TREASURE CHEST KIT #14:
EVERYTHING GROWS

This Reading Adventure Treasure Chest Kit has been assembled to provide a thematic list of storytime materials for use by enhanced members and their patrons.  The kit is geared toward the preschool age group yet is flexible enough to capture the interest of toddlers and early school age children.  The Activity Ideas are designed to be aids to use the materials listed in the kits.

If you would like more information concerning this project, contact SERLS via e-mail at dirserls@oplin.org.

Material Type	Title	Author
BOOK	Aaron's Shirt	DEBORAH GOULD
BOOK	The Carrot Seed	RUTH KRAUSS
BOOK	The Caterpillar And The Polliwog	JACK KENT
BOOK	Compost! Growing Gardens From Garbage	LINDA GLASER
BOOK	Flap Your Wings And Try	CHARLOTTE POMERANTZ
BOOK	Flower	MOIRA BUTTERFIELD
BOOK	A Garden Alphabet	ISABEL WILNER
BOOK	How A Seed Grows	HELENE J. JORDAN
BOOK	I'm Growing!	ALIKI
BOOK	Jack And The Beanstalk	STEVEN KELLOGG
BOOK	Katie's Too-Big Coat	JANE STEPHENS
BOOK	Little Gorilla	RUTH BORNSTEIN
BOOK	Mushroom In The Rain	MIRRA GINSBURG
BOOK	One Up, One Down	CAROL SNYDER
BOOK	Pig: See How They Grow	MARY LING
BOOK	Plants That Never Ever Bloom	RUTH HELLER
BOOK	This Year's Garden	CYNTHIA RYLANT
BOOK	Titch	PAT HUTCHINS
BOOK	The Tree: A First Discovery Book
BOOK	What Did Mommy Do Before You?	ABBY LEVINE
BOARD BOOK	All About Baby
BIG BOOK	The Little Red Hen	BYRON BARTON
RESOURCE BOOK	Hand Rhymes	MARC BROWN
BOOK & TAPE	Everything Grows	BRUCE McMILLAN and RAFFI
CASSETTE	Songs To Grow On For Mother And Child	WOODY GUTHRIE
VHS	Mole As A Gardener
TOY	Reversible Tadpole / Frog

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ACTIVITY IDEAS AND FINGERPLAYS

Have the children cut out pictures of flowers and vegetables from old magazines or seed catalogs. Glue the pictures on strips of green paper. "Plant" the flowers and vegetables in rows as if they were in a garden using walls, windows, or floor.

Ask the children to draw pictures of what they imagine they will look like next year, when they are a parent and when they are a grandparent.

Mushroom In The Rain is a great story to act out. Drape a table with a sheet and pretend that it is a mushroom in the rain. Children may enjoy acting out the big book Little Red Hen as well.

Play a growing game. Listen to calming music. Have children pretend to be babies on the floor. The teacher circulates around the room. The child that's touched on the head pretends to grow up into a big boy or girl.

Use the puppet to explain how a tadpole grows into a frog. Then play Leap Frog either outdoors or indoors. This game allows for great physical movements within the capabilities of children ages four and up.

Growing
When I was one, I was so small,
I could not speak a word at all.
When I was two, I learned to talk;
I learned to sing;
I learned to walk.
When I was three, I grew and grew.
Now I am four, and so are you.

Growing
Flowers grow like this.
(Cup hands)
Trees grow like this.
(Spread arms)
I grow,
(Jump and stretch)
Just like that!

Five Little Peas
Five little peas in a pea pod press.
(Clench fingers)
One grew, Two grew and so did all the rest.
(Raise each finger slowly)
They grew and grew and did not stop.
(Stretch fingers wide)
Until one day the pod went POP!
(Clap hands)

Ask your local children's librarian about more fingerplays, activities and books such as these recommended titles:

• Barney Is Big by Nicki Weiss. Although Barney is big now, he still likes to be babied once in a while.
• The Blanket That Had To Go by Nancy Cooney. A young girl figures out a way she can take her special blanket to school.
• Flap Your Wings And Try by Charlotte Pomerantz. Following the advice of family members, a young bird learns to fly and tells other birds how to fly.
• Just My Size by May Garelick. A little girl reminisces about the beautiful coat she owned which, as she grew become a jacket, vest, cap and knapsack.
• Kids Gardening: A Child's Guide To Messing Around In The Dirt by Kevin Raferty. A simple introduction to year round gardening.
• Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein. Little Gorilla's family try to help him overcome his special growing pains.
• Winifred's New Bed by Lynn Howell. Even though Winifred's big grownup bed has room for all her stuffed animals, she thinks it is too big until her cat joins her.