Rainbow Magic Book Club: Autumn the Falling Leaves Fairy

Yesterday was the first Rainbow Magic club meeting for 6-9 year olds and it was a huge success!  I could not believe how wonderful the group was (all girls, but boys are invited too).  There were 18 girls who came; almost 100% attendance based on registration.

Details: 
Held on the fourth Monday of every month at 4:00 p.m.
Registration is required
Book should be read before the meeting (I will hold 15 copies at Perry, first come, first serve)
Next month's book is Trixie the Halloween Fairy and we are meeting on October 27th

Sign In
As Gabby, a teen volunteer, checked the children in and got them name tags, I gave them their fairy names using this Fairy Name Generating website http://fairy.namegeneratorfun.com/.  I had the screen projected on the wall so the kids could read about their fairy names.

 The sign-in tables were decorated like this and I brought my Scentsy lamp in to fill the room with pumpkin spice (like the magical pumpkin smells in the book):

The Discussion
I arranged the chairs in a circle and each chair had a "fairy wand" on it for the kids to raise when they wanted to answer one of the discussion questions.  Some examples of questions I asked are: What did the farm look like when Kirsty and Rachel arrived? (easy) What are the names of the Fairy King and Queen? (hard)  Have you ever experienced fall in cool weather?  What's your favorite part about fall?

I had the map of the Farm projected on the board so we could talk about what happened at the different locations.  I also had some black and white copies and colored pencils available to color in case we ended early.  We didn't end up needing the back-up activity, but the girls took them home to color.

The Craft
We filled these tiny little bottles with "fairy dust".  I had tables set up with six different colors of art sand and sixteen colors of fine, shimmery, glitter.  They turned out so cute!  We put yarn through the loops so they could be worn as necklaces.

Activity:
The answer is "NO" - kids are never too old to play with the parachute, especially when you dump a large bucket of leaves in the middle and they go EVERYWHERE!  We did this while I played "It's Fall Again".  Listen here

Owls: All-Ages

September seems like the perfect month to read about owls.  This is one of my favorite themes!  I am now doing All-Ages Storytimes (as opposed to doing separate Toddler and Preschool Storytimes) so I try to keep the content age-appropriate for both the bigger kids and the little guys. 

We looked at a few different kinds of owls.  I pointed out the Snowy Owl, the Great Horned Owl, and the Burrowing Owl (we see these in AZ)

 Can you guess what kind of owl my friend is?

He's Ollie; a Great Horned Owl

Books:

I'm Not Cute by Johnathan Allen:  Baby Owl meets Rabbit, Fox, and Squirrel in the woods and is upset when they tell him how cute he is but when Mama tells him that he's not cute, his attitude changes.

I read this book with the little owl finger puppet and my lovely co-worker helped the other puppets interact with him.

Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood:  A curious little owl explores her colorful surroundings during the day.

Music: 

"Mr. Owl" by Kimmy Schwimmy.  You can't help but to dance while singing this song!  For the owl, we flapped our wings (elbows bent).  For the bird, we flapped our arms (extended).  For the cat we danced with little paws.

Thank you so much, Lisa Shaia for sharing this song!  Listen to the full song here

Flannel: 

"One Little Owl"
One little owl said, "Whoo, whoo."
Two little owls said, "Whoo, whoo."
Three little owls said, "Whoo, whoo."
As they sat in the old oak tree.

...crow said, "Caw, caw."
....squirrel said, "Crunch, crunch."

 Watch and listen here

Sign for tree:

Fingerplays / Body Movement:

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (The last page in Wow! Said the Owl shows the nighttime sky glittered with stars)

"I'm a Little Kitty" (because of Mr. Kitty in the song "Mr. Owl")
I'm a little kitty nice and sweet
Here are my whiskers
and here are my feet
When I go out hunting, mice beware
Or you just might get a scare!
Watch and listen here - these girls are AWESOME

 Owl Yoga Pose: Turn your head from side to side

The Weekly Stuff:
"Good Morning Song" / "Shake Your Sillies Out"
"Roly Poly"
"Mr. Bear"
"We Wave Goodbye Like This"

I'll see you next week for an autumn theme!!