Early Bit Lits

March,  2013
Issue No . 35
KDL Blue
 
In This Issue
Garden Fun Storytimes
Nursery Nook
Music Minute
Learning with Crafts
Book Review
Tech Tips

Garden Fun Storytimes

Many of our branches will be offering Garden Fun Storytime this spring with programs beginning in March. These programs allow you to celebrate the excitement of spring with garden-theme stories, crafts and activities. 

 

Check the online event calendar for dates and times. 

Nursery Nook

Two Little Butterflies 

 

Two little butterflies

Sitting on a hill.

One named Jack, one named Jill.

Fly away Jack, fly away Jill.

Come back Jack, come back Jill.

 

Pretend your fingers are butterflies and "fly" one hand forward for Jack and one for Jill. Fly them behind your back and then bring them out again when you say "Come back."

 

This rhyme is traditionally known as "Two Little Blackbirds". If you have butterfly or other small finger puppets, it can be fun to change a well-known rhyme to something else. 

Music Minute

Looking for some new music that will get your kids moving, singing and laughing? Then check out musician and author Jim Gill. His background as a child development specialist with a special emphasis on the study of play has made his music a combination of silly, fun and enrichment. His music encourages participation through movement and singing  with interactive instruction that has helped make him a favorite of teachers, librarians and parents alike. Check our catalog to borrow one of his albums today.
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!

Learning with Crafts

Easter is coming early this year. Here is a fun way to use extra Easter treats to help children learn the names of colors and build the muscles in their hands needed for handwriting.

 

Materials:

  • An empty egg carton
  • Colored paper and a marker
  • Various colored candy (gummy worms, marshmallows, gum drops or use building bricks or small colored pom poms for a non-candy alternative)
  • A pair of children's chopsticks or a pair of small salad tongs

Directions:

Detach the lid from the egg carton and cut the bottom layer in two to make two smaller six-cup cartons. Cut out six small squares of paper in six different colors. (Optional: Write the name of the color of each square on the top of each square with a marker.) Place a different colored square in each of the six egg carton cups. Place the candies in the lid of the egg carton and ask children to pick up the candy with the chopsticks or tongs and place each candy in an egg cup with the matching color.

 

Other Ideas: 

Write your child's name on a piece of paper.  Have your child pick up the candy with the chopsticks and place one candy on each letter in his or her name. Say the names of the letters as they are covered with candy.

Book Review

A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy

 

Kisses, kisses, everywhere! Each animal has its own way of smooching in this large, lift-the-flap book. Share this book one-on-one with your child, and imitate the noises each animal makes when they kiss their little ones. Blow kisses back and forth with children when reading to a group, and then have them pretend to be each animal. Talk about other animals not mentioned in the book and ask how they would kiss their babies. The illustrations are similar to Lucy Cousin's Hooray for Fish, and the two books would pair well together.  Listen to Laurie Berkner's song, Blow a Kiss, and sing along!  Talking and singing with your child helps boost vocabulary and are great ways to get your child ready to read!  

 

    A Kiss Like This

Tech Tips

Kent District Library has a great selection of picture books for you to browse at our local branch, but sometimes it's nice to have some recommendations. Check out the PLAY-GROW-READ! section of the KDL website (found under the "Parents & Kids" tab). Reader's advisory lists for our young patrons can be found under the heading " Books for Early Literacy." There are a variety of lists found here from "Funny Stories" to "Numbers & Counting" to "Books for Bedtime." There is also a list that focuses on each of the Early Literacy Practices. Conveniently, the books on the these lists link directly to our catalog. You can immediately see where these books are on the shelf and place a hold to have a title sent to your home library.