Excited about watching virtual Storytimes but wanting to get more out of them? We are delighted to bring you some extra activities you can add to your day to get more out of our Storytimes! Each Friday we’ll be bringing you a preview of the themes for the next week and suggestions for ways to build extra learning and fun into each day.
Here’s a reminder on how to access Tumblebooks before we get started.
Monday June 22, 2020
Theme: Rhymes
Activity: Rhyme Time Sorting
Extra Story: “Chicken Scratches” by George Shannon and Lynn Brunelle found on Tumblebooks
Learn some of our favourite rhyming words with this simple card game!
Materials:
- Rhyme Sorting Printable
- Scissors
Board Game Pieces:
Game Pieces:
Instructions:
Step 1: Print off the rhyme game sorting printable. Use the print outs with the question marks as your “game board” so that you have one picture/word with a question mark below it.
Step 2: Cut up the “game piece” cards so each one is separate from one another.
Step 3: Grab your first game card (example “Mouse”). The object of the game is to find it’s matching rhyming counterpart, so go through the game boards until you find the item that sounds similar to the word “Mouse” (house).
Tuesday June 23, 2020
Theme: Favourite Songs
Activity: Music Maker Shakers
Extra Story: “Sing Along” Playlist on Tumblebooks
Some of our favourite songs involve a lot of movement and shaking around, so why not join us with some homemade instruments? Here’s an easy to make music maker shaker you can do from home!
Materials:
- Toilet Paper Roll
- Dried beans, chickpeas, or rice
- Packing tape
- Decorating Material for your shaker (stickers, felt pens, etc…)
Instructions:
Step 1: Seal up one end of the toilet paper roll.
Step 2: Fill your toilet paper roll with a handful of dried chickpeas (or beans).
Step 3: Seal up the other end of your toilet paper roll.
Step 4: Decorate your toilet paper roll shaker then use it to make music for some of your favourite songs!
Bonus Activity: Shake your shakers to the song “Shake your sillies out”!
Wednesday June 24, 2020
Theme: Counting
Activity: Counting Caterpillars
Extra Story: “Flight 1-2-3” by Marie Van Lieshout (found on Tumblebooks)
A fun and cute way to get in some counting practice and make crafts at the same time!
Materials:
- 5 pipe cleaners cut in half to make 10 total
- 10 cotton balls
- Hot glue gun
- Beads
- Piece of paper cut into 10 pieces
- Felt pen
Step 1: Write numbers 1-10 on each piece of paper. Add dots on the piece of paper as a visual aid for the children.
Step 2: Using a hot glue gun, add the cotton balls to the top of each pipe cleaner to make the caterpillar’s head.
Step 3: Line each caterpillar up with a number paper. The number represents how many beads are being added to each caterpillar!
Step 4: Have the children count out the beads, then add them to their caterpillars!
Thursday June 25, 2020
Theme: Dinosaurs
Activity: Dinosaur Bones
Extra Story: “All Aboard the Dinotrain” by Deb Lund found on Tumblebooks
Materials:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup water
- Bowl
- Parchment paper
- Pan
- Paint
Instructions:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees
Step 2: In a bowl, mix together 1 cup of salt with 2 cups of flour. Once it’s well blended, poor in 1 cup of water. Mix until the dough all comes together.
Step 3: Have the children create dinosaur bones out of the salt dough. You can show them images of dinosaur bones or let them create freely! Try to make each bone roughly 1 inch thick (or under).
Step 4: Once they have finished creating, it will be time to bake the bones! Bake them for 30 minutes (if they are thicker than 1 inch they may need more time baking).
Step 5: Let the bones cool completely before our next step. While waiting, set your creative space up with paint, paint brushes, and anything else you might need to get messy!
Step 6: Let the kids paint their dinosaur bones!
Pro tip: Wanting more from this activity? Bring them to your next beach adventure or out to your sandbox to bury the bones in the dry sand! Bring along brushes and shovels to dig up your bones!
Friday June 26, 2020
Theme: Beach Days
Activity: Cheerio Sea Creatures
Extra Story: “Block the Sun, Not the Fun” by Elle Feinman found on Tumblebooks
Materials:
- Construction paper
- Cheerios
- Frootloops (optional)
- Clear glue
- Paper plate (jelly fish)
- String (jelly fish)
- Googly eyes (optional)
Step 1: Cut out shapes of the sea creatures you want to create (such as a sea-star or octopus).
Step 2: Let the children decorate their creatures how they would like.
Step 3: Using the clear glue, have the children decorate their seas creatures with assorted cereals, such as cheerios and frootloops!
Bonus Activity: Create a paper plate jellyfish (see Beyond Storytime: June 15 – 19 for the “how to”) and thread cereal onto the tentacles!
That’s it for Storytime fun this week! We’ll be back next week with more.