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

Week Five of the Summer Reading Club has come and gone! Only one week left!

We had lots of fun exploring the Colosseum this week!

Our first project was our Italy flags! Reusing some material from our first week of the program, we made paper plate flags! (We made it a funny shape, because Italy is kind of a funny shape!)

Next we split up into pairs and made ice-wafer Colosseums!

We tried some of our Colosseum puzzles:

 

(They did the harder one underneath, first, then put this one over top of it)

And finally, we made some pipe cleaner bracelets. Pick your favourite colour of pipe cleaner, slide some beads on, twist it to size, and you have an easy-to-wear bracelet!

If you haven't already brought your reading passport in to get this week's sticker, and filled out a ballot for the prize draw, do so now! We draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00! Only two more prize draws!

Next week, weather permitting, we will be outside to make our pizzas! There will be games and activities to keep us busy while waiting for our pizzas to cook! See you there!

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

We're coming to the end of our Summer Reading Club! Only one more week to go! :( Where has the time gone?

We had lots of fun this week exploring the Colosseum!

We read: 

"The Magic Boot", by Rémy Simard, an interesting take on how Italy became a country.

 

"Madeline and the Cats of Rome", by John Bemelmans Marciano - where Madeline finds herself in trouble with the law! 

And, "The Wedding Dress Mess", by Beatrice Masini, a goofy tale about a seamstress too obsessed with her wedding dress.

We made gladiator helmets!

If you haven't already brought in your reading passports to get stickers, and filled out a ballot for this week's prize draw, do so now! We draw for prizes every Friday at 4:00!

Next week we'll be outside, weather permitting, to make our pizzas! We'll have games and activities for you to do outside while we cook the yummy pizzas!

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

The fourth week of our Summer Reading Club has come to an end! Only two more weeks to go!

This week we went all the way to Egypt and explored the Great Pyramid of Giza!

We did some fun crafts:

 

Flag of Egypt

 

Decorated Paper Pyramids

 We made some cool stuff with playdough:

Here's our playdough recipe:

1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of salt
2 tsp cream of tartar

Mix together, then pour into pot. Stirring over medium heat, add:

1 cup of water
1 tbsp of oil
2 tsp of food colouring 

Stir in pot until a ball forms in the middle. Dump onto lightly floured surface, knead until no longer sticky.

And finally, we tried some Pyramid Puzzles:

Remember to bring your reading passports in to get stickers and enter for the weekly prize draw! We draw for prizes Fridays at 4:00!

Next week, we explore the Colosseum!

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

The fourth week of the 2013 Summer Reading Club has come and gone!

This week, we explored the Great Pyramid of Giza!

We changed up the order of our storytime this week for our 4s and 6s. We started with playdough, and did the stories later.

The kids got a selection of homemade coloured playdough to play with. They got to make whatever they wanted, and keep one small thing to take home with them.

Here's our playdough recipe:

1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of salt
2 tsp cream of tartar

Mix together, then pour into pot. Stirring over medium heat, add:

1 cup of water
1 tbsp of oil
2 tsp of food colouring 

Stir in pot until a ball forms in the middle. Dump onto lightly floured surface, knead until no longer sticky. 

This was my first time every making playdough, so I was quite happy that it worked the first time!

We read some fun stories:

 

"Ten Little Mummies", by Philip Yates

 

"In Egyptian Times", by Kate Davies and Alfredo Belli

"Riddle of the Nile", by Deborah Nash

The kids got a chance to solve the riddle:

"As I was on my way to Cairo, I met a man who was a Pharaoh. This Pharaoh had seven servants, each servant had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits. Kittens, cats, servants, sacks - How many were going to Cairo?" 

Finally, we tried out our Pyramid puzzles!

Remember to bring your reading passports in every week to get stickered, and fill out a reading ballot for the prize draw! We draw for prizes Fridays at 4:00!

Next week we explore the Colosseum!

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

The fourth week of the 2013 Summer Reading club is behind us! Only two more weeks to go!

This week we traveled to Egypt to explore the Great Pyramid of Giza!

We made a few fun crafts:

 

The flag of Egypt

 

A Pyramid with an entrance cut into it

 

A Pyramid covered with sand

Tried some Pyramid Puzzles:

 

And even played with some homemade playdough! 

 

The Eiffel Tower

 

Zombie workers inside a diamond cave with a dragon sitting on top, breathing out lava 

 

Smiley-face pizza

 

A slice of pepperoni pizza

The playdough recipe I used is:

1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of salt
2 tsp cream of tartar

Mix together, then pour into pot. Stirring over medium heat, add:

1 cup of water
1 tbsp of oil
2 tsp of food colouring 

Stir in pot until a ball forms in the middle. Dump onto lightly floured surface, knead until no longer sticky. 

Remember to get your reading passports stickered each week, and enter into our weekly prize draw! We draw for prizes Fridays at 4:00!

Next week, we explore the Colosseum!

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

Week Four of the 2013 Summer Reading Club is behind us! Only two weeks left!

This week we explored the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis.

We learned some interesting facts about the pyramids:

- It took so long to build a pyramid that cities were built around it for the workers to live in for the duration of the project. These cities came to be known as Pyramid Cities.
- Over 130 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, most of which are on the western side of the Nile. This was so the Pharaoh's soul would join with the "sun disc" during its descent before continuing with the sun in its eternal round.
- Many chambers and passages exist within the ancient pyramids.

We read:

"Ten Little Mummies", by Philip Yates, a humorous tale about bored mummies getting into hijinks.

"We're Sailing Down the Nile: a Journey Through Egypt", by Laurie Krebs and Annie Wilson. Laurie Krebs also wrote "We're Riding on a Caravan: an Adventure on the Silk Road", which we'd read the previous week. Some of the kids even remembered the song that accompanied the story.

A few kids stayed behind when they finished their craft, so we also read: "Riddle of the Nile", by Deborah Nash.

Can YOU solve the riddle?

"As I was on my way to Cairo, I met a man who was a Pharaoh. This Pharaoh had seven servants, each servant had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits. Kittens, cats, servants, sacks - How many were going to Cairo?"

For our craft, we played with playdough. The kids were allowed to make whatever they wanted, and take one small thing home:

Lots of fun was had by all!

If you haven't already brought your reading passports in for stickers and filled out a ballot for the prize draw, please do so before 4:00 on Friday!

Next week, we explore the Colosseum!