storytime katie

The Plan

Books

A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
I’m Not Cute by Jonathan Allen
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Whoo? Whoo? by David A. Carter
Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

Extension Activities

Action Song: “Owl Hokey Pokey”
You put your right wing in
You put your right wing out
You put your right wing in
And you flap it all about
You do the owl pokey and you fly yourself around
That’s what it’s all about! Hoo, hoo!
(left wing, right claw, left claw, beak, whole self)
Credit: Ms. Hegna’s Storyroom

Song: “Owl In the Tree”
Owl in the tree says, “who, who, who?”
Owl in the tree says, “who, who, who?”
Owl in the tree says, “who, who, who?”
Who, who, who are you?
Credit: Ms. Hegna’s Storyroom

Fingerplay: “Wide-Eyed Owl”
There’s a wide-eyed owl (circle your eyes with your hands)
With a pointed nose (make a beak with your fingers)
Two pointed ears (make ears with your fingers)
And claws for toes (wiggle your “claws”)
He lives way up in the tree (point way up)
And when he looks at you (point to children)
He flaps his wings (flap your wings)
And says, “Whoo! Whoo!” (say “whoo whoo”)
Credit: Wilmette Public Library

Flannelboard: “Five Hoot Owls”
Five hoot owls sitting in a tree
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three, four. (count down)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Craft

I picked this up at Michaels — it came in a kit and was self-stick. It’s supposed to be an owl picture frame, but none of the kids wanted to leave space to put a picture. That was fine by me!

How It Went

Thursday morning
Had a really good, energetic storytime. The kids loved the extension activities for this theme. Their favorite books were “I’m Not Cute!” and “Wow! Said the Owl.” We had a great time!

Friday morning
This was a much rockier storytime than I expected. I had a class of two-year-olds and my class of four-year-olds didn’t show. So, I wound up shortening much of storytime because my two-year-olds had a much harder time paying attention without the four-year-olds to model that behavior for them. No biggie, though, librarians need to be able to adjust, right? We wound up skipping “Owl Babies” and “A Book of Sleep.” Their favorite book was “Whoo? Whoo?”

The Plan

Books

Acorns Everywhere! by Kevin Sherry
The Bear Who Shared by Catherine Rayner
In My Forest by Sara Gillingham & Lorena Siminovich
Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson
Old Bear by Kevin Henkes

Extension Activities

Rhyme: “Boing Boing Squeak”
Boing, boing, squeak / Boing, boing, squeak
A bouncing mouse is in my house / He’s been there for a week
He came from out of nowhere / He quickly settled in
I’m thankful that he came alone / I heard he had a twin
He bounces in the kitchen / He bounces in the den
He bounces in the living room / Look, there he goes again
The mouse just keeps on bouncing / Every minute of the day
He bounce, bounce, bounces / But he does not bounce away
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Fingerplay: “This Little Squirrel”
This little squirrel said, “Let’s run and play!”
This little squirrel said, “Let’s hunt nuts today!”
This little squirrel said, “Yes, nuts are good.”
This little squirrel said, “Yes, my favorite food.”
This little squirrel said, “Come climb this tree.” (run fingers up other arm, quickly)
And crack these nuts: one, two, three! (clap hands three times)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Fingerplay: “Two Little Squirrels” (Two Little Blackbirds)

Song: “You Might See Some…” (Tune: Did You Ever See a Lassie?)
If you’re ever in the forest,
The forest, the forest,
If you’re ever in the forest,
You might see some deer
(Squirrels, mice, bears, whatever other animal you need to add in!)
Credit: Preschool Education

Flannelboard: “Ouch”

Craft

This was a craft kit from Oriental Trading. I fell in love with immediately, and was so happy that it was well received by my storytime kids! They are HUGE fans of foam sticker crafts.

How It Went

Thursday morning
You know those shy kids that you’re never really sure are enjoying storytime? Well, I have a pair of sisters who listen quietly, who do the motions for fingerplay and songs, and come regularly that almost never give a big smile. There are a few times they giggle or interact, but rarely do they smile. Well, when I brought out my goat puppet to “eat” all of the felt pieces off of Hedgehog, they lost it — laughing hysterically, hugging goat, kissing goat. It was a great moment and I think it overshadows everything that happened this week!

Friday morning
My daycare group had just done a unit on acorns and squirrels, so they really enjoyed “Acorns Everywhere!” And I got just the same amount of joy when goat came out to finish up “Ouch.” I walked him around after our flannel was done and gave the kids the chance to say hello to the furry friend. The reactions from both groups to goat makes me think I ought to get a storytime mascot.

The Plan

Books

Charlie the Chick by Nick Denchfield and Ant Parker
Clip-Clop! by Nicola Smee
Cock-a-Doodle Quack Quack by Ivor Baddiel and Sophie Jubb
Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig and Marc Brown
My Farm Friends by Windell Minor

Extension Activities

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

Flannelboard: “Ten Fluffy Chickens”

Action Rhyme: “Ten Galloping Horses”
Ten galloping horses came through the town
Five were white and five were brown
They galloped up and galloped down
Ten galloping horses came through town
Credit: Perry Public Library

Song: “Over in the Barnyard” (Tune: “Down By the Station”)
Over in the barnyard
Early in the morning
See the yellow chickies
Standing in a row
See the busy farmer
Giving them their breakfast
Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep
Off they go (remove finger puppet)
[Also, pink piggies and spotted cows]
Credit: Teach-nology Farm Songs

Craft

This was a kit from Oriental Trading. All of the animals were self-stick, so this was a GREAT choice for storytime!

How It Went

Thursday morning
My Thursday kids were bananas for the craft! I have never seen these kids more enthusiastic about sticking stickers on their barns. As for the stories, their favorite was “Charlie Chick” — that book steals the show every time! And they had a great time making animal noises during “Open Up the Barn Door.”

Friday morning
My Friday kids were absolute GOLD during this storytime. Participating in every story, energetically doing the fingerplays and action rhymes, and singing along loud and proud during the songs. I can honestly say that the kids really enjoyed each of the books that I choose and it was hard to pick their favorite. But…they are in a phase when they LOVE when I’m wrong, so “Cock-a-Doodle-Quack-Quack” probably got the biggest laughs!