Preschoolers: Reptiles

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

Clarabella’s Teeth by An Vrombaut*
One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom**
Snip Snap What’s That? by Mara Bergman**
Turtle Island by Kevin Sherry

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Mr. Jon & Friends**

Featured Track: #6 Snake in the Grass

Flannelboard: Five Little Turtles*

Prop: Alpha-Gator*

Puppets: I Have a Little Turtle**
I have a little turtle (put hands on top of one another)
He lives in a box (make box)
He swims in a puddle (swimming motion)
He climbs on the rocks (climbing motion)
He snapped at a mosquito (clap)
He snapped at a flea (clap)
He snapped at a minnow (clap)
And he snapped at me (clap)
He caught the mosquito (cup hands together)
He caught the flea (cup hands together)
He caught the minnow (cup hands together)
But he didn’t catch me! (shake finger “no”)
Credit: Childhood

Letter of the Day: R**

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree*
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum
• Movement Cube

How It Went

Monday morning
Well, folks, it happened. I did a reptiles storytime after swearing for years never to do one. And it was wonderful! The kids absolutely loved the two books that we read Snip Snap, What’s That? and One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree. But! I will say that I think you need to know your group very well to read two “scary” books in a row. Since the library does registration, I not only know the names of patrons, but also the ages. And my classes are skewing towards a 4.5 year-old average age.

Tuesday morning
I had five extra kids (two six-year-olds, a five-year-old, and two four-year-olds) in class today because of spring break. I picked a good week to read the “scary” books! This group were very patient listeners and really wanted to engage with books this week, so we managed to read three books. All of the books are propped up on a table so the kids can see the titles as they come into class. My Tuesday class loves trying to guess the letter of the day based on the books I’ve got out. I also let them vote to pick what books to read this morning and that worked out great. We had some great discussions about covers and how they chose what book to vote on. They picked Clarabella’s Teeth because “it looks funny”. I asked them what made them think the book was funny and got a variety of answers: the toothbrush, her smile, “it just does”. It was just wonderful to hear their predictions and let them have some choices.