Boo! Halloween! - A Storytime Outline

It's that time of year again! I typically panic around this time because I always wanted a good, ol' Halloween storytime with an exciting atmosphere. Perhaps it's because my old library system had them. Anyway! This year I managed to pull off a homemade bat costume (I feel so crafty!). A couple of kids dressed up for the program, but most didn't, which was to be expected. The children enjoyed the program, but I'm still wanting to do more!

BOOKS
Ghosts in the House! written and illus. by Kazuno Kohara 
This is such a fun book! I love the limited use of colors, and the children really enjoyed it too. We all thought it was funny that the cat even had a witch cat costume! 

Ten Little Mummies: An Egyptian Counting Book written by Philip Yates and illus. by G. Brian Karas 
Ever since I saw Philip Yates speak over five years ago, I have always wanted to use this book! It was a good book for the group. Score! 

Boo, Bunny! written by Kathryn O. Galbraith and illus. by Jeff Mack
The children wanted to read this one, and so, obviously, I obliged. It's very simple, and you can totally embrace the emotions and sounds that you come across in the story. 

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.

The Haunted House (T, P)
The ghost in the house goes "Boo! Boo! Boo!"
Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!
The ghost in the house goes "Boo! Boo! Boo!"
On Halloween.

continue with:
The mice go "Squeak, squeak, squeak"
The cats go "Meow, meow, meow"
The witches go "ha ha ha"
The monsters go "rawr, rawr, rawr"
The bats go "ee ee ee"
Source: Preschool Education 

ACTIVITIES 
Freeze Dance to the Monster Mash
Knowing the group that I get at this little library I needed something for them to do to get some of their wiggles out, especially since I didn't really have any action songs. So! I whipped out the handy dandy iPod and loaded the song The Monster Mash, and we all did a freeze dance. It would have been more fun if there were movement scarves, but, alas, I did not have any on hand. Next time!

Skeleton Dress Up 
See below for details.

The Haunted House  
I made these many moons ago. If I remember correctly, I simply used Microsoft clip art to use as patterns for the each character. Even the witch, which I'm still impressed that I made - even if she is little ugly looking.

The Haunted House flannel board,
Created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2011

FLANNEL BOARD

Skeleton Dress Up 
I made Sal, that's his name, by the way a few years back. To make a skeleton I found a cartoon template online and blue it up a bit to make him about 18inches in height. His arms, skull, rib cage, and legs are separate pieces, which allowed me more freedom if I ever needed to have more fun. To make it exciting for the children I made clothes and accessories for them to put on him. For a little more detail, check out my Flannel Friday post for Sal.

For this group, I let everyone have a piece and asked them to come up based on color or by where one would typically wear an item of clothing. Here's what they came up with!

Sal dressed by Family Storytime children!,
WPCC, 2014.

CRAFT 
Masking Tape Mummies 
I found this craft on No Time for Flash Cards via Pinterest (Did I ever mention I love Pinterest???), and I have wanted to make this craft ever since. I followed the instructions pretty much to a T, and the children did a really good job at working with the masking tape and the safety scissors. Talk about letting the kids work on their fine motor skills.

Masking Tape Mummy, Family Storytime,
created by Dorothy WPCC, 2014.