Toddlers: Water

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

Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beaumont**
Get Out of My Bath! by Britta Teckentrup*
Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins
Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera***

Early Literacy Tip
All children need to learn how to stop what they’re doing. Playing games that incorporate the concept of stop gives the child an opportunity to practice and hone their stopping skills.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Songs for Wiggleworms***

Featured Track: #11 If All of the Raindrops

Flannelboard: “Five Clean and Dirty Pigs”**

Flannelboard: “Ten Little Raindrops”

Repeating Extension Activities

• Egg Shakers Up***
• Put Your Shaker On***
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
• This Is Big, Big, Big***
• Tick, Tock**

How It Went

Monday morning (9:30)
This was a really full group! My grown-ups were engaged with both of our books today: Dini Dinosaur and <emRow, Row, Row Your Boat. I’ve been having trouble using the flannelboard with all of my toddler groups this session, and that continued into the start of the third week. But I’ve really enjoyed handing out a different prop every week and using two extension activities with the prop. Today’s prop of egg shakers was a smashing success!

Thursday morning (9:30)
A fabulous storytime this morning! All of the toddlers were really engaged throughout the whole half hour. And I managed to talk a little bit about soft skills thanks to Mary’s great post! Their favorite book was Row, Row, Row Your Boat with lots of participation. I broke out of my flannelboard funk with this class! They LOVED jumping into the mud with “Five Clean and Squeaky Pigs” and then helping me to wash the piggies before we put them away.

Thursday morning (10:30)
Today was a day for running. Lots of toddlers were zooming in this class (it probably had to do with the yucky weather outside and our smaller class number — more room to run), but I had a toddler have a breakthrough today! The toddler had been having a hard time participating and sitting still in the previous two classes, but this class stood right in the middle of the rug and kept having the best reactions to the books. When I asked the toddler if I should turn the page to hear what happens next, toddler shouted, “YES!” enthusiastically and clapped when I turned the page. So rewarding!