Letter D!

The Plan

Books

Dinosaur Vs. the Library by Bob Shea
Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson
The Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler
One Pup’s Up by Marsha Wilson Chall
10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter D”

Flannelboard Song: “Five Little Ducks”

Action Rhyme: “Dinosaur, Dinosaurs”
Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch the ground
Dinosaur, dinosaur, reach up high
Dinosaur, dinosaur, wink one eye
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch your nose
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch your toes
Dinosaur, dinosaur, slap your knees
Dinosaur, dinosaur, sit down please
Credit: Childhood

Action Rhyme: “Little Duck”
I saw a little duck go hop, hop, hop (hop three times)
I told the little duck to stop, stop, stop (hold up hand for stop)
I went to the window to say, ‘How do you do?’ (hold out hand for handshake)
He wagged his little tail and far away he flew! (shake tail and fly away)
Credit: Childhood

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

Puppets: “Five Little Doggies”
Five little doggies were playing in the sun. (Hold up hand, fingers extended.)
This one saw a rabbit, and he began to run. (Bend first finger.)
This one saw a butterfly, and he began to race. (Bend second finger.)
This one saw a pussycat, and he began to chase. (Bend third finger.)
This one tried to catch his tail, and he went round & round. (Bend fourth finger.)
This one was so quiet, he never made a sound. (Bend thumb.)
Credit: Perry Public Library

Craft

I got this amazing craft idea from Totally Tots, and they have done a craft for every letter of the alphabet — I know that I will definitely be using that again. Because this was another outreach storytime, I had the dinosaurs pre-assembled except for the spines, which the kids glued on at the daycare. They colored all over their dinosaurs and some of their names wound up inside their dinosaur’s belly. Quite a few kids made jokes about their dinosaurs eating them!

How It Went

I truly cannot express how blessed and grateful I feel to be doing storytimes with this group of kids. They are amazing listeners, kind-hearted helpers, and it really raises my spirits every time I walk into their classroom and squeals of “MISS KATIE! YOU’RE HERE!” reach my ears again. As for this particular storytime, the kids LOVED “Dinosaur Vs. the Library” and really enjoyed roaring along with the book. “Dance Your Fingers Up” remains one of the best fingerplays that I’ve recently found — definitely add it to your repertoire.

March 14, 2012 4 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Hugs and Kisses!

The Plan

Books

Big Hugs, Little Hugs by Felicia Bond
The Biggest Kiss by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot
I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy
Kitty’s Cuddles by Jane Cabrera
Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Who Should I Kiss Today?”
I have five little kisses that I want to give away.
Who should I kiss today?
I’ll kiss…Mommy!
(count down using the family set; for the last kiss, have parents kiss kids)
Credit: Storytime Secrets

Action: “Different Kinds of Kisses”
Grandma kisses (grab cheeks and squeeze)
Fish kisses (purse lips and move them)
Movie star kisses (blow big ones)
Rabbit kisses (wiggle nose)
Dog kisses (stick out your tongue and lick)
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Action Rhyme: “I Can Hug”
I can hug, hug, hug
I can hop, hop, hop
I can kiss, kiss, kiss
I can stop, stop, stop
I can nod my head for yes,
And I can shake my head no,
And I can sit down very slow.
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Action Rhyme: “Give Mom a Hug”
Roar like a lion, growl like a bear
Give Mom a hug, show her you care
Hop like a bunny, flap like a bird
Quiet as a mouse now, don’t say a word
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Craft

I was partly inspired by this Pinterest pin and just added the Xs and Os for the hugs and kisses. Some of the kids covered their wreaths, others only sparsely put down hearts.

How It Went

This was our first storytime session after a three-week break, so I was really happy to see the kids again. I had seven returning kids and parents, and one brand-new family! (The first week back it always a bit low, attendance-wise.) The kids were super excited to be back, and I did not have anyone grossed out by kisses. I had a ton of sweet parent/child interactions with kissing and hugging. And the kids were thrilled with Applesauce’s puppy kisses at the end of storytime. My favorite part was at the end of Kitty’s Cuddles when one of my siblings sets gave each other hugs on the baby brother page spread. SO CUTE.

March 12, 2012 7 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

ALSC: Storytime & Summer Reading

newalscblog

Are you doing the “Dream Big, READ!” theme at your library this summer? I’ve went ahead and brainstormed a few storytime theme ides over at the ALSC blog if you’re still figuring out your programming for 2012!

March 10, 2012 0 Comments Short URLALSC Post

Flannel Friday: Clickety-Clack!

This flannelboard has been a labor of love. I started working on this in August, during some downtime. After doing one car just plain out of felt, I decided I really wanted to re-learn how to embroider. So, this became my guinea pig. My goal was to have it finished by the new year!

I got this template from KizClub and it’s the pattern for “Freight Train.” I added most, but not all, of the details to the cars. Since I did so much sewing, I wound up backing each piece with a piece of black felt so that the knots were glued down and hidden away if/when the preschoolers handle this one.

While you can substitute these pieces for the book, I wanted to use them as a rhyme and Melissa gave me the perfect opportunity when she posted her rhyme “Clickety Clack.”

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
Here comes the train on the railroad track!
Clickety-clunn, clickety-clunn,
Here comes ENGINE number one.
Clickety-clew, clickety-clew,
Here comes COAL CAR number two.
Clickety-clee, clickety-clee,
Here comes BOX CAR number three.
Clickety-clore, clickety-clore,
Here comes TANK CAR number four.
Clickety-clive, clickety-clive,
Here comes COACH CAR number five.
Clickety-clicks, clickety-clicks,
Here’s the CABOOSE, that’s number six.
Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
There goes the train on the railroad track!
Choo-choooooooo! Goodbye!

And I also found another rhyme that doesn’t use all the cars, but still works on SurLaLune Storytime:

Flannel Board
This Little Train
(Sung to: “This Old Man”)

This little train, painted black
It comes chugging down the track
With a “Choo-choo; Toot-toot”
Hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This little car painted blue
It has seats for me and you
With a “Choo-choo; Toot-toot”
Hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This little car painted yellow
It shimmies and shakes like a bowl of jello
With a “Choo-choo; Toot-toot”
Hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This little car, painted green
It’s the fanciest car you’ve seen,
With a “Choo-choo; Toot-toot”
Hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This caboose; it is red
It will take you home to bed
With a “Choo-choo; Toot-toot”
Hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

So there you go — multiple options to use the same pieces for any trains/things that go storytime!

—

Linda is hosting this week’s Flannel Friday — you can find the round-up at her blog! Melissa is the founder of Flannel Friday! Anne has the archive and schedule of who is hosting Flannel Friday.

And you can also follow the Flannel Friday Pinterest account. And Flannel Friday has its own Facebook page! If you participate in Flannel Friday, Melissa has a button if you want to link up to us here.

March 9, 2012 28 Comments Short URLFlannels

Letter C!

The Plan

Books

Charlie Chick by Nick Denchfield and Ant Parker
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
I’m Not Cute by Jonathan Allen
Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter C”

Finger Puppets: “Ah-Choo!”
Chicken’s nose tingles
Chicken’s nose twitches
Chicken is going to sneeze!
Baa-choo! Baa-choo! Baa-choo!
(Repeat with different animals)
Credit: Modified from SurLaLune Storytime

Song: “Driving Round In My Car”
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!
Credit: Childhood

Craft

This was an easy idea that I’ve done before — teen volunteers punched out the circles from cardstock and the kids assembled their own caterpillars and colored them. They had a great time assembling their caterpillars and writing out their names.

How It Went

This was a very loud and rambunctious storytime — the kids loved shouting out colors in “Toot Toot Beep Beep” and “Dog’s Colorful Day.” And this group had NEVER heard “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” before! I was very glad to fix that and they enjoyed hearing about the letters climbing up the coconut tree. I always love getting to use my “Very Hungry Caterpillar” flannelboard because it was the first one I ever made! The letter puzzles continue to be a huge hit, and I will keep doing it until it gets dull!

March 7, 2012 6 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Valentine’s Day!

The Plan

Books

The Biggest Kiss by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot
Mouse’s First Valentine by Lauren Thompson
Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Sweethearts by Jan Carr
Valentine Surprise by Corinne Demas

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Song: “H-E-A-R-T”

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!”

Fingerplay: “Heart”
I put my hands together,
This is how I start
I curve my fingers right around,
And I can make a heart!
Credit: Everything Preschool

Craft

This was another kit from Oriental Trading. I was a bit frustrated when I opened the kit and it was not self-adhesive, like the website said. However, since I had such an older crowd at storytime it turned out to not be a problem, thank goodness!

How It Went

This was a bizarre, but really wonderful storytime. We had just hosted a Valentine’s Day party/card making event in our department and five of the eight-year-olds at the party really wanted to go to storytime when I called for line-ups. I said “yes” before I could really think about it and then suddenly we were downstairs, about to sing the welcome song. My preschoolers were clapping, waving, and singing and the eight-year-olds were frozen on the rug. I whispered, “Just go with it!” and minutes later, they were all stomping their feet gleefully. The rest of the storytime went AWESOME. Everyone participated in the flannels, stories, and fingerplay; and the craft went over much smoothly since the older kids helped the preschoolers around them. All in all, I was VERY glad that I said yes!

March 5, 2012 9 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Flannel Friday: Six Little Valentines

This Flannel Friday was inspired by this pin of sweet felt Valentines and Meghan of Busy Crafting Mommy who wrote the wonderful rhyme with her co-worker Elizabeth!

[And I feel like it was brought to you by the letter V. Just so you know.]

I cut apart an envelope from the library and used that as my template. All the stitching was free-hand, as was the stamp cutting from scraps! Inside the envelopes, I opted for laminated animals so that they would slide out of their felt envelopes easier. I plan on sewing snaps to close the envelopes at some point, but my Michaels did not have the size I needed this week.

These were a huge success and here’s the rhyme that I used with them:

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!”

—

I am hosting this week’s Flannel Friday — you can find the round-up here at Storytime Katie! Melissa is the founder of Flannel Friday! Anne has the archive and schedule of who is hosting Flannel Friday.

And you can also follow the Flannel Friday Pinterest account. And Flannel Friday has its own Facebook page! If you participate in Flannel Friday, Melissa has a button if you want to link up to us here.

March 2, 2012 19 Comments Short URLFlannels

Flannel Friday Round-Up 3/2

I’m going to call this Flannel Friday a wrap! We had a great week full of amazing submissions and I can’t wait to get started making htem. If I missed you or something is incorrect, please let me know here and I will correct it as soon as possible! Thanks!

And now…onto the flannels!

Alison at Miss Alison Is Blogging! gave us a non-flannel amazing Dr. Seuss idea with “There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!” Wockets are always very happy, no matter what pocket they are in! This is a great story prop!

Cate is still working on a post that she calls Happy B-Day Dr. Seuss. I can’t wait to see it!

Danielle at a Bad Case of Books created her own version of “Dog’s Colorful Day” in flannel; this is a flannelboard that every storytime librarian should have in her or his arsenal!

Jane at Piper Loves the Library made a wonderful adaptation of “In My Nest” — the board book/puppet comes to life in her very colorful and cheerful flannelboard!

Kari Ann from My Storytime Life made an absolutely gorgeous version of “A Winter Story.” Her flannel boards are just so beautiful, with some amazing detail work!

Katie at Recipe for Reading celebrated Leap Year with a fabulous Kangaroo story: “Boing Boing.” This would also work for a storytime all about pockets!

Linda from Notes at the Story Room brings us a flannelboard perfect for springtime, “A Fair Wind.” Living in the Windy City, I’m sure I will be using this one at weather storytime!

Lisa at Libraryland showed us her St. Patrick’s Day version of “There Was An Old Lady” — this one swallowed a clover! If you’re planning a holiday storytime, make sure to jump on this one!

Lucy from In the Children’s Room gives us a new storytime flannel classic: “Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?” It’s sung to the tune of the same name and will surely please fans of “Little Mouse.”

Mary at Miss Mary Liberry has an inspired-by Flannel Friday post: “Pretty Ladybug!” No matter what she may say, she is a puffy paint master in my book!

Meghan from Busy Crafting Mommy has an awesome follow-up (that I did not know about!!!) to “Dog’s Colorful Day” with “Dog’s Noisy Day.” You can bet I will tracking it the minute I get to work tomorrow!

Sarah at Read, Sarah, Read created a flannel version of one of my favorite storytime books — “The Mitten!” I love how she created a mitten that can BURST open with all of the animals!

Susan at Fussy Hen at the Library gave us her whole outline for a shoes themed storytime, complete with a flannelboard of “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe!” I love the detail work on the hen; some great puffy paint lining there!

Tracey from 1234 More Storytimes posted this great flannel: “One Day in the Jungle.” I know my storytime kids would definitely get behind the sneeze humor!

And I did my version of Six Little Valentines! (I know…it’s a little late for Valentine’s Day.)

March 2, 2012 12 Comments Short URLFlannels

Letter B!

The Plan

Books

Banana by Ed Vere
Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau
Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss
Butterfly, Butterfly by Peter Horacek
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Letter B” Puzzle

Flannelboard: “Six Little Bumblebees”

Action Rhyme: “Bears Eat Honey”
A bear eats honey (pretend to eat)
He thinks it’s yummy
In his tummy (rub tummy)
But the bees don’t think it’s funny!
Buzzzzzzzzzzz! (make buzzing noise)
Credit: King County Library System

Song and Puppet: “Sleepy Bear” (Tune: Thumbkin)
Where is bear? Where is bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
(Have kids shout “WAKE UP BEAR” to do the song again.)
Credit: Preschool Education Music & Songs — Winter Animals

Craft

Letter B bird! I got this craft idea from Kiboomu. I did the template for the letter B and the feet/beak in Publisher. The feathers were a Google Image Search find. The kids had a great time with this one and one of the teachers said it was her very favorite craft that I had ever done with her class!

How It Went

Even though I was sick during this storytime, I think that it was another rousing success. The kids had a lot of fun making farm noises during “Book, Book, Book,” but the best part of storytime was when I read “Grumpy Bird.” I had everyone make grumpy faces along with me as I read. They alternated between pursing their lips and scrunching up their foreheads and pouting to hysterical laughter. And I figured out a way to let everyone greet Applesauce during storytime by using a set of apples numbered to let everyone have their own turn to pat the puppy.

February 29, 2012 10 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Imagination!

The Plan

Books

Higher, Higher by Leslie Patricelli
I’m Me by Sara Sheridan
Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler
Something to Do by David Lucas
That’s How by Christoph Niemann

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “It Looked Like Spilt Milk”

Action Song: “The Pirate Song”
When I was one,
I banged my drum.
The day I went to sea.
I jumped aboard a pirate ship,
And the captain said to me.
We’re going, this way, that way,
Forwards and backwards,
Over the Irish Sea.
A bottle of rum, to warm my tum,
And that’s the life for me.
(When I was two, I buckled my shoe / When I was three, I banged my knee / When I was four, I knocked on the door / When I was five, I learned to dive)
Credit: Early Years Experience
(I changed “rum” to “milk” when I did this one, haha.)

Game: “Applesauce Says”
This was just a version of “Simon Says,” but I had our storytime mascot Applesauce whisper the instructions to me.

Craft

I actually did NOT have a craft for this storytime theme! Instead, I put out paper plates, toilet paper rolls, paper, cotton balls, foam stickers, tissue paper squares, glue, and crayons. And then I let the kids go at it! I had a lot of very creative kids who came up with some great art, but I did have a few that I had to whisper some inspiration to.

How It Went

This was a really funny storytime. I had some of my favorite little boys here and they just loved the “Peg Leg Peke.” Both “That’s How” and “Higher, Higher” were also great choices for this theme and I think the kids really responded to those books! I wasn’t sure how the word “imagination” was going to go, but I think that the kids understand what I meant when I talked about playing pretend. They certainly understood it during “Applesauce Says” when our storytime mascot asked everyone to pretend to be different animals!

February 27, 2012 12 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

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