Winter is a fine time to celebrate penguins!  Though I’ve done a penguins theme with my infant and toddler groups, this was my first time doing a penguin storytime with the preschoolers.  What took me so long — it went really well!  I think this theme works better with this age group.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT: “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

Turtle’s Penguin Day by Valeri Gorbachev

FLANNELBOARD:
Penguin Went Over the Iceberg

Idea Storytime Katie

(to tune of: “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”)

The penguin went over the iceberg
The penguin went over the iceberg
The penguin went over the iceberg
to see what he could see.
But all that he could see
But all that he could see
was
The other side of the iceberg
The other side of the iceberg
The other side of the iceberg
was all that he could see.

THEMED MOVEMENT:
Waddling Penguins
(to tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”)
Penguins, penguins having fun
Wadding in the shining sun
Waddling fast and waddling slow
Waddling to and waddling fro.
Penguins, penguin having fun
Waddling in the shining sun.

BOOK:

Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

FLANNELBOARD:
Pippa’s Penguin

Pattern and story from Susan M. Dailey.  Find it here.

VIDEO:

“A Hatchling’s Song” through “Pengun’s First Swim” from Antarctic Antics on Antarctic Antics …and More Hilarious Animal Stories!

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Sergio Makes a Splash! by Edel Rodriguez
Book: Cuddly Dudley by Jez Alborough
Book: If You Were a Penguin by Wendell & Florence Minor
Book: Playful Little Penguins by Tony Mitton

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:

As I mentioned in my intro, I think the penguin theme worked a lot better with preschoolers than it has with a younger crowd.  There are just better books for an older age range.  Turtle’s Penguin Day worked really well, especially since I read that one first.  Penguin and Pinecone inspired a lot of “awww”s from the audience.  It really is a sweet story, and I love the illustrations for it.  I feel like I could probably do more with my presentation to make “The Penguin Went Over the Mountain” flannelboard more interesting, but it’s a fun song and the kids and parents sing along when we do it twice in a row.  “Pippa’s Penguin” was a really good one and the kids laughed a lot — I just need to remember not to drag my into to that story out for very long, so that I can get to putting up the penguins.  I do need to outline my penguin in white though so that it shows up on our black flannelboard.

ATTENDANCE: 29 (adults and children)