After one blissfully tech issue free eStorytime, it’s back to having to deal with a few.  I think it’s just a matter of doing this enough to figure out what is going wrong, so I know what to do to fix it.  But, glitches aside, this was still a great fun time!  And I had parents after asking about some of the apps — exactly what we want to happen!!

Opening Slide on Keynote:

APP: 

Animal Sounds – Fun Toddler Game by Innovative Mobile Apps/Alligator Apps
(FREE; iOS)

Before storytime I actually had a eStorytime regular asking me what the storytime was going to be about.  I used this app to have the children figure out the theme.  For this app, I turned of the mirroring function of the iPad so that you couldn’t see the images on my screen.  Then I played an animal sound, and had the children see if they could guess what it was.  (I also used this same intro for my cats eStorytime, but used a different app).

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

I should have done this prior to doing the bird sound app, but I was so excited to start with that I forgot about our song.  I used Keynote to project the lyrics to parents.

APP:

Jerry’s Day Out! by Ink Robin ($2.99 ;iOS)

A cute story of a budgie bird who gets lost in New York, and travels all over the city to be reunited with his friends.  The kids especially loved the break dancing pigeons interaction on the app.  I really like this story, and think it would be perfect for one-on-one sharing, or with an older audience, but it may have been too long for my preschoolers.

FINGERPLAYS:


Little Robin Redbreast
Little Robin Redbreast (make fist and join thumb & index finger)
Sitting on a rail (rest wrist on edge of other hand)
Nibble nabble goes his head (move thumb & index finger up and down)
Wiggle waggle goes his tail  (tilt wrist over other hand)

5 Little Birds
Five little birds without any home (raise left hand fingers)
Five little trees in a row (raise right hand fingers)
Come build your nest in our branches tall (interlace fingers)
We’ll rock you to and fro (sway nest gently)

APP:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Mo Willems from Disney ($5.99 ;iOS)

I selected the Big Pigeon version of the storytelling mode, where the Bus Driver asks kids different questions and then records their answers to place in the story.  It is one of the most adorable and funny things hearing the completed story “Don’t Let the Pigeon play the Game” we created.

SONG:
If the iPad’s Disconnected
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
song taken from Cen Campbell)

If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.
If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.
I can fix it in a minute
I just have to re-connected it.
If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

APP:
 
Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton from Loud Crow Interactive (iOS, Android, Nook Color; $3.99)

Reading Jerry’s Day Out!, creating our own Pigeon story, and a few technical difficulties meant this storytime was running a little longer than planned.  I changed my plan up a little bit to use this shorter story as the last element of the storytime.  It wasn’t a hardship at all, since all of Boynton’s ebooks are amazing!

SONG: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
 

APP: Angus the Irritable Bull from Watermark LTD (2.99; iOS)
APP: Felt Board by Software Smoothie (for two little bluebirds, or lots of other bird fingerplays (iOS: $2.99)
APP: Pete and the Secret of Flying by Apps4Kids.com (FREE; iOS)
APP: Peepers I Say, You Say… by Once Upon an App ($1.99; iOS)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

This was really fun, and it was especially great to have the kids work together to create a story with the Pigeon App.  Since this is my first time using that one, I would like to try it more and see what the different ways of building stories are and which works best for my groups.  This was the app that I had a parent ask about at the end of storytime as well.  I just wish there was some way to share the stories created on the app somehow – save it so I could send it to parents who participated, etc.  I’m sure it doesn’t allow this due to copyright issues.

My tech issue this time was mainly that I had issues going from iPad sound to the cd player sound.  I think I just need to make sure I have the tuner on for CD time, but make sure it is off for iPad time.  There was a mirroring issue also around this time, but the iPad’s disconnected song made everyone laugh and helped smooth things over.

ATTENDANCE: 8 people (children and adults)

*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

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.