I was pleased that there were lots of little action songs interspersed throughout the story time because Evie was having a fidgety day and was more interested in hopping, clapping, jumping, and twirling than sitting. She even had one of her "let me just lay on the ground and laugh like a maniac" episodes, and while the fidgeting is pretty universal in the toddler age group, the "evil laugh like I'm possessed" was a little creepy and bought her a trip to the hallway to practice eyes, ears, shhhh, after which she sat and listened well. Evie still tests her boundaries with Nana every once in a while, especially when Mom isn't around, but once she figures out that the rules haven't changed she straightens up pretty quickly.
First, we listened to the story. George is a dog whose Mom is trying to teach him to bark, but the only sounds that come out of his mouth are the sounds of other animals. When George's Mom takes him to the doctor, the doctor reaches into George's mouth and pulls out the animals that are really making the noises. Once all the other animals are out George is finally able to bark.
Next, the staff pulled out a bag with a picture of George on the front. The bag was stuffed with laminated animal picture cards and the children got to come up and stick their hand in "George" and pick out an animal card. They all had fun telling the name of the animal and the sound it makes.
Finally, the activity for the day also was associated with the book. Each child had an envelope with cut out pictures of George the dog and a few smaller animal pictures. They were given a glue stick and crayons, and after coloring the animals, they glued George to the front of the envelope and put the other animals inside, so they could take it with them and replay the activity at home.
This was a great participation exercise, and we enjoyed it very much, although I have to remember to keep my hands off and let Evie paste and color however she wants and not the way it is "supposed" to be!
The kids loved Bark, George, but my favorite book by far was Mean Soup, by Betsy Everitt.
Mean Soup centers around Horace who has had a very bad day at school, made even worse by having to be picked up by Miss Pearl who nearly kills three poodles on the way home. By the time he arrives at home, words can't even describe how angry Horace is, but his Mom knows just what to do...she enlists Horace's help in whipping up a batch of "Mean Soup," with water, salt, and a few special ingredients like screams, and growls, and fiery dragon's breath. By the end of the story Horace has learned how to vent his anger in a way that doesn't hurt anyone else, and Horace and his Mom have enjoyed some special time together. The pictures are big and colorful, and the book is a great way of introducing the concept of the child learning to control his feelings and emotions so that they don't control the child. Of course, I had the most fun making the growling and roaring sounds along with the book, which I am afraid almost bought ME a trip to the hallway with the librarian to practice eyes, ears, shhhh....Both are great reads and it would probably be pretty easy to incorporate an activity lesson to go along with Mean Soup that introduces the concepts without even to have to use a stove or boiling water. After all, that is what imagination is for! You can check them out at the library, or here are a couple of links to Amazon if you'd like to buy them for your own home library. I did not see either of these books available in downloadable format from the library for those of you who have jumped on this wonderful opportunity. If you haven't heard that many libraries now have the ability to lend books electronically to apps like kindle or other e-reader or audible type devices, here is a link to my library's eLibrary Catalogue as an example.
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