C & D

C = Chameleon

D = Dinosaur

D items in the box = Duckie, dog (2), dinosaur

C items - Cotton ball, crayon, car, coin, and cowboy (believe it or not, this cowboy was one of the ones I got at the thrift store in a sack, all for a quarter; antique stores are asking $5 for them sometimes!)

https://preschoolmom.com/preschool-crafts/alphabet-crafts/

A & B

I have perhaps commented on it before, but when I first started doing storytimes at the library back in the early 2000s, the director at that time did not allow us to do crafts at storytimes.  They were to include stories, rhymes, songs, etc., but no crafts, no snacks, etc.  At that time, it was really no big deal.  We had fun, but I didn't have to worry about crafts.  Well, after not doing storytimes then for several years while I raised my daughter at home, things changed at the library. New directors came and went and different ladies led storytimes.  Crafts and snacks came to be accepted as a part of storytimes.  So when I took back over a few years ago, I kept doing crafts. I'm a pretty crafty person; I enjoy them, etc.  Coming up with a new craft every week can be a challenge; and now doing 2 storytimes per week, it an be an extra challenge if I were to do different crafts.  (I don't, by the way.)

In searching for crafts to go with the alphabet, I ran across several sites referenced on Pinterest that had animals or other items that begin with the letter in the alphabet being used to actually 'make' the item.  I thought this was pretty cool, but would it be something that would get boring week after week of making the same flat/glue it on activity?

Wa-la!  It came to me!  Why don't we make alphabet books?  It would be a way to do these cute crafts each week, and it would be something to encourage steady attendance each week because you would want a complete book.  I know that sometimes people have to be gone for a variety of reasons, and so for my "regulars" I do actually put together a "Kit" with all the pieces of the craft, in a page protector, with a photo copy of a completed craft item.  Yes, it can be a lot of work, and management, but it seems to be going pretty smoothly.  I am using the Cricut electronic die cutting machine, and the Mickey font, to cut out the letters, so while I'm cutting I just cut a few extra to have on hand. Not that big of a deal, really.  The families are really enjoying it, I think. I was afraid that the little kids would be upset because they are leaving their pictures at the library and not taking it home with them each week, and that was a BIG question the first few weeks, a lot of the littles just didnt get it, but they are doing much better now. I can hardly wait for them to be completed so that the kids can take their books home, and hopefully they will have some keepsakes.

A for Alligator.

B  is for Bumble Bee

One thing that I have been wanting to do is to create some Literacy Center ideas and items for free play use here at the library. With my limited amount of hours that I work at the library, I really, really find it hard to find time to do everything with the ideas that I want to do, especially when I added the Tuesday morning storytime.  However, I had this idea in the back of my mind for a long time, and when I was searching alphabet activity ideas, something similar came up in the searches.

I bought the small storage containers at Dollar Tree; 4 in a bundle for $1.00 I believe.  I cut the letters with my Cricut electronic die cutting machine.  The items that have gone inside has been found and donated items; I did make a run to our local thrift shop, and picked up a third of a sandwich brown bag full for a quarter for a few items.  It's not as easy as it may seem to find items small enough to fit in the containers.  It has been fun for some of our staff members.  They started taking it very seriously to help find things.  I didn't want to make photocopies of anything; I wanted the "real" items. However, when it came to "X" I did have to break that rule for me....took a photocopy of an 'x-ray'!   I have been going back and adding things to letters already done if I find something new along the way.  When we are finished with these in storytime, I hope that we can use them in a Literacy area here in the children's area of the library.

A - apple.

B - butterfly, bandaid, bat, bubbles, block.

https://preschoolmom.com/preschool-crafts/alphabet-crafts/

Fall Storytime Session Begins == ABC

This fall I decided to do an all year theme.  I am doing the ABCs at least until Christmas Break and then see where I am, and in the new year I will do colors, shapes, and numbers.   I was an early childhood/early elementary teacher in my previous life.  Can you tell I miss it?

This is the bulletin board I made for the meeting room that we use for storytime. I like to decorate, but for the entire year usage, it is hard because the room is used by so many different groups.  Included in this, is this year our library will be beginning to do a renovation of the main area of the library, so our room will become office space DURING the renovation.  I don't get to do TOO much decoration. 

I have seen variations of this bottle done different ways. I called it an ABC Discovery Bottle.  The staff all saved their clear water and soda bottles for me.  We washed them out and made sure the inside was dry before we used them.

The night of our first storytime, this was our craft activity.  I had the alphabet sorted out for all of the kids so that they all for sure got beads in the entire full alphabet.  Some of the kids did go ahead and put extra alphabet beads in also, but it was important to ME that each kid did actually get at least one of every letter of the alphabet.  (Call that my anal side.)   The kids then were able to put in their choice of different colored beads and sequins, and some had some colored rice mixed in with the plain white rice.  After filling with plain white rice (leaving a space at the very top for room when shaking), I then hot glued the lid to all of the bottles for each kid.  There was a lot of shaking going on at this point. :)

*A note about the clean bottles pre-filling....I waited until the last moment to take all the labels off of the bottles.  This was a no-no.  The particular brand of sparkling water for the majority of the bottles had a label that left a really sticky residue on the side.  I really didn't have time or resources to use a goo remover on all of the bottles, so I took a white label and put it over the sticky party.  This worked pretty well because then we wrote each kid's name ON the label!   It made it look like I meant to do it! :)

 I saw this idea on Pinterest (what DON'T I see on Pinterest?)  I like to sew and quilt in my home life, so this was a natural attention grabber idea for me!   I drew these letters by hand but you could very easily use a purchased stencil and draw around it on fabric; just be sure to leave enough room on the outside for stitching and cutting with a pinking shears.  I cut through double layers of fabric and put batting in between before I cut so it was like little mini-letter quilts :)    The kids are enjoying playing with them, and I just used scraps of material from home.

I personally do not have a good knowledge of sign language, but I think it is important to at least be familiar with it.  Initially, I wanted to include teaching the kids sign language alphabet each week, but time became a factor, so I now just hang up the cards that I printed off of the website below onto white cardstock.  Honestly, I don't know that anyone is really paying attention to them this year, but I keep putting them up.  I would like to focus on the sign language a little in the future, hopefully.

 http://www.abcteach.com/directory/subjects-sign-language-bulletin-board-cards-689-2-1

T

These are the cards I printed off of the Sharing Kindergarten website onto cardstock also.  I hang them up on the book table each week (one week I forgot and one of the little girls caught me!).

 http://www.sharingkindergarten.com/2012/11/dr-jeans-letter-limericks-and-poems.html

I printed off all of the alphabet coloring pages, and I set copies out each week of the letters we are talking about, and kids and their families can pick them up on their way out. Kids love to be able to take something home with them. This fits the bill perfectly.
http://www.mrprintables.com/alphabet-coloring-pages.html