Rhyming to Read: Soft Kitty and Dickery Dickery Dare

I’ve been failing at keeping up with my Rhyming to Read program, so there will be some backtracking. Our November Rhyming to Read focused on the Soft Kitty and Dickery Dickery Dare. I have noticed that when you go off the traditional nursery rhymes you have a harder time finding activities to with the kids. I try to make do with what I can.

I had to do Soft Kitty for our November Rhyming to Read! I got some good laughs from parents/guardians who are Big Bang Theory fans, and it was not a difficult rhyme to teach. This was my layout:

Introduction of the Rhyme:
Soft kitty,
Warm kitty,
Little ball of fur,
Happy kitty,
Sleepy kitty,
Purr, purr, purr

I sang it once through and then had everyone sing with it me. We sang it 3x through.
I then had the kids imagine they were holding a cat and sing the rhyme to their kitties.

Action Rhyme:
Can You Meow Like Me
Meow very loudly.
Meow like a giant cat.
Meow in a squeaky voice.
Meow like a scared cat.
Meow like a happy cat.
Meow like a sad cat.
Meow like an angry cat.
Meow in a whisper.

Fingerplay:
We counted each finger as a kitten and then sang this rhyme 2x through.

Five Little Kittens
Five little standing in a row,
(Hold up five fingers.)
They nod their heads to the children so.
(Bend fingers)
They run to the left; they run to the right.
(Run fingers to the left and then to the right.)
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight.
(Stretch fingers out tall.)
Along comes a dog who’s in for some fun.
(Hold up one finger from opposite hand.)
ME-OW! See those little kittens run!
(Let fingers run.)

We then hid our hands behind our heads, backs and tushies.

Book: Kittens Grow Up to be Cats by Cecilia Minden

Dance Song: Copycat Me by The Learning Station

Craft:

We then switched gears to Dickery Dickery Dare.

Introduction of the Rhyme: Dickery, Dickery Dare,
Dickery, Dickery Dare,
The pig flew up in the air;
The man in brown
Soon brought him down,
Dickery, dickery, dare.

We sang through it 3x through.

Book: Piggies by Audrey Wood

Action Rhyme:
Dickery, Dickery Dare,
(crouch down low and start to bounce)
The pig flew up in the air;
(jump up in the air)
The man in brown
Soon brought him down,
(start to crouch again)
Dickery, dickery, dare.

I gave the kids a pig on a stick and they were able to fly their pigs into the air. The kids loved jumping in the air with their pigs.

Song: Pig on Her Head by Laurie Berkner.

American Girl: Josefina Montoya (October 2015)

I resumed my American Girl series after our summer reading program and boy, was I excited for what I planned for October. Día de los Muertos! My brain exploded with ideas. I knew Josefina would perfect for this with her storyline.

I started off with my traditional powerpoint. I briefly touched on Josefina losing her mother and how she most likely celebrated Día de los Muertos. I also discussed the customs and traditions celebrated today.

Our first craft was to make a calaveras mask for the participants and their dolls. I found this template. I printed off both the flower and heart mask and downsized the original mask to fit the dolls. I put out markers, sequins, and glue for decoration tools. I saw some pretty cool masks.

Our second craft was nesting dolls. I wanted a craft that would be slightly more modern. I also liked that it correlated with the decorating of the graves on Día de los Muertos.

To add an extra bit of flair to the program, I also incorporated face painting. I choose a simple design and had my two helpers keep to this one choice. At first no one was getting up to get their faces painted, but soon there was a line with ready participants. Here is an image of my helper’s makeup.

I wrapped up the event with some hot chocolate. My research showed that hot chocolate or champurrado are popular drinks during this holiday.

This might have be my favorite session yet. The girls had a blast and it went very smoothly.

Sensory Playtime: October 2015

My library has been granted the great opportunity to offer our community a sensory playtime. A local private school generously donated money to help us get started and we are running with this chance. Since we did not know what to expect, we aimed for different stations that could entertain a small or large crowd.

Station 1: Mirrors for Sight

I placed out different mirrors for the kids to dress-up and see themselves. This was a double whammy, as it promoted sight and imagination. Not to leave the super young out, I had two large sheets with baby mirrors.

Station 2: Pots and Pans for Sound

What child doesn’t like making sweet music with their parents’ pots and pans? I had different shapes and styles of pots. I also provided different type of utensils for the children to bang on the pots and pans.

Station 3: Digging for Treasure (Touch)

Kids LOVE sand and what better sensory activity than for little hands to dig into sand for buried treasure. We had all sorts of items buried. There were toys, shells, and little gadgets. Sand digging is also great for developing muscles in the hands.

Station 4: Spaghetti for Touch/Taste

I made three different batches of spaghetti. One batch had absolutely nothing on it. The second batch had olive oil on it, and the last batch had orange extract with olive oil. This offered the kiddos the opportunity to feel the difference between the spaghetti. My first participants also got the chance to taste it before everyone’s hand were in it.

Review
This was a smashing success! 113 people showed up!!! Since we went larger with our stations, parents/guardians could spend as little or as much time at each station. Some people went methodically and were done in 30 minutes while others jumped around. It was very common to see one child playing in the sand and the next minute putting a tiara on in front of the mirror.

The overall favorite was spaghetti! I had one child who did not want to share the spaghetti and would continuously hug it to her chest. Another child actually rolled in it! His mom just stripped him down and put new clothes on him right before they left.

Check out some images from the event:

Some Recommendations

Buys LOTS of tarps. This can help keep the mess to minimum.
Only have one messy item. I had two stations and they were a MESS after everyone left.
If you do food, put out small quantities for parents/guardians to take for their child. My spaghetti was only good for one tasting session before it became a germ fest of little hands.