Supercharging My Storytimes: Winter Break Snow Fight

On December 28, 2017, I had the great opportunity to host a Winter Break Snowfight. While most of the country has been battling extreme temperatures this winter, our state has had it's normal 70-degree temps for Christmas time. The majority of the kids who came to my class have never seen snow. For a couple of weeks before the class, teen volunteers and I made snowflakes to decorate the room. We had several hanging from the ceiling made out of popsicle sticks and cardstock, and several more made out of coffee filters on all of the windows, cabinets, and doors in the storytime room. I also went to Walmart and bought the fake snow you can use for Christmas villages and discounted Christmas lights (I LOVE after-Christmas sales) to decorate the countertop.

Books used:

 This books is absolutely hilarious. The snowman in the story keeps trying to warm up, but with each thing he and the children attempt, he tends to melt faster and faster. I read this book first because of the length, but it was crowd pleaser. The children loved helping me put our snowman back together with the words, "MAKE ME BRAND NEW".

This book was a great way to show Florida kids how much fun snow can be. Most of the kids in the storytime had never seen snow or if they had, they were too young to remember it.

Flannel Boards:

    

              Build a Snowman 

                   I created 20 flannel board folders by gluing a big piece of felt over one side of a double pocket folder and created a small copy of the flannel board for each kid to play with as I used our larger flannel board. I wish I could remember where I found the rhyme for our flannel board, but the rhyme I used was:

Build a Snowman First the body (add 2 white balls of felt) 

Then the head (add 1 more white ball of felt)

 A stove pipe hat (add a black top hat)

 And a scarf of red (add red scarf)

 Two buttons for his eyes (add 2 eyes) 

And a carrot for his nose (add orange triangle) 

Then add some raisins Standing in a row (add black yarn for the mouth)" 

Instead of using raisins, I cut out smiles from black felt for all of the snowman packets.

Music: 

I totally used the excuse of the program taking place immediately after Christmas, I played Christmas music.

Jingle Bells we used our hand bells to attempt to keep the rhythm of the song

Let it Snow: scarves

Ring around the Snowman we played ring around the rosie around a snowman.

Special Activity:

The  thing I was the most excited to do during this storytime was our snowball fight. I found fake snow from Lakeshore Learning. This stuff is called Speedy Snow and it really lives up to it's name.  The powder in the container grows when you add water to it. I added the powder to a small inflatable pool (with plenty of tablecloths underneath it) and added a couple of pitchers of water. The children were able to watch the powder turn into cool to the touch "snow". They were fascinated by the process. After the kids played with the fake snow, I brought out a bunch of Styrofoam balls and crinkled paper and let the kids have a snowball fight in the library.  Not going to lie, clean up was a monster because one little boy had more fun stomping on the styrofoam balls and crushing them. Maybe it sounded like crunching through the snow to him, I don't know, but it made clean up more than I anticipated.

Supercharged Storytime:

Since this was the first storytime after my Supercharged Storytime training began, I was careful to find a way to apply what I've been learning to this storytime. I decided that the Early Literacy Domain I wanted to focus on was Phonological Awareness and I would have the children demonstrate the ELD by completing certain phrases with the books. With Sneezy the Snowman the children helped me say, "Make me brand new," and in Snow Happy, the children replied with, "SNOW HAPPY" at the end of each page spread.

Our Early Literacy tip (which I wrote out on big easel paper) was: Preschoolers love silliness including silliness around words. You can play with words—making up  nonsense words as you make up as many rhymes to one word as you can. Hearing those smaller sounds in words is so important to being able to sound out words when they learn to read.  

New Rules:

 

I also did something a little daring. I actually told parents and caregivers to PUT THEIR CELLPHONES AWAY. I know, what was I thinking? I was so nervous telling a group of adults that they needed to put their phones on silent or vibrate and put them away, but you know what, every single adult did what I asked them to do. Not one adult complained. I even noticed that when the adults didn't have their phones to distract them, they focused on the little ones they brought with them. Which perfectly tied into the other new rule: Parents/Caregivers must sit with their children and actually interact with them during the storytime. I know, a complete revelation. Adults and children interacting during a storytime, and it was amazing. I was pleasantly surprised that no one complained one bit.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

"Hermione Winters has been a flyer. She's been captain of her cheerleading team. The envied girlfriend and undisputed queen of her school. Now it's her last year and those days and those labels are fading fast. In a few months, she'll be a different person. She thinks she's ready for whatever comes next.
But then someone puts something in her drink at a party, and in an instant she finds herself wearing new labels, ones she never imagined: Victim. Survivor. That raped girl.
Even though this was never the future she imagined, one essential thing remains the unchanged: Hermione can still call herself Polly Olivier's best friend, and that may be the truest label of all.
Heartbreaking and empowering, Exit, Pursued by a Bear is the story of transcendent friendship in the face of trauma." (book jacket)

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What  I really liked about Exit, Pursued by a Bear was that E.K. Johnston was not graphic in talking about Hermione's rape. One moment things fade to black the next moment she wakes up in an emergency exam room with her best friend and a nurse. She wakes up disoriented with holes in her memory of what happened to her. I also like that the book doesn't open up with a rape. You meet Hermione and get a peek into her life, cheer camp and her squad before we get to the party that changes her life.

The aftermath of the rape is the central focus of the book, what Hermione remembers and how she handles the changes and surprises that come her way. From realizing that the DNA evidence was compromised because of where she was found and knowing every boy on her squad was a suspect to those same boys volunteering to give DNA samples to help solve her rape, Hermione learns a lot about herself, her best friend and her squad.

I like that E.K. Johnston gave Hermione her best friend, Polly. Polly was able to be a grounding force in Hermione's life. She had Hermione's back at every moment and I can only hope that I have a friend as amazing as Polly.

The Purple Kangaroo by Michael Ian Black

"The monkey narrator in this humorous picture book guarantees that he can READ YOUR MIND. What begins as a simple request to imagine the most spectacular thing in history turns into the story of a roller-skating, bubble-blowing purple kangaroo searching for his dear friend Ernesto on the moon. So by the time you finish this book, there's no chance you will be thinking of anything BUT the purple kangaroo."
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This is one of my absolute favorite picture books now. I laughed the entire time I read this book and I had to check it out to read to my cousins. . . even though they were 17 and 31 at the time.
When reading this book to others,  I like to hide the pictures and make them actually imagine what is happening. With a younger audience, I do show the pictures to keep them engaged.


With Love from LibraryLand,
Amber

The Sheep Go on Strike by Jean-Francois Dumont

" 'Why are we always the ones who get sheared? Why don't they make cat-hair sweaters, duck down socks, or donkey-hair britches?'  'Let's refuse to be sheared! Everyone who agrees, raise your hoof!' They all raised their hooves, down to the last sheep. And that's how the strike began.'

The sheep are tired of losing their wool, so they decide to go on strike. The dogs, however, are determined to keep the sheep in line. When the other animals on the farm choose sides, things soon turn into a furry, feathery scuffle. But eventually all the animals sit down together and manage to find a creative solution in this hilarious book about the importance of compromise." (Book jacket)

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This book is an interesting way to introduce the inequality in this world. While I am sure this book was in the works way before the most recent bouts of protesting and violence we have been experiencing here in the U.S., there are themes in this small picture book that I am finding to be a mirror of what we are seeing now. I think that Dumont's book is a great teaching tool to talk to your kids about the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, and a well timed resource to talk about the violence we are seeing from the protests in Ferguson, Missouri and other places in this nation.

I don't think this book would work well in a story time group setting, but it will work for a one on one reading time.

Meditate with Me: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Journey by Mariam Gates

"Meditation does a body good. The regular practice of mindfulness improves health and happiness, and can even help very young children-- to settle their busy minds and understand their emotions. In this gentle and endearing step-by-step introduction, kids learn how to focus their breath, on the sensations in their body, and on the sounds around them. It's an ideal first experience of mindfulness that can be shared at home or in the classroom. Calm is just one breath away."
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While I probably wouldn't use this book in a storytime, I do think it has a lot of value. This particular book would be a great book to use at bedtime to help your little one relax. Mindfulness seems to be one of the latest "trends" right now and this is a great way to introduce it to small children. While I wouldn't use this in storytime,  I would be open to finding a way to do a mindfulness program with children and use this book as a way to get the kids to slow down.

Wordless Book Wednesday: The Carpenter by Bruna Barros

This special book shares its story without a single word. Bruna Barros’ beautiful, creative illustrations will capture children’s imaginations, showing readers that even the simplest, most common objects can start a wonderful adventure. This book also offers opportunities to foster discussions and spontaneous story telling.

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I will be the first to admit I am not a fan of wordless books. I understand their value, but it's not my cup of tea. That being said, I like the premise of this book. A little boy is glued to his electronic device, much like kids today are, but something catches his attention and he starts to play and explore his father's carpenter tools.  I think kids will have a blast telling the story the little boy invents and the stories they will come up with will be entertaining.

I do have to mention that I am not a fan of how the people are drawn. The color of the boy and his father reminds me of the blackface used years ago. I understand the author is from Brazil and blackface may not be an issue in that country, but here in the USA, it leads to reminders of how divided our country still is.

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood

 "'Once upon a planetoid, amid her tools and sprockets, a girl named Cinderella dreamed of fancy rockets.'
With a little help from her fairy godrobot, Cinderella is going to the ball-- but when the prince's ship has mechanical trouble, someone will have to zoom to the rescue!"

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I absolutely LOVE this book. I love how Cinderella is not the typical Cinderella, just cleaning a house with only dreams of going to a ball. This Cinderella is the kind of girl who can take care of herself and has dreams to be a mechanic for big spaceships. The Cinderella in this story reminds me a bit of my older sister-- a woman who can fix things and works in an auto repair shop, happily.


I really love how this particular version of Cinderella ended and will probably give this book to some little girls that I know.


With Love from Library Land,
Amber