Storytime: Community Connections
Storytime: Community Connections
Do you know the people in your neighborhood? Try drawing an appreciation picture or letter together and giving it to a fire fighter, police officer, dentist, doctor, nurse, school teacher, postal worker, librarian, hair stylist, veterinarian, pizza delivery driver, or your neighbor. Community connections can start with you!
Join us Tuesdays, and Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. or Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room.
Ages 2-5
Sing, Talk, Read, Write, Play
Tip
By joyfully watching other children follow directions and applauding their success, you are teaching your child an important social skill- how to appreciate other people. Being successful in school requires more than being able to do academic work. It also involves knowing how to get along with other children, how to wait your turn, and how to be part of a classroom community.
Activity
When attending a group activity such as story time, show your child how to compliment or appreciate another child’s efforts and success or how to wait patiently in line for the craft. Then talk about it and why appreciation and mutual respect are important to everyone in a community.
Books Presented
Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook
Teach your little one about a wide spectrum of careers with this playful guess-and-reveal picture book—perfect for reading aloud with preschool-age children and up!
Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery
Once there was a lot full of trash. Now there is a lush, green farm. This is the story of Harlem Grown, a garden in New York City
Hot Pot Night by Vincent Chen
In this version of the classic tale, nobody in the apartment building has enough ingredients for dinner–so a child suggests that they have a community hot pot night. Everybody contributes something, bringing their diverse community together for a delicious meal. Includes a recipe for hot pot.
The 12 Days of Kindness by Jenna Lettice
Count out twelve ways to celebrate and honor our friends, family, neighbors, and first responders with small acts of kindness
Songs, Rhymes, and Fingerplays
Walking to Town
As I was walking to town one day,
I met a ________ along the way and what do you think the _______ did say?
STOP! ____________
I Can Help My Friends
Tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
I can help my friends
Each and every day.
When they need me I am there
To help them learn and play
My Hands are for Helping
Linda Conrad
My hands are for helping
My hands are for holding
My hands are for clapping
when I hear a happy song
My hands are for caring,
My hands are for sharing
My hands are for kindness,
not doing harm
I control my hands
’cause they’re a part of me
I have absolute control of the body parts on me
My hands are for helping,
My hands are for holding
My hands are for kindness
not doing harm
Crafts and Activities
B is for Books
Fire Department
Visit the fire department
Additional Books
It Fell From the Sky by Terry Fan
All the insects agree that the object that fell from the sky is a Wonder, but when Spider decides it is his, he risks losing all of his friends.
Whose Hands Are These?: A Community Helper Guessing Book by Miranda Paul
If your hands can mix and mash, what job might you have?
Hands can wiggle, hands can clap.
Hands can wrap and flap and tap.
But hands can help―so raise yours, please!
Can you guess? Whose hands are these?
What if your hands reach, wrench, yank, and crank? The hands in this book―and the people attached to them―do all sorts of helpful work. And together, these helpers make their community a safe and fun place to live.
The Little Things: A Story About Acts of Kindness by Christian Trimmer
A little girl’s small act of kindness after a storm spreads throughout her town so that the next time there is a storm, her community comes together to make a big difference.
You Are a Beautiful Beginning by Nina Laden
Children play cooperatively in a forest, and their stick creations draw the interest of small gnome-like creatures, who make their own additions.
