| Cultural Programs | |
If you're looking for a learning-saturated experience, check out one of the cultural programs we're offering this March! These are some excellent ways to develop your child's early literacy skills while exposing them to a culture that may not be familiar to them.
Events like the International Storytimes promote print awareness and vocabulary with books and songs in Spanish, French and Mandarin. Head out to the East Grand Rapids branch for a series called Everyone Gathers to Read featuring Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox and experience a book come to life through music, dance, theater, culinary and visual arts. These activities will boost your child's print motivation by simply making books fun.
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| Nursery Nook | |
Where is Baby?
(Tune: Frere Jacques)
Where is baby? Where is baby?
There he [she] is! There he [she] is!
I'm so glad to see you.
I'm so glad to see you.
Peek-a-boo!
Peek-a-boo!
This fun song includes one of the most popular games to play with baby- peek-a-boo! You can play peek-a-boo with your hands or with scarves.
What baby is learning: Established patterns and routines are important to baby. Anticipation occurs when baby associates certain cues preceding events. When baby becomes familiar with this rhyme she will begin to anticipate the peek-a-boo reveal at the end. Be prepared to play peek-a-boo over and over. (And over and over again!)
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Greetings!
The Kent District Library is here to provide you and your child with the skills needed to succeed in school and in life. KDL's Early Lit Bits newsletter is full of FUN and simple activities that will help foster that growth. For more information regarding the skills your child needs before he or she learns to read, visit the Play-Grow-Read section of the KDL website. You can also stop by any KDL branch in order to speak with one of our helpful youth librarians. We hope to see you soon!
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| Learning with Crafts |
One way you can help a child learn to count and recognize numbers is to make a Number Book. Together you can make a craft that you can read repeatedly (which is one way children learn to read) and you will also enjoy making. For this craft, you need paper, old magazines or catalogs, glue, a stapler or tape, and scissors. Decide how high you want to count and then use one piece of paper for each number. Begin by flipping through a magazine to find pictures of the numbers to cut out or you can simply write the number on each page. Then look through the magazines to find pictures for each number page. For example, you could find 2 babies, 3 butterflies, 6 cars, etc. Cut the pictures out and glue them on the correct page. Assemble the book at the side with staples or tape. Now you have a fun book to practice counting and number recognition, which will increase your child's vocabulary.
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Book Review
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Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes
Kevin Henkes, a Caldecott Medalist, has written and illustrated another wonderful picture book. As a young bunny hops along, he uses his imagination to become some of the things he sees. He imagines that he is as green as grass, as tall as a tree, and as fluttery as a butterfly. Like many young children, this bunny's curiosity is insatiable. The little rabbit ends up back at home with his loving mother. The sparse text and expressive illustrations combine to make this a great choice for toddlers and preschoolers. The vibrant pastel illustrations exude Spring! Sharing age appropriate books with your child encourages the early literacy skill of Print Motivation.
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| Music Madness | |
If you've been to the movie theater to see the new children's movie Gnomeo & Juliet, you will remember how great the music was during the film. Most of the songs are based on Elton John's back catalog and some are even sung by him. Songs include fan favorites like "Tiny Dancer" and "Your Song". Even though we don't have the movie on our shelf yet, you can still relive the wonderful music by checking out the soundtrack.
Looking for a different movie soundtrack? Search our online catalog by using the keyword "soundtrack" and the title of the movie you are interested in.
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