Tag: alphabet storytimes

ABC Storytime Resource Post

I’m very appreciative of the blogs and websites that I drew inspiration from for my ABC Storytime Series:

Everyone at Totally Tots
Pam’s blog MotherReader
Jaymi’s blog Explore to Learn

Most of what I needed help with was coming up with ideas for the letters. If I took any fingerplays, songs, or rhymes, I did note it in the write-ups.

And finally, a listing of all the letters:

Letter A
Letter B
Letter C
Letter D
Letter E
Letter F
Letter G
Letter H
Letter I
Letter J
Letter K
Letter L
Letter M
Letter N
Letter O
Letter P
Letter Q
Letter R
Letter S
Letter T
Letter U
Letter V
Letter W
Letter X
Letter Y
Letter Z

Thank you all for sticking with me throughout this! I hope that the storytimes gave you some good ideas — I know that the kids and I loved them! Stay tuned, I’m planning on posting pictures of all of the Letter Puzzles, even if I can’t upload them!

November 21, 2012 1 Comment Short URLAnnouncements

Letter Z!

The Plan

Books

Dexter Gets Dressed by Ken Wilson-Max
My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
Zee by Michel Gay
Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I’m Off to the Moon! by Dan Yaccarino

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter Z”

Flannelboard: “Dear Zoo”

Action Rhyme: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon!
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’ll be there very soon!
So, if you’d like to take a trip
Just step inside my rocket ship
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon!
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’ll be there very soon!
Credit: Library School

Action 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
Credit: Childhood

Song & Puppets: “You Can Hear” (Tune: She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain)
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring, you can hear the lions roaring
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
(Elephants trumpeting, monkey eeking, zebra braying)
Credit: Perpetual Preschool

Craft

I made a quick zebra coloring page for our craft. There are a lot of really cute zebra crafts out there, but they have lots and lots of pieces. I figured the kids would just have more fun coloring!

How It Went

For my last alphabet storytime, this was a good letter to go out on. The kids loved “Zee” and the interactive “Dexter Gets Dressed” (for zipper, of course!) the most. My “Dear Zoo” flannelboard got tons of great guesses and shrieks when I revealed the animals. And I have never seen a more enthusiastic group to sing along with “You Can Hear.”

November 14, 2012 2 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Letter Y!

The Plan

Books

Eli, No! by Katie Kirk
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Yawn by Sally Symes
Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Go Away, Big Yellow Monster” (I just changed the color of the popular book by Ed Emberley.)

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter Y”

Action Rhyme: “Big Yellow Moon”
Big yellow moon shines so bright, (circle overhead)
Glides across the starry night (arms to left and right)
Looks down at me (hand shades eyes)
Asleep in bed, (head on hands)
Whispers, “Good night, sleepyhead.” (shh)
Big yellow moon, your turn is done (move arms down)
Here comes Mr. Morning Sun (circle overhead)
I wake up. (arms stretch out)
You go to bed. (head on hands)
“Sleep well, Moon, you sleepyhead.” (shh)
Credit: King County Library System

Action Rhyme: “This Is Big”
This is big, big, big (stretch hands far to sides)
This is small, small, small (cup hands together)
This is short, short, short (hold palms close vertically)
This is tall, tall, tall (hold palms far apart vertically)
This is fast, fast, fast (roll hands quickly)
This is slow, slow, slow (roll hands slowly)
This is yes, yes, yes (nod head)
This is no, no, no (shake head)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Song: “Shake Your Sillies Out”
Gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
And wiggle my waggles away
(clap my crazies out, stretch my
stretchies out, yawn my sleepies out)
Credit: Raffi

Craft

I saw this on several different pages, through Pinterest, but the post I actually read was from Mud Hut Mama. I thought this craft went well with “Extra Yarn” and the kids had a lot of fun. It was very nice to see their artwork displayed at the daycare facility when I came back next week for Letter Z.

How It Went

I love Letter Y. It is so much easier than Letter X! I had a lot of options, so I got to pick several favorites for storytime. The kids were spellbound by “Extra Yarn.” Not even the attendance check at the top of the hour took them away from the story; Annabelle is truly magical! “Yawn” was a close second favorite. It’s a great guessing game for the kids! The extension activities were perfect, especially when I had “Eli, no!” (yelling), right before “Go Away, Big Yellow Monster.” The kids got to yell along with both stories’ refrains.

November 7, 2012 6 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Letter X!

The Plan

Books

A Fox: The Sound of X by Alice K. Flanagan
Max’s ABCs by Rosemary Wells
My Mom Has X-Ray Vision by Angela McAllister
Xavier Ox’s Xylophone Experiment by Barbara deRubertis

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “X-Rays Matching”

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter X”

Action Rhyme: “Red Fox, Red Fox”
Red fox, red fox turn around
Red fox, red fox touch the ground
Red fox, red fox reach up high
Red fox, red fox touch the sky
Red fox, red fox find your nose
Red fox, red fox touch your toes
Red fox, red fox find your knees
Red fox, red fox sit down please
Credit: King County Library System

Fingerplay: “Where Is X?” (Tune: Thumbkin)
Where is X? Where is X?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you.
Run away. Run away.
Credit: Modified from Childhood

Song: “What Begins With X?”
What begins with x?
What begins with x?
We all know, we’ll tell you so.
What begins with x?
(Xylophone, X-ray, Xavier)

What ends with x?
What ends with x?
We all know, we’ll tell you so.
What ends with x?
(Fox, Box, Ox)
Credit: MotherReader

Craft

This craft came from Totally Tots, a site to which I owe a great deal of thanks in these ABC storytimes. I changed ours up a bit, though, and used paper since foam can be expensive and more frustrating for the kids to glue with. (Gluesticks and foam really do not mix!)

How It Went

The hardest letter in the alphabet — finally done! The kids loved “My Mom Has X-Ray Vision” and also really enjoyed “Max’s ABCs.” They had a great time matching up the x-rays on the flannelboard, and always love singing. The craft was, by far, one of their favorites. The daycare posted it up on their walls in the classroom and they got a lot of compliments on it!

October 31, 2012 10 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Letter W!

The Plan

Books

Alistair and Kip’s Great Adventure by John Segal
The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
Maisy’s Wonderful Weather Book by Lucy Cousins
One Watermelon Seed by Celia Barker Lottridge
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter W”

Flannelboard: “Watermelon Counting”

Flannelboard & Song: “What’s the Weather?” (Tune: Clementine)
What’s the weather, what’s the weather,
What’s the weather, everyone?
Is it windy, is it cloudy,
Is there rain, or is there sun?

Action Song: “Winter Hokey Pokey”
You put your mitten in, you take your mitten out
You put your boots in, you take your boots out
You put your hat in, you take your hat out
You put your coat in, you take your coat out

Song: “Baby Beluga”

Song: “Watermelon Patch Song”
Watermelon, watermelon (make a circle with arms)
On the vine, on the vine (wiggle arms)
Sweet and red and juicy, sweet and red and juicy (rub tummy)
Please be mine! Please be mine! (palms together, pleading)

Craft

Another storytime craft brought to you by Pinterest, originally from Blissfully Domestic! I had the teen volunteers pre-cut and pre-glue these, the kids at daycare colored them in. These crafts were IMMEDIATELY hung up in their classroom and the kids kept checking the window to see if the weather had changed so they could move their clothespin, haha!

How It Went

You want to know how to wow a group? Bring out a pop-up or action book. The kids sat awestruck when “Maisy’s Wonderful Weather Book” was pulled out. I had to do the actions three or four times before they were ready to move on to the next page. Also, the kids loved telling me how wrong I was when I was doing the watermelon match-ups!

October 3, 2012 2 Comments Short URL, , Outreach Storytime

Letter V!

The Plan

Books

I Love Vacations by Anna Walker
Rah, Rah, Radishes! by April Pulley Sayre
Sweethearts by Jan Carr
This Is the Van That Dan Cleaned by Lisa Campbell Ernst
What In the World Is a Violin? by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Six Little Valentines”

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter V”

Fingerplay: “Let’s Count Valentines”
Let’s count valentines – one, two, three
Let’s count valentines, all for me!
Let’s count valentines – four, five, six
Let’s count valentines, match and mix
Let’s count valentines – seven, eight, nine
Let’s count valentines, I’m glad you’re mine
Credit: ChildFun

Song: “Vegetable Song” (Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle)
Carrots, peas, and broccoli
Vegetables are good for me
For my snack and in my lunch
Veggies sticks are great to munch
Carrot, peas, and broccoli
Vegetables are good for me
Credit: Preschool Education

Song: “What Begins With V?”
What begins with V?
What begins with V?
We all know, we’ll tell you so.
What begins with V?

Violin begins with V.
Violin begins with V.
We all know, we’ll tell you so.
Violin begins with V.
Credit: MotherReader

Craft

This idea came from a Google Image search, but you can see the original post right here at Mrs. Karen’s Preschool Ideas! The flowers and stems were pre-cut by teen volunteers, the kids glued down their flowers and colored their vases. We had some very pretty flower vases once everyone was finished!

How It Went

The kids were fascinated by “What In the World Is a Violin?” and kept telling me that it was a “wrong guitar,” which made me crack up. “Rah Rah Radishes” almost inspired a riot — apparently NO ONE likes vegetables at all in this classroom, so we had lots of “YUCKS” and “EWS.” I was sad, because I’ve used the book in the past and it’s worked well for me before. Valentines were a big hit, and was the only “V” word that they guessed correctly after seeing the book. We’re nearing the end of these alphabet storytimes — only four more to go!

September 19, 2012 3 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Letter U!

The Plan

Books

Bear in Underwear by Todd H. Doodler
One Rainy Day by M. Christina Butler
Red, White, and Boom! By Lee Wardlaw
Uncles by Lola M. Schaefer
Up, Down, and All Around by Katherine Ayres

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter U”

Flannelboard: “Red, White, and Blue”

Flannelboard: “Ten Little Umbrellas & Ten Little Raindrops”
One little, two little, three little umbrellas
Four little, five little, six little umbrellas
Seven little, eight little, nine little umbrellas
Ten umbrellas up for the rain
Repeat with raindrops going on top of umbrellas – last line “Ten raindrops falling down.” Pull raindrops away, counting down – last line “No raindrops out today.” Pull umbrellas away, counting down – last line, “Everything’s put away!”
Credit: Modified from childhood

Action Rhyme: “Up and Down”
Put your arms up
Put your arms down
Put them through the middle
Move them all around
One arm to the left
One arm to the right
Give yourself a hug
And hold on tight!
Credit: MotherReader

Bounce: “Mama and Papa and Uncle John”
Mama and Papa and Uncle John
Went to the market one by one
Mama fell off, Papa fell off
But Uncle John went on and on
Credit: King Country Library System

Fingerplay: “Up the Hill”
Here goes a turtle up a hill, creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy (crawl up arm)
Here goes a rabbit up a hill, boing, boing, boing, boing (bounce up arm)
Here goes an elephant up a hill, thud, thud, thud, thud (clap up arm)
Here goes a snake up the hill, slither, slither, slither, slither (slither up arm)
Here comes a rock down the hill, boom, boom, boom, boom, CRASH!
(bounce down, clap hands for crash)
Credit: Bright Spot — Brighton Memorial Library

Craft

This was a simple paper plate craft that was inspired by Jenna’s post at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. Since I was doing this with a daycare, I did want to minimize our mess, so I did not do it three-dimensional.

How It Went

The hit of storytime was “Up, Down, and All Around” — they loved this book! Everything else went pretty good, but I was met with a huge reaction of “EWW UNDERWEAR IS GROSS” when I read “Bear In Underwear.” I mean, the kids were in hysterics laughing, but I honestly wonder if they think underwear is gross. The umbrella craft was a huge success and the kids had a great day at storytime!

September 12, 2012 2 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Letter T!

The Plan

Books

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
Freight Train by Donald Crews
It’s a Tiger by David LaRochelle
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: Letter “T”

Flannelboard: Clickety-Clack

Fingerplay: “Eeny Meeny Miny Mo”
Credit: Childhood

Fingerplay: “Five Little Nails”
Five little nails, standing straight and steady
Here I come with my hammer ready!
Bam, bam, bam! That nail goes down.
Now there’s just four nails to pound.
(count down)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Fingerplay: “This Little Train”
The little train ran up the track (run fingers up arm)
Toot, toot, toot (make train noises)
And then it came toot-tooting back (run fingers down arm)
Toot, toot, toot (make train noises)
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Fingerplay: “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”
Way up high in the apple tree
I saw two apples smiling at me
I shook that tree as hard as I could
And down came the apples
And mmm, they were good!
Credit: Childhood

Song: “Down By the Station”
Credit: Childhood

Craft

We made tiger masks! I cut these out of paper plates and attached popsicle sticks. I did not bring my example and was so pleased when the kids had purple and pink and green tigers instead of just orange!

How It Went

This was a super awesome storytime. I loved all the books and had a ton of kids who repeated the last word or two as I turned the page. (I adore when that happens and it’s so good for them to practice vocabulary and to build their early literacy skills!) The best book was obviously, “It’s a Tiger!” which is such a natural read-aloud — I really encourage all storytime providers who like to be loud to look into it!

September 10, 2012 3 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Letter S!

The Plan

Books

Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
Mouse’s First Snow by Lauren Thompson
Pete the Cat: Rocking In My School Shoes by Eric Litwin
Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter S”

Flannelboard: “Five Red Strawberries”
Five red strawberries, sweet to the core.
Bear came and ate one and then there were four.
Four red strawberries, growing near a tree.
Bear came and ate one and then there were three.
Three red strawberries, for you and you and you.
Bear came and ate one, and then there were two.
Two red strawberries, sitting in the sun.
Bear came and ate one and then there was one.
One red strawberry, left all alone.
Bear came and ate it and then there were none.

Song: “Baby Shark”
Baby shark, do-do doot-doot
Baby shark, do-do doot-doot
Baby shark, do-do doot-doot, doo
(Repeat with Mama Shark, Papa Shark, and Grandpa Shark. Baby Shark is done with two hands, wrists touching to make a shark mouth. Mama Shark is slightly bigger, Papa Shark is bigger than Mama. For Grandpa Shark, fold fingers in and clap with no teeth.)

Song with Props: “Baa Baa Black Sheep”
Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full
One for the farmer and one for the dame
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane
Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full
(repeat with blue, red, and green sheep)

Song: “Itsy Bitsy Spider”

Craft

We made snakes with squares and stars. All of the foam stickers were left over from previous crafts, so this was kind of up-cycling for us!

How It Went

Storytime is continuing to be a bit hectic during the daycare transition from old teacher to new teachers, along with the new classroom ages and kids. This week’s was better than last, so I think things are looking up! “Where Is the Green Sheep?” was the hit of storytime, along with my strawberries flannelboard. I had Applesauce, our storytime mascot, eat the berries off of the board and that left the kids in hysterics!

August 29, 2012 3 Comments Short URL, , Outreach Storytime

Letter R!

The Plan

Books

Hello, Robots by Bob Staake
Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes
My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee
Race You to Bed by Bob Shea
Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

Extension Activities

Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter R”

Flannelboard: “Four Little Rockets”
Four little rockets winking at me
One shot off and then there were three!
Three little rockets with nothing to do
One shot off and then there were two!
Two little rockets afraid of the sun
One shot off and then there was one!
One little rocket alone is no fun
He shot off, and then there were none!

Action Rhyme: “Rain Is Falling Down”
The rain is falling down (flutter fingers down)
SPLASH! (clap loudly once)
The rain is falling down (flutter fingers down)
SPLASH! (clap loudly once)
Pitter patter pitter patter (tap legs softly)
The rain is falling down (flutter fingers down)
SPLASH! (clap loudly once)
(repeat)

Puppets: “Five Little Rabbits”
Hippety hop and hippety hay
Five little rabbits went out to play
Hippety hop and hippety hay,
One little bunny hopped away.

Craft

The daycare now has over 30 kids attending storytime at a single time, so I’ve tried to make the crafts as simple as they can be. This week, they colored their rabbits and we glued cottontails on with cotton balls and glue sticks.

How It Went

This storytime was a mixed bag. Books were either *HITS* or *FLOPS*! Hits: “My Rhinoceros,” “Wow! Said the Owl,” and “Little White Rabbit.” Flops: “Hello, Robots” and “Race You to Bed.” Honestly, I think the storytime was difficult for several reason. One because one of the classrooms was losing their primary teacher and we had both the new teacher and the old teacher in doing different discipline. Two because the kids had just changed classrooms for the 2012-2013 school year based on their new ages. Add this all up and it made for a bit of a mess. Luckily, my rabbit puppets were giant hits, as well as my rocket pieces on the flannelboard!

August 22, 2012 1 Comment Short URL, Outreach Storytime

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