March Ideas

Dr. Seuss
Read: Mr. Brown can Moo, Can You? and I am NOT Going to Get Up Today by Dr. Seuss
Craft: Noise Shakers

• Need paper party cups, beans, markers, stickers and duct-tape.
• Using ketchup cups, have child count out four scoops of beans and fill into one of their cups.
• Instruct each child to raise their hand when this task is completed. Then travel to each child and tape their cups together (drinking end to drinking end).
• Child can then decorate their cups with markers and stickers.
• Then send them home to drive their parents bonkers!

Alphabet
Read: ABC Bunny - Gag (borrowed from Woodbury P.L.) Chicka Chicka Boom for Wednesday Session and Kipper's A to Z for Thursdays session.
Craft: Watercolor Letters from Preschool Daze

• Need water color paints, painters blue-tape, craft paper/watercolor paper and foam paint brushes.
• Prior to storytime, blue-tape the first letter of each child's name to watercolor paper.
• Give each child a paint palette with various colors of paint. And have them apply to paper.
• When they are done, remove the tape. Viola..... 

Preschool Daze

Children's had a blast and were amazed at the result. The older children's projects looked similar to the Preschool Daze image. The younger ones .... not so much. The colors were muddied. Next time, I will try to be more specific with using one color at a time and etc.....

Spring
Read; Rabbit's Good News by Bornstein and Wake Up Spring by Ernst
Craft: Flower

• Need tissue paper in two colors, green craft paper -- cut into a leaf and stem, ketchup cups, white glue, pony beads and blue craft paper.
• Prior to storytime, cut out tissue paper into flower shapes, cut green paper into leaves and stems, and squirt white glue into ketchup cups.
• Have child glue onto blue craft paper, two tissue flowers, stem and leaves.
• Then glue ketchup cup onto center (carpel?) of the flower.
• Have child count out 10 pony beads and place inside the cup.
• Have each child sign their names.....

Super fun and super easy. The children loved counting and picking the color of the beads for their flower.

Rabbits
Read: Where Did Bunny Go? by Nancy Tafuri and Quiet Bunny by McCue
Craft: Carrot collage from No Time for Flash Cards

• Need: Orange and green craft paper, white paper cut into carrot shape.
• Prior to storytime, rip up orange craft paper into squares (depending on age, children can rip paper up themselves) and cut green paper into leafy green.
• Have children glue the paper onto the carrot shape and finish it off with the leafy greens.
• Easy-peasy...

No Time for Flash Cards

Easter Eggs
Read: The Easter Egg by Jan Brett and The Story of the Easter Bunny Katherine Brown Tegen
Craft: Easter Egg Suncatchers

• Need sticky-back paper cut into egg shape, glitter, sequins, ribbon and bits of this and that
• Prior to storytime, tape a sticky-back egg onto craft table.
• Child "decorates" their egg.
• Instruct children to raise their hand when they are finished decorating and they may leave the craft table for free play.
• As children play, adhere a second piece of sticky-back on the top of egg and and then trim around the egg shape. Punch a hole into the top and thread and knot a ribbon.

Really simple and the children love using sticky-back paper. I try to use it as much as I can.