Toddlers: Birds

For more information on how I plan and prepare my toddler storytimes, check out this introduction post. And for a complete list of the repeating extension activities, visit this post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one session.

The Plan

Books

Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker**
Charlie Chick by Nick Denchfield & Ant Parker***
Early Bird by Toni Yuly***
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Early Literacy Tip
We often want to build on our children’s curiosity but don’t always know the answer to their questions. We can often discover the answers together in books.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Rise & Shine by Caspar Babypants***

Featured Track: #3 Silly Bird (with shaker eggs)***

Flannelboard: “Five Little Birds”***
One little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little birds so small;
One little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little birds on the wall.
Kitty Cat came from a nearby bush…..MEOW!
Gave the garden gate a push……SQUEEEEAK!
And one little, two little, three little, four little,
Five little birds went WHOOSH!
Credit: Lyrics Nursery Rhymes

Puppets: “Two Little Birds”***
Two little birds sitting on a hill
One named Jack, the other named Jill
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill
(Other verses: cloud/quiet & loud; pole/fast & slow)
Credit: Modified from childhood

Repeating Extension Activities

• My Thumbs Are Starting to Wiggle
• Open, Shut Them*
• This Is Big, Big, Big***
• Tick, Tock**
• Wiggle Your Fingers & Stomp Your Feet*

How It Went

Tuesday morning
I was prepared for a frustrating storytime since it was only twenty-four hours since we rolled the clocks back for daylight saving time. Poor kiddos don’t know why their stomachs say it’s lunch time and we’re still in storytime! I planned a pop-up book and shaker eggs to make storytime more fun than usual. And this group was angelic. No crying/screaming, no zooming around the room, full of participation from kids and parents, and we barely used any extension activities since the group was doing the best job of sitting. We got through THREE books! So good!!

Thursday morning (9:30)
This class was also really good. I read Early Bird with them and the parents acted out the prepositions in the story and it was so nice to see the parents really engaging with their kiddos. I brought the cat puppet around after our flannelboard rhyme to greet every child. This was a really great way to get the kids to rejoin with their caregivers because the kitty waited until they were together before nuzzling them or accepting a hug. We launched straight into a book after that!

Thursday morning (10:30)
I don’t know what’s going on with my 10:30 Thursday morning. I have a full twenty kids registered for class and I’m only seeing half of them each week. And it’s different kids each time! This group needed to move some more and I didn’t think we would get to read Charlie Chick because of their wandering attentions. But our shaker song saved us and pulled up back together. Thanks, Caspar Babypants!