Book to Boogie is a monthly series that pairs picture books with dance and movement activities for preschool story time. The series is curated by Kerry Aradhya of Picture Books & Pirouettes and written by a different guest writer each month. We hope that children’s librarians, as well as classroom teachers and dance educators, will find these activities useful and fun!
I ordered the book I Can Be Anything (by Jerry Spinelli and Jimmy Liao) especially for this project. I thought it would be so fun to use at the library. Little ones have huge imaginations, and when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, they always have the best answers. All of the ideas in the book are “outside of the box.” They show that anyone can be anything and I love that!
Here are some ideas for story time. First, read the book aloud. Then explore the ideas in the book through movement:
- Dandelion blower: Blow at your hand as a closed fist. Then open it and flutter your hand in the air like the dandelion scattering!
- Paper plane folder: Make a folded plane shape. Then fly your shape around the room!
- Puddle stomper: Stomp around the room in puddles and splash everyone!
- Tin can kicker: Big kicks! (The word for kick in ballet is battement.) Do battement kicks traveling across the floor or around the room.
- Jump and clapper: Jump and clap. Jump fast and clap slow. Jump slow and clap fast. Do it at the same time. Do five jumps then five claps. There could be any combination!
- Dizzy dance spinner: Spin! How many ways to spin? On your feet, on your toosh, on your knees. There are a ton of possibilities.
These examples are just a few from the book. There are others like silly joke teller, for which you could ask your guests to share a joke! There is also good-bye waver, for which you could explore different ways to wave. Wave with your hands and feet!
Don’t forget to ask your guests what they would like to be!
Some other books that would best complement this one are Someday by Eileen Spinelli and Rosie Winstead and When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic and Wes Hargis.
I hope you enjoy exploring and imagining what your little guests want to be!
Guest blogger Maria Hanley.
Maria Hanley is an early childhood dance educator in New York City. Maria teaches infant, toddler, and preschool movement and dance all over the city —26 classes a week, to be exact! When she’s not teaching, she writes on her blog Maria’s Movers and for the Kids Concepts Column at Dance Advantage. On both sites, Maria regularly offers tips and tools for teachers who create with young dancers and movers.
from Library as Incubator Project » Library as Incubator Project | Library as Incubator Project http://ift.tt/1lX8APr
via IFTTThttp://ift.tt/1lX8CXp
No comments:
Post a Comment