Hooray for Letter N! A very LATE story time Wednesday!

Well, life does get crazy at times doesn't it? When you have two under 5, you are constantly on your toes and ready for anything. Unfortunately, when your hands are full, something has to be dropped from time to time, and well...this blog is at the top of the list of things to be put on hold. Well, I expect a full recovery by Wednesday to present you with my letter O story time. Well, without further delay, here is Letter N.

For this story time I had the kids come upstairs and partake in a smell guessing game. I took Dixie cups, filled them with different food items ( I used coffee, onion slices, and lemon slices). Then, I put a tissue over the top and rubber banded it to the cup. I marked each cup with a different colored sticker and had the kids, using only their sense of smell, see if they could guess what was in each cup. It was harder for them than I thought. Most of the didn't know what the onion was, but almost all of them could guess lemon and coffee. "But, Mr. Mike!" you say "Smell doesn't begin with the letter N!". I understand, but you smell with your NOSE, and that does. It was fun and I plan on using more things like this in the future. For this weeks books I chose two big books from my own collection and a non-fiction book about the sense of smell. The first book was all about noodles. More Spaghetti, I Say! by Rita Golden Gelman has been a favorite of mine since my young 5 teaching days. The rhyming prose is fun to read, the illustrations are silly and there's a great twist at the end. I also read The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood. Most Librarians and educators of young people already know this classic. It's perfect for flannel boards and story re-telling. The kids like it because of the silly illustrations and repetitive text. Finally, I read What is Smell? by Jennifer Boothroyd. Jennifer has an entire series on all the five senses. It can be dicey reading non-fiction to preschool age kids. The language has to be simple and fun. The pictures have to be clear and engaging. The books also need to be short and to the point. Because of this, I read only what I felt were the most important bits. I cut out the jargon, and gave them exactly what mattered. As a result, they were all entertained and I hope they all walked away with a new appreciation for how important their little noses are!

We did all of our usual songs and activities, including Alphabet Action by Heidisongs, and the corresponding letter N song/dance.

Greeting Song: We're all here! (Skip to my lou)
Here, here. We're all here!
Here, here. We're all here!
Here, here. We're all here!
We're here at story time!
Hello________. How are you?
Hello________. How are you?
Hello________. How are you?
I'm glad you're here today. (repeat for each child)

Craft: Nighttime Letter N

I used a white paint marker and traced a letter N on black paper.
The kids used a Q-tip and white paint to dot stars onto their letter N. The effect is very cool. The letter N almost appears to be glowing. This is a very easy craft to do. Just make sure to model how they should be painting the dots and then be ready for them to do it their own way, anyway!


Thanks for reading! Have a great week!


Mr. Mike.