Friday, July 14 @ 10:30: Sun Storyhour, Moon Storyhour, Stars Storyhour.

Books: 
The Mouse Who Ate the Moon by Petr Horacek.  Adorable. It's not often kids laugh out loud over a book.
We had an older group today, so instead of reading Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton. (Watch the rhythm. It's not always there.) I picked If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty  j629.4 Space. The group was a bit older, and by skipping and summing up passages, I was able to get the great story of a real live trip to the moon across.  

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.  So nice that I just happened to have a starfish (rubber) on hand for the ending. I know they liked this simple but appealing tale of a boy trying to catch a star. I heard one child say, "That was a good story."
Cloudland by John Burningham. Isn't playing and living in the clouds everyone's fantasy? It should be.
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by the great Eric Carle. I made sure I had on hand the 9780887080265 copy, with its beautiful big pull out pages. "So when you make a wish on a star tonight, take a look at the moon and see if it's big or little.
Goodnight, Moon. Read with a flashlight shining on the little mouse, etc., and the lights off.  "I have that book," said Carson. "That's a nice book. I didn't read it this year but I wore the t-shirt and held up the book. Everyone had memories!
Star Wars Colors. We read this as an intro to the craft, which was light sabers and balloons.  I had them leftover, it was a rainy day, so we did them.  It was something different, and the kids loved playing with them.
Ten Twinkly Stars by Julian
Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson. New. This is like a Tap! The Magic Tree sort of book.  A lovely book.

Songs: 

• Moon, Moon, Moon by Laurie Berkner.  Great tutorial on her DVD.
• Zoom, zoom, zoom. 
• Motor Boat, Motor Boat -- there's a rocket ship in "How to Catch a Star," even if it's just a paper one.
• I told them about the magic in seeing a star, and taught them the words to "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight." You get a wish, just like blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. (Good calmer too.)
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Of course.

Story: I had the Big Book for Goodnight Moon, and read it together with the moms. It was a wonderful, sweet ending to the storyhour. "I have that book," said Carson. "That's a nice book."
Play: Disco light.
Craft: 

         Does it get better than tissue paper scraps and glitter glue?  "Go ahead and make it all bumpy" I said. "Because the moon has craters." They left dangling their crescent moons from strings, just in time for Halloween.

Stars today