Category Archives: Infants

Fruit – Baby Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

This was my first time covering Baby Storytime in a while, and I only knew I was going to be covering the night before.  So I pulled together a few books and things I had on hand and started the week with Baby Storytime.

Since I was covering for a colleague for this storytime, I tried to incorporate a lot of the elements that she uses in her storytimes.

******
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOUNCE: I Bounce You Here
I bounce you here, I bounce you there,
I bounce you, bounce you everywhere.

I tickle you here, I tickle you there,
I tickle you, tickle you everywhere.

I hug you here, I hug you there,
I hug you, hug you everywhere.

MOVEMENT: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

One Little Blueberry by Tammi Salzano, illustrated by Kat Whelan

MOVEMENT: Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

MOVEMENT: Two Little Blackbirds

BOUNCE: Row Row Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Rock, rock rock your boat…
Bounce, bounce, bounce your boat…

FLANNELBOARD:

Five Red Strawberries
5 red strawberries, sweet to the core
Bear came and ate one, and then there were 4.

4 red strawberries, growing near a tree
Bear came and ate one, and then there were 3.

3 red strawberries, for you and you and you
Bear came and ate one, and then there were 2.

2 red strawberries, sitting in the sun
Bear came and ate one, and then there was 1.

1 red strawberry, left alone
Bear came and ate it, and then there were none.

BOUNCE:
Grand Old Duke of York
The grand old duke of York  (Bounce baby in lap)
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill (Lift baby up above head)
And he marched them down again. (lower baby down)
And when they’re up, they’re up. (Lift baby up)
And when they’re down, they’re down (Lower baby down)
And when they’re only halfway up they’re neither up nor down
(Keep baby midway, then lift up and down)
He marched them to the left (Bounce/Sway baby to the left)
He marched them to the right (Bounce/Sway baby to the right)
He marched them ’til they’re upside down.(Lift baby upside down over head)
Oh what a funny sight!

MOVEMENT: I’m a Little Teapot

SONG: Jo McDonald Had a Farm
My colleague sings this song every time, and pulls out different small stuffed animals to represent the different animals of the farm.

BOOK:

Pepo and Lolo and the Red Apple by Ana Martin Larrañaga

BOUNCE: Icky Bicky Soda Cracker

BOOK/SONG:

The Babies on the Bus  by Karen Katz
My colleague sings/reads this one at every storytime.

BOOK:

Yum Yum! by Yusuke Yonezu

BOUNCE: Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon (Bounce baby on lap)
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon
If you want to take a trip, climb aboard my rocket ship
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon
In 5…4…3…2…1..
Blast Off! (Lift baby over head)

SONG: If You’re Happy and You Know It

ATTENDANCE: 105

PRESENTED: November 3, 2025 at Central

*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

Keeping Safe – Infant/Toddler Storytime

Posted on by
1

Today we had a special storytime at the library!  We are currently in the middle of two grants: one focused on Well-Being, and another focused on children 0-5 thriving in the community.  This storytime brought both those two grants together.  We have a public health nurse with us from the early learning grant, and she joined us today for this storytime focused on safety.  She was also there to chat with parents and talk to them.  Since this was part of our Well-Being grant, we also passed out kits with information and well-being toys for families.  It was fun!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT:
“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open, Shut Them

MOVEMENT:
Ride a Little Pony
Ride a little pony (bounce baby on lap)
Going to town
Better watch out
or you might fall –
DOWN!  (gently “drop”/lower baby down between legs/on legs, etc.)

MOVEMENT: Open, Shut Them

BOOK:
Yolen-How_Do_Dinosaurs_Stay_Safe
How Do Dinosaurs Stay Safe? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague
Our guest today, Nurse Natasha, read this title.
We paperclipped a couple pages, just so it was a little shorter/relevant to the infant/toddler audience.

FLANNELBOARD:
Green says, “Go”!
FB-Green-Says-Go_jeninthelibrary
Green says, “Go!” (march quickly)
Go! Go! Go!

Yellow says, “Slow.” (march slowly)
Slow…slow…slow

And red says, “Stop!” (stop marching)

Go! Go! Go!
Slow…slow…slow…
Stop

Taken from: Pasadena Public Library

MOVEMENT:
Roly Poly
(to the tune of: “Frere Jacques”)
Roly poly, roly poly
Up, up, up
up, up, up
Roly roly poly
roly roly poly
down, down, down
down, down, down

Roly poly, roly poly
out, out, out
out, out, out
Roly roly poly
roly roly poly
in, in, in
in, in, in

Roly poly, roly poly
fast, fast, fast
fast, fast, fast
Roly roly poly
roly roly poly
slow, slow, slow
slow, slow, slow

I learned this rhyme from my colleague, but you can also see it done by the fabulous jbrary: https://youtu.be/oexBMxMKNFU

For this time around, I changed the rhyme and instead of out and in, I used big and small as adjectives, to fit in with the theme.

MOVEMENT:
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

FLANNELBOARD:FB-Nurse_Wore_Color_Scrubs_jeninthelibrary
To start this flannelboard, I asked our guest Nurse Natasha to tell me about what she was wearing.  Then we went into the flannelboard and sang the following.

Nurse Wore Colored Scrubs
(to the tune of: “Mary Wore Her Red Dress”)
This nurse were his/her/their red scrubs
red scrubs, red scrubs.
This nurse wore his/her/their red scrubs all day long.

Repeat for the other colors.

MOVEMENT:

“Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs by Raffi

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:
Armier-Hello_Hometown_Heroes
Hello, Hometown Heroes by Toni Armier, illustrated by Anna Jones

This was another one where I skipped a few pages, to make it a little more relevant to our safety theme and audience.

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert (probably better for preschool)
Book: Yes, No Little Hippo: A Book about Being Safe by Jane Belk Moncure, illustrated by Vera K. Gohman
Book: Let’s Be Safe by Alice Le Hénand, illustrated by Thierry Bedouet

OTHER AWESOME RESOURCES:

ATTENDANCE: 35 people (adults and children)

DATE PRESENTED: Tuesday, March 8  @ Lamanda

Thoughts on Storytime:  Safety is a hard topic to do with such little ones!  A lot of the books are geared towards preschool or older, and I don’t want to induce fears instead of focus on being safe.  After looking at storytime katie’s blog post that I linked to above, and getting the idea to focus on people who do keep us safe (community helpers), I think this came together a little better.

*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

Pets – Signs ‘n Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

I just realized I had a bunch of storytime posts that I had saved in draft format and never published!  This is one of them.

________________________

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

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:

BOOK:

The Birthday Pet by Ellen Javernick, illustrated by Kevin O’Malley

Signs used with the story:
Turtle 
Dog 
Cat
Rat
Bird

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one acapella, 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.

FLANNELBOARD:
Pet Voices

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from 2’s Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

For this I just put up the different animals, we named them, and then did the sign for each.  We also talked about what sounds they made (which seems weird to talk about sound during a Sign Language storytime, but…), and what color they were.

Signs used with this story:

Bird 
Fish 
Rabbit
Cat
Dog
Mouse

BOOK:

I Spy Pets by Edward Gibbs

Signs used with story:
Bird 
Fish
Turtle 
Rabbit 
Cat 
Dog

SONG: The Alphabet Song

We finger sign along to this one.  This was my second time adding this element in to the storytime, so I passed this handout out to the parents at storytime to help them follow along.

BOOK:

Fifteen Animals! by Sandra Boynton

Signs used with story:
Cat 
Dog 
Fish
Hamster 
Horse 
Pig 
Rabbit 
Mouse
Bird 
Turtle 

VIDEO:
“Iggy’s Pet Friends” from Baby’s First-Word Stories: Pets

Signs used with this story:
Pig
Hamster
Bird
Rabbit

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Some Pets by Angela DiTerlizzi, pets by Brendan Wenzel
(signs to use with story: dog, cat, snake, rabbit, hamster, bird, friend)

Book: Pet this Book by Jessica Young & Daniel Wiseman
(signs to use with story: cat, bird, dog, horse)

Book: Emma’s Pet by David McPhail
(signs to use with story: cat, bug, mouse, bird, frog, snake, fish, dog, turtle, father)

 

PRESENTED: Thursday, March 14 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE: 14 people (adults and children)

Manners – Signs ‘n Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

I thought some of these “Manners” signs would be useful for little ones to learn.

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:

BOOK:

Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur: A First Book of Manners by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Tim Bowers

Signs used with the story:
Hello
Nice to Meet You
Excuse Me 
Thank You 
I’m Sorry 
Yes
Please 
No 
Goodbye

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:

Time to Say “Please”! by Mo Willems

Signs used with story:
Please
Excuse Me
I’m Sorry
Thank You 

BOOK:

Wave Hello, Wave Bye-Bye by Pamela Chanko

Signs used with story:
Hello
Goodbye

VIDEO:
4 Short Spots with Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn from Sesame Street Monster Manners

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Penguin Says “Please” by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Oriol Vidal
(signs to use with story: hungry, thirsty, no, please)

Book: Give Please a Chance by Billy O’Reilly & James Patterson
(signs to use with story: please)
I wasn’t going to read this whole book, but just some pages.

Book: Mealtime by Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marieka Heinlen
(signs to use with story: thank you, please, all done)
I didn’t get to see a copy of Manners Time from this book series, but I think that would work as well.

Book: Yes, Please! No, Thank You! by Valerie Wheeler, illustrated by Glin Dibley
(signs to use with story: yes, please, no, thank you)

Book: Please Say Please! Penguin’s Guide to Manners by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
(signs to use with story: no, hello, please, thank you)

HOW IT WENT: This was nice storytime for signing, because the books gave lots of opportunities for kids to use the same words again and again.  Plus, while manner books may be kind of didactic, I think these are the kinds of signs that parents want their little ones to learn. I really liked the Sierra book, that one was perfect for this.  The books go back and forth in age because I started this storytime with an older audience (closer to 3-5), then had some toddlers join in.  The older ones still had fun identifying the animals in the board book, but it was good for the littles too.

PRESENTED: Thursday, February 14 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE:

Things That Go! – Signs ‘n Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

It seems like 2018 year just flew by!   And that is also what happens with the vehicles in this month’s theme for Signs n’ Storytime – Things that Go! (Ok, so some fly.  Some speed.  Some chugga chug.  You get what I meant though.)

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

SONG: The Alphabet Song

We finger sign along to this one.  This was my second time adding this element in to the storytime, so I passed this handout out to the parents at storytime to help them follow along.

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:

Airplane 
Boat
Bus
Car 
Fast
Fire Truck
Friend 
Rocket 
Slow
Train 
Truck
Tunnel

BOOK:

Train by Judi Abbot

Signs used with the story:
Train
Airplane 
Car
Tunnel
Friend

FLANNELBOARD:
Fast or Slow

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from 2’s Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

Have the vehicles behind the board.  Put one vehicle on the board at a time, and ask the audience if it goes fast or slow.  With each vehicle I put on the board, I grouped them together fast vehicles with fast vehicles, slow with slow, and mid-range in the middle. I didn’t use all the pieces shown for this one, but I have all those made.

Looking over a different blog post where I used this flannelboard, I forgot this time to move them across the board at the correct speed.  That would have made this a little more fun.

Signs used with this story:
Fast
Slow
Boat
Car
Fire Truck
Rocket 
Bus
Train
Airplane

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one acapella, 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:

Zoom, Zoom, Baby! by Karen Katz

Signs used with story:
Boat
Bus
Airplane
Train
Truck
Car 

VIDEO:
 
“Four Friends Take a Trip” from Baby’s First-Word Stories: We Go!

Signs used with this story:
Airplane
Bus

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: My Bus by Byron Barton
(signs to use with story: car, drive, boat, train, plane)

Book: My Bike by Byron Barton
(signs to use with story: bike, truck, bus, car, unicycle)

Book: Old MacDonald’s Things That Go by Jane Clarke, illustrated by Migy Blanco
(signs to use with story: bike, truck, tractor, combine harvester, bus, boat, digger, fire truck, train, plane)

Book: Who is Driving? by Leo Timmers
(signs to use with story: fire truck, car, tractor, convertible, jeep, airplane)

Book: Bedtime Blastoff! by Luke Reynolds, illustrated by Mike Yamada
(signs to use with story: fire truck, car, tractor, convertible, jeep, airplane)

HOW IT WENT: This was a fun storytime.  The group was really small, but since I had no one for the December Signs ‘n Storytime, this seemed like a good turnout.  I’m not sure the flannelboard was the best choice for this group though — both the kids were younger infants, and since you need to interact with the flannelboard, it seemed like it might have been too much.

PRESENTED: Thursday, January 10 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE: 4 people (adults and children)

Thanksgiving – Infant & Toddler Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

Since this was my second time doing Infant Toddler Storytime at one of my new branches, and since I was just filling in for my Technician in the middle of a session, I tried to stick as closely to her storytime format as possible.  I figured our patrons were already comfortable with that, and it allowed me to try out some new songs and rhymes.

SONG: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It (a capella)

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

MOVEMENT: The Itsy Bitsy Spider (a capella)

MOVEMENT:  Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (a capella)

BOOK:

Over the River and Through the Wood: A Song for Thanksgiving by Lydia Marie Child, Nadine Bernard Westcott

MOVEMENT: Roly Poly
(to tune of Frere Jacques) – taken from jbrary

Roly poly, roly poly
up up up,
up up up
Roly roly poly roly roly poly
down down down,
down down down.

Other verses:
out / in
fast / slow

As you sing, do the motions with your arms for the verses, or you can do it with your little one’s legs.

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them

FLANNELBOARD:
Turkey Feathers

Pattern from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes
Song from Everything Preschool

Here’s a turkey. (Place the turkey on the flannelboard.)
But he’s missing something!  What is he missing? (wait for audience to answer)
Feathers!
What color is this feather? (Bring out the red feather)
Red!  That’s right!  Let’s put it on the turkey.  (Place the feather on the turkey.)
(now sing, to tune of Mary Wore Her Red Dress)
Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather.
Turkey wore his red feather all day long.

(Continue adding color feathers and singing)

Let’s see, what color feathers does turkey have?  (rename all the colors)
And what does that make?
A rainbow!

(Sing)
Turkey wore his rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers.
Turkey wore his rainbow feathers all day long.

MOVEMENT: 10 Little Fingers on My Hands

I have 1 little, 2 little, 3 little fingers
4 little, 5 little, 6 little fingers
7 little, 8 little, 9 little fingers
10 little fingers on my hands.

They wiggle and the wiggle
All together
They wiggle and they wiggle
all together
They wiggle and they wiggle
all together
10 little fingers on my hands.

They clap and they clap
and they keep on clapping.
They clap and they clap
and they keep on clapping.
They clap and they clap
and they keep on clapping.
10 little fingers on my hands.

BOUNCE: “A Bouncing We Will Go”

A bouncing we will go
A bouncing we will go
High-ho the derry-o a bouncing we will go

Other verses:
– A rocking we will go…
– A hugging we will go…
– A tickling we will go…

BOOK:

Where is Baby’s Turkey? by Karen Katz

SHAKER SONGS: For this portion, I used some songs from a cd my library tech had, and we shook our shakers all to the beat.

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
   

Book: The Thankful Book by Todd Parr
Book: Llama Llama Gives Thanks by Anna Dewdney
Book: Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, illustrated by Doris Barrette
Book: Over the River and Through the Wood illustrated by Emma Randall  (I wasn’t able to get a copy of this one in time, but I am putting it on here as reminder to check it out next time!)

HOW IT WENT:  It went well.  I really relied on some of my Thanksgiving standards, since I didn’t have a lot of time to prep for this one.  It’s also fun trying out and learning some new storytime songs.  I like being able to keep things fresh.

PRESENTED: Thursday, November 15 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE: 45 (adults and children)

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

Feelings & Emotions – Signs ‘n Storytime

Posted on by
5

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a Signs n’ Storytime, because I had someone cover for me for last month’s program.

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

This month, we focused on feelings.  In keeping what I did with my colors themed storytime, we reviewed a lot of the same signs over and over again with each story for lots of practice.

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:
Happy
Brave
Mad 
Calm
Sad
Afraid
Proud
Friend 
Angry

BOOK:

In My Heart by Jo Witek, illustrated by Christine Roussey

Signs used with the story:
Happy
Brave
Mad 
Calm
Sad
Afraid
Proud
Grumpy
Silly

(Because this book felt a little long for the audience, I used the paper-clip trick to skip over some pages, and only used those ones for the signs above)


MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey

FLANNELBOARD:
Old MacDonald Felt So Glad

I’ve done this flannelboard before, and you can see the original words to the rhyme here. But, it felt strange to be making the sounds at a storytime that is all about sign language, so I changed the words a little to work better.

(to tune of “Old MacDonald had a farm”)
Old MacDonald felt so glad (Happy)
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA
And when he’s glad we sign it like this:
Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy
With a Happy Happy here and a Happy Happy there
Here a Happy, there a Happy everywhere a Happy Happy
Old MacDonald felt so glad.
Happy Happy

Repeat this, substituting the following emotions and signs:
Grumpy = Grumpy
Sad = Sad
Silly = Silly


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:

My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems

Signs used with story:
Friend 
Sad
Happy

VIDEO:
  
“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!…and more stories by Mo Willems: The Mo Willes Cartoon Collection Vol. 1 based on the book by Mo Willems.

Signs used with this story:
Sad
Angry

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
    

Book: How Does Baby Feel? by Karen Katz
(signs to use with story: hungry, happy, sleepy, sad, silly, love)

Book: Places to Be by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Renata Liwska
(signs to use with story: happy, mad, thirsty, brave, bored, sleepy, scared)

Book: The Pigeon has Feelings, Too! by Mo Willems
(signs to use with story: happy, no, angry, sad, happy)

Book: How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne
(signs to use with story: bored, lonely, happy, sad, angry, guilty, curious, surprised, confident, shy, worried, silly, hungry, full, sleepy)

HOW IT WENT: I had a good turnout at this storytime, so that was nice.  Originally, I thought I would use How Does Baby Feel? with the group as my second book, but I had some older siblings in the group, so I thought the Elephant and Piggie book was a better fit.  Also, I realized after showing Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! I should have prepped the story by having the kids learn the sign for no and then they could have signed along with the film.

PRESENTED: Thursday, November 8, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 12 people (adults and children)

Rivers and Streams – Preschool (But also Infant/Toddler) Storytime

Posted on by
3

This is another adapted from one of our system storyboxes.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

PUPPET:

Before starting into the storytime, kids could pet and say hello to a beaver puppet.

BOOK:

I Know the River Loves Me / Yo sé que el río me ama by Maya Christina Gonzalez

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

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

FLANNELBOARD:


Five Little Boats (on the River)
Pattern taken from taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book 2nd Edition by Judy Sierra
Words adapted from Felt Board Ideas Five Little Sailboats Felt Board Poem

(to the tune of: “5 Little Ducks”)

Five little boats went out one day
Out on the river and far away
When the waves began to rock
One little boat returned to the dock.

Other verses:
4 little boats…

MOVEMENT: Row Row Row Your Boat

BOOK:

A Brave Bear by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Emily Hughes

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle

VIDEO:

“River, River, River Run” from A Kid for The Wild: Music Videos Featuring Scenic Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park Animals and Locations

CRAFT: Fish Puppet in a River

Have the kids color in the river scene and the fish puppet.  Tape or glue the fish onto a popsicle stick.  Cut a slit into the river scene where the dotted line is.  Insert puppet into line, and have the fish “frolic” in the river!

The templates for this craft are below:
Fish Puppet Template
River Template

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
 

DVD: “Scruffy the Tugboat: Big River Rescue” from The Poky Little Puppy and Friends
Book: Tugboat Bill and the River Rescue by Calista Brill, illustrated by Tad Carpenter
Book: Splash! by Flora McDonnell (they just say that the animals go down to the “water”, so I think you could say “river” instead.)
Book: Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner
Book: The Crocodile and the Scorpion by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley

HOW IT WENT:
I wasn’t sure how Rivers would be as a theme for storytime, but I was pleasantly surprised!  The DVD worked really well too.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 9 at LM branch

ATTENDANCE: 16 people (adults and children)

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

Moon – Preschool (But also Infant/Toddler) Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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)