Happy Birthday Mo Willems! - A Storytime Outline

Whoo hoo! Mo Willems' birthday (belated by the time this is posted!) is just on excuse to have a Mo Willem themed program! I love his books, and so do the children!

BOOKS
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late written and illus. by Mo Willems 
For this story, I made sure the children had the little no signs to raise up as they shout out "No!" whenever the Pigeon tried to find a way to stay up late. 

There Is a Bird On Your Head written and illus. by Mo Willems 
I LOVE Elephant and Piggie books! Even though it's awesome read with another librarian, I've gotten experience enough to easily make different voices and mannerisms to represent both Elephant and Piggie. This book was awesome to read with the families, because, as usual, it was funny!

The Duckling Gets a Cookie?! written and illus. by Mo Willems
Such a silly book!

 


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.

Bananas Unite! 
Bananas Unite! 
Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas
Chop bananas, chop, chop bananas
Mash bananas, mash, mash bananas
Eat bananas, eat, eat bananas
Go bananas, go, go bananas 
Source: JLibrary
*Please watch the video below for the actions! My storytime families LOVE this! We do this song three times, and mix up the speeds.

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 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
Naked Mole Rat 
It's been soooo long since I did an awesome flannel board like this! It was a lot of fun to make. I basically enlarged a picture of the mole rat then I made clothes for. The children had the opportunity to take turns dressing him up!


ACTIVITIES
Memory Box 
The item of the day was a rubber duck, which was in connection to the duckling in The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!. The children did a good job of making the connection, which was pretty easy.

Counting the Number of Books 
I'm continuing the activity of having the children help keep track of the number books that were read and the number of stories that were told (orally - no books).

CRAFT
Decorate Your Own Cookie 
Cookies for everyone! Everyone got a brown construction paper circle as their cookie. Then they had little black circles for chocolate chips, different colored foam rectangles for sprinkles, and tan foam squiggles that were nuts (walnuts). The children could pick their "toppings" and glue to their cookie. I really wanted a real cookie after seeing their creations! 


* Images of book covers were found via www.goodreads.com - here, here, and here.