Puppets Come To Play - A Storytime Outline

Inspired by a friendly puppeteer/storyteller who is a regular performer for our Summer Reading Program, and our prepping of our puppet mascots Petey and Julie for SRP 2013 I wanted to do a storytime revolving around puppets. Instead of doing away with books all together and simply having the puppets to tell the story, the puppets served as more of a prop that relates to our stories.

A lot of the ideas that you see here were ideas from Steven on his blog Beyond the Book Storytimes, which is a great blog if you haven't seen it yet.

I started each program with my storytime buddy Frankie. He gave trunk kisses to the toddlers, and he let me discuss with the children whether or not they liked birthday cake (according to the book How to Catch an Elephant by Amy Schwartz, elephants liked raisins and hate cake. Frankie ::loves:: birthday cake, by the way).

The children loved the puppets! The toddler didn't love on them as much as I thought they would, and the preschoolers loved on them a lot! I let the preschoolers hang on to the puppet during the program, and as I was reading our stories and activities it was heart melting how they cuddled with the animals. Awwww!

Just goes to prove that I need to bring more puppets into my programs!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS
Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book written and illus. Rod Campbell (T, P)
This was a fun book to do with puppets because all I needed some boxes (which I had gobs of after clearing out our SRP materials) and the basic premise of the book. I switched out some of the animals from the book because I didn't have the right one. For example, instead of a snake that was too scary, I used our T-Rex puppet! All the children were curious to know what was in the boxes that were labeled "To: The Library, From: The Zoo".

What Does Bunny See: A Book About Colors and Flowers written by Linda Sue Park and illus. by Maggie Smith (T)
I love this book and since I was missing my owl puppet for "Wow!" Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood I decided that my other storytime buddy Agnes the rabbit would help tell this story.


Tuck Me In! written by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt (T)
You cannot read this book without going "awwww" when you meet each animals. For this book's puppet connection I had the toddlers swaddle or tuck in our puppets for a nap. They LOVED it! Source: Beyond the Books Storytime

Bark, George written and illus. by Jules Feiffer (P)
I was gifted a dog sock puppet from the aforementioned puppetteer during the summer and I knew instantly that it was my "Bark George" puppet. I made the felt animals, and I pretended to reach deep, deep, deep down his little throat to pull out the animals that he had swallowed. The preschooler liked my storytelling, but they weren't as into it as I would've liked them to be.

Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilso and illus. by Jane Chapman (P)
I love the "Bear" books. I initially wanted to read Bear Wants More because it reminds me so much of Winnie the Pooh getting stuck in Rabbit's front door after smarkerelling on too much honey, but I decided to go on with Bear Snores On because all I needed the children to do is help me and the bear snore real loud.

SONGS & RHYMES
Open, Shut Them
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
Open, shut them,
Lay them in your lap.

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By
tune: Bluebird, Bluebird On My Window
Butterfly, butterfly passing me by
Butterfly, butterfly passing me by
Butterfly, butterfly passing me by
Oh, what color are you?
(name the color)
Source: Me! Dorothy, WPCC

Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
and on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Continue with other farm animals:
Sheep, Chicken, Pig
Source: Childhood

Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree
Five little monkeys swinign from a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Crocodile,
as hungry as can be
And SNAP!

Count down to one monkey

One little monkey swining from a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Crocodile,
As hungry as can be
And SNAP!
Along goes Mr. Crocodile as fat as can be!
Source: Childhood

Touch Your Nose
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 year
Touch your two red lips right here
Touch your elbow where it bends
And that's the way this touch game ends.

ACTIVITIES
Egg Shakers (T)
Shake up high! Shake them down low by our toes! The toddlers like it up high and behind our backs the best.

FLANNEL BOARD
Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By (T, P)
I used a butterfly finger puppet die cut to create our props out of colorful felt. I reinforced the little finger strap with an extra piece of felt to make sure that they lasted longer than a few programs.

Five Little Monkeys Swigning in a Tree (P)
I used the monkeys and trees from my library's flannel board, but I used our fabulous crocodile puppet to snap the monkeys from the board!

CRAFTS
Butterfly Finger Puppet (T)
I simply used the same die cut for the Butterfly, Butterfly activity to make construction paper puppets for the toddlers

Bear Finger Puppet
As much as I would've liked to have had real felt finger puppets for the preschoolers to treasure, there wasn't an easy way about it. Instead they got a slightly complex construction paper finger puppet to make. I decided on the bear character because we read Bear Wants More and so they could enact it out, but they could also do other stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears (granted you need more than one bear for that).

PICTURES

Three boxes from the Zoo?! I wonder what is inside!

Shhh! our pet zoo animals after we had tucked them in for a nap!
I :: heart :: that tiger puppet! 

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By, flannel board,
Toddler and Preschool Storytime, created by
Dorothy WP-CC, 2012 

Bark, George puppet and flannel animals, Preschool Storytime,
flannel pieces created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012 

Butterfly finger puppet, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Bear finger puppet, Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012 

MORE BOOKS
Wow! Said the Owl written and illus. by Tim Hopgood
The Seals on the Bus written by Lenny Hort and illus. by G. Brian Karas
Cows in the Kitchen written by Jane Crebbin and illus. by Katharine McEwen
Jump, Frog, Jump written by Robert Kalan and illus. by Byron Barton

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By - A Flannel Friday

Happy Friday everyone! This was my flannel board activity this week for the children during my Puppets Come to Play storytime. The children each got to have a felt butterfly finger puppet to play with as we sang the song "Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By," which is a piggyback song from "Bluebird, Bluebird On My Window" that I created. 

We sang through the song a couple times to get the tune and tempo as we fluttered our butterflies in air. After that we repeated the song and I asked the toddlers and preschoolers what color they had and they answered. Afterwards they got to put their butterflies on the flannel board. For the preschoolers, when I asked a child what color they had they had to say the color and go ahead and put the butterfly on the board. 

The butterfly puppets were made by using a die cut that my library has. If you don't have a die cut all you have to do is cut out a butterfly shape and cut too horizontal strips by its tummy so that you can slip your finger in. I reinforced the little finger band with an extra strip of felt so that it the puppets would last a little while longer since I knew they would get some wear with the kids will be trying to the puppet on and off their fingers. 

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By, puppet flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By

tune: Bluebird, Bluebird On My Window

Butterfly, butterfly passing me by

Butterfly, butterfly passing me by

Butterfly, butterfly passing me by

Oh, what color are you?

(name the color)

Source: Me! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Tracey on her blog 1234 More Storytimes. To learn more about Flannel Friday and ways to get involved, please visit the official Flannel Friday blog!

It's A Monster Mash! - A Storytime Outline

It's Halloween week! It's when I can legitimately justify me dressing up in costume for my storytime programs. This year I was Little Bo Peep who has lost her sheep in the storytime room. I had "hidden" three sheep in the storytime room and needed the toddlers and preschoolers hep find them for me because we were going to hear stories about monsters and we needed them safe and sound in my basket. The children did a wonderful job at finding the sheep and giving them love. They especially loved it when they discover that there was an ity bity sheep sitting on the brim of my big straw hat and they had to retrieve it for me.

Most of the children dressed up in their own costumes. We had cowboys and cowgirls, Darth Vader, the Tooth Fairy, Spider Man, and etc. For the those who didn't have a costume I let them wear a Halloween headband (a flower, cat, monster, pirate, etc.) that I have on hand for this very reason.

All in all this was a wonderful storytime!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS
Glad Monster, Sad Monster: A Book About Feelings written and illus. by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda (T) 
The families enjoyed this book and did a wonderful job at saying all the colors of each monster.

Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli written by Barbara Jean Hicks and illus. by Sue Hendra (T, P)
This was a fun book to read. The preschoolers had fun saying they don't like broccoli or any other vegetable that they don't like to eat.

Don't Squish the Sasquatch! written by Kent Redeker and illus. by Bob Staake (P)
The children weren't as thrilled with this book as I thought they would be. They helped my say the refrain "Don't Squish the Sasquatch!" once and that was it.

Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your Monster written by Laura Numeroff and illus. by Nate Evans
The children thought that this book was funny, and couldn't believe that someone would have a monster for a pet. I loved how I could tie-in my costume to the step about not letting your monster count sheep cause it could make him hungry!

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.

Five Crazy Monsters Jumping on the Bed (T, P) 
Five crazy monsters jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monsters jumping on the bed."

Continue to countdown to one monster:

One crazy monster jumping on the bed.
It fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monsters jumping on the bed."
Source: Storytiming

I'm A Little Monster (T, P)
I'm a little monster yellow and bright,
I won't give anyone a fright.
I love polka dots but I have none
So step right up and give me a [color] one!

I'm a little monster yellow and bright,
I won't give anyone a fright.
I love polka dots but I have some
So step right up and give me a [color] one!

Continue until you go through all the colors 
Source: Sarah on comment page of The Wielded-Pen-Children's Corner 

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.

ACTIVITIES
Egg Shakers (T)
I love it when you hear the toddlers go "yay!" when I pull out the bin that holds the egg shakers.

FLANNEL BOARDS
Five Crazy Monsters Jumping on the Bed (T, P)
The monsters I made for this flannel board was inspired by the monsters I found on the blog Totally Tots (they are so adorable!). The children loved the visual aid and did great reciting the rhyme.

Polka Dotty Monster (T, P)
I was inspired by the felt monsters found on the blog Nifty Thrifty & Thriving, I made a large monster that needed to be decorated with polka dots, eyeballs, and teeth. He's a lovely monster that isn't scary looking. The just the right time for storytime. I want to thank Sarah for sharing the  rhyme "I'm A Little Monster" on my Flannel Friday post for this little guy! The rhyme worked out perfectly!

CRAFTS
Create Your Own Monster (T)
I used different size circles to cut colorful construction paper along with printed eyeballs. The toddlers had to glue everything together to make their monster.

Fuzzy Pet Monsters (P)
The parents laughed when I showed them the craft since we had just finished reading Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living With Your Monster. The children had so much fun making their pet monsters. Some even got named!

PICTURES



Five Crazy Monsters Jumping on the Bed flannel board,
Toddler and Preschool Storytimes,
created by Dorothy WP-C

Polka Dotty Monster flannel board,

Toddler and Preschool storytimes,

created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012 



Create Your Own Monster, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012



Fuzzy Pet Monsters, Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

MORE BOOKS
Go Away Big Green Monster! written and illus. by Ed Emberley (T, P)
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters: A Lullaby written by Jane Yolen and illus. by Kelly Murphy (T, P)
Monster Mess! written by Margery Cuyler and illus. by S.D. Schindler (P)
Monster Baby written by Dian Curtis Regan and illus. by Doug Cushman (P)
Mostly Monsterly written by Tammi Sauer and illus. by Scott Magoon (P)
The Tickle Monster is Coming! written by James Otis Thach and illus. by David Barneda (P)
My Monster Mama Loves Me So written by Laura Leuck and illus. by Mark Buehner (P)
Jeremy Draws a Monster written and illus. by Peter McCarty (P)
There Was An Old Monster! written and illus. by Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley (P, SA)
If You're A Monster and You Know It written and illus. by Ed Emberley (P, SA)
Monster Manners written by Bethany Roberts and illus by Andrews Glass (P, SA)

The Turkey Shot of the Oven - A Flannel Friday

Salutations everyone. For this special Thanksgiving Round-Up I present to you a flannel board for the poem "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" by poet-extradinaire Jack Prelutsky.

A few years back I had made this flannel board out of laminated construction paper that had felt glued to the back of each piece. However, during my move between libraries some of the pieces have disappeared. I decided to try my hand at flannelizing this poem to make a new complete set. 

For templates I simply used images from my computers clip art files. I want to give a special shout-out thanks to a coworker of mine, Korey, for helping me get to a happy-looking popcorn shape. Popcorn is tough to make out of flannel! 

The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven flannel board
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven 

by Jack Prelutsky

The turkey shot out of the oven

and rocketed into the air,

it knocked every plate off the table

and partly demolished a chair. 

It ricocheted into a corner

and burst with a deafening boom, 

then splattered all over the kitchen,

completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows,

it totally coated the floor,

there was turkey attached to the ceiling,

where there'd never been turkey before. 

It blanketed every appliance,

it smeared every saucer and bowl,

there wasn't a way i could stop it,

that turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,

and though with chagrin as I mopped,

that I'd never again stuff a turkey

with popcorn that hadn't been popped. 

This poem can be found in either the book of the these two books:

• Something BIG Has Been Here written by Jack Prelutsky and illus. by James Stevenson, 1990.

• Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies selected by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton and illus. by James McMullan, 2009

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Amanda on her blog Trails & Tales. To learn more about Flannel Friday and ways to get involved, please visit the official Flannel Friday blog!