St. Patrick's Day- Green

Book Ideas: Jeremy Bean’s St. Patrick’s Day by Alice Schertle
"Shy Jeremy Bean forgets, much as to his humiliation, to wear green to school for St. Patrick's Day."

A Fine St. Patrick’s Day by Susan Wojciechowski
"Two towns, Tralee and Tralah, compete in an annual St. Patrick's Day decorating contest which Tralah boastfully always wins, but when their hearts are put to the test by a little man with pointed ears, Tralee wins with no effort at all."

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
"Sam-I-am won't give up! He keeps trying to get the grumpy grown-up in the story to taste green eggs and ham. No matter how Sam-I-am presents the green eggs and ham (in a box, with a fox, in the rain, on a train), the curmudgeon refuses to try them. Finally, Sam-I-am's pesky persistence pays off. A crowd of open-mouthed onlookers watch in suspense as the old grouch takes a bite. And?...SAY! The old sourpuss's face is wreathed in smiles as he gratefully acknowledges, 'I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you, Sam-I-am!' ."

Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
"Little blue and little yellow share wonderful adventures. One day, they can't find one another. When they finally meet, they are overjoyed. They hug until they become green. But where did little blue and little yellow go? Are they lost?"

Activity Ideas:

Idea #1: Emergent Reader Leprechaun Book

Read one of the books and then color and put together this emergent reader book. Read it together, pointing to the words as you read them. Then let your child try reading alone. The text is repetitive up till the last to pages. Teach them good reading strategies like looking at the pictures for clues as to what the words say. To print book click here.

Idea #2: Explore mixing Blue and Yellow to make Green

Read one of the books and then explore mixing colors to make green. Pour a little corn syrup into a small ziplock bag. Have your child drop a few drops of blue and yellow into the bag.

Zip the bag closed and then let your child squeeze and massage the bag till the colors mix and make green.





Idea #3: Green collage

Read one of the stories and then look through magazines and newspapers to find green things. Cut them out and glue them onto a large piece of construction paper to make a collage. If you don't have any large paper, cut open a large brown grocery bag and use that as your paper.

Idea #4: Green Jello Art

Read one of the stories and then make your own green pictures using green jello powder and glue.

Have your child draw a picture on a piece of paper and then trace over their drawing with glue.

Pour some jello powder in a small bowl and let your child sprinkle the powder over the glue using a spoon or their fingers. Dust off any loose powder and set aside to dry.

For toddlers, let them just create designs with their glue rather than drawing a picture. Then let them sprinkle the jello powder over the glue and then dust off any loose powder.

Idea #5: Play Red Light/Green Light

Read one of the books and then play the game red light/green light. Create a starting point and have your child stand at the start. Stand several feet away from the starting point with your back to your child. When you say green, your child runs towards you. When you say red you turn around and face your child, and your child has to stop and freeze. Ideally, you would play with more than two people; and the first person to tag you is the winner.

St. Patrick's Day- Shamrocks/ Pot of Gold/ Leprechauns

Book Ideas: Lucky Tucker by Leslie McGuirk
"When Tucker the terrier wakes up on Saint Patrick’s Day, he gets off on the wrong paw. Nothing is going his way until he rolls in a bed of clover —- a bed of four-leaf clovers, that is, which just happens to belong to a leprechaun! Lucky Tucker! From snatching a falling scoop of ice cream to wrestling with his best friends to getting a whole box of new toys, Tucker is now the luckiest dog around!"

Hooray for St. Patrick’s Day! By Joan Holub
"It's Saint Patrick's Day, and time to join in the celebration. Children can lift the flaps for interactive fun as they see the children in this book make holiday crafts, taste traditional Irish food, perform a play about Saint Patrick, and even march in a Saint Patrick's Day parade. As an added bonus, they can search for the hidden leprechaun on each spread."

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute
"Clever Tom Fitzpatrick thinks his fortune is made when he captures a leprechaun and forces him to reveal the hiding place of his gold, but the leprechaun is clever too."

Leprechaun’s Gold by Pamela Edwards
"Old Pat, a kindhearted harpist, and his ill-spirited companion, Young Tom, set off to compete in a contest for the title of the finest harpist in Ireland. When Young Tom recognizes that Pat is truly a better musician, he spitefully breaks one of the strings on Pat's harp. With the help of a leprechaun friend, Old Pat is able to compete in the contest. This classic Irish legend is a lesson about the power of kindness and good deeds."



That’s What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting
"The three leprechauns have a job to do. They must race to where they've buried the pot of gold and dig it up before the rainbow comes. The clouds are already gathering, so there'll be no time for mischief along the way. But, the three clever fellows can't resist having a little fun. For, in addition to putting a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, mischief is what leprechauns do!"


Activity Ideas:

Idea #1: Pots of Gold Math

Read one of the stories and then practice some basic math with this counting and number recognition activity.


Print off the pot outline and trace onto black construction paper. Cut out the pots and glue on half sheets of cardstock or construction paper. Write numerals on each pot using a white crayon (choose numbers that child needs practice on). If you would like to save these for future use, you may want to laminate the cards or cover them in clear contact paper.

Give your child some yellow playdoh, a rolling pin, and a small circle cookie cutter (our playdoh set came with a small sized circle, but you could use a soda bottle lid or film canister etc..) Give them the pot cards and have them put the right amount of "gold coins" in each pot (see top photo).




Idea #2: Leprechaun

Read one of the stories and then color, cut, and glue together a silly leprechaun. For older preschoolers, you can have this be an activity to practice their fine motor skills, using scissors. Click here to print the leprechaun coloring pages.

Idea #3: Shamrock Sorting

Read one of the books and then practice the concept of size using the words small, medium, and large. You will need to cut out shamrocks in three different sizes and let your child sort them under the right words. Here is a shamrock outline if you want to print it.




Idea #4: Lucky Charms Graphing

Read one of the stories and then practice counting, sorting, and recording information using Lucky Charms cereal.

First you will need to make a simple chart of all the marshmallows.

Give your child the chart and a small bowl of cereal. Have them sort and count the different marshmallow shapes and decide which had the least and the most.



Idea #5: Find the Four leaf Clover game

Read one of the stories and then play a little hide and seek game using shamrocks. You will need to print out a bunch of 3 leaf clovers and one 4 leaf clover. Send your child out of the room and hide them. Your child has to find the 4 leaf clover. To print a 4 leaf clover click here. To print a 3 leaf clover print here.

Sorry!

Life has been busy for me over the last couple weeks. The blog has had to take less of a priority. I try to be consistent about posting every Monday, but occasionally that just can't happen. Sorry!

Rainbows/ Colors

Book Ideas: The Teeny, Tiny Mouse by Laura Leuck
“A teeny, tiny mouse and his mommy point out objects of various colors all around their teeny, tiny house.”

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? By Bill Martin Jr.
“Children see a variety of animals, each one a different color, and a teacher looking at them.”

A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman
"A small boy imagines what it would be like to have his own rainbow to play with."

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
"The charming story of a chameleon searching for his own color, who ends up finding a true friend."

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
"Three white mice discover jars of red, blue, and yellow paint and explore the world of color."

Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
"Dog starts off the day with one black spot on his ear. But it seems that wherever he goes, he runs, rolls, and trots right into colors. As he wanders around town, Dog collects spots made of red jam, blue paint, pink ice cream, and more. When he finally arrives back home, Dog has ten different colored spots. And then it's bath time for this colorful canine, who makes learning colors and numbers easy, messy, and fun! "




Activity Ideas:

Idea#1: "Color a Rainbow" Dice Game

Read one of the stories and then play this rainbow game.

You will need crayons, dice, and a numbered rainbow printout.

Take turns rolling the dice and coloring the corresponding number on your rainbow paper. (Example: if you roll a six than you color-in the rainbow band numbered 6.

The first to color all the bands on their rainbow wins.

Activity #2: Paper Plate Rainbow

Read one of the stories and then let your child paint their own rainbow using all the colors talked about in their books.

Cut a paper plate in half and then cut a small semi-circle at the bottom. Draw lines arching across the plate.

Give your child colorful paints and a paintbrush and have them paint each band a different color. This is good fine-motor skills practice to see if your child can steady the brush as they paint between the lines.




Activity #3: Rainbow Mosaic

Read one of the book titles and then make a rainbow Mosaic.

First draw a simple rainbow outline like the photo above.

Next, cut small pieces of paper in each color.

Squirt glue, one row at a time, and have your child smear the glue around using a q-tip. Then let them sprinkle and press down the various colors in each row.

Glue on Cotton balls for the clouds.







Activity #4: Rainbow Toast

Read one of the stories and then paint some edible rainbow toast.

Fill small containers with milk and add a few drops of food coloring to each.

Using a clean basting brush for cooking, let your child paint on the colored milk to their bread. Make sure to tell them only a thin coat of "paint" (Don't let them saturate the bread or it won't toast well). You can use a paint brush if you are not going to eat it afterwards.

Once your child has covered the bread in the colors they want, place the bread in the toaster (you may have to put it in a couple of times to dry out the bread). Enjoy!

Activity #5: Paper Towel Tie Dye

Read one of the stories and explore colors further by making your own colorful designs using a paper towel and some watered down food coloring.

Mix the water and food coloring and place in small bowls or cups.

Scrunch up various sections of a paper towel and loosely place rubber bands around each. Then let your child dip the sections in various colors. You may need to ring out the paper towel to squeeze out the extra liquid before opening up their paper towel to lay flat and dry.

****Another way to do this activity is by using an old medicine eyedropper. Lay the paper towel flat on the table and then let your child squeeze little drops of the colored water on the paper towel in various patterns.

Activity #6: Color Guessing Game/Eye Spy Color Game

Read one of the stories and then play a guessing game. This can be done two different ways.

Version 1- Give your child small paper squares of various colors. Then tell them a clue and have them hold up the correct color square. Here are some possible clues:

"I am thinking of a color that tells us it is night"

"I am thinking of the color of a sunny day"

"I am thinking of the color of fire"

"I am thinking of the color of grass" etc.....

Version 2- Play "Eye spy" using colors as clues. For example: "I spy something orange" and then your child would make a guess of something that is in the room that is orange and continue guessing until he/she guesses the item you were thinking. This is a really good way to assess what colors your child knows.

Weather- Clouds and Rain

Book Ideas: Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs by Judi Barrett
“Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers--until the weather takes a turn for the worse.”

Raindrop, Plop! By Wendy Lewison
One little raindrop, dark, dark sky. Two little raindrops, clouds go by...
“A spirited rhyming text that's ideal for reading aloud and cheerful illustrations capture the unexpected pleasures that a little wet weather can bring to a young child's day.”

The Police Cloud by Christoph Niemann
“In this funny and tender picture book for the youngest child, a fluffy cloud gets a job (with the help of his friend the police helicopter) as a police officer. But no matter how hard he tries, the qualities that make him a cloud seem to get in the way of his duties. He blocks the sun at the park instead of helping people and obscures traffic at an intersection instead of directing it. Upset, the cloud starts to cry. And it's his streaming tears—which inadvertently put out a fire in a burning building—that lead him to his true calling in life: as a firefighter!”

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
“‘Sometimes it looked like a Sheep. But it wasn't a Sheep.’ So what was it? In this imaginative book, a cloud appears to be a bird, a tree, an ice-cream cone, and other objects familiar to children. The white images set against a deep blue background are striking. This wonderful book can be used as a guessing game or gentle read-aloud.”

Little Cloud by Eric Carle
“The clouds drift across the bright blue sky-all except one. Little Cloud trails behind. He is busy changing shapes to become a fluffy sheep, a zooming airplane, and even a clown with a funny hat.”



Activity Ideas:

Idea #1: Cool Cloud Book

Read "Little Cloud" or "It Looked like Spilt Milk" and then sponge paint your own silly cloud shapes and make your own cool clouds book. You will need some cookie cutters, pencil, scissors, old cereal box, piece of sponge, blue paint, white paper, 1 piece of construction paper, stapler, and markers.

First you will need to trace 5 different cookie-cutter shapes onto an old cereal box or plastic yogurt lids (whatever you have on hand). Cut them out.

Next, Cut 3 pieces of white paper in half. Squirt some blue paint on a paper plate. Place one of your shape cut-outs on your paper. Dip your wet sponge in the paint. Holding the shape in place, press your sponge around the edges of the shape. Lift off the cardboard shape and you should see the outline of your shape. Continue making a different shape outline for each page until you have done them all. Set aside to dry.

Once dry, staple together the pages with a piece of construction paper on the top and bottom for a cover. Add the title, "Cool Clouds," to the cover and the predictable text to each page: "Clouds that look like a _______." (Fill in the blank with whatever shape you have on that page). On the final page, write "Cool clouds are everywhere".

Idea #2: Cotton Ball Clouds

Read one of the stories and then make your own rain cloud. You will need, 1 piece of white cardstock or construction paper, cotton balls, glue, 1 Gallon Size Ziplock Bag, silver glitter glue, tape, hole puncher, and string.

First, draw a large cloud shape on your white paper and cut it out.

Next cut 1 inch strips out of your gallon-sized Ziplock bag.

Tape the Strips to the back of your cloud paper, at different lengths (In the photo, we had already glued our cotton balls, but it would be better to tape them to the back first).

Squirt a glob of glue on the cloud shape and let your child spread it around, using a q-tip.

Completely cover your white cloud with cotton balls.

Dot the clear strips with silver glitter glue to make raindrops. (If you don't have any glitter glue, you could cut out raindrops from tinfoil and glue them onto the strips). Set aside and let dry.

Punch a hole in the top and attach a string for hanging.



Idea #3: Water Color Umbrella

Read one of the stories and then make your own colorful umbrella. You will need one paper towel, watercolor paint set, scissors, tape and a piece of construction paper.

Cut your paper towel into an umbrella shape.

Let your child drip water colors and paint designs all over the paper towel. Set aside to dry.

Cut out a handle out of construction paper and tape it to your paper towel umbrella.




Idea #4: Paper Towel Tube Rainstick

Read one of the stories and then make your own paper towel tube rainstick. For step by step directions click here. (This is a much safer version than most home-made rainsticks using sharp toothpicks or nails). When done, decorate your stick.


Idea #5: Early Writing: I wish it would rain _______.

Read one of the stories and then have your child "write" (draw) about what they wish it would rain. Make sure to label the picture.