Beep, Boop... Robots! - A Storytime Outline

I started out my summer storytimes with the awesome theme of Robots. The children LOVED it! One newcomer thought it was awesome that they got make a craft and take it home with them!

BOOKS
Hello, Robots written and illus. by Bon Staake (T)
This was a really good book. I wish I had it a big book format so that the little toddlers could see the pictures better. This is book is great for asking questions. What is that robot doing right now?

If I Had a Robot written and illus. by Dan Yaccarino (T, P)
Make sure you ask the children what would their robot do if they had one. Some kids thought it was a good idea for a robot to eat the vegetables that they did not like. Everyone liked the end about chocolate cake... that you don't need a robot to eat that for you.

Oh, No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World written by Mac Barnett and illus. by Dan Santat (P)
This was a good book, but because there was not a lot of descriptive words to help say what was going on you have to make sure to really show the pictures and help the children understand what is happening. The preschoolers did get most of it.

Doug Unplugged written and illus. by Dan Yaccarino (P)
The preschoolers only understand part of this story, but they did like the book overall. I hope the parents understood it more.

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

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap. 

If You're A Robot And You Know It (T, P)

I made lots of felt circles for the kids to hold or wear that acted as their robot buttons that they need to press during the song.

If you're a robot and you know it clank your coils (clap hands)
If you're a robot and you know it clank your coils
If you're a robot and you know it and you really want to show it
If you're a robot and you know it clank your coils

Other lyrics
Clunk your gears (stomp feet)
Press your buttons (felt beep boop)
Do All Three (clap hands, stop feet, press felt button - beep boop)
Source: AnnesLibraryLife

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.

ACTIVITY
Egg Shakers (T)
Can't get enough egg shakers!

FLANNEL BOARD
Build-A-Bot (T, P)
All the children got to play mad scientist and join together to make a felt robot. I used my one pattern (just different shapes) to create the body, buttons and switches. The children loved it!

CRAFT 
Mini Robots (T, P) 
Everyone got to make their own miniature robots that were made out of toilet paper tubes that were wrapped in aluminum foil. To make different parts of the robot there were squares, rectangles, googly eyes, and antennas (pipe cleaners). You will have to use both tape and a glue stick for this craft. The children thought it was awesome. Some of them even used their imagination to create a special job that their robot can do.

PICTURES 

Build-A-Bot flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Mini Robots, Toddler and Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

Miss Dorothy's Favorites II - A Storytime Outline

This is the second of the continuing theme, "Miss Dorothy's Favorites." These books are among the ones that I love to read due to the story and/or the illustrations.

BOOKS
Tuck Me In! written by Dean Hacohen and illus. by Sherry Scharschmidt (T)
This book is extremely simple and so adorable for  adults to share with babies and toddlers. Sometimes I use this book with puppets and the little ones have to tuck them with pieces of fabric/blankets. This time around, I walked around the room and let everyone have a turn turning the half-page blankets on each illustrated baby animal. The children loved it!

What Will the Fat Cat Sit On? written and illus. by Jan Thomas (T)
I have a Folkmanis cat puppet that is perfect for this story. I used puppets to help tell this story.
Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit written and illus. by Catherine Rayner (T, P)
A great book about friendship and thinking outside of the box ... errr.. book!

Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch created by James Dean (P)
Pete the Cat is awesome! As it's in an Easy Reader format I needed a way make this book more visual for the children. So! I created a flannel sandwich that the children had to help build during the reading of the book. See the Flannel Board section below for more details.

The Watermelon Seed written and illus. by Greg Pizzoli (P)
This books MUST be read with dramatics! It's very silly and imaginative. The children loved it!

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

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (P)
(follow actions with your fingers and arms)
The itsy bitsy spider (move your fingers like a spider going upward)
went up the water spout.
Down came the rain (wiggle your fingers like rain is falling)
and washed the spider out! (sweep with your hands like the a wave of water washed the spider out)
Out came the sun (raise arms overhead in a circle to make a sun)
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider (make your finger spider go upwards again!)
went up the spout again! 

The Great Big Hairy Spider (P)
Tune: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
(follow actions)
The great big hairy spider
climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain
and washed the spider out!
Out came the sun
and dried up all the rain.
And the great big hairy spider
climbed up the spout again!

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.

FLANNEL BOARDS

Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch (P)
As I mentioned above, I needed visual aids during the reading of the book Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch since the book is in Easy Reader format, which makes the illustrations smaller than normal for storytimes. I made all the pieces by hand with the help of Microsoft clip art templates. I had a Pete the Cat doll with me that day, since then I've added a flannelized version of Pete to go along with the story.

ACTIVITIES
Storytime Scarves (T)
The little ones were restless so in addition to our egg shakers I let the toddlers dance to the following songs with our storytime scarves:

• I'm Gonna Catch You by Laurie Berkner
• My Energy by Laurie Berkner

Egg Shakers (T, P)
Shake them up high and shake them down low!

CRAFTS
"Tuck Me In and Read Me a Story" coloring page (T)
The toddlers got a coloring page that allowed them color their own bed and blanket. If they wanted to they could draw (or scribble) an animal or themselves on the pillow. 

Pop-Up Book/Card (P)
To tie into the book Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit I used a pop-up card die cut to create the inside page for children to paste and tape scrapes of paper to create their own fold out book/card like the book is. The cover was created just by cutting a rectangle and folding it in half. Then they could draw anything inside of it that would need extra room to fit in the book. I drew a giraffe as you can see. I saw a couple rockets that were pretty awesome.

PICTURES

Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

Tuck me in and Read me a story! coloring page,
Toddler Storytime craft, created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

Pop-Up Book/Card, Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Oh My! A Great Pizza Pie! - A Storytime Outline

This was for the first storytime of the Fall season. Still recovering from the summer I prepped from this storytime right before I had an adventurous vacation (of which I would return only two days prior to the start of storytime!). This was a super easy program and super fun! It was also very YUMMY!

BOOKS
Pete's a Pizza written and illus. by William Steig (T)
How can you not read Pete's a Pizza. Parts of the story the toddler did not quite get, but the guardians greatly enjoyed it.

"Hi, Pizza Man!" written by Virginia Walter and illus. by Ponder Goembel (T, P)
I managed to get this through ILL, which was amazing! I told this story, which the help of the children, by using puppets. The toddlers loved visiting with the puppets.

The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza written by Philemon Sturges and illus. by Amy Walrod (P)
To make this story more fun, I tried to make the preschoolers make the animal noises and to ask them what they thought the animals would say.


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

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Pizza Man, Pizza Man (T, P)
Pizza man, pizza man, turn around
Pizza man, pizza man, touch the ground

Pizza man, pizza man, smell a rose
Pizza man, pizza man, touch your toes

Pizza man, pizza man, touch the sky
Pizza man, Pizza man, wave goodbye

Pizza man, pizza man, turn around
Pizza man, pizza man, sit back down

Pizza man, pizza man, shake your head
Pizza man, pizza man, go to bed
Source: SurLaLune Storytime

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.

FLANNEL BOARD
Pizza Toppings (T, P)
This activity was really designed for the toddlers, but the preschool children enjoyed it too. Basically, we had a pizza crust and sauce and the little ones had to add all the toppings. It looked delicious!

ACTIVITIES
"Pizza Man, Pizza Man" pizza box balancing (T, P)
To make the "Pizza Man, Pizza Man" ever more interactive, I made pretend pizza delivery boxes out of square pieces of cardboard. To decorate them, so that they are recognized as a pizza box, I simply glued on a piece of paper that had a logo printed on them. The children loved doing the rhyme while holding the boxes in one hand. The preschool children expanded the rhyme by coming up with their movements.

CRAFTS
Custom Pizza Slice (T)
To continue the flannel board idea, the toddlers got make their own pizza slice and top it any way they wanted. Typically I add all the elements into the storytime craft bags (where the crayons and glue hang out), but this time I left the toppings out on the table so that they can really pick and choose which toppings they wanted for their pizza. No mushrooms on mine, please!

Delivery Pizza "Boxes" (P)
This was such a fun craft! Not only did the children got to make a pretend pizza "box", which really two pieces of paper used to make a flap, but they also got to pick their own toppings to customize the pizza that was inside of it.

PICTURES

Custom Pizza Slice, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

Pizza Delivery "Box," Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

"Pizza Man, Pizza Man" balancing activity prop,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

We Are All... Superheroes! - A Storytime Outline

Back in the spring my partner-in-crime and I did a Fancy Nancy and Superhero program. It was so much fun. The only thing I was missing was a cape. Determined to have a cape of my own, I decided that I had to do a superhero storytime. If anyone needs a quick cape, buy some red (or any color) jersey fabric, fold in half, cut at an angle then create a tie at the neck. Super easy, super cool, super awesome! This program did not revolve around actual typical superhero books (such as Batman and Superman). I chose books that were about every day rescues and how heroes came all sorts of shapes and sizes.

The families loved the program. This program also happened to have landed on Veteran's Day, which was wonderful since at least one of our families includes a military family. One very excited girl came in dressed up as Incredible Girl.

BOOKS
He Saves the Day written by Marsha Hayles and illus. by Lynn W. Cravath (T)
This story is all about imagination, but also being a hero by saving the day. For the toddlers I pointed out each scenario and how the boy always had his dog with him.

Cows to the Rescue written and illus. by John Himmelman (T, P)
The children had to help me say "Cows to the rescue!" over and over again. It's so much better that way.

Go Away Big Green Monster written and illus. by Ed Emberely (T, P)
We can be heroes too by simply being brave and telling a funny yet scary looking monster to go away. Be the boss! The children had to help say the "Go away..." parts. It was wonderful!

Millie and the Big Rescue written and illus. by Alexander Steffenmeier (P)
This was a brand new book for my library and I just loved it.

Do Super Heroes of Have Teddy Bears? written by Carmela LaVigna Coyle and illus. by Mike Gordon
I wanted to read this book too, but as an ILL it didn't arrive in time (shucks!). Trust me, you'll want to read this book too!

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.

Did You Ever See a Superhero? (T, P)
Done with Storytime Scarves aka short little capes
Did you ever see a hero, a hero, a hero,
Did you ever see a hero, flying through the sky?
Fly this way and that way, and that way and this way
Did you ever see a hero flying through the sky?

Other verses:
Putting on their cape,
Hopping on one foot,
Saving the day,
Twirling around
(I let the Preschool children come up with other actions)
Source: Jbrary

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.

FLANNEL BOARDS
Superhero Cape Matching (T, P)
This was a super easy flannel board to make. I simply cut out seven pairs of capes by hand (no pattern) and glued on felt letters (bought pre-made). I really wanted to have the letters upper and lower case, but those are rare to find in stores (and I didn't have time to make them). There was no rhyme or song for this flannel. The toddlers loved it as did the preschoolers (it helped quite a bit that the children in the Preschool storytime were quite young still).


CRAFT
Superhero Masks (T, P)
A simple craft - every superhero needs a mask. The children in both age groups had a choice between using string or a craft stick for their mask. Everyone chose a craft stick. Some masks were quite colorful while some were plain (like mine). The masks were created by a die cut that was used at our local ISD resource center.

PICTURES

Toddler and Preschool Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Superhero Cape Matching flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.