Burnham Bunch: Here a Chick ...

There a Chick ...

Read: Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri and Chicks Run Wild by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

Flannel board: This Little Chick Inspired by Mel's Desk

This Little Chick

This little chick was gray
And this little chick was brown
This little chick was yellow
And THIS chick was upside down!

Mel's Desk said that you can mix-up and repeat -- just keep the brown chick second. I made some "extra" chicks: Pink, Red, Blue, Orange. I continued to mix-up the birds .... substituting pink for gray, red for orange and etc. You get the picture. But, always remember to keep the second chick brown.

Craft: Baby Chicks

• Need: Yellow and orange construction paper, yellow feathers, and sticker-eyes.
• Prior to storytime, I cut out all the pieces and assembled the yellow paper into a tube. To make the tube, I cut the yellow paper in half (the long way) and then trimmed a 4" piece (this will be used for the wings). I rolled the yellow paper to make a tube shape and secured with glue. I traced and cut a circle from the 4" piece and then cut that in half to make two wings. Then I cut a bunch of triangular orange beaks.
• Have children glue on the wings and beak. Apply the sticker-eyes and glue the feather on the inside of the tube.
• When they have completed the assembly of their chick. I stapled the top of the tube closed.

Burnham Bunch: Springtime

Spring has Sprung!

Read: My Garden by Kevin Henkes ( I just l.o.v.e. this book) and Rabbit's Good News by Ruth Lercher Bornstein.

Flannel Board:

Five Little Flowers

One little flower had nothing much to do,
Out popped another one, then there were two.

Two little flowers were smiling at the bee,
Out popped another one, then there were three.

Three little flowers were growing by the door,
Out popped another one, then there were four.

Four little flowers were glad to be alive,
Out popped another one, then there were five.

I used clipart to make five different colored flowers with stems. I put the numbers 1 - 5 in the middle of each flower. As I chanted the rhyme, I put each flower up. Easy peasy!

Craft: Accordion Folded Flower Card inspired by Make and Takes

• Need: Green paper and other colorful papers. Sturdy card stock. Glue sticks.
• Prior to storytime, I accordion-folded a bunch of card-stock. I also cut out flower stems out of the green paper. And various shapes (circles, tulip, wavy-circles) out of the colorful scapbooking paper.

Burnham Bunch: St. Patrick's Day

Luck of the Irish

Read: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Clover by Patricia Colandro and Lucky Leprechaun by Dawn Bentley

Flannel Board: Using There Was An Old Lady have kiddos place pieces on the board as the story progresses.

Craft: Leprechaun face

• Need: Paper plate, green, black, yellow construction paper, sticker-eyes, orange paint, foam paintbrush.
• Prior to storytime, have your wonderful assistant (Thanks, Susan!) cut out a hat, band and buckle out of the construction paper. Also, cut into the bottom half of the paper plate to make it look like a beard. And I drew on a smile using a red marker.
• Have the children glue together the hat pieces and apply sticker eyes.
• Put a super-small amount of orange paint on a plate and instruct the children to paint on a beard.

I'm In Love ....

Book Love

As a Children's Librarian, it is my "job" to order new books. I have job in quotes because, honestly, it is the one of my favorite parts of being a librarian. My heart skips a beat when I see the UPS man drive into our parking lot. I love opening up a box of new books and being the first to page through each one. Sometimes I am disappointed with some of the newer picture books ... just the same ol' story with new pictures or a new slant on things. But, mostly I am in awe at what these authors and illustrators create for our children. I am especially fond of picture books ... and always have a pile on my desk. So, I decided to create a monthly post with some of my favorite books.

Burnham Bunch: Dogs

Ruff Ruff

Read: Where's Pup by Dayle Ann Dodds and Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Flannel Board: Dog's Colorful Day inspired by A Bad Case of Books

They are installing new fiber-optic lines, so we will have blazzzzzing fast internet. Of course, they are doing all the work smack-dab in the middle of our reading/craft area. What a MESS!!! So, we had to improvise. Coloring page = lame craft. But, coloring page + stickers = fun craft. That's what we did ....

Craft: Colorful Dog

• Need: Dog drawing, crayons and sticker dots.
• The end! 

No spots for this dog .... just camoflage.