Arts & Entertainment
Holiday Horse Play at East Meadow Public Library
Toddlers create Huggable Horse puppets while learning about colors, shapes and counting at the East Meadow Public Library.
Miss Jeannie made an appearance at on Wednesday morning to help toddlers create their very own Huggable Hobby Horses.
Miss Jeannie, who travels throughout Long Island instructing youngsters in similar programs, splits her classes into three sections. First, child and caretaker create something together. After, the children and the caretakers sing and dance together, and finally, Miss Jeannie finishes by reading a book that relates to what they've done earlier.
The class was held for children between the ages of 18 and 30 months.
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"They're very young," said Miss Jeannie. But, despite their age, the class begins to teach the children about colors, shapes and counting. Using circles for eyes and triangles for a nose, the children create their Huggable Horse Puppets while learning about shapes and the idea of symmetry.
"They can use the horses as puppets," said Miss Jeannie. "This lesson is just about holiday fun."
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Nancy Androphy, an East Meadow resident, brought her granddaughter Sara, who had never been to a class like Miss Jeannie's before.
"It's new to her and when we first got here, she seemed to be in awe of everything," said Androphy. "But we had fun, and now she's really enjoying the horse we made together."
Miss Jeannie encouraged caretakers to count stickers and other cutouts with the children as they decorated their horses.
After finishing their horses, children and their caregivers gathered around to sing and dance to "Row Your Boat," "Happy and You Know It" and "The Wheels on the Bus."
Finally, Miss Jeannie finished the class with a pop-up book called Cookie Count by Robert Sabuda, an artist Miss Jeannie refers to as "the guru of pop-up books."
"We did a lot of counting today, and this is a time of year when I do a lot of thinking about cookies," Miss Jeannie said when explaining why she chose the book.
Yolima Palacio, East Meadow resident, has attended classes at the library with her son for the past year.
"The class is enjoyable," said Palacio. "He gets to learn while he's here, and then he has something to bring home and show for it."
This is Miss Jeannie's last class at East Meadow Public Library for 2010. Check the schedule to sign up for her next class.
