Dads – Toddler Storytime

Posted on July 14, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

I presented this storytime as the second one in the 2015 Summer Session on June 23, 2015.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Mighty Dads by Joan Holub, pictures by James Dean

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

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Ties

FLANNELBOARD:
D-A-D-D-Y

Idea taken from What Happens in Storytime.

There’s someone who takes care of me
And Daddy is his name-o.
D-A-D-D-Y
D-A-D-D-Y
D-A-D-D-Y
And Daddy is his name-o

For the next verse, replace the D with a hand to represent a clap.
There’s someone who takes care of me
And Daddy is his name-o.
clap-A-D-D-Y
clap-A-D-D-Y
clap-A-D-D-Y
And Daddy is his name-o.

Repeat until you are clapping for all 5 letters.

There are also other ways you can start this song:
I have the best father in the world… (from What Happens in Storytime)
I have a very special friend…
There is a man who I love… (from Briggs, Toddler Storytimes II)

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

BOOK:

Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli

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

VIDEO:

“Knuffle Bunny” from Knuffle Bunny … and more great childhood adventure stories!

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Where’s My Daddy? adapted from a story by Shigeo Watanabe, pictures by Uasuo Ohtomo (This would also make a great flannelboard as seen in Diane Briggs’s Toddler Storytimes II)
Book: My Dad by Anthony Browne
Book: Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
Book: Daddy Hug by Tim Warnes, illustrated by Jane Chapman
Book: Daddies by Lila Prap
Book: Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too by Anna Dewdney (this might work better for preschool, though)
Movie: “Daddy Loses his Glasses” from Peppa Pig: Flying a Kite and other stories

HOW IT WENT:
I really liked Mighty Dads and it seemed to keep the kids’s attention. I would use it again for a dad storytime, or a construction themed one.

After some talk on the Storytime Underground Facebook Page about using ties as a representation of Fathers, I did think twice about using the flannelboard ties as a counting item for this storytime. I did preface it with the fact that not all Dads wear ties, but maybe ?I should consider using a different symbol next time around. Maybe a heart?

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 40 people 11 am: 34 people

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

Dads – Infant Storytime

Posted on July 14, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

Even though I presented this storytime on June 23 (after Father’s Day) I still wanted to celebrate dads in some way.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony*

BOOK:

I Love My Daddy Because… by Laurel Porter-Gaylord, pictures by Ashley Wolff

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
D-A-D-D-Y

Idea taken from What Happens in Storytime.

There’s someone who takes care of me
And Daddy is his name-o.
D-A-D-D-Y
D-A-D-D-Y
D-A-D-D-Y
And Daddy is his name-o

Repeat until you are clapping for all 5 letters.

BOUNCE: “Smooth Road to London Town” from A Smooth Road to London Town: Songs from the Parent-Child Mother goose Program by Kathy Reid-Naiman.

BOOK:

Daddy Hug by Tim Warnes, illustrated by Jane Chapman

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Jack Be Nimble

Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Jack jumped over the candlestick. (move Jack on flannelboard from one side of the candle to the other)

We also did this as a bounce, and had parents start with their child on one leg, and then lift them over in the air to land on the other leg.

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Just Like You by Emma Dodd (This doesn’t specify if it is a father, mother, grandparent, so…)
Book: Daddy Hugs by Nancy Tafuri
Book: Up! by Kristine O’Connell George, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
Book: Faster, Faster by Leslie Patricelli

HOW IT WENT:
Fun, but since I’m writing this belatedly, I don’t have much more than that to say.

ATTENDANCE: 51 people

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

Music & Song – Toddler Storytime

Posted on July 13, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

I’m a little behind on posting my storytimes lately, so here’s the one I presented for toddlers at the start of this Infant/Toddler Storytime session on June 16, 2015.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler and R. Gregory Christie

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

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Instruments

FLANNELBOARD:
Old MacDonald

from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book 2nd Edition by Judy Sierra. You can find the pattern for the flannelboard here.

Old MacDonald had a farm.
E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm he had a sheep.
E-I-E-I-O.
With a baa-baa here and a baa-baa there.
Here a baa, there a baa, everywhere a baa-baa
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O.

Repeat with other animals and noises.

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

BOOK:

Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton (Lap Edition)

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

VIDEO:

“Night Music”, “Aquarium” and “Musical Faces” from Classical Baby: The Music Show Stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Fiddle-I-Fee: A Farmyard Song for the Very Young adapted and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Book: Sing! Lyrics and music by Joe Raposo, story in pictures by Tom Lichtenheld
Book: Knick Knack Paddy Whack sung by SteveSongs, illustrated by Christiane Engel
Book: Little White Duck lyrics by Walt Whippo, Music by Bernard Zaritzky, Illustrations by Joan Paley
Book: Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan ThomasDouglas Florian
Book: Chuck’s Band by Peggy Perry Anderson
Book: Jazzmatazz! by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Bruce Degen

HOW IT WENT:

I based a lot of this storytime on a previous one I did about singing. Jazz Baby was one of the most fun books I have read in really long time. The beat is so fun to read to, and you can change the pitch of your voice with the book, and snap or clap along and it’s a treat. A lot of the parents seemed to enjoy that one as well. I decided I wanted to try the Wee Sing “Clap Along with Me” song this time, and while I like it, I just don’t think it gives toddlers enough of the full body movement that they need at that point in the storytime. Maybe I’ll play around with the placement of it in the lineup in the future. I was originally going to do a different book than Moo, Baa, La La La with the toddlers, but since this was the first storytime in the series, it felt like a good choice to help them get used to the storytime flow. Plus it’s just so fun!

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 37 people 11 am: 45 people

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

Music & Song – Infant Storytime

Posted on July 13, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged (I’ve been working on a grant project that has been taking up a lot of time lately, and which I’ll probably blog about later. Also, there were some life issues that took a lot of time away as well). But now, I’m back on the infant/toddler storytime rotation, so expect to see a new post a week (fingers crossed).

Because the first week of Infant Toddler Storytimes for the Summer coincided with the first week of our Read to the Rhythm Summer Reading Challenge I wanted to do something that fit the music theme. Here’s what I presented:

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony*

BOOK:

Little White Duck lyrics by Walt Whippo, music by Bernard Zartizky, illustrations by Joan Paley

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Hush Little Baby

Song and Pattern taken from Judy Sierra’s Flannel Board Storytelling Book.
You can find the templates here. I shrunk the baby and used the man template from another story to create a father, since I’ve used this before for Father themed-storytimes.

Hush, little baby, don’t say a word.
Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird won’t sing,
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass
And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat
And if that billy goat won’t pull,
Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull
And if that cart and bull turn over,
Papa’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover
And if that dog named Rover won’t bark
Papa’s gonna buy you a horse and cart
And if that horse and cart fall down,
You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

BOUNCE: “Smooth Road to London Town” from A Smooth Road to London Town: Songs from the Parent-Child Mother goose Program by Kathy Reid-Naiman.

BOOK:

Moo, Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Hey Diddle Diddle

Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle.
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed, to see such a sight.
And the dish ran away with the spoon

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
This was a nice way to kick off the infant storytime toddler session, even though I didn’t have a lot of time to plan before hand. Because of that, I took some guidance from a previous Let’s Sing storytime I did. Instead of reading The Little White Duck I sang it, which was pretty fun. I wonder if there are better song/stories to use with infants however. I know there are a lot of good versions of Hush Little Baby, but since I was going to use that for the flannelboard, I wanted something different. Speaking of the flannelboard, my notecard that I keep the lyrics on fell from the ledge inside the flannelboard that I usually put it on. It got caught on the stand, so I couldn’t find it when I was already singing the song. I had a moment of freak out that, “Oh no, I’m going to forget all the words and not be able to rhyme the words correctly!”. But, the reason I love felt board stories so much is because the pieces help you remember what comes next. Luckily the song fell into place, and no rhyme was left hanging. Moo, Baa, La La La doesn’t have a whole lot of song in it, but it’s so cute and since there is singing in the title I thought I could get away with it. Also, the version I used is the lap-sit size of the board book, so it’s larger and the pictures carry.

ATTENDANCE: 44 people

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

Balloons – Preschool Storytime

Posted on April 11, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

I have never done a balloon storytime before — this surprises me! I wish I had started planing this a little earlier because I think there are some other book options that may have been great, but I didn’t have time to get the holds (I listed some of the titles in the Additional Materials Idea section so I could remember them for next time.).

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

Sebastian and the Balloon by Philip C. Stead

MOVEMENT:
My Red Balloon
I had a little red balloon (make ball with hands)
And I blew and blew and blew (blow into hands)
Until it grew and grew and grew. (stretch hands apart)
I tossed it in the air (pretend to toss balloon up)
and never let it drop (pretend to catch)
Until it hit the ground (slap lap)
And it went POP! (Clap!)

FLANNELBOARD:
Pete the Clown and His Five Bright Balloons

(flannelboard made by my awesome coworker AnnMarie. Idea from Storytime Secrets)

Pete the Clown bought five bright balloons at the carnival.
He was so excited about them, he sang a song as he walked along.
“I’ve got five balloo-oons! I’ve got five balloo-oons!” (sung to a congo line chant).

But then… POP!
One balloon broke and started to drop. (remove balloon from board.)
Now how many balloons did Pete have?

Did Pete cry? No, never.
He knows balloons don’t last forever.
Pete was still so happy to have four balloons, that he kept walking along and singing his song.

“I’ve got four balloo-oons! I’ve got four balloo-oons!”

(Repeat the same sequence of events until Pete is out of balloons, then add the following ending.)

Pete was out of balloons! What could he do?

Well, he stopped where he was, turned around, and went back to the carnival, where he got five more balloons.

As he walked along, he sang his song:
“I’ve got five balloo-oons! I’ve got five balloo-oons!”
FLANNELBOARD:
Five Balloons in the Sky

(Idea adapted from Teacher Tom)

Five balloons in the sky
Way up high
Watch them fly!

If one should POP! (clap hands)
And quickly drop (remove balloon from board)
How many balloons do you see?

Continue until you have no balloons left.

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

BOOK:

Perfectly Percy by Paul Schmid

MOVEMENT:
Balloon
(taken from Anne’s Library Life via Sunflower Storytime)
I’m going to blow up this balloon (make a circle with hands)
And never ever stop (shake head)
I’ll blow and blow and blow and blow and blow and (pretend to blow into balloon each time you say blow and make the circle bigger with your hands)
POP! (Clap hands)

MOVEMENT:
A is for Alligator
(adapted from Anne’s Library Life)
A is for alligator CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP (clap your hands with arms out straight in front of you)
B is for balloon POP POP POP (clap hands)
C is for circle, turn around (turn around)
D is for dizzy, let’s sit down. (sit down)

VIDEO:

“Max’s Balloon Buddies ” from Max and Ruby: Everybunny Loves Winter

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Molly Who Flew Away by Valeri Gorbachev
Book: Come Back, Ben by Ann Hassett and John Hassett (a beginning reader, but I think it may work in storytime)
Book: A Balloon for Isabel by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Laura Rankin
Book: The Grumpalump by Sarah Hayes and Barbara Firth
Book: Balloons, Balloons, Balloons by Dee Lillegard, illustrated by Bernadette Pons
Book: Emily’s Balloon by Komako Sakai
DVD: “The Balloon Ride” from Peppa Pig: The Balloon Ride

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
When I first read through Sebastian and the Balloon, I really liked it but I wasn’t sure if it would work in a storytime setting. I thought it might be too long, especially since we sometimes get more toddlers than preschoolers. But, we had a little older crowd today and it worked beautifully, and got a great giggle each time I said “pickle sandwich”. Pete the Clown was great as a flannelboard, and as noted on Storytime Secrets, if you dance in your seat while you chant kids and parents will chair dance with you. The video today also got a lot of giggles which was fun. Parents really seemed to enjoy Max’s exasperated-with-Ruby look today.

ATTENDANCE: 28 (adults and children)

*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

Shapes – eStorytime

Posted on March 14, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

When planning this storytime, it felt like there were a lot more good apps/ebooks about shapes than print ones about them. (At least in my library when I was last-minute-planning.)

Opening Slide on Keynote:
Shapes eStorytime - 2015-03-06 start slide

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

APP:
Toddler Teasers – Shapes (FREE; iOS)

I thought it would be fun to start out the storytime by allowing kids to identify different shapes. I was asking my colleague AnnMarie (our resident iPad guru) for ideas about apps to use and she mentioned this one. It had exactly what I was looking for, except I wish I had played with it a bit long before deciding to use it. Because after a few kids got to play, you then “earn a sticker” which takes you out of the app a bit. It wasn’t a big deal, and you can continue playing after that, it’s just a reminded to use the apps for longer before I bring them out so there are no surprises.

APP:

Four Little Corners by Dada Company

In Four Little Corners little square wants to play with the little circles, but he can’t fit through the round door! Can the friends figure out a way to get everyone inside?

FINGERPLAY:

Draw a Circle
Draw a circle, draw a circle (draw a circle in the air with your finger)
Round as can be
Draw a circle, draw a circle
Just or me.

Draw a square, draw a square (draw a square in the air with your finger)
Shaped like a door
Draw a square, draw a square
with corners four.

Draw a triangle, draw a triangle (draw a triangle in the air with your finger)
With corners three
Draw a triangle, draw a triangle
Just for me.

APP:

Sago Mini Pet Cafe by Sago Sago ($2.99, iOS)

This time, we played the “dog” game with Sago Mini Pet Cafe. In this game, a purple shaded version of a food is placed in front of the animal and the user has to drag the purple shape with their finger to match it to the white shape. When you get it right, the shape shows you want it is, the animal eats it, and then you get to see what the animal things of the food. Dog is not a fan of broccoli, apparently. I walked around with the iPad so that each of the children present had a turn to match the shapes.

eBOOK:

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss from Oceanhouse Media (iOS, Android Kindle, Nook, $3.99)

The Dr. Seuss story comes to life in this app. The app will say the name of some of the shapes when you tap on them, so this makes it fun to have the guess what a silhouette is, and then see if they are right!

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

APP:

Tino the Triangle from Larixpress (iOS; free for starter story, $1.99 for full story)

This was a fun app to read/play because it is half story, half guessing game. The story begins, and as you tap the yellow triangle it turns into the blue background page with an animal noise sound. The children can guess the animal and then tap again to see if they are correct! Some of the noises are actually pretty difficult to decipher.

SONG: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong, Illustrated by Grace Lin from PicPocket Books ($2.99 iOS)
APP: Geoboard by The Math Learning Center from Clarity Innovations (FREE; iOS) (To make shakes on the board)
APP: Busy Shapes by Seven Academy ($1.99; iOS) (This may have been a good alternative to Toddler Teasers Shapes that I used in the beginning)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:
After looking through the estorytimes I have done, I realized that most of my technical issues arise when I am moving from one media to the other (like from iPad mirroring to cd). This time, so as to avoid that, I decided to play the Jim Gill action song I use through the iPad. I forgot to add it to my playlist, but I did find a streaming version of it online and just went there to play it. And it worked!

ATTENDANCE: 14 people (children and adults)

*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

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

Birds – eStorytime

Posted on February 6, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

After one blissfully tech issue free eStorytime, it’s back to having to deal with a few. I think it’s just a matter of doing this enough to figure out what is going wrong, so I know what to do to fix it. But, glitches aside, this was still a great fun time! And I had parents after asking about some of the apps — exactly what we want to happen!!

Opening Slide on Keynote:

APP:

Animal Sounds – Fun Toddler Game by Innovative Mobile Apps/Alligator Apps
(FREE; iOS)

Before storytime I actually had a eStorytime regular asking me what the storytime was going to be about. I used this app to have the children figure out the theme. For this app, I turned of the mirroring function of the iPad so that you couldn’t see the images on my screen. Then I played an animal sound, and had the children see if they could guess what it was. (I also used this same intro for my cats eStorytime, but used a different app).

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

I should have done this prior to doing the bird sound app, but I was so excited to start with that I forgot about our song. I used Keynote to project the lyrics to parents.

APP:

Jerry’s Day Out! by Ink Robin ($2.99 ;iOS)

A cute story of a budgie bird who gets lost in New York, and travels all over the city to be reunited with his friends. The kids especially loved the break dancing pigeons interaction on the app. I really like this story, and think it would be perfect for one-on-one sharing, or with an older audience, but it may have been too long for my preschoolers.

FINGERPLAYS:

Little Robin Redbreast
Little Robin Redbreast (make fist and join thumb & index finger)
Sitting on a rail (rest wrist on edge of other hand)
Nibble nabble goes his head (move thumb & index finger up and down)
Wiggle waggle goes his tail (tilt wrist over other hand)

5 Little Birds
Five little birds without any home (raise left hand fingers)
Five little trees in a row (raise right hand fingers)
Come build your nest in our branches tall (interlace fingers)
We’ll rock you to and fro (sway nest gently)

APP:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Mo Willems from Disney ($5.99 ;iOS)

I selected the Big Pigeon version of the storytelling mode, where the Bus Driver asks kids different questions and then records their answers to place in the story. It is one of the most adorable and funny things hearing the completed story “Don’t Let the Pigeon play the Game” we created.

SONG:
If the iPad’s Disconnected
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
song taken from Cen Campbell)

If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.
If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.
I can fix it in a minute
I just have to re-connected it.
If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

APP:

Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton from Loud Crow Interactive (iOS, Android, Nook Color; $3.99)

Reading Jerry’s Day Out!, creating our own Pigeon story, and a few technical difficulties meant this storytime was running a little longer than planned. I changed my plan up a little bit to use this shorter story as the last element of the storytime. It wasn’t a hardship at all, since all of Boynton’s ebooks are amazing!

SONG: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Angus the Irritable Bull from Watermark LTD (2.99; iOS)
APP: Felt Board by Software Smoothie (for two little bluebirds, or lots of other bird fingerplays (iOS: $2.99)
APP: Pete and the Secret of Flying by Apps4Kids.com (FREE; iOS)
APP: Peepers I Say, You Say… by Once Upon an App ($1.99; iOS)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

This was really fun, and it was especially great to have the kids work together to create a story with the Pigeon App. Since this is my first time using that one, I would like to try it more and see what the different ways of building stories are and which works best for my groups. This was the app that I had a parent ask about at the end of storytime as well. I just wish there was some way to share the stories created on the app somehow – save it so I could send it to parents who participated, etc. I’m sure it doesn’t allow this due to copyright issues.

My tech issue this time was mainly that I had issues going from iPad sound to the cd player sound. I think I just need to make sure I have the tuner on for CD time, but make sure it is off for iPad time. There was a mirroring issue also around this time, but the iPad’s disconnected song made everyone laugh and helped smooth things over.

ATTENDANCE: 8 people (children and adults)

*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

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

Underwear – Preschool Storytime

Posted on January 31, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

I noticed lately that there were a lot of fun books about underwear, and figured why not share some of them in storytime? I was hesitant about the topic at first, and wondered if people would find it inappropriate. But, I felt better when I saw that other storytime bloggers had paved the way. Just to be on the safe side, I checked with my supervisor before presenting it, just to make sure she would have my back in case of complaints. Thankfully, my community is fairly open and I don’t think anyone had a problem with it (at least that they let me know).

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

One Big Pair of Underwear by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

MOVEMENT: Now You’re Getting Dressed
(to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”)

First put on your underwear, underwear, underwear. (pretend to put on underwear)
First put on your underwear. Now you’re getting dressed.
Stick your arms up in your shirt, in your shirt, in your shirt.
Stick your arms up in your shirt. Now you’re getting dressed.
Pull your pants up to your waist, to your waist, to your waist.
Pull your pants up to your waist. Now you’re getting dressed.
Wiggle your toes down in your socks, in your socks, in your socks.
Wiggle your toes down in your socks. Now you’re getting dressed.
Slip your shoes on, tie them tight, tie them tight, tie them tight.
Slip your shoes on, tie them tight. Now you’re getting dressed
Now you can go out and play, out and play, out and play.
Now you can go out and play, You got yourself all dressed.
YES!

FLANNELBOARD:

To make the pieces for this flannelboard, I just blew up the Monday page from the book on the copy machine and used that as my template for the bear and for his underwear. I told the story by putting the (naked) bear up on the flannelboard, then recited the words from the book. At the correct time, I put the underwear on the bear. When it was time for bear to wear a new pair of undies, I moved the old one to the bottom of the board (you can kind of see this in the second picture.) Then I brought out the days of the week and we talked about what color underwear Bear wore each day (notice the color of the text of the days matches the color of bear’s pants).

MOVEMENT: Head, Shoulders Knees and Underwear
I sung this to the traditional tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, but just substituted the word “underwear” for “toes” or “nose”. Thanks to Miss Sarah’s Storytime for this great idea! It was a hit.

Head, shoulders, knees, underwear.
Knees, underwear.
Head, shoulders, knees, underwear.
Knees, underwear.
Eyes and ears and mouth and underwear.
Head, shoulders, knees, underwear.
Knees, underwear.

BOOK:

The Underpants Zoo by Brian Sendelbach

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” by Raffi from A Young Children’s Concert with Raffi

VIDEO:

“Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed” from The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog Snowy Day… and more stories by Mo Willems based on the book by Mo Willems

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Pants by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Nick Sharratt
Book: Veggies with Wedgies by Todd H. Doodler (is he the underwear laureate of our time?)
Book: I’m Not a Pig in Underpants by Elwood H. Smith
Book: What Color is Your Underwear? by Sam Lloyd (I haven’t read this one yet, because we don’t have it in our system, but this flannelboard that Miss Sarah made is amazing!)
Book: Pirates Love Underpants (or Aliens… or Dinosaurs…) by Claire Freedman & Ben Cort

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
A fun storytime, but I didn’t get quite as many giggles as I thought I might have. I perhaps should have chosen some younger stories. The idea of a zoo where animals wear underwear did seem pretty funny to them though. And I really liked reading aloud One Big Pair… it has such a nice rhythm to it. “Naked Mole Rat” might have been a bit of a stretch for the video, but there aren’t a lot of good ones that I could find about underpants. Plus, the Naked Mole Rat is wearing undies on the title page, and at the end the advertisement mentions underpants. Good enough for me. I need to remember to bring my bottle of water and keep it with me — my throat was getting kind of rough.

ATTENDANCE: 29 (adults and children)

*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

Shopping at the Market – eStorytime

Posted on January 9, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

Something amazing happened at this storytime, dear readers. There were no technical difficulties! The wireless worked! My iPad cooperated! The apps never froze! This is all especially wonderful since our main tech guy was out today. Hooray!

Opening Slide on Keynote:

I was thinking about no longer using the Powerpoint slides in between my presentation, but I really like putting up the words for the fingerplays and the rhymes so parents can sing along. Maybe just do it for when I need it?

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

For this presentation, I actually deleted the text that says it’s to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush” because I found that I kept singing it to the tune of “London Bridge”.

BOOK APP:

A Day in the Market story by May Tobias-Papa, illustrated by Isabel Roxas from Adarna house (iOS: $2.99; Android Free)

A wonderful story about a little Filipino girl and her trip to the market with her Nanay. You have to interact with the app in order to turn the page, and on some pages this can take a lot longer than others (especially the large market scene). But, there is a lot to talk about while that is on the screen, so it didn’t feel too forced during the storytime. Since my group was small today, I had the children tap and interact with the app during the sorting activity in the middle of the story and the cooking game at the end. Once they touch the device though, that’s all they want to do.

FINGERPLAY:

“Five Little Cookies in the Bakery Shop”
(I found this rhyme via the King County Library System Site. You should really watch their video because it is adorable.)

The rhyme seemed to be a big hit with the group.

APP:

Toca Store by Toca Boca (iOS; $2.99)
The kids help me set up a store together, each one got to pick out a few items they wanted to sell by actually tapping the iPad (The kids came running up to do this. It only went as well as it did because we had so few children there.) Then I played the customer and asked the group how much each item should cost. We counted the money together. Parents really wanted the purse when they found it magically supplied money for items if you didn’t have enough to buy it.

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

PRINT BOOK:

To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda, illustrated by Janet Stevens

APP:

Nursery Rhyme with Storytime (iOS: FREE)

We read “This Little Piggy” from this app and did it together as a fingerplay as well.

APP:

Dino-Store by Roger Sedarat, illustrated by Trade Loeffler, from Bluemarker.
(iOS, FREE)

This is such a fun and funny story — and it’s free! Leo and his father go to the grocery store and are surprised when their large eggs hatch into dinosaurs on the way home! The interaction of the story is subtle, but funny.

APPS WE SHARED SLIDE:

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Just Grandpa and Me from Oceanhouse Media (iOS, Android, Nook, Kindle, HP TouchPad: $1.99)
APP: Five Little Monkeys go Shopping from appropos (iOS,$2.99)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

This was a super fun storytime. I only wish that we got more people attending! Those who do come, however, seem to enjoy it. And having only a few people come does me we get to interact more, so I suppose that is the trade off.

Thanks to the wonderful category page at Digital-Storytime that helps me come up with theme and app ideas.

ATTENDANCE: 5 people (children and adults)

*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

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

Brr! It’s a Cold Winter – Preschool Storytime

Posted on December 22, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Since I presented this storytime the day before the new season, it’s time to celebrate Winter!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Jump Up, Turn Around” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

MOVEMENT: The Winter Pokey
(to the tune of “The Hokey Pokey”)
(taken from Steph on Perpetual Preschool)

You put your right mitten in
You put your right mitten out
You put your right mitten in
And you shake it all about.
You do the winter pokey
And you turn yourself about
That’s what it’s all about (BRRR! BRRR!)

Other verses:
– Left mitten
– Right boot
– Left boot
– winter hat (head)
– snow suit (whole body)

FLANNELBOARD:
The Penguin Went Over the Iceberg

(Idea from Storytime Katie)

(to tune of: “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”)
The penguin went over the iceberg
The penguin went over the iceberg
The penguin went over the iceberg
to see what he could see.
But all that he could see
But all that he could see
was the other side of the iceberg
The other side of the iceberg
The other side of the iceberg
was all that he could see.

FLANNELBOARD:
Snowball, Snowball

(Idea from So Tomorrow)

Snowball, snowball
cold and round!
Behind which mitten
can you be found?
Are you behind the color mitten?

You play this one in the same way as Little Mouse, Little Mouse – by hiding the snowball behind a mitten before you start and then seeing if you can find it. Since I had a really small group today, and they were older, I let the kids pick which mitten I should turn over.

MOVEMENT:
Cute Little Snowman
A cute little snowman (hold up left fist for snowman)
Had a carrot nose (stick out pointer finger on fist to make nose, if you want)
Along came a rabbit (hold up 2 fingers of right hand to make a rabbit)
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little rabbit (move the right hand closer to the left hand)
Looking for his lunch
Ate that snowman’s carrot nose
nibble, nibble, crunch. (lightly pinch left pointer finger or fist with right hand)

BOOK:

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

MOVEMENT: Watch the Snowflakes
(to tune of “Frere Jacques”)
Watch the snowflakes, watch the snowflakes
Floating down, floating down
Oh so very slowly, oh so very slowly
All the way down
to the ground.

VIDEO:

“The Snowy Day” from The Snowy Day… and more Ezra Jack Keats stories based on the book by Ezra Jack Keats

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: One- Dog Sleigh by Mary Casanova, pictures by Ard Hoyt
Book:Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer
Book: Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, pictures by Mark Buehner
Book: A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann

Flannelboard: The Mitten based on the book by Jan Brett

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
This was a fun storytime, but a very small one — I only had 7 people there! I think with the holidays, it was just slower. I wish I had had an older age flannelboard ready to go for this one (probably The Mitten), but they seemed to like Snowball, Snowball since they got to participate.

ATTENDANCE: 7 (adults and children)

*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

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Category Archives: Storytimes

Dads – Toddler Storytime

Dads – Infant Storytime

Music & Song – Toddler Storytime

Music & Song – Infant Storytime

Balloons – Preschool Storytime

Shapes – eStorytime

Birds – eStorytime

Underwear – Preschool Storytime

Shopping at the Market – eStorytime

Brr! It’s a Cold Winter – Preschool Storytime