Families: Hats, Mittens, & Scarves

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

Little Owl’s Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney**
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Red Hat by Lita Judge
Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kushkin*

Early Literacy Tip

It is difficult for children to isolate finger movement. However, it is necessary for holding a pen or pencil to write. That’s why we practice finger plays and rhymes!

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Carole Peterson Stephens’s “H.U.M. Highly Useful Music Kids Can Sing”*

Featured Track: #2 The Mitten Song*

Flannelboard: “Froggy Gets Dressed”*

Flannelboard: “FIve Little Snowmen”*

Prop Song: “Boots, Jacket, Scarf, & Hat”*
(I brought all my winter wear in and put it on prior to singing the song with the kids. It was one of those days in the library when the heat was on full-blast. Yikes, I was warm!)

Repeating Extension Activities

I had four back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I rarely used them, but here they are:

• Dance Your Fingers Up*
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Thumbkin

How It Went

Everyone laughed so hard when I was getting dressed in my winter wear. One of my little girls was very upset when I was matching the snowmen’s scarves and doing it wrong on purpose. “Little Owl’s Scarf” was a great success and a book that I was glad worked so well in storytime. And as always, there were huge laughs during “Froggy Gets Dressed”!