets.  While I applaud their creative artistry, it has been frustrating to lose pieces from the Rainbow Puzzle.  So...Miss Michelle is revamping this activity so as not to use pom-poms.  We shall see what she comes up with!

Another fun activity for puzzle-lovers!  These are two of the four 

weather-themed puzzles made from jumbo craft sticks.

For youngsters who are developing their fine motor skills, 
this sheet challenges them to follow the path from the weather condition on the left to the appropriate clothing or accessory on the right.

Coloring sheets are provided  and can be a fun activity 

(even without the availability of pom-poms!)