Toddler Time - At The Beach!

Today's Toddler Time was all about the beach! It's summer (finally, even if I don't like the hot), and the beach is such a perfect theme for summer.

Books We Shared
This week we read two of my absolute favorite books. First I had a show and read version of I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry. OMG, I love this story so much. It's a perfect story for a show and read/show and tell as well.

Next up we read A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams. I have so much love for the illustrations in this book. They are so detailed and have so much life.

Flannels We Shared
I turned I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean into a show and read story this week. As I read the story I placed the pieces on a magnet board. They LOVED this so much, we ended up doing it three times. The first time I read the book and placed the pieces, the next two times we just placed the pieces. I used the patterns from KidzClub which are adorable and free.

We also had a flannel game based off the Little Bird game using pails and a little tiny whale (He's adorable if I do say so myself.) which I found on the Fun With Friends at Storytime blog, and a counting rhyme with shells.
     Little Whale
     Little Whale, Little Whale
     Are you in the [color] pail?

     3 Little Seashells
     3 little seashells all pearly new,
     Swish! went the waves and then there were two.
     2 little seashells lying in the sun,
     Swish went the waves, and then there was one.
     1 little seashell lying all alone,
     I picked it up and took it home!

Rhymes We Shared

As usual we sang our shaker song from Jbrary and our closing song of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The Shaker Song continues to be a favorie, and no one (grown ups) has gotten bored with it yet!

Early Literacy Tips We Shared

• Children learn language by listening. They learn new words and absorb general knowledge about the world around them. Talking to your child can help them develop vocabulary. Stretch your child's vocabulary by repeating what they say and adding new words. "You want a banana? That's a healthily choice."
• Singing slows down language and helps children hear the different sounds that make up words. Singing also develops an awareness of rhythm and syllables.

Toddler Time - Clap and Stomp

I felt the need to do lots of singing and moving around for today's story time, so we had a Clapping and Stomping program today.

Stories We Shared

Today we read a favorite of mine: Stop Snoring Bernard! by Zachariah O'Hara. I LOVE this book so much. Love, love, love. Bernard is adorable and snoring is so much fun. If you have an active group getting them to yell "STOP SNORING BERNARD!" with you is so much fun.

Flannels We Shared

Our flannel today was "Who Said Moo?" from the Clueless Librarian. They loved my cow and horse the most. (Note: chicken feet are hard!)

Rhymes We Shared

Today we sang a lot. A LOT. We started out with If You're Happy and You Know It (just clapping, stomping, and yelling hooray), which we sung twice, of course. Then we moved onto Old MacDonald Had a Farm (cow, pig, and sheep). And of course, our favorite (I do love this too) Shaker Song (with all the verses!) and a new shaker song: Shake It to the East (by guess who!), followed by Twinkle Twinkle.

     Shake It to the East

     Shake it to the east
     Shake it to the west
     Shake it all around
     and then you take a rest
     Shake your shakers up
     Shake your shakers down
     Shake it, shake it, shake it,
     and then you settle down.

Early Literacy Tips We Shared

• Activities like clapping and stomping help a child to build motor skills and boost coordination!
• Introducing your child to songs, rhymes, and books is a great way to help your child expand his or her vocabulary since books and rhymes often contain a larger variety of words than what we typically use in conversation.