Tag: paper crafts

Frogs!

Continuing with our summer theme of “Make a Splash,” I did a frog storytime!

Started off by reading “One Frog Sang” by Shirley Parenteau.

Parenteau has got to be one of my favorite storytime authors — but she’s only written two books that I know of! This is a great counting book, large and brightly illustrated. We added it to our in-house storytime collection because I love it so much.

Next up, “Where Are You, Little Frog?” by Kayleigh Rhatigan.

This is a short, sweet story about a little frog who doesn’t know where he is. Clues are given throughout the story, and the kids were very happy to guess where little frog was! After they figured out that little frog was on a farm, I moved on to the flannelboard for the week:

Flannelboard: “Five Green and Speckled Frogs”
Five green and 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 only four speckled frogs – RIBBIT RIBBIT
(count down from there)

After a rousing rendition of singing the flannel with the story, I moved on to “The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog” by Ana Martín Larrañaga.

This is my favorite version of this classic story, and I was so happy to share it with my storytime kids. What makes this version my favorite are the illustrations. I generally prefer simple illustrations as opposed to intricate ones in storytime. As for the story, I was a little worried that they might get a little scared, but instead — they laughed! I’m glad that I was able to avoid fear, and instead got amusement.

Next up, a cute action rhyme:

Croak said the frog, (make croaking sound)
With his golden eyes. (fists up to eyes)
Sitting on a lily pad, (crouch on the ground)
Catching flies. (grab air with hand)
I have a sticky tongue, (stick out tongue)
It’s as fast as can be…
And I catch the mosquitoes (catch bugs again),
1-2-3. (count on three fingers)
Credit: Child Fun

Followed by a modified fingerplay!

Fingerplay: “Two Little Frogs”
Two little frogs sitting on a hill,
One named Jack and one named Jill.
“Jump,” said Jack. “Jump,” said Jill.
And the both jumped down the great hill.
Come back, Jack. Come back, Jill.
And the both jumped up the great big hill.

And I ended storytime with the best frog book in the world: “Big Frog Can’t Fit In” by Mo Willems.

I practiced this book until I could recite it and just concentrate on the movable pieces. The hardest part was honestly that I was working with a brand-new book (our library does not purchase pop-ups because they get torn apart within one check-out), that I had purchased for myself, and it took a long time for the pieces to move freely and easily.

But, the pay-off was AMAZING. I have never heard more “ooh-ing” and “ahh-ing” in storytime before!

And the craft for this week was just a simple paper frog. The kids assembled lily pad, frog body, frog head, and then decorated with googly eyes and some foam shapes.

I don’t remember where I found the template though. I saved it to a Publisher file and had my teens cut it out, but have somehow misplaced where I got it. My guess is just through Google.

July 22, 2010 5 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Boats!

This is an ironic storytime post — it’s nothing but a plan! This storytime was supposed to happen the Thursday following ALA’s Annual Conference, and I was out of town until Wednesday at the conference. My staff forgot to do reminder calls the night before and no one showed up for storytime!

In my community, reminder calls are so important.

So, here’s what I planned to do and how I planned it:

I start off by picking 4-5 books. I’m a moody reader by nature and will almost never read all five, but I like to have options in case storytime isn’t working out the way that I planned.

I choose “An Island in the Sun” by Stella Blackstone to start off storytime. I adore Blackstone’s books. I think they are age-appropriate and that the illustrations are always eye-catching. I also really like rhyming stories, and prefer to start off storytime with a rhythm.

I had “Sail Away” by Donald Crews because whenever you do a transportation storytime, you have to include one by Crews! Obviously, my favorite is “Freight Train,” but what I like about Crews’s books are the quick, short text getting the point across in simple language for kids.

I inter-library loaned “Alistair and Kip’s Great Adventure” by John Segal for a different program and fell in love with it for storytime. It’s a very simple story about two friends who build a boat and wind up having a great adventure. It’s a bit of a different pick than what I normally choose because it’s a linear story with a little dialogue in the illustrations.

Another book that I was surprised by was “I’m Mighty” by Kate & Jim McMullan. It’s the story of a tugboat who pulls boats to and from the dock. The illustrations are bold, bright, and colorful. I hoped that the theme of being small would resonate with my preschoolers.

Last, but not least — a settle-down book — “Boats for Bedtime” by Olga Litowinsky. I loved the ending of this book, and really thought it would be a great end to a storytime.

Other than my starting book and ending book, the others would have been moved around as I went. And I never plan where my extension activities are going to go, because I try to meet the needs of the kids as we go. If they need to get up and move before the next story, we do that. If they’re okay with sitting for a flannelboard before moving, we do that.

Flannelboard: “Five Little Boats”
The first little boat went chug, chug, chug.
The second little boat went tug, tug, tug.
The third little boat went row, row, row.
The fourth little boat went ohhhh sooooo slooooooow.
Here comes the sailboat, watch it go!

Action Song: “Riding ‘Round in My Little Boat”
Riding ’round in my little [red] boat
Riding ’round in my little [red] boat
Riding ’round in my little [red] boat
Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, splash!

Song: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

And our very simple craft came from DLTK’s awesome craft section: Halves Boat Preschool Craft.

The biggest “wow” with this craft would be using tissue paper!

July 1, 2010 10 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Things That Go!

(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


Cars! Cars! Cars! by Grace Maccarone


Freight Train by Donald Crews


A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa by Jonathan London


Who Is Driving? By Leo Timmers

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “The Wheels On the Bus”
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town.
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish; The doors on the bus go open and shut; The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep; The Driver on the bus says “Move on back, The people on the bus go Up and Down; The baby on the bus says “Wah, wah, wah”; The mommy on the bus says “Shush, shush, shush.”
Credit: Childhood

Action Rhyme: “The Airplane”
The airplane has great big wings (arms outstretched)
Its propeller spins around and sings “vvvvvv!” (make one arm go round)
The airplane goes up (lift arms)
The airplane goes down (lower arms)
The airplane flies high (arms outstretched, turn body around)
Over the town! (fly around)
Credit: Preschool Rainbow

Action Rhyme: “Choo-Choo Train”
Everyone rubs their hands together in a circular motion to make the noise, slowly at first, getting faster, the librarian says the following:
Choo, choo, choo, choo
Too-too, too-too, too-too
Choo-choo, choo-choo, choo-choo
Ding-dong, Ding-dong, Ding-dong, Ding-dong
Hissssssssssssssss
Credit: In-House Activity

Craft

Paper Train – Templates are from Danielle’s Place.

Teens had cut-out everything. Kids assembled train and decorated with stickers.

How It Went
This was a frustrating week for me because I had put so much into planning, and for whatever reason we had very sad attendance (this week before was 14; this week was 7). I must say though that the kids that attended storytime LOVED the craft. And even though I was low on attendance, everyone was very enthusiastic about the theme — so it worked out. Yay!

May 13, 2010 2 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

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.

April 29, 2010 6 Comments Short URL, Family 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!

April 22, 2010 2 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

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