Theme Thursday: Summer Reading Kick Off!

Last Thursday was our Summer Reading Kick Off party for elementary and high school kids; we couldn't very well leave out the story time crowd! I think it's a tad bit silly to give the 2 year olds the same spiel I give to the 4th graders so I mostly glossed over the actual summer reading program and theme, but we still had a great time talking about all the cool (or hot) things that come with summer.

Song: Good Morning Dear Earth

Flannel: Alphabet Soup- SUMMER

Rhyme: Big, Big, Big

Finger Play: 2 Little Blackbirds

Book: It's Summer! by Linda Glasser

Flannel: Chomp Like a Shark

Song: Move Your Body Along

Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Flannel: Let's Go Out On a Summer Night

Book/Flannel: Mouse's First Summer by Lauren Thompson

Song: Turn Around from Getting to know Myself

Make and Take Craft: Paint Chip Cities

As I mentioned above, our elementary and high school kick-off party was the same day as story time and I was so busy stressing out about that program that I completely forgot to prep a craft for story time! I ended up adapting a craft I had been saving for the older kid's kick-off party. As we wrapped up story time and I introduced the craft, I told the kids that we had talked about a lot of the great things about summer and all the different places we go during the summer, but that one of my favorite places to be in the summer was the city at night. I saw a lot of parents nodding their heads.

Supplies: 

-glue sticks

-crayons (markers won't work)

-paint chips (and scissors to cut the paint chips into shapes beforehand)

-construction paper

Process: My local hardware store may be considering banning me from the paint section; start with A LOT of paint chips (they're free but it does require some forward planning on your part) and cut them into several different building shapes. I left some flat and gave others antenna towers and just triangle roofs. After story time pass out the construction paper, crayons (markers won't stick to the paint chips), glue sticks and paint chip buildings. The kids had a great time gluing the buildings down and coloring in the backgrounds while the parents/care givers helped with the more intricate window and door details.

Time: Prep took about 5 minutes and the craft took 15 minutes.