Update: The Library will be closed Monday, October 26th and Tuesday, October 27th due to inclement weather. We want our patrons and staff to be safe during this winter mix, so stay home and cuddle up with a good book in the meantime!
*The Library will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, October 28th at 12pm (opening late due to scheduled carpet cleaning).
Happy Wednesday! And what a wet and dreary day it is! Hopefully you are all keeping your spirits up even with the gloomy weather this week. Story Time on the lawn on Monday was pretty chilly! Hopefully we will get some more nice days so we can keep having outdoor story time.
Pumpkins
Today’s theme was all about pumpkins! We are 10 days away from Halloween – have you had a chance to go to a pumpkin patch yet this year? Or do you typically get your pumpkins from a store? Are you a jack-o-lantern family or are you a character/picture family? I think that’s the coolest part about carving pumpkins – it gives you the opportunity to be creative and silly!
Books:
Today we read: Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins by Dianne Ochiltree. On Monday, we also read Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins is a great story to talk about adding and multiplying as well as making a positive from something that could be not so great (pumpkins getting smashed = pumpkin pie). Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere is a great story with lots of descriptive words and beautiful illustrations that you and your child could spend a lot of time looking at and discussing.
Songs:
The Leaves on the Trees
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus
The leaves on the trees turn orange and red,
Orange and red, orange and red
The leaves on the trees turn orange and red
All through the town.
The leaves on the trees go swish, swish, swish.
Swish, swish, swish. Swish, swish, swish.
The leaves on the trees go swish, swish, swish
All through the town.
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,
Tumbling down, tumbling down.
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down
All through the town.
We’ll rake them in a pile and jump right in,
Jump right in, jump right in.
We’ll rake them in a pile and jump right in
All through the town.
Flannel Board:
Once there were five orange pumpkins growing in a pumpkin patch. There was a giant pumpkin, a large pumpkin, a medium pumpkin, a small pumpkin, and a tiny pumpkin. A man came by and looked at the five pumpkins. The man picked up the giant pumpkin. “This will be a fine pumpkin to put in my store window,” he said. (remove giant pumpkin). A woman came by and looked at the four pumpkins. The woman picked up the large pumpkin. “This will be a fine pumpkin to set on my doorstep,” she said. (remove large pumpkin). A teacher came by and looked at the three pumpkins. The teacher picked up the medium pumpkin. “This will be a fine pumpkin for my classroom,” she said. (remove medium pumpkin). A baker came by and looked at the two pumpkins. The baker picked up the small pumpkin. “This will be a fine pumpkin for a pie,” she said. (remove small pumpkin). A little boy came by and looked at the tiny pumpkin. The little boy picked up the tiny pumpkin. “This will be a fine pumpkin for my ghost costume,” he said. So he painted a face on the pumpkin. Then he put the jack-o-lantern on top of this head. (place ghost under the pumpkin head) They both went off to the party, and it was the best Halloween a ghost and a pumpkin ever had.
Activities:
Today we talked about the letter “K”. We discussed what it looks like, how to draw it, what sound it makes, and words that start with it. Here are some activities to continue the learning about the letter K:
*Fly a kite (make one if you don’t have one): https://everydaychaosandcalm.com/13-kite-crafts-for-preschoolers/
*Play Kings and Queens
*Play kickball
*Paint with Kool-aid: Just dump a packet into a section of a muffin tin and add a little water. Use some water color brushes, and you’ve got a great open-ended art activity.
This week’s craft has lots of learning opportunities! It’s a name pumpkin puzzle. Your children will work on 1. Letter recognition 2. Scissor skills 3. Gluing skills 4. Matching. Stop by the library to pick up supplies to do this craft at home!