Valentine's Day Song and Fingerplay!

Will You Be My Valentine?

To the tune of "The Muffin Man"

Oh, will you be my valentine?

My valentine? My valentine?

Oh, will you be my valentine?

And love me every day?

Oh, yes, I'll be your valentine.

Your valentine. Your valentine.

Oh, yes, I'll be your valentine.

And love you every day.

My Valentine Heart

When I say I love you (Point to lips)

It comes from my heart (Hand on heart)

You hear it in your ear (Point to ear)

And it sounds very smart (Point to head)

I love it when you're proud of me (Stand very tall)

You say it all day long (Stretch arms wide)

And when I hear you say it (Point to ear)

My heart sings a merry song (Hand on heart)

Stay Tuned, Today was just a preview. I'll have more fun Preschool and Early Lit fun tomorrow!

Fingerplay Friday- It is Snowing



Image borrowed from:
stopviolenceuw.wordpress.com

Since the vast majority of the US is about to be hit with a major cold snap, and may of us will be seeing snow, what better than to use snow as the basis of a Fingerplay!

"It is snowing, it is snowing, (Make snowing motion with hands)
All a round, All a round, (Hand at brow, look "all around")
I need a hat, I need a hat, (Motion as if you are putting on a hat)
On my head, on my head" (Point to head)

(Continue with motions, changing the winter gear you are putting on, and the body part you point to.)

"It is snowing, it is snowing,
All a round, All a round,
I need earmuffs, I need earmuffs,
On my ears, on my ears"

"It is snowing, it is snowing,
All a round, All a round,
I need mittens, I need mittens,
On my hands, on my hands"

"It is snowing, it is snowing,
All a round, All a round,
I need scarf, I need a scarf,
Around my neck, around my neck"

"It is snowing, it is snowing,
All a round, All a round,
I need boots, I need boots,
On my feet, on my feet"

"It is snowing, it is snowing,
All a round, All a round,
I need a coat, I need a coat,
On my body, on my body"

Fitch and Chip (Wolf and Pig) Paper Bag Puppets

On a whim, while attempting to select some good "Easy Readers" for my first through third book group, I stumbled across a pretty funny series called Fitch and Chip by Lisa Wheeler. The book I selected is called New Pig in Town, in which Chip (the pig) is the new student in class and realizes that Fitch is the only wolf. The story continues with some pretty good pig and "lone wolf" jokes, and concludes with Fitch and Chip becoming friends. Though this book is outside of what I would call "Early Literacy Parameters", it would still be a fun read to share. Particularly for a toddler entering preschool.

In my book group, we always conclude with a craft. I picked the book first this time, so I ended up beating my head up against a wall for a craft to go with it. And then I came up with the perfect idea!

Pig and Wolf Paper Bag Puppets!

The novelty of this idea is that not only can you use the puppets as Fitch and Chip, but you could also use them as the base for other pig and wolf stories, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, you get my drift. 

Let me be clear. I DID NOT make these templates myself. I lend credit where credit is due, in the caption link. But if you ask my opinion, these are two of the best patterns out there for a wolf and pig puppet. You will notice that I did modify my final product from the templates. More on that later...

This is the pattern I used for Chip the Pig:

Template provided by archjrc.com:

http://archjrc.com/childsplace/images/pigpuppet.gif 

And this is the pattern I used for Fitch the Wolf:

Template and photo provided by easy-child-crafts.com

The file is in PDF format, so click the link below to access it.

http://www.easy-child-crafts.com/support-files/wolf-paperbag-puppet-template.pdf

This is my rendition of Chip the Pig, utilizing the above template as a guide:

I used 2 shades of pink paper and used the template as tracing outline. All of the black is drawn on with permanent marker.

This is my rendition of Fitch the Wolf, utilizing the above template as a guide:

I used 2 shades of brown paper and once again used the template as a tracing outline. Instead of grey and white, and chose not utilize the arms from the template. All of the black is once again drawn on with permanent marker.

I hope you have fun making these puppets, and are able to modify them to suit your needs as well! If you do make them, comment me a link to your post, I'd love to see what you and/or your kids have made!

Wordless Wednesday - Baby's First Trip To The Hospital

I've been MIA for a while now because life's been one heck of a mess. Since Jan 1st, there's been stroke, cancer, broken bones, surgery for bones and cancer, job loss, and hospital stays. So to segway back into normal bloggy life, here is one of my most precious photos, from probably one of the worst times of my life.

Note: I covered up his little hospital bracelet (that's why it looks weird). I didn't want any creepers stealing his info.

Early Lit Tip Tuesday- Children Take Words Literally

Early Lit Tip Tuesday is back in action! Have you missed it? Here's this week's tip from the ECIC:

Early Literacy Activity Cards-Resource

Image borrowed from kwachtman.wordpress.com

I came across a site called Family Literacy Expertise, they are a Canadian non-profit and have an immense resource of early literacy activity cards based on familiar children's books. If you are looking for a kids book with activities pre-pared with it, or have a kids book and are looking for activities to accompany it. This is a great site to check out.

Some of the books they have listed are:

A Big Fat Enormous Lie	My Family's Changing
A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes	My Friends and Me
All Together Now	Nose to Toes
Alligator Baby	Number One, Tickle Your Tum
Amazing Grace	On Your Potty
Andrew's Loose Tooth	Pajama Time
Baby Faces	Peek a Who
Barnyard Dance	Peekaboo Baby
Big or Little	Red Ripe Strawberry, Little Mouse and the Big Hungry Bear
Can't You Sleep Little Bear	Shoes from Grandpa
Clap Your Hands	Sleepy Little Mouse
Finding Kate's Shoes	Stellaluna
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed	Stop Picking On Me
Five Little Monkeys Sitting In a Tree	That's Good That's Bad
Five Little Monkeys With Nothing to Do	The Bear Went over the Mountain
From Head to Toe	The Grouchy Ladybug
Good Night Gorilla	The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Goodnight Moon	The Kissing Hand
Guess How Much I love You	The Mitten
Hands Are Not For Hitting	The Princess and the Potty
Hiding	The Very Busy Spider
I Can Blink	The Way I Feel
I Have to Go	Touch and Feel Animal Kisses
I Love You So Much	Touch and Feel Bedtime
I Miss You	Touch and Feel Mealtime
If You Give A Moose A Muffin	Touch and Feel Pets
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie	Two Eyes A Nose & A Mouth
If You Were My Bunny	Up to the Skies and Down Again
I'm A Little Teapot	Very Busy Spider
I'm As Quick As A Cricket	Very Hungry Caterpillar
Jessica's X-ray	Where the Wild Things Are
Lifetimes	Where's My Teddy
Little Mouse, Red Ripe Strawberry & The Big Hungry Bear
Makeup Mess

Cat in the Hat Clothes for Infants and Toddlers

Happy New Year All! I wish you all the best in 2012! How are your New Year's resolutions coming? Have you given up on them yet? :)

Anyhoo, as you may have noticed, I haven't posted much since Christmas. I decided to capitalize on spending some quality time with my family (and reading books with them too, of course!).

But this morning, I just knew I had to post about something that caught my eye. I'm a Zulily member, it's similar to Groupon and other deal sites but this one focuses on stuff for kids and moms, and this morning's email had the cutest Cat in the Hat clothes! If you're kid is a  huge fan like mine, these are a must have! In both boys and girls styles, and sizes from infant to toddler, there's something for every Cat Fan!

Sign up here to start reciving deals from Zulily, and to be able to purchase some these too cute clothes!