Tag Archives: toys

Toys – Toddler Storytime

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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 Boats Flannelboard logo
10 (Toy) Boats

FLANNELBOARD:
Here Comes the (Toy) Choo-Choo Train
Here Comes the Choo-Choo Train Flannelboard logo
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
Bears Flannelboard logo
(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 Mansell
My Old Teddy by Dom Mansell

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

VIDEO:
StorytimeWithSpotDVD
“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

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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 
Here Comes the Choo-Choo Train Flannelboard logo
(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
Bears Flannelboard logo
(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:
JackandJillFlannelboard1JackandJillFlannelboard2
(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

Flannel Friday Valentine’s Special: Vincent’s Valentine Animals

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This week at Flannel Friday we’re spreading the love of Valentine’s Day!  I’m sharing a story I use often around this time of year, Vincent’s Valentine Animals.  It’s not too mushy, and the kids can make fun animal noises with it.

This is another flannelboard story that I got from my mother after her retirement from librarianship, so I’m not 100% sure on the original source.  It’s on page 28 of A Storytime Year, and while I haven’t verified to make sure this is the correct book (we don’t have a copy in my system) I think it is by Susan M. Dailey. 

Vincent’s Valentine Animals
One day, Vincent the toymaker received word from the King that he was to create a special toy for the Princess for Valentine’s Day.  Vincent knew a lot about making toys, but he had never made a Valentine toy before.  So he thought long and hard and finally had an idea!

He cut out hearts from wood, glued and painted them.  He made a Valentine cat, dog, mouse, pig and snake.
VincentsValentineAnimalsFlannelboard1

And to make them extra special, he gave them each a sound.  The cat said, “Meow”.  The dog said, “Arf”, the mouse said, “Squeak”, the pig said, “Oink” and the snake said, “Hiss”.

Vincent was very proud of his animals, and couldn’t wait to give them to the Princess.  But he was in such a hurry to get to the castle, he stumbled and all the heads and body’s became separated.
VincentsValentineAnimalsFlannelboard2

“Oh no!” said Vincent.  “Now I need to put them back together.  Let’s see.. here’s a mouse head. Does this head go with this body?”  Place the animal head on top of the wrong body.  Now here comes the fun part of the story – you place the head of one animal on the body of the other and make the new sound that results.  For example, with the mouse you would have it say:
VincentsValentineAnimalsFlannelboard5 VincentsValentineAnimalsFlannelboard4 VincentsValentineAnimalsFlannelboard3
The toy said “Sque-arf!” Oh no, that can’t be right!  What about the next body.  The toy said “Sque-Oink!”  No no no.  Let’s try this one… “Sque-Eow!”…  Continue doing this with the various pieces until you match the cat, dog, pig and mouse correctly.  Then continue the story.

But Vincent heard the King impatiently calling for him.  He couldn’t keep the King waiting!  In a hurry, Vincent gathered up all his Valentine animals (take all the animals down from the board and put them up momentarily as you name them one by one) and brought them to show the Princess and the King.  And they were both very pleased.  The Princess loved her Valentine Cat.  She loved her Valentine Dog.  She loved her Valentine mouse.  But here favorites were the Valentine pig-snake who said, “oin-hiss” and the Valentine snake-pig who said “hi-oink”.  When she heard those noises, she laughed and laughed.
VincentsValentineAnimalsFlannelboard6

Today’s Flannel Friday roundup is sponsored by Sarah at Read it Again.  For more information on Flannel Friday, visit the Flannel Friday blog or Pinterest page.