For our second storytime of the Fall session, I realized it had been quite some time since my last sheep storytime.  (So long that I don’t have any blog posts about it!) With some new sheep tricks up my sleeve, I was excited to present this one.

SONG: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun: songs and rhymes from the parent-child Mother Goose program by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

LETTER FLANNELBOARD: S is for Sheep

This is an element that I stole from my co-worker AnnMarie, as a way to address letter knowledge.  To introduce the theme of my toddler storytime, I start by talking about what letter it starts with.  I put the letter up, and then we say the name of the letter, draw it in the air with our finger, and then do the sound it makes.  Then we talk about some items that start with that letter.  For this storytime, I picked a snowflake, a sun, a smile (inside the sun), a stegosaurus, and a star.  As my very last element I put up I use what our storytime will be about — this time, a sheep!

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SIGN: “Sheep”

BOOK:

Wee Little Lamb by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by John Butler

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

COUNTING FLANNELBOARD:
Sheep

I wanted to change-up my counting song, and I did a little bit last time I did storytime in the spring.  So this session, here’s what I’m doing:

I tell the kids:  I have some sheep here.  Shall we see how many I have?

Sing:
It’s counting time, it’s counting time
so let’s all count while I put these in a line.

Then we count the sheep as they go up.

Sing:
It’s counting time, it’s counting time
so let’s all count as they go bye-bye

And we count sheep again as I take them off the board.

FLANNELBOARD:
Mary’s Many Color Lambs

I found this rhyme via Lisa at Libraryland, who found it from LibrErin, who found it on Recipes for Reading. Recipes for Reading linked to a template that I used to make my pieces at Making Learning Fun.

Start by placing the white lamb on the board.  Ask if anyone knows the song, Mary Had a Little Lamb”.  Then sing:

Mary had a little lamb
little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow.

Then say something like, “But Mary had more than one lamb.” and pull out the next lamb you have.  The unexpected, un-lamb-like colors usually get a giggle.  Ask the kids what color the lamb is, and if they can name something else that is that color.  Then sing your song again:

Mary had a blue lamb
blue lamb, blue lamb
Mary had a blue lamb
its fleece was blue as sky…

Continue using as many lambs as you’d like.  I used four different sheep with the toddlers.

 

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple

I have the large lap-sized board book edition of this title and I love it.  The illustrations are even larger than they are in the hardback version, making it easier to share with a group.

MOVEMENT: Two Little Blackbirds*

VIDEO:

“Sheep” from Maisy’s Friends on Play Time Maisy

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
Book: Counting Ovejas by Sarah Weeks, art by David Diaz
Book: When Sheep Sleep by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by David McPhail
Book: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera
Book: Sheep Asleep by Gloria Rothstein, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
Book: No More Blanket for Lambkin! by Bernette Ford, illustrated by Sam Williams

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
one little librarian – toddler time: feeling sheep-ish today!
Miss Mary Liberry – Flannel Friday: Counting Sheep
The Wielded Pen – Baa – Sheep! – A Storytime Outline

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:

This was a fun storytime!  I think the letter flannelboard is a great way to incorporate those early literacy skills and ease us in to storytime, allowing for the late arrivals to get here too.

After I read Sheep in a Jeep I asked the crowd if sheep should drive.  A parent in the audience responded, “No, they’re BAAAAA-d drivers.”  I love a good sheep pun.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 17, 2017

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  37 people      11 am: 37 people

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