Today was the second session of the Roselle Public Library’s Drop-In Story Time. This week’s animal focus for the theme "Winter's Arctic Chill" was penguins. The librarian read: Penguins 1 2 3 by Kevin Shafer, Pippin’s Big Jump by Hilary Robinson, I Like It When… by Mary Murphy, and If Your Were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor. Pippin’s Big Jump was a really cute story about a little penguin who was afraid to jump into the sea, but his mom gives him a pep-talk and helps him find his courage. We also got to dance and waddle like penguins to the song The Penguin from Hot! Hot! Hot! Dance Songs. Abby loved to she make up her own dance moves while Shawn stuck to his signature straight-leg, side-to-side stepping – not too far off from the penguin waddle! We learned a couple of poems:
I’m a Little Penguin
I’m a little penguin
Living far below.
You’ll find me at the South Pole,
Where chilly winds can blow.
Fishing in the ice
And swimming in the sea
Make living at the South Pole
Perfect for me!
Two Little Penguins
Two little penguins sitting on the ice. (hold up both index fingers)
One bows once, and one bows twice. (make fingers bow to each other)
Waddle little penguins, waddle away. (put fingers behind your back)
Come back little penguins, time to play! (bring fingers back in front)
Waddling Penguins
Penguins, penguins having fun
Waddling in the winter sun.
Waddle fast and waddle slow!
Waddling to and waddling fro!
We did a quick activity on the flannel board. And, of course, we learned the American Sign Language sign for penguins. (Even though some of the signs seem pretty abstract to me, I’d say this one is pretty clear and recognizable!)
After the library, we went to Toys R Us to find a birthday present for cousin Milan’s birthday party this weekend. (Everyone in an Indian family or even their friends are called “cousins!” While I’m sure it’s supposed to simplify relations and say that everyone is family and it doesn’t matter how distant a relative you are, I think it makes things really confusing! So, for anyone who prefers more specific definitions, Milan is Raj’s cousins’ son. I think that makes Shawn and Milan second cousins… but I always get that mixed up… maybe the Indian way IS easier!) I wasn’t too sure what it would be like bringing two kids into the toy store, but, aside from an occasional hand reaching for the shelves, the shopping cart was enough to contain them. (I’ve said it before, but I just wish more places had shopping carts that could accommodate two kids! Oh, well.) We found some semi-educational games that looked good for a three year old and then high-tailed it outta there!
Toys R Us is next to a PetCo, so we stopped there for some dog and frog supplies before heading home. Our shopping trip turned out a little longer than I had anticipated because Shawn and Abby loved seeing all of the animals that were for sale. Luckily, neither realized they were for sale! It was more like a mini-zoo fieldtrip for them instead. We watched schools of colorful fish darting around their tanks. There were mice, gerbils, hamsters, and rats running on wheels, nibbling food pellets, drinking their water bottles, and sleeping in tiny plastic igloos. We had fun “tweet-tweet”-ing with the parakeets and naming the colors of their feathers. Shawn and Abby wanted to get closer looks, bet every time we moved for a better angle, all of the birds hopped to the opposite side of the cage. The ferrets were much more playful and willing to entertain. They enclosure was more at eye-level for Shawn and Abby, which also helped. We watched them wrestle with each other and then stand on their “furniture” and each other trying to figure out how to open the lid to their cage. I’ve heard they are crafty critters... sure hope they don’t figure it out! There was also one playful kitten in the adoption center that was playing peek-a-boo and patty-cake with us. I never really thought of PetCo as such an exciting place, but today it certainly was!
No comments:
Post a Comment