Thanksgiving – Toddler Storytime

Posted on November 25, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

It’s been two years since my last Thanksgiving storytime for this age group, but I used mostly the same books. Why aren’t here more awesome Thanksgiving stories for young ones out there? Do you have any favorites that I’m missing?

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

10 am: All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev
11 am:The Thankful Book by Todd Parr

MOVEMENT: “Reach for the Ceiling” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Turkeys

FLANNELBOARD:

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

Here’s a turkey. (Place the turkey on the flannelboard.)
But he’s missing something! What is he missing? (wait for audience to answer)
Feathers!
What color is this feather? (Bring out the red feather)
Red! That’s right! Let’s put it on the turkey. (Place the feather on the turkey.)
(now sing, to tune of Mary Wore Her Red Dress)
Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather.
Turkey wore his red feather all day long.

(Continue adding color feathers and singing)

Let’s see, what color feathers does turkey have? (rename all the colors)
And what does that make?
A rainbow!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

10 am: The Thankful Book by Todd Parr
11 am: Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott

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

VIDEO:

“Max’s Thanksgiving” from Max and Ruby’s Halloween

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, illustrated by Doris Barrette
Flannelboard: We Eat Turkey (you can find it on this post)
Flannelboard: One Whole Pie
Video: “Ruby’s Horn of Plenty” from Max and Ruby: Everybunny Loves Winter!

HOW IT WENT:
I’m thankful that I get to do storytime as part of my job. I seriously have the best career on the planet. Who else gets to have as much fun at work?

I felt like the books I used in the 10 am storytime were a little too long for the group, so I switched things over at the 11 am storytime to use shorter ones. I also need to find a better video — I think Max and Ruby strains the attention span a bit. But it’s hard to find a good Thanksgiving one for toddlers. Maybe something food related?

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 27 people 11 am: 34 people

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

Thanksgiving – Infant Storytime

Posted on November 25, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

It’s that time of the year to give thanks for things around us. That’s what we did today at infant storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, illustrated by Doris Barrette

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

FLANNELBOARD:

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

(Continue adding color feathers and singing)

Let’s see, what color feathers does turkey have? (rename all the colors)
And what does that make?
A rainbow!

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

BOOK:

Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott

TICKLE: Slowly, Slowly Very Slowly Goes the Garden Snail*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:

This Little Piggy

This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went wee! wee! wee!
All the way home.

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

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

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:

Book: Biscuit is Thankful by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, pictures by Pat Schories (board book)

HOW IT WENT:
I’m especially thankful that all the parents humored me as I sang instead of read Over the River and Through the Wood. Since that has a lot of wordless double-page spreads, I did the same thing I did last time and paper-clipped all by the first one together to shorten the book. I figure this makes a good parent patter moment, and that you can let parents know that there is no wrong way to read a book — starting at the middle, or skipping over things is alright — just follow baby’s cues.

ATTENDANCE: 29 people

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

Fast & Slow – Toddler Storytime

Posted on November 11, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I think I did a slow storytime for preschoolers a while ago, and I thought it might be fun to use with toddlers. I didn’t have enough good slow stories to round things out, so I decided to make it a fast & slow storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle

MOVEMENT: “Reach for the Ceiling” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Turtles

FLANNELBOARD:
Fast and Slow

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from 2’s Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

Have the vehicles behind the board. Put one vehicle on the board at a time, and ask the audience if it goes fast or slow. When they answers, move the vehicle across the board at the correct speed. You can also make the noises the vehicle makes as you move it. Take this piece of the board, and then repeat with the next vehicle. This is nice one because you can lengthen it or shorten it depending on your audience. Those are all the flannel pieces I have for this pictured on the board – I didn’t actually use them all.

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

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

VIDEO:

“The Balloon Ride” from Peppa Pig: The Balloon Ride

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli
Book: Mini Racer by Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo
Book: Late Nate in a Race by Emily Arnold McCully
Flannelboard: The Giant Carrot (it has a snail!)

HOW IT WENT:
Storytime went so much better this week! Yay! You know how when you talk to someone but you’re not sure if it made any difference? That’s how I was left feeling at the end of last week, but SOMETHING must have happened, because everyone sat with their child and participated today. Yay! We are even handing out balloons as a promotion for a future event, and even with those, the kids were awesome. I did start by telling the parents since I knew balloons could be a distraction that I would need their help today. Maybe I just need to use that approach more. It’s a helping environment. Whatever it was that happened, it was a nicer storytime.

When I was picking materials for this storytime I wasn’t sure that “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly” said the Sloth would work with toddlers. I did skip over a few of the animals asking Sloth about his habits, but on the whole it seemed to work really well. I think I would use that again.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 31 people 11 am: 38 people

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

Fast & Slow – Infant Storytime

Posted on November 11, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Today’s storytime focused on things that are fast or slow.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

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

FLANNELBOARD:

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from 2’s Experience Felt Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

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

BOOK:

Slow Snail by Mary Murphy

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Little Miss Muffet

(Felt pieces from Little Folk Visuals)

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her.
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

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

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

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:

Book: Quick Duck by Mary Murphy (board book)
Book: How Fast can You Go? by Kate Riggs, illustrated by Nate Williams (board book. I also thing this one would make a good flannelboard.)
Book: Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli

HOW IT WENT:
This was a good storytime. I like “I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock” as a bounce. We did it three times in a row, and that didn’t seem like overkill. Slow Snail is a regular sized board book, but I thought the pictures were simple enough to carry across the room and still be seen. I love Mary Murphy’s books. I picked Little Miss Muffet as today’s nursery rhyme because if I had a spider sit next to me during my breakfast, I would probably move pretty quickly away.

ATTENDANCE: 44 people

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

Birds – Toddler Storytime

Posted on November 4, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Books about birds are fly!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Baby Bird by Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Russell Ayto

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Birds
These birds were actually from an Easter garland I found at Michael’s. I pulled of the ribbon that was hot glued to the back, and — voila! — insta-adorable-flannelboard!

FLANNELBOARD:
Here Comes the Little Bird

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

Rhyme from the Book:
Here comes little bird. (Your fist is the bird.)
He’s landing on my HEAD. (Land where you want.)
Bye, bye little bird. (Fly bird away.)
Bye! Bye! Bye! (Wave to bird.)

Way I do the Rhyme:
Here is a little girl
and here is a curious little bird.
Here comes the little bird.
He’s landing on her HEAD.
Where’s your head? Can you show me?
(Have bird land on various other body parts.)
Here comes the little bird.
He’s landing on her tummy.
And when he’s there he likes to give a tickle, tickle, tickle (give tummy a tickle.)
And then he flies away.
Fly, fly little bird. (remove bird from flannelboard.)
Bye! Bye! Bye!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert

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

VIDEO:

“Let’s Look for Birds” from Baby’s First-Word Stories Outside

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
The 10am storytime was really hard. Harder than last week. I have three children who just enjoy running around.. The parents do not try to curb this behavior, and often are just chatting among themselves. It causes a distraction for those who want to participate in storytime — I even had one parent tell me that she was thinking about dropping storytime because she didn’t like it so much. Also, English is not their native language, so even though I talked to them after storytime today, it made it difficult to know if my point was getting across. I usually try to go with the flow in my storytimes and am fairly lenient when it comes to discipline, and only interject when safety is an issue — after all, I am not the parent. But I may need to get a little more rigorous about rules in that storytime. How do you handle this in your storytimes? Any advice would be welcome.

As usual, the 11am storytime was a lot better though. And there were even more people in that group. It’s nice to finish on an up note, because 10 am was really hard you guys.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 41 people 11 am: 48 people

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

Birds – Infant Storytime

Posted on November 4, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

It had been a while since I’ve done a bird storytime. I purchased Yuly’s Early Bird a while ago and really wanted to try it out, and figured, so even though it’s fall it’s always the season for birds.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony*

BOOK:

Early Bird by Toni Yuly

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Here Comes a Little Bird

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

Rhyme from the Book:
Here comes little bird. (Your fist is the bird.)
He’s landing on my HEAD. (Land where you want.)
Bye, bye little bird. (Fly bird away.)
Bye! Bye! Bye! (Wave to bird.)

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

BOOK:

Nest by Jorey Hurley

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Jack Be Nimble

(Felt pieces from Little Folk Visuals)

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick.
Jack jump over the candlestick.

To make this into a bounce, start with the child on one leg, when Jack jumps over the candlestick, lift child into the air and have child land on the other leg.

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

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

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Little Red Birds

(I need to check where this rhyme came from… I’ll add my source as soon as I find it)

Five little red birds, pecking at my door. (hold up five fingers)
One flew away, and Then there were four. (hold up four fingers)
Four little red birds sitting in a tree.
One pounced on a worm and then there were three.
Three little red birds calling, “Coo-coo-coo.”
One flew to a nest and then there were two.
Two little red birds sleeping int he sun.
One woke and hopped away and then there was one.
One little red bird, as lonely as could be.
When it flew away, all that’s left was me!

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
Infant storytime was good fun. I think it was the costumes that made things more difficult last week. We are back to being attentive and, as always, adorable. 🙂

ATTENDANCE: 34 people

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

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Monthly Archives: November 2014

Thanksgiving – Toddler Storytime

Thanksgiving – Infant Storytime

Fast & Slow – Toddler Storytime

Fast & Slow – Infant Storytime

Birds – Toddler Storytime

Birds – Infant Storytime