Jazzy Storytime & Playdate with Ryan

I have mentioned, without elaborating, that I've been doing a preschool-oriented storytime at a local independent bookstore. I really love reading aloud and its a fun thing for Marino and I to do together. It also gives me an opportunity to be creative.

The last storytime had a Jazz/Mardi Gras theme. I started out by playing the kids the song "When We're Human" from the Princess and the Frog soundtrack as a way to orient them to the concept of jazz music. I talked a bit about Mardi Gras and New Orleans. I read This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt (this is one of Marino and my favorite books). I then played the audiobook of CD of Jazz Fly by Matthew Gollub and "read along" using the physical book. The kids LOVED the Jazz Fly CD and they all got up and started dancing as it played. It was really fun to watch them get so excited!

After the stories, I played the rest of the Princess and the Frog soundtrack, and we made Mardi Gras masks using random art supplies I had (plastic masks were sold in 3 packs at Michael's). I had feathers, foam stickers, glitter glue and pom poms for the kids to use for their masks. They really enjoyed the craft, and showing them off when they were done.

Here's a few pictures of the kids and their creations.

Marino's mask was a bit scary to me...it looked like a swarm of bees was attacking him, but he was quite proud of it.

After storytime, my friend Robyn and her boys Ryan and Matthew came over for lunch and playtime. Ryan and Marino got along great - they especially enjoyed wrestling and throwing each other off the couch. Little boys are like baby deer locking horns with their rough play!

How cute is Ryan? Here he said "Hey, I'm going to make a silly face. Take a picture!"
Two handsome boys!
Double silly faces