123 Storytime - October 21

Sorry - no pictures today :(

Welcome Song
Book: Chooky-Doodle-Doo by Jan Whiten
Felt: BINGO (we counted and clapped at the same time)
Book: Counting Crows
Song: Jumping and Counting -Jim Gill
Interactive Story: One Duck Stuck with props
Song: Tea for Two by Jim Gill
Roll the dice (I have two dice - one with numbers and one with actions/sounds. Took turns rolling them and doing that action that number of times. For example: 4 stomps; 3 growls.
Goodbye Songs

Social Hour:
=Sticker Table (similar to the letter tubes)
-1 Duck Stuck with props
-Count the Hedgehogs

Storytime February 11 - Caldecott Winners & Honors ONLY!

Today we focused solely on children's book that have received a Caldecott award or honorable mention. It was fun thinking up different activities to go along with the books, too! Again, I had the "how many people are there?" white board.






Welcome Song:  Moving Hands from Very Ready Reading Program

Book: First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

 Song: I got out the fishsticks... I mean fish on sticks... And we danced to part of Fish in the Sea by Dana McCarthy. We listened to the same part a few different times, making the fish do different fishy sounds and movements.

Book: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

Then we acted out Stone Soup. Each kid was given two different items for the pot. I ripped up paper for water and milk.

Book: Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

I ran out of time for a Song of the Boatman poem, which I thought might happen so that's okay.

Then we did our goodbye songs and bubbles.

For playgroup, I had the voting board, draw/tell yourself in a story (like in Interrupting Chicken), and the number pebbles.

 Next Week: Zoo Animals!

Congrats to this year's Caldecott Winner!!!

Storytime is BACK :) And so is playgroup! Setlist from February 4

Today, I borrowed a large motor kit and the Noisy Stories kit from IFLS. Our kids always love the added props that I don't have time to make or don't have the funds to purchase.


I now have a "sign in" graph for kids to practice making marks and counting. Right now I have them making lines. After a few weeks, I will change to completing a circle or something like that. Then I will change it again.















We have a new welcome song. It is Moving Hands from Very Ready Reading Program. It moves quickly and will provide a joyful challenge for some kids. I think it is already a hit - they smiled through the whole thing.

Book: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

Song: Bingo












Book: Bob by Pearson. I used the rooster puppet from the IFLS kit. The kids helped me make the animal noises.

Music: 5 Bears in the Bed from Very Ready Reading Program music CD. I handed out egg shakers for this song. We rolled our arms or twirled. When a bear fell out of bed, we shook the egg shakers high up in the air down to the ground. Nobody dropped them! :)

Book: Wiggle Waggle by Jonathan London - Used the beanbags from the IFLS kit. Of course we acted it out.











Fingerplay: Old MacDonald with the finger mitt. Here a mom and child are playing with it during Playgroup afterwards.

















Afterward, everyone could vote for their favorite story.












During playgroup, there were the storytime mitt, BINGO, scarves and eggs, and Dinosaur Vs. _______ out (see below) for them to explore. Of course, there is always our regular play items, dollhouse, and the puppets.

Poor picture - camera decided to clunk out on me so I had to use my computer. Anyway.... I display the completed drawings that are left in the basket, although I know some go home :)

I have Bob Shea's books on display, too.

Next Week: Caldecott Winners!

Ghosts & Ghouls Storytime - October 29

We had a large crowd for storytime this morning! What fun!

Good Morning Song

Book: The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak -- not exactly related to ghosts and ghouls, but I just HAD to!! They really got into it once they realized how silly it was and how much fun it was to respond.










Music: If You're a Monster and You Know It - like If You're Happy and You Know It.
-clap your hands
-stomp your feet
-show your fangs
-howl loud
-go sneaking
-holler "BOO!"

Book: Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara (ran out of time for Monster Needs a Costume by Paul Czajak)

Activity: Count the pumpkins in Jenna's cauldron (21 of them)




























Book: Skeleton Hiccups

Song: Halloween Action Poem - from The Pumpkin Book by Susan Olson Higgins
Flap your wings like a big black bat,
Arch your back like a witch's cat.
Prowl around like a goblin on the town,
Dance on tiptoes like a funny, floppy clown.
Fly away on your magic broomstick,
Open your bag for a treat or a trick.
Float through the air like a ghost all about,
Now everyone together, let me hear you shout:
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat by Lewis Carroll
Twinkle, twinkle little bat.
How I wonder what you're at.
Up above the world youfly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at.

Goodbye songs but no bubbles due to the spiderweb....

Playgroup activity:
Collect the ghosts and spider off the spiderweb - Children balanced on the spiderwebs to collect the ghosts and spider, then walked to a new location and set them down so other friends on the web could collect them. I was slightly surprised how long most of the kids did this potentially never-ending activity!

Next week: Soup!

Walk In the Woods

I must say, most of today's storytime was "stolen" from Rob Reid (Thanks, Rob!) because it all sounded so fun! And it made my job easier coming up to a busy next few weeks full of preparation for other programs.

Soooo without further ado... Let's go for a walk in the woods...

I always display our songs so
parents can follow along.

Hello Song













Book: A Leaf Can Be... by Laura Purdie Salas













Musical Activity: Taking a Walk in The Woods (Rob Reid)

Book: Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Interactive Story: I took Mary Quattlebawm's book, Jo MacDonald Hike Through the Woods, and turned into a song with story cards. As we sang the song, I would switch the pictures in my hands so the kids could call out what they were (sometimes they got it, sometimes not... woodpeckers DO look like penguins).







Then, I showed them the book Blueberries for Sal and we discussed eating blueberries and bears and hibernation.







Then, we took turns rolling my large dice and feeding the bear that many blueberries. (The kids had a kick out of playing with this after storytime, too.)

Song: Squirrel, Squirrel
Squirrel, Squirrel shake your bushy tail.
Squirrel, Squirrel shake your bushy tail.
Wrinkle up your nose and crinkle up your toes.
Squirrel, Squirrel shake your bushy tail.

We sang it 3 times because it is awesome.

Goodbye Song: May You Always Have Sunshine by Jim Gill

Bubbles

After storytime, the kids could do leaf rubbings and look at leaves, bark, pine needles, pine cones under the kid-friendly microscope.

Next Week: COLORS! Fun activity planned! Don't miss it!

 

Polar Bear Day

Not only did we get to use our new carpet squares (thank you, Friends of the Library!!), but we continued our exploration of sea-related animals. I must have been on a sea and math kick when I planned out our storytimes for this month :)

Hello, How Are You? by Dr. Jean

Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson













Polar Bear Poem (made up by your's truly)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Oh so tall.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
I see you crawl.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
I hear you growl (GRRRR!!!)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
You can smell fowl.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Eat your meat.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Sun is a treat.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Splash in a wave.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Sleep in a cave.

Bear Play by Miela Ford

Bear Went Over the Mountain by Dr. Jean

Baby Polar Bear by Yannick Murphy

Then we talked about how tall Polar Bears are at their shoulder when they walk on all fours and how tall they are when they stand on their hind feet.

We measured ourselves against a large piece of paper up on the wall that is 6 foot 6, the average height of a polar bear when he is on his hind feet.

And guess what? I am about the same height as a polar bear standing on all fours: 5 foot 3.

A few children and adults were a bit too shy to be measured, but that is quite okay! They still were able to see how tall a polar bear is :)

Then we danced with scarves as we listened to Aurora Borealis on the CD La Bella Stella.

Goodbye songs: It is Time to say Goodbye
Wave your paws goodbye.
Wave your bottom paws goodbye.
Wave your whiskers goodbye.
Wave your tail goodbye.
Wave your fur and say "goodbye!"

Next week, March 6, we will explore mystery stories!

In The Sea Storytime

Today we explored the sea and those animals who live there.

Hello, How Are You? song

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Sea

Song: Octopus by Charlotte Diamond We acted out the song while felt pieces "ate" each other.

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry

Baby Sharkie song

How Deep is the Sea? by Anna Milbourne & Serena Riglette

Seahorse Song - - used a puppet and acted out the words
(to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)
Seahorses are very tiny.
Seahorses are very small.
Don't you ride on a seahorse
Because seahorses aren't very tall.
Don't ride,
Don't ride,
Don't ride on it at all, at all.
Don't ride,
Don't ride,
Don't ride on it at all.



Using printed photos and crepe paper cut to the length of sea creatures, we discovered how long some sea creatures are. We compared our body parts to the crepe paper and even lie down on the ground to see how many children are the same length as some animals. The children played with the crepe paper after this activity.

Angel Fish

Bullet Tuna

Sea Turtle

Octopus

Shark

Length of a dolphin

Length of a sea turtle

Some sharks can be "really, really, really big!!!"

Playing with the crepe paper after Storytime

Size of an Angel Fish

Talking to each other about how long this one is.

Next week we are going to read about polar bears!