storytime katie

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

Freight Train by Donald Crews***
I Love Trains! by Philemon Sturges***
I’m Fast! by Kate and Jim McMullan
Trains by Byron Barton*

Early Literacy Tip
Be sure to share factual books with your children. Follow their interests, whether in a particular animal, in how things work, in trains, or in anything else the piques their curiosity.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Anna and the Cupcakes***

Featured Track: #3 Train Song***

Flannelboard: “Clickety-Clack”***

Repeating Extension Activities

• Clap Your Hands***
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
• This Is Big, Big, Big***
• Wiggle Your Finger & Stomp Your Feet**
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom**

How It Went

Tuesday morning
My favorite thing about this morning is a toss-up between TWO things actually. One is a little boy who was so sad that his grandpa didn’t come in storytime and then found out our theme was trains and cheered up immediately! The second thing is leading a train around the room to the TRAIN SONG wearing a conductor hat, scarf, and blowing a train whistle. Also: getting toddlers up to move around and settling down with “Zoom Zoom Zoom” is perfection!

Thursday morning (9:30)
One of my newer toddlers high-fived me on the way into the storytime room — caregiver informed me that means I’m in the club. I consider that my proudest accomplishment this week! This group was more reserved, but that meant that I read through three books with them. Also in toddler news: we have a new big sister in the class and she was very proud to announce it during our “Name…Oops” fingerplay.

Thursday morning (10:30)
In this group, I only have three returning toddlers from last session. That meant that TODAY was the first time many of them had ever done “Zoom Zoom Zoom”. That, of course, meant that we repeated it three times to the delight of toddlers everywhere. This grouped absolutely needed to get up and move and TRAIN SONG was the perfect opportunity.

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

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.***
Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Meeow and the Blue Table by Sebastien Braun
Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia***

Early Literacy Tip
You don’t actually need to read books aloud to your children in order for them to benefit. Simply looking at and talking about the illustrations in books help children develop appreciation for the visual arts.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Ralph’s World***

Featured Track: #8 All My Colors

Flannelboard: Lots of Cars***

Props: Green Says Go***

Repeating Extension Activities

• Elevator Song***
• Everyone Can March*
• This Is Big, Big, Big***
• Thumbkin**
• Wiggle Your Finger & Stomp Your Feet*

How It Went

Tuesday morning
What an excellent storytime! (I am so happy it went perfectly today because I had a neighboring librarian observing. Toddler time can be so unpredictable.) Parents and caregivers were really into both books today Toot Toot Beep Beep and Brown Bear, Brown Bear since they provided so many opportunities for participation. As always, the “Elevator Song” is always a crowd pleaser. On the way out, a parent told me that I’m a “rock star” in their house.

Thursday morning (9:30)
I’m noticing for whatever reason that this session, I can basically stick to the same plan for each group. It’s some kind of MAGIC that’s going on, but it makes my life so much easier in terms of book selection and knowing what comes next. I had a full crowd this morning and some more reluctant movers, so “Thumbkin” and “Elevator Song” were great. This group really liked leaving their parents to sit in front of me to hear the books today!

Thursday morning (10:30)
This was a super quiet group of kiddos. We only had twelve toddlers (out of a possible twenty) which makes the whole dynamic of the group shift. I had one toddler who just wanted to zoom around the whole time, but had a great involved caregiver who was engaging and staying with their toddler’s energy. Their favorite moment was definitely reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear all together.

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

Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee***
I Went Walking by Sue Williams*
Peek-a-Moo by Marie Cimarusti*
Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch by Mary Peterson and Jennifer Rofe*

Early Literacy Tip
By joyfully watching other children follow directions and applauding their success, you are teaching your children an important social skill — how to appreciate other people.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Rocketship Run***

Featured Track: #20 Farm (That’s What I Did)*

Flannelboard: “Open Up the Barn Door”***
Open up the barn door, the spring goes “Boink.”
There’s a pig in the barn, saying, “Oink, oink, oink.”
Open up the barn door before the clock strikes two.
There’s a cow in the barn, saying, “Moo, moo, moo.”
Open up the barn door, it’s a sunny day.
There’s a horse in the barn, saying, “Neigh, neigh, neigh.”
Open up the barn door, singing, “Tra-la-la.”
There’s a sheep in the barn, saying, “Baa, baa, baa.”
Open up the barn door, while the sky is blue.
There’s a rooster in the barn, saying, “Cock-a-doodle-do!”
Open up the barn door and don’t get off the track.
There’s a duck in the barn, saying, “Quack, quack, quack.”
Credit: Addison Public Library

Puppet Song: “When Cows Get Up in the Morning”**
When cows get up in the morning, they always say hello
When cows get up in the morning, they always say hello
And what do they say? Mooooooo
And that is what they say.
Credit: Jbrary

Repeating Extension Activities

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

How It Went

Tuesday morning
Week two always sees us adding a few new faces as people get moved up from the waitlist. This group was probably the most affected by those changes; they stuck pretty close to their caregivers because of all the new faces. That made Clip-Clop work SO GOOD as a bounce and a book that I almost cried from joy. I used the CD recording and because the group was so tentative, no one really got up and danced. I passed on the song for the next two groups.

Thursday morning (9:30)
I forgot my puppets for “When Cows Get Up in the Morning” for the Tuesday class. I remembered them for this class! When in doubt, hide things from toddlers and slowly pull them out. It’s magic! This was also reinforced by the flannelboard this week and I know the parents really got into that activity as well.

Thursday morning (10:30)
This class was another group that really enjoyed hiding things. I decided that Peek-a-Moo would be a natural choice and we spent the better part of storytime looking for hidden objects. 😀 I have some really great, involved parents in this group and several dads which I *love* seeing in storytime!

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