Saint Patrick’s Day – Preschool Storytime

Posted on March 16, 2013 by jeninthelibrary

Hope you’re wearing green, because today we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at storytime!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

FLANNELBOARD:
Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms

Story inspired by K at Storytime ABC’s and her Leprechaun, Leprechaun, What Do You See? and Lucky Charms breakfast cereal (which makes this flannelboard magically delicious!)
Patterns via Google Images search and Microsoft Shapes tool on Word
I also found some glittery gold foam at Michael’s and stuck that on to some felt to make the gold in the pot sparkle.

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!

THEMED MOVEMENT:
“Dance, Dance Leprechaun Dance”
(to tune of “Skip to My Lou”)
Dance, dance, leprechaun dance.
Dance, dance, leprechaun dance.
Dance, dance, leprechaun dance,
Do a dance for me.

Bow…
Clap…
At this point I asked the kids in storytime what were some other things leprechaun’s did. Some of the answers I got were:
Search, search, search for gold…
Jump…

And I like to finish with…
Sit, sit, leprechaun sit.
Sit, sit, leprechaun sit.
Sit, sit, leprechaun sit.
Sit for our next story.

BOOK:

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Leprechaun Where’s Your Gold?

Inspiration and Story from Imagination Station.
Patterns via Google Search.

Before you start this flannelboard, hide the gold behind one of the colored pots
Leprechaun knows he has some gold, but he has so many different pots, he doesn’t know where it is! Let’s see if we can help him find it!

Leprechaun, leprechaun, tiny and bold.
Where, oh where is your gold?
What does the _(color)_ pot hold?

Leprechaun, leprechaun, tiny and bold.
I’m out looking for your gold.
What treasures does the _(color)_ pot hold?

VIDEO:

“Ruby’s Rainbow” from Max & Ruby: A Visit with Grandma

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute
Book: The Leprechaun Under the Bed by Teresa Bateman
Book: St. Patrick’s Day Countdown by Salina Yoon (I should also make this into a flannelboard)
Book: Lucky Leprechaun
Flannelboard: Five Little Leprechauns
Flannelboard: Five Green Shamrocks

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
You know how sometimes you have a storytime where everything comes together and feels really good? That’s what this storytime felt like. It went really well, and helped give me that rush that comes from really connecting with the audience. We had a lot of younger children at this storytime (even though we call it Preschool, we usually end up with some toddlers at every storytime), so I chose stories that were on the younger side to tell. Foley’s Bear stories always entertain. I had never used Green before, and was a little bit worried about how it would work since there wasn’t a lot of text on the pages. I started by prepping the audience that there were a lot of different types of green and that they could guess what sort of green was coming up. It actually turned out to be a great choice for a storytime, because there were so many great opportunities for dialogic reading and audience interaction. Also I think the reason this storytime worked well was because of the flannelboards. I had made these last year, and was happy to have them to use. That’s the thing about flannelboards — they may take a while to make up front, but you will have them forever.
Also I had some familiar faces in the audience – a librarian friend brought her son, a friend who used to page here and her children, and a lovely family who used to attend my infant toddler storytimes – and that always helps make storytime better!

ATTENDANCE: 48 (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

Family Storytime – Dr. Seuss

Posted on March 5, 2013 by jeninthelibrary

To celebrate Dr. Seuss’s Birthday on March 2, we held a special version of our preschool storytime honoring his works. My supervisor and I worked on this program together, so we tagged-teamed on the storytime.

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

PROP READING:
We started off with a prop-filled presentation of:

Green Eggs and Ham.

I portrayed Sam-I-Am, and my supervisor was the friend unwilling to try the titular treat. We had a table set up with all the props we needed for the story including:

Green Eggs and Ham (Color photo-copy laminated)
Here or There (Color photo-copy laminated, found via Google Image Search)
A House (made from Lego)
A Mouse (Puppet)

A Box
A Fox (he looks a little tired, I know, but it’s a fox from our puppet collection)
A Car
A Tree (Also from the library’s puppet collection)

This next row is a bit more… creative…

A Train (train whistle, I made the noise each time the book said “train”)
Dark (a black piece of construction paper with the word “dark” on it)
The Rain (a squirt bottle filled with water, that I misted every time the word “rain” was said. This got a good laugh, and was a great idea from my supervisor)

A Goat
A Boat

Since Sam-I-Am is the one who introduces the different props, I would hold up the item in question as I mentioned it. Then, my supervisor read off the answers of where the green eggs and ham would not be enjoyed, I held the item in question up again so that the audience could say it aloud. She also showed the illustrations of the book as well so those could be seen by the audience.

FLANNELBOARD:
Colorful Eggs (No Ham)

I stole this brilliant idea from this post at Mel’s Desk.

I took her suggestion of making it into a game, so on one side the eggs are a nice and normal yellow. On the other, wild colors! I started with all the yellow yolks up, then turned each one over at the appropriate time as I recited:

I-am-Sam.
Sam-I-am.
I do so like ____
eggs and ham.

(filling in the blank with the audience of the color of the egg). From this activity I learned that my pink egg (second from the left on the top row) really looks like an orange egg from afar and not like the hot pink it looks up close.

BOOK:

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

My supervisor just read an except of this one, up until the “goodnight” part. It worked really well shortened like that.

MOVEMENT: “If You’re Happy and You Know It – PS Version”
My supervisor does this one a little differently, so check out my A Capella Movements page for the PS version.

VIDEO:

“Zax” from Seuss Celebration: 9 Favorite Televised Classics

Many of the Seuss videos are 25 minutes long or so — “Zax” worked well for storytime since it was only 3 minutes or so.

TREATS:
What would a birthday celebration be without a sweet treat? After the movie, we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Dr. Seuss, and then it was time to let them eat cake!

(I forgot to take a photo of the cake before it was devoured! But as you can see, at least we had a lot of interest!)

ATTENDANCE: 38 people

HOW IT WENT: I think this was a really fun unique storytime. Other than joining in on storytimes as an intern, I’d never done a joint storytime before. I think it went really well, and that we both were able to highlight the places where we shine in storytime to make it a success. I think if I were going to do this program again, I might have a larger table on which to place the props — since Seuss changes the patter of the objects in Green Eggs and Ham that might make it easier to do. Another Idea I had for that would just be to used laminated images for all the objects like I did for the green eggs and ham. Then I could just have a stack put together and go through the stack in order as the items were mentioned.

How did you celebrate Dr. Seuss’s Birthday or Read Across America?

Alligators & Crocodiles – Preschool Storytime

Posted on January 22, 2013 by jeninthelibrary

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

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

BOOK:

Egad Alligator! by Harriet Ziefert

FLANNELBOARD:
Counting Crocodiles

Pattern and Story from Judy Sierra (it’s called “A Bridge of Crocodiles” in the Second Edition of The Flannel Board Storytelling Book. I inherited this flannelboard set from my mom, who was a librarian until she retired. She had my dad make all her flannelboard sets, so it’s steeped in family history. I think it came from the 1987 version of Sierra’s book…)

THEMED MOVEMENT:
“The Alligator”
The alligator likes to swim (two hands flat, one on top of the other)
And he opens his mouth wide (hands open and shut)
But when he sees me on the shore (turn hands towards self)
Down under the water he’ll hide (hands go between legs on lap)

BOOK:

Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner

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

BOOK:

For Pete’s Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh

VIDEO:

“Cornelius” from Swimmy …and More Classic Leo Lionni Stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen
Book: An Extraordinary Egg by Lio Lionni

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
I had a lot of infants and toddlers in the group today, so that changed my plan a little. I was originally planning on reading Guji Guji, since I really enjoy it, but thought that it might be a bit too long with little ones there. I switched and chose Egad Alligator instead. I really must say “Egad!” more when surprised is what I think every time I read this book. Then, because Guji Guji is a long book, I had some unaccounted for time at the end and decided to use For Pete’s Sake.

ATTENDANCE: 30 (adults and children)

Penguins – Preschool Storytime

Posted on December 8, 2012 by jeninthelibrary

Winter is a fine time to celebrate penguins! Though I’ve done a penguins theme with my infant and toddler groups, this was my first time doing a penguin storytime with the preschoolers. What took me so long — it went really well! I think this theme works better with this age group.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

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

BOOK:

Turtle’s Penguin Day by Valeri Gorbachev

FLANNELBOARD:
Penguin Went Over the Iceberg

Idea 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.

THEMED MOVEMENT:
Waddling Penguins
(to tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”)
Penguins, penguins having fun
Wadding in the shining sun
Waddling fast and waddling slow
Waddling to and waddling fro.
Penguins, penguin having fun
Waddling in the shining sun.

BOOK:

Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Pippa’s Penguin

Pattern and story from Susan M. Dailey. Find it here.

VIDEO:

“A Hatchling’s Song” through “Pengun’s First Swim” from Antarctic Antics on Antarctic Antics …and More Hilarious Animal Stories!

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Sergio Makes a Splash! by Edel Rodriguez
Book: Cuddly Dudley by Jez Alborough
Book: If You Were a Penguin by Wendell & Florence Minor
Book: Playful Little Penguins by Tony Mitton

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:

As I mentioned in my intro, I think the penguin theme worked a lot better with preschoolers than it has with a younger crowd. There are just better books for an older age range. Turtle’s Penguin Day worked really well, especially since I read that one first. Penguin and Pinecone inspired a lot of “awww”s from the audience. It really is a sweet story, and I love the illustrations for it. I feel like I could probably do more with my presentation to make “The Penguin Went Over the Mountain” flannelboard more interesting, but it’s a fun song and the kids and parents sing along when we do it twice in a row. “Pippa’s Penguin” was a really good one and the kids laughed a lot — I just need to remember not to drag my into to that story out for very long, so that I can get to putting up the penguins. I do need to outline my penguin in white though so that it shows up on our black flannelboard.

ATTENDANCE: 29 (adults and children)

Pie – Preschool Storytime

Posted on November 24, 2012 by jeninthelibrary

Since we just celebrated Thanksgiving I wanted to do a storytime today that was Thanksgiving-friendly, without being Thanksgiving-themed (since my library does our Turkey Tales storytime the Saturday before Thanksgiving). So, what is more Thanksgiving-y than Pie! Plus, I really enjoy trying out a brand new theme for storytime every now and then to help keep me fresh. I had a lot of help with this storytime from some great blogs out there.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

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

BOOK:

Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray

FLANNELBOARD:
One Whole Pie

Rhyme from Kathryn Roach, Wendell Library, Wendell NC’s blog post on Trails & Tales.
Pattern created by making concentric circle shapes in Microsoft word. I made 4 circles, the largest in white for the plate, the next smallest circle the dark color for the lower crust, one slightly smaller for the lighter upper crust, and the smallest just a tiny bit smaller than that for the purple (boysenberry!) filling.

One whole pie
Set by the door,
Cut into pieces,
I count four.

Four pieces of pie,
All for me,
I ate one piece (make loud eating sounds as you take the piece of the board)
Now there are three.

Three pieces of pie
For me took
I ate another piece,
Now there are two.

Two pieces of pie
Oh! What fun!
I ate another piece,
Now there is one.

One piece of pie
I can’t wait!
I ate that last piece
Empty plate!

THEMED MOVEMENT:
We Make a Pie
Push, pull, pound the dough (push and pull your hands)
Homemade pie we make
Roll it, punch it, squeeze it, fill it (roll hands, punch, squeeze and pretend to fill pan)
In the pan it bakes. (put into oven)

Adapted from “We Knead a Song” in Totline Sept/Oct 1995 pg.4

BOOK:

All for Pie Pie for All by David Martin

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Yummy Pies

Adapted from a rhyme from Kathryn Roach, Wendell Library, Wendell NC’s blog post on Trails & Tales.
Pattern from Microsoft Clip Art.

(to tune of: Three Blind Mice)
Pies, pies, pies.
Pies, pies, pies.
Yummy pies,
Yummy pies.
Pumpkin, blueberry and cherry too.
Apple and key lime to name a few.
Chocolate, lemon, how about you?
I love pie!
That’s no lie!

I took the advice from the Trails & Tales blog post and after I sang this rhyme we played a game where the children covered their eyes and then I made eating noises and took a slice off the flannelboard. When the kids opened their eyes they guessed which piece I had eaten. We did this a couple of times, then sang the song once more through. To end the flannelboard, I had them cover their eyes one last time and then ate up ALL the pie pieces.

VIDEO:

“Max’s Mudpie” from Max and Ruby: A Visit with Grandma

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Ugly Pie by Lisa Wheeler
Book: Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert
DVD: “Max’s Apple” from Max & Ruby: Springtime for Max & Ruby
DVD: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World Reading Rainbow DVD

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
This storytime was a lot of fun. Since I had two flannelboard stories I wanted to tell, I changed from my usual outline of storytime a bit. Both of the flannelboards worked very well, and I liked the audience participation they encouraged. I had never read Apple Pie ABC to a crowd before, and since it is an alphabet book with short phrases, I wasn’t sure how it would go over. No need to worry though — it was wonderful and a hit! I always love reading Pie for All, All for Pie.

Attendance: 37 people (adults and children)

Cookies – Preschool Storytime

Posted on October 13, 2012 by jeninthelibrary

I just found out that I would be doing storytime this week on Thursday, in a change-up to our regular rotation. Since I had short notice to pull things together, I wanted a theme that I already had a lot of the books for in my own personal storytime collection. Hence, cookies! I’d done a sweet treats storytime before that had a variety of desserts, but I found I had enough to just go with cookies, so why not.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

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

BOOK:

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson

FLANNELBOARD:
The Gingerbread Man

“The Gingerbread Man” from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra

I took the pattern for this from Sierra’s patter for “The Johnny Cake”, since they are essentially the same story, and then did a Google Images search to find a picture of a gingerbread man I liked.

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

BOOK:

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

VIDEO:

“Little Bear’s Sweet Tooth” from Feel Better, Little Bear

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont
Book: The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza
DVD: If You Give a Mouse A Cookie Reading Rainbow DVD

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:

I think both books went really well, and it was fun hearing the reactions to why the Cow Loves Cookies so much. And of course Pigeon and Duckling went over very well, though I think my voices could use a bit more work for those.

I always like it when I show the Little Bear episodes that Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins wrote. It tickles me to see her name come up with the credit for that, and then think about what she has moved on to.

I’m trying out some new music in my storytimes, since I’ve been using the same ones for quite a while. This was my first time doing “Can’t Wait to Celebrate”, and I think it’s going to be a nice one to add to my repertoire.

Attendance: 34 people (adults and kids)

Cats – Preschool Storytime

Posted on September 29, 2012 by jeninthelibrary

Today’s preschool storytime was an homage to fabulous felines!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

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

BOOK:

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

THEMED MOVEMENT:
5 Little Kittens
5 Little kittens, standing in a row (hold up 5 fingers)
They nod their heads to the children so (“nod” fingers)
They run to the left, they run to the right (move hand left and right)
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight (lift hand up)
Along comes a dog, who’s looking for some fun (move other fist towards fingers)
MEOW! See those 5 kittens run! (hide fingers behind back)

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

FLANNELBOARD:
“I Had a Cat”

Song and Patterns taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra

I had a cat, my cat pleased me,
I fed my cat under yonder tree,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee!

I had a pig, my pig pleased me,
I fed my pig under yonder tree,
Pig goes oink-oink,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee!

Continue in the same manner with all the other animals.

Before beginning the flannelboard story I asked all the kids what sound a cat makes. Then I brought up that if I cat has a fiddle like this one (and placed the cat on the board), then the sounds it makes is “fiddle-i-fee”! This helped prep the fact that the cat wasn’t going to be saying what you expected it to. Depending on your group size it may make sense to change the number of animals you use during the story.

PUPPETS:
Great Big Cat and Teeny Tiny Mouse

I purr-chased (sorry, I couldn’t resist) these beautiful puppets from ArtFelt. Here’s the rhyme that goes with them:

There was a GREAT BIG CAT  (say “great big cat” in a big voice)
and a Teeny Little Mouse   (say “teeny little mouse” in a small squeaky voice)
Who ran around and around  (Roll hands with cat and mouse around each other)
In a tall, tall house!   (Stretch arms above head)
Until that teeny tiny mouse  (say “teeny little mouse” in a small squeaky voice)
got caught at last   (have cat catch mouse)
Because that GREAT BIG CAT (say “great big cat” in a big voice)
ran around so fast!   (Roll hands with cat and mouse around each other)

BOOK:

What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas

MOVEMENT: “If You’re Happy and You Know It” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

VIDEO:

“Splat the Cat” from Splat the Cat…and Other Furry Friends!

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

Pizza! Pizza! – Preschool Storytime

Posted on September 1, 2012 by jeninthelibrary

Today’s preschool storytime was on pizza. While our 10am storytime might be a little too early to enjoy a slice, everyone still got into the theme!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

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

BOOK:

Fran’s Flower by Lisa Bruce

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

FLANNELBOARD:
P-I-Z-Z-A!
(To the tune of: “Bingo”)

“There is a treat that’s good to eat and pizza it its name.
P-I-Z-Z-A! P-I-Z-Z-A! P-I-Z-Z-A!
And pizza is its name.
Oh yum! I’m gonna eat one! (turn one slice of pizza over so the letter is no longer showing)
There is a treat that’s good to eat and pizza it its name.
*clap*-I-Z-Z-A! *clap*-I-Z-Z-A! *clap*-I-Z-Z-A!
And pizza is its name.”

Continue until you are clapping all the letters.

To remove the flannelboard pieces from the board I like to ask “How many pieces of pizza did we eat?” Then as we count to five I take the slices down. I took this flannelboard idea from Katie and Company and embellished it a little to include different toppings and make the story a little more colorful.

THEMED MOVEMENT:
Pizza Man, Pizza Man
Pizza man, pizza man turn around.
Pizza man, pizza man touch the ground.
Pizza man, pizza man give the dough a toss.
Pizza man, pizza man ladle on the sauce.
Pizza man, pizza man sprinkle on the cheese.
Pizza man, pizza man touch your knees.
Pizza man, pizza man put it in the oven.
Pizza man, pizza man press the oven button.
Pizza man, pizza man rub your tummy.
Pizza man, pizza man eat some pizza! Yummy!

BOOK:

“Hi, Pizza Man!” by Virginia Walter

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

VIDEO:

“Pete’s a Pizza” from Pete’s a Pizza … and more great kids stories!

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Category Archives: Preschool

Saint Patrick’s Day – Preschool Storytime

Family Storytime – Dr. Seuss

Alligators & Crocodiles – Preschool Storytime

Penguins – Preschool Storytime

Pie – Preschool Storytime

Cookies – Preschool Storytime

Cats – Preschool Storytime

Pizza! Pizza! – Preschool Storytime