Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Library Playgroup: Hispanic Heritage Month, Columbus Day and decorating banderas (flags)

Music/Movement Time:
Sapito/Little Toad
Un sapito (A little toad)
Que feliz vivía (Lived happily)
Debajo de un puente donde un charco había (Under a bridge where there was a puddle)
Dura dura dura dura pas pas pas (nonsense words)
Yaqui yaqui yaqui yaqui pas pas pas

Cabeza, Cara, Hombros, Pies/Head, Face, Shoulders, Feet
Cabeza, cara, hombros, pies (Head, Face, Shoulders, Feet)
Hombros, pies (Shoulders, feet)
Hombros, pies (shoulders, feet)
Cabeza, cara, hombros, pies (Head, Face, Shoulders, Feet)
Y una vuelta entera (And a full spin/turn)

Song vocabulary:
El sapito - the toad
Feliz - happy
La cabeza - head
La cara - face
Los hombros - shoulders
Los pies - feet
Una vuelta entera - a full spin/turn

Storytime:
De la A a la Z con Cristóbal Colón


Display/Story vocabulary:
La máscara - mask
El barco - boat
El país - the country (nation)
Las plumas - feathers
El maíz - corn
Frijoles/Judios - beans
El mar - the sea
La bandera - the flag

This was a super cute book about Columbus reaching the new world and what he found there. We had a good time reading about the people and structures and even gods of the Americas at that time.

Activity:
1. We decorated banderas. I had moms pick in advance the country their kids would like to represent and then we had full-color flags to glue feathers, beads, noodles, pipe cleaners and tissue paper to using the pre-Columbian setting from storytime as our inspiration!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Library Playgroup: Hispanic Heritage Month, drums and circle game

I had a really fun time finding ideas to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month!

Welcome song:
Cantemos todos juntos, Halo, Halo, Halo
Cantemos todos juntos, Halo, Halo, Halo

Cantemos a (name here), Halo, Halo, Halo
Cantemos a (name here), Halo, Halo, Halo

Cantemos a (name here), Halo, Halo, Halo
Cantemos a todos, Halo, Halo, Halo


Let's all sing together, Hello, Hello, Hello
Let's all sing to (name here), Hello, Hello, Hello
Let's sing to everyone, Hello, Hello, Hello

Getting to know you:
Jimbo the puppet introduced himself and asked kids, "Cómo te llamas?" and "Cuántos años tienes?" which means, "What's your name?" and "How old are you?"

Activities:
1. We did a traditional circle game from Spain called "La Tía Mónica". You can watch some little girls dance to a slightly different version on youtube.

Lyrics in both English and Spanish are found here, as well as a sound file you can play on your computer.

We actually played the José-Luis Orozco version at the playgroup though, it's from his cd "Diez Deditos". In English it's "My Aunt Monica" and it's a cute song about how a child's aunt moves different body parts when she dances.

Vocabulary:
los ojos - eyes
las sejas - eyebrows
las pestañas - eyelashes
la nariz - nose
la cabeza - head
los hombros - shoulders
los codos - elbows
"así se da la vuelta" - this is how she turns

2. We made caribbean congo-style drums with plastic circles cut from a blue kiddie pool and some sturdy plastic cups. We used rubber bands to attach the plastic and then decorated them with stickers and paper. I got this idea from Handy Manny's Hispanic Heritage Month Party page.



After that we drummed along to a song called "Debajo del Botón" on the same José-Luis Orozco cd. It has these great repetitions like, "Debajo del botón, ton, ton que encontró Martín, tin ,tin" and so on that are perfect for keeping rhythm with. I said "un, dos, tres" a few times to add extra emphasis as I drummed.

Transition to playtime song:
Ahora vamos a jugar, a jugar, a jugar
Ahora vamos a jugar, a jugar, a jugar


Excerpt from "Y Ahora Vamos a Cantar" also on the cd "Diez Deditos"

Cleaning song:
Limpia, limpia
Guarda todo en su lugar
Limpia, limpia
Todos deben cooperar


Taken from Barney, it's the "Cleanup" song, spanish version

Downtown Playgroup: Seasons, Weather, Tactile Adjectives

We've had three get togethers as of today and we've talked about the seasons fall and winter, weather, and learned some tactile adjectives.

Seasons/Weather:
Vocabulary:
las hojas - leaves
el otoño- fall
el invierno - winter
la lluvia - rain
el viento - wind
el sol - sun
la nieve - snow
la tormenta - storm

Activities:
1. We crumpled up squares of tissue paper in red and yellow to represent las hojas and in white to represent la nieve and we threw them around the room and blew them around just like el viento does.

2.We made a tormenta with a spray bottle of water as la lluvia, the metal sheet from the front of my dishwasher to shake for trueno (thunder) and a cardboard representation of a nube (cloud) to wave to make viento. We also turned the lights off and on to represent relámpago (lightning).

3. We took a big floppy teddy bear and dressed him with appropriate clothes for un día soleado (sunny day), de nieve (a snowy day) y de lluvia (and a rainy day). The clothing they chose from: sun hat, swim shorts, surf shirt, snow suit, scarf, rain jacket and an umbrella

Songs:
Cae la Lluvia Alrededor
Este Era un Mono
Palomitas de maíz


Tactile Adjectives:
Vocabulary:
frío - cold
liso - smooth
áspero - rough
suave - soft
duro - hard

Activities:
1. I brought a bin of dress up clothes and while the kids put on dress up items we talked about the different textures. There was a vest to dress up like a lion that was suave and a straw hat that was áspero. They also played with a helmet that was duro and also liso.

2. We set up a learning table where the kids touched ice cubes that were frío and rocks that were either liso or áspero. There was also sandpaper for the kids to touch.

3. We went around the room describing things we saw and, among other things, found a couch that was suave and a table that was liso and duro.

Songs:
I made this one up and sung it to a tune that was familiar to me. You could pick any tune that is familiar to you.

Suave, suave, como el gato
Duro, armadillo
Liso, liso, como uvas
Áspero, piña

Me in a nutshell

Under One Techo | Under One Roof
I grew up an air-force brat, on bases and off bases, statewide and on foreign soil. Having lived in both Japan and Los Angeles (Little Mexico!), I have a love for both the Latin and Asian communities. But above all that lies a commitment to God, marriage, and family as the backbone of society. And with that, let the crazy, cultural mash-up begin..