Resources for Planning Storytimes || Librarian Blogroll
Crafts
Every one of our storytimes has a craft attached to it. It is beastly trying to find crafts that are age-appropriate. These are some of the sites that I find myself revisiting:
- All Kids Network
- Busy Bee Kids Crafts
- Crayola Crafts
- Danielle’s Place
- DLTK’s Crafts for Kids
- First School
- Kids Soup *Subscription Required*
- Sprout Online
Flannelboards
Yep, I make a lot of the flannelboards we use. I think I do a pretty decent job and I am always really excited about making them. I am constantly on the look-out for sites that have free flannelboard templates. Some of my favorites:
Fingerplays/Action Rhymes
One of the hardest areas for me — I don’t remember much past “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and nursery rhymes. So, I’ve got a lot of links to help me out:
- The Best Kids Book Site
- Canton Public Library
- Education Oasis
- Kansas City, Kansas Public Library – Growing Readers
- Miami-Dade Public Library Nursery Rhymes
- Preschool Rainbow
- Shirley’s Preschool Activities
Songs
I don’t look up a lot of songs because I have a pretty good memory from childhood. But every now and again, I find I need to refresh my memory on some of the verses. I use these links:
Themes
Most of the time, I come up with themes by spending time in the stacks reading through picture books, but every now and again, I venture online to see what themes are common.
Thank you for putting this together. I can’t tell you how much it has helped me. I just started at the library in January and became the Children’s Specialist(with no formal training).
Thank you! Congrats on your new position!
So I have a feeling your website is going to be an excellent tool for me. I Just got my first full-time position and I am going to be a Children’s Librarian and I am freaking out!
Congratulations on your full-time position! If you need anything, please feel free to reach out!
Dear Katie: I usually don’t leave comments. Even though I have been following you for over 2 years and you are my go to for inspiration on books and songs for my daycare children, this is the first time that I publicly wanted to thank you and tell you how grateful I am for all the work, resources and love you share with all of us. God bless you!
Thank you, thank you for the comment. And especially: thank you for reading!
Need a little help. I teach transitional kindergarten and am using a magnetic flannel board the adheres to my whiteboard. The pieces keep falling off while we are trying to interact with the story or lesson I am presenting. Any suggestions on how to keep the pieces from falling off?
I would check to make sure that the magnet backing is enough to support the weight of the piece. And then to make the magnetboard tilt on angle is possible to help the pieces stay up. Other than that, I only work with felt so I’m probably not the best person to ask.
I made your Little Mouse, Little Mouse flannel board and so many people want me to make one for them. I am helping with a boutique for the Orff National Convention in the fall. We are trying to raise money to provide scholarships for music teachers to get additional training in Orff. Is it o.k. for me to make these flannel boards to sell at the boutique? It really is a great cause.
I can’t give permission because the template wasn’t mine to begin with. Sorry!
Your resources are awesome and I use them almost daily. Just FYI..Canton Public Library link does not work and Perry Public Library.