The Very Hungry Caterpillar

 

The opening activity for story time yesterday was me describing different types of insects to the kids and having them guess which bug it was, if they guessed correctly I would pull the picture of the bug out of my "Question Box" and stick it on the board.  Then I read Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner, and then finished with The Very Hungry Caterpillar from Eric Carle.  The children had a great time identifying and showing off their knowledge of buggy critters. 

The craft idea I found on Pinterest which came from HERE.

All Star Storytime - Autism Spectrum Disorder Resources - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University

All Star Storytime - Autism Spectrum Disorder Resources - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Is it a bird...is it a plane... No, it's Shamrock Man!  Find the idea and pattern HERE.

Pinterest

I don't know why every time I think I don't need a piece of information I need it the next day.  The other day on Pinterest (my latest obsession) someone had pinned a link to blog with a useful tip.  Apparently sometimes on Pinterest you can not get to the original source of an image just by simply clicking on the image.  The Graphics Fairy blog has a great tip though to solve this problem, view it HERE.

Anansi & Goldilocks Crafts

I love reading and telling Anansi stories.  Recently I read one of my favorites Anansi & the Moss Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel.  As a media specialist I would have students retell the story through a series of drawings, but with only 1 hour in the public library we just didn't have the time.  So instead we made these really cute spiders.  I prepared the webs using pipe cleaners and yarn beforehand, since children from ages 3-10 show up.  I discovered that tacky glue or using a hot glue gun is better than Elmer's for making the pipe cleaner legs stick to the construction paper.  

Last week I read The Three Bears by Byron Barton.  It was a great way to get the kids to participate in telling the story, since almost everyone knew the story of Goldilocks.  After I read Barton's book I read Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell.  I love Lowell's Western twist to a familiar story and the children loved it too.  Afterwards we made bear puppets.  I took the pattern from DLTK's website.  They actually have various options for this puppet but I choose the simplest pattern.  Paper Bag Bear Puppet

Story Time for Kids in the Autism Spectrum

Thoughtful Preparations: Media Spin Blog via kwout



When I was an elementary media specialist I was constantly looking for ideas and suggestions for the classes with autistic students.  This is a great post from ALSC on what a story time for children with autism should look like:  Sensory Story Time

Story Time Crafts

I've been so excited about all of the crafts that I have been doing during my story times I decided that I wanted to start posting pictures of them, and the links to the craft ideas (if any).

For Black History Month I read about Mae Jamieson, and decided that since we were talking about an astronaut going into space I wanted the children to do something about the earth.  We talked about our planet and what it looks like from outer space.

I found this idea on DLTK's website under Earth Day and Sissor Skills Craft.

A new website I fell in love with for their crafts is Danielle's Place.  They had several great craft and activity ideas for George Washington Carver.  I read a short biography on Carver, and then the children and I discussed how Mr. Carver used nature to create new things.  I took them outside and they gathered rocks. leaves, twigs and seeds.  Once back inside the library they decorated their boxes with things from nature.  The idea for this craft was found on this page.