Monthly Archives: September 2018

Moon – Preschool (But also Infant/Toddler) Storytime

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This is another adapted from one of our system storyboxes.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:
 
Come Back, Moon by David Kherdian, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian

MOVEMENT:
Climb Aboard the Spaceship
(to the tune of “Itsy Bitsy Spider”)

Climb aboard the spaceship, (pretend to climb ladder into spaceship)
We’re going to the moon.
Hurry and get ready,
We’re going to blast off soon.
Put on your helmets (pretend to put on helmet)
And buckle up real tight. (pretend to put on seatbelt)
Here comes the countdown (squat down low to the ground)
Let’s count with all our might:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
BLAST OFF! (jump up into the air)

The group had so much fun with this one, we did the countdown/blast off part twice.

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Music Together

BOOK:
 
The Moon is Going to Addy’s House by Ida Pearle

MOVEMENT:
We’re Flying to the Moon
(to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”)

We’re flying to the moon
We’re flying to the moon
Blast off, away we go
We’re flying to the moon

We’re landing on the moon
We’re landing on the moon
Here we go, we’re on the moon
We’re landing on the moon

We’re collecting moon rocks
We’re collecting moon rocks
Here we go, we’re on the moon
We’re collecting moon rocks

At this point, I asked the kids what else we could do on the moon, here are some of their suggestions:

jumping up and down…
hear a bird…
are searching for a kitty…
saying “hi” to aliens…

Then we resumed with:

We’re flying back to Earth
We’re flying back to Earth
Blast off, away we go
We’re flying back to Earth

We;re landing on the Earth
We’re landing on the Earth
Here we go, we’ve come home
We’re landing on the Earth

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Music Together

VIDEO:
 
“Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories, based on the book by Eric Carle

CRAFT: Plane Paper Craft
idea taken from Mommy’s Bundle

Materials:
– Black construction paper
– scissors
– yellow paper
– aluminum foil
– star stickers
– glue

Cut a circle out of aluminum foil. This will be the moon.  Create a quarter circle out of the yellow paper to represent the sun.  Have kids glue the sun in one of the top corners of the black construction paper.  Have them (gently) crumple up the aluminum foil to make craters and texture on the moon.  Smooth the moon out, glue onto the black paper.  Embellish with star stickers.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
  

Book: One Moon, Two Cats by Laura Godwin, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka
Book: The Moon’s Almost Here by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Book: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
DVD: “Happy Birthday Moon” from Good Night, Gorilla…and more Bedtime Stories, based on the book by Frank Asch

HOW IT WENT:
I loved how much the kids got into our space-themed movements at this storytime.

PRESENTED: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at SR Branch

ATTENDANCE: 28 people (adults and children)

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

Colors – Signs ‘n Storytime

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This was my third Signs n’ Storytime.  As I’ve mentioned before, I approach this storytime as a way for parents to get exposed to some signs that they can use with their little ones.

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)

This month, we focused on colors.  So instead of learning completely different signs with each book, we had a lot of time to review the same signs.

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:
Color
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Pink
Brown
Black
White
Gray
Rainbow

This video from ASL That is a quick introduction to a bunch of color signs:

BOOK:

Knock! Knock!  by Anna-Clara Tidholm.

Signs used with the story:
Flash Lights (We used this sign when the Knock! Knock! sound happened, as doorbells are often connected to lights to signal their “ring” to a deaf person)
Blue
Red
Green
Yellow (thought the kids in storytime thought the Yellow door in this story was Orange, so we actually signed that instead…  It does look orange-y in the illustrations)
White 

MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey

FLANNELBOARD:
I Went Walking
 
Based on the book by Sue Williams, illustrated by Julie Vivas

Signs used with story:
Black
Brown
Red 
Green
Pink (the pig is a light pink, even though it looks white in the photo)
Yellow

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one a capella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

BOOK:

Cat’s Colors by Airlie Anderson

Signs used with story:
Gray
Green 
Red 
Blue
Purple
Orange
Black
Yellow

VIDEO:
  
“Planting a Rainbow” from 20 Stories for Spring based on the book by Lois Ehlert.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

      

Book: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
(signs to use with story: white, black, red, blue, green, brown, yellow, pink, gray,             orange, purple)
Book: Butterfly Butterfly by Petr Horácek
(signs to use with story: pink, brown, green, red, orange, purple, blue, yellow, 
Book: Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman
(signs to use with story: blue, red, yellow, green, brown)
Book: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes story by Eric Litwin, art by James Dean
(signs to use with story: white, red, blue, brown)
Book: Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastien Braun.
(signs to use with story: black, orange, green, blue, red, yellow)
Book: Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett
(signs to use with story: blue, yellow, pink, brown, gold, green, gray, white)
Book: See the Colors: Sign Language for Colors by Dawn Babb Porochovnic, illustrated by Stephanie Bauer

HOW IT WENT: This was a nice theme, because it was easy to find good books to use.  I had a much smaller group this time.  I also learned that some of the handshapes (“g”, “p”, “k”) seemed to be hard for the little ones to make.  I need to do some research into how to explain them better.  I was ok with “g” (make a fist, point your pointer finger out, and point your thumb out too), but describing the others caught me off guard.  If anyone has a good resource for this, please share!

PRESENTED: Thursday, September 13, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 4 people (adults and children)

Flight – Preschool (But also Infant/Toddler) Storytime

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This is another adapted from one of our system storyboxes.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

North, South, East, West by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Greg Pizzoli

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Music Together

BOOK:

A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom by Jonathan London, illustrated by Denis Roche

MOVEMENT:
Airplane Song
(to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”)

The pilot on the airplane says fasten your seatbelts (pretend to fasten seat belt)
Fasten your seatbelt, fasten your seatbelt
The pilot on the airplane says fasten your seatbelts
When flying through the sky.

Other verses:
The children on the airplane go bum pity bump… (move up and down)
The babies on the airplane go waa, waa, waa… (rub eyes and pretend to cry)
The signs on the airplane go ding, ding, ding… (pretend to push sign button above head)
The drinks on the airplane go splish, splash, splish… (pretend to hold a glass and move it)
The luggage on the airplane goes up and down… (move hands up and down)
The exits on the airplane are here, here, here… (using two fingers on each hand, point in front, to side, and behind)

MOVEMENT: “Clap Along with Me” from Wee Sing for Baby by Wee Sing

BOOK:

Planes Go by Steve Light

VIDEO:

“Miffy Wants to Fly” from Miffy and Friends: Miffy’s Adventure

CRAFT: Plane Paper Craft

Kids had these two pieces of an airplane, with a small slit cut into the body so they could put the wings through.  They could decorate it with crayons and stickers.  The template is below:
Airplane_Cutout_Template

This idea was inspired by Mom Unleashed and Hands On as We Grow

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
 

Book: Flight 1-2-3 by Maria van Lieshout
Book: Hooray for Birds by Lucy Cousins

HOW IT WENT:
It’s still rather new to have to pick and plan a craft for storytime, since I didn’t used to do that at my other location.  I’m still learning what works best, but one thing I have learned is that a craft doesn’t have to be super-complicated to entertain the kids.

PRESENTED: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at SR Branch

ATTENDANCE: 29 people (adults and children)

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

Fur, Feathers, Scales and Hair – Preschool (But also Infant/Toddler) Storytime

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This theme is brought to you thanks to our system storyboxes.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRODUCTION: with very furry/hairy dog

BOOK:

Don’t Splash the Sasquatch! by Kent Redeker, illustrated by Bob Staake

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

MOVEMENT: Fishy Pokey
(to the tune of “The Hokey Pokey”)
You put your fins in, you put your fins out
You put your fins in and you wiggle them all about
You do the fishy pokey and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about! Glub! Glub!

Other verses:
Your tail
Your scales

BOOK:

Do Frogs Have Fur? A Book about Animal Coats and Coverings by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Jeff Yesh

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

MOVEMENT: 2 Little Blackbirds (a capella)

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle (a capella)

VIDEO:

“I like My Hair Completely the Way it is” from Charlie and Lola Five: But I am an Alligator and more stories!

CRAFT: Fur, Feathers, Scales sheet

Kids put feathers on the bird, “scales” (cut up tissue paper squares) on the snake and “fur” (large pom poms) on the wombat.  I don’t know where this page was taken from, but I am including a pdf of it here: Feathers Fur Scales Craft Sheet

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Hair by Leslie Patricelli
Book: Does a Yak Get a Haircut? by Fred Ehrlich M.D., pictures by Emily Bolam
Book: Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen

Movement:
Scales, Feathers or Fur
Scales, feathers or fur.
Scales, feathers or fur.
Scales, feathers or fur.
Each animal has one of these.
Will you tell me, if I ask you, please
If the animal I name has scales, feathers or fur.

Stand up tall, like a bear.
Wave your hairy paws in the air
I’m covered with this; so is his mate
It keeps us warm when we hibernate.
FUR!

Flap your arms like abird for me.
Now set yourself down in a tree.
These help a bird so I can fly.
The help me soar in the sky.
FEATHERS

Can you make a fishy face?
move like a fish in your place
These are shiny and slippery too.
Fish move quickly; they really do.
SCALES

What about you?  You’re an animal you know.
Hair on your skin does grow.
Your hair is not a feather and it’s not a fin.
What should we call that hair you’re in?
FUR

HOW IT WENT:
This was an ok storytime, but I had a hard time keeping all the members in the audience engaged.  Last week I ended up with more preschoolers, so I picked titles today with that in mind, and then I think I had more infants this time around.  You really can never have too many books in your storytime bag for a variety of ages.  So, I did change-up my presentation on the fly, and just read 2 books instead of the three I had planned.  But.. I still felt like I could have done something differently.  And, I think the Charlie and Lola video was a little too long for my group.

PRESENTED: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at SR Branch

ATTENDANCE: 29 people (adults and children)

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

Shapes – Preschool Storytime

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Another storytime that originated from our system-wide storyboxes…

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Wake Up Toes” from Morning Magic by Joanie Bartels

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

City Shapes by Diana Murray, illustrated by Bryan Collier

MOVEMENT: “Clap Along with Me” from Wee Sing for Baby by Wee Sing

PROP SONG:
This is a… Shape Song
(to the tune of “Frere Jacques”)
 
This is a circle, this is a circle
How can you tell?  How can you tell?
It goes round and round
No end can be found
It’s a circle.  It’s a circle.

This is a triangle, this is a triangle
How can you tell?  How can you tell?
It has three sides that join to make a point
It’s a triangle.  It’s a triangle.

This is a square, this is a square
How can you tell?  How can you tell?
It has 4 sides
all the same size
It’s a square.  It’s a square.

This is a rectangle, this is a rectangle
How can you tell?  How can you tell?
It has 2 short sides
and it has 2 long sides
It’s a rectangle.  It’s a rectangle.

MOVEMENT: “Wheels on the Bus” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

VIDEO:

“Spots” from Good Morning Maisy: Color and Shapes

CRAFT:
 
Shape Rocket Ship
I got this idea for a craft from Toddler Approved!

We used a rectangle for the body, 3 circles for the windows, a triangle for the top, 2 triangles for the wings, and a square with the ends frayed for the flame.  Of course, you could just give the kids shapes and have them make their own artwork (like the second picture on here!).

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
  

Book: Zoe and Zack: Shapes by Jacques Duquennoy
Book: All Year Round by Susan B. Katz, pictures by Eiko Ojala
Book: Go, Shapes, Go! by Denise Fleming
Book: Baby Party by Rebecca O’Connell, illustrated by Susie Poole

HOW IT WENT:
This was a slightly older crowd than I’ve gotten at the this branch in the past, but there were still a few younger kids.  So I tried a slightly older story at the beginning, and then a shorter one second.  It went pretty well, but I did have a heckler tell me, “I don’t like shape stories!”  🙂  It’s nice to have honesty from the audience, but we all seemed to be having fun by the end.  Everyone seemed really into the shape song, so much so I was a little surprised by it! Also, the Maisy video wasn’t the best for shapes — but it was what I had on hand.  I’ll have to search for something better next time.

PRESENTED: Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at SR Branch

ATTENDANCE: 32 people (adults and children)

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

Food – Signs ‘n Storytime

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This is the outline of my second Signs ‘n Storytime!

For this storytime, I use a basic storytime pattern that my colleague created. I don’t sign the whole thing, or even a whole book.  I’m not fluent.  Instead, I first pick a theme I think would be useful for a parent and their child.  Then, I try to pick books that have words that would be useful for a toddler to know.  When I come across this word in the book, I show and describe the sign.  Then, if it repeats throughout we all do the sign together.  At the end of the book, we practice again all the words in that book.  Finally, at the end of storytime, we review all the signs we learned from all the books

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

BOOK:

Brownie and Pearl Grab a Bite by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Brian Biggs

Signs used with the story:
cheese
apple
cracker
milk

MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey

BOOK:

Who’s Hungry? by Dean Hacohen & Sherry Scharschmidt

Signs used with story:
hungry
fish
banana
cheese
chicken

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

BOOK:

Lunch by Denise Fleming

Signs used with story:
hungry
corn
peas
grapes
apple
watermelon

VIDEO:
 
“Duckling Gets a Cookie!?” from The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? …and More Stories by Mo Willems

Before watching, we learned the sign for:
cookie

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
   

Book: Guess What? – Food by Yusuke Yonezu
(signs to use: bread, cheese, corn)
Book: Orange Pear Apple Bear
(signs to use: orange, pear, apple, bear)
Book: Guess What? – Fruit by Yusuke Yonezu
(signs to use: apple, banana, orange, grapes)
Book: The Big Blue Bowl: Sign Language for Food by Dawn Babb Prochovnic, illustrated by Stephanie Bauer (this would make a good flannelboard)

I also found this video from LifePrint useful when planning my program.

HOW IT WENT: I had a larger group for this program, so that was exciting.  Some patrons mentioned that they wish this was on a weekly basis, but it does take a while to prep for, and since I am not fluent, I don’t know if I would be able to sustain that many sessions.  We shall see how it progresses.

PRESENTED: Thursday, August 9, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 13 people (adults and children)

Balloons – Preschool (But Kind of Toddler) Storytime

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This is another storytime that depended on our system’s Storyboxes.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Wake Up Toes” from Morning Magic by Joanie Bartels

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRO WITH BALLOON

I blew up about balloon and we talked about it.

BOOK:

Emily’s Balloon by Komako Sakai

FINGERPLAY:
The Balloon

I’m going to blow up this balloon (put fist in front of mouth).
And never ever stop I’ll blow (blow into fist, expand fist larger)
And I’ll blow (blow into fist, expand fist larger)
And I’ll blow (blow into fist, add other hand to make a circle)
And I’ll blow (blow into fist, expand hands larger)
Until…POP! (break hands apart and clap on pop)

MOVEMENT: “Clap Along with Me” from Best of Wee Sing by Wee Sing

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

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

BOOK:

Come Back, Ben by Ann Hassett and John Hassett

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” by Music Together (download from iTunes)

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

VIDEO:

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

CRAFT:
Hot Air Balloon Coloring Page

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: See Pip Point by David Milgrim
Book: Perfectly Percy by Paul Schmid
Book: Balloons Balloons Balloons by Dee Lillegard, illustrated by Bernadette Pons
Book: Buzzy’s Balloon by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Emily Bolam

HOW IT WENT:
Better than the first storytime I presented at the branch last week.  Now that I knew the layout of the room, and had a better idea for the audience, I felt like I could prepare better.  Also, I couldn’t get my iPhone connected to the stereo system last time, so this week, I brought in my bluetooth Urban Ears speaker, and it worked so well!

PRESENTED: Wednesday, August 1, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 19 people (adults and children)

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

Nocturnal Animals – Preschool (But Really Infant/Toddler) Storytime

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This was my first storytime at one of my new branches!  It is advertised in our newsletter as a preschool storytime, which to me means that it should be geared for ages 3-5.  But we don’t put age ranges for the preschool storytime in our newsletter, and after observing a few storytimes here, and then performing this one, the audience we get is really more infants and toddlers.

Since this was my first time performing storytime at this site, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I am fortunate that my system uses storyboxes with storytimes in a box that rotate from branch to branch to have a quick storytime ready to go whenever.  I’ve had posts about making those storyboxes (you can find those here), but I have a feeling I am going to be using them more and more now that I’m actually at a branch, and storytimes aren’t a regular part of my work.

And now, to my storytime:

WELCOME: with Owl Puppet

I had the Owl wave to everyone, and then each child got to pat it.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Wake Up Toes” from Morning Magic by Joanie Bartels

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRO WITH PUPPET: Raccoon Puppet

We talked about the raccoon, and then about what the owl and the raccoon both have in common — they are active at night!

MOVEMENT: My Wiggles*

BOOK:

Look Whooo’s Counting by Suse MacDonald

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

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

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

BOOK:

Night Owl by Toni Yuly

MOVEMENT: “2 Little Blackbirds” from Music Together (downloaded on iTunes)

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (a capella)

VIDEO:

“Quack’s Stuck Stick” from Peep & the Big Wide World: Peep’s New Friends

CRAFT: Owl on a Tree Branch Scene
  
We used different cut outs to make an Owl scene.  You can find the templates for the different pieces below. The eye pupils are made from 2 black circular stickers.  The beak and feet I just made from cutting triangles from orange paper with a paper cutter.
Owl Body Template
Owl Eyes and Moon Template
Tree Branch Shape

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
    

Book: Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin & Rob Dunlavey
Book: While the World is Sleeping by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Daniel Kirk
Book: Good-Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins (Also a good Flannelboard story)
Book: What’s Awake? Skunks by Patricia Whitehouse
Video: “Birds of a Feather” from Peep & the Big Wide World: Peep’s New Friends

Flannelboard Idea:  I think Nocturnal Song by the Billy Jonas Band would make a fun flannelboard.

Song:
Owl in the Tree
Owl in the tree says “Hoo, hoo, hoo.
Hoo, hoo, hoo. Hoo, hoo, hoo.”
Owl in the tree says “Hoo, hoo, hoo.”
All night long.

Substitute other nocturnal animals doing things.

RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
Jen in the Library: Owls – Preschool Storytime
Jen in the Library: Owls – Infant Storytime
Jen in the Library: Owls – Toddler Storytime

HOW IT WENT:
It was okay for my first time presented at a new location. I couldn’t figure out how to make my iPhone play through the room’s speakers, so I just played it using my phone’s speaker, which wasn’t quite loud enough.  I set up chairs, also, but I’m not sure if I did it in the best arrangement for the room.

PRESENTED: Wednesday, July 25, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 35 people (adults and children)

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