Funky Patterns - A Storytime Outline

The first storytime of my Spring season was about patterns. It is said that National Argyle Day is January 8, and my storytime was the day before, so obviously I had to do funky patterns! The families enjoyed the program

BOOKS
Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting written and illus. by Emma Dodd (T)
The toddlers loved this story. One little boy continuously said "very messy" whenever Dog got a new spot.

The House in the Night written by Susan Marie Swanson and illus. Beth Krommes (T)
I read this Caldecott Medal winning book because I loved the illustrations. The texture and patterns of the black and white lines and the selective yellow was a lot of fun. The toddlers were not into it as much as I would have liked them to be.

Elmer written and illus. by David McKee (P)
I had to read Elmer because, well, he's a patchwork elephant! The children got the story, which was awesome!

Stripe written and illus. by Joanne Partis (P)
The children enjoyed this book, and many thought that little Stripe was very cute. Other were excited because my library system's big tiger puppet had been resting on my storytime table that morning.

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.

I Can See A Circle (T, P)
I can see a circle shape, circle shape, circle shape
I can see a circle shape, how about you?
(continue with square, triangle, rectangle, diamond)
Source: The Story Place via Storytime Katie

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)
Need I say more?

Pattern Identification (T, P)
For each program I had printed out examples of different patterns: chevrons, polka dots, stripes, floral, argyle, and etc. for the children to see. I had the preschools try to guess what type of pattern they were seeing.

FLANNEL BOARD
I Can See A Circle (T, P)
To go along with the song I simply used my die cutter to create felt shapes. While we sang the song, the children took turns putting the current shape on the board.

Elmer's Patchwork Flannel Board (P)
This flannel board was super simple. I created the Elmer body by finding a coloring page online to use as my template. I had to enlarge it a little so that Elmer was big enough for lots of patchwork pieces. After gray Elmer was completed, I cut out lots and lots of different color squares. During the program the children had to put on the patchwork pieces. I had them do it by color so that there was some organization to the chaotic-flannel-board-acticity-excitement that happens.

CRAFTS
Pattern Shapes (T) 
Almost an exact repeat of our I Can See A Circle flannel board activity, the toddlers got to create their own pattern to take home. Using the same die cuts I created different color shapes that the little ones had to glue onto a sheet of construction paper.

Kaleidoscopes (P)
I must say that this was on the coolest crafts that I have ever done! Inspired by other blog posts, such as one made by Little Birdie Secrets, about kaleidoscopes, which helped in figuring out what to place inside of the toilet paper tube. What I used was scraps of leftover laminate that I kept after laminating posters and fliers. I cut the plastic into rectangles and folded them into long triangles. What the preschoolers had to do was (1) tape a black circle to one end of the toilet paper tube (this circle had a hole punched in the middle, which served as the eye piece), (2) insert the laminate triangle, (3) cover the other end of the tube with a square piece of wax paper and tape or rubber band it down, (4) cover the wax paper with glue stick glue, and finally, (5) dip the scope into a bin of tissue paper confetti to create their custom pattern. The children :: LOVED :: their kaleidoscopes!

PICTURES

Elmer Flannel Board, Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2013

Pattern Shapes, Toddler Storytim Craft,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2013

Kaleidoscope, Preschool Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2013

Kaleidoscope, Preschool Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2013

Inside of the Kaleidoscope, Preschool Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2013

Sign Language ABC

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Heller, Lora. 2012. Sign Language ABC. Illus. by Eliz Ong/iStockphoto.com NY, NY: Sterling Children's Books. ISBN: 9781402763922.

BOOK REVIEW

Continuing her work in present American Sign Language (beyond her founding of New York Baby Fingers program) Lora Heller has written a new ABC sign language book. Each page presents the traditional alphabet letter then a inset circle illustration of the ASL sign for that letter. The illustrations to relate the letters to an object or thing are sometimes expected (such as B is for Bird and X for Xylophone); however, the rest are refreshing additions to an alphabet (like M is for Mermaid, R is for Robot and Y is for Yo-yo). The illustrations are crisp, simple, and colorful, which is greatly needed when presenting in presenting ABCs.  Hip and mod comes to mind. The book begins with an introduction for the parent to share with a hearing/speaking child who can practice and learn the skill of sign language and can even share with friends to be speak in a fun new way. At the end of the book is a quick guide to all the letter signs. Not only is this book great for an introduction for the hearing/speaking children but also to the children who truly need to learn ASL for communication. A must needed refreshing addition to ASL ABC collections.

EXTENSIONS 

• Have the children practice doing the ASL signs. 
• Have the children come up with other letter representations ( such as E is for egg plant) to add to the collection of examples.
• Have the children start development words by spelling them out. 

Opposites - A Storytime Outline

This was fun theme to present to the children. The books were great and the flannel board was awesome!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

A Garden of Opposites written and illus. by Nancy Davis(T)

Where is the Green Sheep? written by Mem Fox and illus. by Judy Horacek (T)
I ::LOVE:: this book! Any chance to tie into a program theme I will read it!

Opposnakes: A Lift-the Flap Book About Opposites written and illus. by Salina Yoon (T)
The toddlers liked the pictures in this book, especially they unfolded and made the book really long!

Round Trip written and illus. by Ann Jonas (P)
I saw a Children's Librarian read this book back when I was a Library Assistant years and years ago and ever since I had wanted to read the book in my own storytime. Finally I have!

Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit written and illus. by Catherine Rayner (P)
This is such a fun book! I love the ending as did the kids!

Big Smelly Bear written and illus. by Brita Teckentrup (P)
The parents thought that this was a funny book!

SONGS & RHYMES

Opening 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
Lay them in your lap.

Five Clean and Dirty Pigs (T, P)
Five pigs so squeaky clean
Cleanest you've ever seen
Wanted to go outside and play
Oink! Oink!
One jumped into the mud
Landed with a big THUD! (make a big clap to some sound effect, if you want)
Then there were four clean squeaky pigs.

Repeat, counting down

One pig so squeaky clean
Cleanest you've ever seen
Wanted to go outside and play
Oink! Oink!
He jumped into the mud
Landed with a THUD
Then there were no more clean squeaky pigs

Remember to count how many dirty piggies you have! 
Source: Mel's Desk via Storytime Katie 

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (T, 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 (T, 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!

Closing Rhyme: 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.

FLANNEL BOARD

Five Clean and Dirty Pigs (T, P)
I saw the flannel boards for this on both Mel's Desk and Storytime Katie's blogs and fell in love. The pigs are adorable! So, obviously I had to make some for myself. The rhyme was a a huge hit!

CRAFT

Clean Pig, Dirty Pig (T)
Inspired by our flannel board, the toddlers got to make a craft that hand on clean pig and one dirty pig. A lot of the children actually understood the concept!

Black and White Pictures (P)
This craft was based off of Jonas' book. The children had to glue random shapes made from white construction paper on to a sheet of black construction paper. I had made a funny looking boat on a lake. Some of the resulting pictures were cars, rockets, and balloons. It was fun to see the imagination flowing in the artwork!

ACTIVITY

Egg Shakers (T, P)
We all got to play with the egg shakers. We shook them really hard and fast to make it loud. Then we shook them slow and soft to make it quiet. We shook toward the sky and down by the ground as well as in front of us and behind us. Egg shakers are always a lot of fun!

PICTURE

Piggies are soooo cute!

Five Clean and Dirty Pigs flannel board,
Created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2011

Clean Pig, Dirty Pig, Toddler Storytime craft,
Created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2011

Colorful Art - A Storytime Outline

Ahhh.. art! It's awesome! For today's storytime I tied in art ideas with the classic theme of colors. This theme was perfect for all the ages. My programs were small because of the holiday (President's Day) and only had an new infant in Toddler Story Time, so I quick morphed the Toddler program into a Baby program. I left the outline as if there were toddlers in the program and included the baby songs I actually did.

B = Baby Storytime
T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr. and illus. by Eric Carle (B, T)
The classic rhyming color book! I held the book while I had the kids put the pictures on the flannel board.

Cat's Colors written and illus. by Jane Cabrera (B, T)
I love this book or any book by Jane Cabrera! 

The Color Box written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illus. by Giles Laroche (T)
This is such a fun book about colors and it's about boxes too!

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More written by Karen Beaumont and illus. by David Catrow (T, P) 
I love this book and its rhythm!  I actually wish I had this in big book form so that the older kids could see that the boy was pointing to his butt at the end. But then, again, perhaps not.The parents and grandparents thought the whole book was funny too.

Art written and illus.by Patrick McDonnell (P)
I :: LOVE :: Patrick McDonnell's books and comics! The book was perfect for the theme because the various ways he did the art on the pages.

Bear's Picture written by Daniel Pinkwater and illus. by D.B. Johnson (P)
This was fun book to read. You can ask the children if they saw what the gentlemen were seeing then if they saw what the bear said his painting looked like. I love you have to turn the book upside down to see what his painting became!

SONGS & RHYMES

Opening 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
Lay them in your lap.

Pat a Cake (B)
Pat a cake, Pat a cake (pat knees/lap in rhythm)
Baker's man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
You roll it and pat it  (roll your hands or arms then pat your hands together!)
And mark it with a 'B' (mark a B in your palm)
Put it in the oven for baby and me! (pretend your putting it in the oven then point to baby and yourself!)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (B)
(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!

Color Rhyme (T, P)
(follow actions) 
If your clothes have any red,
Put your finger on your head.

If your clothes have any blue,
Put your finger on your shoe.

If your clothes have any green,
Wave your had so that you're seen.

If your clothes have any yellow,
Smile like a happy fellow.

If your clothes have any brown,
Turn your smile into a frown.

If your clothes have any black,
Put your hands behind your back.

If your clothes have any white,
Stamp your feet with all your might!
Source: SurLaLune Storytime

Mary Brushed on Red Paint (T, P)
tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary brushed on red paint,
Red paint, Red paint,
Mary brushed on red paint all day long.

Mary brushed on blue paint,
blue paint, blue paint,
Mary brushed on blue paint all day long.

Mary brushed on yellow paint,
yellow paint, yellow paint,
Mary brushed on yellow paint all day long.

Continue with other colors:
purple, green, orange, etc.
Source: ME! I piggybacked the song from the classic "Mary Wore a Red Dress"

Closing Rhyme: 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.

FLANNEL BOARD

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? (T)
If there were toddlers in the program I would have done the flannel version of the story were they had to put the animal on the board when I read the rhyme out loud.

Mary Used Red Paint (T, P)
As cues for which color we were going to sing about next I made "paint splotches" to put on the board, which we pretended to be a giant paint canvas. To make it even more fun I let the children hold onto my big paint brushes and way them about while we sang. After the song we pretended to paint shapes in the air. The circle was the easiest and most fun one to do!

CRAFT

"Anyone Can Be An Artist" Tie Dye Window Decoration (T, P)
I wanted to do a craft that allowed the kids to feel like artists without the mess of paint and brushes. So! I I decided that they were going to make window decorations with a ruffled coffee filter and washable markers. Have the children color the filter, which was flattened out, any way they want with the markers. Note that the more color they use the richer and runnier the markers will be. Why?! Because you're going to spray the filters with water when they're done, that's why! I used a regular spray bottle to get the filters wet, and we washed the colors run and meld together to become tie dye-y! To make it a window decoration I had whole punched the filters during my craft bag prepping, and handed out a string at the end of the program saying that hang up the filter in a window once it dried. Oh, and the kids left with their wet filters on a paper plate.Voila! Artsy fun!

PICTURES
Mary Brushed on Red Paint (T, P)

Mary Brushed on Red Paint song,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012
Doesn't my purple paint splotch look like a dinosaur!?!?

"Anyone Can Be An Artist" craft (T, P) 

I love the tie dye affect of this craft.

EXTRA BOOKS

More books about colors and art!
Mouse Paint written and illus. by Ellen Stoll Walsh (T)
Can't go wrong with this one! 
I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean written and illus. by Kevin Sherry (T, P)
Vincent's Colors written and pictures by Vincent Van Gogh (T, P)
This is such a cool book that I wish I had time for it during the program!
Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story about Colors and Counting written and illus. by Emma Dodd (T, P)
The Squiggle written by Carole Lexa Schaefer and  illus. by Pierr Morgan (P)
Warthogs Paint: A Messy Color Book written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illus. by Henry Cole (P)
A Book About Color: A Clear and Simple Guide for Young Artist written and illus. by Mark Gonyea (T, P)
This lives in my library's juvenile nonfiction collection, but you can read it as a book about colors. Towards the end the text gets a little complicated more than what a preschooler may need to know about colors, but I would still show the pictures anyway because their descriptive and so on. 
The Dot and Ish written and illus. by Peter Reynolds (P)
I ::love:: these books!