Today we had a special storytime at the library! We are currently in the middle of two grants: one focused on Well-Being, and another focused on children 0-5 thriving in the community. This storytime brought both those two grants together. We have a public health nurse with us from the early learning grant, and she joined us today for this storytime focused on safety. She was also there to chat with parents and talk to them. Since this was part of our Well-Being grant, we also passed out kits with information and well-being toys for families. It was fun!
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT:
“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman
MOVEMENT: Open, Shut Them
MOVEMENT:
Ride a Little Pony
Ride a little pony (bounce baby on lap)
Going to town
Better watch out
or you might fall –
DOWN! (gently “drop”/lower baby down between legs/on legs, etc.)
MOVEMENT: Open, Shut Them
BOOK:
How Do Dinosaurs Stay Safe? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague
Our guest today, Nurse Natasha, read this title.
We paperclipped a couple pages, just so it was a little shorter/relevant to the infant/toddler audience.
FLANNELBOARD:
Green says, “Go”!
Green says, “Go!” (march quickly)
Go! Go! Go!
Yellow says, “Slow.” (march slowly)
Slow…slow…slow
And red says, “Stop!” (stop marching)
Go! Go! Go!
Slow…slow…slow…
Stop
Taken from: Pasadena Public Library
MOVEMENT:
Roly Poly
(to the tune of: “Frere Jacques”)
Roly poly, roly poly
Up, up, up
up, up, up
Roly roly poly
roly roly poly
down, down, down
down, down, down
Roly poly, roly poly
out, out, out
out, out, out
Roly roly poly
roly roly poly
in, in, in
in, in, in
Roly poly, roly poly
fast, fast, fast
fast, fast, fast
Roly roly poly
roly roly poly
slow, slow, slow
slow, slow, slow
I learned this rhyme from my colleague, but you can also see it done by the fabulous jbrary: https://youtu.be/oexBMxMKNFU
For this time around, I changed the rhyme and instead of out and in, I used big and small as adjectives, to fit in with the theme.
MOVEMENT:
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
FLANNELBOARD:
To start this flannelboard, I asked our guest Nurse Natasha to tell me about what she was wearing. Then we went into the flannelboard and sang the following.
(to the tune of: “Mary Wore Her Red Dress”)
This nurse were his/her/their red scrubs
red scrubs, red scrubs.
This nurse wore his/her/their red scrubs all day long.
Repeat for the other colors.
MOVEMENT:
“Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs by Raffi
MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider
BOOK:
Hello, Hometown Heroes by Toni Armier, illustrated by Anna Jones
This was another one where I skipped a few pages, to make it a little more relevant to our safety theme and audience.
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert (probably better for preschool)
Book: Yes, No Little Hippo: A Book about Being Safe by Jane Belk Moncure, illustrated by Vera K. Gohman
Book: Let’s Be Safe by Alice Le Hénand, illustrated by Thierry Bedouet
OTHER AWESOME RESOURCES:
ATTENDANCE: 35 people (adults and children)
DATE PRESENTED: Tuesday, March 8 @ Lamanda
Thoughts on Storytime: Safety is a hard topic to do with such little ones! A lot of the books are geared towards preschool or older, and I don’t want to induce fears instead of focus on being safe. After looking at storytime katie’s blog post that I linked to above, and getting the idea to focus on people who do keep us safe (community helpers), I think this came together a little better.
*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my
A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page
Jen in the Library 