Sheep – Toddler Storytime

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For our second storytime of the Fall session, I realized it had been quite some time since my last sheep storytime.  (So long that I don’t have any blog posts about it!) With some new sheep tricks up my sleeve, I was excited to present this one.

SONG: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun: songs and rhymes from the parent-child Mother Goose program by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

LETTER FLANNELBOARD: S is for Sheep

This is an element that I stole from my co-worker AnnMarie, as a way to address letter knowledge.  To introduce the theme of my toddler storytime, I start by talking about what letter it starts with.  I put the letter up, and then we say the name of the letter, draw it in the air with our finger, and then do the sound it makes.  Then we talk about some items that start with that letter.  For this storytime, I picked a snowflake, a sun, a smile (inside the sun), a stegosaurus, and a star.  As my very last element I put up I use what our storytime will be about — this time, a sheep!

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SIGN: “Sheep”

BOOK:

Wee Little Lamb by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by John Butler

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

COUNTING FLANNELBOARD:
Sheep

I wanted to change-up my counting song, and I did a little bit last time I did storytime in the spring.  So this session, here’s what I’m doing:

I tell the kids:  I have some sheep here.  Shall we see how many I have?

Sing:
It’s counting time, it’s counting time
so let’s all count while I put these in a line.

Then we count the sheep as they go up.

Sing:
It’s counting time, it’s counting time
so let’s all count as they go bye-bye

And we count sheep again as I take them off the board.

FLANNELBOARD:
Mary’s Many Color Lambs

I found this rhyme via Lisa at Libraryland, who found it from LibrErin, who found it on Recipes for Reading. Recipes for Reading linked to a template that I used to make my pieces at Making Learning Fun.

Start by placing the white lamb on the board.  Ask if anyone knows the song, Mary Had a Little Lamb”.  Then sing:

Mary had a little lamb
little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow.

Then say something like, “But Mary had more than one lamb.” and pull out the next lamb you have.  The unexpected, un-lamb-like colors usually get a giggle.  Ask the kids what color the lamb is, and if they can name something else that is that color.  Then sing your song again:

Mary had a blue lamb
blue lamb, blue lamb
Mary had a blue lamb
its fleece was blue as sky…

Continue using as many lambs as you’d like.  I used four different sheep with the toddlers.

 

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple

I have the large lap-sized board book edition of this title and I love it.  The illustrations are even larger than they are in the hardback version, making it easier to share with a group.

MOVEMENT: Two Little Blackbirds*

VIDEO:

“Sheep” from Maisy’s Friends on Play Time Maisy

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
Book: Counting Ovejas by Sarah Weeks, art by David Diaz
Book: When Sheep Sleep by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by David McPhail
Book: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera
Book: Sheep Asleep by Gloria Rothstein, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
Book: No More Blanket for Lambkin! by Bernette Ford, illustrated by Sam Williams

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
one little librarian – toddler time: feeling sheep-ish today!
Miss Mary Liberry – Flannel Friday: Counting Sheep
The Wielded Pen – Baa – Sheep! – A Storytime Outline

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:

This was a fun storytime!  I think the letter flannelboard is a great way to incorporate those early literacy skills and ease us in to storytime, allowing for the late arrivals to get here too.

After I read Sheep in a Jeep I asked the crowd if sheep should drive.  A parent in the audience responded, “No, they’re BAAAAA-d drivers.”  I love a good sheep pun.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 17, 2017

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

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

Sheep – Infant Storytime

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For my second infant storytime of the fall session I decided to focus on sheep.  I can’t believe I have not had sheep themed storytime since I began this blog!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony*

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SIGN: “sheep”

BOOK:

Sheep Asleep by Gloria Rothstein, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Little Bo Peep
Template and Rhyme from Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn’t know where to find them.
Leave them alone
And they’ll come home
Wagging their tails behind them.

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride”

MOVEMENT: Patty Cake*

BOOK:

Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Baa Baa Black Sheep

Patterns found in Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra.

Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir
Three bags full.
One for the master.
One for the dame.
One for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Place the bags next to each person in the rhyme as you name them.

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: Counting Ovejas words by Sarah Weeks, art by David Diaz
Book: Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep! by Mo Willems
Book: One Little Lamb by Elaine Greenstein
Book: Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale, illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Book: Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
Book: Baby Can’t Sleep by Lisa Schroeder ; illustrated by Viviana Garofoli

HOW IT WENT:
This is so bad, but since this storytime was a whole week ago, I don’t remember!  I blame that I was still getting over being sick.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 17, 2017

ATTENDANCE: 43 people (adults and children)

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

Apples – Toddler Storytime

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As this was the beginning of the Fall storytime session, and due to vacation/illness I didn’t have a lot of planning time, so I pulled out an old storytime standard: apples!

SONG: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun: songs and rhymes from the parent-child Mother Goose program by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

LETTER FLANNELBOARD: A is for Apple

BOOK:

Tap the Magic tree by Christie Matheson

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

FLANNELBOARD:
The Apple Tree

(I know there are 4 apples in the image, but I just used three with the group when I did it, hence the rhyme starting with 3…)

Way up high in the apple tree (raise arms up into the air)
3 little apples smiled at me (hold up number of fingers, and smile)
I shook that tree just as hard as I could (use both hands to pretend to shake the trunk of a tree)
And down came an apple! (take an apple off the flannelboard)
CRUNCH! (pretend to eat the apple)
Mmmmm… was it good! (rub belly)

How many apples are left?  2!

Way up high in the apple tree
2 little apples smiled at me….

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Pepo and Lolo and the Red Apple by Ana Martin Larrañaga

VIDEO:

“Max’s Apple” from Springtime for Max & Ruby

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
 

Book: Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
Book: Brownie & Pearl Grab a Bite by Cynthia Rylant, pictures by Brian Biggs
Book: Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear by Emily Gravett
Book: Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray
Book: All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev
Book: Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins (I want to make this one into a flannelboard as well)
Flannelboard: I Gave My Horse an Apple
DVD: “Chicka Chicka 1 2 3” from Chicka Chicka 123 …and more counting fun!

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
storytime katie – Toddlers: Apples
Library Village – Toddler Storytime – A is for Apple
Pasadena Public Library Kids Blog – Toddler Storytime: Apples
Jen in the Library – Apples – Toddler Storytime (from 2012)

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
There are a lot of good books for toddler apple storytime, but a lot of these had been used recently in storytime, and I didn’t want to repeat them.  So, I thought I would take a try at something new with Tap the Magic Tree.  It was rather long, but I think the interactivity of it made it okay for toddlers.  Rather than bringing the book around and having the kids tap on the page individually, I have them all do it from their seats so everyone can participate at once.  I think this would work better with toddlers if I had used it a little later in the storytime session, when they were used to sitting for longer periods of time.  It wasn’t a bad choice, and I would totally use it again.

One of my colleagues for her toddler storytimes does a letter flannel to get started, and I decided to steal that idea and start using it for some of my storytimes.  I hope she doesn’t mind (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?), and I’m excited about adding this knew letter knowledge element to storytime.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 10, 2017

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  45 people      11 am: 44 people

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

Apples – Infant Storytime

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It’s hard to believe it, but it’s my rotation again for infant toddler storytime!  This storytime marks the beginning of my Fall Storytime session.  I was on vacation and then sick until the day before this storytime, so I used a Fall standby theme.  My storytime wasn’t quite as polished as I would have wished, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes, right?

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony*

BOOK:

Apple by Nikki McClure

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

FLANNELBOARD:
The Apple Tree

(I know there are 4 apples in the image, but I just used three with the group when I did it, hence the rhyme starting with 3…)

Way up high in the apple tree (lift baby up into air)
3 little apples smiled at me (smile at baby)
I shook that tree just as hard as I could (lower baby to lap and gently bounce)
And down came an apple! (“drop” baby between knees)
Mmmmm… was it good! (rub baby’s belly)

How many apples are left?  2!

Way up high in the apple tree (lift baby up into air)
2 little apples smiled at me….

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride”

MOVEMENT: Patty Cake*

BOOK:

Pepo and Lolo and the Red Apple by Ana Martin Larrañaga

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

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: Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
Pasadena Public Library – Infant Storytime: Apples
Library Village – Baby Story Time – Welcome Fall!
Jen in the Library – Apples – Infant Storytime (from 2012)

HOW IT WENT:
As I mentioned, since I was sick right before this storytime, it wasn’t as well-thought out as I would like it to be.  I forgot to look up the ASL sign for apple before storytime, so I left that part out, and I also forgot my Nursery Rhyme flannel at my desk, so I didn’t do that element either.  I figured since this was the first storytime of the session, and I usually spend some time introducing myself and going over storytime guidelines, that took up enough time and I didn’t really need the other elements.

I chose McClure’s Apple because I really liked the black and white images and thought they might carry well for a storytime group.  After reading it to the group though, I’m thinking it may have been a little long.

Here’s hoping next week’s storytime will be better.

PRESENTED: Tuesday, October 10, 2017

ATTENDANCE: 52 people (adults and children)

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

Chickens – Preschool Storytime

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Here’s a post I wrote, but forgot to actually post!  This is from a storytime I did in September.

If you follow my blog, you’ll know my system has storyboxes: kits with everything in them (books, songs, dvds, craft ideas, etc.) that you’d need to do a storytime.  I was feeling uninspired when thinking about putting together a storytime, and decided to use a storybox.  The storybox we had was CHICKENS!  And, after searching this blog it seems I’ve never done a Preschool Storytime before!  Storyboxes to the rescue!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clark, illustrations by Garry Parsons

MOVEMENT:
If You’re a Chicken and You Know It
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)
If you’re a chicken and you know it flap your wings: flap flap!
(hands near armpits, elbows out, flap “wings” twice)
If you’re a chicken and you know it flap your wings: flap flap!
(hands near armpits, elbows out, flap “wings” twice)
If you’re a chicken and you know it, and you really want to show it
(hands near armpits, elbows out, flap “wings” twice)
If you’re a chicken and you know it, flap your wings: flap flap!

Other Verses:
Fly up high: fly fly (jump up in air)
Scratch with your feet: scritch scratch (drag one foot along ground, then other)
Go peck peck: peck peck (Make a beak with hand, tap it on the other hand)
Say bok bok: Bok! Bok! (say bok bok)
Settle into your nest: settle settle (sit down and wiggle bottom)

FLANNELBOARD STORY:
Five Eggs and Five Eggs

Five eggs and five eggs, that makes ten (hold up 2 hands)
Sitting on top is the mother hen. (fold one hand over the other)
Crackle, crackle, crackle; what do I see? (clap 3 times)
Ten fluffy chickens, as yellow as can be! (hold up and wiggle ten fingers)

BOOK:

Chicken Story Time by Sandy Asher, illustrated by Mark Fearing

VIDEO:

“The Red Hen” from 20 Stories for Spring  Based on the book by Rebecca emberley and Ed Emberley

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:


 

Book: Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman
Book: Peepsqueak! by Leslie Ann Clark
Book: Scary Mary by Paula Bowles
Book: Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
Book: Little Chicken’s Big Day by Katie Davis and Jerry Davis
Book: The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza
DVD: “Rosie’s Walk” from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom …and lots more learning fun!
DVD: “The Most Wonderful Egg in the World” from Giggle, Giggle, Quack … and more funny favotires
Flannelboard: Little Red Hen

HOW IT WENT:
I was really glad we had the storyboxes on hand to help me get in the mood for storytime.  While I used some of my own ideas for the storytime, it was nice to have something to jump-start my ideas.  A week prior to this my coworker actually did a wolf and fox storytime — it turns out there is a lot of overlap between wolf and fox stories and chicken stories.  So, while some of those may have been go-tos for me, I didn’t use them because I didn’t want to repeat what he had done.

It was a pretty small group today — I think because it is finally not sweltering outside anymore.

ATTENDANCE: 17 (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

Owls – Preschool Storytime

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It’s been a while since I’ve done an owl storytime, and it looks like I’ve never done one for preschoolers that I’ve posted about on here.  Seems about time!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

Hoot Owl Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien

MOVEMENT:
Just Like an Owl
(to the tune of “London Bridge”)

Flap your wings and fly around,
fly around, fly around.
Flap your wings and fly around.
Just like an owl.

Other Verses:
Open your eyes big and wide…
Land on the ground and hop along
Turn your head and say “hoo hoo!”

rhyme taken from: Literary Hoots

FLANNELBOARD STORY:
Good-Night Owl!
 
based on the book by Pat Hutchins, flannelboard patterns taken from Read Rabbit Read and Studio Window

Since the tree had to be fairly large to fit all those birds, I made the trunk separately, and then just made three large poofs of flannel to be the “fall leaves” in the tree:

Here are all the other pieces on their own:

MOVEMENT:
The Owl Pokey
(to the tune of “The Hokey Pokey”)

You put your right wing in, you put your right wing out
You put your right wing in, and you shake it all about
You do the owl pokey and you fly yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!
Hoot! Hoot!

Taken from storytime katie, who got the idea from Ms. Hegna’s Storytime

BOOK:

Little Owl’s Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney

VIDEO:

“The Happy Owls” from I Want My Hat Back…and more happy stories  Based on the book by Celestino Piatti

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
     
Book: I’m Not Cute! by Jonathan Allen
Book/DVD: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson
Book: Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton
Book: Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin and Rob Dunlavey (especially for toddlers)
Book: Good Night Owl by Greg Pizzoli
Book: A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
Book: Little Owl’s Day by Divya Srinivasan
Book: Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasan
DVD: “Party at Owl’s House” or “Owl’s Dilemma” from Little Bear: Search for Spring

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS
Adventures in Storytime (And Beyond) – Owl Preschool Storytime
Laugh Out Loud Storytime – Owl Storytime – Who Hoots!
North Mankato Taylor Library Storytime – Owl Miss You!
Johnson County Library – “Who, Who, Who Like Owls?” Storytime
Sunflower Storytime – What a HOOT (Owls)

Jen in the Library – Owls – Toddler Storytime
Jen in the Library – Owls – Infant Storytime

HOW IT WENT:
This was a fun storytime, where I tried a lot of new things.  I’m so glad I finally made a Good-Night Owl flannelboard, because it turned out pretty fun, and the kids had a lot of fun repeating “Owl tried to sleep”. to it with me.  I really love Hoot Owl, and it seemed to work well with this group (the bird bath page especially got a lot of giggles), but I’m wondering if it would be even better with a group of Kindergartners.  I was also a little unsure about how the DVD of “The Happy Owls” would go over, since it was rather slow.  But the younger children there enjoyed seeing and naming the different animals that show up in the video.  I’m not sure that will be a go-to one for storytimes, but it worked well enough this time.

ATTENDANCE: 30 (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

Giraffes – Preschool Storytime

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When I was putting together my Spots and Dots storytime a while ago, I realized that a lot of the books I found were about giraffes!  I pulled them out and decided to give giraffes a whole storytime of their own.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

Giraffes Ruin Everything by Heidi Schulz, illustrated by Chris Robertson

MOVEMENT:
I’m a Giraffe
I’m a big tall giraffe stretching way up high (reach arms up overhead)
A big tall giraffe, I almost reach the sky (stand up on tip toes)
I eat the leaves from the tallest of trees (pretend to eat like giraffe, rub tummy)
And when I run I move with ease (run in place)
I’m a big tall giraffe stretching way up high (reach arms up overhead)
Way… up… high! (stand on tip toes)

rhyme taken from: Mansfield/Richland County Public Library

FLANNELBOARD STORY:
Count and Color Giraffes

idea taken from Making Learning Fun

Bring out one giraffe and ask the audience: “What color spots does this giraffe have?”
After the children answer sing this song:

(To the tune of “Mary Wore Her Red Dress”)
This giraffe has red spots,
red spots, red spots.
This giraffe has red spots.
Count them with me now.

Count the spots on the giraffe, then bring out another giraffe and repeat.

When you finish, bring out a blank giraffe and sing:
This giraffe has no spots,
no spots, no spots.
This giraffe has no spots.
No more spots to count.

But then I say, I do know one more thing we can count!  And we count the giraffes as I take them off the board.

It’s hard to see from my photo, but the spots my giraffes have are:
red
blue
green
orange
purple

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

BOOK:

Abigail by Catherine Rayner

VIDEO:
 
“Giraffes Can’t Dance” from Shrinking Violet… and more stories for young performers.  Based on the book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
   
Book: How Do You Say? ¿Cómo se dice? by Angela Dominguez
Book: One Word from Sophia by Jim Averbeck and Yasmeen Ismail
Book: Oh Dear, Geoffrey! by Gemma O’Neill
Book: The Short Giraffe by Neil Flory, illustrated by Mark Cleary
Book: The Starry Giraffe by Andy Bergamann
DVD: A segment from Disney’s Animal World: Giraffes and Zebras
Flannelboard: I Saw a Giraffe Drive Flannelboard

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS
Fun with Friends at Storytime – Giraffe Wants a Snack! 
The Lion is a Bookworm – Storytime: Giraffes
storytime katie – Jungle!
Madison Public Library – PSST Zebras and Giraffes
Just Call Me Jamin – Giraffe Felt Board Story

HOW IT WENT:
This was a fun storytime!  Sometimes we get a pretty young group for our preschool storytimes, so I wasn’t sure if Giraffes Ruin Everything would be too old, but the kids and the adults seemed to laugh and enjoy themselves along with it. And all the dancing animals in Giraffes Can’t Dance brought giggles from the audience.

ATTENDANCE: 34 (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

Spots and Dots – Preschool Storytime

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Since this storytime was the same week as my last infant and toddler storytimes, I just decided to carry on with the Spots and Dots Theme I used for those, but change it up slightly.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

BOOK:

Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd

MOVEMENT:
I’m a Little Ladybug
I’m a little ladybug on the go (fly finger around)
Landing on an arm and then an elbow (touch arm, then elbow)
See me fly around and around your hand (circle hand with finger)
Then watch as on your thumb I land (touch ladybug finger to thumb)

FLANNELBOARD STORY:
Five Green and Specked Frogs

Five green and speckled frogs
Sat on a hollow log
Eating the most delicious bugs.
Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool (remove one frog from the flannelboard)
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are four green speckled frogs.
Ribbit Ribbit!

Other verses:
Count down until there are no more frogs left.

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

MOVEMENT: My Wiggles*

BOOK:

Press Here by Hervé Tullet

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider*

VIDEO:
 
“The Most Wonderful Egg in the World” from Giggle, Giggle, Quack …and more Funny Favorites. Based on the book written and illustrated by Helme Heine

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
    
Book: Abigail by Catherine Rayner
Book: Roly-Poly Egg by Kali Stileman
Book: Spots in a Box by Helen Ward
Book: Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier
Flannelboard: Pretty Ladybug
Video: “Giraffes Can’t Dance” from Shrinking Violet… and More Stories for Young Performers based on the book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
Video: “The Dot” from The Dot…and More Stories to Make You Feel Good based on the book by Peter H. Reynolds (I think this would work better with school aged audiences, but putting it here so I remember)

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS
slc book boy – The Most Wonderful Egg in the World Flannelboard
Jen in the Library – Spots and Dots – Infant Storytime
Jen in the Library – Spots and Dots – Toddler Storytime

HOW IT WENT:
I love that there are enough books on this topic that you could do it for such a wide range of ages.  Plus enough additional materials to make it work too.  You could also add in books on any type of animal with dots – cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, etc.  Yay for variety.

This was my first time reading Press Here in a group setting, and I wasn’t exactly sure how it would go.  I did have a gaffe where I pressed a dot to my left, instead of to the audience’s left, so I need to make sure and remember that the next time I tell the story.  It did make a few kids want to come up and touch the pages, but for the most part having the kids do the activities with me from their seats worked just fine.  I would use it again.

ATTENDANCE: 30 (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

Spots and Dots – Toddler Storytime

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Spots and dots!  We had fun with these two elements during our last Toddler storytime of the Winter session.

SONG: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT: “Wake Up Toes” from Morning Magic by Joanie Bartels

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: sign for “Polka Dots”

taken from Costello, Elaine Ph.D.  Random House Webster’s American Sign Language Dictionary.  1994.

BOOK:

Spectacular Spots written and illustrated by Susan Stockdale

MOVEMENT: “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

COUNT & RHYME SONG:

10 Ladybugs

Counting time, it’s counting time
So let’s all sing a simple rhyme

Ten little ladybugs here we go
Let’s all count them as I put them in rows.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Ten little ladybugs, again we go
Now let’s count them nice and slow
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Ten little ladybugs, in neat rows
Let’s count them as away they go
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

FLANNELBOARD:
Dog’s Colorful Day

Based on the book Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd

Dog has an adventurous day!  Each interaction he has gives him another color dot on his usually white fur.

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

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

VIDEO:

“Spots” from Good Morning Maisy

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
 

Book: Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
Book: Animal Spots and Stripes by Britta Teckentrup
Book: Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier
Book: Spots: Counting Creatures from Sky to Sea by Carolyn Lesser, illustrated by Laura Regan
Book: Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri
Flannelboard: 5 Green and Speckled Frogs

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
The Wielded Pen – Polka Dotty Monster – Flannel Friday
Storytime ABC’s – Flannel Friday: Monster Mania Fun
Storytimes and More – Spots and Dots Storytime
Literacious – Sensory Story Time Theme: Polka-Dots
Story Time Secrets – 12 Picture Books about Spots and Dots

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:

I really liked this theme for storytime.  I went back and looked at the list I keep of books that I think would work for infant or toddler storytimes, and I saw that I had Spectacular Spots on the list, but had never used it.  Since I want to incorporate more nonfiction into my storytimes, it seemed like a fun one to use and there are a lot of other great spot and dot books to go along with it.

I thought Dog’s Colorful Day might be too long as a flannelboard, but I cut the storytelling down to bare bones, and it seemed to work ok.

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  47 people      11 am: 28 people

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

Spots and Dots – Infant Storytime

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For our last storytime of the Winter session, we had fun with spots and dots!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Ride a Little Pony*
Icky Bicky Soda Cracker*

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: sign for “Polka Dots”

taken from Costello, Elaine Ph.D.  Random House Webster’s American Sign Language Dictionary.  1994.

BOOK:

Animal Spots and Stripes by Britta Teckentrup

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Pretty Ladybug
  
taken from Storytime Katie, who got the idea from Mollie at What Happens in Storytime, who found the song at Preschool Education.

(to the tune of “The Muffin Man”)
Ladybug has 1 black spot,
1 black spot, 1 black spot.
Ladybug has 1 black spot,
Pretty ladybug!

I put the ladybug up on the flannelboard without any spots at all.  Then, as we add each spot, we sing the song and replace the number 1 with however many spots the bug has at that time.  Fun!

If you click on the blogs that gave me the idea for this, you’ll see they also put numbers up on the board with the song.  I didn’t have a chance to do that before this storytime, but I want to make them for next time.

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.

MOVEMENT: Patty Cake*

BOOK:

Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*
These are Baby’s Fingers*

NURSERY RHYME:
Hey Diddle Diddle

Pieces 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: “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: Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MORE IDEAS:
Miss Meg’s Storytime – Flannel Friday: Ladybugs 

HOW IT WENT:
This was a fun storytime theme.  I liked both books that we read and thought they worked well with the age group.  I know Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails doesn’t have a TON of spots in it, but hey, it’s in the title.  I say that counts.

At the end of each of my storytime sessions, I like repeating all the bounces and tickles that we’ve learned throughout the weeks.  That’s why you see two in each of those slots for storytime, when there’s usually just one.

ATTENDANCE: 34 people (adults and children)

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