Month: March 2014

Construction!

The Plan

Books

construction2014

Dig, Dogs, Dig by James Horvath
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Roadwork by Sally Sutton
Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “If You Have a Red Truck”
If you have a red truck, a red truck,
If you have a red truck, bring it to the board!

Flannelboard: “Red Crane, Red Crane, What Do You See?”

Song: “Construction Worker Song”
This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning
(saw the wood, turn the screwdriver, drill a hole, stack the bricks, stir the paint, paint the walls)
Credit: Everything Preschool

Song: “Dump Truck” (Tune: Ten Little Indians)
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuump out the load.
Credit: Pre-K

Craft

20140227-135158.jpg

This is the same exact craft that I used in Road Work Ahead. I had a lot of extras from the program and felt like it would be a waste to recycle them. For storytime though, I had teen volunteers cut out the pieces and pre-assemble the construction trucks so that my little kids could just color.

How It Went

Thursday morning
The kids were pretty restless this morning. The “Construction Worker” song went on for a very long time to get those wiggles out. And thankfully, Anna’s idea of using scarves to act out “Tip Tip Dig Dig” worked really well at getting their Construction!energy out!

Friday morning
My Friday group was on the quieter side so titles like “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site” worked a lot better. They had a really good time with the “Red Crane, Red Crane, What Do You See?” flannelboard — tons of the kids knew the rhythm of the story and chanted along with me.

March 31, 2014 7 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Flannel Friday: Ten Fluffy Chickens

I have a great springtime rhyme for you today: Ten Fluffy Chickens!

This wonderful flannelboard came from the one and only Melissa at Mel’s Desk. This was another of my first flannels and posting about it in bird storytime resulting in Melissa commenting on my blog for the first time ever. (Which…um…I totally didn’t fangirl or run around my job squeeing about. No matter what you might have heard.)

Here’s the rhyme:

Ten Fluffy Chickens
Five eggs and five eggs
And that makes ten
Sitting on top is Mother Hen
Cackle, cackle, cackle
And what do I see?
Ten fluffy chickens
Yellow as can be!

And for the pattern, I used Microsoft clip art to get the images. You can also use Melissa’s (or my) picture, blow it up and print it out if you don’t have access to clip art. Or find some new clip art of your own!

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Brooke will be hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

March 28, 2014 15 Comments Short URLFlannels

Kevin Henkes

The Plan

Books

kevinhenkes

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes
My Garden by Kevin Henkes
Old Bear by Kevin Henkes

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Three Little Kittens”

Action Rhyme: “Big Yellow Moon”
Big yellow moon shines so bright, (circle overhead)
Glides across the starry night (arms left to right)
Looks down at me (hand shades eyes)
Asleep in bed, (head on hands)
Whispers, “Good night sleepyhead.” (shh)
Big yellow moon, your turn is done (move arms down)
Here comes Mr. Morning Sun (circle overhead)
I wake up. (arms stretch out)
You go to bed. (head on hands)
“Sleep well, Moon, you sleepyhead.” (shh)
Credit: King Country Library System

Song & Puppet: “Sleepy Bear” (Tune: “Thumbkin”)
Where is bear? Where is bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
(Have kids shout “WAKE UP BEAR” to do the song again.)
Credit: Preschool Education

Craft

Since coloring sheets have gone over so well at the daycare, I’ve decided to go ahead and keep using them. The teachers love the sheets and the practice the kids get with holding crayons.

How It Went

Kevin Henkes is an author that just draws the kids in through illustrations. “Old Bear” is one of my all-time favorite storytime book and was absolutely the reason that I chose to do this storytime. I’ve never met a group that didn’t sit quietly, thoroughly engaged with that book and I’m pleased to say this storytime continued that streak. Also, “Sleepy Bear” is possible my absolute favorite puppet rhyme to do.

March 27, 2014 2 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Pajama Storytime (September)

After the library stopped hosting “Afternoon Storytime” and a trial program of “Starry Night Stories”, I made the decision to start a monthly “Pajama Storytime” session at the library. I wanted to give families the chance to enjoy hearing stories together — and especially wanted to try again to host an evening program. Our suggested age range is ages 0 to 7 and their families, which means I sometimes get a few older siblings. The goal in this program is simple: foster a love of reading and particularly of reading together as a family!

The Plan

Books

pajamastorytime-sept

Back to Bed, Ed by Sebastien Braun
A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read MacDonald

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Papa, Please Get the Moon”

Rhyme Wheel: “Hey Diddle Diddle”

Rhyme: “Good Night”
One fluffy quilt on my bed,
Two little pillows on my head,
Three teddy bears to hold tight
Four kisses from Mom for a restful night,
Five hugs from Dad, and off goes my light!
Good night!
Credit: Canton Public Library

Rhyme Card

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Each month will have a different rhyme that we do at storytime and then send parents home with the words. This is a picture of the rhyme cards after quite a few months. This month was “Hey Diddle Diddle.”

How It Went

The Squeaky Door. Holy cats, THE SQUEAKY DOOR. I saw this performed live last spring and this book captured my heart. It is funny. It has animal noises. It’s repetitive. It’s great for an older crowd or mixed audience. And it absolutely won this storytime. Hands down, favorite book.

March 26, 2014 4 Comments Short URLFamily Storytime

Tools!

The Plan

Books

toolssummer14

Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman
Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia
The Toolbox by Anne Rockwell
Toolbox Twins by Lola Schaefer

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Toolbox Match-Up”

Fingerplay: “Five Little Nails”
Five little nails, standing straight and steady
Here I come with my hammer ready!
Bam, bam, bam! That nail goes down.
Now there’s just four nails left to pound.
(count down)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Song: “Construction Worker Song”
This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning
(Saw the wood, turn the screwdriver, drill a hole, stack the bricks, stir the paint, paint the walls)
Credit: Everything Preschool

Craft

20140227-135215.jpg

This was another Oriental Trading kit — a photo frame that came ready to be decorated with foam tool stickers. The kids love sticker crafts and a lot of them covered up the photo part with more tool stickers!

How It Went

Thursday morningTools!
“Five Little Nails” is storytime gold if you haven’t used it before. The kids love shouting along with me and pounding down their nails, and are very enthusiastic about the fingerplay. Definitely add it to your to-learn list. Also, Emma Garcia books. Add those to your lists if you haven’t used them.

Friday morning
This group loved, loved, loved “Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop.” I had a lot of kids who quickly picked it up and sang along with me. They also went nuts for “Five Little Nails” as well. Seriously, add it to your list!

March 25, 2014 3 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Explore the World: Water

In response to the STEAM movement (and with great thanks to such great inspiration & encouragement from colleagues: Amy, Abby, and Kendra), this past fall I started a STEAM storytime series at the library. This is primarily aimed at preschoolers and their families, registration open to ages 3-7 in our library.

exploretheworld

Books & Group Activities

Opening Activity
Building blocks from Kendra.
“Building Blocks”
(Tune of Good Night Ladies)
Hello ________
Hello ________
Hello ________
Come build something with your blocks!

Books

exploretheworld-water

All the Water In the World by George Ella Lyon
Rain by Manya Stojic
Wow! Ocean! by Robert Neubecker

I started off with “All the Water In the World” since it explains the water cycle in a fun, easy, approachable manner. Then I segued into the kids naming places that had water and I wrote them down on a piece of butcher block paper. I pulled out the different ocean animal flannelboards from the summer of 2010 and after doing the “Five Big Whales” flannelboard, I did some math problems with the animals and the kids. Then we read the last two books and talked about the rain and the different animals that live in the ocean.

Once we finished the group portion, it was time to move to the station activities.

Station Activities


Sink or Float?
I got this amazing idea from Amy’s post on the ALSC blog. I filled up our two dish pans with water and had five items (rubber duck, penny, popsicle stick, Lego, and crayon) out for the kids to toss into the water. This is the station that had the best discussions, in my opinion. Lots of caregivers talking about what the objects were made of and why metal sinks and wood floats. The most interesting thing for the kids were the crayons which floated if you dropped them in gently and sank if you plopped them in.

Does It Dissolve?
I got this idea from Hands On As We Grow. I raided the library’s cabinets of craft materials to sink what we dissolve. In the closets, we had sugar, flour, sprinkles, oatmeal, glitter, and drink mix. The kids loved stirring up their concoctions and I saw several of them stirring frantically trying to get the sprinkles to dissolve.


Water Diffusing Art
We had some leftover color diffusing craft kits from a previous summer reading event in our closets. I know that we got them from S&S Worldwide, but they are no longer available. If you’re doing this program on the cheap, you can also use coffee filters! Kids colored with markers and then used a spray bottle to spread the color. They had a great time with this, and always love taking crafts home.

Make It Melt!
This was be far the messiest station. I had an ice cube for each child. On the top were bowls with warm water, cold water, and salt. And I also had a ton of paper towels. The kids were encouraged to try and melt their ice cubes with the different bowl items. Lots of discovery about the effects of salt & warm water!

Take-Home Activities

I had another book display at the front of the room as always:

I also handed out these take-home packets as they left. Inside, there’s a booklist, an activity, and a coloring page. (They love coloring pages!) I grouped the sheets of “Sink of Float?” in this packet in case you all wanted to see that too.

And, here’s a super Pinnable image for you, if you’ve made it this far!

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I still have three more science programs to write up; keep your eyes out for them!

March 19, 2014 6 Comments Short URLSpecial Programming

Beyond Duct-Tape Wallets!

PLA Logo

While I don’t often post about my other programming and librarianing other than storytime here, I did want to take the time to highlight the AMAZING time that I had presenting at PLA this past week. I am so very lucky to count Angie, Drea, and Kelly as wonderful collaborators and great friends and I really think we nailed our presentation.

Here’s the official presentation description:

Beyond Duct Tape Wallets: Dynamic, Effective, and Community-Centered Teen Programs – PROGRAM
Thursday, March 13, 2:00–3:15 PM

Seeking new life for programs in your teen department? Trying to jumpstart teen programs with small staff and little experience? Join this panel of four seasoned teen programming librarians to find out how you and your library can create and maintain successful, dynamic, and cheap teen programs for a wide range of users. It can be done and this session will help you launch your next generation of programming for teens today!

We had a great time talking about our successes (Lock-Ins, Passive Programming, Partnerships), our failures (Anime Club for me!), and our collaborations (yes, we all took/borrowed/adapted Kelly’s chocolate wars event).

I wanted to take a few moments to highlight some programming write-ups that I did on Drea’s blog, Book Blather.

I also talked about a lot of other programming — if you were at the presentation and want a write-up, Drea has again offered to generously host my teen program write-ups. As I’m doing with my old storytime files, I’m also cleaning out my old teen files now that I’m in my new job, so now is the time to ask!

Our 300+ crowd at PLA.

Our 300+ crowd at PLA.

Thank you to everyone who did come; you were a great, interactive, participatory audience and I can easily say that I had the most fun ever presenting in Indy!

I’ve creating a Storify of all the tweets that used our hashtag, you can read that here.

I’ll close with a picture of all of us right outside the room:

Me, Drea, Sign (haha, I'm so funny), Kelly, Angie

Me, Drea, Sign (haha, I’m so funny), Kelly, Angie

March 18, 2014 6 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

Dirt, Sand, & Mud!

The Plan

Books

sandmuddirt14

Bebe Goes to the Beach by Susan Middleton Elya
Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beamont
Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Burningham
Sea, Sand, and Me! by Patricia Hubbell
Underground by Denise Fleming

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Clean and Dirty Pigs”

Flannelboard: “Five Pretty Sandcastles”
Five pretty sandcastles standing on the shore,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there were four.
Four pretty sandcastles standing by the sea,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there were three.
Three pretty sandcastles standing by the ocean blue,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there were two.
Two pretty sandcastles standing in the sun,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there was one.
One pretty sandcastle just out of reach,
The tide came in (whoosh!) but it stayed on the beach!
Credit: Storytime Secrets

Song: “We’re Going to the Beach”
We’re going to the beach,
We’re going to the beach.
I think we’ll see some sand there!
We’re going to the beach.
(water, fish, towels, whatever else they said!)
Credit: Storytime Secrets

Craft

20140227-135302.jpg

Yes, I attempted sand art at storytime! And I have to say, even to my surprise, it was a success! Three things that made this a remarkable joy: spoons + funnels + Tacky Glue. I put the sand in bowls for the kids to spoon into their funnels. I did have to buy additional funnels since the kit only came with two — but I would have had to do that anyways since this wasn’t the only sand art program we did last summer. And, of course, the caregivers were game to help their kiddos out which made it possible for me to man the finishing station where I put Tacky Glue inside the cap to permanently close the necklace.

How It Went

Thursday morning
I did this storytime on my birthday and it was a great theme given how much I love the beach! The kids had a great time with the flannelboards, which I left out for them to play with after storytime. My parents really enjoyed “Bebe Goes to the Beach” since it has some Spanish vocabulary in it. The kids were very fascinated with “Underground”, which was the book that inspired this whole storytime!

Friday morning
My Friday group loved all the mud activities today: “Mr. Gumpy” and “Five Clean and Dirty Pigs.” I had a lot of very excited kids when I flipped each pig — they weren’t expecting the mud to suddenly appear!

March 17, 2014 1 Comment Short URL, Family Storytime

Happy Anniversary, Flannel Friday!

ff-birthdayHappy 3rd anniversary, Flannel Friday!!!

I can’t even begin to express my appreciation for Flannel Friday and what it has done for me. You guys *saved* me when it came to professional learning and development. My first library was very small and for a number of more recent years, I was the only degree-holding children’s librarian. Flannel Friday and the contacts I made from it are invaluable to me. I wish we could all have a giant Internet hug right now. ::hug::

I will NEVER forget reading that PUBYAC post inviting us to participate and immediately settling down to write a post. So, I thought I’d do a little bit of everything: a bit of reflection, a peek at my to-do, and some of my personal favorites over the years.

I love seeing the evolution of flannelboards and the different intepretations of stories! We have a bunch of universal flannels, but one in particular seems to pop up everywhere, Dog’s Colorful Day: Me, before Flannel Friday even existed!, Nicole 4.27.11, Anne 5.27.11, Bridget 9.2.11, Danielle 3.2.12, Library Quine & Kendra 9.9.11, Tracey 4.13.12, Sarah’s dinosaur twist 5.18.12, Andrea 11.15.12, & Amy 2.21.14!

[If I missed your Dog post, please link it in the comments & I’ll update it!]

One of my favorite things are tutorials. Whether it’s how to store your materials (Lisa from Thrive After Three) to how make a board (Library Quine at Loons & Quines) or repurpose a board (Lisa at Libraryland) to mastering puffy paint (Mary at Miss Mary Liberry), to making your own patterns (Melissa at Mel’s Desk).

So, thanks again, Flannel Friday! Pretty soon it’ll be four years…five years…fifteen years with you still going strong!

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Anne is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

March 14, 2014 2 Comments Short URLFlannels

Flannel Friday: Ten Umbrellas & Raindrops

Another favorite flannelboard that I can’t believe I haven’t posted before! This is a super simple one to make and it can be used for so many different storytimes! I’ve used it in spring, rain, letter U, and number ten!

Flannelboard: “Ten Little Umbrellas & Ten Little Raindrops”
One little, two little, three little umbrellas
Four little, five little, six little umbrellas
Seven little, eight little, nine little umbrellas
Ten umbrellas up for the rain
Repeat with raindrops going on top of umbrellas – last line “Ten raindrops falling down.” Pull raindrops away, counting down – last line “No raindrops out today.” Pull umbrellas away, counting down – last line, “Everything’s put away!”

As for the pattern, I just used Microsoft clip art as my template. It was very easy to find both an umbrella and a raindrop.

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Anne will be hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

March 14, 2014 10 Comments Short URLFlannels

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