I love doing Halloween storytime with the toddlers, because they are SO CUTE when they come in costume.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands, Clap Your Hands” from Tickles and Tunes by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo, illustrated by Valeria Petrone

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Pumpkins (from Artfelt)

FLANNELBOARD:
Little Mouse’s Halloween House

 (Pattern & story from Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra)

One day in the fall, a little gray mouse found a big orange house.
She nibbled a hole in the middle to make the door.
She nibbled 2 holes near the top to make windows.
She nibbled a wide hole near the bottom so her children could run in and out.
Then she put a candle inside so the house was never dark.

The mouse’s little house
was a sight to be seen.
It was a jack-o’-lantern —
Happy Halloween!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

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

VIDEO:

“Goblin Night” from Little Bear Halloween Stories

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: 10 Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
Book: What Am I? Halloween by Ann Margaret Lewis, pictures by Tom Mills
Book: Mouse’s First Halloween by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogan
Book: It’s Halloween Night by Jennifer O’Connell, illustrated by Jennifer Morris

HOW IT WENT:
The 10am storytime was really hard.   Infant today was difficult too, and I just think that carried over.  As I mentioned in my infant post, I think that wearing a costume has a freeing effect — it gets the kids excited.  But it also is adorable, so I don’t want to do away with it.

I feel like sometimes I am running the program with two different minds — one is focused on reading the books, and following the agenda for the storytime.  The other is taking stock of what is happening in the room, and wondering if I should be doing something about, or modifying behavior, or things like that.  If two kids are running around, do I just ignore it and focus on the ones who are listening?  I don’t know.  I need to become better at crowd management/control.

The 11am storytime was a lot better though.  And there were not as many children in costume.  Coincidence?

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  40 people      11 am: 48 people

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