Tag: summer 2013

Cities!

The Plan

Books

citiessummer14

All Through My Town by Jean Reidy
Drum City by Thea Guidone
Subway by Anastasia Suen
Wow, City! by Robert Neubecker

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: Building Blocks

Flannelboard: “Wheels on the Bus”

Action Song: “Driving ‘Round”
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

Song: “London Bridge”
London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair lady
Build it up with silver and gold
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Build it up with silver and gold
My fair lady
Credit: Childhood

Craft

This simple paper craft came from an amazing teen volunteer years ago who drew these shapes for me and then cut them out. The program there were originally intended for never happened and I saved them — this storytime was absolutely perfect! I added glitter to make stars and other designs in the night sky.

How It Went

Thursday morning
I was absolutely FLOORED that no child in this storytime had heard London Bridge before. Seriously! Their favorite book was definitely “Subway” — when we did the Building Blocks activity, they chose to build their own subway. They had a great time singing along to “Wheels on the Bus” with me and driving their cars around during “Drivin’ Round.”

Friday morning
This group got really into “Drum City” and I would say that was their favorite book. They built a little city with their building blocks and had a really great cooperative experience doing that, lots of sharing and helping, which was so nice to see.

April 24, 2014 0 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Garden!

The Plan

Books

gardensummer14

A Closer Look by Mary McCarthy
Maisy Grows a Garden by Lucy Cousins
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Rah Rah Radishes by April Pulley Sayre

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Lunch”

Finger Puppets: “Ten Little Flowers”
One little, two little, three little flowers
Four little, five little, six little flowers
Seven little, eight little, nine little flowers
Ten flowers in the garden
Credit: Modified from Childhood

Action Rhyme: “Dig a Little Hole”
Dig a little hole(dig)
Plant a little seed (drop seed)
Pour a little water (pour)
Pull a little weed (pull up and throw away)
Chase a little bug (chasing motion)
Heigh-ho, there he goes! (shade eyes)
Give a little sunshine (make a sun)
Grow a little rose (smell flower, eyes closed)
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Puppets: “There’s Something In My Garden”
There’s something in my garden, now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden that I can’t really see
Hear its funny sound…
A [ANIMAL] is what I found!
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Craft

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This was a pre-packaged craft that I got at Michaels last summer. It had different kinds of flowers in it, but I chose the daisy since daisies are the friendliest flowers. (Points if you got that reference!) It was an okay craft, we did need to pull out glue dots since it wasn’t self-adhesive.

How It Went

Thursday morning
“Something In My Garden” is a magical, magical rhyme. The kids wait with baited breath until the animals come out and surprise them. This was a great theme for the CSLP 2013 Summer Reading theme, “Dig Into Reading!” and the kids this morning really enjoyed both “Planting a Rainbow” and “Maisy Grows a Garden.” Garden!

Friday morning
“Maisy Grows a Garden” was the hit of this group. They were so, so excited to watch me pull the tabs and let the pop-ups loose. I had the kids clap the beat of “Rah Rah Radishes” in this group as I read since they were pretty wiggly throughout the whole storytime. I’m not sure I would recommend that to everyone, as I have a super loud voice and it’s not a problem for me to talk over a group of thirty clapping along, but it was so fun!

April 14, 2014 5 Comments Short URL, , Family Storytime

Construction!

The Plan

Books

construction2014

Dig, Dogs, Dig by James Horvath
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Roadwork by Sally Sutton
Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “If You Have a Red Truck”
If you have a red truck, a red truck,
If you have a red truck, bring it to the board!

Flannelboard: “Red Crane, Red Crane, What Do You See?”

Song: “Construction Worker Song”
This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning
(saw the wood, turn the screwdriver, drill a hole, stack the bricks, stir the paint, paint the walls)
Credit: Everything Preschool

Song: “Dump Truck” (Tune: Ten Little Indians)
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Bumpity-bumpity comes the dump truck,
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuump out the load.
Credit: Pre-K

Craft

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This is the same exact craft that I used in Road Work Ahead. I had a lot of extras from the program and felt like it would be a waste to recycle them. For storytime though, I had teen volunteers cut out the pieces and pre-assemble the construction trucks so that my little kids could just color.

How It Went

Thursday morning
The kids were pretty restless this morning. The “Construction Worker” song went on for a very long time to get those wiggles out. And thankfully, Anna’s idea of using scarves to act out “Tip Tip Dig Dig” worked really well at getting their Construction!energy out!

Friday morning
My Friday group was on the quieter side so titles like “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site” worked a lot better. They had a really good time with the “Red Crane, Red Crane, What Do You See?” flannelboard — tons of the kids knew the rhythm of the story and chanted along with me.

March 31, 2014 7 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Tools!

The Plan

Books

toolssummer14

Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman
Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia
The Toolbox by Anne Rockwell
Toolbox Twins by Lola Schaefer

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Toolbox Match-Up”

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 left to pound.
(count down)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Song: “Construction Worker Song”
This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning
(Saw the wood, turn the screwdriver, drill a hole, stack the bricks, stir the paint, paint the walls)
Credit: Everything Preschool

Craft

20140227-135215.jpg

This was another Oriental Trading kit — a photo frame that came ready to be decorated with foam tool stickers. The kids love sticker crafts and a lot of them covered up the photo part with more tool stickers!

How It Went

Thursday morningTools!
“Five Little Nails” is storytime gold if you haven’t used it before. The kids love shouting along with me and pounding down their nails, and are very enthusiastic about the fingerplay. Definitely add it to your to-learn list. Also, Emma Garcia books. Add those to your lists if you haven’t used them.

Friday morning
This group loved, loved, loved “Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop.” I had a lot of kids who quickly picked it up and sang along with me. They also went nuts for “Five Little Nails” as well. Seriously, add it to your list!

March 25, 2014 3 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Dirt, Sand, & Mud!

The Plan

Books

sandmuddirt14

Bebe Goes to the Beach by Susan Middleton Elya
Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beamont
Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Burningham
Sea, Sand, and Me! by Patricia Hubbell
Underground by Denise Fleming

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Clean and Dirty Pigs”

Flannelboard: “Five Pretty Sandcastles”
Five pretty sandcastles standing on the shore,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there were four.
Four pretty sandcastles standing by the sea,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there were three.
Three pretty sandcastles standing by the ocean blue,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there were two.
Two pretty sandcastles standing in the sun,
The tide came in (whoosh!) and then there was one.
One pretty sandcastle just out of reach,
The tide came in (whoosh!) but it stayed on the beach!
Credit: Storytime Secrets

Song: “We’re Going to the Beach”
We’re going to the beach,
We’re going to the beach.
I think we’ll see some sand there!
We’re going to the beach.
(water, fish, towels, whatever else they said!)
Credit: Storytime Secrets

Craft

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Yes, I attempted sand art at storytime! And I have to say, even to my surprise, it was a success! Three things that made this a remarkable joy: spoons + funnels + Tacky Glue. I put the sand in bowls for the kids to spoon into their funnels. I did have to buy additional funnels since the kit only came with two — but I would have had to do that anyways since this wasn’t the only sand art program we did last summer. And, of course, the caregivers were game to help their kiddos out which made it possible for me to man the finishing station where I put Tacky Glue inside the cap to permanently close the necklace.

How It Went

Thursday morning
I did this storytime on my birthday and it was a great theme given how much I love the beach! The kids had a great time with the flannelboards, which I left out for them to play with after storytime. My parents really enjoyed “Bebe Goes to the Beach” since it has some Spanish vocabulary in it. The kids were very fascinated with “Underground”, which was the book that inspired this whole storytime!

Friday morning
My Friday group loved all the mud activities today: “Mr. Gumpy” and “Five Clean and Dirty Pigs.” I had a lot of very excited kids when I flipped each pig — they weren’t expecting the mud to suddenly appear!

March 17, 2014 1 Comment Short URL, Family Storytime

Dinosaurs!

The Plan

Books

dinossummer14

Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beamont
Dinosaur Vs. the Library by Bob Shea
Inside-Outside Dinosaurs by Roxie Munro
Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Ten Little Dinosaurs”

Action Rhyme: “Dinosaur, Dinosaur”
Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch the ground
Dinosaur, dinosaur, reach up high
Dinosaur, dinosaur, wink one eye
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch your nose
Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch your toes
Dinosaur, dinosaur, slap your knees
Dinosaur, dinosaur, sit down please
Credit: Modified from Childhood

Action Rhyme: Dinosaurs”
Spread your arms, way out wide
Fly like Pteranodon, soar and glide
Bend to the floor, head down low
Move like Stegosaurus, long ago
Reach up tall, try to be
As tall as Apatosaurus eating on a tree
Using your claws, grumble and growl
Just like Tyrannosaurus on the prowl
Credit: Children Museum of New Hampshire

Craft

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I bought Crayola model magic in a classroom pack and let the kids create their own dinosaurs. I still think mine looks more like a cat than a dinosaur, but that’s life. The kids had a great time and they really enjoyed creating one dinosaur to mash it up to create another.

How It Went

Thursday morning
Dinosaur themed storytimes are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. I had a lot of success this time with “Dini Dinosaur”. But…Bob Shea always steals the show when it comes to dinosaur books. This group was super settled today and had a lot of parent involvement which was good because I had nearly thirty kids there!

Friday morning

My Friday morning group is always so pumped for storytime! I love how excited they are about reading. Again, Bob Shea stole the show but this group also loved “Inside Outside Dinosaurs.” And I love reading a book like that because of the great vocabulary that the kids get with the dinosaur names.

March 10, 2014 8 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Bugs!

The Plan

Books

bugssummer14

The Ant and the Grasshopper by Ed and Rebecca Emberley
Bugs By the Numbers by Sharon Werner
Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek
I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Hungry Ants”
Five hungry ants, marching in a line,
Came upon a picnicwhere they could dine.
They marched into the salad,they marched into the cake,
They marched into the pepper….uh oh, that was a mistake!
AHHHH-CHOOO!
(count down)
Credit: Miss Mary Liberry

Flannelboard: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

Action Rhyme w/ Puppet: “Flutter, Flutter Butterfly”
Flutter, flutter butterfly
Floating in the summer sky
Floating by for all to see
Floating by so merrily
Flutter, flutter butterfly
Floating in the summer sky
Credit: Best Kids Book Site

Action Song: “Ants Go Marching”
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one, the little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground, to get out of the rain
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom
(Two/tie shoe; Three/climb a tree)
Credit: Childhood

Craft

For the first summer reading session, I went with a craft where I could easily have extras available in case we got swamped with registrations: scratch art! This is what my demonstration art looked like. I scratched some simple lines for the kids and showed them how you could write as well. I had a lot of preschoolers practicing their letters while my smaller kiddos worked on making the colors come out.

How It Went

Thursday morning

The kids absolutely loved “Five Hungry Ants” on the flannelboard. (Both groups did, but the Thursday morning kids were especially excited by the flannels.) The biggest book success of the day was “Bugs By the Numbers.” The kids loved the big fold-out pages and the different kinds of bugs. I chose to only read the main fact on each page, making it a great storytime read instead of being too long.
Bugs!
Friday morning

This group loved “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and “Butterfly, Butterfly.” But their absolute favorite was “The Ants Go Marching.” They got really into playing around with me and acting out the song. I took it to five ants since they were having such a good time, though I was pretty darn tired by the end of it!

March 4, 2014 4 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime