Picture Perfect - A Storytime Outline

This was a really interesting storytime theme to plan. The only rule that I had to follow was that it had to include photographs instead of illustrations. I tried to find books about taking pictures and cameras that would be good for Toddlers and Preschoolers, but that was not going to happen. The idea of photographs was the perfect replacement and it went over extremely well.

BOOKS

Noisytime for Zoo Animals written by Caroline Arnold and photographs for Richard Hewett (T)
We started out with a really easy book with photos of zoo animals. The Toddlers always love making animal noises!

The Handiest Things in the World written by Andrew Clements (T)
This was a good book, but the Toddlers were not as interested in pictures of what hands can do.

Flamingos written by Cecilia Pinto McCarthy (T, P)
I shared this book with both storytime programs because I love the photos and the colors of flamingos(!). Everyone agreed with me.

City Colors written and photographs by Zoran Milich (T)
This is an extremely simple book with one color per page with a different photo of something found in the city that has that color. It worked great for my flannel board activity.

Here a Face, There a Face written and photographs by Arlene Adla (P)
I had a really small Preschool group and so the children were able to sit very close, and we took our time to try hard to find the faces in the photos. It was a lot of fun to see what the children found and did not find compared the librarians that I tested the book on. It was a joy to go through this book. Priceless moment #1.

Step Gently Out written by Helen Frost and photographs by Rick Lieder (P)
This is a new poem picture book that also happens to be on the new 2013 Texas 2x2 Reading List. The photographs are amazing and the poem is simply lovely. This is a great book.

If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet written and photographs by Leslie McGuirk
This was another great book to share with the kids. Just as with Here a Face, There a Face they all loved to study the rocks and decide they truly did look like the alphabet letter.

Sea Stars written by Jody Sullivan
Some of the photos of sea stars (or starfish to some kiddos) are amazing in the book.

SONGS & RHYME

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

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Old McDonald Had a Farm (T, P)
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

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 bends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T, P) 
Ohhhh, yeah!

FLANNEL BOARDS

City Color Match (T)
Needing a flannel board activity for the little ones I simply made different felt shapes that were in a array of different colors. When I read through the book City Colors the child(ren) with the matching colored flannels had to put their piece(s) on the board. This was a lot of fun.

Old McDonald Had a Farm Photos (T, P)
To have a visual for this song I printed out and laminated photographs of a barn and the different animals we had to sing about.

CRAFTS

Match the Colors Activity Page (T)
I loved this craft. I created an activity sheet page that had the names of different colors that were also printed in the corresponding color (does that make sense? If not, see the picture below!). The toddlers had to match little different photo cutouts. I overheard one mom say to her child that this was a really crafty and smart way of color matching. Big smile!

Foam Picture Frames (P)
What are photos without picture frames. Even in this digital day and age you need picture frames. Using a die cut, I created frame pieces out of fun foam for the children to glue together. They also decorated them with different foam shapes. Point to remember: don't glue one side of the outside frame because that is how you are going to slide your photo in!

PICTURES

"Old McDonald Had a Farm" photo flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Match the Color Activity Page, Toddler Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013