Early Lit Bits

April, 2013

Issue No . 36

In This Issue

Family Building Bricks Party

Nursery Nook

Music Minute

Learning with Crafts

Book Review

App Review

Family Building Bricks Party

Design, build and bond. Bring the whole family together and create a towering monument using the library's building bricks. The best part? No big mess at home to clean up!

Check the online events calendar for dates and times.

Nursery Nook

Ring Around the Rosie

Ring around the rosie

A pocket full of posies

Ashes, ashes

We all fall down!

A simple rhyme that's been around for centuries, this is still a great way to work on teamwork, cooperation and self-control with preschoolers! Just grab hands and get everyone to walk in a circle (preferably in the same direction, but that may take awhile to master). Keep walking until you say "we all fall down!" Then everyone falls down - and here's where the self-control comes in - now they have to get up, grab hands and try it again.

Once they know this, children will play it spontaneously with each other time and time again.

Music Minute

As the spring and summer months begin, vacations do too! Listening to music while traveling can be a great method to prevent boredom and entertain restless children.

Families can sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" or "The Farmer in the Dell" when driving in rural areas. Try adding verses as you see different animals. This is engaging, fun and it also provides an opportunity for children to be creative while using their imaginations. You may end up singing about a monkey on your farm! "The Wheels on the Bus" or "Going to the Zoo" can be great songs to sing while you are driving in the city.
If you are looking for a new artist for your road trip, stop by your local KDL branch to see all the different CD options on our shelves. You can also download songs; just go to our website and browse the artists available through Freegal. If you are not sure where to begin, try Frank Leto, The Wiggles, Jim Gill and Laurie Bernker Band. They are just a few of the artists that we love to sing along with at our Storytimes. Turn on some music and enjoy singing with your child!

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

Gifts that Grow

Spring is in the air and it's time to think about planning a summer garden. Here is a fun craft children can make as a gift for others or keep and plant in the family garden this summer. The tearing and squeezing can be done by small children and will help develop the muscles in the hand that they will need to hold a pencil and write when they begin school.

Materials

Newspaper

Seeds (wildflower seeds work well)

Cookie Cutters

A blender

Sieve

Directions

Have children tear the newspaper into small pieces. ADULT: Put the paper pieces in the blender a couple of handfuls at a time. Add some water. Blend the newspaper pieces and water until it becomes a mushy pulp. Work in batches, transferring the pulp you make into a sieve resting over a bowl. Have children squeeze out as much liquid as they can. Add the seeds to the squeezed pulp and mix. Fill cookie cutter shapes with the seed mixture. Stand the cutters on some paper towel to absorb any liquid that will be squeezed out. Push the pulp down very firmly. Carefully push the shaped pulp from the cutter and leave it on some wax paper to dry.

To Use

Store your "seed cookies" in a cool dry place until you are ready to give them away as gifts or plant them in your own garden.

Other Ideas

Talk about how plants grow from seeds and teach children the names of various plants. The garden is an excellent place for young children to learn about colors, numbers and shapes. Consider planting seeds in a letter pattern to spell out a child's name, or planting edible herbs for young children to taste and smell.

Book Review

Grumpy Goat by Brett Helquist

How does it feel to be grumpy? The other animals at Sunny Acres Farm want to befriend Goat, but he does everything he can to push them away. Only a yellow dandelion in the field can turn Goat's mood around, showing him that there is always something sunny blooming on the farm. This book's rich illustrations bring the farm to life and also depict the mood changes in Goat. Talk with your child about being grumpy. Acknowledge that everyone feels grumpy sometimes, and ask what Goat could do to let the animals know how he's feeling. Look at pictures of faces in other books or magazines, and talk about ways faces can show feelings. Visit a flower shop or greenhouse together and pick some flowers for a neighbor or friend. Talking with your child helps build vocabulary skills and is a great way to get ready to read!

Grumpy Goat

App Review

Looking for a fun app that helps teach your child the letters of the alphabets and their shapes? Letter School is a fun and entertaining app where kids are given clear direction on how to trace letters and numbers by following the shape. They are rewarded with fun sounds and animations that will keep them entertained as they learn. Help your child trace over the letters with the index finger of their writing hand. Tracing letters using a finger is a first step in learning to write letters and helps build tactile memory and fine motor control. This app is available in a free lite version and is $2.99 for the full version.