Boxes!

The Plan

Books

Magic Box by Katie Cleminson
Meeow and the Big Box by Sebastien Braun
My Book Box by Will Hillenbrand
Not a Box by Antoniette Portis
Sitting In My Box by Dee Lillegard

Flannelboards

Flannel Activity: Boxes

Flannel: Dear Zoo

Extension Activities

Puppets: “Here Is a Box”
Here is a box where something is hid
I wonder whatever is under there
Could it be? Why, yes!
Without any doubt, it is a _______
Let it come out!
Credit: Perry Public Library

Action Rhyme: “I Like to Be a Jumping Jack”
I like to be a jumping jack
And jump out from a box
I like to be a rocking horse
And rock and rock and rock.
I like to be a spinning top
And spring around and round
I like to be a rubber ball
And bounce right to the ground
Credit: Perry Public Library

Fingerplay: “Little Turtle”
I had a little turtle (hands on top of each other, move thumbs)
Who lived in a box (make box)
He swam in the puddles and climbed on the rocks (with hands swim, climb)
He snapped at a mosquito (clap), he snapped at a flea (clap)
He snapped at a minnow (clap), and he snapped at me (clap)
He caught the mosquito (cup hands), he caught the flea (cup hands),
He caught the minnow (cup hands), but he didn’t catch me! (wag finger)
Credit: Childhood/Library School

Craft

This idea came from Sarah at Awesome Storytime. She did it for her tools storytime. I tried to stick with mostly box shapes, but I threw in some half-circles and triangles so that the kids could really get creative! The kids made castles, boats, spaceships, and houses.

How It Went

This was a great storytime to have — the kids loved the interactive flannelboard and as always, “Dear Zoo” was a smash hit. Their favorite book was probably “Magic Box.” The kids were just fascinated by the different things that were conjured up (and of course, the polar bear pet is a great wish for every child!) and the colorful spreads. They especially had fun pointing out all of the food in the birthday party food spread.

15 comments on “Boxes!

  1. Amy
    January 18, 2012 at 12:40 pm #

    What a great theme! I never would have thought it, and it sounds like lots of fun!

    • Katie
      January 18, 2012 at 2:49 pm #

      It was a ton of fun!

  2. Ashley
    February 4, 2012 at 1:41 pm #

    Hi Katie-
    LOVE your blog. 🙂 We do a box themed storytime, too. Another great one is “Special Delivery” by Brigitte Weninger. It’s out of print, but maybe you can get your hands on it. If someone on staff has recently made a big purchase, we love to bring in a huge box and have the kids crawl through it to get into and out of the storytime room. They love that part. 🙂

    • Katie
      February 4, 2012 at 1:52 pm #

      I wish that someone had bought a refrigerator — that would have been PERFECT.

  3. Miss Julie
    February 8, 2012 at 5:36 pm #

    BOX STORYTIME. GENIUS.

    • Katie
      February 9, 2012 at 12:55 pm #

      It was a GREAT time — highly recommended!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Props in Storytimes! | ALSC Blog - November 9, 2012

    […] some more box themed ideas? Try bringing in a big refrigerator box and hosting a storytime about boxes. Or you can make a memory box like Abby at Abby the […]

  2. Boxes: endless fun! | Art in the Stacks - December 18, 2013

    […] was our first time using the theme of boxes. I came across the idea on Storytime Katie’s webpage. We adapted it to fit our needs, but it was a great […]

  3. Boxes | itsybitsymom - January 9, 2014

    […] Thank you to StorytimeKatie for the great idea:  https://storytimekatie.com/2012/01/16/boxes/ […]

  4. Preschool Unit: Knights and Castles - June 17, 2014

    […] we did was a shape castle. I got the idea from a couple images on pinterest (specifically “Storytime Katie” and “The Ramblings and Adventures of a SAHM“) I cut a bunch of shapes out. Then […]

  5. Shape Recognition Castle - My Mundane and Miraculous Life - September 25, 2014

    […] we did was a shape castle. I got the idea from a couple images on Pinterest (specifically “Storytime Katie” and “The Ramblings and Adventures of a SAHM“) I cut a bunch of shapes out. Then […]

  6. Storytime Themes | Dandelions & Roses - April 6, 2015

    […] Storytime Katie () – Alphabet – Animals at Night – Apples – Art – Babies – Bathtime – Beach, Bears 2 – Bedtime 2 – Birds 2 – Birthdays – Boats – Boxes,Bugs 2 – Camping – Chickens – Christmas – Clothes – Clouds & Rainbows – Colors 2, Counting – Crabs – Dance – Dinosaurs – Ducks – Easter –Emotions – Fairy Tales – Fall 2 – Fall Animals – Family – Farm 2 3 – Fish – Food – Friends – Frogs – Fruits & Vegetables – Halloween – Hats – Hello, Goodbye– Houses & Homes – Hugs & Kisses – Imagination – Jobs – Jungle – Library – Love – Me – Messy – Mice – Monkeys – Monsters 2 3 – Moon & Stars –Names – Numbers – Nursery Rhymes – Ocean – Opposites – Owls 2 – Penguins – Pets – Pigs – Pizza – Play & Pretend – Pirates – Pumpkins & Apples –Puppies – Rainy Days – Rabbits – School – Sea Creatures – Shapes – Sheep – Sick & Get Well – Snow – Spring 2 – Spring Animals – Starry Night – Summer2 – Things That Go – Tools – Trains – Transportation – Trucks – Valentine’s Day – Wild Animals – Winter – Winter Animals – Zoo. […]

  7. Storytime Blogs and Their Themes | Dandelions & Roses - June 23, 2015

    […] Bears 2 – Bedtime 2 – Birds 2 – Birthdays – Boats – Boxes, Bugs 2 – Camping – Chickens – Christmas – Clothes – Clouds […]

  8. Boxes | Leah the Librarian - November 25, 2015

    […] got the idea for this wonderful theme from Storytime Katie. I horded cardboard boxes for the months before this program and put them out during playtime. The […]

  9. Family Storytime: Boxes – Storytime with Ms. Emily Library - January 14, 2022

    […] Blocks Craft and Box Coloring PageTwo crafts today! I used an idea from Storytime Katie for a very simple 2D blocks craft, making some random squares, rectangles, triangles, half circles, […]

Leave a comment