It's a Mystery! - A Storytime Outline

This is the first storytime of the summer season! To start it all off I chose the It's a Mystery theme because for the state of Texas' Summer Reading Program theme is "Get a Clue... At the Library". It was a lot of fun to do and the children loved it!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

The Adventure of Max and Pinky: The Mystery written and illus. by Maxwell Eaton III. (T)
The children helped me say what color the barn had been painted.

Whose Nose Is This? written by Peg Hall and Ken Landmark (T)
The toddlers and their older siblings really liked doing this book because they had to guess what animal each nose belonged to. I do which that book showed more of each animal as a whole, be nonetheless it was a lot of fun to hear their guesses!

Louella Mae, She's Run Away! written by Karen Beaumont Alarcon and illus. by Rosanne Litzinger (P) 
The children mostly listened this one, but they did like the surprise ending when we all discover who Louella Mae and why she ran away.

Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? written by Bonnie Lass and Philemon Sturges and illus. by Ashley Wolff (P)
The children loved this book and had a lot of fun responding to each accusation. Some even said that they would want to share the cookies with the ants because ants have germs!

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)
follow actions
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap
Creep them, creep them up to your chin
Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a big clap
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap.

Where is Thumbkin? (T, P)
Where is thumbkin?
Where is thumbkin?
Here I am.
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run and play.
Run and play.
Continue with:
Pointer, Middle Finger, Ring Finger, and Pinky

Whose House Is This? (T)
Does a frog live in a tree?
Does a frog live a nest?
Does a frog live on a lily pad?
Continue with other animals and where they live. 
Source: Storytime Source Page

Whose Shadow Am I? (AKA Shadow Guessing Game) (P)
I'm a shadow.
Look at me!
Do you know
Whose shadow I might be?
Source: Story Time Secrets

Touch Your Nose (T, P)
follow actions

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARD

Whose House is This? (T)
I was inspired by Lisa and her blog post for I Spy Mystery/Guessing Game Storytime on her blog Storytime Source Page. I modified the words to the activity today because of how active the toddlers were. They were itching to go and put the animals on the board. I made two animal per home: whale and start fish for the ocean (my favorite ones!), bird and squirrel for a tree, duck and frog for the pond, and a cow and sheet for the barn. The toddlers had a lot of fun with this.

Whose Shadow Am I? (P)
Katie over at Story Time Secrets posted this shadow guessing game activity. I morphed this to match the Where Do I Live? flannel board by just making black silhouettes of each animal. I placed the shadows on my flannel board and asked the preschool children what each shadow looked like. For the most part they got each one right. They loved it!

ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T)
Everyone loved it, as usual!

CRAFTS

Where Do I Live? activity sheet (T)
To continue our activity of know where things live, the toddlers got to glue and color an activity sheet. I created the page by adding clip art of a house, pond, and a barn. Then created cut outs of a child, duck, and cow. The children had to glue the animals and child next to the place where they live.

Foam Detective Magnifying Glasses (P)
To help the children really get into the pretending to be detectives, we all made pretend magnifying glasses. Using a template I found via Mailbox, I cut out the body out of fun foam. For the "glass" I used leftover laminate (after I had laminated some posters). If you do have laminate, you can use cling film. The children got to glue the laminate circle to the back of magnify glass.

PICTURES

Whose House is This? flannel board, Toddler Storytime
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012

Whose Shadow Am I? flannel board, Preschool Storytime
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Where Do I Live activity page, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Magnifying Glass, Preshool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

MORE BOOKS

Who Uses This? written by Margaret Miller. (T)
Whose Shoes? written by Margaret Miller. (T)
The Missing Chick written and illus. by Valeri Gorbachev (P, SA)
Moose Tracks written by Karma Wilson and Illus. by Jack E. Davis (P, SA)