Let's Tell A Story Together - A Storytime Outline

I've done an interactive storytime before, but they are so much fun. Plus, there are more and more books coming out that require involvement from the readers, which means I have more opportunities to do storytimes like this! 

BOOKS
Don't Push the Button! written and illus. by Bill Cotter
Since I want to make sure that every child has a chance to push the button I decided to create a copy of the red button to push to have in front of them. They LOVED it! Our photocopier, which has a scanning mode, was out of order so I had to make black and white copies of the button and use a red crayon to color the button, but it worked out. Next time I plan on scanning the page and print in color... and maybe even laminating them so I can keep them on hand.

It's a Tiger! written by David LaRochelle and illus. by Jeremy Tankard 
Every time I read this book I start to lose my voice! It's true! It's such a fun book. For the school-age children in my family storytime caught onto the game quickly, but I made sure to keep the story interesting and interactive by having the run in place, swing from a pretend vine and so on. They certainly got a workout!

Can You Make a Scary Face? written and illus. by Jan Thomas
I heart Jan Thomas! Her books are so much fun. I had a frog puppet to help with this story. We all pretended to be ladybugs and made silly and scary faces. At the end I had the children make the scariest face they could in front of my frog, which I would make it get really scared and hop onto the next child. 

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.

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.

ACTIVITIES
Pull and Tell A Story
I placed a number of objects (such as a cat, a car, a dinosaur, and a soldier) from a bag to help us create our own story. The story got very silly, and complicated. But the children loved it!

CRAFT
Story Scroll 
I found this craft on Imagination Soup's website, and thought it was perfect. I followed the rocket ship theme and wrote the story lines, but the children had to draw their own pictures to help tell the story. Everyone did a great job, and were quite imaginative.


MORE BOOKS
Tap to Play! written and illus. by Salina Yoon
Tap the Magic Tree written and illus. by Christie Matheson
Tickle the Duck! written and illus. by Ethan Long

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