Toddler Story Time - Cowboys

Howdy ya'll! Today's story time was all about cowboys (and cowgirls)! We started our morning by watching a video about real cowboys riding horses on a ranch. We read two books about all the things cowboys do during their day.  The first book was Cowboy Bunnies by Christine Loomis, and the second book was Cowboys Can Do! Amazing Things, too! by Kelly Stuart.  We read about how it is a cowboy's job to wake up early, ride horses, and rope lost cattle. Those things sounded really hard to do!  We also read about the fun they get to have around the campfire like cooking yummy food, singing songs with a guitar, and sleeping under the stars.  Those sounded like the fun part of being a cowboy to me!  We learned 2 new songs today, too.  The first song we learned was from Miss Nina, called "The more we get together," and she even taught us the sign language to go with the words.  Everyone did a great job singing and signing along! The second song told a story of a little boy who loved to pretend to be a cowboy every day!  It is a Disney Sing-along Song, which was a favorite video of my own children, and is called "A cowboy needs a horse" by .  We had fun pretending to ride our horses, and find all the things a cowboy needs to ride the range. We ended our time together by reading The cow that went oink by Bernard Most.  Those animals were so funny!  The cow was oinking and the pig was mooing! But in the end the animals taught each other the correct sounds to make, and they could both Oink and Moo! I am so glad to see so many friends returning each week!  It is so much fun!

Toddler Story Time - Trains

Today's story time was all about TRAINS!! As children came in we watched a video of steam trains chugging along the railroad tracks to get us in the mood.  First we read Might Machines: Trains using the ACTIVboard projector so everyone could see.  We learned all about trains - from tracks to cars to conductors.  Then we heard Miss Nina sing "I've been working on the railroad" while we marched in our story area in a line like a train.  I heard lots of trains sounds like "chug-a-chug-a" and "whoo-whoo" as we rounded the bends! Next we read the book Shark vs Train by Chris Barton & Tom Lichtenheld where 2 boys used their imaginations to decide which was better. It all depended on what they were trying to do, but I think we decided that both sharks and trains are pretty fun to play with in the end. After sitting to listen we stood up to join the Choo Choo Soul group sing, dance, and clap to the ABCs. Finally, we settled in to hear our last story Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown.  That was a favorite of my little boy when he was younger and loved to play with trains all day!  We ended with our good bye song, and went off to enjoy the rest of our day! I loved seeing some of the same faces, as well as many new friends too!  (I even had my nephew join us on my iPad through FaceTime to listen to all the fun!) Until next time!

Toddler Story Time - Love

Thanks to all the parents who brought their toddlers to read books about how we show our love for one another! We had a great turn out for our first gathering.  Fifteen children brought an adult to share in the fun!
First we read How do dinosaurs say I love you? by Jane Yolen.
We sang "Skinnamarink" with Miss Nina who showed us how to add fun hand motions. (And I have been humming it ever since!)
Then we watched Guess how much I love you read by the author Sam McBratney on Barnes and Noble's Online Storytime.
Next we played a game of musical hearts where the children walked in a circle and stopped on a heart that told them something fun to do, like "give a hug" or "hop like a bunny".
We ended our time together reading Mommy's best kisses by Margaret Anastas, and sang a goodbye song.
What a fun time we had! I can't wait for next week.

100 days smarter

Stay tuned to find out what Kindergarteners want 100 of...