Outreach Storytime 4/21

I do a regularly scheduled (sometimes twice monthly and sometimes just monthly) at a local business that we’ve partnered with. For these storytimes geared towards ages 3-6, I’ve thrown out themes! I’m just reading favorites books, new books that strike my fancy, and doing favorite flannels/props/activities. Materials starred are the ones used at the storytime. Other than this difference, I’ll report on these like I do with all of my other storytimes.

The Plan

Books

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.
Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek*
Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd*
Fire Engine No. 9 by Mike Austin*
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli*

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Little Mouse”*

Flannelboard: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”*

Props: “Song Cube”*

Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys Swinging from the Tree”*

Action Rhyme: “Everyone Can March”*
Everyone can march, march, march
Everyone can march, march, march
Everyone can march, march, march
And now let’s make a stop.
Verses: clap, jump, tap, etc.
Credit: Jbrary

Fingerplay: “Dance Your Fingers Up”
Dance your fingers up, dance your fingers down
Dance your fingers to the side, dance them all around
Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on you head
Dance them on your tummy, and put them all to bed
Credit: Best Kids Book Site (Site no longer links)

How It Went

Today’s storytime was a pretty small crowd (only 18 when I’m normally in the 30s/40s), but I was able to re-introduce participation activities since it was a smaller crowd. Every kid got a chance to pick a color and pull the house off of the flannelboard. Every kid got to say an action for “Everyone Can March” and we did it together. Our most success book was Dog’s Colorful Day which I haven’t read in a storytime in such a long time! It was a treat to re-visit it since it’s one of my favorite books.