MOVEMENT:
“Freeze Dance” from The Fresh Beat Band: Music from the Hit TV Show by The Fresh Beat Band
We danced to this one with scarves. It was fun!
BOOK: Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Suzanne Watts
VIDEO:
“Ballet Lesson” from Peppa Pig: My Birthday Party
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: I Got the Rhythmby Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Frank Morrison
Book: Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees (also the video)
Book: Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer
Book: Brontorina by James Howe, illustrated by Randy Cecil
Book: The Cranky Ballerina by Elise Gravel
ATTENDANCE: 24 (adults and children)
DATE PRESENTED: Saturday, July 27, 2019 @ Children’s Room
Let’s slow things down a little bit with some stories about slow things like sloths and snails.
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
BOOK: “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle
MOVEMENT:
Fast and Slow (taken from A Box Full of Tales by Kathy MacMillan)
Running, running, running fast
We’re really moving but it won’t last.
Now running, running, running slow
Go as slowly as you can go.
Other verse:
Clapping
Jumping
Turning
Sitting (I added this one as a transition between movement and our next story)
FLANNELBOARD STORY: The Tortoise and the Hare I inherited this Flannel from my mom. It came with a story and pattern, but I don’t know what book it is from yet. If/When I find it, I’ll update my source.
MOVEMENT: Shake Your Shakers (to the tune of: “London Bridge”)
Shake your shakers, shake shake shake
Shake, shake, shake
Shake, shake, shake
Shake your shakers, shake shake shake
Shake your shakers
Other verses: Shake your shakers fast
slow
up
down
BOOK: Hi, Harry! The Moving Story of How One Slow Tortoise Slowly Made a Friend by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Barbara Firth
VIDEO:
“Leo the Late Bloomer” from Is Your Mama a Llama…and More Stories About Growing Up based on the book by Robert Kraus, pictures by José Aruego
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: Hurry Up and Slow Down by Layn Marlow
Book: Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni (also the video)
HOW IT WENT: This was a fun and storytime. It’s fun to read books about slow things, because it makes me slow down the pace at which I read. Of course, that meant we ended up going a little longer than I probably should have time-wise, but for the most part, listeners stayed engaged.
ATTENDANCE: 23 (adults and children)
DATE PRESENTED: Saturday, August 24, 2019 @ Children’s Room
I just realized I had a bunch of storytime posts that I had saved in draft format and never published! This is one of them.
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It’s starting to get warm here, which makes me every so thankful for trees!
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
BOOK: Little Tree by Loren Long
FLANNELBOARD STORY: Uwungelema
Pattern and story taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra. You can find the patterns here.
MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi
BOOK: The Jelly Bean Tree by Toni Yuly
VIDEO:
“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Lots More Learning Fun based on the book by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton
Flannelboard: The Mouse and the Apple (see the story in my Waiting storytime)
Book: Good-Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins
Book: The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear, pictures by Chris Turnham
Book: Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
Book: Shake the Tree by Chiara Vignocchi
Book: Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid
I just realized I had a bunch of storytime posts that I had saved in draft format and never published! This is one of them.
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I was contacted by our local Metro staff to see if they could present at the library about Train Safety. We ended up on wrapping it in to a storytime about trains. The kids had fun and hopefully learned some tips on how to be safe!
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
BOOK: Whoosh and Chug! by Sebastien Braun
MOVEMENT: Choo Choo Train Here is the choo-choo train, chugging down the track.
Now it’s going forward, now it’s going back.
Today’s preschool storytime was all about our best friends – Pets!
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
BOOK: Excellent Ed by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach
MOVEMENT: Ten Little Kittens
Ten little kittens standing in a row (Palms facing forward, fingers extended)
They bow their heads to the children so (bend fingers forward and back)
They run to the left, they run to the right (move fingers to alternate sides, wiggling fingers) The stretch up tall with all their might (stretch hands over head) Along comes a dog, looking for some fun (fingers of one hand resting on thumb, move hand towards other hand)
“Meow!” Away those kittens run! (As you meow, open both hands with fingers extended, “run” hands behind back)
FLANNELBOARD STORY: Pet Voices and How Much is that Pet in the Window?
Flannelboard pattern, and altered story from Felt Board Fingerplaysby Liz and Dick Wilmes.
Pet Voices (take each of the animals out and put on the flannel board one by one) This my pet _____. S/He makes this sound ________.
Children fill in the blanks for the following animals: This is my Fish. He makes this sound, “Glub Glub”.
Mouse… squeak.
Rabbit…I don’t know what sound rabbits make, but let’s wiggle our noses like them! Cat…Meow. Bird…Tweet tweet.
Dog… Arf Arf.
How Much is that Pet in the Window? (to the tune of: “How much is that Doggy in the Window?”)
For this, I just held up each of the animals as I took them off the flannelboard, and we sang the following:
How much is that doggy in the window? Woof woof!
The one with the waggly tail?
How much is that doggy in the window? Woof woof!
I do hope that doggy’s for sale.
Other verses:
To do the different verses, I asked the audience what the animals did. Here are ones we ended up with at this storytime: Kitty…meow…long whiskers Bird… tweet tweet…flappity wings Rabbit…hop hop…hoppity legs Fish… glub glub… swimmy fins
MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi
MOVEMENT: Animals
Can you hop like a rabbit? (Hop)
Can you jump like frog? (Jump)
Can you waddle like a duck? (Waddle)
Can you run like a dog? (Run in place)
Can you squeak like a guinea pig? (Squeak)
Can you swim like a fish? (Pretend to swim)
Can you sit down now and listen (Sit down)
And be as still as this?
BOOK: I Spy Pets by Edward Gibbs
VIDEO: “Polly Parrot” from Peppa Pig: Muddy Puddles and Other Stories
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: Emma’s Pet by David McPhail
Book: Pet This Book by Jessica Young & Daniel Wiseman
Book: Some Pets words by Angela DiTerlizzi, pets by Brendan Wenzel
Book: The Birthday Pet by Ellen Javernick, illustrated by Kevin O’Malley
Book: Rory the Dinosaur Wants a Pet by Liz Climo
DVD: “The Pet Competition” from Peppa Pig: Stars
HOW IT WENT: I had planned this storytime for a 3-5 year old audience, but we ended up with a range from young toddlers to five-year olds. I started with the book Excellent Ed because I love it and think the story is so sweet. But I think it may have been a bit long for my audience. The older kids and caregivers enjoyed it, though. For the second book I usedI Spy Pets because it was a little more interactive. Speaking of interactive, all the kids seemed to enjoy the movements this time, even the Ten Little Kitties one, which I wasn’t sure would be a hit. “Polly Parrot” was the first Peppa Pig video I ever saw, and I still love it. Who isn’t entertained by an animated parrot who snorts like a piggy?
ATTENDANCE: 26 (adults and children)
DATE PRESENTED: Saturday, March 23, 2019 @ Children’s Room
Today we shared stories about cookies. Yum yum storytime fun!
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
BOOK: The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall
MOVEMENT: Making Cookies
I am making cookie dough (point to self)
Round and round the beaters go (roll hands over hands)
Add some flour from a cup (pour from cup) Stir and mix the batter up (pretend to self)
Roll them, cut them nice and neat (pretend to roll out with pin, then cookie cut)
Put them on a cookie sheet (pretend to lay out on cookie sheet)
Bake them, count them, 1, 2, 3 (count with fingers)
Then serve them to my friends for tea (pretend to eat cookies)
FLANNELBOARD STORY: Cookies and Counting
Flannelboard set found in the Target dollar/three dollar section
For this one, I put the cookie sheet, oven, and then counted out ten cookies with the group. I explained that each cookie had a different number of chocolate chips. For the first example, we counted the chips together, and then I had the kids guide me as I placed the cookie in the correctly numbered space on the cookie sheet. Since the group wasn’t very large, I had kids come up and place the rest of the remaining cookies.
Then I put the whole tray in the oven, and pulled the cookies out again. When they were baked, I put the cookies only back on the flannelboard, and we did this rhyme together:
Ten Little Cookies
Ten little cookies laying on a plate
Mom eats two and then there are 8.
When Dad comes home, two cookies he picks
Leaving on the plate only 6.
Brother comes home, slamming the door.
He eats two cookies, then there are 4.
When sister comes home, there are still a few
She eats a couple, then there are 2.
Baby wakes up. His nape is done.
He eats a cookie, then there is 1.
The cat jumps on the table and eats the last one.
Poor dog! He’s too late. He only gets a crumb.
MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi
BOOK:
Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
MOVEMENT: Patty Cake (Cookie Style)
Patty cake, patty cake, baker’s man (clap hands together)
Bake me a cookie as fast as you can
Roll it (make a rolling motion with hands)
And Pat it (pat hands on your lap)
And mark it with a “C” (for cookie!) (draw a letter C in the air)
And it in the oven (mime putting tray in oven)
for you (point out)
and me! (point to yourself)
VIDEO:
“The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?” from The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? …and More Stories by Mo Willems. Based on the book by Mo Willems
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: Cookiesaurus Rex written by Amy Fellner Dominy & Nate Evans, illustrated by AG Ford
Book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie written by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond
DVD: Some Sesame Street DVD with Cookie Monster
HOW IT WENT: This was a fun and tasty storytime! I was glad I got to try out my set from Target – I hadn’t used that one before. I realized I didn’t change that much from when I did this storytime back in 2012 (at least, I used a lot of the books I identified then too). But it was still a fun theme, and I think long enough from when I did it the first time.
ATTENDANCE: 18 (adults and children)
DATE PRESENTED: Saturday, February 9, 2019 @ Children’s Room
It was raining today, so I don’t think it would be a good day to see animals at the zoo. But in books, we can always visit the zoo!
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
FLANNELBOARD: Zoo Riddles
For this flannelboard, say the rhyme, then when the children guess put the correct animal up on the board. Then you can make the animal sound.
They are big and they are gray,
And their trunks swing and sway.
What are they? ELEPHANT
Bananas are their favorite things,
And they like to chatter and like to swing.
What are they? MONKEY
These animals bark and are colored brown
They have flippers and swim all around.
What are they? SEAL
They have necks that are long, long, long.
If you guess a turtle, you are wrong, wrong, wrong!
What are they? GIRAFFE
They are sort of like a horse,
Except for their black and white stripes, of course.
What are they? ZEBRA
They are a kind of cat,
But they have a mane and Roar (ROAR) like that.
What are they? LION
These birds can’t fly and they look funny.
They’re black all over except for a white tummy.
What are they? PENGUIN
These animals like to hop around.
A tummy pouch is where their babies can be found.
What are they? KANGAROO
They don’t come in just one color or style
but they all like to giggle, laugh and smile.
What are they? CHILDREN
BOOK:
Stripes the Cat Tiger by Jean Leroy and Bérengère Delaporte, illustrated by Bérengère Delaporte
MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi
FLANNELBOARD STORY: Dear Zoo Based on the book by Rod Campbell. Template for this story taken from KizClub
SONG / MOVEMENT: The Animals at the Zoo
(to the tune of: “The Wheels on the Bus”)
The lions at the zoo go roar, roar, roar
Roar, roar, roar. Roar, roar, roar.
The lions at the zoo go roar, roar, roar
All day long.
Other verses:
snakes … hiss, hiss, hiss
hyenas … ha ha ha
monkey … ooh ooh ooh
Also just ask the kids about animals at the zoo and make up your own verses. Today we had penguins that went skate, skate, skate and a flamingo that went flap, flap, flap.
BOOK:
A Hippo in Our Yard by Liza Donnelly
VIDEO:
“Good Night, Gorilla” from Good Night Gorilla…and More Bedtime Stories. Based on the book by Peggy Rathmann
MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: Hungry Roscoe by David J. Plant (this might be a better pick for a slightly older group)
Book: Look by Fiona Woodcock (Would be a good choice for infant/toddler storytime)
Book: The Way to the Zoo by John Burningham
DVD: “Wild About Books” from Chicka Chick Boom Boom…and More Fun with Letters and Numbers. Based on the book by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown
DVD: “The Happy Lion” from Tikki Tikki Tembo… and More Favorite Tales. Based on the book by Louise Fatio Duvoisin, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
HOW IT WENT: I just transferred positions, and this was my first storytime back in Youth Services! It was a small group (people in Los Angeles don’t like coming out in the rain…), but it was a really fun storytime. I think I need to remake my Dear Zoo flannelboard pieces though – I used the laminate and felt back method, and the box that is supposed to hide the animal kept sliding off, thus ruining the whole element of surprise. Stripes the Tiger was a bit hit – I would use that one again in a moment.
ATTENDANCE: 9 (adults and children)
DATE PRESENTED: Saturday, January 12, 2019 @ Children’s Room
It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a Signs n’ Storytime, because I had someone cover for me for last month’s program.
Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…) I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this. But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak. I am teaching words, not grammar or culture. I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.
This month, we focused on feelings. In keeping what I did with my colors themed storytime, we reviewed a lot of the same signs over and over again with each story for lots of practice.
SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL
taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign
(Because this book felt a little long for the audience, I used the paper-clip trick to skip over some pages, and only used those ones for the signs above)
MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey
FLANNELBOARD: Old MacDonald Felt So Glad
I’ve done this flannelboard before, and you can see the original words to the rhyme here. But, it felt strange to be making the sounds at a storytime that is all about sign language, so I changed the words a little to work better.
(to tune of “Old MacDonald had a farm”) Old MacDonald felt so glad (Happy)
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA
And when he’s glad we sign it like this: Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy
With a Happy Happy here and a Happy Happy there
Here a Happy, there a Happy everywhere a Happy Happy
Old MacDonald felt so glad. Happy Happy
Repeat this, substituting the following emotions and signs:
Grumpy = Grumpy
Sad = Sad
Silly = Silly
MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It
I sung this one a capella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest. Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.
VIDEO: “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!…and more stories by Mo Willems: The Mo Willes Cartoon Collection Vol. 1 based on the book by Mo Willems.
Book: How Does Baby Feel? by Karen Katz (signs to use with story: hungry, happy, sleepy, sad, silly, love)
Book: Places to Be by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Renata Liwska (signs to use with story: happy, mad, thirsty, brave, bored, sleepy, scared)
Book: The Pigeon has Feelings, Too! by Mo Willems (signs to use with story: happy, no, angry, sad, happy)
Book: How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne (signs to use with story: bored, lonely, happy, sad, angry, guilty, curious, surprised, confident, shy, worried, silly, hungry, full, sleepy)
HOW IT WENT: I had a good turnout at this storytime, so that was nice. Originally, I thought I would use How Does Baby Feel? with the group as my second book, but I had some older siblings in the group, so I thought the Elephant and Piggie book was a better fit. Also, I realized after showing Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! I should have prepped the story by having the kids learn the sign for no and then they could have signed along with the film.
Five little boats went out one day
Out on the river and far away
When the waves began to rock
One little boat returned to the dock.
Other verses:
4 little boats…
MOVEMENT: Row Row Row Your Boat
BOOK: A Brave Bear by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Emily Hughes
MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle
VIDEO:
“River, River, River Run” from A Kid for The Wild: Music Videos Featuring Scenic Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park Animals and Locations
CRAFT: Fish Puppet in a River
Have the kids color in the river scene and the fish puppet. Tape or glue the fish onto a popsicle stick. Cut a slit into the river scene where the dotted line is. Insert puppet into line, and have the fish “frolic” in the river!
DVD: “Scruffy the Tugboat: Big River Rescue” from The Poky Little Puppy and Friends
Book: Tugboat Bill and the River Rescue by Calista Brill, illustrated by Tad Carpenter
Book: Splash!by Flora McDonnell (they just say that the animals go down to the “water”, so I think you could say “river” instead.)
Book: Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner
Book: The Crocodile and the Scorpion by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
HOW IT WENT: I wasn’t sure how Rivers would be as a theme for storytime, but I was pleasantly surprised! The DVD worked really well too.
This is another adapted from one of our system storyboxes.
MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*
MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*
BOOK: Come Back, Moon by David Kherdian, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian
MOVEMENT:
Climb Aboard the Spaceship (to the tune of “Itsy Bitsy Spider”)
Climb aboard the spaceship, (pretend to climb ladder into spaceship)
We’re going to the moon.
Hurry and get ready,
We’re going to blast off soon.
Put on your helmets (pretend to put on helmet)
And buckle up real tight. (pretend to put on seatbelt)
Here comes the countdown (squat down low to the ground)
Let’s count with all our might:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
BLAST OFF! (jump up into the air)
The group had so much fun with this one, we did the countdown/blast off part twice.
MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi
MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Music Together
BOOK: The Moon is Going to Addy’s House by Ida Pearle
MOVEMENT: We’re Flying to the Moon (to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”)
We’re flying to the moon
We’re flying to the moon
Blast off, away we go
We’re flying to the moon
We’re landing on the moon
We’re landing on the moon
Here we go, we’re on the moon
We’re landing on the moon
We’re collecting moon rocks
We’re collecting moon rocks
Here we go, we’re on the moon
We’re collecting moon rocks
At this point, I asked the kids what else we could do on the moon, here are some of their suggestions:
jumping up and down…
hear a bird…
are searching for a kitty…
saying “hi” to aliens…
Then we resumed with:
We’re flying back to Earth
We’re flying back to Earth
Blast off, away we go
We’re flying back to Earth
We;re landing on the Earth
We’re landing on the Earth
Here we go, we’ve come home
We’re landing on the Earth
MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Music Together
VIDEO:
“Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories, based on the book by Eric Carle
Materials:
– Black construction paper
– scissors
– yellow paper
– aluminum foil
– star stickers
– glue
Cut a circle out of aluminum foil. This will be the moon. Create a quarter circle out of the yellow paper to represent the sun. Have kids glue the sun in one of the top corners of the black construction paper. Have them (gently) crumple up the aluminum foil to make craters and texture on the moon. Smooth the moon out, glue onto the black paper. Embellish with star stickers.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
Book: One Moon, Two Cats by Laura Godwin, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka
Book: The Moon’s Almost Here by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Book: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
DVD: “Happy Birthday Moon” from Good Night, Gorilla…and more Bedtime Stories, based on the book by Frank Asch
HOW IT WENT: I loved how much the kids got into our space-themed movements at this storytime.
PRESENTED: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at SR Branch
Five Ballet Dancers
Jen in the Library 