TD's Summer Reading Club Week Three: 9s - 12s

Farewell to the third week of the 2013 Summer Reading Club! We had lots of fun exploring the Great Wall of China this week!

We started with our China flags, painted on paper plates with red (it is red, not pink) and yellow:

After we washed the paint off our hands (the bathroom looked a little like a crime scene) we traced our hands onto our Great Wall of China banners:

Finally, we built a Great Wall of China out of sugar cubes, icing, and marshmallows! We had lots of fun getting sticky with this tasty craft (though the kids were told NOT to eat the sugar cubes!).

 

While the kids worked on their wall, they requested I read them a story about the Great Wall of China. We read, "You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China", by Jacqueline Morley. 

After our walls were built, we played a "get to know you" game with question balloons. Two balloons were covered with questions written in permanent marker. Everyone passed each other the balloon, and wherever their thumb ended up, they had to answer that question. Some of the questions were, "If you had a million dollars, what would you do?" or "What is one thing you could do to make the world a better place", and even, "What is one thing you would take with you to a desert island?" Lots of giggles were had with this game!

Remember, to bring your reading passports in to get stickers every week, we draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00!

Next week, we explore the Great Pyramids of Egypt!

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Three: 7s and 8s

Three week down, three weeks to go! The summer is just flying past!

This week in the Summer Reading Club, we explored the Great Wall of China! The kids had a great time building their Great Walls out of sugar cubes, icing, and some marshmallows (I'm not sure the parents were as pleased, but the kids had a great time!).

While the kids were building their sections of the wall, we read, "You wouldn't want to work on the Great Wall of China", by Jacqueline Morley, a story that puts you right in the shoes of the people who built the wall all those years ago.

Along with our tasty Great Walls, we also made China flags. The kids painted their flags onto a paper plate:

Some found it easier to paint the stars first, and then paint the red around them (though the red kind of looks pink here).

While waiting for their paint to dry, some used extra plates to paint whatever they wanted:

Finally, we made some Great Wall of China banners, using our handprints to make the wall:

Remember, we draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00!

Next week, we explore the Great Pyramids of Egypt!

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Three: 4s - 6s

Week 3 of the Summer Reading Club has wrapped up! We had lots of fun exploring the Great Wall of China! 

We read lots of stories this week:

"Legend of the Chinese Dragon", by Marie Sellier. A great thing about this book is that it can be read in English and Chinese.

"Every Year on Your Birthday", by Rose Lewis, following a young Chinese girl adopted by an American family.

"Great Wall of China", by Kate Riggs, an information book about how, why, and when the wall was built, and what's happening with it today.

And finally, "We're Riding on a Caravan: an Adventure on the Silk Road", by Laurie Krebs and Helen Cann. This book has a catchy song in it, and a nice rhyming pace.

We had two different kinds of arts/crafts this week.

First, we made our own Great Walls of China with a handprint banner:

Miss Shannan and I added our hands to this banner, as well!

We also made some hanging Chinese lanterns:

We used: 
- toilet paper rolls
- colored paper
- stick glue
- markers (for those who decorated their lanterns)  

Remember, we draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00!

Next week, we explore the Great Pyramids of Egypt!

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Three: 2s and 3s

This week we explored the Great Wall of China! Did you know it's also known as the Sleeping Dragon?

Some of the kids did not think it looked like a dragon at all!

Our first story was "Legend of the Chinese Dragon", by Marie Sellier, a story about how the dragon became a symbol of peace for China. This book is split so each page can be read in either English or Chinese.

Our next story was "We're Riding on a Caravan: an Adventure on the Silk Road", by Laurie Krebs and Helen Cann. 

This book tells the story of a family making their living by traveling the Silk Road. It comes with a catchy song to sing, which some of the parents were brave enough to sing with me: 

"We're riding on a caravan, 
A bumpy, humpy caravan. 
We're riding on a caravan, 
To places far away." 

For our craft, we made hanging Chinese lanterns. 

We used: 
- toilet paper rolls
- colored paper
- stick glue

The kids cut strips into their paper, unfolded them, and then glued them down onto the toilet paper roll. Then they glued their handles to the top of the tube. 

When they were finished their craft, they traced their handprints onto a banner, titled, "Many Hands Built the Great Wall of China". Some added their names with their handprints.

If you haven't already brought in your reading passport to get stickered and filled out a ballot for this week's prize draw, do so before 4:00 tomorrow. 

Next week, we explore the Great Pyramids of Egypt!

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Two: 7s and 8s

The second week of the 2013 Summer Reading Club is behind us! Where has the time gone?

For our first craft, we made France flags, and then cut them out onto a piece of construction paper. Then we found some foam letters to spell out our names.

Next we made some pipe cleaner Eiffel Towers. This craft was a bit tricky, and needed lots of step-by-step instruction and assistance, but the kids did very well.

- Take four pipe cleaners (your choice of colour) and twist them together at the top. May need to fold them over at the top twist to keep them together.
- Take another pipe cleaner and wrap around the four legs, starting around the middle of the tower. Works best to loop the extra pipe cleaner around each leg once, then pull it around and continue onto the next leg.
- Take another pipe cleaner (may take two more, depending on the width of your tower) and wrap it around between the middle and the bottom. Use the same steps as above.
- Bend the bottom of each leg to make "feet" for the tower so it is better balanced.

We attempted to make Twizzler Eiffel Towers, but most of us were unsuccessful. In our first group, one girl figured out that if you wrap them around similar to the pipe cleaners, the toothpicks don't tear the Twizzlers as much. One child also made a ladder out of Twizzlers and toothpicks for his tower.

Our second group of 7s and 8s attempted the Twizzler Eiffel Towers as well, though they used their creativity and expanded beyond the Eiffel Tower. One boy made his into a dragon.

Some of the kids tried out Eiffel Tower puzzles before the program was over.

At the end of each program, I remind the kids to get their reading passports stickered and fill out a ballot for the week's prize draw. We draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00.

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Two: 9s - 12s

The second week of the Summer Reading Club has come and gone!

This week we explored the Eiffel Tower!

We started with our pipe cleaner Eiffel Tower: 

- Take four pipe cleaners (your choice of colour) and twist them together at the top. May need to fold them over at the top twist to keep them together.
- Take another pipe cleaner and wrap around the four legs, starting around the middle of the tower. Works best to loop the extra pipe cleaner around each leg once, then pull it around and continue onto the next leg.
- Take another pipe cleaner (may take two more, depending on the width of your tower) and wrap it around between the middle and the bottom. Use the same steps as above.
- Bend the bottom of each leg to make "feet" for the tower so it is better balanced.

Next we made our France flags. The kids drew their flags, cut them out and glued them onto their choice of construction paper, then found some foam letters to spell their names.

After the flags, we played a few rounds of Simon Says. The kids were pretty good at listening to Simon, and ended up swapping with each other by saying, "Simon Says, you're it!" We got some physical activity playing this game, as one Simon had us run around the room three times! 

With twenty minutes to spare, we made some Twizzler Eiffel Towers. These didn't work very well, but the kids had fun trying. 

I reminded everyone as they left to get their reading passports stickered and to fill out a ballot for the prize draw that week. We draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00.

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Two: 4s - 6s

The second week of our Summer Reading Club is behind us! Only four more weeks to go!

If you haven't already brought in your reading passport to get stickered and filled out a ballot for this week's prize draw, please do so before 4:00 today.

This week we explored the Eiffel Tower!

Our 4-6 group got to do some art this week, as well as try out some of our homemade Eiffel Tower puzzles.

We read:

"Madeline's Rescue", by Ludwig Bemelmans.

"La La Rose", by Satomi Ichikawa.

and, "The Hidden Hero", by Lisa Ann Marsoli.

For our art this week, the kids got a pink and green cut-out of the Eiffel Tower, with a boy and girl cut-out to add to it. The kids glued down their cut-outs, and decorated them as they wished. Some drew lines on their Eiffel Towers, some drew faces on the people. Some made it so their people were climbing the towers.

When they were done their art, the kids tried out the Eiffel Tower puzzles we made. They found the simple square ones easy to do, and then worked in partners or groups to do the harder, wavy-lined puzzles.

Every child got a gummy bear before leaving the program. 

Next week, we explore the Great Wall of China!

TD's Summer Reading Club Week Two: 2s and 3s

The second week of the Summer Reading Club is behind us! Where is the time going? If you haven't already gotten your reading passport stickered and filled out a ballot for this week's prize draw, do so before 4:00 today!

This week we explored the Eiffel Tower! Did you know that when it was first built, people thought it was so ugly, it was planned to be torn down in just 20 years? Now it serves as a beacon of love, and people travel from all over the world to see it!

Our 2s and 3s' first story was "Renée Marie of France", by Maya Angelou, about a young girl on a class trip to see the Eiffel Tower. At first she's afraid of heights, but a new friend helps her conquer her fears.

At the end of this story, Renée asks everyone how tall they are, so we all stood up to see who was the tallest.

Then we learned some cool Eiffel Tower facts:

- Even if everyone in the room stood on each other's shoulders, they still wouldn't be as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
- The Eiffel Tower has to be painted every 7 years so that it doesn't rust. It takes 18 months to paint the entire tower with lead-free paint.
- The Eiffel Tower weighs about 10 000 tonnes!
- A nickname for the Eiffel Tower is La Dame de Fer (the Iron Lady).

I let the kids pick our next story, and they chose, "The Moon Was the Best", by Charlotte Zolotow, a sweet story about a mother telling her daughter about all the things she would have liked in Paris.

Next we moved into our art! The kids got a couple of Eiffel Tower cut-outs and some children to glue onto their pages, and then decorated their pictures with markers.

After our art, some of the kids did our Eiffel Tower puzzles.

Every child got a gummy bear at the end of the program.

Next week we explore the Great Wall of China!

TD's Summer Reading Club Week One: 9s - 12s

Welcome to the first week of the 2013 TD Summer Reading Club! Go! Bon Voyage!

Within the Library, we are exploring the Wonders of the World. Our first wonder was right here in Canada: Niagara Falls!

Our first group of 9-12s started with a Canada flag, colouring it, cutting it out, and attaching it to a skewer. Then they made a marshmallow model of Niagara Falls. It took lots of toothpicks and supports, but they were finally able to make a solid, four-layer waterfall. Once they were finished, they got bottles of blue-dyed water to spray the waterfall.

(The kids were happy to have eaten a few marshmallows before they added the water. They discovered later that wet, slimy marshmallows do not taste good.

Our second group of 9-12s made their Canada flags, and then moved onto a different waterfall craft.

We used:
- blue plastic plates
- blue and white ribbon cut into strips of water
- blue streamers cut into strips of water
- flat and round blue marbles
- tacky glue
- paper and markers 

They were given blue plastic plates which they cut in half, then made a horseshoe shape out of the half. Then they glued on their choice of streamers, ribbons, or construction paper to make the flowing water. Then they glued their choice of round or flat marbles to create the water on top of the falls.

Some of the kids used paper propped up to make the water falling down, and then used the marbles on the plate to be the rocks at the bottom of the waterfall.

Once we were finished our crafts, we set them aside to let the glue dry and played some dance freeze. As more kids got out, they tried to make those who were still "in" giggle whenever the music stopped. Some were successful, some were not.

At the end of each program, I remind the kids and parents to bring their reading passports to the front desk to get a sticker and enter their name in to win a prize. We draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00. 

Next week, we will explore the Eiffel Tower!