My last storytime for toddlers about dogs was in 2013, so I thought it was time to revisit that theme.  Plus, I had found a few different books I wanted to try out.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

My Dog is the Best by Laurie Ann Thompson, pictures by Paul Schmid

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

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Dogs

FLANNELBOARD:
Where, Oh Where has my Little Dog Gone?

Where, Oh Where, Has My Little Dog Gone?

Idea taken from Drake Community Library Story Tree blog

This is a fun hide-and-seek flannel board along the lines of “Little Mouse, Little Mouse”

Start by singing the song:

Where, oh where, has my little dog gone,
Oh where, oh where can he be?
With his ear so short
And his tail so long.
Oh where, oh where can he be?

While you are singing the song, mix up the flannelboard shapes and hide the dog behind one of them.  Towards the end of the song, place the pieces, one with the dog behind it, on the flannel board.  Then go shape by shape to see if you can uncover the dog.

It’s fun to pretend you don’t know where the dog is, even if the kids can see it peeking out from behind the shape.

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

MOVEMENT: Grandma’s Spectacles*

BOOK:

Stick! by Andy Pritchett

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

VIDEO:

“Storytime with Spot” from Storytime with Spot

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: That Pup! by Lindsay Barrett George
Book: Time for Bed, Fred by Yasmeen Ismail
Book: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd (or as a flannelboard)
Book: Shaggy Dogs, Waggy Dogs by Patricia Hubbell, illustrated by Donald Wu

HOW IT WENT:
It was a good time at toddler storytime today.  My Dog is the Best got a lot of “awws” from the crowd, but I’m not sure if it might work better with a preschool audience, so they could get all the jokes in the illustrations.  And Stick! was a lot of fun too.

The flannelboard was a big hit — I’m glad I tried something new for that.

Attendance today was lower than usual — maybe because the weather is so hot and muggy.  I didn’t remember to go through guidelines this week (but it seems like I didn’t need to), but I will try to remember to do so again after I call more people on the waitlist.

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  43 people      11 am: 30 people

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