Snow – Infant Storytime

Posted on December 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Since this was the last storytime of the Fall session, it seemed fitting to finish things up with a winter theme of snow.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Roly Poly Roly Poly*
Ride a Little Pony*
I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*
In the toaster*

(At the end of the storytime session I like to do a refresher of all the bounces we’ve done to keep them fresh in parents’ minds.)

BOOK:

Oh! words by Kevin Henkes, pictures by Laura Dronzek

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Build a Snowman
(Another one that I cannot remember where I found it. It was on page 61 of the book though, and the pattern was on page 77…)

(Original Rhyme)
First the body
And then the head.
A stovepipe hat
and a scarf of red.
Pebbles for eyes
And a carrot nose
A mouth made of raisins
In two smiling rows.

(ok, so right before storytime I checked my pieces and found that I had lost the tiny circles that I use for the raisins. I quickly changed the poem to this:)
First the body
And then the head.
A stovepipe hat
and a scarf of red.
Pebbles for eyes
And a carrot nose
Twigs for arms,
placed just so.

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Sleepy Bear by Lydia Dabcovich

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*
Slowly, Slowly Very Slowly Goes the Garden Snail*
These are Baby’s Fingers*

(Like the bounces, I give the tickles a review at the end of the session.)

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Baa Baa Black Sheep

(Patterns taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra)

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

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:

It was a nice storytime, and a good way to finish up the session. I had caregivers asking if I would make the bounces and rhymes available, so that’s always a good sign, when they want to continue at home.

ATTENDANCE: 29 people (It was raining, so I think some people stayed away.)

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

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

Toys – Infant Storytime

Posted on December 9, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

With my new grant focusing on bringing play into the library, I wanted to have one of my storytimes during this session focus on play. My coworker did a storytime with that theme a little bit ago, so to mix it up a bit I decided to focus on toys.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: In the toaster*

BOOK:

Meeow and the Pots and Pans by Sebastien Braun
(For an imaginative child, or cat, anything can be a toy!)

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

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!

MOVEMENT: Here Comes the Choo-Choo Train
Here comes the choo-choo train,
Going down the track. (bounce baby gently)
First it’s going forward. (bounce baby forward along legs)
Then it’s going back. (bounce baby back into you along legs, then give a cuddle.)

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.

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

My Favorite Toys! by Jane Kemp and Clare Walters, illustrated by Sam Williams

TICKLE: These are Baby’s Fingers*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:

(Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals)

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and bumped his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: No Bed Without Ted by Nicola Smee
Book: Book! by Kristine O’Connell George, illustrated by Maggie Smith

HOW IT WENT:
So, I had some technical difficulties at this storytime — the settings on the speakers were making my music sound very tin-y and unpleasant. So this storytime was done accapella. Who needs backing vocals and instruments anyway! I was just glad I remembered the words to everything — you would think that after doing storytime for how-many years I would remember, but there’s always that moment of, “Oh no I’m going to forget it all!” But I think it helped get everyone involved in the storytime.

Other than that, things went just peachy. I think the selections for this one were pretty good.

ATTENDANCE: 35 people

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

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

Rain – Infant Storytime

Posted on December 2, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

When it rains in Los Angeles, it must be celebrated! Hence, today’s theme.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: In the toaster*

BOOK:

The Rainy Day Puddle by Ei Nakabayashi

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

FLANNELBOARD:

Color Umbrellas

Five umbrellas stood by the back door.
The red one went outside, and then there were four.

Four umbrellas pretty as can be
The blue one went outside, and then there were three.

Three umbrellas with nothing to do
The green one went outside, and then there were two.

Two umbrellas not having much fun
The yellow one went outside, and then there was one.

One umbrella sad and all alone.
Decided to go join his friends and that left none.

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Here Comes the Rain by Mary Murphy

TICKLE: Slowly, Slowly Very Slowly Goes the Garden Snail*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:

(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.

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
It was a pretty good storytime. For some reason, today I felt like I left something out of my storytime, as if I needed a song between the second movement and the tickle. Maybe I need to consider that for next time around. Here Comes the Rain was a cute book — I think it may work better with toddlers though. Anyone have any other good recommendations for infant rain titles?

ATTENDANCE: 37 people

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

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

Thanksgiving – Infant Storytime

Posted on November 25, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

It’s that time of the year to give thanks for things around us. That’s what we did today at infant storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, illustrated by Doris Barrette

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

FLANNELBOARD:

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

(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!

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott

TICKLE: Slowly, Slowly Very Slowly Goes the Garden Snail*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:

This Little Piggy

This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went wee! wee! wee!
All the way home.

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:

Book: Biscuit is Thankful by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, pictures by Pat Schories (board book)

HOW IT WENT:
I’m especially thankful that all the parents humored me as I sang instead of read Over the River and Through the Wood. Since that has a lot of wordless double-page spreads, I did the same thing I did last time and paper-clipped all by the first one together to shorten the book. I figure this makes a good parent patter moment, and that you can let parents know that there is no wrong way to read a book — starting at the middle, or skipping over things is alright — just follow baby’s cues.

ATTENDANCE: 29 people

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

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

Fast & Slow – Infant Storytime

Posted on November 11, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Today’s storytime focused on things that are fast or slow.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

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

FLANNELBOARD:

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

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Slow Snail by Mary Murphy

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Little Miss Muffet

(Felt pieces from Little Folk Visuals)

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her.
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:

Book: Quick Duck by Mary Murphy (board book)
Book: How Fast can You Go? by Kate Riggs, illustrated by Nate Williams (board book. I also thing this one would make a good flannelboard.)
Book: Faster! Faster! by Leslie Patricelli

HOW IT WENT:
This was a good storytime. I like “I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock” as a bounce. We did it three times in a row, and that didn’t seem like overkill. Slow Snail is a regular sized board book, but I thought the pictures were simple enough to carry across the room and still be seen. I love Mary Murphy’s books. I picked Little Miss Muffet as today’s nursery rhyme because if I had a spider sit next to me during my breakfast, I would probably move pretty quickly away.

ATTENDANCE: 44 people

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

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

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Tag Archives: storytime

Snow – Infant Storytime

Toys – Toddler Storytime

Toys – Infant Storytime

Rain – Toddler Storytime

Rain – Infant Storytime

Thanksgiving – Toddler Storytime

Thanksgiving – Infant Storytime

Fast & Slow – Toddler Storytime

Fast & Slow – Infant Storytime

Birds – Toddler Storytime