Charlotte's Web Sensory Bin

My son's kindergarten's class is reading Charlotte's Web by E.B White as part of an integrated farm unit this month.  I couldn't resist making this fun sensory bin for one of the centers.  

I used deer corn as the base.  It was inexpensive.  I only needed 1/2 of a bag.  I gave the other half to another kindergarten class.

I was able to find a little doll from the Dollar Tree to represent Fern and this great Wilbur pig there, as well. 

Charlotte and Templeton were both found at Wal-mart. 

At Michaels, I found these great wooden boxes with lids to use as scoops. 

In the book, Charlotte's Web, Charlotte writes special words in her web.  I wrote all of the sight words that the class had covered this quarter on to laminated webs and added those to the box.

Did you have any book inspired fun this week?  Link up on our Children's Bookshelf below!

21 Book Inspired Costumes

As you know, our family is a bit book-obsessed.  So it should come as no surprise to anyone that our family likes to dress up like characters from our favorite books and fairy tales! Last year, Molly was Cinderella and her Daddy was her, "Pwince Chawming."  Don't you love her 'dwess'?  (Monday, I will post a giveaway for one of the fabulous costumes from Little Dress Up Shop). 

The boys and I were Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione.

One year, after we read Peter Pan to the children, they decided we should all be the characters from Peter Pan. Daddy even turned our stroller into a pirate ship!  We had Peter Pan, Captain Hook, The Tic-toc Croc, Wendy, and Tinkerbelle. 

  

While I was looking for this year's ideas for our family's costumes, I came across 21 wonderful book-inspired costumes I wanted to share with you!  I hope you find something that catches your imagination.  Some of these are homemade costumes with directions, some are just pictures, and a few are for items to purchase.   

  

Rainbow Fish at Here Come the Girls 

 

Angelina Ballerina at Skirt As A Top

King Arthur at Little Dress Up Shop

Pigeon Costume at Lucky 13

Alice in Wonderland at Misha Lulu Blog

Hoot at One Crafty Mumma

Where the Wild Things Are At Red Ted Art

The Hungry Caterpillar at Pink and Green Mama

Fancy Nancy at BluMoon Design  

 Olivia at Making it Lovely

 

Knuffle Bunny Costume at Parents.com

The 3 Musketeers at Little Dress up Shop 

Stellaluna at Alpha Mom 

Little Bo Peep at Vintage Duck

Prince Caspian at Little Dress Up Shop

Pinkalicious at Fancy Frugal Fun

Green Eggs and Ham at Stomper Girl

Ladybug Girl at Glue Gun Crafts 

Madeline at Erica Holland Photography

Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web at Kaboose

Even your family pet can dress up like a book character.  I am in love with this pet costume I found on etsy.  I think I might need to borrow a pet for Halloween!

Paddington at Not So Kitty Shop

On Monday, we will be hosting a giveaway for a costume from The Little Dress Up Shop!  I hope you will come back and enter to win your own book-inspired costume!  

For more ideas, check out our Book Inspired Costume Pinterest board!  

 

Pouch!

 This week's activities were inspired by the book Pouch by David Ezra Stein.  

Gathering Activity- Kangaroo Pouches
 
We made these adorable Kangaroo Pouches that I found at Brilliant Beginnings Preschool Utah.

 

Instead of writing the letter K on each pouch, we helped the children write their names.   Lacing the pouch together provided excellent fine motor skill practice!  

It was definitely a parent and child activity.  That is one of the reasons I really enjoy Mommy and Me Book Club.  We have a one-to-one ration.  (Though this craft could be done in a center with a small group of preschoolers).


Circle Time
 

POUCH! by David Ezra Stein is the delightful story of a shy little Kangaroo who timidly ventures out of his mommy's pouch, one hop at a time.  Each time he encounters a new animal friend, he runs back to his mom, crying "POUCH!" The illustrations are fabulous.  The children and mommies laughed aloud at Joey.  But, even with its humorous moments, it teaches a sweet story about feeling a little shy. 

We Sang a little Kangaroo Song
(sung to This Old Man)
Jump, jump, jump,
kangaroo,
I thought there was one
Now I see two!
It's a mommy and her baby
With his head popping out.
He holds on tight
As they jump about.
Author Unknown

Art-Paper Plate Joey Craft 
We were inspired by an adorable Kangaroo Plate Craft we saw at Danielle's Place.  Although, I do love her site, unfortunately I do not have a subscription for the printables.  One of my little friends has a big brother who kindly drew the heads, tails, and feet for us, and we created our own version.

We used paper clips to hold the pieces on until the glue dried.

Snack - Pita Pouches
How could we not have pita pockets filled with peanut butter and  bananas for snack.   We served them with milk, because that’s what joeys drink. 

 

Games
 
1-Guess What’s in my pouch?  

One of the moms wore a long apron with a large pouch.

Inside of the pouch, she placed several different shapes of varying colors.  

We  let the children each take out a shape and name the shape and color. 

 Then they placed it inside their own pouches we made at the gathering activity. This was a very fun game.


2-Kangaroo Hop Freeze Dance-  

We played music while the children danced and jumped up and down like a joey.  

Then, when the music stopped, everyone stopped dancing and ran back to their mommies (like in the story) yelling "POUCH!"   

When the music started again, they went back to dance and hop.    Isn't it funny how the simplest ideas are usually the best?  The children loved pretending to be Joey!  They loved yelling "POUCH!" as loud as they could, and of course they loved snuggling with their mommies!  

 
I am excited to announce that this week we are beginning a new adventure.  We are participating with a few other blogs in a weekly project called The Children's Bookshelf.  

Mommy and Me Book Club will be participating 3 Mondays each month.  (The exception will be the 3rd Monday of each month when we co-host the Virtual Book Club).   So, three weeks a month, I will ask you to share ANY book-inspired activities you would like to share!   Then once a month we will all share activities on the same book!  (Make sense)? 



So, now, it is your turn to share with us with all of your kid lit inspired posts this week. Please link up any children's book posts below and don't forget to follow The Children's Bookshelf on Pinterest or visit TCB's co-hosts: What Do We Do All Day?, No Twiddle Twaddle, Smiling Like Sunshine, Mommy and Me Book Club, My Little Bookcase and Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

By linking up you are giving permission for any of the co-hosts to pin and/or feature a your photo on a future The Children's Bookshelf post.