After signing in with a bug sticker for themselves and one for their folder, I found out some of the children were about as enthused over spiders as myself. But when we sat down and looked at the big, hairy tarantula [a stuffed one, of course!] everyone found spiders to be quite interesting. We counted legs and talked about the difference between spiders [8 legs] and insects [6 legs]. We also talked about their eyes and "C" noticed a "funny thing on the spider's butt" and we talked about them spinning webs and producing a sticky silken thread.
"Someone" jumped back very quickly when the spider made a sudden move, and it gave the adults quite a chuckle. But he came right back up to thoroughly check out the spider.
Our first book of the morning was
Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin. I needed to tell the kids that although they would learn a few facts about spiders, the book was going to be mostly silly stuff.
As we read the children moved in closer and closer to find things in the pictures and laugh at some of the silly things the spider did. The adults even found there was some higher level humor as this book is very well written.
The minute I finished the book one of the children asked if we were going to make a craft today. My answer was, "Yes, we're going to spin a spider web!". That brought out a couple of funny looks and giggles. At the craft table the adults helped the children thread a bobby pin 'needle' with yarn and also punched heart-shaped holes around the edge of a paper plate. Then the children were able to randomly "sew" a web onto the plate. They found that creating a web was hard work that took lots of concentration. When the plates were finished we used sticky dots to put baby spiders into our new webs. All the children did such a good job, and as you can see they are very proud of their webs.
Now it was time for our second book:
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle.
I gave each of the children a packet of pictures of the animals in the story and a picture of a ladybug. After counting the legs on a ladybug and discovering she was an insect, we talked about being grouchy at times, and although the children wanted to say they were never grouchy the adults didn't bear that out as truth.
I then began the story with the ladybugs meeting on a leaf where they could have a breakfast of aphids and the Grouchy one not wanting to stay and eat.
When he flew off and met the wasp I brought out ladybug finger puppets for each of the kids and had them find the wasp on their sheets. They children soon learned to say, in unison, "Do you want to fight!?", as their finger puppets approached the same creature on their sheets as my Grouchy Ladybug met in the story. Then we also did, "Oh, no, you're not big enough!", in unison and had the ladybugs fly on.
We had a great time reading this book together, and I'm sure Susan heard us in the Senior Nutrition Site down the hall! [Even the adults joined in as the story went along.]
We were really at the end of our time, but no one was in a hurry to leave so we played a game called Bugs in a Jar. The children were very gracious about taking turns rolling the die, counting the spots, then selecting that many "bugs" of the color determined by the crayon I drew out of a black bag. When they filled their jar they got to select a
full sheet of stickers as a prize. In the end, everyone won a sheet of stickers.
It was then time to get our take-home sheets, a little morning snack of Goldfish or Mini Nilla Wafers, and a
surprise from Mitzi. After rolling the die,to determine the order of choice, each child was allowed to select a Beanie Baby to keep. To relate to the theme of the morning I had a curly snake, a scorpion, a snail and a spider... all "creepy/crawly things". "D" played the game in the evening too, and beat her mom, but we forgot to take a picture. She also took home a scorpion that kept 'stinging' everyone!
Next week is our final session until next Fall and it is going to be about Mothers. Hope you'll join us.
Childrens' Librarian,
Mitzi
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