Ten Summer Activities You Can Do Together: Reading is SO Delicious Part 2

Reading is SO Delicious!  Have you signed up for the Summer Reading Program at the library?  Children from birth through 35 months are encouraged to sign up to become a "Little Listener."  This is a great program for parents and caregivers to incorporate the 5 essential early literacy skills into your everyday routine!

We have even more food-based ideas in this part two of our Reading is SO Delicious Summer Activities to Do Together. Check out a book to read together and then share some delicious fun with these food games.  Don't forget to color in the shapes of your reading log when you complete the activity. You can do these at the library, at home, at the park, at the pool, or wherever you find time together!
 

1. V is for vegetable – list your favorites
2. Make DIRT with pudding, Oreo cookies and gummy worms
3. Draw a flower for Mom or Grandma
4. Sing the "Ten Red Apples" song (From our friends at King County Library System)
5. Visit a farmstand
6. Take a taste test and determine which is better:  cooked or raw carrots
7. Make ants on a log using celery, peanut butter and raisins
8. Count the seeds in a slice of watermelon
9. Read a book that describes how a plant grows then talk about what you learn
10. Help weed or dig up a new garden OR plant a seed in a paper cup

Wonderful Ones: Spring Showers and Flowers

This week at Wonderful Ones we are exploring more about springtime with showers and flowers!  You'll use active movements to help babies learn about the space around them, such as, clapping hands to the rhythm, bouncing baby on your lap like a bunny, and using your fingers to show falling raindrops.  Through simple counting rhymes, you are also helping your baby learn numbers.  Gentle upward motions using your arms mimics the size of a flower and encourages hand and eye coordination.   

Raindrops Rhyme
Raindrops, raindrops!
Falling all around.
Pitter-patter on the rooftops,
Pitter-patter on the ground.
Here is my umbrella;
It will keep me dry.
When I go walking in the rain,
I hold it up so high.

Flowers Tall and Small Rhyme
Flowers tall,
Flowers small,
Count them one by one,
Blowing with the breezes,
In the springtime sun!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

Flowers tall,
Flowers small,
Count them one by one,
Blowing with the breezes,
In the springtime sun!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

Baby Bunny Rhyme
Baby bunny bounces high,
Baby bunny bounces low.
Baby bunny blinks his eyes,
Baby bunny waves goodbye.

Baby bunny bounces high,
Baby bunny bounces low.
Baby bunny blinks his eyes,
Baby bunny waves goodbye.

We read these springtime books at Wonderful Ones: 

What Can You Do in the Rain? By Anna Grossnickle Hines
The rain provides opportunities to feel it fall, hear it patter, and mix a mud pie. 
Check catalog availability

Beautiful Babies by Karma Wilson
Kids can touch and feel photos of beautiful animal babies. 
Check catalog availability

Wonderful Ones: Counting Babies

In this week's Wonderful Ones we read the book Ten Tiny Babies by Karen Katz, available to check out at the Gail Borden library.  Karen Katz has written many books for parents and babies to read together, many of them with simple themes such as colors and numbers and colorful artwork to grab baby's attention.  To find more Karen Katz books, search the library catalog by the author's name.

One of the first learning concepts babies are exposed to are numbers and counting.  Counting aloud not only introduces new sounds and words, but also creates a stimulating learning environment.  The rhymes below bring together interaction between you and your baby in an engaging and positive atmosphere, with counting actions and concepts.

Five Babies Rhyme
One little baby rocking in a tree,
Two little babies splashing in the sea,
Three little babies crawling on the floor,
Four little babies banging on the door,
Five little babies playing hide-and-seek,
Keep your eyes closed tight now,
Until I say peek!

Clap, Two, Three, Four Rhyme
Clap, two, three, four.
Shake, two, three, four.
Pat, two, three, four.
Roll, two, three, four.
Push, two, three, four.
Shake your hands and clap, clap, clap
Shake your hands and fold them in your lap.