storytime katie

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

It’s a Tiger! by David LaRochelle*
Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet
Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia*
Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Rock and Roll Playground*

Featured Track: #2 Jump Up (It’s a Good Day)*

Flannelboard: “Dear Zoo”*

Flannelboard: “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”*

Props: “Green Says Go”*

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

• ABCs
• Dance Your Fingers Up
• Everyone Can March*
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Open, Shut Them
• Pat-a-Cake
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom*

How It Went

For my last Family Storytime (another staff member is taking over for the spring), I decided to go all out and do really high energy, interactive picture books and activities. I let each child put up a “No!” on the flannelboard during the Pigeon and encouraged everyone to get up and move and be excited. Since we were up and moving so much, I got through three books! That is a family storytime miracle for me!

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

Be Quiet, Mike! by Leslie Patricelli
Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle
Music Class Today! by David Weinstone*
Tanka Tanka Skunk by Steve Webb*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Dragon Dreams*

Featured Track: #13 We Make Some Noise Together*

Flannelboard: Seals on the Bus*

Props: Handbells with Track #13

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

• ABCs
• Dance Your Fingers Up
• Everyone Can March
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes*
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Open, Shut Them
• Pat-a-Cake
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom*

How It Went

We had a very noisy class today! (I had compliments from our Technical Services department which shares a wall with our meeting room.) Both books were immediate successes and we had a great time clapping along to Tanka Tanka Skunk. But the best part of the day was definitely when I let the kids have handbells to shake along to “We Make Some Noise Together.” The kids loved getting their energy out and I liked getting to watch them actually use an instrument.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

Count! by Denise Fleming
Counting Ovejas by Sarah Weeks*
One Family by George Shannon*
Ten in the Bed by Jane Cabrera*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: The Irrational Anthem*

Featured Track: #7 Jumping and Counting*

Flannelboard: “Pretty Ladybugs”*

Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”*

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

• ABCs
• Dance Your Fingers Up*
• Everyone Can March
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Open, Shut Them
• Pat-a-Cake
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star*
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom*

How It Went

This was honestly a really weird family storytime. I only had four kiddos in the room and it’s been a REALLY long time since I had such a small audience. (My guess is that because Shake, Shimmy, & Dance was this week and we had snow that families opted not to come to our weekly event and instead go to the monthly. That resulted in SSD having a super high attendance of 71, so I’ll take it!) Anyways, we got through a TON of material since it was an all preschool crowd and they were great. I put the flannelboard on the floor and let them add the spots to the ladybug. All of the books worked well, but Jane Cabrera has something really special with Ten in the Bed so I’ll call it the favorite — I loved watching the kids play along with the characters as they fell out.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

Baby Penguins Everywhere by Melissa Guion
Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson*
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr.*
Where Is Home, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Stinky Cake*

Featured Track: #18 The Penguin Song*

Flannelboard: “Five Bears”*

Flannelboard: “The Penguin Went Over the Iceberg”

Puppets: There’s Something In the Snow
There’s something in the snow, now what can it be?
There’s something in the snow that I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound…HOWL HOWL HOWL
A wolf is what I found! HOWL HOWL HOWL
(CAW CAW CAW, A cardinal is what I found! / GRR GRR GRR, A bear is what I found! / WADDLE WADDLE WADDLE, A penguin is what I found!)
Credit: Modified from “There’s Something In My Garden” originally found at SurLaLune Storytime

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

• ABCs
• Dance Your Fingers Up
• Everyone Can March*
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Open, Shut Them*
• Pat-a-Cake
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

How It Went

Every storytime that includes a guessing game with animals makes my storytime kids lose their minds, so the clear winner was “There’s Something In the Snow” this week. I enjoyed reading all the books this week, but probably pushed it by including Where Is Home, Little Pip? after we had already done two books. Because this is a drop-in program, I have to cater to the larger group which was preschoolers this week, but the few toddlers in the room were definitely out of attention. I found myself skipping page spreads in Little Pip so that the preschoolers could hear the end since they were still super invested.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beaumont*
Dinosaur vs. the Library by Bob Shea*
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen
Inside-Outside Dinosaurs by Roxie Munro*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Whaddaya Think of That?*

Featured Track: #1 We Are the Dinosaurs*

Flannelboard: “Ten Little Dinos”*

Puppets: “Dinosaur, Dinosaur”*
Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch the ground
Dinosaur, dinosaur, reach up high
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch the sky
Dinosaur, dinosaur, find your nose
Dinosaur, dinosaur, find your toes
Dinosaur, dinosaur, find your knees
Dinosaur, dinosaur, sit down please

Puppets: “Two Little Dinosaurs”*

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

• ABCs
• Dance Your Fingers Up
• Everyone Can March
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Open, Shut Them
• Pat-a-Cake
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom*

How It Went

Seriously, how fun is this theme? I love doing dinosaurs stories and would read them every week to joy of many of my preschoolers. I had a young man who dropped his jaw when I revealed that our theme for the day was dinosaurs! He was very on top of answering questions and leading the group in roaring. It was a perfect storytime to come home to after ALA Midwinter. Really, everything was a great success. Dini Dinosaur has such a great refrain and lets the kids practice body identification, but it also lets parents with babies and toddlers do some touching and tickling as we identify “head” and “stomach”. It’s a great cross-over title and I love giving my families those modifications to make a book work for all attending this drop-in.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

The Duckling Gets a Cookie by Mo Willems*
It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes*
Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? by Bonnie Lass

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Dizzy*

Featured Track: #12 A Cookie As Big As Your Head*

Flannelboard: “Down Around the Corner”*

Flannelboard: “It Looked Like Spilt Milk”*

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

• ABCs
• Dance Your Fingers Up
• Everyone Can March
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Open, Shut Them*
• Pat-a-Cake
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

How It Went

I really enjoyed this storytime plan. The kids were really into Kitten’s First Full Moon and loved acting out kitten’s actions along with the book. Even though The Duckling Gets a Cookie is normally a crowd-pleaser, it kind of flopped this time in storytime. I’m not sure that my group was old enough (on average) to get the humor of the story. Both flannelboards were wonderful hits, but “Down Around the Corner” is especially fun when you use puppets to “buy” and “eat” the cookies.