Storytime at Home: V is for . . .

We've been reading through the alphabet this year in Storytime.  Since we won't be able to meet in person for a while, here are some ideas for you to continue with the alphabet at home.

There are more choices than we'd use in one Storytime.  You can choose what you want to do and skip the rest - or spread out the activities over multiple times.

You can see Storytime at Home for T here and for U here.

The letter V

You can write the letters V and v on paper for your child to see.

Here is the letter u in sign language:

And the entire alphabet:

Songs

• The Alphabet Song

• We Clap and Say Hello
  
  We clap and say hello.
  We clap and say hello.
  With our friends in Storytime,
  We clap and say hello.
  
  You can change the third line to: "With our family in our house" to better fit the situation, if you prefer.
  
  Take turns choosing activities with your child: jump, spin, dance, . . . anything you want!

• Silly Dance Contest
  recorded during a live concert here (some verses different from our CD)
  CD version here

• Shake Your Sillies Out
  by the Wiggles on YouTube here

• Victor Vito
  by Laurie Berkner on YouTube here

Books

You can look through your books at home for things that start with V and read some of those with your child.  Vehicle, vegetable, violin, veterinarian, volcano, vacuum, vote, vacation, van, and velociraptor are some of the words you might find in your books.

Here are some online options:

PAR-TAY!: Dance of the Veggies (And Their Friends)
Click here and then in the left column click on pdf full text to read the book.

The following books are available through Capstone Interactive eBooks.  You can find their website here or click on any title below to go to that title, then login with:

Username: continue
Password: reading

After reading a book, you can click on the x in the LOWER LEFT corner, to exit that book and return to the Capstone Interactive page to read more books, if you choose. You can search for books in the orange/brown-ish search box on the right side near the top.

Rocky and Daisy Wash the Van – They also vacuum the van.

Where DoVegetables Come From?

ConstructionVehicles

RescueVehicles

You can also search for vehicles on the Capstone site to find several other books about vehicles.

Velociraptors shorter, 1 sentence per page

Velociraptor – longer, but ok for older preschoolers if they are interested

Volcanoes - longer, but ok for older preschoolers if they are interested

There are 2 books on veterinarians.  Neither one is exactly what I was looking for, but you can take a look and see if your child would be interested.

VeterinariansHelp - shorter

Veterinarians - longer

Craft 

Vegetable garden
Your child can draw draw dirt on paper - giving room for some vegetables to grow under the ground and some above.  You can print these vegetables or draw your own.


U page for alphabet books:  
V page here and V pictures here


Additional activities

Scavenger hunt:
Go on a scavenger hunt in your house or yard.  You can look for things that start with the letter V and/or look for the letter V written on packages, book titles, artwork in your house, etc.  See how many you can find.  Some ideas: van, vegetables, vine, vest, vase, vacuum, vowels.

Create a vehicle:
If you've had any large packages delivered, the empty boxes make great vehicles.  Cut the top flaps off and your child can decorate the outside as any vehicle they choose.  Paper plates make good steering wheels and tires. No large boxes?  A laundry basket can work, too.  Give your child a paper plate steering wheel, and you're all set.  Your child can pretend to drive. 

Create a volcano:
See instructions here.



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Additional resources:

Online reading, learning, and fun resources
Printable activity pages, story starters and more
Screen-free things to do at home
Resources about COVID-19 - books for children, journal pages, tips for talking with your child

Projects:

Share a Smile - Share artwork and letters with Meals on Wheels recipients.
Share Your Story - Share your experiences and daily life during this pandemic.
Poetry Month - Write a poem to add to our Poetree.

Storytime at Home: U is for . . .

We've been reading through the alphabet this year in Storytime.  Since we won't be able to meet in person for a while, here are some ideas for you to continue with the alphabet at home.

There are more choices than we'd use in one Storytime.  You can choose what you want to do and skip the rest - or spread out the activities over multiple times.

If you missed the T post last week, you can see it here.

The letter U

You can write the letters U and u on paper for your child to see.

Here is the letter u in sign language:

And the entire alphabet:

Songs

• The Alphabet Song

• We Clap and Say Hello
  
  We clap and say hello.
  We clap and say hello.
  With our friends in Storytime,
  We clap and say hello.
  
  You can change the third line to: "With our family in our house" to better fit the situation, if you prefer.
  
  Take turns choosing activities with your child: jump, spin, dance, . . . anything you want!

• Silly Dance Contest
  recorded during a live concert here (some verses different from our CD)
  CD version here

Books

You can look through your books at home for things that start with U and read some of those with your child.  Unicorns, up, underground, under water, uniforms (or occupations that wear uniforms) underwear, umbrellas, and unique are some U words you might find in your books.

Here are two online books:

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner read by Kate Messner on YouTube here This is a story about a child, a grandmother, and their garden.   "Up" in this story refers to things above ground, in relation to things down in the dirt. For younger children who may think of "up" as things they look up to see or things higher than they are, you may need to explain that "up" in this book is above ground. Think about lying on your stomach on the ground - things you would see above the ground are "up in the garden;" things under the ground are "down in the dirt." If you read Tops & Bottoms last week, you can compare the two books.  Did anything in this book remind you of Tops & Bottoms? Would you want to choose "tops" or "bottoms" if you were growing the vegetable on this page?

Uni the Unicorn by Amy Krouse Rosenthal  read by Brightly Storytime on YouTube here  Uni the Unicorn believes that little girls are real; the other unicorns do not think girls are real.  Uni imagines what she would do if she met a real girl.

Crafts

Up:

You can draw a garden - with plants growing UP and roots growing down. Add anything your child would like that is UP - clouds, birds, etc.

Unicorn craft:

You can print the template here or draw and cut out the shapes.
Source (which includes instructions): easypeasyandfun.com

Unicorn masks:

You can print a unicorn mask here, color it, cut it out, and pretend to be a unicorn.
Source: itsalwaysautumn.com






U page for alphabet books:  
U page here and U pictures here


Additional activities

UNDERWATER animal watching:
You can watch live views of underwater animals on Georgia Aquarium's website here.

Scavenger hunt:
Go on a scavenger hunt in your house or yard.  You can look for things that start with the letter U and/or look for the letter U written on packages, book titles, artwork in your house, etc.  See how many you can find.

UP and down game:
Name something and ask your child to jump UP if the item is found up or crouch down low if the item is found down. After a few times, ask your child to name something and you can both jump UP or crouch down.  Continue taking turns with your child.  Some ideas: clouds, the moon, the sun, stars, the top of a tall tree, grass, the floor, your feet.  Keep in mind some things can be up or down; for example a bird can be "up" when it's flying or "down" when it's standing on the ground.  If you and your child differ on whether something is up or down, it is a good opportunity to talk about why.

UNDER guessing game:
Find a cup, bowl, bucket, or other container that you can't see through.  Choose a familiar object from your house and hide it UNDER the container.  Ask your child to guess what it is. Give them clues and encourage them to ask questions to help them figure out what is hidden.  Then have your child hide an object for you to guess.  Continue taking turns hiding items and guessing.

____________________________________________________________

Additional resources:

Online reading, learning, and fun resources
Printable activity pages, story starters and more
Screen-free things to do at home
Resources about COVID-19 - books for children, journal pages, tips for talking with your child

Projects:

Share a Smile - Share artwork and letters with Meals on Wheels recipients.
Share Your Story - Share your experiences and daily life during this pandemic.
Poetry Month - Write a poem to add to our Poetree.

Storytime at Home: T is for . . .

We've been reading through the alphabet this year in Storytime.  Since we won't be able to meet in person for a while, here are some ideas for you to continue with the alphabet at home.

There are more choices than we'd use in one Storytime.  You can choose what you want to do and skip the rest - or spread out the stories and activities over multiple times.



The letter T

You can write the letters T and t on paper for your child to see.

Here is the letter t in sign language:

And the entire alphabet:

Songs

• The Alphabet Song

• We Clap and Say Hello
  
  We clap and say hello.
  We clap and say hello.
  With our friends in Storytime,
  We clap and say hello.
  
  You can change the third line to: "With our family in our house" to better fit the situation, if you prefer.
  
  Take turns choosing activities with your child: jump, spin, dance, . . . anything you want!

• I'm a Little Teapot
  on YouTube here
  
  I'm a little teapot, short and stout.
  Here is my handle, and here is my spout.
  When I get all steamed up, hear me shout,
  Tip me over and pour me out!
  
  I'm a clever teapot; yes it's true.
  Here let me show you what I can do.
  I can change my handle and my spout.
  Just tip me over and pour me out.

• Old MacDonald
  
  Sing Old MacDonald with animals that start with the letter T.  Help your child choose animals that start with a T.  Here are some ideas: turtle, tiger, tadpole, tarantula, tree frog, turkey, tyrannosaurus rex, toad, toucan, triceratops, and trout.
  
  Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O.
  And on his farm, he had a tiger. E-I-E-I-O.
  With a roar roar here, And a roar roar there
  Here a roar, there a roar, everywhere a roar roar.
  Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O.

Books

You can look through your books at home for things that start with t and read some of those with your child.  Trees, trucks, tails, teachers, tigers, toads, toys, turnips, turtles are just a few T words you might find in your books.

Here are some online books:

	Tails by Matthew van Fleet on KidLit TV here or YouTube here This is a story about a variety of animal tails, read by the author.
	Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens  Go to Tumblebooks here and then search for the title.  You must use & - not the word and for this one.  (We can't link directly to individual stories.)  You can mute the volume and read it yourself, if you prefer. Rabbit's family plants and harvests a garden on Bear's land while Bear sleeps.  Rabbit offers Bear the tops or bottoms and plants accordingly (e.g. potatoes vs. lettuce) so Rabbit will get all of the vegetables.  Some conversation starters: What vegetables grow above and below ground. Working vs. sleeping.  Kindness vs. trickery.
	Toilet Tales by Andrea Wayne-von-Königslöw. Go to Tumblebooks here and then search for the title.  (We can't link directly to individual stories.)  You can mute the volume and read it yourself, if you prefer. This is a silly story about why animals don't use toilets - elephants are too big and would crush them, a hen would think it was her nest and lay an egg in it, etc. If you read Tails and Toilet Tales, you can discuss homophones:  some words that sound alike can be spelled differently and have different meanings.
	The Great Big Turnip on YouTube here There are many versions of this fairy tale.  We have a good one at the library that I would have read, but this is the best option I found online.  A farmer plants a turnip that grows so large he can't pull it out of the ground. One by one, he asks his wife, (in some versions a child), and various animals to help. When a tiny mouse helps and they all work together, they can finally pull out the turnip.

Crafts

Trees:
If you have brown and green construction paper, you can cut a trunk out of brown, tear the green paper into small squares, and glue them on paper to create a tree.  Or use white paper and have your child color them brown and green.   Or use a paper towel tube as the trunk and any green paper (or color white paper green) as the top of the tree.

Toothpicks:
If you have extra toothpicks, you can use them to create a project.  Make the letter T, triangles, or create a picture.


T page for alphabet books:  
t page here and t pictures here


Additional activities

Scavenger hunt:
Go on a scavenger hunt in your house or yard.  You can look for things that start with the letter T and/or look for the letter T written on packages, book titles, artwork in your house, etc.  See how many you can find.

Retell and act out a story:
Retell and act out The Great Big Turnip story.  Make a turnip out of a wad of paper or a sock or anything that can be your turnip and "plant" it in a couch cushion, under a pillow, or anywhere that works for you.  Your child can be the farmer and try to pull it out and call on family members, stuffed animals, dolls, etc. to help.

Tails:
You can make your own tails out of supplies you have at your house - scarves, yarn, socks, craft supplies.  Compare your "tails" to real animals' tails.  Make different tails and talk about them: Which one is longer? Which one is softer? Can you wag your tail like an dog? Or stretch your tail like a cat?

Movement:
What can you do that starts with a t?
Tap your Toes
Tiptoe
stretch up Tall
get very Tiny
climb a Tree
ride a Tricycle
roar like a Tiger
crawl like a Turtle
do something (jump, spin, stomp, etc.) Two times, Three times, Ten times, or Twenty times.
have a Tea party
build a Tower
pretend you're taking a Trip on a Train
What else can you do?

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See Storytime at Home for the letter U here.

____________________________________________________________

Additional resources:

Online reading, learning, and fun resources
Printable activity pages, story starters and more
Screen-free things to do at home
Resources about COVID-19 - books for children, journal pages, tips for talking with your child

Projects:

Share a Smile - Share artwork and letters with Meals on Wheels recipients.
Share Your Story - Share your experiences and daily life during this pandemic.
Poetry Month - Write a poem to add to our Poetree.