Tag: paper plate crafts

Puppies!

Week number two in storytime was dogs/puppies! (Yes, I am quite far behind in updating. Things have been crazy during the summer!)

The Plan

Books

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
One Pup’s Up by Marsha Wilson Chaill
Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Susan Meyers
Yip! Snap! Yap! by Charles Fuge

Extension Activities

Action Rhyme: “Some Dogs Bark”
Some dogs bark.
Some dogs growl.
Some dogs yip.
Some dogs howl.
Some dogs wiggle their tails!
Credit: Perry Public Library

Fingerplay: “Ten Little Doggies”
Ten little doggies went out one day, (hold up ten fingers)
To dig in the dirt and play, play, play. (dig, slap knees on each ‘play’)
Five were spotted, and five were not, (hold up one hand, then the other)
And at dinnertime they ate a lot! (pretend to eat)
Credit: Story Time Secrets

Flannelboard Song: “BINGO”

Flannelboard/Fingerplay: “Five Little Puppies”
Five little puppies were playing in the sun. (Hold up hand, fingers extended.)
This one saw a rabbit, and he began to run. (Bend first finger.)
This one saw a butterfly, and he began to race. (Bend second finger.)
This one saw a pussycat, and he began to chase. (Bend third finger.)
This one tried to catch his tail, and he went round & round. (Bend fourth finger.)
This one was so quiet, he never made a sound. (Bend thumb.)
Credit: Perry Public Library

Craft


(Modified this from a KidsSoup craft.)

How It Went

Thursday morning
For my regular kids, they were super entertained by “Yip! Snap! Yap!” because I let them make a ton of dog sounds to accompany each page. I also had a few that remembered “Dog’s Colorful Day” from when I did it either for color or counting storytime in the past. But everyone was laughing pretty hard during “Bark, George” and I would have to say that it was the clear favorite.

Friday morning
And for my daycare storytime, they responded better to “Puppies, Puppies, Puppies” which my other storytime was pretty “meh” about. Their favorite was hands down “Dog’s Colorful Day” because we counted each spot on every page, and at the end of the story, I let them tell me how Dog got his spots.

Overall, the craft was a regular craft. Nothing too thrilling, but it kept their attention.

July 27, 2011 12 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Spring Animals!

I was originally supposed to be reading “spring” stories this storytime, but at the last minute, I decided I didn’t want to read any of the books I had pulled. Our craft was flexible enough that it let me change to “spring animals.” I quickly pulled new books (mostly from our in-house collection), and found rhymes in less than an hour.

I am so glad I changed the theme — this was a WONDERFUL storytime where everyone behaved like angels, and it was a great day for participation, too.

I started off storytime with “Mouse’s First Spring” by Lauren Thompson.

While this is a great book for spring, I like it even better for spring animals! Mouse and Momma go on a walk, with Momma answering Mouse’s questions about animals they meet. My kids really liked the guessing game aspect of this book, and were very happy to shout answers to clues.

I had this prepped for bug storytime, and it definitely worked for this theme too:

Action Rhyme: “Bumblebee, Bumblebee”
Bumblebee, bumblebee
Landing on my nose
Bumblebee, bumblebee,
Now he’s on my toes
On my arms, on my legs,
On my elbows!
Bumblebee, bumblebee,
He lands and then he goes!
Credit: Mrs. Jones – Insects

Then it was time for another animal who likes to hide — I read “Where is Tippy Toes?” by Betsy Lewin.

My group was so caught up in this story, and they loved the cut-aways in the page pieces. I was very proud when one of the kids guessed a bed at the end of the book.

Next up, I sang-read “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” by Jane Cabrera.

I love that this book gives the opportunity for parents to join in with me. Nearly everyone sang, and it really encouraged the kids to go ahead and sing, too. Also, the cute little twist of a baby at the end of the song always gets a good crowd laugh.

After, I launched into “Baa Baa Black Sheep” with my popsicle stick props, and everyone kept singing with me! YAY.

And then it was time for a fingerplay to introduce the next animal we were going to read about. I’ve used this three different times this spring:

Fingerplay: “Here Is a Bunny”
Here is a bunny with ears so funny
And here is his home in the ground
When a noise he hears, he pricks up his ears
And he jumps to his home in the ground

And then, I read “Wee Little Bunny” by Lauren Thompson.

Thompson’s books are perfect for storytime, all of them. I normally don’t use an author twice in storytime, but I cannot help but be in love with all of Lauren Thompson’s books. You’re lucky that I didn’t use “Little Quack” too.

Instead of reading “Little Quack” for ducks, I did the classic “Five Little Ducks” song, with flannelboard pieces I made about a year ago now. A lot of my kids caught on, and my parents too, and wound up singing along with me.

Next up, I brought out “Charlie Chick” by Nick Denchfield.

Do you want a surefire way to have every kid laughing their head off at the end of storytime? Bring out “Charlie Chick.” Sarah brought this book to my attention a long time ago, and I immediately ordered a used copy from Amazon. This is a GREAT pop-up book, and I cannot wait to use this book again. And I’m sure that my kids will be thrilled to see it again as well.

Our craft was from an Oriental Trading kit, and was a huge success.

Such a positive storytime, I’m so glad I switched my theme!

May 25, 2011 2 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Green!

And another catch-up for storytime posts — this time it’s my daycare series on colors. (Previously, we’ve already done Red, Orange, and Yellow.)

I opened up storytime with a crowd-pleaser, “Where is the Green Sheep?” by Mem Fox.

This book was seriously made for storytime. With great rhymes, a driving task (find the green sheep), and a wonderful refrain for the children to say with you — it’s always a perfect fit!

[Side story: my three-year-old twin cousins came to my sheep storytime this winter and one of the girls, when I saw them next, looked at me and said, “We read stories about sheep. Where is the green sheep?” AWESOME. Storytime retention!]

After the kids found the green sheep, I went ahead with a modified version of “Baa Baa Black Sheep” that Abby suggested a long time ago, using different sheep colors. And somehow…I wound up finding Mel’s pop stick puppets and made my own to go with the song.

Next up, I asked the kids to name a bunch of green things, and one of the first things named was grass — direct segue into “In the Tall, Tall Grass” by Denise Fleming.

I love the bright green grass, and the many different kinds of bugs in this book! The kids enjoyed naming the different bugs, and I flipped back a few times through the book to rename some bugs. Then, we talked about things growing and that they’re green which led us to vegetables…and some peas:

Fingerplay: “Five Green Peas”
Five green peas in a peapod, pressed (make fist)
One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest (raise fingers one at a time)
They grew and grew and they did not stop (stretch fingers wide)
Till one day that peapod just had to go…POP! (clap)
Credit: Harris County Library

Followed by the adorable, “Little Pea” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

This book is always a big hit, and it remained so at this reading. It’s always a surprise for the kids to find out that Little Pea hates candy and loves his vegetables. This leads to a lot of laughs. My only sadness with this book is that it’s such a small book — someone please adapt it to a big book size so that it’s better equipped for storytime, please!

Now it was time for some green monsters to show up. I did my version of “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley on the flannelboard. This is a great participation story and I love doing it on the flannelboard so that the kids can shout away that scary old big green monster. Then, a little activity to get them settled back down:

Action Rhyme: “Monster, Monster”
Monster, monster, turn around
Monster, monster, touch the ground
Monster, monster, reach up high
Monster, monster, touch the sky
Monster, monster, touch your nose
Monster, monster, grab your toes
Monster, monster, touch your knees
Monster, monster, sit down please
(Which as we all know is just “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.”)

And then it was on to “Lizette’s Green Sock” by Catharina Valckx.

This was a very sweet story about a little duck who finds a green sock while walking one day and sets off to find its match. My kids are always very concerned where there is something missing in a story, and they pay close attention until the end to make sure that everything turns out all right.

Then it was time to shift gears to our last green animal of the day — frogs!

Started off with a flannel version of “Five Green and Speckled Frogs.” And then a brief little puppet show:

Poem & Puppets: “The Frog on the Log”
There once was a green little frog, frog, frog
Who played in the wood on a log, log, log
A screech owl sitting in a tree, tree, tree
Came after the frog with a scree, scree, scree
When the frog heard the owl in a flash, flash, flash
He leaped in a pond with a splash, splash, splash!
Credit: Preschool Education

And then our last book for the day, “One Frog Sang” by Shirley Parentau.

The kids joined me in making all the different frog sounds in this book, and it was definitely a big hit. And then it was time for our flannel game, “Can We Find?” followed by our goodbye song, and then our craft!

Craft was from Busy Bee Kids Crafts. Everything was pre-cut; kids assembled using Glue Dots.

May 9, 2011 5 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Red!

Last week at regular registration storytime, I had a daycare drop-in with eighteen kids. As much as it was horrible to have to turn kids away, I simply don’t have the space (our room is capped at 35 people for fire code), and I definitely didn’t have enough craft supplies prepped for that large of a number. Instead of completely turning them away though, I offered to do a separate storytime for their group each week.

(And because I’m crazy, I can’t possibly repeat themes, partially because a lot of our crafts this session are from Oriental Trading but mostly because I get bored if I have to do the same theme twice a week. I know, feel free to tell me I’m crazy repeatedly — but it probably won’t change a thing.)

So, you now get the bonus of an extra storytime theme per week. For this session, I decided to do colors and we started at the top of the rainbow with red.

First up, “The Red Hen” by Rebecca & Ed Emberley.

I love this folk tale and have since I was a kid, but I especially enjoy the illustrations in this particular retelling. (Actually, I really love every little bit about this retelling. But my favorite part is the bright colors and creative pictures.) This story was a great introduction to the theme of “red” because I got to say “the red hen” all the time in this story and in my questions to the group.

Next, I read “Pizza at Sally’s” by Monica Wellington.

This one is a classic as far as I’m concerned. I love the borders on the text, love the little cat that helps Sally make the pizza, love the accessibility of the text (it’s not too complicated for preschool), it’s awesome. This was a great segue into the flannel that I freehanded:

Flannelboard: “This Is the Pizza That Sally Made”
This is the crust that Sally made.

This is the sauce, so red and so sweet.
That goes on the crust that Sally made.

These are the olives, so black and salty.
That goes on the sauce, so red and so sweet.
That goes on the crust that Sally made.

(Additional Verses)
These are the peppers, so green and crunchy.
This is the pineapple, fresh from Hawaii.
This is the pepperoni, so hot and spicy.
This is the cheese so gooey and chewy.
This is the tummy, so hungry and lively.
And that was the pizza that Sally made.
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

The flannelboard worked really well, except that I had one little girl who kept insisting that she only liked cheese pizza and even though I explained that this was Sally’s pizza — she was still super upset that the pizza had toppings on it. Oh, well.

Next, a book that I discovered while shelf-reading the other day, and immediately pulled for storytime, “Cars” by Patricia Hubbell.

There are thousand of car books out there, but I had a super hard time finding a fire engine book that was appropriate for 2-6. (There are a lot of longer ones, and not any really short text books.) But I love that “Cars” had a great fire engine spread, and that the book begins with a little red car. Fit perfectly into my theme. And I followed it up with a crowd pleaser:

Action Rhyme: “Hurry, Hurry”
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! ring bell
(Turn the corner (lean over to one side, then the other), climb the ladder (pretend to climb), spray the water (pretend to spray a hose).)
Credit: Childhood

And that brought me and the kids to the apple portion of the red theme, beginning with “Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington.

I try not to use two books by the same author in storytime (my bug theme will not have more than one Eric Carle, I promise!), but I love Wellington’s books, and they were so perfect for the theme and the recognizable items I had chosen. Next up, a quick fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”
Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arms up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up two fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples… (make a downward motion)
And mmm, they were good! (smile and rub stomach)
Credit: Childhood

And our last book, “The Apple Pie Tree” by Zoe Hall.

I really enjoyed ending storytime with this book. Especially since we’re in a seasonal shift in Chicago right now, the kids really recognized the wait for the trees to change and that the green buds were next to appear.

Finished up with this apple craft from KidsSoup.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a daycare storytime, and this craft was far too ambitious for everyone to complete without a parent helping them. I spent a lot of time running around, going from kid to kid, until everyone was done. Next week’s craft will be much simpler.

March 14, 2011 11 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Love!

After quite a journey — storytime break of three weeks, but the library’s phone was out last night so I couldn’t do reminder calls and was pretty much convinced that storytime *wouldn’t* happen — SEVEN of my regulars showed up without fail and I got to do my storytime!

Wonderfully ironic that I feel such love for them for coming, and my theme was love today! (I actually modified a storytime from Afternoon Storytime about Valentine’s Day, but…Chicago got hit with a blizzard and the library closed, so no storytime. And rescheduling after the holiday seemed silly.)

First book up, “Sweethearts” by Jan Carr.

This is the only Valentine’s Day book that I did read at storytime. I love this sweet story about a little panda leaving valentines all over his house for his family. And the kids really enjoyed counting how many valentines he hid on each page spread. We talked about loving our families, and then I asked the kids if they could love anything else. One girl answered with her bear, which was super cute. And I replied that you could love some bugs, which led us into the next book, “I Love Bugs” by Emma Dodd.

I *LOVED* reading this one during this particular storytime! I had a little boy who kept saying, over and over, “Spider? Does he love spiders?” and when we got to the spider page, he said, “ACK I HATE SPIDERS.” I almost fell out of chair laughing. So adorable. Other than that, this book offers a great opportunity for kids to name the bugs in the pictures — vocabulary! I quickly talked about hearts and love before launching into this version of BINGO.

Flannelboard: “H-E-A-R-T”
There is a shape and it means love
And heart is its name-o.
H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T,
And heart is its name-o!
Credit: Everything Preschool

I made a quick flannel with five hearts and the letters glued on to help the kids keep track of when to clap and when to say the letter. And using the heart shape led us straight to the next book, “My Heart is Like a Zoo” by Michael Hall.

I adore this book, and used it at wild animal storytime last year, as well as at a zoo storytime over the summer, and will probably use it again at jungle storytime this summer! I was thrilled to work it into a love theme. After seeing all the animals made of hearts, I invited the kids to learn to make their own hearts with this fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Heart”
I put my hands together,
This is how I start
I curve my fingers right around,
And I can make a heart!
Credit: Perpetual Preschool

And then, I went straight into the theme song, “Skinnamarink” by Sharon, Lois, and Bram, which is from my childhood, and I did not have to refresh my memory on any of the motions or lyrics. For those unfamiliar, the song ends with a kiss — which was a perfect segue into the next book, “I Kissed the Baby” by Mary Murphy.

This book has a great call-and-response that one of my kids immediately picked up on. After every “I [saw] the baby, did you [see] the baby?” he responded, “YES, YES, I DID!” except for one case when he responded, “No, but my sister did.” Cue heart melt! A quick action rhyme:

Action Rhyme: “Little Heart”
I have a little heart, (place hand over heart)
And it goes thump, thump, thump (pat chest three times)
It keeps right on beating,
When I jump, jump, jump (jump three times)
I get a special feeling, when I look at you. (point to child)
It makes me want to give you a hug or two. (hug yourself)
Credit: The Best Kids Book Site

Which led us to our very last book, “Henry in Love” by Peter McCarty.

This book is adorable, and a great example of sweet, first love. But because it’s an older read, I was prepared to substitute it if the kids were wiggly or done with storytime. But I had amazing behavior during storytime — like remarkable best behavior ever, with kid participation and no running around, and clapping and singing; storytime librarians will understand what I mean! So, this was a great way to end our program for the day!

And our craft for the day was an Oriental Trading kit left over from the Afternoon Storytime that didn’t happen — bear plates with hearts!

February 24, 2011 8 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Bears!

This winter, I definitely wanted to revisit bears as a theme and I knew that I could shake things up enough that kids who were around last year wouldn’t be bored this session.

I had to start off with my favorite storytime book, period — “Old Bear” by Kevin Henkes.

I really like reading this for all the different seasons, especially when the kids get so excited when the season we’re in shows up — and the winter spread is my favorite of the four. (Even though winter is my least favorite season!) Next up, an action rhyme to get the kids pumped:

Action Rhyme: “Bears Eat Honey”
A bear eats honey (pretend to eat)
He thinks it’s yummy
In his tummy (rub tummy)
But the bees don’t think it’s funny!
Buzzzzzzzzzzzz! (make buzzing noise)
Credit: King County Library System

Next up, “Bears on Chairs” by Shirley Parenteau.

My kids love ANYTHING that has counting involved, so needless to say — they were HUGE fans of this one. Afterward, I brought out a special friend (read: bear puppet) to help me do the next song:

Song & Puppet: “Sleepy Bear” (Tune: “Thumbkin”)
Where is bear? Where is bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
(Have kids shout “WAKE UP BEAR” to do the song again.)
Credit: Preschool Education Music & Songs : Animals > Winter

I’ve been doing a lot of “Thumbkin” twists this storytime session, and the kids are really responding to the familiar tune at this point — definitely have some kids humming with me. This song/puppet works out great. Our bear puppet is pretty big, and really expressive, so I pull in his snout and curl him on my knee when he “sleeps” and ask the kids, “Should we wake him to sing again?” We sang this four or five times until one of my little boys said, “LET HIM SLEEP.” So cute!

Next, a book that I invite the kids to read with me — “Orange Pear Apple Bear” by Emily Gravett.

Before I start reading, using the cover, I teach them the four words and what letters that the words start with — and then I go into the books, pointing at the beginning letters to help them figure out which word they should be saying. Sometimes, I wind up with a chorus of answers, sometimes I’m the only one reading. (Especially as the fruits change their colors — trips some of my little guys up.) I followed this book up with the flannel of the day.

Flannelboard: “Ten Teddy Bears Sleeping in the Bed”
Ten little teddy bears sleeping in the bed,
Five at the foot and five at the head.
One little teddy said, “This bed is TOO full!”
So he grabbed the blanket and started to pull.
He pulled and he pulled and he pulled some more,
Until two little teddies went BOOM to the floor!
(Make pulling motions with PULL and clap with the BOOM)

(Count down until…)

One little teddy bear sleeping in the bed,
Zero at the foot and one at the head.
This little teddy said, “This is not right!
I don’t want to sleep alone tonight!”

So…
One little teddy bear sleeping in the bed,
Zero at the foot and one at the head.
This teddy said, “This bed is NOT full!”
So he put out his paw and started to pull.
He pulled and he pulled and he pulled some more,
Until four little teddies climbed up from the floor!

(Count up until…)

Ten little teddy bears sleeping in the bed,
Five at the foot and five at the head.
One little teddy said, “This is JUST right!”
So ten little teddy bears said, “Good Night!”
Susan Pflug, Copyright 1990
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Then I had the kids do “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” until I got them to sit down for the next story, “Bear In the Air” by Susan Meyers.

This one is on the longer side, and I wasn’t sure that it would hold their attention so late in the storytime. But, I had nothing to fear as usual — the kids were very worried about what was happening to Bear, and were very patient to find out the answer. One last song:

Song: “If You’re a Bear and You Know 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 grizzly bear and you know it, growl real loud
Credit: Childhood

And our last book — “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Eric Carle.

My library has multiple board books copies of this one in the storytime collection — so each child and caregiver got a copy to read along with me reading our big-book copy. Our parents love when we do this, and I think it serves such a great literacy skills purpose (teaching both print motivation and print awareness!) that the minor cost (about $75-100 for each set) is worth it.

Our craft was once again from KidsSoup and was very well received.

January 13, 2011 28 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Shake Your Sillies Out

In addition to my storytime duties, I also try to have a once in a while special program for ages 3-7. Last week at the library, we shook our sillies out.

(Really, this program was a big excuse to use my new storytime aides that we purchased after receiving a Target Early Literacy grant this summer. And believe me, the kids LOVED the new items — especially after I told them that they were the first kids to get to use them!)

I kicked off the program with “Dancing Feet” by Lindsay Craig; illustrated by Marc Brown.

The kids tapped and stomped their feet along to this animal guessing story. The book has got great rhythm and my kids love when they get to guess which animal is coming next. The book will definitely be used again and again at my storytimes.

Next up, I read “I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello” by Barbara S. Garriel.

This book is based on the “I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly” song, so my kids figured it out pretty quickly. It was fun hearing them try to recite the story along with me as I went, but the kids did get tripped up on some of the instruments. I can see this working as a great introduction to different instruments in a music class.

And that was it for the stories at this program. The rest of the program was shaking! First up, I passed out egg shakers to do the hokey pokey:

“Hokey Pokey” (with egg shakers)
You shake your egg up, you shake your egg down
You shake your egg up, and you shake it all around
You do the hokey pokey, and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!
(more verses can include: left/right, front/back, etc.)
Credit: Bay Views Storytime Ideas

Followed by a rendition of “Shake Your Sillies Out.”

“Shake Your Sillies Out” (with shakers)
Gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
And wiggle my waggles away
(more verses can include: clap my crazies out, jump my jiggles out,
stretch my stretchies out, yawn my sleepies out)
Credit: Raffi

I forgot the tune of this one as I started to sing, so I made it up and went with it. Most of the time, I try to sing this to “Skip to My Lou,” but I know there’s a proper tune out there!

Then, we traded our shakers for our activity scarves. I was done singing for a bit, so I put in a CD of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It” for the kids to move their scarves around to. Our version of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” has instructions on it to use with scarves.

Then, we put away our scarves and got out our parachute. Our is a small one — I think it’s a 20′ one — but it’s perfect for our space. I started off by throwing six soft balls on the parachute and just letting the kids shake the parachute until the balls fell off. We call this game “Bouncy Balls” and it is a crowd-pleaser! Everyone shrieks and laughs while we do this and I’m pretty sure that they could play this all day if I left them.

Next, we tried a brand-new parachute game with one of my favorite baby bouncy rhymes:

“The Noble Duke of York”
The noble duke of York (shake parachute)
He had ten thousand men (shake parachute)
He marched them up to the top of the hill (parachute up)
And marched them down again (parachute down)
He marched them to the left (walk to the left)
He marched them to the left (walk to the left)
He marched them to the right (walk to the right)
He marched them to the right (walk to the right)
And then he marched them up (parachute up)
And then he marched them down again (parachute down)
Oh, what a silly sight! (shake again)
Credit: Preschool Education – Parachute Games

Another big hit here. The kids did this one three times in a row before I went to the center of the parachute and told everyone to let go. (It makes bunching up the chute into a game, and it also goes much easier than trying to get preschoolers to fold it up.)

Our craft was just a simple paper plate shaker.

My teens pre-stapled the plates, leaving just the smallest gap for dumping beans into. We had a table just for beans, and there was a giant mess on the floor. While the kids were attaching the streamers (pre-cut) with Glue Dots, I brought out the carpet sweeper to pick up the beans — every kid INSISTED on having a turn with the sweeper to pick up the beans. After the beans were picked up, I had to put more on the floor so that everyone could have a turn.

The kids are always surprising me. A task that I absolutely hate, but find necessary, they are amazed with.

October 20, 2010 3 Comments Short URL, Special Programming

Crabs!

Sadly, another planned storytime that didn’t happen. The week before this storytime was scheduled, our basement flooded and we unfortunately had to begin renovations because our walls and floor were significantly damaged. But had storytime happened, this is what we would have done:

Books:
Hector the Hermit Crab by Katie Boyce

Clumsy Crab by Ruth Galloway

Old Shell, New Shell by Helen Ward

And the planned extension activities:

Flannelboard: “Five Cranky Crabs”
Five cranky crabs were digging on the shore.
One swam into a net and then there were four.
Four cranky crab were floating in the sea.
One got tangled up in seaweed, then there were three.
Three cranky crabs were wondering what to do.
One dug a deep, deep hole. Then there were two.
Two cranky crabs were warming in the sun.
One got scooped up in a cup. Then there was one.
One cranky crab was smarter than his friends.
He hid between the jagged rocks. That’s how the story ends!
Credit: Preschool Education — Sea & Ocean

Action Rhyme: “Once I Saw a Crab” // Modified “Once I Saw An Octopus”
Once I saw a crab swimming in the deep blue sea. (Swim, point downward)
I called, “Mr. Crab, won’t you swim with me?” (Cup hands around mouth)
Then out came his pinchers, very short and sharp, too (Make two clawhands)
Then I swam away from his sharp pinchers two. (Swim away)
Credit: Preschool Education — Sea & Ocean

Fingerplay: “Mr. Lobster and Mrs. Crab”
Mr. Lobster and Mrs. Crab pinch and snap all day
Mr. Lobster and Mrs. Crab pinch and snap all day
With a pinch, pinch here and a snap, snap there
Here a pinch, there a snap, everywhere a pinch, snap
Mr. Lobster and Mrs. Crab pinch and snap all day
Credit: Everything Preschool — Beach Songs

Song: “We’re Little Orange Crabs” (Tune: Farmer in the Dell)
We’re little orange crabs
Who live down by the sea,
And where we do go
We’re quick as quick can be.
We’re little orange crabs
Who like to run and hide,
And when you see us walking by
It’s always side to side.
Credit: Preschool Education — Sea & Ocean

And the planned craft (which is amazingly adorable!) was paper plate crabs!

Which I got from Sarah, which she got and modified from the Craft of the Day blog — Cool Crab Hats.

Teen volunteers cut out all the shapes; the wiggly eyes were self-stick, and the kids would have used glue dots to attach everything to the plate.

August 5, 2010 9 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Ducks!

I was so excited to do this storytime — I love ducks and was incredibly lucky to find an amazing craft! Yes, this is one of those storytimes that was built around a craft. But I had nothing to fear, there are a plethora of great duck books, songs, and rhymes!

Storytime began with a classic: “Little Quack” by Lauren Thompson.

This is a wonderful story about five little ducks getting ready to swim with mama duck. Of course, one is scared and stays behind and that’s Little Quack. The kids loved the repetition of this book and were quick to pick up how the story was going to end. And after such a successful story (there was clapping at the end), I moved immediately to “Duck Dunks” by Lynne Berry.

This is another book from a seasonal series and we have all of the books in our storytime collection. I love the almost tongue-twister rhymes and the sweet, soft illustrations. In this book, the ducks are going to the beach, which was perfect for our summer session! Next up, the kids needed to get up and move, so we did our action rhyme:

“Little Duck”
I saw a little duck go hop, hop, hop (hop three times)
I told the little duck to stop, stop, stop (hold up hand for stop)
I went to the window to say, ‘How do you do?’ (hold out hand for handshake)
He wagged his little tail and far away he flew! (shake tail and fly away)

Just adapted an action rhyme that I’ve done before to fit my theme! And then followed it up by singing with our flannelboard:

“Five Little Ducks”
Five little ducks went out to play, over the hill and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And only four little ducks came back
(count down until)
Sad mother duck went out one day, over the hill and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And all of her five little ducks came back

I was positive that I learned this song from Kidsongs, but after searching, I’m not so sure. Either way, it’s a song that I know from childhood, and I actually had a few kids chime in — they had learned the song from their mom!

Next up, I read “Dimity Duck” by Jane Yolen & Sebastien Braun.

This is a great story about two friends — Dimity Duck and Frumity Frog — and their adventures together. I considered using this book for both my duck and frog storytime (which is upcoming), but ultimately chose it for duck storytime because Dimity is the main character.

Song: “Little Ducks”
Little ducks go quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack
Little ducks go quack, quack, quack
In the springtime
Credit: Duck Theme – Step By Step

A quick song before finishing up storytime with “10 Little Rubber Ducks” by Eric Carle.

This story about rubber ducks was a fun deviation from real ducks! My favorite part is the ending, when the kids were quacking along with the real ducks, and I pushed the sound button for the rubber duck noise — they stopped quacking and started laughing. Storytime was over, and we got up to do our craft:

I found this great craft on Danielle’s Place and was immediately sold on doing it for a storytime. I couldn’t find paper plates in the right color yellow, so I did substitute plastic plates and also switched to Glue Dots. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but those Glue Dots are a *lifesaver* when it comes to preschool crafts!

The kids had a great time at duck storytime, and left with a super adorable craft. There is nothing cuter than kids running around, quacking and chasing each other as they leave.

July 8, 2010 7 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Kids Art: Whales

“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 Kids Art was inspired by “Alistair and Kip’s Great Adventure” by John Segal. (And a pretty awesome whale kit from Oriental Trading.)

This is a simple story, but I particularly chose it for the part that the whale plays in the story — he saves the day! The best part about this story/art pairing was that I had a kid who announced the connection between the two at art project. He proudly proclaimed, “It’s a WHALE. Like in the STORY.”

A quick song before craft:

“Baby Beluga”

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
Heaven above and the sea below,
And a little white whale on the go.

Baby beluga, baby beluga,
Is the water warm? Is your mama home,
With you so happy?

Way down yonder where the dolphins play,
Where you dive and splash all day,
Waves roll in and the waves roll out.
See the water squirting out of your spout.

Baby beluga, oh, baby beluga,
Sing your little song, sing for all your friends.
We like to hear you.

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
Heaven above and the sea below,
And a little white whale on the go.
You’re just a little white whale on the go.

Craft time!

I paired the whale craft kit from Oriental Trading with a simple Saran Wrap painting idea. The kit was a hanger craft originally, but the whale did not hang nicely, so I had the kids glue the whale onto a piece of painting paper after we had painted the ocean with a piece of crumpled up Saran Wrap. The kids glued their whale pieces together and while everything dried…we broke out our brand-new parachute.

I recycled a super simple game from another program for grade-school kids. I had my teen volunteers cut out foam fish from different colors. And while the rest of the kids shook the parachute, I called a kid by name to “dive under” and find a certain color fish. This is a great game, not only for color recognition, but because the kids laughed the whole way through it.

After the parachute, we settled down for “Rub-a-Dub-Sub” by Linda Ashman.

Once we were all done, kids had the option of taking their craft or leaving it to dry (we did have quite a few that needed more time to dry!), and the program was done.

June 22, 2010 4 Comments Short URL, , Special Programming

Newer Entries
Older Entries