Color Storyhour, Train Storyhour & Circus Storyhour

Donald Crews'  Freight Train -- (Ooooh, note to self: add ghosts and pumpkins for Fright Train!) downloaded from KIZCLUB.  I downloaded 2 copies so they just sit on the clothesline.  I yearn for a pulley so I can tug them along.

Stories: 

We were a young crowd today. Sarah & Cole & other friends off to VPK, and Kiley joined us for the first time! We are so proud of her, a Baby & Me graduate! We kept our stories short and had a good time.

Silly Faces, See Me...Go!  ISBN 0766625591. Great icebreaker.

Freight Train by Donald Crews. I didn't read the book; just talked about the color of the cars.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Clickety Clack by Rob and Amy Spence. Such a fun readaloud, starting slow and moving faster and faster.

Song:  It’s the CIRCUS TRAIN!

The wheels on the train go round and round, etc.

·                      The conductor on the train says, “All aboard! All aboard! Etc.

·                      The clowns on the train laugh, “Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Etc.

·                      The lions on the train roar, “RoooOAAR, RoooOAAR, Etc.

·                      The elephants like to stomp around, stomp around, Etc.

·                      The seals on the train go clap, clap, clap, clap, clap clap, Etc.

·                      The acrobats swing through the air, through the air, etc.

·                      The emcee on the train wants to take a bow, take a bow, etc.

·                      The audience on the train shouts YAAAAY!  YAAAAAY! Etc.

The wheels on the train go round and round, round and round, Etc.

Clown Magic Coloring Book. I put on my clown nose, and told the kids how beautiful the colors of the pictures were. I started thumbing through my trick book and, of course, no pictures at all.  I tried again, still no pictures. I took off my clown nose, bopped the book with my magic wand, and voila! gorgeous colored circus pictures!

Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin. After listening to this great book read by Krystal (thanks, Krystal!) and on youtube, I had to work it in! It's a fabulous read, and the moms loved the moral at the end:  "No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song...because it's all good."

Song: We felt so good after that we sang If You're Happy & You Know It.

In the Driver's Seat by Max Haynes. 

Song: Motor Boat, Motor Boat

I ended with Brown Rabbit's Shape Book by Alan Baker, complete with gorgeous square green box and balloons.  Who doesn't like watching balloons fly around the room?!


Next year: My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard

Craft:

My craft today was a DUD!  I had to rely on CRAYONS & a GIANT ROLL OF PAPER I had on hand. And no one cared EXCEPT ME!  I violated my own first rule of crafts for two for four year olds:  No assembly!  We were going to make straw rockets, but my demonstration model didn't work and the moms were strangely uninterested in outfitting their bambinos with a device that would shoot a small missile.