Happy Halloween everyone!

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:
H is for Halloween  (not pumpkin)

Today we reviewed the sound the letter H makes, drew it with our fingers, and talked about a hand, horse, hen, heart and Halloween.  (I didn’t have a good cutout for Halloween, so I just did a pumpkin, which we discussed does NOT start with H), but the saying on it does!.

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SIGN: “Halloween”

BOOK:

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

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

COUNTING FLANNELBOARD:
Pumpkins / Jack-o-Lanterns

Pumpkins from ArtFelt

Today we counted 9 pumpkins!

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 whatevers as they go up.

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

FLANNELBOARD:
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

FLANNELBOARD (10am Storytime):
 
Felt Pieces from ArtFelt

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh, my, it’s getting late!” (Hands beside face in surprised look)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!” (hand flies overhead)
The third one said, “Well, I don’t care!” (shake pointer finger)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run, and run, and run!” (run with feet)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun!” (point to self)
Then WHOOOOOOSH went the wind (make sound and whoosh hands back and forth.)
and OUT (clap) went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.  (Roll hand over hand.)

BOOK (11am Storytime):

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

MOVEMENT: Two Little Blackbirds*

VIDEO:

“Bat” from Good Night Maisy

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
    

Book: It’s Halloween Night! written by Jennifer O’Connell, illustrated by Jennifer Morris
Book: Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills
Book: Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
Book: What Am I? Halloween by Anne Margaret Lewis, illustrated by Tom Mills (make this into a flannelboard)
Book: Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming
Book: Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
Book: Mouse’s First Halloween by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogan
DVD: Tucker’s Spooky Halloween based on the book by Meslie McGuirk
DVD: Max & Ruby’s Halloween
DVD: Little Bear: Halloween Stories

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Halloween is an exciting day, and in my 10am storytime it was a little hard to keep the excited toddlers focused on a book.  I started, as I usually do, reading a second book, but quickly realized that that was no going to hold their attention.  So I stopped reading about two pages in, put the book down, and pulled out the Five Little Pumpkins flannelboard instead.  My tip for parents was, “If you realize that your child is not interested in a book, you don’t have to keep reading it!  Find a better time.”  Some times we need to take our own advice. 🙂

11am storytime was a little more focused (after nap time), so I was able to read two books with them.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 31, 2017

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  48 people      11 am: 46 people

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