Flannel Friday: Butterflies!

Since it’s finally, officially spring (and actually feels like spring in Chicago), here’s a great seasonal flannel:

Flannelboard: “Butterfly Colors”
The first to come to the garden bed
Is a lovely butterfly of brilliant RED.
Then in comes another and that makes two.
Fly right in, my friend of BLUE.
“The garden is fine, the best I’ve seen,”
says the butterfly of softest GREEN.
Our garden needs a sunny fellow,
Fly on in, butterfly with wings of YELLOW.
Little friend of PURPLE, fly in too.
The garden is waiting for a color like you.
ORANGE, orange, you’re waited so long.
Fly right in, where you belong.
Butterflies, butterflies, you’re such a sight!
Flying together – what a delight!
Credit: Miss Meg’s Storytime

(Since I was out of yellow felt — SHOCKER — I just made the others and omitted that line when I did the flannelboard.)

This was a basic butterfly shape that I cut out using clip art. Then I bent a pipe cleaner in half and wrapped it around the felt piece to make antennas. Fear not though, Meg has a template for you to use in the above link if you’d rather not hunt down your own clip art!

—

Lindsey and Dana are hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

May 16, 2014 4 Comments Short URLFlannels

Big & Little!

The Plan

Books

biglittle

Big Hugs, Little Hugs by Felicia Bond
Every Little Thing by Cedella Marley
Little Mouse by Alison Murray
Maria Had a Little Lamb by Angela Dominguez
Meeow and the Big Box by Sebastien Braun

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: Go Away Big Green Monster

Action Rhyme: “Little Birds”
Little birds, little birds, jump up and down
Little birds, little birds, don’t make a sound
Little birds, little birds, tip-toe to me
Little birds, little birds, bend your knees
Little birds, little birds, peep, peep, peep
Little birds, little birds, sleep, sleep, sleep
Little birds, little birds, fly to the leaves
Little birds, little birds, sit down please
Credit: Greatest Resource Education Child Care

Action Rhyme: “This Is Big”
This is big, big, big
This is small, small, small
This is short, short, short
This is tall, tall, tall
This is fast, fast, fast
This is slow, slow, slow
This is yes, yes, yes
This is no, no, no
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Fingerplay: “Little Turtle”
There was a little turtle (put hands on top of one another)
He lived in a box (make box)
He swam in a puddle (swimming motion)
He climbed 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

Craft

I let the kids work on scissor skills since only the preschool class does the craft. (The twos & threes goes back to their classrooms and I’m left with the fours & fives for the activity.) I had cardstock circles print out on paper and the kids cut them out. Then they sorted them by size to string into rainbow necklaces. I had pre-punched the circles with a hole punch prior to arriving. Then, the kids strung the circles with yarn that I had taped at the ends for stability. This amazing idea came from Hands On As We Grow.

How It Went

This was a great opposite set storytime. The kids loved “Meeow and the Big Box” and “Little Mouse.” Doing “Go Away, Big Green Monster” as a flannelboard is always a crowd-pleaser. The kids absolutely adored this craft though and it was easily the hit of storytime. I loved seeing the kids wearing their necklaces as I left the classroom.

May 15, 2014 1 Comment Short URL, , Outreach Storytime

Pajama Storytime (November)

After the library stopped hosting “Afternoon Storytime” and a trial program of “Starry Night Stories”, I made the decision to start a monthly “Pajama Storytime” session at the library. I wanted to give families the chance to enjoy hearing stories together — and especially wanted to try again to host an evening program. Our suggested age range is ages 0 to 7 and their families, which means I sometimes get a few older siblings. The goal in this program is simple: foster a love of reading and particularly of reading together as a family!

The Plan

Books

pajamastorytime-nov

Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea
No Go Sleep! by Kate Feiffer
The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra
Ten In the Bed by Jane Cabrera

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Counting Sheep” (AKA, Ten Little Sheep)

Rhyme Wheel: “Baa Baa Black Sheep”

Nursery Rhyme: Twinkle, Twinkle

Fingerplay: “Dance Your Fingers”
Dance your fingers up,
Dance your fingers down,
Dance your fingers side to side,
Then dance them all around.
Dance them on your shoulders,
Dance them on your head,
Dance them on your knees,
Then put them straight to bed.

Rhyme Card

20140109-215704.jpg

Each month will have a different rhyme that we do at storytime and then send parents home with the words. This is a picture of the rhyme cards after quite a few months. This month was “Twinkle Twinkle.”

How It Went

Since “Ten In the Bed” worked so well as an action song last time, I decided to use the book this time. The kids LOVED the book and it was definitely the favorite of the night. A very, very, very close second was “Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime” since it allowed them to be very loud right before bed. I had the cutest family this month who brought not only their favorite stuffies, but pillows and slippers and blankets and they curled up on the rug together.

May 14, 2014 3 Comments Short URLFamily Storytime

Mail!

The Plan

Books

mail

Bunny Mail by Rosemary Wells
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
Mail Carriers At Work by Karen Latchana Kenney
The Postman by Rosalinda Kightley

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Six Little Valentines”
Six little Valentines were sent to my house,
The first one said, “I love you, From Mouse.”
Five little Valentines in my mailbox,
The second one said, “Be mine, Love Fox.”
Four little Valentines full of love,
The third one said, “You are sweet, From Dove.”
Three little Valentines just for me,
The fourth one said, “Be my honey, Love Bee.”
Two little Valentine’s mailed with care,
The fifth one said, “Here’s a hug, From Bear.”
The last little Valentine, from my friend Jay,
This one said, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”
Credit: Busy Crafting Mommy

Action Rhyme: “Early In the Morning”
Early in the morning at eight o’clock
You can hear the postman knock
Up jumps Ella to open the door
One letter, two letter, three letter, four
Credit: Jbrary

Action Song: Mailing Letters (Tune: “The Mulberry Bush”)
(Write a letter, stamp a letter, mail a letter)
This is the way we mail a letter,
Mail a letter, mail a letter.
This is the way we mail a letter,
So early in the morning.
Credit: A to Z Kids Stuff

Craft

This was another Oriental Trading craft kit. The mailboxes open and close and inside I had tucked the letter I had written and had translated for parents that I was leaving the library in two weeks. The storytime was planned months and months ago to coincide right around Valentine’s Day and it came to me as I was going through the job interview process that I needed to find a way to say goodbye — the mailbox was the perfect platform to start the conversation with my families.

How It Went

Thursday morning
I barely remember anything about this storytime since I was so, so nervous to start telling families that I was leaving. I was prepared for tears and angry words and…it was absolutely nothing like that. My families were sad, but happy for me. They had lots of questions about my new library and well wishes and made sure to let me know I’d be missed. That is always what I will remember from this storytime — that outpouring of love and support.

Friday morning
This storytime I remember much better since I didn’t have the jitters from the day before. “Bunny Mail” was the most successful book and they loved the “Early In the Morning” rhyme. As always, this group loves a guessing game and really enjoyed the flannelboard as well.

May 12, 2014 2 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Flannel Friday: Five Little Books

Today I present a flannelboard that is awesome for kindergarten tours, library card sign-up month, and National Library Week!

Flannelboard: “Five Little Books”
Five little books at the library
Five little books as great as can be
Along comes (name) with their library card
To take one home and read
Credit: What Happens In Storytime

For this set, I actually traced and copied a set that my old library had once I knew I was leaving. I wanted to make sure that I had my own set of five little books to come with me to the new library! And yes, I was brave enough to use puffy paint again.

—

Kathryn is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

May 9, 2014 11 Comments Short URLFlannels

Flannelboard Workshop

Last week I gave a workshop to Milwaukee County librarians last week on how to make flannelboards! Since I’m me and always take things further than they probably need to be, I made a quick presentation before doing a Q&A while the group made the flannelboards.


 
And I also made a hand-out with flannelboard resources that I’m also including here: Flannelboard Workshop Resources.

I want to thank everyone that came to the workshop — I had such a wonderful time meeting and talking with you! If you have any questions, please let me know either through a comment, email [simplykatieATgmailDOTcom] or via Twitter — @katietweetsya.

May 8, 2014 1 Comment Short URLHow To

Explore the World: Size

In response to the STEAM movement (and with great thanks to such great inspiration & encouragement from colleagues: Amy, Abby, and Kendra), this past fall I started a STEAM storytime series at the library. This is primarily aimed at preschoolers and their families, registration open to ages 3-7 in our library.

exploretheworld

Books & Group Activities

Opening Activity
Building blocks from Kendra.
“Building Blocks”
(Tune of Good Night Ladies)
Hello ________
Hello ________
Hello ________
Come build something with your blocks!

Books

size-science

Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya
Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy
Size: Many Ways to Measure by Michele Koomen

Station Activities


Puppet Measuring
I put out a dozen of our puppets and had the kids practice measure and compare the sizes of the animals. Some of the kids lined them up in size order, others wrote down their measurements on scrap pieces of paper. I should have had a worksheet made and printed, but I didn’t think about it until I was at the program. (And yes, I visited IKEA and had each of my family members take a measuring tape at every station that we passed. To be fair, we wound up purchasing over $5,000 of furniture between the three households! It should be no surprise that I needed more bookcases.)


Balance Scales
At this station, I challenged the kids to be able to get the scale to balance using different materials. One of my kids spent the whole time here, playing with popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners and various other supplies, creating a balanced scaled over and over again.

Lego Station
Kids can challenge one another to build the highest tower using no more than twenty blocks. Since it was mostly preschoolers at this event, I found that a lot of them just stacked the same sized blocks one on top of another instead of hunting for bigger blocks or creating a base or anything. So, it was a meh station in my opinion since it didn’t accomplish what I wanted it to — but they love Legos!


How Do You Measure Up?
At this station, kids measured themselves on the wall with the help of a parent or librarian to see how they measured up to animals. I was totally inspired by our local zoo — they have tons of interactive displays where kids can see how they measure up to animals. I didn’t get quite as creative as Brookfield, I just put an animal picture bar on the side and marked where the animals would be. The kids walked around the programming room, introducing themselves to other kids: “I’m baby dolphin sized!” This was by far my favorite station.


3-D Rainbow Art
I really wanted an art station that required the kids to do the measuring to create. I found this amazing rainbow craft at Free Kids Crafts and knew that this is what we’d be doing. The kids measured and cut each strip (you can see my example strips in the picture), put them in order and stapled each end.

Take-Home

As always, I had a book display and a take-home packet for my families. I also let them take home the measuring tapes that I had left-over since my plan was just to recycle the extras.

And for you guys, a Pinterest friendly picture:

May 7, 2014 1 Comment Short URLSpecial Programming

Announcing: ALSC Afternoons!

This weekend I noticed that I stopped linking up my ALSC posts on this blog, so I spent some time scheduling links to post every afternoon for the next few weeks until I’m caught up. Enjoy!

May 6, 2014 0 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

Sports!

The Plan

Books

sports

Dino-Football by Lisa Wheeler
Dunk Skunk by Michael Rex
If I Were a Jungle Animal by Tom and Amanda Ellery
Sergio Saves the Game!

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Big, Bigger, Biggest”
A little ball, a bigger ball,
And a great big ball I see
Now help me count them,
One, two, three!
Credit: Debmonn PB Wiki

Fingerplay: “Five Little Footballs”
Five little footballs trying hard to score.
One makes a touchdown. (touchdown arms, put one finger down)
Hear the crowd roar! (cheer)
(countdown)
Credit: Storytime With Ms. Kelly

Song: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks
I don’t care if I ever get back
Let’s root, root, root for the home team
If they don’t win, it’s a shame
And it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out
At the old ballgame!
Credit: Childhood

Craft

I ordered both pennants and foam stickers from Oriental Trading and let the kids go crazy. Basically, it was the best kid day ever.

How It Went

Thursday morning
I did this storytime in-between the Super Bowl and the start of the Winter Olympics. The group really enjoyed “Sergio Saves the Game” since I work in a huge soccer fan area. We talked about how soccer is fútbol in the Spanish language, but in America football is a completely different sport.

Friday morning
The kids were SO EXCITED to try and guess the next word in “Dunk Skunk.” There was lots of enthusiastic shouting, which is just how I like my storytimes. This group had a great time playing along with “Five Footballs” and I also had a lot of loud singers during “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

May 5, 2014 2 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Cities!

The Plan

Books

citiessummer14

All Through My Town by Jean Reidy
Drum City by Thea Guidone
Subway by Anastasia Suen
Wow, City! by Robert Neubecker

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: Building Blocks

Flannelboard: “Wheels on the Bus”

Action Song: “Driving ‘Round”
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom
(Go through red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)
Credit: Childhood

Song: “London Bridge”
London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair lady
Build it up with silver and gold
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Build it up with silver and gold
My fair lady
Credit: Childhood

Craft

This simple paper craft came from an amazing teen volunteer years ago who drew these shapes for me and then cut them out. The program there were originally intended for never happened and I saved them — this storytime was absolutely perfect! I added glitter to make stars and other designs in the night sky.

How It Went

Thursday morning
I was absolutely FLOORED that no child in this storytime had heard London Bridge before. Seriously! Their favorite book was definitely “Subway” — when we did the Building Blocks activity, they chose to build their own subway. They had a great time singing along to “Wheels on the Bus” with me and driving their cars around during “Drivin’ Round.”

Friday morning
This group got really into “Drum City” and I would say that was their favorite book. They built a little city with their building blocks and had a really great cooperative experience doing that, lots of sharing and helping, which was so nice to see.

April 24, 2014 0 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Newer Entries
Older Entries