The Three Little Pigs - A Storytime Outline

This was a fun storytime! I basically found various versions of the tale "The Three Little Pigs" to introduce the children the idea that there are different ways to the tell the same story. I started out with our memory box then telling the classic tale with puppets before we went to our first book.


The children really liked this program. In fact they wanted to not do any in-between activity songs or rhymes. We pretty read through all the books before the craft. The last book The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs did take some time, and the children were losing interest, we didn't end up doing the the STEAM activity - building blocks. Oh well.

ORAL STORY
The Three Little Pigs 
I told this story with puppets. Three adorable pig puppets, which all the children cooed over and an awesome wolf puppet. The children were given props, which were pictures of a wolf (laminated) an glued to a craft stick to help them act the "And I'll huff, and I'll puff and I'll blooow your house down" parts of the story.

BOOKS
The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale written and illus. by Steven Guarnaccia 
Surprisingly, the children wanted to read this one first! Which was great because I wanted to as well.

The Three Horrid Little Pigs written and illus. by Liz Pichon 
As I mentioned before the children wanted to skip our in-between-books song and go straight onto another story. So we read this one next. The children understood that the pigs did not have very nice manners at first.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs written by Jon Scieszka and illus. by Lane Smith
The majority of the children wanted another story before our craft. So we read this one, which was a bit too long for the end. I sped through the book because the story was long and I wasn't sure if the children were understanding it.

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.

FLANNEL BOARD 
N/A

ACTIVITIES
Memory Box 
The item that was inside the box was one of my cute pig puppets. 

STEAM ACTIVITIES
Watch Me Grow in Storytime 
This is one of my new STEAM elements for storytime. I made a growth chart from a free printable I found through Pinterest (link to blog post here). The children love it! I used my die cutter to make little blue birds for the children to wright their name on. Then we measured everyone to see how tall we are at the beginning of the storytime season.

Name Box Color Sort
I got this idea from a coworker who provides toddler and preschool storytime at her branch location.  She has been working on my Early Literacy elements for her program, and one of her ideas was having the children work on their writing skills. They would do this by writing their name on a shape and dropping into a name box. I added more to this idea by making different colored slots on my box and the children were given different colored shapes. They have not only write their name but they have slip their shape into the corresponding colored. 

How Many Stories Read/Told
I've been doing this for the past year. I have the children work on their math skills by counting the number of books we have read and the number of stories that were told without a book and add it to last week's total.

Building Blocks 
I didn't do this because we ran out of time. But! The plan was to have the children work on building a house for all our piggy puppets. I know that some child would probably take the wolf puppet and plow down the house after it was built, but that may be to be expected.

CRAFT
"The Three Little Pig" story sequence pictures
I found this via Pinterest - a link to Kindergarten Nana (link here) who shared a scan of a printable page that had six panels that told the story of the three little pigs.The children liked this craft a lot. Some needed a little help, my looking at my example, to get their sequence right. However, that being said, everyone got it right without help!

Book images were found on www.goodreads.com here, here, and here.

Aaargh! Pirates! - A Storytime Outline

Ahoy! What's an ocean theme summer be without some pirates? It was such a fun program. Strawberry, my library tiger, and I got to dress up. To welcome families in I stood in our Children's Area at the beginning of a dashed line that lead to a giant X in the doorway to the program room. I would tell families that if they find the X they could join my storytime crew. I also got to use my library's treasure chest to keep all my great treasure (my books, flannel boards, songs and crafts) in.

The families had a great time, and I will totally do this theme again!

Strawberry the Tiger Pirate and the Storytime Treasure Chest,
Dorothy WP-CC, 2014.

LETTER OF THE DAY
P is for Pirate! This week I did not ask for other words that began with that letter, but if I did I would have examples like "penguin," "play," "polar bear," "panda," "paint," "purple" and "pink."

BOOKS
Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC written by June Sobel and illus. by Henry Cole (T) 
The toddlers liked this book and sat through most of it. To make it any more friendly with the little ones I would include an alphabet to put on the flannel board during the story. That being a said, I a wonderful mom had asked me about the book after the program.

Pirate Nap: A Book of Colors written by Danna Smith and illus. by Valeria Petrone (T) 
Everyone liked this one, especially with the parents. Plus, you got to shout out the different color names!

This Little Pirate written by Philemon Sturges and illus. by Amy Walrod (P) 
This was a long story, but the preschoolers liked it. They asked a lot of questions and they liked the party stuff that was in the box.

The Night Pirates written by Peter Harris and illus. by Deborah Allwright (P) 
This was a great quick story! I loved how it started on mysteriously and that there were girl pirates!

SONGS & RHYMES 
Open, Shut Them (T, P)

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Give them 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 let them in!

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Give them a really big clap!

Open, shut them,

Open, shut them,

Lay them in your lap.

My Hands Say Hello (T, P)

My hands say hello, (wave hands)

My hands say hello,

Everytime I see my friends,

My hands say hello.

Additional lyrics:

Feet (stomp feet)

Nose (wiggle or tap nose)

Ears (wiggle ears) 

Tongue (stick that tongue out!) 

Pirate Patches (T, P) 

Tune: Mary Wore a Red Dress 

Pirate wore a red patch, 

Red patch, red patch,

Pirate wore a red patch all day long 

Add more colors:

blue, purple, yellow, orange, pink, green, brown, black, gray, white 

Source: Loons and Quines 

This Little Pirate (aka The Pirate Song) (P) 

Tune: "This Old Man" 

This little pirate has a patch

Sailed the sea without a scratch. 

With an Aye, Aye Matey and a Yo Ho Ho!

This little pirate sailed the sea. 

This little pirate has a hat

Where a skull and crossbones sat. 

With an Aye, Aye Matey and a Yo Ho Ho!

This little pirate sailed the sea. 

This little pirate had a hook,

He used it to read a book,

With an Aye, Aye Matey and a Yo Ho Ho!

This little pirate sailed the sea. 

This little pirate had a ship,

He sailed the world in just one trip,

With an Aye, Aye Matey and a Yo Ho Ho!

This little pirate sailed the sea. 

This little pirate looked for treasure,

He wanted more than you could measure,

With an Aye, Aye Matey and a Yo Ho Ho!

This little pirate sailed the sea. 

There are more lyrics are available at Work of Heart 

Source: Work of Heart via In the Children's Room

Touch Your Nose (T, P) 

Touch your nose,

Touch your chin,

That's the way this game begins.

Find your eyes,

Touch your knees,

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

AA-CHOOOO!

Touch your hair,

Touch one ear,

Touch your two red lips right here,

Can you blow a kiss good-bye? (blow a kiss!)

Touch your elbow where it bends

Can you touch your other elbow?

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARDS
Pirate Patch (T, P)
This was a fun song and flannel activity for the little ones to do! For one thing, it's a tune that I love to sing (awesome!), but it allowed the children to play with the colors, sing, and play with felt! To make the felt pirate I used the pattern that is available over at makinglearningfun.com (I modified the hat a little bit). since I had to make so many patches I did not include the strap on each one.

"Pirate Patches" flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2014. 

This Little Pirate (P)
I discovered this song at the last minute over at In the Children's Room and immediately loved it. I didn't have enough time to make all the felt pieces for all of the lyrics, but I made enough to make the song last a good couple of minutes with the preschoolers. For the pirate I used the same one from the Pirate Patch song and made the treasure chest, ship, and hook. I'll be making the parrot and map to add to the set. Other than the pirate ship, I simply created my own pattern for the treasure chest and hook.

"The Pirate Song" flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2014. 

ACTIVITIES
X Marks the Spot (T, P) 
I created a path with large dashed line (strips of laminated construction paper) and had a large red X at the entrance of the storytime room. Like they were on giant treasure map, families followed the line and found the X and they joined our storytime crew.

Movement Scarves (T)
I had the toddlers dance to two songs. The first one they were a little shy, but during the second song we played freeze dance, which opened them up and they danced!

CRAFTS
"________ the Pirate's Pet Parrot" Activity Sheet (T)
Every good pirate needs a pet. The toddlers got to have parrot. I created a simple activity sheet by using parrot image from Mailbox and adding the text "______ the Pirate's Pet Parrot" at the time. The toddlers can practice writing their name as well as their artistic skills by coloring the parrot. To add an extra element they were given two feathers to glue to their pet parrot. I got the clipart for the parrot from The Mailbox.

Toddler Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2014. 

"________ the Pirate's Treasure Chest" Activity Sheet (P)

What good pirate is without a bountiful treasure chest? The preschool not only colored, but also glue colorful and shiny sequins and jewels to their treasure chest. There so much pirate treasure to be had the room was sparkling! The treasure chest clipart from The Mailbox. 

Preschool Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2014. 

Wild Animals - A Storytime Outline

This was my first storytime of the new spring season and for the years 2014. I chose an easier theme to start off with (who needs something complicated when you're still have semi-holiday brain?). However, with an easy theme also comes with the large amount of options of activities to do! Ideas that I had but did not do included playing different animals noises (from an iPod app called NAME) and letting the children guess which animal it was. Another was to do the popular Dear Zoo storytelling with puppets and large boxes. These are so much fun, but just didn't make it into this program. Oh well. Maybe next time!

BOOKS  
From Head to Toe written and illus. by Eric Carle (T, P)
You can never go wrong with Eric Carle. I love this book. The children do such a great job mimicking the animals!

The Wheels on the Bus written and illus. by Jane Cabrera (T, P) 
This is such a fun book. It works great for Toddlers especially because it allows them to work on their animal recognition.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen and illus. by Helen Oxenbury (P)
This was the second time that I have ever read this book. Seriously! Knowing the reaction during the last reading, I knew more interactiveness was needed to keep the kids engaged. So I made props! Also, it helps if you get the rhythm correct. If you need help need help with the rhythm Micheal Rosen has a video doing the story rhyme from beginning to end (it was hard for me to not use his accent during the program!). 

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. 

Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree
Five little monkeys swinging from a tree (hold up five fingers and swing your arm)
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me!" (but your hands to your ears like antlers!)
Along come Mr. Crocodile, (but your hands together and swim them around slowly)
As hungry as can be
And SNAP! (make your whole arms into a large crocodile mouth and snap your hands together like a big gulp!)

Four little monkeys swinging from a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Crocodile,
As hungry as can be
And SNAP!

Countdown to one monkey

One little monkey swinging from a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me!"
Along comes Mr. Crocodile,
As hunger as can be (still!)
And SNAP!
Along goes Mr. Crocodile as full as can be!  

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
Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree (T, P) 
I used a flannel board that was created by a coworker.

ACTIVITIES
We're Going on a Bear Hunt (P) 
To make the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt more interactive I weighed my options. It would have been amazing fun if we had done a actual obstacle course, but I didn't have space for that. So instead I created my own props. I'm hoping that I'll be able to use these props again in a future storytime format that my partner-in-storytime-crime and I are working on right now (hence why I used felt). I did not use any patterns - just my imagination. Each child got their own set of grass, water, mud, snowflake and tree, and either remain seated or could stand up. During the reading of the book they had to wave the different prop around when we got to that part. It worked out pretty well. Next time around I'll make them stand up, which works out better when they have  to run from the bear and to go up and down the stairs. I also included a little bear in a cave.

CRAFT
Pretend Binoculars (T, P)
If you're going to hear stories about wild animals and if you're going to keep an eye out for wild animals out in your world, you will need a pair of binoculars! You take two toilet paper tubes and glue or tape them together. I added a strip of construction paper to decorated it up a bit but also keep the tubes together more. The children LOVED them!

PICTURES

Toddler and Preschool Binocular craft,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014

We're Going On a Bear Hunt flannel props,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014

Bear Cave for We're Going on a Bear Hunt storytelling,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014

Storytime Skit: Mo Willems

Greetings everyone!

This is a new storytime format that two partner-in-crimes and I created to not only mix things up with our programming but also to celebrate the end of a storytime season. This program basically is a chance to combine super children's librarian forces and do a joint storytime where we become the characters in the story and allow the children be part of the storytelling.

We found inspiration from the Lewisville (TX) Public Library's First Friday Fun and Decatur (IL) Public Library's Really READiculous. Both of these groups have at least two children's librarians or staff members who, with books in hand, make the stories come alive by being the characters. You :: must :: check out the Really READiculous YouTube videos. They are awesome. Seriously. Check 'em out!

So! For my library's first Storytime Skit day my colleague and I decided to celebrate Mo Willems because... well... because he is a GENIUS and just plain AWESOME! We mostly focused on Piggie and Elephant books because the duality of the stories, but we also did one Pigeon book to mix things up. We also made props! For our ear-headbands my coworker found the amazing animal ear templates at the Ashley's Craft Corner blog.

HOW DID IT GO? 
We stuck to the same format (book, rhyme, book, activity, book) for both Toddler Storytime and Preschool Storytime. This worked out well. However, I think we should do one less book and include more activities for Toddler Storytime. We did have a good number of positive comments from our Toddler families, nonetheless. We had a smaller Preschool group, which made it fun but a little more challenging when it came to the needed audience participation. We even had one child say "Yes!" instead of "No" during Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, which allowed me (the Pigeon) to ad-lib a bit by saying "Ohhh, you're my new friend" before asking the other children if they agree (they would say "No!"). I also need to let go of any inhibition that stops me from yelling and being super silly in a library setting - even if it is in my storytime room.

TIPS 
Practice and get silly! You need to be silly and moveable during a program like this. You are not just sitting in a chair or on the floor or simply standing there. You are talking and moving like the character in the story. I need to work on this part, by colleague did a wonderful job as Gerald the Elephant (I was Piggie). You are going to be an actor!

Have plenty of books on hand. If you are doing such a program with more than one person, get more than one copy of the books you will use. Due to the mass popularity of Mo Willems books we only had two copies of Let's Go for a Drive and only one copy for the other two books. We made it work, but it would still be nice to have enough copies for each staff member.

Dress accordingly. Since I played Piggie I work a pink shirt with black pants. My coworker wore a gray shirt and black pants for her Gerald role. Depending on the stories you can still dress professionally (unless you're allowed to wear full on costumes) and yet still tie into your character(s) through colors, pants/skirts, aprons, hats, and props.

BOOKS
Let's Go for a Drive written and illus. by Mo Willems 
For this story we wore pig and elephant ears made from felt that where attached to headbands. As for props we got all the items that Piggie and Gerald needed for their trip. To make the story interactive for the children we gave them the props and when Gerald shouts "Get those sunglasses!" I went to the children asking for the child who had sunglasses and they help bring the item to the front. This worked out great!

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus written and illus. by Mo Willems 
We did not have any costumes for this story, but I read the part of the Pigeon and my coworker was the bus driver who would "disappear" behind our flannel board easel when the driver left. I made a hand-drawn bus for the flannel board and a felt Pigeon. We gave the children "No!" prop signs to hold up as they shout "No!" during the story. The bus driver would have a sign as well and pop it up as a cue for the children to do theirs. To improve this part I would make the bus driver's sign a lot bigger so that it is more noticeable to the families. Next time I want some sort of costume and be more Pigeon like. 

Elephants Cannot Dance written and illus. by Mo Willems 
For this story I wore my fabulous and quite voluminous pink tutu with my pig ears. The toddlers :: loved :: the tutu! Gerald wore a work-out wrist band and we danced. When Gerald started to do the opposite of Piggie's dance moves the children thought it was so funny! For the part when the squirrels enter saying that they want to learn how to dance like Gerald, a third coworker popped in and helped us. At this point we had the children jump up and dance with us. It was adorable! 

SONGS & RHYMES
My Hands Say Hello 
Tune: The Farmer in the Dell 
My hands say hello (wave with both hands or move them side to side) 
My hand say hello
Everytime I see my friends
My hands say hello.

Other body parts
Nose (tap your nose)
Ears (wiggle your ears)
Feet (stomp!)
Tongue (stick your tongue out and sing! Uber silly!)
Source: I learned this from my colleague, but Miss Molly over at Adventures of a Blonde Librarian has a nice post.

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.

Five Clean and Dirty Pigs
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 

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.

ACTIVITY
Dancing with Movement Scarves 
Before we read Elephants Cannot Dance we let the children dance with movement scarves with the song "My Energy" by Laurie Berkner (album Under A Shady Tree). For the Preschool Storytime we included a second Freeze Dance song, which they loved.

Piggie and Elephant Tic Tac Toe
My coworker created a tic tac toe game for the children to play if they had finished their craft super fast. One preschooler had loads of fun playing the game.

FLANNEL BOARD
Five Clean and Dirty Pigs
To tie in with the Piggie portion of our theme we did this awesome rhyme.  I originally saw the flannel boards for this on both Mel's Desk and Storytime Katie's blogs and fell in love. The pigs are adorable!

CRAFT
Piggie and Elephant Headbands 
For both programs the children got to pick either a Piggie headband or a Elephant headband. All they had to do was glue strips of paper to create a headband before pasting the ears on. Finally they could draw the eyes and mouth and any other color to their headgear. Very adorable. We were inspired by this pin found on Pinterest.

PICTURES

Sorry about the uber purple grape-ness of the first photo. It's shows up more blue on my computer! 

Storytime Skit: Mo Willem Props,
create by Dorothy (and colleague), WPCC 2014

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus props and flannel pieces,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014

Toddler and Preschool craft, Piggie and Elephant headbands,
created by Dorothy and colleague, WPCC 2014  

Piggie and Elephant Tic Tac Toe game,
created by colleague, WPCC 2014

Skeleton Dress Up - Flannel Friday

Salutations everyone!

For this Special Halloween Flannel Friday, I'm sharing my Skeleton Dress Up flannel activity that I created for my 2011 Halloween storytime

I found this simple skeleton coloring page online and enlarged it. I cut all the bones out in white felt and glued to black felt to help keep everything sturdy and to stand out more on the board. All the parts of the body are their own individual pieces as well.

I created a silly outfit and accessories for the children place on Sal (that's the name of the skeleton, by the way) to get him ready for Trick or Treating. For these items I just drew my own templates. I plan on adding more accessories so that I have enough pieces to hand out to the toddlers and preschoolers if I have a big group.

There is no rhyme or song associated with this flannel board. Like many of my flannels, it is just a fun activity to do that matches the storytime theme.

Have a great weekend!

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Kay on her blog Storytime ABCs. To learn more about Flannel Friday and ways to get involved, please visit the official Flannel Friday blog! 

It's a Circus! - A Storytime Outline

And it was a circus! Literally! The public schools were out for the day and so there was a good influx in attendance, especially in Preschool Storytime. This storytime was a lot of fun because of theme and because the Toddlers LOVED their program.

But it was also one of the toughest.

All storytime librarians know that every so often a new child comes to storytime as shy as can be, and you make them feel welcome and to encourage them to have fun. Then it kinda backfires. The child opens up to being a very curious self that requires constant attention and answers to questions during the program. Everything that is normally hidden behind an easel is found in the middle of a story, which is also when you see that the caregiver is at the back of the room and is voluntarily immobile and mute. Knowing the condition of the child also makes you realize that cannot be nice but stern with the child because it would cause a breakdown in the middle of the program. Tough Preschool Storytime. I love a child with a curiosity, but I also love a child when there is an adult who help him/her understand the ways of behaving in storytime. Lesson learned: brush up on those authority figure skills.

Now, onto this fun storytime theme.

BOOKS

Where's Pup? written by Dayle Ann Dodds and illus. by Pierre Pratt (T)
The toddlers loved this book and would help me ask "but where is pup?" with adorable question-faces. 

Star of the Circus written by Michael and Mary Beth Sampson and illus. by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey (T)
This was fun book, but I decided that I'm not a huge fan of the color choices. 

Wolf Won't Bite written and illus. by Emily Gravett (P)
I love the illustrations of this book. The kids were dead-set on the wolf was going to bite those cute piggies at any minute. 

Little Monkey Says Good Night written by Ann Whitford Paul and illus. by David Walker (P)
This was a good book to end the program with. 

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.

Popcorn (T, P)
You put the oil in the pot and you let it get hot
You put the popcorn in and you start to grin.
Sizzle, sizzle
Sizzle, sizzle
Sizzle, sizzle
POP!
Start the poem in a crouch position, knees bent, hands on the floor. At "sizzle," s-l-o-w-l-y rise until the POP!, then jump up in the air!
Source: PreschoolEducation.com via What Happens in 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.

ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T)

The name "Egg Shakers" should be synonymous to the word "nirvana" or to the sound of your favorite rock band's concert intro or the songs of angels as the light of Heaven beams through fluffy clouds. The kids love them!

Tight Rope Waking (T, P)
I used bright red masking tape to create two lines that ran through the threshold of the storytime room doors. If they wanted to, children could test their balancing skills as they came into the room.

Ring of Fire Walk Through (T, P)

I found this idea via Pinterest with a link to the blog Maya*Made and thought it'd be perfect for the program. I made he flames from colored printer paper (construction paper would also work). The children could go through the ring. Keep an eye out for little ones who can't step over a high bar, but also keep an eye one who won't noticed the top part and will bonk their head. Be warned and watch out for the over exuberant ones will cut the line! Safety is important!

FLANNEL BOARD

Sammy the Seal's Balancing Act (T, P)
I love this flannel board. To make my little Sammy the Seal I found a printable online and enlarged it (he's approximately 8 inches across). For the collar I simply created a half circle with squiggly edges and I added squiggly stripes for some flair. As for his different colored balancing balls, I used a die cut that my library has on hand.

The children (both Toddlers and Preschoolers) took turns placing the balls on top of each other. One thing you have to remember, especially if you have a lot of children in your program, to place Sammy at the bottom of your flannel board (I have an easel type, by the way) so that you have enough room for a very tall column of balls! The children loved this simple flannel activity and loved counting how many balls we got to balance on Sammy's nose!

CRAFTS

Popcorn Bag (T, P)

I saw this craft idea on Crafts for Kids ©'s MySpace page via Pinterest. It was so cute and it did not involve a clown. Everyone needs a snack when they go to the circus, so obviously we had to make some popcorn! Instead of just gluing small pieces to resemble individual popped kernels I had the children squish up their little pieces to make them appear to be puffy popcorn. The parents loved this craft.

PICTURES

Sammy the Seal's Balancing Act, Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

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

Ring of Fire activity (after use), Toddler and Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013

Sammy the Seal's Balancing Act - A Flannel Friday

Salutations everyone! This Flannel Friday posting is brought to you by an It's A Circus! storytime that I did last month (an outline of that is in the works). This is a really simple flannel activity to do, which something that I love and do very often because it is always fun and just works on the children's fine motor skills. 

To make my little Sammy the Seal I found a printable online and enlarged it (he's approximately 8 inches across). For the collar I simply created a half circle with squiggly edges and I added squiggly stripes for some flair. As for his different colored balancing balls, I used a die cut that my library has on hand. 

During the storytime, I placed the first ball on Sammy's nose as the example. Then the children (both Toddlers and Preschoolers) took turns placing the balls on top of each other. One thing you have to remember, especially if you have a lot of children in your program, to place Sammy at the bottom of your flannel board (I have an easel type, by the way) so that you have enough room for a very tall column of balls! The children loved this simple flannel activity that tied into the uber fun theme for the day!  

Have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone!

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Mollie on her blog What Happens in Storytime.... To learn more about Flannel Friday and ways to get involved, please visit the official Flannel Friday blog!

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By - A Flannel Friday

Happy Friday everyone! This was my flannel board activity this week for the children during my Puppets Come to Play storytime. The children each got to have a felt butterfly finger puppet to play with as we sang the song "Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By," which is a piggyback song from "Bluebird, Bluebird On My Window" that I created. 

We sang through the song a couple times to get the tune and tempo as we fluttered our butterflies in air. After that we repeated the song and I asked the toddlers and preschoolers what color they had and they answered. Afterwards they got to put their butterflies on the flannel board. For the preschoolers, when I asked a child what color they had they had to say the color and go ahead and put the butterfly on the board. 

The butterfly puppets were made by using a die cut that my library has. If you don't have a die cut all you have to do is cut out a butterfly shape and cut too horizontal strips by its tummy so that you can slip your finger in. I reinforced the little finger band with an extra strip of felt so that it the puppets would last a little while longer since I knew they would get some wear with the kids will be trying to the puppet on and off their fingers. 

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By, puppet flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

Butterfly, Butterfly Passing Me By

tune: Bluebird, Bluebird On My Window

Butterfly, butterfly passing me by

Butterfly, butterfly passing me by

Butterfly, butterfly passing me by

Oh, what color are you?

(name the color)

Source: Me! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Tracey on her blog 1234 More Storytimes. To learn more about Flannel Friday and ways to get involved, please visit the official Flannel Friday blog!

It's A Monster Mash! - A Storytime Outline

It's Halloween week! It's when I can legitimately justify me dressing up in costume for my storytime programs. This year I was Little Bo Peep who has lost her sheep in the storytime room. I had "hidden" three sheep in the storytime room and needed the toddlers and preschoolers hep find them for me because we were going to hear stories about monsters and we needed them safe and sound in my basket. The children did a wonderful job at finding the sheep and giving them love. They especially loved it when they discover that there was an ity bity sheep sitting on the brim of my big straw hat and they had to retrieve it for me.

Most of the children dressed up in their own costumes. We had cowboys and cowgirls, Darth Vader, the Tooth Fairy, Spider Man, and etc. For the those who didn't have a costume I let them wear a Halloween headband (a flower, cat, monster, pirate, etc.) that I have on hand for this very reason.

All in all this was a wonderful storytime!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS
Glad Monster, Sad Monster: A Book About Feelings written and illus. by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda (T) 
The families enjoyed this book and did a wonderful job at saying all the colors of each monster.

Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli written by Barbara Jean Hicks and illus. by Sue Hendra (T, P)
This was a fun book to read. The preschoolers had fun saying they don't like broccoli or any other vegetable that they don't like to eat.

Don't Squish the Sasquatch! written by Kent Redeker and illus. by Bob Staake (P)
The children weren't as thrilled with this book as I thought they would be. They helped my say the refrain "Don't Squish the Sasquatch!" once and that was it.

Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your Monster written by Laura Numeroff and illus. by Nate Evans
The children thought that this book was funny, and couldn't believe that someone would have a monster for a pet. I loved how I could tie-in my costume to the step about not letting your monster count sheep cause it could make him hungry!

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

Lay them in your lap.

Five Crazy Monsters Jumping on the Bed (T, P) 
Five crazy monsters jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monsters jumping on the bed."

Continue to countdown to one monster:

One crazy monster jumping on the bed.
It fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monsters jumping on the bed."
Source: Storytiming

I'm A Little Monster (T, P)
I'm a little monster yellow and bright,
I won't give anyone a fright.
I love polka dots but I have none
So step right up and give me a [color] one!

I'm a little monster yellow and bright,
I won't give anyone a fright.
I love polka dots but I have some
So step right up and give me a [color] one!

Continue until you go through all the colors 
Source: Sarah on comment page of The Wielded-Pen-Children's Corner 

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.

ACTIVITIES
Egg Shakers (T)
I love it when you hear the toddlers go "yay!" when I pull out the bin that holds the egg shakers.

FLANNEL BOARDS
Five Crazy Monsters Jumping on the Bed (T, P)
The monsters I made for this flannel board was inspired by the monsters I found on the blog Totally Tots (they are so adorable!). The children loved the visual aid and did great reciting the rhyme.

Polka Dotty Monster (T, P)
I was inspired by the felt monsters found on the blog Nifty Thrifty & Thriving, I made a large monster that needed to be decorated with polka dots, eyeballs, and teeth. He's a lovely monster that isn't scary looking. The just the right time for storytime. I want to thank Sarah for sharing the  rhyme "I'm A Little Monster" on my Flannel Friday post for this little guy! The rhyme worked out perfectly!

CRAFTS
Create Your Own Monster (T)
I used different size circles to cut colorful construction paper along with printed eyeballs. The toddlers had to glue everything together to make their monster.

Fuzzy Pet Monsters (P)
The parents laughed when I showed them the craft since we had just finished reading Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living With Your Monster. The children had so much fun making their pet monsters. Some even got named!

PICTURES



Five Crazy Monsters Jumping on the Bed flannel board,
Toddler and Preschool Storytimes,
created by Dorothy WP-C

Polka Dotty Monster flannel board,

Toddler and Preschool storytimes,

created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012 



Create Your Own Monster, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012



Fuzzy Pet Monsters, Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2012

MORE BOOKS
Go Away Big Green Monster! written and illus. by Ed Emberley (T, P)
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters: A Lullaby written by Jane Yolen and illus. by Kelly Murphy (T, P)
Monster Mess! written by Margery Cuyler and illus. by S.D. Schindler (P)
Monster Baby written by Dian Curtis Regan and illus. by Doug Cushman (P)
Mostly Monsterly written by Tammi Sauer and illus. by Scott Magoon (P)
The Tickle Monster is Coming! written by James Otis Thach and illus. by David Barneda (P)
My Monster Mama Loves Me So written by Laura Leuck and illus. by Mark Buehner (P)
Jeremy Draws a Monster written and illus. by Peter McCarty (P)
There Was An Old Monster! written and illus. by Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley (P, SA)
If You're A Monster and You Know It written and illus. by Ed Emberley (P, SA)
Monster Manners written by Bethany Roberts and illus by Andrews Glass (P, SA)