Flashback (Story Time at Home: Let's Visit France!)

Today’s Story Time at Home theme is France!  If you would like to share a picture of your story-time-at-home experience (i.e. You might send a picture of a finished craft project), just shoot us an email at ozarkregionallibraryyouth@gmail.com, and it might get included on our blog!  No names will be included with submissions for privacy reasons.

Let's Visit France Story Time

Books: 

The Cat Who Walked Across France

by Kate Banks and

Georg Hallensleben

Cover image from Goodreads.

Anatole by Eve Titus and

Paul Galdone

Cover image from Goodreads.

Game/Activity: France is recognized as being a hub for perfume-making.  Test your nose with this fun sensory activity!  Gather approximately half-a-dozen small paper Dixie cups, and with a sharp needle, poke a small hole in bottom of each cup.  Put one item in each cup that has a strong scent (i.e. a banana slice, a cotton ball soaked in peppermint extract, a piece of a gingersnap cookie).  Turn the cups upside down on the tables with the items still tucked inside.  Let kids smell the scent wafting from the pinhole in the cups, and guess what the scents are.

Snack: Make crepes!  To make the crepe batter, combine 1 ½ cups of milk, 1 ½ cups of flour, 3 eggs, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine in a bowl until smooth.  A hand-held mixer will yield the best consistency.  Let the batter sit for an hour.  Then, heat a small skillet.  Pour ¼ cup of the batter into the pan, and tilt from side to side until the bottom of the pan is covered.  When the crepe is cooked, remove it from the pan, and stack on a plate.  Make as many crepes as you would like, and then add your favorite topping– chocolate, whipped cream, diced fruit– before eating!

Craft: Recreate the Eiffel Tower– from toothpicks!

• Gather a box of toothpicks, a sheet of construction paper (preferably black), and glue.  Glitter is optional, but nice!
• Find a picture of the Eiffel Tower, and recreate its shape simply with toothpicks (hint: try making a triangle for the top of the Tower, and more toothpicks to create the “legs” the Tower stands on).
• Glue your toothpicks to your paper.  
• Add more glue to your Parisian scene, and sprinkle on some glitter for extra sparkle.  

I hope you enjoyed this idea for how you can recreate story time at home!  Check back in a few days for more fun, travel-themed ideas focusing on a new area of the world!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Flashback (Story Time at Home: Let's Visit England!)

Today’s Story Time at Home theme is England!  If you would like to share a picture of your story-time-at-home experience (i.e. You might send a picture of a finished craft project), just shoot us an email at ozarkregionallibraryyouth@gmail.com, and it might get included on our blog!  No names will be included with submissions for privacy reasons.

Let's Visit England Story Time

Books: 

Katie in London

by James Mayhew

Cover image from Goodreads.

B is for Big Ben: An England Alphabet

by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Cover image from Goodreads.

Game/Activity: Sing the classic rhyme, “London Bridge is Falling Down.”  You can find lyrics and more info about the song here.

Snack: The British enjoy their daily afternoon tea time, so why not make some tea– or hot cocoa for those who don’t have a taste for tea–, and snack on homemade or store-bought cookies (call them “biscuits” like they do in England for an added bit of authenticity!).

Craft: England is known for its complex and beautiful cathedrals dating back to the Medieval period.  Make your own stained glass window picture for today’s craft!    Here’s how to make your picture:

• Gather two small sheets of waxed paper (about the size of a sheet of 8 ½” x 11” typing paper), colored tissue paper, scissors, and tape.
• Tear or cut small shapes from the colored tissue paper.  
• Tape the colored tissue in a pattern onto one piece of waxed paper.  
• Place the second piece of waxed paper over the top of your design, and secure it with tape as well.
• Trim any extra waxed paper from the edges of your stained glass window, and you’re done!  Suspend your creation in a real window to catch the sunlight.

I hope you enjoyed this idea for how you can recreate story time at home!  Check back in a few days for more fun, travel-themed ideas focusing on a new area of the world!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Flashback (Story Time at Home: Let's Visit China!)

Today’s Story Time at Home theme is China!  If you would like to share a picture of your story-time-at-home experience (i.e. You might send a picture of a finished craft project), just shoot us an email at ozarkregionallibraryyouth@gmail.com, and it might get included on our blog!  No names will be included with submissions for privacy reasons.

Let's Visit China Story Time

Books: 

Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood

Story from China

by Ed Young

Cover image from Goodreads.

The Seven Chinese Brothers 

by Margaret Mahy and 
Mou-Sien Tseng.

Cover image from Goodreads.

Game/Activity: Have a chopstick relay race.  See who can place “rice” (white cottonballs) in a bowl the quickest, only using chopsticks to pick up the rice.  If you don’t have authentic chopsticks from a Chinese restaurant, you might substitute a pair of unsharpened pencils.  For better grip, use the eraser end of the pencils to snag the cottonballs.

Snack: Make rice or instant rice pudding, or eat pre-packaged rice cakes.

Craft: Make a beautiful paper fan.    

     

Instructions:

• Gather a paper plate, a popsicle stick, glue or tape, and crayons or markers.
• Draw a scene on the paper plate with crayons or markers.  Traditional Chinese scenes are of flowers, fish, butterflies, or birds.
• Securely glue or tape your popsicle stick to the bottom of the plate.

I hope you enjoyed this idea for how you can recreate story time at home!  Check back in a few days for more fun, travel-themed ideas focusing on a new area of the world!

Keep reading!

Shaen