I was originally planning on just a monkey themed storytime, but there are a lot of good ones about there about gorillas too, so I had to throw those in.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony

BOOK:

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Little Monkeys

Pattern and Song from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes

Five little monkeys
jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Continue counting down until no monkeys are left.

BOUNCE: “Smooth Road to London Town” from A Smooth Road to London Town: Songs from the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program by Kathy Reid-Naiman

BOOK:

Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett

TICKLE: Slowly, Slowly Very Slowly

NURSERY RHYME:
Pop Goes the Weasel

Song and patters from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra.

All around the cobbler’s bench
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought it was all in fun
POP! Goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread
A penny for a needle
That’s the way the money goes
POP! Goes the weasel.

Make the weasel two-sided, with a different bright color on each.  When you say POP! flip the weasel from one side to the other.

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

HOW IT WENT:
This was a nice storytime.  While Little Gorilla is rather long, it’s such a sweet story, and the illustrations are wonderful.  When I did the flannelboard with this age, I actually only used 4 monkeys instead of the full 5 to make things a little bit shorter. 

ATTENDANCE: 27 people