This Week at Toddler Storytime: Kittens and Mittens

I posted my version of Mitten Matching last year, but this year I added something new. I made three kittens to go with the mittens, and the kids are having a lot more fun with them. We started off reading The Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone. Then I passed out one mitten from each pair to all the kids (I have a a lot of mittens). I say, "These little kittens have lost their mittens." I put one mitten on a kitten and say, "Did you find this kitten's other mitten?" I repeat until all the kittens have mittens, then take them all off and start again.

When I do this in my three year old preschool class, I put the pieces out during centers so the kids can practice retelling the story and matching mittens.

"These little kittens have lost their mittens. Did you find this kitten's other mitten?"

Wonderful Winter Flannelboard Stories

Thanks to all who attended the workshop. Here are links to resources we discussed:

http://flannelfridaystorytime.blogspot.com/

http://pinterest.com/flannelfriday/
(Over sixty boards including various themes as well as “how to’s”)

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/SnowSnowmen.htm

You can contact me at the library:
swolf@kenosha.lib.wi.us

Or visit my blog
http://readrhymesing.blogspot.com

Or find me on Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/shawnwolf/

My absolute favorite--can’t live without it—preschool blog:
http://www.teachpreschool.org/
 

Warm &Cozy
I wrote this rhyme to go with some random felt pieces we found. More pieces have appeared. Not sure where the patterns came from originally.

Warm & Cozy

by Shawn Wolf


When mommy wakes up on a cold snowy day,
She’ll shiver, and snuggle and then she’ll say,
“When it’s cold, and I want to warm up,
I drink hot coffee from my favorite cup.”

When daddy wakes up on a cold snowy day,
He’ll shiver, and snuggle and then he’ll say,
“When it’s cold, I don’t know about you,
But I warm up with a big bowl of soup.”

When sister wakes up on a cold snowy day,
She’ll shiver, and snuggle and then she’ll say,
“When it’s cold, and I want to feel better,
I put on my favorite sweater.”

When puppy wakes up on a cold snowy day,
He’ll shiver, and snuggle and then he’ll say,
“When it’s so cold, and I just can’t take it,
I snuggle up on my warm fleece blanket.”


When brother wakes up on a cold snowy day,
He’ll shiver, and snuggle and then he’ll say,
“When it’s cold, I won’t just be sittin’,
I’ll play out in the snow with my warm scarf and mittens.”


When I wake up on a cold snowy day,
I shiver, and snuggle and then I say,
“You might want to stay in, but I just won’t,
I’ll be sledding down the hill in my warm, woolly coat.”

More Mitten Matching
I couldn't resist making some mittens after seeing the fun on  Loons and Quines. Check out the blog for more samples and the pattern. They kept flipping over when clipped on a clothesline with clothes pins, so I found a new use for my pasta drying rack. I will use this at storytime and circle time in my three year old classroom. I will also leave them out for the three's to explore during centers.

Hot Cocoa
Another flannel based on someone's great craft/math activity. I will be able to use this in storytime and the classroom. First I will put a few marshmallows in the first cup, and we will all count together. I'll do the same with the second cup then ask, "How many marshmallows altogether?" After we count each total, we will say this rhyme with our answer (based on the rhyme Mrs. Wood used in her classroom activity):

Seven marshmallows in my cup.
Drink it up! Drink it up!
Yum! Yum! Yum!

The Tallest Smallest Snowman

I got this idea looking at a snowman craft project on Kindergarten Lessons. Snowmen were built to form a child's name-one ball per letter. John's snowman was built with four balls, etc.  The site suggests counting balls and comparing height. I am going to do a variation of that activity in my three-year-old classroom, but I am going to do this flannel at my library storytime:

The Tallest Smallest Snowman
by Shawn Wolf

Joey built a snowman that was very, very small.
But the snowman wished that he was very, very tall.
So Joey rolled some snow, and made a great big ball.
Then he gave it to the snowman, and hoped it wouldn’t fall.

“More!” said the snowman, and that wasn’t all,
“I want to be very, very, very tall!”
So Joey rolled some snow and made a great big ball.
Then he gave it to the snowman, and hoped it wouldn’t fall.


“More!” said the snowman, and that wasn’t all,
“I want to be the tallest snowman of them all!”
So Joey rolled some snow and made a great big ball.
Then he gave it to the snowman, and hoped it wouldn’t fall.


“More!” said the snowman, but Joey said, “That’s all,”
Then the tallest snowman’s parts began to slip and fall.
As the snowman crumbled, Joey heard him call,
“Now I am the very smallest snowman of them all.”