I'm Thankful for Playgroup

For playgroup recently, I had everyone over for Storytime. I chose the theme--Friendship--ahead of time, and picked out a few of my favorite books that fit the theme. We read Fox Makes Friends by Adam Rex, Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems (you'll never go wrong with Mo), Duck and Goose by Tad Hills, and Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Melanie Watt (as much as I love the Scaredy Squirrel books, I discovered that they are kind of difficult for Read-alouds). 

After the stories, we played Musical Pillows with a twist. Instead of having someone lose every time the song turned off, we'd take a pillow out, and the kids would have to share. By the end of the game, all-15-or-so kids were reaching in to get a hand on the last pillow. It was lots of fun, and fit the Friendship theme.

Lastly, we made turkeys as you see above. I found a similar turkey on a preschool crafts website (unfortunately I can't remember which one), but changed it up a bit to fit the theme. I also thought it would be fun to add balloon gobbles (we used water balloons blown up with a little air.)


About our playgroup in general...

Every six months or so, someone in the neighborhood puts together a schedule for Friday playgroups. We meet at a designated location every Friday at the same time, and then go to our scheduled location. I made the schedule this time around. Some of our favorite activities have been Apple Picking/Hay Ride, the Dinosaur Museum, the LDS Museum of Church History and Art, and Picnic at the Park days. I am also excited about a couple activities we have coming up, including the Fire Station tour and the Christmas Festival of Trees.

Everyone who wants to come is welcome to our group. We have children everywhere from 9 months to 4 years old...and the mommies have fun, too.

The schedule I made is coming to an end, so I'm starting to gather ideas for next year. I'm planning to include a farm and the zoo in the schedule.

Are you part of a playgroup? I'd LOVE to hear some of the things you have enjoyed doing in your group!