As we burst into spring,our minds are focused on bringing adding a little colour to our wardrobe, putting away the casserole dishes and sprucing up the garden. April is a lovely time of year to bring out those green fingers and there are some great gardening activities to get children in touch with nature. Our book of the month for April is What's This? , published Barefoot Books.
A great book for children aged 3-7, you will learn the basics of how plants grow in this bubbly, springtime story. When a young girl plants a seed, she learns she must be patient to achieve results. She is rewarded by a beautiful sunflower, and brings her flower to school to share the seeds with her entire class. Includes notes about roots, shoots, flowers and seeds. The book is full of wonderful colour, simple language and, most of all, it is held together by an engaging take that will want children to plant some seeds themselves.
The book is great for use in schools and nurseries or for simple outdoors sessions at home. There are lots of opportunities to educate children on how seeds grow, which you can put into practise by holding your own planting session. Little Scribbles' Stories will be out and about reading this book throughout the month and we will be helping little green fingers plant their very own sunflower seed. We cannot wait to see how big all our sunflowers grow and we are very much looking forward to lots of outdoor storytelling sessions, surrounded by fresh air and flowers.
Lazy Sundays are made for family time, long walks and even longer lunches. Last Sunday, the sun was shining, the air was crisp and the beach was calling us. A visit to the beach during summertime, for me, is a bit of a nightmare but when you can pop on a warm coat, cosy wellies and look forward to the wind in your face it is a different story. Boy was Sunday windy! Crosby beach was our destination of choice, a family favourite, especially with the addition Anthony Gormley's Another Place. We were hit with a big whoooooosh as we got out of the car and swirled away down the beach for our walk. Kicking the soggy sand, making pictures and searching for shells made us smile and watching the high tide swish onto the sand was mesmerising. Getting out and about can be fun at any time and should not be dictated to by the weather. Wrap up warm, run around, discover nature and blow away those cobwebs.
Obligatory ice creams were in order on our walk back to the car, where we sat and watched the world by go by and did our best to stop the strawberry sauce from dripping all over us. Then home to bring out the paints and create our very own beach on paper, Gormley's statues included. With lots of swooshing, swishing and howling noises made as we painted, we had nearly as much fun as our walk on the beach. As well as painting, there are lots of fun and educational crafts and activities relating to wind and beaches, that you do as a family. Ask children how they felt at the beach, what noises they heard? what did they see? All of which make great material for a beach inspired poem. Or perhaps collect seashells and make your own musical instruments. The list is endless and a fun, fresh walk will certainly inspire your creativity.
If your next walk in the wind inspires you and your children to read about nature, here are a few of our favourite picture books about wind.
Blowin in the Wind by Bob Dylan
The Windy Dat by Anna Milbourne
The wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
'Oink!' said the cats ...With all the MOOing and HISSing and BAAAing and CLUCKing, the farmyard is full of noise. But when Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len hatch a plot to steal the fine prize cow, it's the quietest animal of all who saves the day! ' What the Ladybird Heard is a Julia Donaldson classic that entertains children and adults alike. A book that is full of fabulous alliteration and fun rhymes, that makes it a perfect for reading aloud to toddlers and young children.
The vibrant images are engaging and are simple enough so that toddlers can recognise the different animals. As we meet each animal, there are opportunities for children to interact with the story by making different animal sounds or, if there is a lot of energy in the room, you can stand up and act out the animal movements. The repetition in the book allows for children to have lots of chances to act out the noises, have a sing song and really step inside the story, anticipating what comes next.
We were prompted to use this book for a story time session after seeing a wonderful production at our local theatre, inspired by the book. With lots of singing, dancing and audience participation, it really made us chuckle. It also reminded me of our lovely ladybird puppet that has been hidden in our storytelling box since last summer. Spring is a great time of year to explore books and rhymes about animals and nature, so I think out little ladybird will be hanging out with us a lot now the sun has come out. This puppet is a great when used alongside the book, especially as it is a glove puppet that can dance around as he children imagine what is says to the other animals.
Once you have read the book once, you be eager to read again and again as the infectious rhyme plays over in your head. If you are brave enough to show of that wonderful voice of yours then take inspiration from Julia Donaldson herself and hold a little sing along session, once you have finished reading the book. If you are not so brave, just play the song!
We always like to incorporate a craft activity in to our storytelling sessions. This simple twirling ladybird allows children to bring a little of the story to life, whilst getting all of their creative energy. All you need is two paper plates, glittery red paint, paper spots, googly or paper eyes and string plus little messy hands to put it all together. Simply cut out two semi-circles out of black paper ( for the face), along with lots of small black circles to stick on the body of the paper plate, once you have covered it in red paint. You will need a little glue to stick on your eyes and once the paint and glue have dried, cut halfway through each plate, on opposite sides, then slot one plate inside the other to make your twirly ladybird. Add string and hang from the ceiling and there you go, your very own glittery ladybird that can hang about in your room and potentially save your day! Once you are done making your ladybird, you are sure to want another rendition of the song. Soooo…… the hen said cluck…………but the ladybird said, never a word.
I couldn't resist ending this post with a cute picture of our little ladybird! Hope you all have lots of spring fun!
