Storytimes and More Saturday Share: January 18, 2014

Welcome to our

3rd

Storytimes and More 

Saturday Share!

 To kick us off this week, I thought I should mention that today is ~ 

National Winnie the Pooh Day!

This is one of my favorite Pooh quotes ~
although it is very tough for me to choose!
I adore Pooh and his friends!

To share your favorite Pooh quotes and read others' favorites, check out our Facebook page for our group at Storytimes and More On the Go.

Well, we have grown again this week! It is wonderful to have such a dynamic group of caring and sharing friends. A special thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share such diverse and interesting ideas! 

We will start with a new category:

~ Amazing Activity Shares ~

Elena, a first grade teacher, is sharing an imaginative learning activity that she came across while searching for Dr. Seuss ideas for an upcoming schoolwide event. Easy to make and fun to use, Make a Story with Magnetic Words is just the type of Seuss-inspired activity that will promote learning and creativity. Elena is excited to share it with us and with her students and their families.

Lisa is once again bringing us an opportunity to excite the school-age crowd about an educational topic while "enjoying tons of fun, too"! Since her afterschool group is learning about polar bears and the north pole, Lisa thought she would bring in a little physical science and problem-solving with these Marshmallow Catapults. Wondering how this fits in with the north pole? Snowball fights, of course!

~ Creative Crafting Shares ~

Carrie, our self-proclaimed Google maniac, is sharing another fun Google find just in time for Valentine's Day. Check out this "super cute" picture frame ~ a Valentine's Day Picture Holder Craft ~ that is easy enough to make preschoolers and can be personalized, too. 

Travis, a member of our Facebook group, mentioned her Monkey craft and shared a link to it when another member was looking for monkey-related ideas. Travis graciously gave us permission to share her craft that she says "basically calls for squares, circles, and hearts cut in half". Very simple prep! Travis says, "it's cute, but very much a product craft" but I see awesome potential for some learning about shapes and scissor practice as the monkeys are made. Plus he is just such a cute little guy with his curly tail.

Ann, a librarian from the Modesto area of California, is sharing a useful suggestion this week for any of us who live near a Michael's Arts and Crafts store. She recommends visiting your local Michael's for crafting ideas and classes like the Rainbow Loom Meet Ups. Ann mentions that these bracelets ~ made from small, colorful rubberbands ~ are extremely popular in her area. The kids love to make them for themselves and their friends.

We have a share this week that came from a guy on Twitter who tweeted a link after he saw my tweet about last week's Storytimes and More Saturday Share. Jeff tweets under the name @celtic2004 and he shared this how-to picture collage with the words "Simple Art". Another Twitter friend mentioned that he used to let his storytime friends make these, decorate them, and then hang them by string from the ceiling. What a fun idea! Especially if you need to decorate for an ocean-themed storytime.

~ Fun Facebook Shares ~

JacksNana joins us for the first time this week with a Facebook share for New Age Nanas and a book recommendation for the book, New Age Nanas: Being a Grandmother in the 21st Century. 

Grandmothers in the 21st Century
don't parent in the past tense.

Cheryl has been Jack's Nana for three years and she is very excited to have found a book and a group to help her with this new role in her life. Grandparenting roles have changed dramatically over the years so she doesn't feel like she can just do what her own grandmother or mother did in the past. Cheryl found the topics in New Age Nana to be helpful and validating. She recommends that every library add this to their bookshelves!

My first share this week is a wonderful new Facebook group, After School Programs, that was started by one of our active members, Thrive After Three. Along with the FB page, Thrive After Three does a School Aged Programming Blog Hop for sharing ideas to use with older children. If you work with the school age group, I highly recommend that you follow and participate in the hop ~ Thrive Thursday. My contribution this week was an introduction to our new reading incentive program ~ Read Your Way to a Cookie Party!

~ P-interesting Shares ~

We have an anonymous share today. (I would love to give credit where credit is due so if this is your share, please let me know and I will update the post with your information.) Many of us are probably beginning to think about the possiblity of a Groundhog's Day program so this link is coming at just the right time! The Groundhog Valentine is a creative and "emberly-esque" art lesson. 

~ Spectacular Storytime Shares ~

Jane, another group member, is Guest posting on my blog, Storytime ABC'S. During a FB discussion about favorite storytime themes, Jane mentioned that her favorites were 'trucks and trains -- 'though not together". Well, she sent me her storytime plan for Trains ~ and then another storytime plan for Buses and Trucks. In her plans, she includes some delightful books and songs plus several participatory flannel board ideas. Everything you need to put together an enticing storytime for your young library friends.

Pam, a former teacher for 5 year olds, is sharing this week for the first time. She is sharing a penguin song that her class of 5 year olds loved to sing every day for 2 weeks straight. Pam says, "They NEVER grew tired of it!" Sounds like a keeper to me! The Five Little Penguins is a fantastic song for "developing early numeracy, speech development, and storytelling" and an added bonus is the free puppet printable!

Anne from the blog, itsybitsymom, is back again this week to share Monkeys! , one of her Wiggleworms Story Time Plans. She shares a complete storytime with a final analysis of how she felt it went and what she will probably change. It seems that lots of monkey fun was had by all!

My second share this week is from my blog, StorytimeABC'S, and it is an awesome new book by one of my favorite children's authors for storytime books. The book is Animals in Underwear ABC by Todd Parr. His books are simply illustrated but bold and colorful. Perfect for sharing with toddlers and preschoolers at storytime AND perfect for flannel-izing! Check out the uses I have planned for the felt pieces I am making based on these cute, colorful, underwearing animals.

~ Wonderful Website Shares ~

Meaghan is sharing for the first time this week and she brings us a "cool website with tons of creative crafts". It is the Kix cereal website! Who would have thought a cereal website would be a good resource for our group? Not me! But Meaghan is so right! She says she is using this craft for her kids' Valentine's Day boxes for their school's Valentines exchange.

~ Yearnful Youtube Shares ~

Claire, Mom to Zoe, is returning this week with a crafting video featuring Martha Stewart and her daughter's favorite Sesame Street character, the adorable little Zoe. Hmmmm... I am sensing a reason that she is her daughter's favorite. :o) 

Claire and her daughter were looking for a fun craft idea for Zoe's upcoming birthday party when they found this bright and colorful idea ~ Paper and Straw Necklaces. So sweet!