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Moose on the Loose
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Hang on to your antlers! KDL is celebrating the Michigan Reads picture book selection, Moose on the Loose by Kathy-Jo Wargin. Hear great moose stories, make your own antlers and much more!
Check the online event calendar for dates and times. For families.
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Nursery Nook
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Five Little Monkeys
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One jumped off and bumped his head!
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said:
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"
Continue on with 4 little monkeys, 3 little monkeys, 2 little monkeys and 1 little monkey.
This is a great rhyme to do with a flannel board or stuffed monkeys or with numbers for kids to learn rote counting. And the jumping helps get their wiggles out and ready for a focused activity!
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Music Minute
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One great way to entice children to become actively engaged in music is to use scarves. Any light weight, sheer fabric will work as a great dancing scarf to help direct movement in a more rhythmic way. Have children wave the scarf around, make it fly like a kite or flap like a flag.
Some great songs to use with scarves with directed movement are Silly Dance Contest by Jim Gill, Shake Your Scarves by Johnette Downing, Coconut Soap by Frank Leto or Rock and Roll Freeze Dance by Hap Palmer. Just grab a scarf and pick some of your favorite tunes to dance and have a fun, family experience with your child.
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Greetings!
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 to speak with one of our helpful youth librarians. We hope to see you soon!
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| Learning with Crafts |
Playing with puppets is a great way to encourage conversation and build vocabulary. Here is a simple puppet to make in honor of Groundhog Day.
Materials:
Paper
Markers or crayons
Scissors
Bright light (or a flashlight)
Tape
Empty cereal box
Directions:
Draw a picture of a groundhog on a piece of cardboard. Color the groundhog and cut it out with a pair of scissors. Tape the picture of the groundhog to a wooden craft stick or a drinking straw. To use the puppet as a shadow puppet, aim a bright light at an empty wall and hold the puppet about a foot from the wall so that puppet casts a shadow image onto the wall. Talk about the tradition of Groundhog Day and about light and shadows. Have fun casting shadows on the wall with other objects from around the house.
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| Book Review | |
Mice by Rose Fyleman
Do you think mice are nice? Featuring Lois Ehlert's signature paper collage illustrations, this new book shares some of their endearing qualities. The rhyming text is spare, which allows for plenty of conversation as you and your child read together. Ask if he or she can guess the next rhyming word. This book would also work well in a group setting, as the pictures are vivid and large. In a one on one setting, point to various objects in the collages and see if your child recognizes items of use to the mice. Notice that each item is labeled, encouraging word association and expanding vocabulary. As an extension, cut circles, rectangles and triangles out of scrap paper and have your child create a unique mouse collage. Allowing them to do the cutting also encourages fine motor skills, which is an excellent way to get ready to write!
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| Tech Tips | |
There is a heap of information and activities for young children to be found on the KDL website. The PLAY-GROW-READ! section of the KDL website can be found under the "Parents & Kids" tab. There you will find a goldmine of "Simple Crafts and Activities for Early Literacy Skills".
This list of crafts and activities will help your child get ready to read by talking, writing, reading, playing and singing. For instance, make a simple mailbox and have your child "write" notes to other family members. Similarly, use grocery store ads to cut out pictures and create your child's favorite menu. This is a great place to find inspiration for educational and fun activities.
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