Picnics

Another summer-y themed storytime: Picnics.  I am not feeling awesome about this one, but I have some ideas.  I think that I should have brought a picnic blanket or tablecloth to put on the floor for the kids to sit on.  I think a book about picnic food would have been a good addition.

BOOKS:

We read One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes (illustrated by Bonnie Mackain) and Ernest and Celestine’s Picnic by Gabrielle Vincent.

I think I should have cut out a few row swaps in One Hundred Hungry Ants but I love this book.  I especially love shouting STOP! and then pausing a few seconds.  The kids ALL are quiet then.  Ernest and Celestine’s Picnic is great, but I have to make sure I’m narrating the pictures as well as the text (since the text is all dialogue).

SONGS:

We had a two-fer song this week.  After we read One Hundred Hungry Ants, we HAD to sing “The Ants Go Marching.”  We only sang one verse (which is fine) and then continued on.  This helped a few toddlers get their wiggles out.  After the stories, I whipped out my ukulele and we sang “Down By the Bay” and I had the kids get up and shake their groove things.

CRAFT:

We wove our own picnic blankets out of construction paper strips.  I’m not sure how I feel about this craft.  There were some moms who helped their kids do the craft and patiently showed them how to go under and over and under and over, but there were others that just did the craft for their kids.  I thought that this was a low enough fine motor skills activity, but I could be wrong.  (Who knew?)