Pandas! - A Storytime Outline

A lot of children, especially the girls, were excited about this program! "Pandas! I love pandas!" many would tell me before we started the program. This was a lot of fun, and a completely new theme for me!

The children had loads of energy at the beginning of the program. So! I had everyone jump up an down and turning around and jumping jack and all sorts of things. It worked for at least one story. We did the "Panda Bear, Panda Bear" rhyme between the first two books, which helped. We ended up not singing "If You're a Panda and You Know It" song cause we wanted another book instead. Always ok with me!

BOOKS
Please, Mr. Panda written and illus. by Steve Antony 
I saw this book quite a while ago and knew I had to do at least a panda storytime and/or a donut storyime. The children finally got, after a little encouragement, that all the animals were not being polite, which is why Mr. Panda never gave them any yummies!

Chengdu Could Not, Would Not Fall Asleep written and illus. by Barney Saltzberg 
This is such a fun story. After a couple of pages all of the children started to act like Chengdu. They tossed and turned. They rolled their legs over their heads (I certainly got a view that even the parents laughed at!) and they climbed.

Xander's Panda Party written by Linda Sue Park and illus. by Matt Phelan 
This was such a cute book about including everyone to party. They really liked it when another panda was brought to the zoo so that Xander had a friend. 

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.

Panda Bear, Panda Bear 
Panda bear, panda bear turn around.
Panda bear, panda bear touch the ground.
Panda bear, panda bear show your shoe.
Panda bear, panda bear say "How do you do?"
Panda bear, panda bear turn off the light.
Panda bear, panda bear say "Good-night"
Panda bear, panda bear wake up now.
Panda bear, panda bear take a bow.
Source: Jen in the Library 

If You're a Panda and You Know It 
If you're a panda bear and you know it, clap your paws (clap, clap)
If you're a panda bear and you know it, clap your paws (clap, clap)
If you're a panda bear and you know it, then your face will surely show it (hands in circles around eyes)
If you're a panda and you know it clap your paws (clap, clap)
Other lyrics 
If you're a panda and you know it it, stomp your feet... (stomp, stomp)
... shout hooray... (hooray!)
Source: Starry-Eyed Storytimes  

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 
I had printed out various pictures to share with the children. First was a page of different panda pictures. They loved the one with a baby panda in it! The second page showed different pictures of bamboo that the pandas eat (I did ask the question, "What do they eat?" before showing them the pictures). Then I had various pictures of animals who are also black and white, which I had the children guess before I shared them. 

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.

CRAFT
Panda Headbands
These are so cute! To make this I took a piece of white construction paper and gave approximate three inches band that when in about two inches before arching up to make the head. Then on the other end of the paper I cut out a strip to band the connecting band for the back. I drew the face and glued on googly eyes. The children LOVED it! Some added color other than black to make rainbow panda bears, which was so cute!

This is the shapes that I cut out from one sheet of construction paper.

Final product! So cute!

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

We're Going to the Zoo! - A Storytime Outline

"Wake up cousin! We're going to the zoo!". Whenever I think about the zoo I also think about the quote from Dudley in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Well, I didn't recite lines from Harry Potter during storytime. The children liked the program a lot. I noticed that some families haven't been to the zoo yet, which is either because of how far away it is from the community, or the family is new to the area, or the fact that the tickets to the zoo can be pricy. I hope they get to go soon though!

BOOKS
A Sick Day for Amos McGee written by Philip C. Stead and illus. by Erin E. Stead
This was a sweet book, and the children enjoyed it, which I was glad about. 

What's New At the Zoo? written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and illus. Travis Foster
Everyone thought this was a silly book. 

From Head to Toe written and illus. by Eric Carle
The children liked mimicking the animal movements.

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.

Head and Shoulders
follow actions
Head and shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes
Head and shoulders, knees and toes
knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and knows
Head and shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes.
*Note: We do this song three times and very the speed each time. 

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
Animal Noise ID 
I downloaded the app "Zoo Sounds" onto my storytime iPod, and I had the children use their listening skills to guess which animal was making the noise. One child did a great job, but the other children needed to work on their animal identification skills.

CRAFT
Alligator Weaving 
 Everyone worked on their little finger motor skills by weaving different colored strips of paper through the body of an alligator to create his colorful scales along his back. Some of the younger children needed their guardian's assistance in completing the craft.

MORE BOOKS
A Night at the Zoo written and illus. by Kathy Caple
Penguins written and illus. by Liz Pichon
Two at the Zoo written by Danna Smith and illus. by Valeria Petrone

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

Pets! - A Storytime Outline

I took this basic Pets theme and turned it into a humorous pet theme so that I could mix things up a bit. Though I did not have any special activities or flannel boards for this theme, which is a little unusual, the families did not notice and it was a good program!

BOOKS
A Pet for Petunia written and illus. by Paul Schmid 
I loved this book, and you can totally act out Petunia's love and temper tantrum. 

Pigeon Wants a Puppy written and illus. by Mo Willems 
Seriously, how can you not read this book? 

Me and My Dragon written and illus. by David Biedrzycki 
This was a good book, and the children liked it. 

What Pet to Get? written and illus. by Emma Dodd 
Again, how do you not read this book? I love Emma Dodd!   

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.

Can You? 
follow the actions 
Can you hop like a rabbit?
Can you jump like a frog?
Can you waddle like a duck? (farmers could have pet duck!)
Can you fly like a bird?
Can you swim like a fish?
Can you sit back down and be still like this?
Other Animals 
Can you slither like a snake?
Can you "hoo-hoo" like an owl?  
Source: Library Storytime via Sunflower Storytime   

If You're a Pet and You Know It 
If you're a doggie and you know it,
Say, "Woof, woof."
If you're a doggie and you know it,
Say, "Woof, woof."
If you're a doggie and you know it,
And you really want to show it,
If you're a doggie and you know it,
Say, "Woof, woof."
Repeat with kitty/meow, fishy/blub, hamster/run in place, bird/tweet
Source: Storytime with Miss Mollie  

CRAFT
Pompom Pets 
I wanted the children to have a "pet" so I decided to do the simple craft of a pompom pet. Simply get a good size pompom and glue googly eyes on to it. You can use felt to make teeth or a smile, but this time around I made even simpler by not having that option. The children loved it! 

Family Storytime, Pompom Pet craft,
created by Dorothy WPCC, 2014. 

Chickens! - A Storytime Outline

Salutations and Happy Almost-Fall!

This fall season I have the privilege of working at one of my library system's smaller branches, and having weekly evening Family Storytimes.Oh, the excitement! Oh, the nervousness! Sure I've done Family Storytime (aka School Age Storytime), but many years and moons have past since then. Plus, I have to mention that the program was preplanned by someone else, and I just did it with my usual excitement and vibrato. And I can't really count my summer preschool storytime, where I get older siblings and kindergarten groups, because those programs were always designed for... well,  preschoolers! So, here I go! Three months of Family Storytime! Whoo hoo!

BOOKS
The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza written by Philemon Sturges and illus. by Amy Walrod
I started with the longest story first. It took a little bit for the children to catch on to the saying "Not I," but they finally did and it worked out great.

Hungry Hen written by Richard Waring and illus. by Caroline Jayne Church
I love this story, especially if you are a expressive reader. 

Chickens to the Rescue written and illus. by John Himmelman 
This was a simple book, and the children got onto yelling "Chickens to the rescue!" I also asked about problems and solutions.  The children thought it was funny how the chickens would cook in the kitchen and do homework and make a mess while doing so. 

 

SONGS & RHYMES 
My Hands Say Hello 

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!) 

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes 
Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes
Eyes and ears
Mouth and nose
Head, shouldersm knees and toes
Knees and toes
Note: For this age group you have to do normal speed, fast, super fast, super super fast and super super super fast!

The Hens in the Coop 
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus 
The hens in the coop go cluck, cluck, cluck
Cluck, cluck, cluck
Cluck, cluck, cluck
The hens in the coop go cluck, cluck, cluck
All around the farm .

Other words:
The chicks in the yard go cheep, cheep, cheep
The rooster on the fence goes cock-a-doodle-dooo (you can just use one cock-a-doodle-doo for each line)
Source: HCPL

Little Chick, Little Chick 
 Little chick, little chick
Come out and play
What color barn are you in today?
Source: Storytimes and More

Touch Your Nose 
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.

ACTIVITIES 
Little Chick, Little Chick Guessing Game
See below about the flannel board.

FLANNEL BOARD 
Little Chick, Little Chick Guessing Game
I found this almost to the last minute. I rediscovered some felt chickens that I made a few years ago that were perfect for this game. I quickly used a barn die cut to create my different color barns to use. It was that simple. The children loved it, but they were too excited to say the rhyme before guessing the color. They also were so smart they guessed all three barns that the chickens were behind.

"Little Chick, Little Chick" flannel board, Family Storytime,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014.

 CRAFT 
Clucking Chicken Cups 
I struggled to find a craft that the children would like, especially the older ones. This was just the ticket! I found idea through several pins on Pinterest. When it came to gluing the googly eyes and the paper beak, I recommend applying the glue to the cup itself first then a little to each item so that you know you're making a good sticky connections.The children liked it. The parents liked it. My fellow library workers... LOVED it! I hadn't seen them laugh so much. It was great! Source: Fancy Shanty

Clucking Chicken Cup, Family Storytime Craft,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014.

Chicken Life Cycle Activity Page 
I also had an activity page that I discovered online over at www.sparklebox.co.uk. The children could color them after their craft or take it home where they have more craft supplies. PDF LINK.

EDUCATIONAL MOMENT 
Clucking Chicken Cup 
I briefly explained the children how sound worked with the cup, and how the cup is needed so that we could hear the sound. A better explanation can be found over at Science Bob. Hey! I think I just did my first STEM element, right!?

Storytime Skit - Jan Thomas

We came. We made scary faces. We jumped, danced, wiggled. We ran. We hopped. We sang. We screamed. And... we napped!

Today my partner in crime (PiC) and I did our library's second ever Storytime Skit storytime day.  This is when we bring story characters to life and act out our stories, and try to get the kids involved as much as possible. We decided to do joint stories as a way to show the families that instead of just reading the stories in a book they could just act it out, which creates a whole new level of fun and learning! Plus, it's a great excuse for two Children's Librarians to get completely silly and to put their acting skills to the test.

At the end of each program we also took the time to say that this is one way to get more involved with their child. It's play! Make it fun! Dive into those stories and live them instead of just reading them once or twice. We explained to the caregivers that it is really easy to make costumes with things from home, and felt is super inexpensive and easy to work with to make headbands. We hope that they will become more involved in their child's reading and exploration of stories.

Today we celebrated the amazingly awesome author Jan Thomas! 

HOW DID IT GO?
It was GREAT! AWESOME! The best one yet! It was a wonderful way to for us to finish the summer storytime season with the families and one daycare that have been coming to our program the whole season. We moved our Preschool Storytime to our large program room so that all the children (especially the daycare group) had plenty of space to be active. Also, it allowed PiC and I to run around the entire group. We even got to use the stage for one of our stories (now I know how our special summer performers feel... which is awesome! P.S. you can probably tell by now that I love the word "awesome"... everything is awesome!). I can't wait till we get to do this again.

BOOKS
Can You Make a Scary Face? written and illus. by Jan Thomas (T, P)
We started with this book first. It helped get the wiggles out, but also it helped explain why PiC and I were dressed as ladybugs (see Props below). In Toddler Storytime we were in our normal storytime room, so we didn't run around as much. However, in the Preschool program we were in our large room, which allowed me (acting as the giant frog with a puppet) and PiC to run completely around the room and the group of children, which all of them loved. I would stop every so often to ask a child if s/he could make a scary face, which they would and I would go on screaming again. 

Is Everyone Ready for Fun? written and illus. by Jan Thomas (T, P) 
This was our second book. I wore my cow ear headband while PiC wore a yellow hoodie and a chicken comb headband. We used a large piece of red felt for my sofa. We also handed each child a sofa that was printed on red paper. They were suppose to be cows too and jump on a sofa. This was so much fun! 

Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy written and illus. by Jan Thomas (P) 
We only did this story with the Preschool group because we knew that Toddlers wouldn't last through two stories. Even though we practiced it to be just like the book, we ad-libbed a bit on this one to stretch it out and make it even funnier. I was the "brave" cowgirl and PiC and the children were the little cows. I used my ukulele and sang the lullaby (the first time I've played and sang with my uke in a storytime!!!). We used a giant sunflower, a dowel rod, and a coyote puppet as our props. When it came to have the large lumbering bear, I simply got close to the audience so that CiP was behind me. It worked out great!

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!) 

Five Little Ladybugs (T, P) 

Five Little ladybugs climbing up a door,
One flew away then there were four.
Four little ladybugs sitting on a tree,
One flew away then there were three.
Three little ladybugs landed on a shoe,
One flew away and then there were two.
Two little ladybugs looking for fun,
One flew away then there was one.
One little ladybug sitting in the sun,
She flew away and then there were none.
Source: rhyme found by colleague. Small Town Story Time Lady has also shared it.

FLANNEL BOARDS
Five Little Ladybugs (T, P)
This flannel board was created by another Children's Librarian in our library system.

ACTIVITIES
Egg Shakers (T) 
Shake 'em eggs!

Animal Movement and Sounds with the Giant Die (P)
We borrowed a giant inflatable die from a fellow Children's Librarian and taped pictures of animals and an associated movement or sound. PiC and I rolled the die between the two of us and which ever animal was on top the children had to do. The kids loved it! We had "Hop like a Bunny," "Howl like a Coyote," "Wiggle like a Worm," "Flutter like a Ladybug," "Snap like an Alligator," and "Moo like a Cow." 

CRAFT
Ladybug Has Four Dots coloring page (T, P) 
This was a simple craft for both storytime groups. We made our own ladybug image after being inspired by a clip art found that a Michelle Webster created on Clker.com. For the spots we used a little circle die cut. All the children had to do was color and glue their dots on!

Ladybug Has Four Sports, storytime craft,
created by Dorothy (and PiC) WP-CC, 2014

PROPS
When doing storytime skits...  you need props and costumes!

A selection of our costumes, Dorothy WP-CC, 2014

Ladybug Shirts 
Just wear a red shirt and tape black spots (construction paper works wonders!) on to it! 

Animal Headbands 
I made the cow ear headbands from a pattern I got from Ashley's Craft Corner blog, which has great templates! As for the chicken comb... I just made it up! I cut the red felt folded in half so that the waves were matching. Before I glued the sides together I glued a pipe cleaner down the center so that it could bend to the wearer's head. Now, like with the cow ears (and horns) I made it so that the pieces could be slipped off the headbands. For the children comb I simply cut a slit in the middle of the piece and slipped it onto the headband. Think mohawk style!

Brave Cowboy or Cowgirl Props 
For this story I work an old baggy westerny style shirt and CiP's hat for my costume. I was really glad that I had my ukulele because it was a perfect touch!

As for the items that the Brave Cowboy was afraid off, we used a large sunflower and a dowel rod as our props. Super simple. For the wolf, we placed our puppet on a podium at one end of the room.

Ukulele 
As I mentioned before I played my ukulele and sang the lullaby during the Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy skit. I didn't do any major strumming, but you really didn't need to because you're playing a lullaby melody. I saw the sheet music for the lullaby posted to the Missouri Building Block Award's board for the book. Sometimes translating guitar chords works well for ukulele, but this time around it didn't work for me. So, I created my own! Here's what I did:

The Brave Cowboy Lullaby

  C                C               F            C
It's time for little cows/us to rest their heads.
      C                 C              F       G7
It's time for little cows/us to go to bed.
      C                 C               F          C
It's time for little cows/us to sleep so tight.
   C         C      F     G7   C
It's time for us to say goodnight. 

Obviously, you have to go through the "EEEEEK! Is that a huge hairy spider over there?" and so on, but it's so awesome. You can obviously changed the uke chords to something that works better for you and your singing ability. 

TIPS 
If you're interested in doing a storytime skit or something more along the lines of a skit, here are some tips that will hopefully help you be prepared!

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.

Dress accordingly. PiC and I decided that we would simply where the same colors for

After effect. After the program, especially when it was a success, be prepared to be tired but extremely pumped. The Storytime High is in full effect! Enjoy it. Love it. Bask in it. You deserve it!

Squirrels! - A Storytime Outline

Families and I celebrated the little land creature - squirrels! At first I was a little apprehensive with the theme because I didn't know if I would be able to find enough stories or activities that would be great for my storytimes.  But I did! The programs were a huge success! The books were a great choice. The songs were fun.

LETTER OF THE DAY
 Since we squirrels was a the theme the Letter of the Day was "S." I asked the children to name words that begin with that letter. I had answers like "shark," "sun," "sky," "seed," "sea," "sandcastle," "spider," "snowflake," and "snake." I had some pieces from other flannel boards to help enhance the answers.

BOOKS
Nuts to You! written and illus. by Lois Ehlert (T)
I was wondering how the families would react to this story since the text is very simple and the illustrations were so close up. But, I was wrong! They loved it, especially when I shouted "Nuts to you!". 

The Busy Little Squirrel written and illus. by Nancy Tafuri (T)
To get the toddlers more into the story I asked them to help me identify each of the animals and make their animal noise.

Scaredy Squirrel written and illus. by Melanie Watt (P)
I find that reading this story you have to very dynamic and funny. The children loved this book! If you have the time - make props!

Erroll written and illus. by Hannah Shaw (P)
This story went better than I expected. They thought it was funny and silly, especially at the ending.

Ol' Mama Squirrel written and illus. by David Ezra Stein 
I had planned to read this during Preschool Storytime, but we were having so much fun with the other rhymes and stories that we didn't get to it. It happens. This is a fun book too. I was going to have the children make the "chook, chook" noise!  

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!) 

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel (T, P) 
Before you begin, have the children practice sharking and swishing their pretend squirrel tails! 
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel
Swish your bushy tail!
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel
Wrinkle your funny nose!
Hold nuts between your toes (dance on tippy toes!)
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel
Swish your bushy tail!
Shake your bushy tail!
Mix up the actions to make it a suspenseful yet fun action rhyme!
Modified from Grey Source: Small Town Story Time Lady

Five Little Squirrels (T, P) 
Tune: Five Little Ducks 
1 little squirrel went out to play
Up in the branches one autumn day.
He had such enormous fun,
He called for another little squirrel to come.

2 little squirrels...
3 little squirrels...
4 little squirrels...

5 little squirrels went out to play
Up in the branches one chilly day.
They had such enormous fun,
Then all scurried home 'cause winter had come.
Note: you can change the season if you need to. I switched it to Summer and they went home because it started to rain (we had a really rainy morning we had our storytime).
Source: Storytime Stuff  

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
Five Little Squirrels  (T, P)
This rhyme is so much fun because you're counting UP and not down, which is typical for counting rhymes. I made simple squirrels for this rhyme by using the template created by Melanie Fitz that was shared on the Storytime Stuff blog. I didn't make a tree branch or anything to go with the the squirrels, but I did place them on the lower portion of my flannel boar and moved them up when another one joined in on the fun.
Source: Storytime Stuff 

"Little Squirrel, Little Squirrel" Guessing Game (P)
I really wanted a guessing game rhyme like "Little Mouse, Little Mouse," and I essentially made one. However, I could not come up with a rhyme to go with it. So! All I did was have the children recite, "Little Squirrel, little squirrel, where are you?" before I asked them if a squirrel was hiding behind a certain felt item. This game was a HUGE hit with the preschoolers. Whenever they found a squirrel the room would erupt in loud cheers of victory! Awesome!

When it came to making the felt pieces (tree, bird feeder, bird bath, acorns, and leaves) I mostly drew everything by hand. The leaves was the only thing that came from a die cutter. For the bird feeder I used a piece of scrap laminate and some bird seeds from home to create an "authentic" look.

"Little Squirrel, Little Squirrel" flannel board,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2014.

ACTIVITIES
Movement Scarves Dancing (T)
Instead of the usual egg shakers I had the toddlers dance around with the movement scarves. I played one song on the iPod to get them loosened up. Then we played Freeze Dance. This was the first time that I have ever done Freeze Dance with Toddlers, and I was very happy with the result... they knew what they were doing! Yay! The families loved it!

"Little Squirrel, Little Squirrel" Guessing Game (P)
See above.

Tree Hopping (T, P) 
I came across this simple activity while searching the web for more interactive things to for the children to do. This was perfect (especially since my Room of Requirement had two hula hoops handy). I taped die cut leaves to the hoops to make them more tree-like. For Toddler Time I had the little ones jump from one "tree" to another after they picked their craft bag. Since the Preschool Time program was very large (34 children total!) I couldn't do that. So! Instead, they tree hopped as they left the program room after they finished their craft. I even had a couple of parents jump from tree to tree too!
Source: Twiggle Magazine

CRAFT 
Ss is for Squirrel Activity Page (T, P)
Since it's summer I really wanted a simple craft (Hey! There's a lot of S's in that sentence!). So I created an activity sheet that the children could color, glue a letter S to, and, for the older kids, answer questions. The body of the squirrel came from a Mailbox image and I erased the tail. The letter S was created by die cutting, and it was glued to the squirrel to be its tail. I typed out a few words that began with the letter S and left empty spaces for the children to write their own words. Several of the children did a really good job at doing this. I also had a little question tucked down in the corner of the page: What do squirrels eat? A couple of children new the answer (acorns or nuts). The is was a perfect craft for everyone!

Squirrel Storytime Craft, created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2014

The Name is Frog... Bullfrog

Yesterday we welcomed an animal expert at my library today for our weekly summer reading program event. Ms. B showed some amazingly cool animals and shared great information about them. One of two that I can't get out of my head is the West African Burrow Bullfrog. He's a giant fellow and was quite mellow as he was walked around the room of the one hundred plus children and guardians. You're like, "Wow! That's a huge frog," especially after you learn that he'll double his size (he was currently the size squished honeydew mellon). And then... Ms. B talked about the what he ate. Insects. Sure. Detectible. Mice? Yes. Wait! What??? Mice?! Yes. They eat mice. And to help them swallow said creature they use their buggy eyes, which pop out of their head, to push the little thing in! Gulp! Wow. I'm still in shock!

So! What does a Children's Librarian do when you got mice-eating bullfrogs on the brain? Why, make a reading list about frogs and toads, of course!

• Toads on Toast written by Linda Bailey and illus. by Colin Jack
• The Frog Who Wanted to See the Sea written and illus. by Guy Billout
• Toad written and illus. by Ruth Brown
• Frogs written and illus. by Gail Gibbons
• Gem written and illus. by Holly Hobbie
• Jump, Frog, Jump! written by Robert Kalan and illus. by Byron Barton
• Excuse Me! written and illus. by Lisa Kopelke
• Frog and Toad books written and illus. by Arnold Lobel 
• The Frogs and Toads All Sang books written by Arnold Lobel and illus. by Adrianne Lobel
• Froggy books written by Jonathan London and illus. by Frank Remkiewicz
• Ah Ha! written and illus. by Jeff Mack 
• Once There Was A Bull... (Frog) written by Rick Walton and illus. by Greg Hally 
• Bullfrog Pops!  written by Rick Walton and illus. by Chris McCallister 
• The Biggest Frog in Australia written and illus. by Susan Roth
• Hop Jump written and illus. by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Tuesday written and illus. by David Wiesner
• Big Frog Can't Fit In: A Pop-Up Book written and illus. by Mo Willems

Do you have a favorite frog or toad story book?

P.S. The other creature that is on my mind is the coatimundi, which is a mammal native to Texas. I got to hold a six-month, bottle fed little one. She was so wiggly and curious, and her paws were uber soft like baby toes. SO ADORABLE!

Ocean Stories - A Storytime Outline

This storytime theme was used for my summer kick-off storytime day! My library system creates its own Summer Reading Program theme in lieu of following the Collaborative Summer Library Program theme. This year it's "Make A Splash: READ." To along with that many of the summer storytime themes will be connected with ocean life and the beach. Today we celebrated the Ocean!

I have been working on introducing new elements to my storytimes - especially in the real of early literacy. So far I've added in the Letter of the Day concept, which I'm easing into the program. During summer it's harder to help the little ones do letter recognition and word relation when you have school-age siblings shouting it out all the time. I'm sure that by the time the fall season begins I'll have it all planned out. I've also started having reusable name tags again, which adds a refreshing excitement to the programs again.

BOOKS
One Giant Splash: A Counting Book About the Ocean written by Michael Dahl and illus. by Todd Ouren (T)
The families loved this book. I like how it showed different sea creatures that the children may not have known about yet.

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean written and illus. by Kevin Sherry (T, P)
This is such a fun book! The guardians, especially, enjoyed the humor of the squid discovering that it is, in fact, not the the biggest thing in the ocean.

Wow! Ocean written and illus. by Robert Neubecker (P)
Initially I thought to share this with the Toddler Time group, but knew that all the detailed illustrations may be lost on the little ones. The Preschoolers (and older siblings) liked it more.

Tickly Octopus written and illus. by Ruth Galloway (P)
This was a nice book; however, the children weren't as into it as I would've liked them to be.

SONGS AND 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 
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!) 

Five Little Star Fish (T, P)
Five little starfish by the shore,
The yellow one got lost and that left four.
For little starfish in the sea,
the blue one swam far, far away and that left three.
The red one took a seahorse ride and that left two.
Two little starfish in the sun,
The orange one took a dive and that left one.
One little starfish swimming along,
It was time for him to go home and that left none.
Inspiration Source: Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime 

The Fish in the Ocean (T, P) 
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus
The fish in the ocean go swish, swish, swish, (Make a swimming motion)
Swish, Swish, Swish,
Swish, Swish, Swish,
The fish in the ocean go swish, swish, swish,
All through the sea!

Lobsters... snip, snip, snip (making pinching motion with fingers)
Sharks... chomp, chomp, chomp (chomp with your arms)
Stingrays... flap, flap, flap (move arms in slow, flying motions)
Crabs... skit, skit, skit (run in place or from side to side)
Source: Read it again, Mom! 

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.

ACTIVITIES
Egg Shakers (T)
The toddlers love egg shakers. We have a number of new young ones who are still learning to throw caution to the wind and shake their little hearts out.

FLANNEL BOARDS
The Fish in the Ocean (T, P) 
I loved the song that I found over at Read it again, Mom!, especially since it was in a tune that I know really well. To help the children get into the song I made flannel pieces. When it came to creating the flannel pieces I used Microsoft Word clip art for most pieces. The shark template came from Sarah over at Repeat Crafter Me (I've used the shark template for everything this summer!).  When it came to the stingray I hand cut a shape that worked for me. I'm happy to report that the children did guess "stingray" when I asked what it was. Whew!

The Fish in the Sea flannel board,
created by Dorothy WPCC, 2014.

It's hard to tell, but my crab is more of a coral color. I added the water background to not only make it more ocean-like, but it I didn't want to lose my lobster and crab in the felt background. I'm still getting use to the bright red flannel board on our new storytime easel. It is bright!

Five Little Starfish (T, P) 
This is a flannel board that I created a couple years ago with some uber cute starfish. To see how I made it pop on over my Flannel Friday post HERE.

LETTER OF THE DAY 
"O" for ocean, octopus (T, P)
I cut out felt letters to put on my flannel board.

CRAFT
Mini Whales (T, P) 
I discovered this whale on Pinterest and fell in love. The source site is in a foreign language, but you can figure out how to make the whale by following the step-by-step pictures. It was a little hard for some toddlers to make, but the preschoolers did an awesome job. For sake of simplification for the children I did not have two whale pieces. I simply cut out a strip of construction paper with a stub on one end a tail on the other. As for the water spout, I used a fringed cut rectangle. Tri-fold this then fold the bottom portion to glue to the head of the whale. Of course, you have to ask the kids if they can speak whale when they're done! Many of my children are fluent!
Source: Krokotak 

Mini Whale craft, created by Dorothy WPCC, 2014

MORE BOOKS
Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea written b Jan Peck and illus. by Valerie Petrone
I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean written and illus. by Kevin Sherry
Somewhere in the Ocean written by Jennifer Ward and T.J. Marsh and illus. by Kenneth J. Spangler
Swim! Swim! written by and illus. Lerch
Hello, Ocean! written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illus. by Astrella
Rub-A-Dub Sub written by Linda Ashman and illus. by Jeff Mack

* Book images were taken from www.goodreads.com 

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