Flowers - Story Time and Craft

Here's a little secret about library programming: sometimes an entire program or craft is designed around a particular craft item you have on hand and need to use up.

I have been trying to thin my storage closet out a bit to make room for summer reading supplies, and I came across this tray of red flower petals.

At 25 cents a box during an after holiday sale, they were just too good to pass up...two years ago. And then I remembered that I still have a couple bags of pink petals left from our Fancy Nancy Tea Party, which was...also a long time ago.  It was time to actually do something with them. So...what, exactly?

The colors made a Valentine's Day craft the obvious choice, but all I could come up with was filling in a heart shape with them. That was a possibility, but since we have quite an age range at times I wanted something...more.

Googling "flower petal crafts" was giving me ideas way too complicated for preschoolers, until I came across this flower fairy craft at Artful Kids, complete with fairy template. 

Isn't she just gorgeous?! I printed out and enlarged the template, put out petals, markers, and glue, added a stick to poke it in next to a plant, and voila!

I picked these four books for our read-aloud:

(reviewed here)

Monday's group was the first after Spring Break and they were WOUND, so I didn't read the last - but I did read it to the (equally wound) fifth graders who came after lunch. Both age groups had a blast with the fairies, especially the glitter part! The custodian, not so much. Thank goodness for community service workers. 

A few fairies were forgotten in the drying process, so they are keeping watch over the library plants until their owners come back to retrieve them!

Review: Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat

9780811866903

Some books you order automatically, simply based on the author or illustrator, and Reynolds and Santat both have that power. 

Other books you should order even if they were written my Joe-Schmo-who-no-one-ever-heard-of, and this is one of those books as well.

The lion is king of the jungle!
The great white shark is sovereign of the seas!
The timber wolf is emperor of the forests!

But . . . it's lonely at the top of the food chain. It's difficult to fit in when plant eaters can be so cruel—just because you ate a relative of theirs that one time! What's a carnivore to do?

I ordered this title for the author/illustrator reason, and when it hit my desk (like, 15 minutes ago), and I read it for the first time, I cackled out loud like a crazy person. Then I ran up to the front desk and subjected the two clerks there to an impromptu story time.

Listen, this is probably NOT the story to read to your first grade class about acceptance and differences. Trust me, the next recess would not go well, and you would have some 'splaining to do to other grown-ups. 

But, Oh Mylanta, is it funny! Completely demented, but funny! DO take it home and read it to your own demented urchins, where the only parents you have to answer to are yourselves.

Jones Kids On the Loose Day Two - Explora

Explora. 'Nuff said. We were there when they opened, ran out for a quick lunch, then stayed until almost closing!

Shane kept asking to go to the bathroom so he could pass back by this again. It is pretty mesmerizing!

The fountain is also a favorite stop.

Would someone PLEASE convince my baby to stop growing up.

The infinity tunnel - it looks like it's really long, but there is no sign of it on the other side of the wall. So weird 😉

Sheridan could have spent all day here!

The kids all spent a lot of time in the sound area. Huge surprise.

This is a LOT for someone with sensory issues, and there were a couple meltdowns,

but then she'd pop back up and get into it again!

This room was new - you color one of the templates, scan it in,

then it appears in this giant moving picture!!

We were inside all day, but she still got more freckles!!

In the bubble room....

We ran into one of my story time friends from back home!

She went and 'graduated' on to Kinder, where she is doing remarkably well in reading - no big surprise there! It was neat to see her again, although it took her a minute to process that Miss Ami had appeared on her vacation 😲

This isn't QUITE what this center was for, but...they had fun.

 

Totally counts as a bath!

So nonchalant - yes, I fly an airplane all the time.

Taking Gracie for a ride!

And not tired at all!