Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Easter/Spring- week1

Book Ideas:
Owen’s Marshmallow Chick by Kevin Henkes
"Oh what joy it is Easter morning and Owen's basket is full. He can't wait to start enjoying all of the goodies. Among his favorites are the jellybeans, which he promptly devours, then the gumdrops, next the butter cream eggs and another favorite, the chocolate bunny. There is only one item left, a yellow marshmallow chick that looks just like his fuzzy yellow blanket. Owen plays with his chick all day and when evening comes, he puts it on his shelf with a sweet kiss goodnight. After all, it really is his favorite Easter treat."



Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri
This little chick went to the garden.
This little chick found a worm.
This little chick eyed a berry.
And this little chick gave a squirm!
With counting, fun, and vibrant illustrations, acclaimed storyteller Nancy Tafuri brings the farmyard to life.


The Surprise Visitor by Juli Kangas
One morning, Edgar Small discovers a blue, speckled "roundish thing"-an egg-on his front step. Who could it belong to? Edgar visits several animals, but the roundish thing does not fit in with any of them. All of the animals are willing to help, though, and they decorate the egg to make it more attractive. With a coat of fresh yellow paint, a smiling face, and a big bushy tail, the roundish thing is looking quite handsome-but when the egg finally reunites with its mother, will she recognize it as her own?




Arthur’s Jelly Beans by Marc Brown
Arthur wins the jelly bean hunt at Muffy's Spring Fling party in an unexpected way.



Last One in is a Rotten Egg! by Diane deGroat
Gilbert and Lola are excited that their cousin Wally is coming to help with the Easter egg hunt in the park. But when Lola finds the prized golden egg high up in a tree and asks tall Wally to help her retrieve it, Wally claims it for himself. But Gilbert finds a way to set things right.



The Grumpy Easter Bunny by Justine Korman
Hopper does not share the other rabbits' enthusiasm for their Easter rounds and instead of hiding his share of goodies, he eats much of them himself, before learning the real joy of Easter.



Activity Ideas:
Idea #1: Edible Nests

Read one of the book titles about chicks or birds ("Owen's Marshmallow Chick", or "Five Little Chicks", or "The Surprise Visitor") and then let your child build their own tasty bird nest.
You'll need some chocolate chips, La Choy crunchy ChowMein Noodles, gummy worms, jelly beans, and a marshmallow chick.
All you do is melt some chocolate chips in the microwave and then dump in some chowmein noodles and stir until their coated in the chocolate. Then spread the chocolate covered noodles out on a tinfoil or wax paper lined plate and stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. Then let your child press the noodles into a nest shape and decorate with the candies.





Idea #2: Crayon Resist Egg
Read one of the stories and then design your own Easter egg using heavy white paper, crayons, and watercolors.



Draw a large oval, using a crayon, on a piece of white cardstock or construction paper.



Have your child draw whatever designs they want, using crayons. Remind them to press hard so that the crayons will show well after they add the paint.




Next, let them paint with watercolors right over the top of their crayon designs.



When done, set aside and dry. Once dry cut out the egg. Here is an example of a two year-old's work and a five year-old's.




Idea #3: Toilet Paper Roll Rabbit

Read one of the stories and then make this fun little Easter Bunny.





Here are the items you'll need to have ready, as seen in the photo:
1 toilet paper roll
2 large back leg cut-outs
2 small front leg cut-outs
Bunny ears
Circle- for bunny head
Googly eyes
pink nose
1 cotton ball
(I just drew the body pieces onto cardstock paper)
Let your child assemble the head first. Glue the ears to the back of the circle. Then let them glue the eyes and nose to the face and draw on their own whiskers and mouth, however they want.




Next, squeeze glue around the rim of one of the toilet paper roll ends and place the head on top.




Then, glue on the front and back legs and the bunny tail. Set aside to dry.




Idea #4: Jelly Bean color sorting and counting

Read "Arthur's Jelly Beans" and then practice counting and sorting jelly beans by colors.
Ask your child to group all the greens together, and all the yellows together, and so forth... then count up how many are in each group. Make a guess which has the most before counting them. Count how many jelly beans their all total for practice counting in the double digits. These are all important skills to practice before going to school.
Idea #5: Egg Hunt
Read one of the books and then, using plastic eggs, send your child on an egg hunt. Hide some eggs around the house and have your child find them. This is a great activity to reinforce colors or counting. You could have your child find a specific color of egg or find only a specific number of eggs to see if they can keep track and count on their own.



1 comment:

Rae said...

Great books and ideas! I took JK to a special Easter storytime today. Super fun! Hope you guys are all well!!!