Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Toddler Storytime

Posted on March 17, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, so it’s time to celebrate all things green! (Also, celebrating green makes it easier to find books to use.)

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

MOVEMENT: “Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

Shamrocks

FLANNELBOARD:
Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms

inspired by K at Storytime ABC’s and her Leprechaun, Leprechaun, What Do You See? and Lucky Charms breakfast cereal
Patterns via Google Images search and Microsoft Shapes tool on Word

Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms
Start with the leprechaun on the flannelboard. Add the other pieces where mentioned in the story.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a red heart here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have an orange star here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a yellow moon here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a green clover here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a blue diamond here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a purple horse shoe here with me.

Let’s see what colors we have – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
What does that make?
A Rainbow!

And what can you find at the end of the rainbow?
Leprechaun’s pot of gold!

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
This was a pretty good storytime. I feel like the kids don’t connect as well with Good Luck Bear as much as they do with the other Bear stories by Foley, but it is still such a cute read (while being topical and age-appropriate).

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 38 people 11 am: 28 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Infants

Posted on March 11, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

There are not a lot of good St. Patrick’s Day stories for infants (at least, not that I have right now), so this one was a Green (heavy on shamrocks) storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Green Shamrocks Two Ways

(template from Google images search)

Five Green Shamrocks (counting up)
(rhyme from DLTK Holidays)
One green shamrock, in the morning dew,
Another one sprouted,
and then there were two.

Two green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were three.

Three green shamrocks, by the cottage door;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were four.

Four green shamrocks, near a beehive
Another one sprouted,
and then there were five.

Five little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,
Think of all the luck
these shamrocks will bring.

Five Green Shamrocks (counting down)
(rhyme taken from King County Library Wiki)
5 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked one up and put it on the door
that’s for good luck now there are 4

4 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and and put it on a tree
that’s for good luck now there are 3

3 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and put it on his shoe
that’s for good luck now there are 2

2 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and held it toward the sun
that’s for good luck now there is 1

1 little shamrock lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he left it there so there’d always be 1
that’s for good luck and now my story’s done!

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet

Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider,

Who sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

TICKLE: Catch a Wee Mouse*

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*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

HOW IT WENT:
While St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t lend itself very well to stories for young ones, this was still an enjoyable storytime. Where is the Green Sheep? went over very well with the audience today — even though it can be a little long the parents seemed to stick with it. I shortened Green a little bit to work with the group, but that one was good too.

ATTENDANCE: 34 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music

Kites – Toddler Storytime

Posted on March 10, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

When things get blustery – fly a kite!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand

MOVEMENT: “Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

Kites

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Colorful Kites

(template and pattern adapted from page 55 of some book, but I got this flannelboard from my mom, so I don’t know which one. Dental floss was used as the “thread” for the kite tails.)

Way up high in the sky so blue,
5 (4, 3, 2, 1) little kites flew and flew.
The wind blew hard (blow hard),
The wind blew loud (say “wooooo”),
The wind blew the little red (yellow, blue, green, orange) kite
Off to the clouds! (remove the appropriately colored kite).

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Kite Flying by Grace Lin

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“Flying a Kite” from Peppa Pig: Flying a Kite and Other Stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS IDEAS:

Book: The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
Book: What’s the Magic Word? by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Marsha Winborn
Book: While You Were Chasing a Hat by Lilian Moore, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger

TO ADAPT FOR OLDER AUDIENCES:

Book: Super Duck by Jez Alborough
Book: Windblown by Edouard Manceau
Book: Something Bigger by Jonathan Emmett

HOW IT WENT:
Well. For this audience, I think Kite Flying was the better of the two books. I love Peppa Pig. Those are some silly videos.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 41 people 11 am: 32 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page

Kites – Infant Storytime

Posted on March 5, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Since it’s (almost) spring, it seemed time for a kite storytime!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Icky Bicky Soda Cracker*

BOOK:

Kite Flying by Grace Lin

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

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

While You Were Chasing a Hat by Lilian Moore, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Humpty Dumpty

Template and Rhyme from Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses
And all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

When I do this, at the end it’s fun to put Humpty together in the wrong way (middle on bottom, head in middle, feet on top, etc) a couple of times and see if the audience can get it right.

TICKLE: Catch a Wee Mouse*

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*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins

HOW IT WENT:
This was a the largest group for infant storytime I’ve had for a long time! The storytime went well, but I think that While You Were Chasing a Hat might be a better fit for older kids.

ATTENDANCE: 55 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music

Lions – Preschool Storytime

Posted on March 1, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I was wondering what I would do for this week’s preschool storytime until I realized that it is the first of March. After that things just came together with an “In like a Lion…” theme. Because, really, how often do you get to do that? Also, it’s fitting, because we’ve finally got some rain here in Southern California, so it feels like March is, indeed, being a lion.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT:
I’m a Lion
I love to sleep out in the sun (rest cheek on hand)
And chase other animals just for fun (run in place)
In the jungle I’m number one! (point to self, then lift up pointer finger like number 1)
I’m a (ROAR!)…
LION!

I recited this rhyme with the actions without telling the audience what storytime’s topic was, and had them see if they could guess based on the rhyme. They did! They we did it all together.

BOOK:

In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

FLANNELBOARD:
One Little Lion

Template found via Google search, Rhyme from ABC Literacy Storytimes by Marilyn Lohnes.

One little lion, roaring at the zoo.
Called for another: ROAR!
Then there were two.

Two little lions, underneath a tree.
Called for another: ROAR! ROAR!
Then there were three.

Three little lions who heard a distant roar.
Called for another: ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
Then there were four.

Four little lions, happy and alive.Called for another, ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
Then there were five.

Five little lions.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!Ran off to play
and then there were no more.

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Uwungelema

Template and Story from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra

A “slow and steady wins the race story”. This Bantu tale is about a magical tree that gives fruit — but only if you remember its name, Uwungelema. As the land is in drought, all the animals want the fruit, but none can remember the tree’s name. The faster animals, rabbit and eland, each in turn go to the king, who tells them the name of the tree, but they forget by the time they return. Only slow tortoise, who repeats the name over and over can save the day.

MOVEMENT: “If You’re Happy and You Know It” from Walt Disney’s Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3

BOOK:

We’re Going on a Lion Hunt adapted by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Joe Mathieu

VIDEO:

“The Happy Lion” from Corduroy …and more stories about caring

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens
Book: Silly Suzy Goose by Petr Horacek
Book: The Lion and the Rat fable by La Fontaine, illustrated by Brian Wildsmith
Book: Watch Us Play by Miela Ford
Book: The Mightiest by Keiko Kasza

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
This storytime went nicely. I wasn’t sure if In Like a Lion.. would work with preschoolers, but it seemed to go fairly smoothly. I did have the kids make the sounds and motions with the book – I feel like that always helps to draw the audience in a little bit more. If I were to read the book again, I think I would stop it at the page that ends with “This lion is done with roaring, and now he’s snoring! At least until next year.” It seems like the rhyme was a little long for my group sharing, and that seems like a natural stopping point. I’ll try it that way sometime and see how it goes. I also wasn’t sure about using Uwungelema as a flannelboard story. At first my audience seemed younger than normal, but when I got to that point in the program older kids had joined in so I thought I would give it a shot. And I was surprised by how well it held everyone’s attention. Next time I show “The Happy Lion” I need to remember to do a little introduction with how to say “Hello” in French. I have to say, this is one of my favorite Weston Woods movies. “What a funny way to say Bonjour!”

ATTENDANCE: 32 (adults and children)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Monthly Archives: March 2014

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Toddler Storytime

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Infants

Kites – Toddler Storytime

Kites – Infant Storytime

Lions – Preschool Storytime