ALL ABOUT ME!!

A great theme to start off the new school year is All About Me/Family/Feelings/Friends!

There are so many things you can do and talk about.  All kids get excited talking about their families and want to tell you all the fun things that happen at their house.  Use this time at the beginning of the year to really connect with your students and you can find out a lot of their strengths and weaknesses this way.

BOOKS!

I Like Me  -  Nancy Carlson

When I Get Bigger   -  Mercer Mayer

What's Inside My Body  -  DK Publishing

I Like Myself  -  Karen Beaumont

All By Myself  -  Mercer Mayer

I Was So Mad  -  Mercer Mayer

The Feelings Book  -  Todd Parr

CIRCLE TIME!

 1.  Clap out the syllables in each students names.  Who has the most?  

2.    Ask each student to think of a word that rhymes with "ME".

Use all the words they come up with to create a silly class poem...

Example:  This poem is about ME!

One day I climbed a TREE,

In the tree, I found a BEE

He stung me on my KNEE!

My sister wanted to SEE

But she is only THREE

She looked and said ,"Oh GEE!

That's the story of ME

and the BEE

that stung me on my KNEE!

3.   Have children bring in a few pictures of their family to share with the class

4.  Talk about the differences in people....such as hair color, eye color, boy/girl, etc

Graph those things with your class:

5.   Talk about feelings and go around the circle and ask how each child feels that day.

We used Happy/Sad pictures on a chart that the kids would put under their picture each

day when they came to school, so we would know if they were having a good or bad day.

6.  Talk about fun things to do inside and outside with your family.

Look in magazines or online for pictures of families doing different activities.  I cut them out

and laminated them and added velcro to use at our circle time flannel board.

Give a picture to each child and make up a poem to go with the pictures you have.  

As you read the poem and they hear the activity on their card they  can bring it up and

place it on the flannel board.  Here is my poem to go with my pictures:

All families like to have fun,

This one likes to swim in the sun.

Another one likes to camp outside,

And this one likes to take a bike ride.

Reading a book is a nice thing to do,

Grandpa blowing bubbles is a lot of fun too!

One family is really wishing

that they can do a lot of fishing!

Sweeping, washing, dusting and mopping

Cleaning sure keeps this family hopping!

Sisters fixing a tasty treat,

YUM, that sure looks good to eat!

These two brothers never get bored,

they have too much fun on their skateboard.

This last family is cooking some stew,

Do you think they'll make enough for YOU?!

ART PROJECTS

1.  The People in My House

     Copy and cut out a bunch of clipart pictures of a woman, man, boy and girl (you can also do pet pics too if desired)

     During center time, call a student over and have them pic out a picture for each person that lives in their house.  They may have grandparents or other aunts and uncles living with them, so make sure they tell you the names of each person so you can write it on the picture.

Once they have all their people...lay those aside for later.

You can either draw a big house on a pic of easel paper or let them draw their house.  Make sure they add windows and a door.  

Let them paint their house at the easel.  Once it is all painted and the paint is still wet.  Have them add their

people to their picture.

2.  Life-size ME!

       Use white bulletin board paper. Have each student lay down on the paper and trace their outline.  Have them lay on the floor and color their clothes like they are wearing that day and add their hair and facial features.  Cut out their bodies and put up in the hallway by your classroom.

3. X-Ray of My BONES!

   

Use a black piece of construction paper to trace an arm, foot, or chest of each child.  Let them pick which 

   x-ray they would like to make.  Once traced, let them glue bones (Q-tips...can cut some in half too for smaller bones) onto their x-ray.

Once they are all dry.....you can use them in an area of your room that can be a doctor's office.  They can pretend to take different x-rays of each others bones and see if anything is broken.

4.  My FINGERPRINTS!

   At your art table, have an index card with each child's name on it.  Have them find their name and then 

use stamp pads to put their fingerprints under their name.  After the cards are dried.... put a few magnifying glasses at the table and let children study the prints.  Explain that no two prints or are same...that everyone is special and unique with their very own set!

5.  I'm so SMART!

    Ask each child to think of 4 things they can do really well.  Write them down on a small paper like this:

 If they can, have them write their name at the bottom (or you can).

Cut out some people shapes from manilla paper:

Use templates like these and have them decide if they are a boy or girl.  Let them pick colors of construction paper to trace the template on and cut out their clothes.

Have them glue the clothes to their body and add hair and facial features.  Last have them glue the

list of 4 things they do best onto the front.  Display these on a bulletin board or use for locker tags, etc.

6.  We are Growing Flowers!

Trace or paint child's hands (I showed both paint and construction paper hands).  Cut them out.

Trace child's feet onto green paper or we have painted them green before.  Cut out.

Paint their forearm and press onto paper.  When dry...cut out.

Put all the pieces together to create each child's flower.  You can also glue their picture to the

middle of the hand too.  

These make a great bulletin board!

7.  Silly People

Cut out a supply of eyes, noses, and mouths from magazines.  Let the kid's sort through and glue them

onto face shapes to create different people.  Let them cut strips of paper for hair.  

Let them use lots of different ones until they find the ones they like best.

The kids have a blast with this!

CENTER ACTIVITIES! 

 

1.  BIRTHDAYS!  Talk about the birthdays in your classroom and how you celebrate your special day.

     Find some pictures of birthday cakes online or in magazines.  I laminated mine for longer use.

   Place the pictures and a bowl of candles at a table.  Have the child match the correct number of candles to

the corresponding birthday cake.

2.  Expressions and Emotions

    Find great pictures of people's expressions and reactions online or in magazines.  Laminate.  Add these

pictures and a mirror to a center.  Have child pick a card and imitate the expression in the mirror.  Let them make some of their own silly faces.  Take pictures of some of their faces to use the next time.

3.  Sponge People

Draw a body shape onto a sponge and cut out. (This can be a little harder than it looks).  Use permanent marker to add a face.  Place several of these in your water table for kids to pretend it is them and their family or friends swimming or them taking a bath.  You can add styrofoam trays to use for diving boards, or boats.  Add whatever you think the kids would enjoy.

4.  Patterning

 Use different people stamps and ink pads to stamp patterns onto paper..

5.  All About Me Books!

At the beginning of the year, start making their books.  During the first week or so, during centers, call each student over and fill out a sheet with them:  (These are some that I use)

         Page 1 :  Can they write their name at top?

                       (All these questions will need 2 boxes for their answers - beginning of year and to re-do at end of the year)

                     Where do you live? (address)

                      What's your telephone number?

                       What's your name (do they know first, middle, and last?)

                       How old are you?

        

        Page 2 :  Trace their hand under this poem:

This is my hand,

My hand will do,

A thousand loving,

things for you.

And you will remember

When I am tall

That once my hand

Was just this small!

                 

       Page 3:   Have child draw a self portrait of their head  (eye and hair color) above this poem:

There are millions of people

All over the place

But nobody else

with exactly my face! 

     Page 4 :  Ask these questions:  (You can add any you want)

                   What sports do you like?  What fruits? What animals?  Colors?  Cartoons?  Etc......

     Page 5 :   Skip around the letters and circle the ones they know (have another page like this for end of year)

                   

                   

              Page 6:   Skip around the numbers and circle ones they know.  Also have them count as high as they can without help and post that number at the bottom.  (2 copies of this also)

Extra pages you can add during the year:

  When you do different themes, you can add a page such as

:

   I went on a bear hunt and........  (let them tell you their story and then have them illustrate a pic for you.

   I saw pirates and they.......

   I'm proud to be an American because....

  

You can add all types of things to your books and then send home at the end of the year!

I am sure there are many, many more things to be done with this...but this blog is getting long!

I will leave you with a few little odds and ends ideas to throw into your theme!

Puppets, Make Play-doh people, Blocks/Legos (to build their houses)

Watercolor/paint pictures of family and friends

coloring pages of people

Colorforms or Magnetic Paper dolls

Have fun getting to know your new students!

Summer Fun!

It's time for the Summer Olympics!!

What better way to celebrate the Olympics and athletes around the world, then to hold your own

BACKYARD OLYMPIC GAMES

 This was a huge hit for the kids!  You can get creative with the events you want to include in your games.  We had throwing, running, relays, crab walks, obstacle courses, trapeze bar or rings on a swing set, etc.  Be unique and think of some super fun events. 

Use a microphone hooked to an amp or speaker to call out events and later to announce winners of each event.  You can also use a small megaphone or even just one of those plastic kid microphones that amplifies their voice.

You can purchase little gold medal ribbons at any novelty shop, Pat Catan's, Oriental Trading and even your little stores like Dollar General and Family Dollar have them a lot of times.

We also printed out an 8" x 11" paper certificates with the Olympic rings in the background and different sports clipart in the corners.

Have a few tubs filled with ice sitting around and fill with bottles of water, Gatorade, etc.

Play Star Spangled Banner at the Opening Ceremony and some other type of patriotic music can be going during your winner announcements.  Build some type of platform for your winners or if you don't have anything, just use a set of outside steps from your house.

BACKYARD POTATO FIGHT

Don't wanna take time to fill up balloons or have your kids pelt each other with paintballs????  Then try a MASHED POTATO FIGHT!

Things you will need:  Lots of big (cheap) boxes of instant mashed potatoes

                                     One color of food coloring per team (decide how many teams you want)

                                     Playing field or lawn

                                     Rain Ponchos (optional)

Before your game.....mix up MANY batches of mashed potatoes (you don't need to add butter and milk - just water unless you plan on eating them  LOL)

Once you have them in tubs (one big tub per team or a couple smaller ones per team), add the teams color choice to their potatoes and mix well.

They can don their ponchos prior to starting or if it is a warm summer day, just wear bathing suits and you can hose them down afterward.

Blow a whistle and stand back as colored mashed potatoes are thrown at the enemies.  You can tell by the color of potatoes who is getting the most strikes against each team.  Play until no more potatoes can be scooped out of tubs or the ground.  Determine a winning team by the color most prevalent on the players.

Hose everyone down and don't worry about the colorful mess on your lawn....it is perishable and will soak into the ground eventually  :o)

PAPER MACHE' MARACAS

 Fun project that can be used later to create some cool backyard music.  Add a little drumming and maybe a guitar and you can create your own summer vacation cconcert....right in your own backyard.

Supplies needed:  2 small balloons per set of maracas

                              2 toilet paper tubes per set

                              Tape

                              Dried Beans or Popcorn Kernels

                              Newspaper

                              Flour & Water  (glue - optional)

                           

Blow up the balloons and tie shut. Stick the tied end of the balloon into a tube and tape them together. Leave one end of the tube open to add beans later.  Do not layer 

paper mache' over the open end.

                        For Paper Mache' mix....just add flour and water together (not very thick.....little more water).  You can also add a little glue to the mix is you want.

Tear strips of newspaper into about inch wide strips.  You will need many, many of these.

Lay out a thick layer of newspaper over your work area or table.

Have kids dip strips of newspaper into the mixture and once wet, apply to the balloon/tube base. Keep

adding layers of newspaper until you have the entire thing covered in a couple of layers.

Allow these to dry in a warm or sunny area.  May need to turn periodically.  Should be dry overnight.

Once they are dry, use a long pair of scissors to go into the open end of the tube and cut

open the balloon.  Use the scissors or needle-nosed pliers to pull the balloon out.

Once the balloon is out....let sit so you can make sure the inside dries completely.

After it is all dry, it is time to add your dried beans or popcorn kernels.  Once they are in, use

crinkled newspaper to stuff ONLY the handle(tube) of your maraca.

When everything is inside, use masking tape or duct tape to seal the end and wrap around the maraca 

handles. We used black duct tape that we had.

Now you can paint your maracas any colors or designs you choose.

Go make some music!

PLAY IN A CREEK!

I know it seems like such a simple thing, but there are lots of kids who have never gotten the opportunity!

Here we are at Christmas Run park in Wooster, Ohio!

The kids love to take their shoes off and splash through the water.

In this pic, my son and some friends are gathering rocks to try

and build a small dam across the creek.

When they are all done the rocks the gathered will be put 

back for other children to use later.

Don't be afraid to let them get dirty and explore the water and maybe any

little creatures living in it....your children are WASHABLE!  LOL

Just a few ideas for the day!

Get OUT and create some fun....

there is less than a MONTH 

before school starts!

ARRGGHHH!!! It's Pirate Week!

We absolutely LOVE pirate week!  All the kids like all the crafts, books, music, and the whole idea of being pirates for a week.  Have to say this is one of the teachers' favorite themes too!  It's just so much fun to shout out, "ARRGGHH Matey!"  for really NO reason at all  LOL
 Come along with us as I take you through a week of "Pirating"!

Books -  There are many, many books about pirates, but here are a few we enjoy!

              How I Became a Pirate  - Melinda Long
              A Pirate's Tale               - Alan Jardine
              Pirate Pete                     - Kim Kennedy
             Shiver Me Letters ABC  - June Sobel (great for when you add letters to your sand table)
              My Friend the Octopus  - Julian Defries
             A Pirate's Life for Me      - Julie Thompson
             Do Pirates Take Baths?   - Kathy Tucker
             Pirates Past Noon            - Mary Pope Osborne
             Pirates Don't Change Diapers  - Melinda Long

Every pirate needs a name, so during centers or playtime, call each child over to make a pirate name tag.
To make their name tags we used heavy cardstock.  We had printed a page with the pirate picture at the top and each child's name and left a blank area at the bottom for them to choose a picture and name.  Each child had a pirate job so these are some of the pictures they chose from:

  Have them glue their desired pictures and write their pirate name across the bottom.

Pirate Crafts

Our preschool is Monday - Thursday so we usually make a pirate item the first three days and then use all of our tools to hunt for treasure on Thursday.

Monday - PIRATE HATS

For each hat, take a sheet of black construction paper and fold in half.  Start at the top folded edge and draw down and out to make half of the pirate hat.  When you cut it out and fold out you have your whole hat.  Next, help your child put glue around the outside edges of the hat (staying inside about a fourth of an inch to avoid running off your paper.  Let them choose a color of glitter to sprinkle on the glue.  Next you can add any emblem to the center (pictures you have printed off, stickers, etc.  For the finishing touch (and it really does MAKE the whole hat.....add a colorful feather! Let these dry overnight then add a strip of black paper for the band.
The children wear these the rest of the week during school and will take home after our pirate party on Thursday.

Tuesday  -  SPYGLASSES/TELESCOPES

For your telescopes you will need:
         1 - Paper towel tube per child
         1 - Piece of foil about 6 - 7 inches wide
         1 - Colored tape or masking tape or black electrical tape will work too.
         Stickers, foam stickies, cut out pictures to glue, etc

Help each child roll their tube inside the foil.  Fold the excess end pieces tightly into the ends of the tube.  Use your tape to tape off ends and a line about 1/3 of the way down for your hand to hold.  Let them decorate with stickers.
These can be used the next few days to play games like:  I Spy, Have them hunt for different shapes throughout your room, Shout out a certain letter and see who can find it first.  Lots of ways to use your telescopes!

Wednesday - TREASURE MAPS

To start....we printed a coloring page with the pictures shown above for each child. We used the page find here:  http://kidsartactivity.com/treasure_map.html
Use a black marker to draw around each small picture and have the child cut out each shape.  Have them glue (use plenty of glue because these will get a little wet) each picture on.....making sure the ship and treasure X pictures or in opposite corners.
Once pictures are on, help them use a black permanent marker and starting at their ship...make a dotted line to show the path they should follow to find their treasure.  You can kind of guide them so it doesn't end up a scribbled mess  :o)
Once pictures are on, crinkle the paper up into a ball and then flatten out a little.
Your last step will be to add a couple of teabags to a shallow dish of water and let them steep a minute.  Then let the child use the teabags to stamp tea and water all over their map to give it an old weathered look.
Let dry and then use the next day for your hunt.  These will also roll up and can be stored inside their telescopes.

Activities:   

Pirates in Training!  NOT everyone can be a pirate!  

It takes a lot of hard work to become a pirate. You cannot expect to just step onto a ship and know what a pirate is supposed to do.  To get in shape, you must first complete PIRATE BOOT CAMP!


Set up a training obstacle course for your pirates.  These are some things we use:


Plastic slide  (for learning to climb ladders and rigging)
Wooden balance beam or board (to learn how to walk the plank without falling in to the sharks)
Tunnel (never know when you might have to Hit the Deck and crawl under some cannonball smoke)
Small table (sometimes pirates have to climb onto crates to get away from other bad pirates)
Hoops (You may find yourself having to hop through small fires if your ship is hit)


You can add whatever items you would like.  We set the whole thing up and then turn on some pirate music and have them follow in line and complete the course a few times before they can become REAL pirates!  If their foot falls off the balance beam, YIKES...they have been bitten by a shark and must go back to start and start over.  :o)
  

House Area:  

During pirate week, our house/kitchen area becomes the Pirate's Galley.  The children in this area must now cook for the pirates of the ship.  See what kind of creative names they can come up for the things they think pirates eat.  Do pirates eat normal foods or some crazy things like shark eyeballs, octopus tentacles, etc.

Sand Table:

 

Pirates LOVE to dig in sand! They are sure that if there is sand....there is GOLD!
Hide gold coins, gems, ABC letters (Shiver Me Letters book), necklaces, rings, etc and give the children little shovels and sifters to find as many things as they can.  You can also have them sort all of their treasure into categories and count to see of which item they have the most.

Pirate Eye Patch Game

You can find this game at, I think, Oriental Trading and other novelty stores, but I just drew my own onto a poster board and then laminated.  Cut out enough eye patches for each child (I laminated mine so I can just reuse instead of making each time).  I have a # on each of mine so they know which one is theirs.
Tie a pirate bandana or scarf over the child's eyes.  Slowly turn them around three times and then point in direction of the pirate face.  Give each child a turn and see who can get the closest to the outlines eye patch.

Hot Gold (Played like Hot Potato) We use a golden egg or gold coin.

Have children sit in circle...Indian Style or pretzel legs (whichever you prefer).  Their knees should be touching.  Play some pirate music and have them pass the gold.  They are NOT allowed to throw the gold into a person's hands...they must place it right into the next person's hands.  If they throw it to them...they are now out and must sit in the ocean with the sharks :o)  They also cannot HOLD onto the gold for too long (which pirates are known to try to do).  Those thieving pirates must also join the sharks :o)
Pause your music throughout the game and whoever is holding the gold when the music stops, must leave the game.  Scoot kids together once more and resume playing until only one left.
When it gets down to only 2 players we do this:  Have them sit facing each other with a foot or two between them.  When they get the gold, they must touch it to their chin first before placing in the other child's hands.  That way they are not just pushing it back and forth.

Pirate Patterning: Use foam pirate shapes (available at craft stores like Pat Catan's, etc) to pattern & sort.

Treasure File Folder game:  Have them match the correct # coins to the matching chest.
                       ( Just printed out pictures and glues on and laminated)

More Pattering:  Choose a few gems, and colored coins to put in a small chest.  Draw a picture of them and make pattern strips the kids can match and continue the pattern. 

Coin Sorting  Place pictures similar to these into the bottoms of 4 dishes and have children sort pennies,    nickels, dimes and quarters.

Pirate Finger Puppets:  These are just fun to play with or you can use them for addition and subtraction.
                                 Give them 3 to put on their fingers and then add two more....how many do they have?
                                 Now have them give you 4 and see how many they have left.

Pirate Memory:   Print out two copies of each picture card you choose.  You can find lots of pics online.
                              Laminate for longer use.  Lay the cards face down in short rows.  Take turns
                              flipping over two cards.  If they match...you get to keep.  If they don't, turn back
                              over in the same spot and the next person goes.  When all cards have been
                              matched, count your matches to determine a winner.

Make a Treasure Chest:   If you don't have some type of chest to use for your hunt.....you can easily make one out of a shoe box.  I used one that has an attached hinge-type lid.  Let kids glue some tan paper to the sides and top.  Add some paper straps, latch, and skull crossbones or whatever pirate pic to the top.

TREASURE HUNT DAY!  

It is finally the last day for pirate week and that means.....TREASURE HUNT  & PARTY!!!  HOORAY!

Before children get there, place clues throughout your room or school.  We send them to our school library and when they find the clue there it might say.  You must do 10 Toe touches before I tell you where to find the next clue or at the principal's office they might have to sing the ABCs.  You can think up clues to fit your group.  At the end of your hunt have your chest with a big red X on it, hidden in your room somewhere.  Have it filled with things like necklaces, Rolos (gold wrapped), Ring pops, pirate stickers or tattoos, mini Reeses Cups, etc.  We love these gold necklaces from Pat Catan's (they come in a pack of 12 for under $2.00)  The kid's love them.

To start your hunt.  When you are ready to start your hunt, just happen to "FIND" a note laying around your room from Captain Red Beard!  

 This is what ours said one year (to help you out):

Ahoy and shiver me timbers Mateys!

My name be Captain Red Beard and I

was scrounging around your classroom

last night looking for some gold!

But avast and rattle me bones --

Ye have none!!!

I felt bad for you lads and lassies so I

hid some of me OWN pirate booty in a

treasure chest somewhere in your building.

You must search for clues and 

follow the directions on them to

FIND THE GOLD!

The first clue can be found where you

Line up to go to the outhouse!

Good Luck Mateys!

Once you have found your treasure, divvy the booty up amongst your pirates for loot to take home.

For the rest of your party you can eat some snacks:

Here is a cool cake (From Family Fun magazine):

 

Pirate Mix :  Give each child some of each in a bowl & mix up

Pirate Peg Legs (pretzel sticks)

Cannonballs (Cocoa Puffs)

Gold coins (banana slice)

Pirate Ship Snack:  (I know the pic isn't very good, but I just drew it a second ago  LOL)

 Use a wide apple slice and a toothpick stuck in it with cheese cubes and a pirate flag attached.

You can also play pirate music while eating or play a pirate movie to watch while having snack!

Well.....I think that is quite enough stuff to get your Pirate Week or party off to a good start and help you have a fun time!

ARRGGHH Mateys!  Have a wonderful day filled with GOLD!

 

             

Rainy Day Snacks for Movie Night

It is a dreary kinda day here in Ohio, so I thought I would post some things you can make with your kids and later use for snacks during a movie night.  The first thing that is super simple is:

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake ( I also made a vanilla one since I am not a chocolate lover)

These are the ingredients you will need:

4 T. flour              4 T.  sugar         2 T. cocoa  (Add these 3 ingredients to mug and mix well)

Add:   1 Egg and mix well.        Next add:  3 T. Milk  &  3 T. oil  (mix well)    Add  a splash of vanilla

Mix everything till well blended.  You can also add 3 T. of chocolate chips if desired  (I didn't desire :o)

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 2 1/2 minutes. 

The cake will rise over the top of the mug about halfway through, but don't be alarmed...it will go down.  You can kind of see in the picture through my microwave window.  (This was the vanilla cake)

Once it is done, you can eat right from mug or tip out onto a plate.  I tipped mine out because I am a frosting type of girl and wanted actual little cakes.  You can see in the picture that these are kind of tall.

Since these were taller I decided to cut each on in half and have four little cakes.

While these are cooling, you can mix up some frosting.  (You can also use canned frosting....but I LOVE homemade frosting much better.  For frosting I use these ingredients:  ( I forgot to add my vanilla to the pic..oops)
I never really measure stop...am horrible about it actually, but everything always turns out great!  I will try to guess my amounts to help you, but you can always add more or less powdered sugar to your satisfaction.

1 and a half Cups Powdered Sugar (maybe a little more  LOL)
About a third of a stick of margarine
maybe a 4th cup (if that of water)
2 big splashes vanilla

Once your cakes have cooled, let your kids frost and decorate.

A couple of other ideas I have are:

Biscuit Pizzas

For these I use a can of ready made biscuits, some pizza sauce and whatever toppings your kids would like to add.
Let them each flatten a biscuit ( you can have the each do one on a little piece of foil with their name written at the top in permanent marker...that way there is no fighting over whose pizza is whose)
Add sauce and toppings and put onto cookie sheet or pizza pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8 -10 minutes.

Homemade Applesauce

I make applesauce all the time and it is so fast and simple.  I don't cook my apples first, although you can and it will turn out just about the same.  With our preschoolers at school, we just cut up apples into tiny cubes, put them in a blender and add a little bit of water.  You can also add some cinnamon if you'd like.  Let kids take turn pushing the blender button.  You might have to stop and use a spoon to mix it during the process.  It is very easy and a fun, healthy snack.

Once you have all the snacks made that you want ( can add popcorn, chips, fruit, candy, etc)
Now it is time to set up a small concession stand before you start your movie.

Place all foods items on a table, give each child some loose change to purchase a ticket and their snacks for the night.  Remind them they might want to save some money for "Intermission" :o)

Once everyone has their snacks....settle in for the movie.  During "Intermission" to get their legs moving (while the lights are out).....blow up a couple balloons and put a Glow Stick inside each one before tying.  Let them play volleyball in the dark for a few minutes before restarting the movie.

Just a few ideas I had on this drizzling kinda day!  Enjoy!