The Dentist is In

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Dana Sheridan

Most people don’t put the words “dentist” and “fun” in the same sentence, but here at Pop Goes the Page, you’ll find that fun is indeed possible with this neat-o set of dentist tools and peppy patient!

We read Doctor De Soto by William Steig. Doctor De Soto is a mouse dentist who works on creatures both big and small. He draws the line, however, at patients who snack on mice. But when a truly miserable fox shows up at the office begging to be let in, Doctor De Soto and his wife (who also happens to be his assistant) decide to treat him. During the procedure, it becomes quite apparent that the fox intends to eat them when he feels better. So Doctor De Soto and Mrs. De Soto come up with a clever plan to outfox the fox.

For the patient, you’ll need:

1 box for the head (mine was 4” x 4” x 4”)
A box cutter
2 rectangles of white card stock for upper and lower teeth (approximately 1.25″ x 4″)
4 rectangles of red poster board for gums (approximately 1″ x 4″)
12 rectangles of white card stock for molars (approximately 1″ x 1.25″)
1 rectangle of red construction paper for tongue (approximately 1.5″ x 4.5″)
1 triangle of white poster board (mine was roughly 5.5″ x 5.5″)
Black, red, yellow, brown or red construction paper for hair
2 jumbo pom-poms (mine were 2″)
1 Styrofoam packing peanut
2 black dot stickers
2 squares of white card stock for ears
Scissors and tape for construction
Markers for decorating
Hot glue

For the dental tools, you’ll need:

1 box for the dental bag (mine was 2” x 4” x 4″)
1 rectangle of silver poster board for handle (mine was 1.5″ x 6.75″)
1 wooden clothespin
2 small rectangles of silver poster board for the forceps (approximately .75″ x 3.75″)
1 sparkle stem
2 craft sticks (mine were 4.5″ long)
1 Styrofoam packing peanut
A selection of color masking tape
2 small rectangles of mirror board for silver fillings (approximately 1″ x 1.25″)
2 small rectangles of gold paper for gold fillings (approximately 1″ x 1.25″)
1 small circle of mirror board (mine was 1.25″ in diameter)
1 piece of string for floss (mine was 17″)
Some reward stickers
Tape and scissors for construction
Markers for decorating
Hot glue

We’ll begin with your patient! Use the box cutter to cut a slit in the front of the box. Carefully inset scissors into the slit and cut three sides of the box. Leave one side intact as the “hinge.”

Prepare the upper and lower teeth by cutting “tooth bumps” on the card stock rectangles like so:

Then hot glue the upper and lower teeth inside the mouth.

This is also a good time to hot glue the red poster board “gums” inside the mouth. Since you’re basically creating a pocket for the teeth, only glue three sides of the gums. The top of the gums should remain glue free.

To create the tongue, round one edge of the construction paper rectangle and hot glue (or tape) inside the mouth.

To make “molars,” round the edge of each white card stock rectangle, and slide them into the upper and lower gum pockets.

The mouth is done, now for the rest of your patient! Let’s revisit “Mr. Smiley” before we get started…

Use construction paper fringes to create hair and tape it to the top of the box. Hot glue two jumbo pom-poms on the top of the box for eyes and a Styrofoam packing peanut on the front for a nose. Stick the black dot stickers to the pom-poms for pupils, use markers to add nostrils to the nose, and shape ears out of white card stock squares and tape them to the sides of the box.

The final touch is your patient’s white poster board “shirt.” We tried a number of different shapes and determined that a triangle with rounded edges looked best:

Well, this image depicts an uneven, lopsided, yet somewhat rounded triangle. But you get the idea. Color the triangle with markers, then hot glue the head to the top. Done!

Now for your delightful dental tools. I actually had to look one of these up. I mean, who knew that the “little hook thingee they scrape your teeth with” is called a sickle probe? Thank you, Wikipedia.

Bag: Decorate the box with markers. Then tab the ends of the poster board handle and tape it to the underside of the lid.

Forceps: Hot glue the 2 poster board rectangles to the sides of the wooden clothespin.

Sickle probe: Cut a 3″ segment off the sparkle stem, then curve it into a hook and tape to the end of a craft stick. You can use color masking tape or scotch tape.

Toothbrush: Snip a small piece off a Styrofoam packing peanut, then hot glue it to a craft stick. Bonus…when the Styrofoam moves across the card stock teeth, it really does sound like a toothbrush!

Mirror: Tape a 5.75″ piece of sparkle stem to the mirror board circle. Bend the sparkle stem slightly.

Dental fillings: Round one edge of the silver mirror board and gold paper squares. A quick word about the gold paper squares. I unearthed this from the art cabinet:

It’s gold hologram paper mounted on thin cardboard. If you don’t have this stuff, you can improvise with metallic crayon or markers on card stock. Just make sure to use paper that’s thick enough to withstand being played with repeatedly.

The final two pieces of the dental kit are floss (I used string, but real floss would be even cooler) and some much-appreciated reward stickers.

Ready for your check up? Not only can you examine, floss, and brush to your heart’s content, you can also remove cavities! Use black and brown markers to draw a cavity on a molar:

Then insert the molar back into gums. After a quick examination with the mirror and sickle probe, use your forceps to remove the cavity and replace it with a sturdy new filling.

Good job! Reward your patient with a sticker, and send ’em the bill!

Breakfast is Served

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Dana Sheridan

Start your day out right with some toasted bread, butter, jam, and a delicious beverage. Thanks to your magic magnetic knife, preparing breakfast has never been easier (especially when there are hidden paperclips in your essential ingredients)!

We read Hooray for Bread, written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Bruce Ingman (Candlewick, 2013). One morning, a lovely loaf of bread is born. The story follows the loaf of bread as it progresses, slice by slice, throughout the day. Breakfast for the baker’s wife, a sandwich for the baker’s boy, a snack for the ducks in the park, afternoon tea, and so on until the last crumb serves as a meal for a mouse. Hooray hooray for bread!

You’ll need:

1 “toaster” box (mine was 4 ½” X 4 ½” x 9”)
A box cutter
2 rectangles of white poster board for bread slices (mine were 5″ x 6.5″)
2 jumbo paperclips (approximately 2″)
1 wooden coffee stirrer
1 pipe cleaner
2 rectangles of self-adhesive foam (approximately 1.5″ x 2″)
A selection of color masking tape
A selection of self-adhesive foam shapes
4 small pom-poms (mine were 1″ in diameter)
1 large rectangle of white poster board for “place mat” (mine was 11″ x 15″)
A selection of patterned tape
1 paper plate
1 square of white paper towel (mine was 5.5″ x 5.5″)
3 paper cups
1 jumbo craft stick (mine was 8″ long)
1 button magnet (mine was 3/4″)
1 piece of aluminum foil (approximately 2.75″ x 5.5″)
2 squares of yellow self-adhesive foam for “butter” (approximately 1.5″ x 1.5″)
2 rectangles of purple cellophane for “jam” (approximately 3″ x 4.5″)
2 small paperclips (approximately 1.5″)
Scissors and tape for construction
Markers for decorating
Hot glue

Begin with the toaster! Use the box cutter to cut two slits in the top of the box. Then use scissors to enlarge the slits into rectangular toaster slots.

Next, cut bread shapes from the 2 pieces of white poster board. Make sure the top of the bread extends well past the top of the toaster. Otherwise, your bread will fall into the toaster and you’ll have to constantly fish it out (and even with a fake toaster, I hate to see kids thrusting anything that looks like a knife into anything that looks like a toaster)!

Use markers to draw crusts on your bread, and then slide a jumbo paperclip diagonally on each slice (this will create a nice, semi-horizontal surface for the magnet to attach to).

To create the toaster cord and plug, break both ends off a wooden coffee stirrer (each piece should be about 1.5″ long). Then, peel the backing off a rectangle of self-adhesive foam. Press the coffee stirrer pieces AND the pipe cleaner onto the sticky backing (making sure the smooth ends of the coffee stirrer are sticking out) like so:

plug Peel the backing off the second rectangle of self-adhesive foam and press it firmly on top of the first rectangle. Use scissors to cut the rectangles into a plug shape.

Curl the pipe cleaner “cord” around a marker to make it spiral, then tape it to one end of the box. Decorate your toaster with color masking tape and self-adhesive foam shapes. Finish by hot gluing four pom-poms on the bottom of the toaster for “feet!”

Your toaster is complete – time to set the table!

Use markers and patterned tape to decorate your place mat, plate, and napkin. Two of the paper cups will hold your butter and jam, so you’ll need shorten these cups with scissors (my butter cup was approximately 1.5″ tall, and my jam cup was 1.75″ tall).

I hot glued the plate, napkin, and the two shortened cups to the place mat to make it easier to carry. I left the “beverage” cup and the knife unglued (and filled the beverage cup with polyester fill “milk” or “soy milk”).

To make the magic knife, wrap the bottom of a jumbo craft stick with color masking tape. Then hot glue a button magnet to the top of the craft stick (I did this step in advance to save time). Wrap the upper section of the stick with aluminum foil.

The final step is to prepare your butter and jam for the magic knife! Peel the backing off the yellow self-adhesive foam square, but don’t pull it all the way off! When you’re about halfway peeled, press the small paperclip onto the sticky back of the adhesive.

Then re-attach the backing to the foam square, sealing the paperclip in.

To create jam, simply tape a small paperclip to the purple cellophane.

Ready for breakfast? Place the butter and jam in their cups, then use the magic knife to fetch the bread from the toaster, carry it to the plate, and load on the toppings!

The Other Half

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Dana Sheridan

Q: I’m curious about the read-aloud portion of your story times. Do you have any suggestions, advice, or tips?

Sure! Most of the projects you see on this blog are from Tiger Tales, our story time for 3 – 5 year-olds, so I’ll talk specifically about that.

Tiger Tales doesn’t require registration, so it’s first-come, first-served until we fill (24 kids maximum for the project portion of the story time). We do restrict by age range, so while everyone is free to listen to the story, only 3 – 5 year-olds can actually do the project. We bring out bins of toys to occupy the younger sibs (older sibs read or help with the project).

It’s time for story time to begin. Behold the tools of my trade!

At the very beginning of the program, kids line up to receive a name tag (I use these handy-dandy name tag stickers). I use a Sharpie to write the tags because kid-friendly markers tend to smudge something fierce.

Name tags are useful for many reasons:

It helps me learn names!
I ask kids to spell their names for me, so it gives them some practice with their spelling (and sometimes breaks the ice with the shy ones).
Later in the program, it’s much easier to say “Pat! Stop running with those scissors!” then “Hey you! Stop running with those scissors!”
I count out 24 name stickers at the start of the program and then recount at the end of the program to tally my attendance numbers. Simple. This technique is also useful at super busy story times. When my 24 stickers run out, I know the program is full!

It can be quite hectic before story time begins. Rather than trying to shout over the din, I ring a story time bell, wait for everyone to quiet down, and then I make the announcements. I ask adults to refrain from cell phone conversations and, if someone gets restless or cries during the story, to please move to the front of the gallery so we can work on our listening skills in the story time area.

Then I ask a few questions about the book (“What’s on the cover?” “Would you like a dragon for a pet?”), connect the questions to the book (“Well, this boy knows exactly what it’s like to have a dragon for a pet…”) and announce the title of the book. But before I even open it, I have everyone put on their “listening ears” and then I do…THE BIG SHUSH. Basically, THE BIG SHUSH is everyone putting a finger in front of their mouths and, all together, we count:

One (big, audible breath)
Two (big, audible breath)
Three (big, audible breath)
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

If you think one person shushing is effective, try everyone in the room shushing! It even quiets the babies down!

Then I start reading.

My reading style involves multiple character vocalizations (and even a few sound effects). Sometimes, the book becomes a prop as I flap it like a butterfly, climb it up a tree, or jiggle it during a storm. At times, I ask kids to act things out or make sounds to match the story (“Stomp your feet!” “Let’s hear your best parrot squawk!”) Often, while I’m reading, I’ll offer a little comment on the story, ask the kids a question, or pause while a kid makes a comment on the book.

That said, sometimes I’ll read a book all the way through without very much audience interaction at all. Just character vocalizations, a steady narrative, and the riveted attention of the children. It always feels a little magical when that happens.

Story time with kids is about engagement with the text, but let’s face it – it’s also about crowd control. That’s where those name tag stickers come in handy. “OK Paul, I’m going to read again now…” or “Avery, shhh, sit down, sit down please.” Once the book concludes, I reveal the project and we proceed to the project area to get started!

I never reveal the project before the book, and the toys for the younger kids don’t come out until the book is finished. The focus is always on the book first.

You might notice that I don’t do songs or finger play. That’s because the Princeton Public Library features these things pretty regularly at their story times and I wanted to supplement, rather than replicate, their offerings. I don’t do flannel boards either (the folks at Flannel Friday have that totally covered!). I did, however, do a post on some amazing conductive thread that will illuminate your next flannel board story time!

If you’re wondering what book I’m reading in this post, you’ll find the answer here.

Have a question of your own? E-mail me!

Pop Goes the Page

Creative Literacy & Library Love

Tag Archives: storytime

The Dentist is In

Breakfast is Served

The Other Half