• Lifestyle

    5 Early Literacy Practices: READ

    My nephew is about five months old and I am forever receiving text and photos of him from my brother and sister-in-law telling me how much he enjoys being read aloud to!  Babies, toddlers, and kids of all ages will connect reading with snuggles, love, hugs and kisses when parents/caregivers make…

  • Lifestyle

    5 Early Literacy Practices: PLAY

    Play is vital to a child’s growth and development.  It not merely a tool to keep children busy during the day.  During play, children “use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength.” (Importance of Play)  Play encourages and promotes both healthy brain development as…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Cookies

    This storytime made me soooo hungry!  Toddler Storytime Theme: Cookies is definitely a storytime hit for just about everyone! The kids really enjoyed all of the books and were quite interested in figuring out who ate all the cookie dough in Karen Beaumont’s book Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? …

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Winter Clothing

    mittens

    I am so impressed with this group of kids, I’ve chosen some longer books and they will sit through them!  The kids were absolutely giggling over Froggy Gets Dessed this morning and love doing our wiggle song, “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom” and really liked jumping to Jim Gills’s “Jumping & Counting”…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Color RED

    My storytime was definitely not my favorite today, the kids didn’t really seem to enjoy the books but were really into our scarf song.  I think part of the reason is that we have a little boy in class with a disability who comes with an adult and an aide…

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Dinosaurs

    dinosaur cover

    I tend to gauge my storytimes on how sweaty I am at the end. The sweatier (usually) the better. But today upped the ante with a hoarse voice (from roaring) and being sweaty. Storytime Theme: Dinosaurs was a great time and hit with kids and adults alike! The group ranges from babies to…

  • Lists

    2016 CLEL Bell Awards Winners

    The CLEL Bell Awards were announced this morning by the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL) inititave.  There are five books selected, each focusing on one of the early literacy practices.  So, without further ado…. Read – Sloth Slept On by Frann Preston-Gannon Write – Inside This Book: (are three books) by…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Snow Books

    Since we got over two feet of snow, that’s all that is on anyone’s mind!  That being said, here are some of my favorite snow books to share in storytime. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats Snow by Manya Stojic The Mitten by Jan Brett The Story of Snopw:…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Fun Read Alouds

    For storytime this week, I tried my hand at a little Spanish with the story, Counting Ovejas, which if you’re like me is a great story for adding a bilingual element that is not too difficult.  You just need to know your numbers, colors and the word “ovejas” which is sheep…

  • Activities

    Parachute Storytime Theme: Interactive Books

    This was our last week of storytime for the fall!  And I had a pretty small group, which really worked with the books I had.  The kids loved Shark in the Park, especially when they got to yell, “SHARK!”  They, of course, loved Polar Bear’s Underwear as well.  Which is not surprising……