Music is a great way to get the wiggles out! It’s great seeing kids get excited about dancing to their favorite songs. Music and movement help young brains build connections, but music can also help kids learn to stop moving!

STOP can be a hard word to teach excited little ones, and all too often it’s a word they really don’t want to hear. Self-regulating is the ability to make your body listen to your brain, and to the requests of those around you. Using Freeze songs is a great way to practice stopping and starting on cue. It can also become a fun way to get young children to pay attention to important words, like “Stop,” “Wait” or “Freeze,” when they become a little too revved up during movement activities, or just day-to-day events.

Some great songs to use include:

“I Can Dance” by Ronno
“Can’t Wait to Celebrate” by Jim Gill
“Bop & Stop” by Merry Music Maker
“Freeze” or “Stop & Go” by Greg & Steve

Any song can be used to play freeze games, though. Fast moving classical songs, or even rock & roll, can be paused for great freeze-song fun!

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

View ten of the most popular Children’s Picture books this month at KDL – click on the link to your Top Ten List!

Fishing for Letters

Now that the weather is warming up, it’s time to take early literacy activities outdoors. Here’s a simple activity to make pool time fun and educational this summer.

Materials:

• Child’s plastic pool or large basin or bucket
• Water (optional)
• Plastic magnetic letters
• Child’s fishing rod with no hook on it (or a short piece of string tied to a stick)
• Large metal washer
• Basket or bowl

Directions:

Tie the large metal washer to the end of the fishing pole string, making sure that the washer is secure. Fill the pool or basin with water and throw the magnetic letters into the pool.

To Use:

“Fish” for magnetic letters with the fishing pole. As a child catches each letter, say the name of the letter and make the sounds that the letter makes. Ask older children to think of a word that starts with the letter they have caught. Try catching magnetic numbers too!

Other Ideas:

Give children real fishing poles (child sized) with the hooks removed. Tie small, soft objects to the end of the lines and have children practice casting out and reeling the line in. Take children fishing! Try local parks with small, well-stocked ponds and playgrounds nearby. Talk about different types of fish and check out a book about fish from your local library.

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

Green up your thumbs with this booklist!  To view 10 of the most popular Gardening titles at KDL this month, click on the link to your Top Ten List.

Do you have a favorite mystery author or series?  Please share your picks with us below!  And if you want to be a star super sleuth, click on the Top Ten List to find out what the most popular Adult Mystery titles are at KDL this month.

As the spring and summer months begin, vacations do too! Listening to music while traveling can be a great method to prevent boredom and entertain restless children.

Families can sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” or “The Farmer in the Dell” when driving in rural areas. Try adding verses as you see different animals. This is engaging, fun and it also provides an opportunity for children to be creative while using their imaginations. You may end up singing about a monkey on your farm! “The Wheels on the Bus” or “Going to the Zoo” can be great songs to sing while you are driving in the city.

If you are looking for a new artist for your road trip, stop by your local KDL branch to see all the different CD options on our shelves. You can also download songs; just go to our website and browse the artists available through Freegal. If you are not sure where to begin, try Frank Leto, The Wiggles, Jim Gill and Laurie Berkner Band. They are just a few of the artists that we love to sing along with at our Storytimes. Turn on some music and enjoy singing with your child!

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

Looking for memorable characters, captivating stories and extraordinary places?  Grab a book from KDL’s sci-fi collection!  To view 10 of the most popular Adult Science Fiction titles at KDL this month, click on the link to our Top Ten List. 

And while you’re here, what’s your favorite sci-fi or fantasy read?

Looking for a fun app that helps teach your child the letters of the alphabets and their shapes? Letter School is a fun and entertaining app where kids are given clear direction on how to trace letters and numbers by following the shape. They are rewarded with fun sounds and animations that will keep them entertained as they learn. Help your child trace over the letters with the index finger of their writing hand. Tracing letters using a finger is a first step in learning to write letters and helps build  tactile memory and fine motor control. This app is available in a free lite version and is $2.99 for the full version.

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.

This Top Ten list is just in time for Earth Day!  To view ten of the most popular environmental titles at KDL, click on the link to the KDL Top Ten List!

Grumpy Goat by Brett Helquist

How does it feel to be grumpy? The other animals at Sunny Acres Farm want to befriend Goat, but he does everything he can to push them away. Only a yellow dandelion in the field can turn Goat’s mood around, showing him that there is always something sunny blooming on the farm.

This book’s rich illustrations bring the farm to life and also depict the mood changes in Goat. Talk with your child about being grumpy. Acknowledge that everyone feels grumpy sometimes, and ask what Goat could do to let the animals know how he’s feeling. Look at pictures of faces in other books or magazines, and talk about ways faces can show feelings. Visit a flower shop or greenhouse together and pick some flowers for a neighbor or friend. Talking with your child helps build vocabulary skills and is a great way to get ready to read!

This article originally appeared in our Early Lit Bits eNewsletter. Read the most recent issue online or sign up to receive this monthly update highlighting early literacy tips and resources for parents and caregivers.