For those who do not have preschool story time craft supplies at home, we have Story Time Supply Kits available starting January 4th. This kit will provide child safety scissors, liquid glue, tape, 3 markers, and a glue stick. It also has a small “flannel board” on the lid to recreate flannel stories at story time.
Pick up your kit through curbside pickup, along with our usual Story Time craft kits.
Each winter we host a month long community reading event we call On the Same Page. Basically, we hand out hundreds of copies of a selected book and then spend a month exploring it through activities, lectures, concerts, and contests. Think of it as a county-wide book club. Read with your neighbors and friends, talk about what you read, and come and join in the fun.
Our Kick-Off Kits will be available starting Friday, January 29th, so make sure to come pick them up!
Did you know that Mele Kalikimaka is how they say, “Merry Christmas” in Hawaii? It looks like Santa went to Hawaii for a quick vacation before the holidays. Check out some of these books about Hawaii and take a “book” vacation with Santa!
Ages 2-5
Letters to Santa are a great way to promote early literacy skills during the holiday season. Color pictures to leave for Santa or to give as gifts. Organize Christmas cookies by shape or color. Line up presents by size on Christmas morning.
Write a letter or draw a picture for Santa. You can drop it by the library and you will receive a fun activity and a treat! (while supplies last)
Presents the well-known poem about an important Christmas visitor.
When Froggy goes on vacation to Hawaii, he’s too excited to pay much attention to his parents.
Christmas Day in Hawaii is a special day the sun shines brighter, the birds sing louder, and the palm trees sway and beckon ‘ohana outside to celebrate.
An alphabet rhyme/chant that relates what happens when the whole alphabet tries to climb a coconut tree.
Learn numbers one through ten with Hawaiian animals, plants and more in this fun-filled book.
Take a trip through Hawaii as Hannah, the humpback whale and Millie, the monk seal race around the islands. Along the way Hannah and Millie have to solve clues about Hawaii and learn about the animals, plants, geography, and culture that make Hawaii a great state!
Happy holidays! This week in Book Babies we did Christmas-themed books and activities.
Ages 2-5
Here we are together, together, together! Oh, here we are together in our library. There’s (sing names)… Here we are together in our library!
Hello everybody let’s clap our hands*, clap our hands, clap our hands. Hello everybody let’s clap our hands today! *pat our head, stretch up high, wiggle our fingers, tickle our knees, kick our feet, bounce up high!
(Sing while pointing to each finger on your child’s hand.) Sing, talk, read, write, play! Sing, talk, read write, play! Sing, talk, read, write, play! Sing, talk, read, write, play each day!
Gift wrap and presents can be an excellent opportunity for sensory exploration & fine motor skill development. Your child will love listening to the “crinkle” of the paper as they unwrap a gift. Try using only a small amount of tape to secure the gift so your child can easily grab the paper and rip it open. This will help them develop their fine motor skills so they can hold a pencil for writing.
Wrap a stack of your child’s favorite books or library books in wrapping paper. Leave part of the book showing so they can see just a bit of the cover. Then have fun as they unwrap a book a day right up to Christmas. You can also save the wrapping paper in a box for them to play with, also.
Bear is awakened by his friends the day before Christmas, and he tries to stay up all night to celebrate Christmas with them.
Baby searches for his Christmas present in the closet, under wrapping paper, and underneath the Christmas tree. A Lift-The-Flap book.
Ollie loves Christmas. What else does he love?
Bouncing up and down in Santa’s sleigh
Bouncing up and down in Santa’s sleigh
Bouncing up and down in Santa’s sleigh
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Hooooo!
Flying up high…
Flying down low… Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoah!
Falling asleep… Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.
Bouncing up and down…
– Adapted from Oremlibrary.org
(Tune: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Twinkle twinkle Christmas star
Way up high is where you are!
Shining bright for all to see –
On the tip top of our tree –
Twinkle twinkle Christmas star
Way up high is where you are!
– Kidsparkz.com
(Tune: We Wish You a Merry Christmas)
Let’s all do a little clapping,
Let’s all do a little clapping,
Let’s all do a little clapping,
& spread Christmas cheer.
More verses:
2.Jumping
3.Twirling
4.Stretching
– Kidsparkz.com
Five little stockings hanging up so high
Ready for the evening when Santa stops by
The cat chased the mouse along the mantle top
And one little stocking fell …. ker-plop.
*
Four little stockings hanging up so high
Ready for the evening when Santa stops by
The cat chased the mouse along the mantle top
And one little stocking fell …. ker-plop.
*
Three little stockings hanging up so high
Two little stockings hanging up so high
One little stocking hanging up so high
– Feltboardmagic.com
In Llama Llama Jingle Bells, little llama and his friends give gifts, sing songs, and decorate cookies. It’s a very merry holiday indeed!
It’s almost Christmas, and baby simply cannot contain the exuberance. There are things to decorate-a tree, a gingerbread house, a doggy! There are very creative presents to make, Santa to see (must be brave), carols to sing, not to mention the big event itself.
When Baby Hare mistakes Baby Owl for Santa Claus, it takes a visit from St. Nick himself to straighten things out.
Drive by or walk by the library starting Saturday, December 5th to take a look at our Christmas window displays! Use our search and find list here. You can also vote for your favorite window and we’ll announce the winner at the end of the month.
Turkeys, feathers, and family hugs! These things can be enjoyed anytime of the year, but we love them around Thanksgiving. Try counting feathers with your child, look at the colors, and see how many hugs you can give away this week.
Ages 2-5
Here we are together, together, together! Oh, here we are together in our library. There’s (sing names)… Here we are together in our library!
Hello everybody let’s clap our hands*, clap our hands, clap our hands. Hello everybody let’s clap our hands today! *pat our head, stretch up high, wiggle our fingers, tickle our knees, kick our feet, bounce up high!
(Sing while pointing to each finger on your child’s hand.) Sing, talk, read, write, play! Sing, talk, read write, play! Sing, talk, read, write, play! Sing, talk, read, write, play each day!
Feathers are a wonderful, inexpensive sensory “toy” that can grow with your child. Talk with your child about their colors, how they feel, smell, and move when you blow them. They will begin to blow them too which is a great speech development skill.
For infants, sing a nursery rhyme such as “Turkey Wore a Red Feather” while tickling their face or cheek. For toddler, hide feathers in a book and have seek and find them. Then blow them together out of the book. Remember to talk, talk, talk with your child about what is happening!
Watch the shiny feathers disappear as you count down from five to one in this Thanksgiving book about five silly turkeys!
A toddler finds out that spaghetti is yummy, but worms — and blue crayons, and sand, and other things too gross to mention — are definitely yucky when tasted.
A young boy discovers many different kinds of hugs and ways to show love as family members and friends gather to welcome his immigrant relatives from China.
Two little turkeys sitting on a hill
One named Jack, the other named Jill
Run away Jack, run away Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill
(cloud/quiet & loud, pole/fast & slow, sky/low & high)
– Storytimekatie.com
(Tune: Mary Wore a Red Dress)
Turkey wore a red feather,
Red feather,
Red feather,
Turkey wore a red feather,
All day long.
(Blue, green, purple, orange, yellow, etc.)
– Oremlibrary.org
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up turkey. (bounce child on knees)
Giddy-up, giddy-up, go, go, go.
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up turkey.
Giddy-up, giddy-up, Whoa! (let child slip through knees)
– Adapted from Oremlibrary.org
How does your food get from the farm to your table? Let’s count the ways!
Illustrations and brief text show many different ways to hug.
Sam wants to know what is in the pot… he’s so hungry!
Illustrations and brief text show many different ways to hug.
It’s a dinosaur dinner! What do you think a dinosaur would eat for Thanksgiving? Have fun making handprint dinosaurs and singing some of these songs as you enjoy the holiday. You can also practice shaping the letter “D” with any kind of dough such as play dough or even pie dough!
Ages 2-5
The holidays are a great time to talk with your child. Their senses are alert as they smell the cooking food and the crisp, Fall air, hear the the crunching leaves under their feet, feel the cool breeze on their nose, and see the world change from greens, to browns, and to white.
Using your senses this week, talk about what your child notices around them, and then share a memory of when you were a child that’s triggered by a sensory experience of your own.
Ms. Bronte loves being a teacher, but she has one small problem . . . she also really loves eating books. Did I mention she’s also a dinosaur?
The dinosaurs enjoy a variety of Thanksgiving Day activities, including preparing favorite recipes, playing touch football, telling stories, and eating together.
Describes how a dinosaur eats, with no rude noises and while sitting very still.
Find out what dinosaurs ate in prehistoric times.
If you’re thankful and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re thankful and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re thankful and you know it and you really want to show it
If you’re thankful and you know it, clap your hands
(stomp your feet, shout “hooray”, do all three)
– Storytimekatie.com
Over the river, and through the wood,
The dinosaurs will go;
Stegosaurus, he leads the way through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood,
to the mountain far away!
We would not stop for triceratops,
for this is Thanksgiving Day.
(Tune: Shaker Melody)
We put some ___________in the pot,
and stir, stir, stir till its hot.
I hope my dino likes this dish, cause this is my Thanksgiving wish.
Make this cool dinosaur craft!
Piggie is determined to thank everyone she knows, but Gerald thinks she will forget someone important.
While learning the secret to a good life, a child says thank you for the natural world and for being loved, because a grateful heart is always happy.
As Thanksgiving Day approaches, Turkey nervously makes a series of costumes, disguising himself as other farm animals in hopes that he can avoid being served as Thanksgiving dinner.
Join us for a mele kalikimaka Story Time with Santa! Tuesday, December 8th at 10:30 a.m. on our Facebook page. See you there!
It’s a Mele Kalikimaka Christmas Extravaganza!
Drive up and meet Santa at the Library’s curbside check-out on December 9th any time between 1-7 PM! He will give you a sweet treat and a fun activity to do at home. And, if you have have been good, you can hand your letter to Santa right here at the Library!!
If you can’t come on the 9th, additional Extravaganza kits will be available at curbside thru December 23 while supplies last.