Colors!

(These are very old storytimes, so I don’t remember every detail about them. Instead of my regular post, I’m just going to write down the plan & craft, with a brief commentary on how it went.)

Books


Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, Jr.


Cleo’s Color Book by Caroline Mockford


I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont


Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Extension Activities
Song: “Colors We Know” (Tune: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Red and orange, green and blue, shiny yellow, purple too!
These are the colors that we know, way up high in the great rainbow.
Red and orange, green and blue, shiny yellow, purple too!
Credit: Everything Preschool – Colors

Flannelboard 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
Zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom
(Go through red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)
Credit: Childhood

Action Rhyme: “Red, Red”
Red, red is the color I see
If you’re wearing red, then show it to me.
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your red and sit back on the ground. // Repeat with other colors.
Credit: Everything Preschool – Colors

Song: “Sing a Rainbow”
Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
Oh, I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too
Listen with your eyes, listen with your eyes
And sing everything you see
Oh, I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow
Sing along with me
Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
Oh, I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too
Credit: Childhood
(My mom used to sing this to my sister and I before bed — but I found where you can learn it too, if you’re so inclined: NIEHS.)

Craft
Streamer Rainbow — Honestly, I made this one up. I had a ton of leftover streamers from a paper plate craft, and found a use for them.

How It Went
This theme was such a great one, and I truly loved every book that I chose for it. I was very comfortable with the songs and extension activities, so this turned out to be a great storytime.

Counting!

(These are very old storytimes, so I don’t remember every detail about them. Instead of my regular post, I’m just going to write down the plan & craft, with a brief commentary on how it went.)

Books


Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd


Fish Swish Splash Dash by Suse MacDonald


Ten in the Bed by Jane Cabrera


Two at the Zoo by Danna Smith

Extension Activities
Flannelboard: Five Big Balloons
Five big balloons, colorful and bright
The red one said, “I feel full and tight”
The orange one said, “What a beautiful sky”
The yellow one said, “We’re up so high”
The green one said, “I can see the bay”
The blue one said, “We’re all blowing away”
“Whoooosh” went a playful gust of wind
And the five big balloons were never seen again
Credit: “Color Bears” Felt Set (In-House)

Song/Fingerplay: Five Little Speckled Frogs
Five little speckled frogs
Sitting on a hollow log
Eating the most delicious bugs (yum yum)
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are four speckled frogs (ribbit ribbit) // count down
Credit: Childhood

Action Rhyme: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, shut the door
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, begin again // 2nd time: that’s the end
Credit: Childhood

Craft
Ice Cream Counting – First School

How It Went
This was the second storytime in the session, and by then I had enough people to really have a great storytime. The craft had to be modified right before storytime because I had way too many kids, and not enough crafts. So instead of making the whole cone — numbers 1 to 10; each kid got to pick three numbers and put those in order. Now, I prepare for as many that have signed up plus ten more!

Bears!

(These are very old storytimes, so I don’t remember every detail about them. Instead of my regular post, I’m just going to write down the plan & craft, with a brief commentary on how it went.)

Books

A Very Curious Bear by Tony Mitton


Bear Flies High by Michael Rosen


Bears On Chairs by Shirley Parenteau


Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Extension Activities
Flannelboard: Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Action Rhyme: “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear”
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, reach up high
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the sky
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch your knees
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, sit down please

Song: “If You’re a Bear and You Know It” (tune of “If You’re Happy…”)
If you’re a panda bear and you know it, clap your paws
If you’re a panda bear and you know it, clap your paws
If you’re a panda bear and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re a panda bear and you know it, clap your paws

If you’re a polar bear and you know it, show your teeth
If you’re a polar bear and you know it, show your teeth
If you’re a polar bear and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re a polar bear and you know it, show your teeth

If you’re a grizzly bear and you know it, growl real loud
If you’re a grizzly bear and you know it, growl real loud
If you’re a grizzly bear and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re a grizzly bear and you know it, growl real loud

Craft
Bear Puppet – I don’t remember at all where I got the template for this.

How It Went
This was my first storytime after a *LONG* hiatus and I was nervous! And I’m pretty sure that the kids caught on to that. Overall, I picked some longer books for my crowd of mostly 2/3s. Should have had some shorter ones and a few more stretchers to grab their attention. The craft was a great one though — went a lot better then I thought it would.

Kids Art: Penguins

“Kids Art” was a program created to pair a book with a larger art project. The library already hosts a monthly craft program for grades 1-6, but our little kids were not getting much art — other than my storytime attempts. Thus, “Kids Art.”

This month’s program was inspired by Zoe’s post “Penguin Multiplication” at her blog Playing by the Book.

To start off, I read the book “365 Penguins” by Jean-Luc Fromental.

Can I just put in a plea right now for more giant oversized books? They hold attention like NO OTHER at storytime! The kids could not get enough of counting penguins and laughing when more penguins kept arriving. The illustrations (and limited colors of black, grey, orange, white, and light blue) add a refreshing modern look to the book. I will say that I did condense some of the multiplication areas because I thought it would lead to a lot of questions from my mostly pre-k crowd.

Next up, a few fingerplays and songs before launching into the craft!

Fingerplay: “Six Little Penguins”
Six little penguins off an iceberg did dive,
One bumped his beak, then there were five.
Five little penguins swam the ocean floor,
One saw a whale, then there were four.
Four little penguins spun around, whee-ee!
One spun off, and then there were three!
Three little penguins, with nothing to do,
One went fishing, then there were two.
Two little penguins, having lots of fun,
One fell off, then there was one.
One little penguin, when the day was done,
Went home to sleep, then there were none.

Song: “I’m a Little Penguin” (Tune: “I’m a Little Teapot.”)
I’m a little penguin
In the sea.
I can swim as fast as can be!
When I catch a fish, just look at me.
I’m as proud as I can be.

Credit for both: Step by Step – Penguin Theme

Craft: Penguin Cups.

Instructions for this were super easy. My teen volunteers had pre-cut felt triangle noses out of self-stick felt, and the googly eyes were also self-adhesive. All the kids painted a rainbow on the cup (to leave a belly for the penguin), and then filled in the rest with paint.

After the kids were finished just painting, we sat back down for a rousing game of “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Penguin!” (Which is, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, a twist on “Duck, Duck, Goose.”) This game gave our penguin cups time to dry — and I kept sneakily checking them as we played. Once the cups were dry, the kids attached noses and eyes and took their three penguins home.

This is definitely one of my favorite programs, and I cannot wait to do another penguin program next winter.