Kindergarten Book Club

My 5-year-old daughter is fascinated by my membership in my book club.  She asks lots of questions about it and always wants to know when we’re going to meet again.  When I come back from a meeting, she always asks, “How was book club, mommy?”  She doesn’t show much interest in my other comings and goings. 

She asked me if she could start a book club with her friends.  I thought it was a great idea.  She picked five friends to invite, some going into kindergarten and some just finishing kindergarten.  She came up with lots of ideas for her club.  My daughter is very big into games at parties, so she thought we should play some sort of game at her book club.  We decided to have a book exchange.  To exchange the books, we copied the cake walk idea from one of her favorite Junie B. Jones books, Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake, by Barbara Park.  Instead of picking cake when their number was picked, the girls picked one of the books to take for the week (each girl had brought one of their favorite picture books to share).

After the “book walk,”  we sat down a read a book.  This week’s theme was Winnie the Pooh and we read Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree by Janet Campbell.  Most of the girls liked the book, but my daughter told me it was “boring” and “too long.”  Oh well, I guess that’s what a book club is, being introduced to books you may or may NOT like. 

After reading the book, we did an activity that included a snack.  The girls colored pictures of Winnie the Pooh and decorated them with stickers and stamps.  Then, we made toast and cut it into teddy bear shapes.  We covered it with honey, used chocolate chips to make a face, and then snacked.  Some girls loved honey, just like Winnie the Pooh, others did not. 

We talked some about what we read, laughing a lot about our favorite parts.  The girls especially liked when Rabbit drew a face on Pooh’s bottom when he was stuck in the door.  So, the girls drew faces of what they would have put on Pooh’s heiny had he been stuck in their door.  We talked about their favorite foods and what happens when they eat too much of it.  We talked about what different characters were feeling throughout the book and made faces that showed the girls’ feelings. 

Overall, the girls seemed to have a good time.  We’re going to meet again next week at someone else’s house.  This weeks theme is SUMMER!!  I know my little one is looking forward to it.