Snow – Toddler Storytime

Posted on December 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

It it precipitating here today, but it’s not cold enough to snow. (Is it ever?)

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

MOVEMENT: My Wiggles*

BOOK:

One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George, illustrated by Maggie Smith

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Snowflakes

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Little Snowpals

from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes, art by Janet McDonnell

Five little snowpals standing in a row.
Each has a hat and big red bow.
Out came the sun and it shone all day.
Until one little snowpal melted away.

Repeat with 4…3…2..1 snowpals

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Pip & Squeak by Ian Schoenherr

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

VIDEO:

“Snow” from Peppa Pig: Muddy Puddles and Other Stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Mouse’s First Snow by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogan
Book: Snow Happy! by Patricia Hubbell, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
Book: The First Snowfall by Anne & Harlow Rockwell
Book: A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann
Book: A Winter Day by Douglas Florian

HOW IT WENT:

There were no AV issues today, so that helped get things off to a good start. I have had Pip & Squeak on my lists for a while as a possible toddler book, I am glad that I tried it out today — it worked really well. I would use it again in the future.

I think it would also be fun to get those fake snowballs that I’ve seen around and do some kind of activity with those during storytime. Though it does say that those are for ages 3 and up, so maybe not.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 27 people 11 am: 24 people

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

Toys – Toddler Storytime

Posted on December 9, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I wanted to celebrate the season, but not with a holiday-specific themed storytime. So I figured toys would be a good choice. It also goes well with the emphasis on play I am adding to the library, thanks to a recent grant from the California State Library

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

MOVEMENT: My Wiggles*

BOOK:

Matthew’s Truck by Katherine Ayres, illustrated by Hideko Takahashi

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 (Toy) Boats

FLANNELBOARD:
Here Comes the (Toy) Choo-Choo Train

from Judy Sierra’s The Flannel Board Storytelling Book

Here comes the (toy) choo-choo train,
Puffing down the track.
First comes the engine,
The freight cars are in back.
Now the bell is ringing,
Now the whistle blows.
What a lot of noise it makes
Everywhere it goes!

FLANNELBOARD:
Bears

(forgive me, I cannot remember where I got the words for this rhyme.)

(to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”)
Grizzly bears are big and brown,
Big and brown, big and brown.
Grizzly bears are big and brown,
And live in the woods.

Polar bears are soft and white,
Soft and white, soft and white.
Polar bears are soft and white,
And live in the cold.

Teddy bears are just my size,
Just my size, just my size.
Teddy bears are just my size,
To cuddle with at night.

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

My Old Teddy by Dom Mansell

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

VIDEO:

“Spot’s Favorite Toy” from Storytime with Spot

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Meeow and the Little Chairs (or any Meeow book) by Sebastien Braun
Book: Book! by Kristine O’Connell George, illustrated by Maggie Smith
Book: Everybody Has a Teddy by Virginia Kroll, illustrated by Sophie Allsopp
Book: Red Light, Green Light written by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max
Book: Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
Book: The Rainy Day Puddle by Ei Nakabayashi
Video: “Spot’s Hobbyhorse” from Storytime With Spot
Flannelboard: The Toy Shop (with all traces of Christmas removed)

HOW IT WENT:

While I had some issues with the cd player and sound, our IT person came out and fixed that between storytimes, so it was better for this one. I got to sing along with the cd. However, I think sound from the DVD is now only coming out of one speaker. Must check into that.

This storytime went pretty well. I originally thought I was going to use a different flannelboard with the older kids, but both of them went so well at the infant storytime that I just decided to continue with it for toddler time. I did a dd a few different rhymes in to storytime today — the kids seemed to have a hard time settling down, and I always feel like My Wiggles creates a nice calm before a story.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 33 people 11 am: 39 people

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

Rain – Toddler Storytime

Posted on December 2, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I know I did a rain storytime less than a year ago, but I feel like it happens so rarely here in Southern California that we need to celebrate the occassion with stor(m)ytimes when we can!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

The Thingamabob by Il Sung Na

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Rainclouds

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Little Raindrops

(Rhyme found from Recipes for Reading)

Five little raindrops
(hold up five fingers)
Dancing on the walk
(move hand from side to side)
Pitter patter, pitter patter, that’s the way they talk.
(pat hands on legs to make a pitter patter noise)
Out comes the yellow sun, shining in the sky
(raise arms up like the sun, if using a flannel sun piece, hold this up)
And away goes one raindrop
(take away a raindrop, I kind of hid it behind the sun felt piece)
Bye, bye, bye!
(wave goodbye)

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Bunny Fun by Sarah Weeks, illustrated by Sam Williams

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

VIDEO:

“The Hippo Dance” and “Dancing in the Rain from Classical Baby: The Dance Show

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Raindrop, Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrated by Pam Paparone
Book: Here Comes the Rain by Mary Murphy
Book: Rain by Manya Stojic
Book: Split! Splat! by Amy Gibson, illustrated by Steve Björkman
Book: Rabbits & Raindrops by Jim Arnosky
Book: The Rainy Day Puddle by Ei Nakabayashi
Video: “Spot’s Umbrella” from Where’s Spot? And Other Stories

HOW IT WENT:

This was a nice storytime. Since I did the same theme a little while ago, I wanted to make sure that I read different books. While I didn’t really do that with the infant storytime, I succeeded with Toddler. I really liked The Thingamabob and would use that again with the group. Bunny Fun was also a good read, and even though I used it second, the kids all still seemed well engaged. I especially liked the new flannelboard rhyme — it was fun to do, and it sounded neat when all the kids patted on their laps to make the rain sound.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 30 people 11 am: 34 people

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

Thanksgiving – Toddler Storytime

Posted on November 25, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

It’s been two years since my last Thanksgiving storytime for this age group, but I used mostly the same books. Why aren’t here more awesome Thanksgiving stories for young ones out there? Do you have any favorites that I’m missing?

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

10 am: All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev
11 am:The Thankful Book by Todd Parr

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Turkeys

FLANNELBOARD:

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

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

(Continue adding color feathers and singing)

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

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

10 am: The Thankful Book by Todd Parr
11 am: Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott

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

VIDEO:

“Max’s Thanksgiving” from Max and Ruby’s Halloween

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, illustrated by Doris Barrette
Flannelboard: We Eat Turkey (you can find it on this post)
Flannelboard: One Whole Pie
Video: “Ruby’s Horn of Plenty” from Max and Ruby: Everybunny Loves Winter!

HOW IT WENT:
I’m thankful that I get to do storytime as part of my job. I seriously have the best career on the planet. Who else gets to have as much fun at work?

I felt like the books I used in the 10 am storytime were a little too long for the group, so I switched things over at the 11 am storytime to use shorter ones. I also need to find a better video — I think Max and Ruby strains the attention span a bit. But it’s hard to find a good Thanksgiving one for toddlers. Maybe something food related?

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 27 people 11 am: 34 people

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

Fast & Slow – Toddler Storytime

Posted on November 11, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I think I did a slow storytime for preschoolers a while ago, and I thought it might be fun to use with toddlers. I didn’t have enough good slow stories to round things out, so I decided to make it a fast & slow storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Turtles

FLANNELBOARD:
Fast and Slow

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

Have the vehicles behind the board. Put one vehicle on the board at a time, and ask the audience if it goes fast or slow. When they answers, move the vehicle across the board at the correct speed. You can also make the noises the vehicle makes as you move it. Take this piece of the board, and then repeat with the next vehicle. This is nice one because you can lengthen it or shorten it depending on your audience. Those are all the flannel pieces I have for this pictured on the board – I didn’t actually use them all.

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

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

VIDEO:

“The Balloon Ride” from Peppa Pig: The Balloon Ride

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli
Book: Mini Racer by Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo
Book: Late Nate in a Race by Emily Arnold McCully
Flannelboard: The Giant Carrot (it has a snail!)

HOW IT WENT:
Storytime went so much better this week! Yay! You know how when you talk to someone but you’re not sure if it made any difference? That’s how I was left feeling at the end of last week, but SOMETHING must have happened, because everyone sat with their child and participated today. Yay! We are even handing out balloons as a promotion for a future event, and even with those, the kids were awesome. I did start by telling the parents since I knew balloons could be a distraction that I would need their help today. Maybe I just need to use that approach more. It’s a helping environment. Whatever it was that happened, it was a nicer storytime.

When I was picking materials for this storytime I wasn’t sure that “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly” said the Sloth would work with toddlers. I did skip over a few of the animals asking Sloth about his habits, but on the whole it seemed to work really well. I think I would use that again.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 31 people 11 am: 38 people

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

Birds – Toddler Storytime

Posted on November 4, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Books about birds are fly!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Baby Bird by Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Russell Ayto

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Birds
These birds were actually from an Easter garland I found at Michael’s. I pulled of the ribbon that was hot glued to the back, and — voila! — insta-adorable-flannelboard!

FLANNELBOARD:
Here Comes the Little Bird

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

Rhyme from the Book:
Here comes little bird. (Your fist is the bird.)
He’s landing on my HEAD. (Land where you want.)
Bye, bye little bird. (Fly bird away.)
Bye! Bye! Bye! (Wave to bird.)

Way I do the Rhyme:
Here is a little girl
and here is a curious little bird.
Here comes the little bird.
He’s landing on her HEAD.
Where’s your head? Can you show me?
(Have bird land on various other body parts.)
Here comes the little bird.
He’s landing on her tummy.
And when he’s there he likes to give a tickle, tickle, tickle (give tummy a tickle.)
And then he flies away.
Fly, fly little bird. (remove bird from flannelboard.)
Bye! Bye! Bye!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert

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

VIDEO:

“Let’s Look for Birds” from Baby’s First-Word Stories Outside

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
The 10am storytime was really hard. Harder than last week. I have three children who just enjoy running around.. The parents do not try to curb this behavior, and often are just chatting among themselves. It causes a distraction for those who want to participate in storytime — I even had one parent tell me that she was thinking about dropping storytime because she didn’t like it so much. Also, English is not their native language, so even though I talked to them after storytime today, it made it difficult to know if my point was getting across. I usually try to go with the flow in my storytimes and am fairly lenient when it comes to discipline, and only interject when safety is an issue — after all, I am not the parent. But I may need to get a little more rigorous about rules in that storytime. How do you handle this in your storytimes? Any advice would be welcome.

As usual, the 11am storytime was a lot better though. And there were even more people in that group. It’s nice to finish on an up note, because 10 am was really hard you guys.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 41 people 11 am: 48 people

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

Halloween – Toddler Storytime

Posted on October 28, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I love doing Halloween storytime with the toddlers, because they are SO CUTE when they come in costume.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo, illustrated by Valeria Petrone

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Pumpkins (from Artfelt)

FLANNELBOARD:
Little Mouse’s Halloween House

(Pattern & story from Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra)

One day in the fall, a little gray mouse found a big orange house.
She nibbled a hole in the middle to make the door.
She nibbled 2 holes near the top to make windows.
She nibbled a wide hole near the bottom so her children could run in and out.
Then she put a candle inside so the house was never dark.

The mouse’s little house
was a sight to be seen.
It was a jack-o’-lantern —
Happy Halloween!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

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

VIDEO:

“Goblin Night” from Little Bear Halloween Stories

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: 10 Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
Book: What Am I? Halloween by Ann Margaret Lewis, pictures by Tom Mills
Book: Mouse’s First Halloween by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogan
Book: It’s Halloween Night by Jennifer O’Connell, illustrated by Jennifer Morris

HOW IT WENT:
The 10am storytime was really hard. Infant today was difficult too, and I just think that carried over. As I mentioned in my infant post, I think that wearing a costume has a freeing effect — it gets the kids excited. But it also is adorable, so I don’t want to do away with it.

I feel like sometimes I am running the program with two different minds — one is focused on reading the books, and following the agenda for the storytime. The other is taking stock of what is happening in the room, and wondering if I should be doing something about, or modifying behavior, or things like that. If two kids are running around, do I just ignore it and focus on the ones who are listening? I don’t know. I need to become better at crowd management/control.

The 11am storytime was a lot better though. And there were not as many children in costume. Coincidence?

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 40 people 11 am: 48 people

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

Mice – Toddler Storytime

Posted on October 21, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I know that cats usually follow mice, but I decided to do things the other way around for this storytime session.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRODUCTION: with Mouse Puppet from Folkmanis

My friend this time was my brown mouse puppet. I had him come out and be shy to the audience (really, this is the only puppet-y thing I know how to do.) Then I pretended I didn’t know what he was and we went over his features together: 2 ears (where are your ears?), a little nose (show me your nose!), etc until they told me he was a mouse!

BOOK:

Mice by Rose Fyleman, illustrated by Lois Ehlert

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Mice

FLANNELBOARD:
Little Mouse, Little Mouse
(Pattern & Rhyme from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes)

Little mouse, little mouse
Are you in the (insert color here) house?

I know I use this rhyme a lot, but it is one of my favorites. I like hiding other animals in the different houses so that it is a surprise when things are uncovered. The ones picture above are from some of my ArtFelt sets. I also like to leave one house empty with “nobody home”.

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Thank You Bear by Greg Foley

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

VIDEO:

“Playground” from Play Time Maisy

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Mouse’s Birthday by Jane Yolen illustrated by Bruce Degen
Book: Pip & Squeak by Ian Schoenherr
Book: Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley
Book: Lunch by Denise Fleming

HOW IT WENT:
This was a fairly good storytime. I am finding that the puppets seems to be a good way of kicking off the show. I don’t know if I will have puppets for all my different storytime themes, but so far it works alright. Mice was a great book to read. At the 10 am storytime, I didn’t do a very good job of emphasizing who it was that liked mice, so I made sure at the 11 am storytime to point that out. It was fun, and I think the colors carry very well. The groups were having trouble sitting still towards the end of storytime, so I shorted Thank You Bear by skipping a few of the pages. It worked just fine.

I originally meant to show the Dancing episode of Maisy – after the short episode the song was “The Wheels on the Bus” and I thought that might appease the heckler from last week. However, I didn’t cue the DVD correctly, so we watched Playground instead. Since the kid didn’t have a breakdown about “The Wheels on the Bus” I’m thinking we’re good.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 44 people 11 am: 44 people

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

Cats – Toddler Storytime

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Meow Meow! I thought we would start this session out with cat stories.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRODUCTION: with Cat Hand Puppet from ArtFelt

I mentioned that I brought a friend along, then had the kitty wave to the kids, and the kids wave back. I’m not super comfortable with puppets, but I’m trying!

BOOK:

Mama Cat has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Cats

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Kittens in the Bed

(rhyme and pattern from page 116 of a book that I do not have the title of! This flannelboard was one of my mom’s, colored by my dad, so I don’t know where it’s from)

(Adapted from “Ten in the Bed”)
There were five kittens in the bed,
And the little one said, “It’s crowded. Roll over.”
So they all rolled over, and one fell out;

There were four kittens in the bed…
There were three kittens in the bed…
There were two kittens in the bed…

There was one kitten in the bed,
And the little one said, “I’m lonely.”

So they all got back in the bed,
And the little one said, “Good night!”

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Thumpy Feet by Betsy Lewin

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

VIDEO:

“The Truth About Puppies and Kittens” from The Poky Little Puppy and Friends

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas
Book: I See Kitty by Yasmine Surovec
Book: Where is Tippy Toes? by Betsy Lewin
Book: Meeow and the Pots and Pans by Sebastien Braun (or any Meeow book)

HOW IT WENT:
Every time I finish one session of infant toddler storytime I think, “I am going to find some new music to use with this group!” And then the weeks go by, and I think about it, but I have so much other stuff that I am working on that I forget about it, then before you know it, it’s time to start storytime again. So, while I didn’t revamp all my songs, I did decide to try out a new opener — and I think this one is going to work well. (Which isn’t surprising. All Kathy Reid-Naiman’s stuff is great.) Also, Thumpy Feet worked really well with the toddler group. Before I began the story I told the group that we were going to pretend to be cats, and do the same things that Thumpy did. Interactive fun! The video wasn’t my favorite, but I wanted something rather short since it was the first storytime of the session and the kids are not used to sitting for so long.

EDITED TO ADD: I had forgotten about this until I was writing my outline for the next storytime, but I did have a child upset because we didn’t do the Wheels on the Bus. My fabulous colleague, Marie, who did the Summer session of infant toddler storytime would do that as a regular song with the kids, I think. This kid really wanted to do the Wheels on the Bus on the Screen that we use for our films. What do you do when your rotate storytellers? Do you try to incorporate things that others do to provide continuity? Or do you each do your own thing? I felt kind of bad because he looked like I was breaking his heart.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 48 people 11 am: 51 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & 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

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Category Archives: Toddlers

Snow – Toddler Storytime

Toys – Toddler Storytime

Rain – Toddler Storytime

Thanksgiving – Toddler Storytime

Fast & Slow – Toddler Storytime

Birds – Toddler Storytime

Halloween – Toddler Storytime

Mice – Toddler Storytime

Cats – Toddler Storytime

Let’s Sing – Toddler Storytime