Welcome to Paradise: Toddling Twos May 7th and Terrific Threes and Fours May 9th Storytime Topic is Tropical Paradise/Jungle

Everyone will be in a tropical mood during the Toddling Twos and Terrific Threes and Fours storytimes next week. We'll  be dancing to Hawaiian music, seeing which animals like to climb and live in trees in the tropics during a sassy flannelboard game, and creating a Polly the Parrot Craft.

Let's Celebrate! See All the Fun We Had During Our Toddling Twos Birthday Storytime

We had quite a celebration during the Toddling Twos April 30th Birthday Storytime today. We danced to a Birthday Months Action Rhyme, saw some very colorful balloons in the flannelboard story, Five Balloons Way Up High in the Sky, and made an adorable birthday hedgehog craft!

Party On!

Birthday Hedgehog Craft

Signs I held up during Birthday Months Action Rhyme

                                  



Signs children held up during Birthday Months Action Rhyme



Five Balloons Way up High in the Sky



Books read during Storytime



  



                                   

It's Party Time: April 30th Toddling Twos and May 2nd Terrific Threes and Fours Birthday Storytime Hedgehog Craft

This prickly hedgehog is the quill-tessential party animal! The April 30th Toddling Twos and May 2nd Terrific Threes and Fours will be making this effervescent little fellow during their birthday-themed storytimes!

Happy Birthday to You! Toddling Twos April 30th and Terrific Threes and Fours May 2nd Storytime: Birthdays

Happy Birthday to You!

We'll be celebrating our birthdays a little earlier or later this year during our April 30th Toddling Twos and May 2nd Terrific Threes and Fours Storytimes!

We'll celebrate by dancing to a catchy little "Birthday Months" Action Rhyme, bake ourselves a delicious cake during our decadent Let's Make a Cake! flannel board, hear a bounty of birthday stories, and create a very special birthday hedgehog craft!

Lovely Ladybugs! Check Out What We Did During our Toddling Twos Ladybug Storytime Today!

Lots of  lovely ladybugs visited us during our Toddling Twos Ladybug Storytime today. We danced like a bevy of beautiful bugs during a Buggy Move and Groove Movement Activity, counted our way from 1-10 with a delightful ladybug flannel board, read some fun ladybug tales like The Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle, searched for ladybugs after reading the book, Look for Ladybugs by Dana Meachen Rau, and created a Lydia Ladybug craft!  

Buggy Move and Groove Movement Activity Cards (bee, cricket, ant, butterfly, worm, praying mantis, and centipede)



Lady Bug Hunt cards and Ladybugs





Count those ladybugs! Ladybug flannel board using Cricut cartridges



Lydia Ladybug Craft

Ladybugs, Ladybugs Everywhere: Toddling Twos April 23rd Storytime Topic: Ladybugs

The April 23rd Toddling Twos Storytime is as cute as a bug in a rug (ladybug, that is)! We'll find out where ladybugs like to hide in a ladybug hunt, prance like a bug in our Buggy Move and Groove Movement Activity, read lovely ladybug stories, and create a bug-tiful Lydia Ladybug Craft.

I'm Feeling Spacey: April 16th Toddling Twos Storytime Topic: Outer Space

Get ready to blast off to outer space during our April 16th Toddling Twos Storytime! We'll get ready to take off on our mission with a blast off countdown movement activity, meet two friendly astronauts during a space-inspired flannel board, read some "spacey" tales, and make our very own alien spaceship craft.

Please note that we will not be holding a preschool storytime on April 18th.

Check Out My Personal Book Blog: Pump Up the Volumes

Pump Up the Volumes is my own personal blog devoted to libraries and books. I wanted to show everyone the blog which I will be updating frequently with book reviews, storytime ideas and crafts I have produced specifically for my blog, interesting anecdotes about library and book-related information around the country and much more!

I have also added a few pages that readers may also enjoy: Judging a Book by Its Cover (about the most visually beautiful books I have read recently with reviews), Meet Bentley Bookworm (my blog mascot), and You Get a Gold Star! (a list and descriptions of the best libraries I have visited in the area).

I hope you enjoy the blog!

Please click on the following link to visit: http://pumpupthevolumes.blogspot.com/

The Library is Blooming With Books!

Come to the library during National Library Week (April 8 - 14) because You Belong to the Library (ALA's National Library Week theme this year) by checking out one of the books featured in our Bloom with Books bulletin board or any of our other wonderful media items of your choice!

We had a Roaring Good Time During Our Toddling Twos Dinosaur Storytime!

Take a look at the dino-tastic activities we performed during our Toddling Twos Storytime today. We saw a dinosaur egg and bone, went digging for archaeological treasures in our I Dig It Fossil Hunt Game, stomped to Laurie Berkner's "We Are the Dinosaurs", and made our very own dino-mite dinosaur!

I wore these dinosaur claws (from Makeandtakes.com dinosaur party)  when we were dancing to "We Are the Dinosaurs" by Laurie Berkner

I Dig It Fossil Hunt Game

Tools we used to dig for fossils and assorted items such as a dinosaur "fossil", plastic dinosaur, and stone

New Friends Flannel board from Perpetualpreschool.com



Dinosaur Egg and Bone



Just Breathe! Managing Stress During Stress Awareness Month

April is Stress Awareness Month. Stress can manifest in a number of ways in children including anxiety, listlessness, and a variety of coping behaviors such as nail biting.

By learning stress reduction techniques such as yoga and breathing exercises one can help relieve the harmful effects of stress on the body.

Keep your children as worry and stress free as possible by reading the following books which can be found at the library.

Adult Section

Parenting Your Stressed Child by Michelle L. Bailey, MD, FAAP (649.1 Bai) (Adult New Books)
The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon by David Elkind, Ph.D.  (305.23 Elk)
Stress and Your Child: Helping Kids Cope with the Strains and Pressures of Life by Bettie B. Youngs, Ph.D., Ed.D (649 You)

Juvenile Section

American Girl: Real Spirit: Fun ideas for Refreshing, Relaxing and Staying Strong by Elizabeth Chobanian (J 613.042 Cho)

Young Adult Section

A Taste-Berry Teen's Guide to Managing the Stress and Pressures of Life by Bettie B. Youngs, Ph.D., Ed.D., and Jennifer Leigh Youngs (YA 155.9 Tas)

Ways to Reduce Stress

1. Take a break from the daily grind by taking a short walk during your lunch hour.
2. Talk to a friend or family members about your worries.
3. Write your thoughts down in a journal.
4. Watch a funny movie. Laughter truly is the best medicine.
5. Start a new hobby such as salsa dancing or knitting.

The Great Rainbow Search! It's National Find-a-Rainbow Day!

These dreamy, multi-colored meteorological wonders have left us spellbound since the beginning of time. Many legends, including the famous Irish "pot of gold at the end of a rainbow" folktale, have entertained us and helped reinforce the idea of luck when we view nature's stunning display of colors.


Below you will find some wonderful ways to help celebrate National-Find-a-Rainbow Day:


Create your very own rainbow by designing these crafts
Cereal Rainbow

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/craftstechniques101/ig/Chapter-11--Seasons-and-Celebr/Cereal-Rainbow.htm

Smiling Rainbow Cloud Craft
http://funartandcrafts.com/spring/rainbow-cloud-craft

Rainbow Streamers
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/rainbowstreamer/

Read a folktale
Read the Native American legend: How the Rainbow was Made
http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/mi6.html

Teach your child colors through the following color concept books:

*All books are found in the concept picture book section of Youth Services*

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd (JE Dodd)

Teeny, Tiny Mouse: A Book About Colors by Laura Leuck (JE Leuck)

What Does Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park (JE Park)


Learn how a rainbow is made
Look under How do we get rainbows?  (next topic after why is the sky blue?)

Make sure to also try the easy rainbow experiments at the bottom of the page!

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-optical-illusions.htm

Dino-mite! Toddling Twos April 9th and Terrfic Threes and Fours April 11th Storytime Topic: Dinosaurs

We're going prehistoric during our Toddling Twos April 9th and Terrific Threes and Fours April 11th storytimes. Our storytime topic will be all about dinosaurs! We'll jump and jive to Laurie Berkner's "We are the Dinosaurs", dig for dinosaur fossils in the I dig It Fossil Hunt, read dinosaur stories, touch and view a paper mache dinosaur egg and bone, join a dino and his friends in a dino-mite flannel board story, and make a dinosaur paper craft!

Are You Kidding?: Happy April Fool's Day and Silly Joke Books

Get out your whoopee cushions and cans of worms, It's April Fool's Day!

See the legend behind the holiday by clicking on this informative article from Yahoo! News or check out these jolly joke books to help put you in a humorous holiday spirit:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/april-fools-day-history-holiday-212531257.html

Silly Joke Books

The Silliest Joke Book Ever by Victoria Hartman (J 818 Har)
Wackysaurus: Dinosaur Jokes by Louis Phillips (J 818 Phi)
School Jokes by Viki Woodworth (J 818 Woo)
Goofy Jokes and Giggles by Charles Keller (J 818.54 Kel)
Laughing Matters: Monster Jokes Compiled by Pam Rosenberg (J 818.6 Mon)
Laughing Matters: Outdoor Jokes by Compiled by Pam Rosenberg (J 818.6 Out)
Laughing Matters: Sports Jokes Compiled by Pam Rosenberg (J 818.6 Ros)
Knock, Knock! Who's There?: My First Book of Knock-Knock Jokes by Tad Hills ( JE Hills)

These books are sure to tickle your funny bone today and all through National Humor Month (this month) too!

Learn all about National Humor Month that was founded by humorist Larry Wilde by visiting http://www.humormonth.com/index.html.

Make sure to make every day funny and carefree by trying out the suggestions in 30 Ways in 30 Days!
http://www.humormonth.com/30-ways-in-30-days.pdf

Happy April Fool's Day!