• Lifestyle

    Read for the Record

    Today is Read for the Record Day, a national campaign created by Jumpstart as the world’s largest shared reading experience to promote reading to preK children and to highlight how many children are not prepared for Kindergarten when they reach  their first year of school. Last year  2.2 million children and…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime: All About Me

    All About Me

    Teaching kids confidence and self-esteem starts early! Check out the books, songs, and activities below to open up a conversation about diversity, inclusion, empathy, and self-esteem for your youngest readers! Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Back to School

    So for my back-to-school Top Ten list, I went with not-so-typical back-to-school books – mainly focusing more on being yourself, gaining self-confidence, and not making snap decisions about how people look; rather than your typical first day of school nerves.  So, without further ado… Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes A Bad Case…

  • Activities

    1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Party

    Each year we celebrate all the little ones who have completed our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten – many are students entering Kindergarten, but others are still little ones who have been reading since they were a few months old.  We try to hold our party in August before school starts…

  • Activities

    Yoga Storytime Theme: Poetry

    Yoga Storytime Theme: Poetry Sun Salutations: Mountain, Reach Up, Touch the Ground, Hands at Knees (flat back), Plank Pose, Cobra Pose, Downward Facing Dog, Walk toward Hands. (Repeat 3x) Early Literacy Tip: April is National Poetry Month – there are some amazing picture books that are actually poems!  Don’t be…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Making a Mess

    messy kids

    This is one of those lesson plans that I was super excited about!  Most small children LOVE making a mess!  Then, I had 33 toddlers in my program… and after taking a look at the amount of energy in the room, I realized that my lesson plan wasn’t going to fly.…

  • Activities

    Family Storytime Theme: Noses

    Nose Storytime Opening: “Hello” with sign languageHello, friends. (x3)It’s time to say hello. Puppet Meet & Greet: Meet Woolly (monkey puppet) Early Literacy Tip: Rhyming books are awesome to share with kids, especially when they can start figuring out the rhymes themselves! Book 1: Whose Nose is This? by Peg…

  • Activities

    Family Storytime Theme: Supeheroes

    Family Storytime Theme: Supeheroes Superheroes are a crowd favorite, but rather than choose DC or Marvel superheroes, I found some really great stories about kids being superheroes.  And as we were talking in storytime about what makes someone a superhero, a little boy responded with the best reason of all…

  • Activities

    Family Storytime Theme: Fire-Breathing Dragons

    Opening: “Hello” with sign language Hello, friends. (x3) It’s time to say hello. Puppet Meet & Greet: Meet Woolly (monkey puppet) Early Literacy Tip: “Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh…

  • Activities

    Family Storytime Theme: Superheroes

    Opening: “Hello” with sign language Hello, friends. (x3) It’s time to say hello. Puppet Meet & Greet: Meet Woolly (monkey puppet)  Early Literacy Tip: “Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letters that…