Pre-K Imagination Storytime, Friday, May 22 @ 10:30

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Games

• Magic Envelope time!  This is when I used the wonderful Magic Envelope I had all the ingredients on the blackboard and told them we were going to make a pirate, what would we need? Would we need a flower? They caught on very fast, great involvement. (Thanks so much, Sharon Hrycewic pronounced Rice-Witts for sharing at http://storytime.readingchick.com/ !)

Books

• Superhero Me! by Karen Katz. This cute little board book was a good start for the theme.
• Are We There Yet by Dan Santat. Perfect.
• Tiger in My Soup by Kashmira Sheth.  Also perfect.
• Sea & Rex by Molly Idle.  Cute trip to the beach w. friendly dino in tow.
• Good Thing You're Not an Octopus by Julie Markes kept everyone interested, puzzling over what life would be like with 200 teeth or twelve feet.
• Pirates Don't Take Baths by John Segal. I started losing them here. Even the good listeners weren't very sympathetic to this tale. This year I tried Come Away from the Water, Shirley by John Burningham. The pictures aren't as bold but the story is very nice. Maybe some of the older kids got the concept of the parents real vs. Shirley's imaginary journey to the pirates.  But the found her pirate voyage all too easy to believe.  Kids.
• Let's Go for a Drive by Mo Willems. Bring your props, there's lots of action as Elephant and Piggy plan their exciting drive.
• Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer.  I love Falconer's sarcasm but it might be a bit much for the kids.
• Sand Cake by Frank Asch. This old favorite has recently been reprinted and is perfect for my beachy kids. It was also a great lead in for MAKING  PLAY DOUGH!!!
• Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. And this one is a perfect lead-in for decorating boxes!

Songs

This theme was an inspiration to sing a lot of old neglected favorites:

• Can you hop like a rabbit?/Can you jump like a frog?/Can you walk like a duck?/Can you run like a dog?/Can you fly like a bird?/Can you swim like a fish?/And be still like a good child -- as still as this. (They couldn't!)
• Windshield Wiper/I'm a windshield wiper/This is how I go/Back and forth, back and forth/In the rain and snow./Slowly! There's just a drizzle./Fast now! It's pouring!/Ah, just a nice steady rain now.
• The Old Grey Cat is sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.  (I invited Milo to be the sleeping grey cat -- he did a great job as we little mice crept up on him.)

Craft

 Stir up a batch of Cinnamon Play Dough and pretend! I didn't use as much water as the recipe called for, and I didn't have cream of tartar -- just used baking soda. 

Can you go wrong making playdough?  I had one batch all ready. I mixed up the second so the kids could watch, and then passed out the first so they could get playing while I finished kneading and the playdough cooled.  They used plastic forks and knives and little round containers for cutting out. (Picture courtesy of Jenifer Fosnaugh. Thanks!)

Milo made a burger with everything.

Oleg made everything.