June 13th: Let's Discuss Dinosaurs

 

Week two at Summer Squires felt a lot more put together. Perhaps, it felt this way because everyone was on time, and it was the second visit. Moreover, we also had two more library volunteers with us this week along with the volunteer who joined us the week prior. The extra hands were definitely needed. This week the kids had a lot more energy than last week. This meant a lot of redirecting their attention back to the front and gentle reminders to be quiet so “our friends can hear.” Luckily, the kids weren’t too bad and once redirected they listened for a while usually until they got excited by something in one of the stories. 

After, the story we did a dinosaur craft to compliment the dinosaur story that was read. For the craft, the kids traced their hand on a colored piece of paper for the body of their dinosaur. Then they glued a pre-cut head onto the paper which they would then decorate and color their completed dinosaur. However, some kids used the head cutouts to trace instead of glue which worked just as well. Most of the kids understood my instructions, however, I got lots of questions on which way the head should go with the first two groups. So, I decided to add both options for the dinosaur head placement in my directions for the rest of the groups. While the kids did the craft or some were checking out books, we played “Guess the object.” Although, one group opted for I-spy and “Ms. Victoria says” (Simon says basically). The kids all seemed to enjoy the games which really helped them listen and apply some of their extra energy without lots of movement. 

Overall, the kids loved the dinosaurs as many of started talking about their favorite ones and if they had seen dinosaurs' bones. It was a great time; though I will admit my voice was a bit tired after the day- a good reminder to hydrate and rest my voice the rest of the day. 


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