Mother's Day Fun

Books

 Gift for Mama - by Esther Hautzig
Are You My Mother? - P.D. Eastman
Ask Mr. Bear - Marjorie Flack
Celebrating Mother's Day - by Shelly Nielsen
I love My Mother - Paul Zindel
I'll love You Forever - Robert Munsch
Just For You - Mercer Meyer
Koala Lou - Mem Fox
Love You Forever - Robert Munsch
Mama, Do You Love Me? - Barbara M. Joosse
Mama Zooms - Jane Cowne - Fletcher
Mom's Day Off - Eugene Bradley Coco
Mother's Can Do Anything - Joe Lasker
Mother's Mother's Day - by Lorna Balian
On Mother's Lap - Ann Herbert Scott
Something for Mother - by Laura Alden
Stellaluna - Janell Cannon
The Mother's Day Mice - Even Bunting
The Runaway Bunny - Margaret Wise Brown
The Way Mother's Are - Miriam Schlein

Songs & Fingerplays

I Love My Mommy

(Sung to: Ferece Jacques)
I love my mommy, I love my mommy, (hands on heart)
Yes, I do, yes, I do (shake finger)
Mommies are for hugging, (Hug self)
Mommies are for kissing (blow kiss)
I love you, yes I do (point)

Mother Dear

Mother Dear, can you guess (shrug)
Who it is, that loves you best? (point)
I'll give you, three guesses (hold up three fingers)
ONE, TWO, THREE (count on fingers)
There, I knew you'd Think of me (point to head)

I Love My Mommy

(Sung To: Up on the Housetop)
I love my mommy, Yes- sir-e! (give thumb up)
She is very good to me! (point to self)
She makes me cookies and yummy treats, (rub tummy)
That's my mom and she's real neat (Give thumbs up)
Oh, oh, oh, who wouldn't know, (shrug shoulders)
Oh, oh, oh, who wouldn't know, (shrug shoulders)
I love my mommy and she loves me, (hands on heart)
That's the way it's supposed to be (jump in excitement)

Activities

Give Mom a Hug

Make a hug? How do you do that? We’ll make hugs for mom today!

Picnic for Mom

Take mom on a picnic for Mother’s Day.

Ribbon Dance

Dancing ribbons and springtime music.

Large Group Activity

Lummi Sticks

Spring II Session....

Next week begins a whole new session of Circle Time fun! I'm looking forward to meeting some new friends an seeing some familiar faces!

Here's the schedule for the next 6 weeks:

May 4: Hurray for Mother's Day
May 11: May Flowers
May 18: Spring on the Farm
May 25: Beautiful Butterflies
June 1: Bug Bonanza!
June 8: Goin' on a Picnic

There were a few openings left in the session, so please spread the word and invite a friend to join us.
See you soon!

April Showers

Hello Circle Time friends!

I hope you had a nice week off and enjoyed some early Spring fun. My surgery went well and I am recuperating very nicely and eager to see you all again. This week it's all about rain!

Books

Red Rubber Boot Day by Mary Lyn Ray

Smudge by Julie Sykes

Kipper’s Rainy Day by Mick Inkpen

Songs & Fingerplays

Mud Mix

Mix the mud.                                     (make stirring motion)

Squish the mud.                               (make squishing motion with fingers)

Squash it with your feet.              (stand on balls of feet and twist)

Squishy, squashy, squooshy mud. (pretend to make a mud pie)

Mud is really neat!                          (hold up hands, palms out)

Mix the mud.                                     (make stirring motion)

Squish the mud.                               (make squishing motion with fingers)

Squash it with your feet.              (stand on balls of feet and twist)

Ucky, yucky, mucky mud.             (pretend to make a mud pie)

Mud is really neat!                          (hold up hands, palms out)

I’m a Little Rain Cloud

(sung to the tune of I’m a Little teapot)

I’m a little rain cloud fat and round

When it thunders I make this sound

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Rolling around.

Splash! The rain comes tumbling down!

(We’ll use musical instruments to make a raucous stormy noise!)

A Rainbow Surprise

I’m a little rain cloud in the sky.

I can help make rainbows if I try.

I make a little rain in the bright sunshine,             

Out pops a rainbow, it sure is fine!          

(rainbow puppet)

Not on Me!

Rain on the green grass,               (flutter fingers down to ground)

And rain in the trees,     (flutter fingers over head)

Rain in the housetops,   (make house peak over head with arms)

But not on me!                 (circle arms over head to make umbrella)

(Repeat poem replacing ‘green grass’ and ‘housetop’ with other ideas children suggest)

Movement:       

Ring Around the Puddle

Ring around the puddle.

Pockets full of mud.

Splish! Splash! Splish! Splash!

We all fall in!

Activities

Water Cycle Bracelets

 Start with a white bead, (the clouds), then a light blue bead (the rain), then a green bead (the grass where the rain lands), then a yellow bead (the sun is shining on the earth), then a clear bead (evaporation), then another white bead (the water is again in the clouds).

 Plip Plop, Raindrop

Cottonball clouds and fingertip raindrops.

Drop in the Bucket

Let’s see if you can make the raindrops fall in the buckets!

(raindrop sponges, beach buckets)

Large Group Movement

Puddle Jumping

Today the hoops will be rain puddles, we’ll play music, as children walk around/jump over the puddles. When the music stops they get to jump in the puddles!

Welcome Spring!

Books

Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson

Wake Up! It’s Spring by Lisa Campbell Ernst

When Will it be Spring?

Spring’s Sprung by Lynn Plourde

Wake Me in Spring by James Preller

Hopper Hunts for Spring by Marcus Pfister

Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand

Songs/Poems/Fingerplays

Spring Poem

Some days seem like winter, 
Some are nice and warm. 
Rainy days and windy days, 
Maybe it will storm. 
Warm or cold or wet or dry,
What will the weather be? 
I think Spring is trying to play 
Peek-a-boo with me

Planting Seeds

First you take the seed and you plant it in the ground (pretend to plant seeds in hand) 
Next a rain cloud comes and waters all around (Use one hand to simulate rain) 
Next the sun shines brightly, without a sound (use fingers like sun) 
And in just a few days, a flower is found (open hand like flower)

Plant A Little Seed

I plant a little seed in the cold, cold ground (Squat down pretend to plant)
Out comes the yellow sun, big and round (Put arms above head like sun)
Down come the raindrops soft and slowly (dancing fingers)
Up comes the flower grow, grow, grow (jump as flower emerges)

Activites

Peat Pots

It’s the season for new growth, so today we’ll plant some seeds.

Forsythia Fun

Let’s see what’s inside those buds….we’ll explore forsythia branches today, and perhaps take some home to force into bloom.

Tree Buds

We’ll decorate our own bud-filled trees today.

Large Group Movement Activity

Dancing Ribbons

We WILL have time for these this week, for sure!

Ideas for Home

Growing Grass

Dampen a sponge and then put grass seed on the top of it. Next pour water over the sponge let your children watch as the grass grows over the next few weeks.

Baggie Garden

Wet a paper towel, and drop it along with six white beans into a Ziploc bag. Seal the baggie (leaving air in the bag) and put it in your window. Your children will love watching the beans grow. 

Big Bird's Birthday: March 20th

This week, in honor of Big Bird's Birthday, we'll have some birthday party fun!

Since so many asked...I have added the link to the Boomwhacker site...look in the menu in the right sidebar under Resources Used in Class. 

Books                   

The Surprise Party by Pat Hutchins

Birthday Monsters by Sandra Boynton

Make  A Wish Honey Bear

It’s My Birthday by Pat Hutchins

Platypus and the Birthday Party by Chris Riddell

Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack

Happy Birthday Moon by Frank Asche

Songs Fingerplays and Flannelboards

I Have 10 Cupcakes

I have 10 cupcakes on the kitchen shelf,

(Child) took one cupcake now there’s 9 left for myself.

Don’t touch them, don’t touch them,

Those are just for me.

With a middle full of jelly,

Oh I want them for my belly,

Yummy, yummy, yum, tee hee!

(repeat, counting down to no cupcakes.)

Four Pretty Presents

Four pretty presents and they are all for me.
(Hold up four fingers.)
I unwrapped the red one, and now there are three.
Three pretty presents and one is from you.
(Hold up three fingers)
I unwrapped the blue one, and now there are two.
Two pretty presents left until I’m done
(Hold up two fingers.)
I unwrapped the yellow one and now there is one.
One pretty present, I am having so much fun!
(Hold up one finger.)
I unwrapped it slowly and now there are none.
(Hold up both hands palms facing out)

The Birthday Cake 

Today is my birthday.
I think I'll make a cake.
Mix and stir, stir and mix,
Then into the oven to bake.

Here's the cake so nice and round,
I'll put icing on so white.
I'll put on all the candles
To make my birthday bright!

Happy birthday to me! 

Activities            

 Play-do Cakes

Let’s dish up some delicious play-do cakes, stick some candles in and sing Happy Birthday to Big Bird!

 Egg Toss

We’ll see how many eggs we can toss into Big Bird’s nest.

Dot Cakes

Let’s make some polka dot decorated cakes today!

Matching Birthday Hats

Can you match the bears’ hats with their shirts?

Large Group Movement              

Birthday Parade

In honor of the big yellow bird, we’ll play some Sesame Street Music and have a marching band with the

musical instruments.

Rainbows and Leprechauns

Books:

Hooray for St. Patrick’s Day

The Luckiest Leprechaun

Lucky Leprechaun

Leprechauns Never Lie

The Hungry Leprechaun

Songs, Fingerplays and Flannelboard:

Five Little Shamrocks

1 green shamrock, in the morning dew,

Another one sprouted, and then there were two.

2 green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree;

Another one sprouted and then there were three.

3 green shamrocks, by the cottage door;

Another one sprouted,

And then there were four.

4 green shamrocks, near a beehive

Another one sprouted,

And then there were five.

5 little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,

Think of all the luck these shamrocks will bring.

  

I’m a Little Leprechaun

to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a little leprechaun dressed in green

the tiniest man that you've ever seen.

If you ever catch me so it's told

I'll give you my pot of Gold!

The Leprechaun (Fingerplay)

A leprechaun is small and green,

(Use hand to indicate a small person.)

He hides where he cannot be seen.

(Cover eyes with hands.)

But if you catch one on this day,

(Shake finger.)

He must give his gold away.

(Pretend to put gold in pocket.)

Activities:

Hidden Gold

Search for hidden gold in the field of green playdough! Mom's and kids can take turns hiding and searching for gold together.

Rainbow Paint & Pot of Gold
Let's paint a rainbow that leads to a pot of gold!

Rainbow Music

Have you ever heard of a Boomwhacker? Boomwhackers are rainbow colored plastic tubes in graduated sizes; when whacked on something they play a note in the music scale. They are loads of fun. Today we'll just have fun exploring them and making music.

Games:

Run Little Leprechaun

We’ll sit in a large circle. As the music plays we’ll pass around a shamrock. When the music stops the child holding the shamrock also stops. We’ll all yell "Run Little leprechaun, run!" The child gets up runs around the circle once than sits back down.

Rainbow Ribbons
A little Irish music and our rainbow ribbons for some dancing fun.