Twister on Tuesday

As a warm-up, the children colored a picture of a twister and completed a few activities related to the book.

I summarized the twenty third book, Twister on Tuesday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a Tootsie Roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

For our first craft, we made trains out of graham crackers, mini marshmallows, candy corn, and whipped cream. This allowed the children to let their creativity soar. Plus, it was a delicious dessert!

When Jack and Annie learned the familiar poem, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," we made our own stars! I passed out wooden stars, which I made out of popsicle sticks prior to the meeting. The children decorated these stars with markers, stickers, buttons, and pom poms. I also helped attach some string to each star, so this craft doubled as an ornament for the holidays.

When Jack and Annie learned of the grasshoppers that attacked the prairie last spring, I passed out a clothespin for each child to color green. The children also received green pipe cleaners to form the grasshopper's front and back legs.

Revolutionary War on Wednesday

As the children arrived, they colored a picture of George Washington.

I summarized the twenty second book, Revolutionary War on Wednesday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a tootsie roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

First, we made a three-cornered hat, like the hat Jack wore during his adventure. I passed out silver snowflake wrapping paper to each child to use in place of newspaper. Since it was snowing in the book, I thought this was the perfect paper for our craft! Then, I instructed the children step-by-step how to fold the paper to make a hat. I passed out markers and stickers as decoration for the hats.

Our next craft was coloring a picture of the dollar bill, which has George Washington on it! Then, I handed each child a picture frame, which I made earlier out of popsicle sticks. The children used the stickers and markers from the last craft, as well as buttons, to decorate their picture frames.

At the end of the meeting, I passed out pretzel sticks and marshmallows for the children to make snowmen out of. This was a delicious snack as well as an entertaining craft!

Civil War on Sunday

I summarized the twenty first book, Civil War on Sunday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a tootsie roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

Our first craft was making a Civil War soldier. The children colored, cut out, and glued the soldier's body parts together.

When Jack and Annie brought canteens of water to the injured soldiers, we made our own canteens. Prior to the meeting, I stapled two small paper plates together and hole punched the top. The children used markers and stickers to decorate these plates. Then, I gave each child string and 10 beads to attach to the top of their plate/canteen. 

When Jack met his relative, the drummer boy, we made our own drums! I passed out a Styrofoam bowl to each child, and they decorated this drum with markers and stickers. Each child also received two popsicle sticks as drumsticks. The children enjoyed playing the drums after this craft was completed.

Dingoes at Dinnertime

As the children arrived, they colored a picture of a mother and baby kangaroo. Then, they drew their own rainbow handprint, like the one that Jack and Annie found in the cave.

I summarized the twentieth book, Dingoes at Dinnertime, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a tootsie roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

For our first craft, I passed out a picture of a dingo, which is a wild dog, to each child. Then, I scattered black and white beans along the tables for the kids to glue onto their dingoes.

Next, the children each received two Play-doh containers to make their own cave painting. Some made handprints and rainbow snakes like the pictures that Jack and Annie discovered in this week's book, while others made kangaroos and bird nests. The children also used the black and white beans from the last craft as decorations on their cave paintings.

Our last craft was decorating a rainbow, like the one that appeared after the magical rainstorm. Prior to the meeting, I cut multi-colored construction paper into tiny squares. The children glued these squares onto their rainbow to make a mosaic.