Farm – eStorytime

Posted on September 8, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I’m so excited to post this today! Thanks to the hard work of my amazing colleague AnnMarie, my library recently bought some iPads, installed AppleTv in our Story Room, and will soon have iPads loaded with librarian-selected apps available for play on tables in the Children’s Room. To go with these investments, we decided to have a monthly digital storytime for preschoolers, that I am lucky enough to present!

We thought about incorporating iPads into our regular storytimes, but in our community there are some parents who don’t want their children exposed to screen time. In order to accommodate them, yet still embrace this new and fun technology, we decided to have a (mostly) all digital storytime at a separate time than our traditional preschool storytime. Also, this allows us to offer another service at a different time — hopefully opening up service to people who are not able to attend our Saturday storytimes.

While it has been a bit of a challenge to find good apps to fill the whole time (mostly because I am new to looking for them and to the format), there are many great resources out there that helped get me started. Among them are: Little eLit, Digital Storytime (especially their wonderful categories section that helped me work around a theme), School Library Journal’s app reviews, and Kirkus App Reviews.

So: Enough back story — let’s move on to Friday’s first-ever eStorytime!

Opening Slide on SlideShark:

I wanted to use a presentation app to display slides with song lyrics on them, and used the Slide Shark app for this. With Slide Shark, I created the slides using PowerPoint on my work computer, then just email them to myself and opened the PowerPoint with the app to upload it to Slide Shark.

SONG:

“Come Along and Sing with Me” (to tune of Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.) (I found this song in my fingerplay box without a citation, so forgive me for not giving credit.)

APP:

Barnyard Dance by Loud Crow Interactive. Based on the book by Sandra Boynton. (iOS, Android, Nook: $3.99)

Barnyard Dance is a fantastic app, and basically the reason I decided my first eStorytime would be farm themed. It has settings that allow you to read the story with no narration, but still get the sounds from the book. Finally we can share Boynton’s wonderful (but small) books in storytime (Ok, so I have with her lap size board books, but still…)

FINGERPLAY:

“Two Mother Pigs”
(Again, I’ve had this rhyme forever, so forgive me for not giving credit.)

APP:

Peekaboo Barn by Night & Day Studios (iOS, Android, Kindle: $.99)

Peekaboo barn starts with an opening scene of a barn exterior. Then you hear a knocking sound, followed by the sound of a farm animal. When you tap the screen, the barn door open and it reveals the animal that was making the sound. We played this as a guessing game – I let the animal sound play a couple of times, and the audience guessed what the animal was inside. While it may sound easy, a few of the animals are pretty difficult to guess (rabbit, llama).

MOVEMENT:

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

PRINT BOOK:

Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
As a break for the eyes, I wanted to make sure to keep at least one print book in the mix.

APP:

Felt Board by Software Smoothie (iOS: $2.99)

On the Felt Board App, we sang Old MacDonald. I set up the barn, the sun, and the farmer on the screen ahead of time (You can save scenes using the camera icon on the app, and then retrieve them in the gallery setting.) We sang the first verse, and then I was going to have the audience participate by choosing animals from the Animal menu in the app and singing about them. The app or screen froze (more about this in the how it went section), but the final screenshot is what it would have looked like at the end of our songs: we had an alligator, a duck, a badger, and a cow on our farm.

APP:

Pass it On! by CJ Educations. Based on the Book by Marilyn Sadler, illustrated by Michael Black. (iOS: $2.99)

We were going to finish up with an ebook app, Pass it On, but as I started to read it the image froze on the screen.

APPS WE SHARED SLIDE:

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm from Nosy Crow (iOS: $.99)
APP: Busy Bear on the Farm from Nosy Crow (iOS: $3.99)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

For my first eStorytime, I thought this one went pretty well. It was actually a blast to do, and the audience seemed to have a really good time. I prepped the audience at the beginning of the storytime, welcoming them to our FIRST EVER storytime of this type, and asking them to bear with me as we were sure to experience some technical difficulties. And we did.

Things started off just peachy – Barnyard Dance went great, Two Little Pigs was great, Peekaboo Barn was great. But then I started having communication problems between the AppleTV and my iPad — the screen no longer wanted to mirror images. Ok, no problem, we just went ahead and did the movement without the lyrics up on the screen.

It was time for the print book, so I closed the cover of my iPad to read the story. Of course, I had forgotten that there was a screen saver that runs on the AppleTV when it’s asleep, so the whole time I was reading there were beautiful baby animals on the screen behind me. Which of course, were a bit more interesting to some of the kids than the book I was reading. Note to self: change the screen saver back to just a black, blank screen.

So then I went and turned the iPad back on, and was still having problems with iPad/projector communication. I don’t know if it was the wi-fi or what, but the app would work on my iPad screen, but freeze on the large projector screen. So, we just sang Old MacDonald without the help of the app.

After, I tried again to get the mirroring to work properly, and started reading Pass It On. But just like the cow in that story, the image once again was stuck on the large projector, but not my screen. So we had a good laugh over the parallels between the story and our tech experience and moved ahead to close up with our ending movement.

If I got the chance to do this all over again, I would have asked our Tech guy to sit in with me on this first storytime. That way, whenever I ran into snags he would have been able to see what they were, instead of me having to explain them to him later. Even if he could not have fixed them in that moment (which may have interrupted the flow of the program), he at least would have know what they were. I think we are going to do a mock run-through before my next eStorytime next month where he will get to see what’s going on.

I’m very grateful that even with all these mishaps, the audience still seemed to have a wonderful time, and were supportive of the library trying something new. We really do have fantastic patrons.

One thing that did seem to go well was how I set things up on my iPad. I actually made a folder specifically for this storytime, so that I didn’t have to scroll back and forth between all my apps. It looked like this:

As you can see, just like books for a regular storytime, I have more apps than I would actually ever use. I always feel it’s good to have options, just in case. When storytime is over, I just pulled these out of this folder, and am ready to start working on the next one for next month’s program

ATTENDANCE: 19 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

Thoughts on eStorytimes/Digital Storytimes

Posted on September 5, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Since digital / e- / iPad storytimes are becoming a regular service that many libraries are providing, including my own, I wanted to take a little time to explore the issue on my blog.

When first thinking about using iPads, ebooks, and apps in storytime part me wondered: what was the need for it (from an early literacy perspective rather than a digital divide one)? While this is an area where much research is currently being done, I just felt like we didn’t know yet what the implications for early literacy were. Children are already exposed to so much media, do we really need it in storytime as well? Shouldn’t it be alright for library storytime to focus on print books and stories? If children 2 and under should have no screen time, and children over 2 should have limited screen time, isn’t storytime the perfect place for a digital break? Are we trying to embrace iPads just because they are sexy, rather than because they offer real benefits?

But just because something makes me uncomfortable, doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn more about it. Like any good researcher, I want to collect my facts before making a decision. So I talked to other professionals. I attended many different trainings on how to use the iPad in storytime. I read blog posts. I tried to see the issue from both sides.

And I started seeing a different way of looking at iPads and storytime use. Parents are already using iPads with their youngest children. I am sure we have all seen a time when an iPad was used as a babysitter — entertaining a young child while a parent was getting something done. And you know what? That’s okay. It is not my place to judge parents. Parents have busy lives and use the tools at their disposal. But if parents are using this technology why not show them that it can be MORE than a babysitter?

We already model how to interact with books in storytime. I often feel, especially with my infant storytime, I feel like that’s the main reason I’m doing it. Yes, the infants are receiving a benefit from storytime, but parents are seeing examples of great books for their children. They are seeing how to do dialogic reading — even if they have no idea what it is called. They are learning how books are starters for conversation or related activities like songs and fingerplays.

So why not do the same with ebooks and apps? Why not show off wonderfully produced, educational apps the same way we highlight great books? Why not model how an app can be a starting point for conversation and learning with children?

In addition, apps cost money. And there is no place really to “try before you buy”. Yes books cost money as well, but it is easy enough to read through a picture book before deciding to purchase it. And there are so many apps out there. Of course, plenty of places review apps, but it is often best to decide after seeing them in action The library can help with this as well, by bring attention to really good, useful apps.

And when I saw using apps in this way, it began to make more sense to me to use them in library programming. Another thing helped me be more okay with iPads in storytime was when my library was discussing offering them as a service we decided to develop an eStorytime separate from our traditional storytime, rather than including the iPads in our current storytime program. We have our traditional storytime, that runs once a week, and then we added a monthly storytime were we focus on apps and ebooks. Soon, this may seem like a ridiculous and artificial division, but it helped me get my head around trying something new while still remaining faithful to a tried and true ideal. Also, some parents in our community don’t want their children exposed to screen time — having separate programs allows us to accommodate both.

To some extent, I still think I am making my mind up about iPads and storytime. I am interested to see what we learn from research about their use and early literacy. But I’m also ready to try out some new ideas. And you know what? I just presented my first eStorytime today and it went pretty well. Both parents and kids found it fun, engaging, and were exposed to some new-to-them high quality apps. And I can’t help but think that’s a good thing.

You’ll start to see my eStorytimes outlines being posted on here. I hope you find them useful if you are thinking of starting your own digital storytime, already have one at your library, or just want to find some new fun apps to share with kids.

As always, please feel free to continue this conversation in the comments. I would love to hear what you have to say about iPads, apps, storytimes and libraries.

Outer Space – Preschool Storytime

Posted on August 2, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Today’s preschool storytime was out of this world! We celebrated outer space with fun songs, stories and rhymes. Thanks very much to Falling Flannelboards, SLC Book Boy, Storytime with Miss Tara, and Mel’s Desk for providing some rhymes and inspiration for this storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

I Want to Be an Astronaut by Byron Barton

MOVEMENT: Rocket
(taken from SLC Book Book)

I’m a rocket on the ground (crouch down on ground).
Waiting quietly without a sound (say softly and put finger to lips)
Light this fuse on my little toe (wiggle little toe, or point finger at toe).
Ready for blastoff, here I go! (put hands over head to form rocket point).
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1
Whooosh! (Jump into air)

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Little Aliens

(I didn’t record my source for this rhyme at the time I found it, but I think it was from here: BLCS WikiSpaces)

(to tune of: “Five Little Ducks”)
5 little aliens went out to play
Over the moon across the milky way
Mama/Papa Alien cried “Hep, hep, hep”
But only 4 little aliens came floating back.

…continue with 4, 3, 2, 1…

No little aliens went out to play
over the moon to the milky way
Mama and Papa alien cried, “Hep, hep, hep”
and ALL the little aliens came floating back.

BOOK:

Sheep Blast Off! by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple

MOVEMENT: If You’re Going to the Moon
(taken from Mel’s Desk via Falling Flannelboards)

(to tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
If you’re going to the moon, wear your suit (ziiiiip)
If you’re going to the moon, wear your suit (ziiiiip)
If you’re going to the moon and you want to get there soon
If you’re going to the moon, wear your suit (ziiiiip)

…wear your boots (stomp, stomp)
…wear your helmet (pat head, pat head)
…wear your gloves (clap, clap)

(After storytime, I also thought it might be fun to add this verse to kick things off:
If you’re going to the moon, you must get dressed (say “Oh yes!)).

VIDEO:

“Beegu” from Reading Rainbow based on the book by Alexis Deacon

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I’m Off to the Moon! by Dan Yaccarino
Book: There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star by Charise Mericle Harper
Book: Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli
Book: Zoom , Rocket, Zoom! by Margaret Mayo, illustrated by Alex Ayliffe
Book: Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis, pictures by Ora Eitan

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Today was a really fun storytime! Everyone seemed to enjoy the theme. And even when I made some little mistakes (like turning off the display lights instead of the regular lights when I told the kids to blow them out. I just had them clap them back on and then blow harder. And then I forgot to bring the screen down and had to have a preschooler remind me), things still went really well. I wasn’t sure about using I Want to Be an Astronaut at first, because I thought it might be too slow-paced for the preschoolers, but when I read the page about eating food one of the children said, “He’s upside down!!!” about the astronaut illustration and everyone laughed. So it went better than I thought it might, and led to some talk about what you would be able to do while in space.

ATTENDANCE: 37 (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

Under the Sea – Preschool Storytime

Posted on July 5, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

For storytime around the 4th of July it felt fitting to do a beach theme. When I started putting together the books I wanted to share it tweaked to be more of an Under the Sea group of stories, except for the video.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry

MOVEMENT: Once I Saw an Octopus

Once I saw an octopus in the deep blue sea (put hand over eyes, as if searching)
I called, “Mr. Octopus, won’t you swim with me?” (hands around mouth to call)
Then out came his tentacles, so very long and straight.
(link thumbs with fingers out, as if making a bird shadow puppet, but make more of a circle for the head)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. (count 8 fingers)

FLANNELBOARD:
We’re the Family of the Sea

(rhyme from: Totline Magazine July/August 2001 p. 29. patterns from clip-art/web search)

(to tune of: “Old MacDonald had a Farm”)
We’re the family of the sea,
The ocean is our home.
And in the seas there lives a whale
Who loves to play and roam.
With a spout spout here and a spout spout there.
Here a spout, there a spout,
Everywhere a spout, spout.
We’re the family of the sea,
The ocean is our home.

Other verses:
Fish – swish swish
Crab – pinch pinch
Seal – bark bark
Octopus – wibble wobble

BOOK:

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

MOVEMENT: Octopus, Octopus

Octopus, octopus turn around
Octopus, octopus touch the ground
Octopus, octopus reach up high
Octopus, octopus swimming by

from Caitlin Peterson’s Sea Life storytime idea found here

VIDEO:

“At the Beach” from Peppa Pig: My Birthday Party

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Wiggle! Like an Octopus by Harriet Ziefert & Simms Taback (also a good app)
Book: Thank You, Octopus by Darren Farrell
Book: Beach Day by Karen Roosa, illustrated by Maggie Smith
Book: Scuba Bunnies by Christine Loomis, pictures by Ora Eitan
Book: Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Splash! by Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas
Book: Beach Feet by Kiyomi Konagaya, illustrated by Masamitsu Saito
Book: Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon
Song: “Octopus (Slippery Fish)” by Charlotte Diamond from 24 Carrot Diamond: The Best of Charlotte Diamond

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Originally, I thought it would be fun to do an octopus/squid storytime, which is why some of my additional ideas are cephalopod themed. However, after reading the stories I did, I’m thinking this turned into more of a food-chain themed storytime, since there was a lot of eating of animals in what I picked. I seemed to have a good mix of older preschool aged children today, and some of them had already read This is Not My Hat so it was fun to hear them kind of narrate along with me. I wish I had downloaded the Charlotte Diamond track to use today — I meant to but forgot.

ATTENDANCE: 33 (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

NO! – Preschool Storytime

Posted on May 24, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I noticed that there are a lot of great books you can say, “No!” to, so I figured why not share some of those in today’s storytime? I would do this theme again — it was so much fun.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

No! by Tracey Corderoy, illustrated by Tim Warnes

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them

FLANNELBOARD:
The Little Red Hen

(pattern and story from: Sierra, Judy. The Flannel Board Storytelling Book 2nd Edition. 1997. pg 152)

MOVEMENT: We danced to “Nobody But Me“ by the Human Beinz from Nuggets: Vol 2

You can find this song lots of other places as well. The kids really enjoyed doing the pony (which I figured was close enough to the filly, whatever that is, to count)

Book:

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

Because it’s fun to say “No” along with all the hiding animals until you find Spot!

BOOK:

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

VIDEO:

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! …and more stories by Mo Willems

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: I’m Not Cute! by Jonathan Allen (or any others in the I’m Not series…)
Book: What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas
Book: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Book: No, David! by David Shannon
Book: No by Claudia Rueda
Book: Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
Book: Where’s My Mom? by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Flannelboard: Little Mouse, Little Mouse
Flannelboard: How do I Put it On?
Video: “No Roses for Harry” from Harry the Dirty Dog …and more playful puppy stories

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Such a fun theme, and I keep thinking of other books you can use with it! I think I will try this theme again in the future to see if it continues to work well. The kids didn’t seem to respond back with “No!” as loudly or often as I thought they might, but they still seemed to have a good time. For the Human Beinz song, I didn’t want it to go on took long, so I queued it up to time 1:25 right before all the “No no no nos..” come in. I was worried they may not want to dance along, but I was wrong. Who doesn’t like an awesome 60’s themed dance party?

ATTENDANCE: 22 (adults and children – I think it was a little low because it’s Memorial Day weekend)

*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

Rabbits – Preschool Storytime

Posted on May 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

The week before Easter, we shared bunny stories at storytime!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

MOVEMENT:
Bunny Pokey
(to the tune of “Hokey Pokey”)
You put your bunny ears in
You put your bunny ears out
You put your bunny ears in
And you shake them all about
You do the Bunny Pokey
And you hop yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your bunny nose in..
You put your bunny paws in..
You put your bunny tail in..

FLANNELBOARD:
The Giant Carrot

(Pattern and story taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra)

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

BOOK:
Uwungelema

A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan, illustrated by Tom Murphy

MOVEMENT: Did You Ever See a Bunny?

(to tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”
Did you ever see a bunny, a bunny, a bunny
Did you ever see a bunny that hops so slow
He hops and he hops and he hops and he hops
Did you ever see a bunny that hops so slow?

That hops so… fast
… backwards
… on one foot

VIDEO:

“Bunny Cakes” from Party Time with Max and Ruby

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
It took me so long to get to this blog post…. I don’t remember. Except bunny tails are a hit.

ATTENDANCE: 32 (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

Let’s Sing – Toddler Storytime

Posted on May 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Songs and singing was my last theme for my toddler storytime session.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Instruments

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Green and Speckled Frogs

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Little White Duck lyrics by Walt Whippo, music by Bernard Zaritzky, illustrated by Joan Paley

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

VIDEO:

“The Wheels on the Bus” from The Wheels on the Bus…and more Musical Stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
Pretty Good. It’s fun to sing your way through storytime, but it does hurt after the third one. 🙂

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 31 people 11 am: 14 people

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

Let’s Sing – Infants

Posted on May 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Here’s a storytime I did for my last round of infant storytimes that I forgot to post! I can’t believe I’ve never done songs before as a theme – there’s so many options out there, and it fits in perfectly with Every Child Ready to Read early literacy practices.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Little White Duck lyrics by Walt Whippo, music by Bernard Zaritzky, illustrated by Joan Paley

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Old MacDonald

(Patterns taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra)

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

BOOK:

Hush Little Baby by Marla Frazee

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Baa Baa Black Sheep

(Patterns taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra

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*

HOW IT WENT:
There are a lot of great stories and songs you can do for this theme. I Love the Marla Frazee version of Hush Little Baby, but I found the page turns, combined with singing, didn’t work as well for me — I think I rushed through a little fast. I may need to practice that one more, or do it as a flannelboard in the future. Also, after I sang/read “Little White Duck” I mentioned to parents that, see, you don’t have to have a great voice to sing to your children — they like it no matter what! And, bless their hearts, some of the parents responded: “You do have a good voice.” They flatter me, and I appreciate it.

ATTENDANCE: 38 people

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

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Toddler Storytime

Posted on March 17, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, so it’s time to celebrate all things green! (Also, celebrating green makes it easier to find books to use.)

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

Shamrocks

FLANNELBOARD:
Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms

inspired by K at Storytime ABC’s and her Leprechaun, Leprechaun, What Do You See? and Lucky Charms breakfast cereal
Patterns via Google Images search and Microsoft Shapes tool on Word

Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms
Start with the leprechaun on the flannelboard. Add the other pieces where mentioned in the story.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a red heart here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have an orange star here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a yellow moon here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a green clover here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a blue diamond here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a purple horse shoe here with me.

Let’s see what colors we have – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
What does that make?
A Rainbow!

And what can you find at the end of the rainbow?
Leprechaun’s pot of gold!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

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

VIDEO:

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
This was a pretty good storytime. I feel like the kids don’t connect as well with Good Luck Bear as much as they do with the other Bear stories by Foley, but it is still such a cute read (while being topical and age-appropriate).

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 38 people 11 am: 28 people

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

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Infants

Posted on March 11, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

There are not a lot of good St. Patrick’s Day stories for infants (at least, not that I have right now), so this one was a Green (heavy on shamrocks) storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Green Shamrocks Two Ways

(template from Google images search)

Five Green Shamrocks (counting up)
(rhyme from DLTK Holidays)
One green shamrock, in the morning dew,
Another one sprouted,
and then there were two.

Two green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were three.

Three green shamrocks, by the cottage door;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were four.

Four green shamrocks, near a beehive
Another one sprouted,
and then there were five.

Five little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,
Think of all the luck
these shamrocks will bring.

Five Green Shamrocks (counting down)
(rhyme taken from King County Library Wiki)
5 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked one up and put it on the door
that’s for good luck now there are 4

4 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and and put it on a tree
that’s for good luck now there are 3

3 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and put it on his shoe
that’s for good luck now there are 2

2 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and held it toward the sun
that’s for good luck now there is 1

1 little shamrock lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he left it there so there’d always be 1
that’s for good luck and now my story’s done!

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

BOOK:

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet

Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider,

Who sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

TICKLE: Catch a Wee Mouse*

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: Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

HOW IT WENT:
While St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t lend itself very well to stories for young ones, this was still an enjoyable storytime. Where is the Green Sheep? went over very well with the audience today — even though it can be a little long the parents seemed to stick with it. I shortened Green a little bit to work with the group, but that one was good too.

ATTENDANCE: 34 people

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

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Category Archives: Storytimes

Farm – eStorytime

Thoughts on eStorytimes/Digital Storytimes

Outer Space – Preschool Storytime

Under the Sea – Preschool Storytime

NO! – Preschool Storytime

Rabbits – Preschool Storytime

Let’s Sing – Toddler Storytime

Let’s Sing – Infants

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Toddler Storytime

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Infants