Anne with an E that's me: February 2011

Hey...who are these two cute astronauts floating around in space??????? (sorry Brenna...the first picture I found that worked had Megan and I...so we won)

Yesterday at Storytime...our stories went along with the Space theme. I figured since there was a launch scheduled for later in the day I might as well do something related. We had FUN! We had some stories about flying and space, and we did a song from this CD......"AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE" , The kids and I, and one or two grandparents moved along with Greg & Steve...we put on our spacesuits, got in the rocket and blasted off. Then we dodged meteors, etc. My favorite part is when the Shuttle lands, the door opens and the crowd is cheering. We "waved to the crowd" and the parents, grandparents, babysitters waved back. It was a "blast!" haha

Byron Barton's books are always colorful and simple but fun. The pictures show a lot without a lot of details. The boys and girls liked it a lot.

We started off with this cute story "Some Dogs Do" by Jez Alborough; about Sid the dog...who can fly. The problem is..."Dogs don't fly" and all his friends think Sid is lying. Later Sid learns the secret that his Dad can fly too....and so it is that when it comes to flying..."Some dogs don't...but SOME dogs do!"

"Higher and Higher" by Leslie Patricelli is a simple picture book about a little girl on a swing....who like anyone who's ever been on a swing just wants to go "higher and higher". Cute.

"Sheep Blast Off!" by Nancy Shaw is one of many stories about the sheep who stumble their way into adventures...and this time they end up in a spaceship and before they know what's happening...they are in space. Luckily one of the aliens is still on board and it helps them get home. This was a fun story to end the reading part of the program. After the stories and song...we all went to the table and the children made a space picture of their own. They each had a Shuttle, a planet and an astronaut and then their choice of another rocket or another astronaut and plenty of stars to stick on. I told them to glue down the astronaut but leave the head loose...so they could put their own picture in when they got home (like yours truly in the first picture above...haha). It was fun to see all the different ways the kids decorated with the same materials. I got an email from one mom later in the day telling me how much her son had enjoyed the program. She said he was telling everyone about his space picture while he watched the space shuttle take off later that afternoon down at the beach.

We also read "PING PONG PIG" by Caroline Church. The illustrations as you can see are super cute. Ping Pong Pig has fun while his friends around the farmyard work...he just keeps trying to find a way to fly. After several tries and a lot of mishaps...his friends get together and make him a trampoline to keep him out of trouble. Before long he figures out how to use the trampoline to help out around the farmyard. Things are starting to look up until the friends hear a rustling up in the apple tree....and there is Ping Pong Pig...still trying to figure out how to fly. Everyone loved the illustrations and the silly antics of Ping Pong Pig.