Category: Preschool Storytimes

Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeeeeee!

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Tomorrow (Thursday) is my birthday, so I threw myself a little birthday party storytime on Monday. All of my little “guests” were happy to get bubbles party favors 🙂 What was extra funny was that TWO of the moms had their birthday on Monday!

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein
*Fingerplay: Make a Cake
Read-aloud #2: A Birthday for Cow! by Jan Thomas
Flannel: The Enormous Turnip
**Fingerplay: The Quiet Mouse
Read Aloud #3 (Story Cards): Mouse’s Birthday by Jane Yolen
Fingerplay: Birthday Cake
(Read Aloud #4: If You Give a Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff)
Action Song: Fun with Hands
(Fingerplay: Ten Little Fingers)
Read Aloud #5: Don’t Spill the Beans! by Ian Schoenherr (I had the kids whisper, “It’s Ms. Jennifer’s birthday!” every time the bear whispered the secret to a friend.)
Song: Happy Birthday
Activity: Present kids with a colorfully wrapped box. Open up the present (be dramatic and throw the paper everywhere while shaking the box). Inside there are bubbles for everyone! (In the past, I wrapped up stickers.) Hand out the favors at the end of storytime.
(“Dancing” Song: “The Freeze Dance” from Music for Little People: Birthday Party! Singalong)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*Make a Cake
Mix the batter, stir the batter
(make a stirring motion with one arm/hand)
Shake some flour in
(make a shaking motion with one arm/hand)
Mix the batter, stir the batter
(make a stirring motion with one arm/hand)
Place it in a tin
(pretend to pour)
Sprinkle some candy in
(pretend to sprinkle)
Pop it in the oven
(open both hands, palms up, and slide them forward)
Open wide the oven door
(pretend to open door)
And out comes the cake!
(open both hands, palms up, and slide them forward)

**The Quiet Mouse
Once there lived a quiet mouse
(Hold out fist with index finger extended)
In a quiet little house.
(Insert index finger into other fist)
When all was quiet as can be,
Out Popped He!!
(Throw arms and hands apart)

***Birthday Cake
Ten candles on a birthday cake
(hold up hands with palms facing out and fingers extended)
All lit up for me
(wiggle fingers)
I’ll make a wish and blow them out
Watch and you will see.
(blow and bend fingers down)

Additional “Birthday” Books: Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack, Not Last Night But the Night Before by Colin McNaughton, Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa, Birthday Zoo by Deborah Lee Rose, Happy Birthday Bunny! by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon, The Fairytale Cake by Mark Sperring, and The Birthday Queen by Audrey Wood

It’s Buggy Out There

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Summertime also means bugs… I will be repeating a version of this storytime at my Panera Milk and Cookies (Registration Only) and my Randall Oaks (Open, Drop-in!) storytimes on Monday, August 5!

I will be repeating a Silly Stories storytime at Rakow next Wednesday, July 31.

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: Giant Pop-Out Bugs : a Pop-Out Surprise Book
Fingerplay: Where is Thumbkin?
Song with Bugs Activity Glove: Sing Along Bug Songs (from Lakeshore Learning… doesn’t appear to be available anymore, unfortunately)
Read-aloud #2: Bear and Bee by Sergio Ruzzier
Fingerplay: Beehive
Prop Story: “The Hair-Raising Adventures of Sara Susan” from Glad Rags: Stories and Activities Featuring Clothes for Children by Jan Irving and Robin Currie
Read Aloud #3: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Song/Fingerplay: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Storytelling Activity: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (using story props)
*Song: Flutter, Flutter Butterfly
Read Aloud #4: Jump! by Scott M. Fischer
(“Dancing” Song: “Jumping and Counting” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem)

*Flutter, Flutter Butterfly (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
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.

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

Summ-Summ-Summertime!

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It’s Summertime! I had a great time at the Gail Borden Rakow Branch. I will be repeating this summer storytime at my Panera Milk and Cookies storytime in Elgin on Monday, July 15.

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon
Action Rhyme: Hands up High
Fingerplay: Two Little Penguins
Read-aloud #2: How Will We Get to the Beach? By Brigitte Luciani
*Flannel: A Dozen Dogs
Read Aloud #3: Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London
Song/Fingerplay/Props: Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Read Aloud #4 (Story Cards): Marshmallow Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan
Fingerplay: Five Fat Sausages
Read Aloud #5: Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems
(“Dancing” Song: “Goldfish” from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*A Dozen Dogs (Source unknown. We had a staff artist make beautiful flannel pieces of the different dogs.)
Two dogs going to the beach
Want to come along?
One fat dog
One skinny dog
One white dog
One black dog
One black and white dog
All going to the beach
Two brown dogs–They look like twins
Three hungry puppies–They like hot dogs!
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 dogs at the beach

I Want to Ride My Bike!

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It’s been lovely weather for bike rides!

This week, I did another “Transportation” storytime. This one focused on bikes. I admit it didn’t go as well as I would have liked… The bike picture books out there aren’t as lively as I’d like… except “Duck on a Bike”, of course. Oh well. It wasn’t terrible. 🙂

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: Wheels Around by Shelley Rotner
*Flannel: Parking Lot Rhyme
Read-aloud #2: Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka
Action Song: “My Bike”
Read Aloud #3: Along a Long Road by Frank Viva OR The Best Bike Ride Ever by James Proimos
Fingerplay: Open, Shut Them
Action Song: Tommy Thumb
Read Aloud #4: Duck on a Bike by David Shannon
Song/Flannel: Five Little Ducks (Patterns found here.)
Read Aloud #5: The Best Bike Ride Ever by James Proimos OR Who is Driving? by Leo Timmers
Action Song: Tony Chestnut
(“Dancing” Song: “Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck” from Barney’s Favorites Volume 1)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*Parking Lot Rhyme (Source unknown)
There are many machines to take us places.
Here they come to their parking spaces.
Here comes the fire truck, shiny and bright.
Here comes the ambulance, blinking its light.
Here comes the train; its whistle blows.
Here comes the bus; it stops and it goes.
Here comes the car with a family inside.
So many machines in which to ride.

Have Book- Will Travel!

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Have Book- Will Travel… that’s our Summer Reading theme this year! More information about Fox River Valley Public Library District’s program and special events can be found here.

This week, I did a “Transportation” storytime to correspond with our theme. It went really well!

I hope that everyone has a summer full of adventure 🙂

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: I Wish I Were a Pilot by Stella Blackstone
*Flannel: Five Fast Race Cars
Read-aloud #2: Clickety Clack by Rob and Amy Spence
Rhyme: A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track
Read Aloud #3: Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha
Fingerplay: Fun with Hands
Read Aloud #4: The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort
Song/Flannel: The Wheels on the Bus
Read Aloud #5: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
(“Dancing” Song: “Singing in the Rain” from Carole Peterson: Dancing Feet)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*Five Fast Race Cars (Source unknown)
Five fast race cars speeding round the track.
The first car said, “I can’t look back!”
The second car said, “Oh, no! I’m out of gas!”
The third car said, “Beep! Beep! I’m fast!”
The fourth car said, “Watch my tires spin.”
The fifth car said, “Vroom, vroom. I win!”
Then beep went a horn and flash went the lights,
And five fast race cars sped out of sight!

Story Love II

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And, here is the “Story Love” storytime I did for my regular storytimes (with some of the same elements as my “Story Love” storytime for my older group)…

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1 (Story Cards): A Sleepy Story by Elisabeth Burrowes
Song/Fingerplay/Finger puppets: Ten in the Bed
Read-aloud #2: The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore
Song (with flannels and finger puppets): Animals on the Bus
Read Aloud #3: I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric Kimmel
Song/Fingerplay/Props: Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Read Aloud #4: Dinosaur vs. the Library by Bob Shea (While the kids enjoyed this book, the participatory “roaring” got a little out of hand for me… and the illustrations didn’t totally lend themselves to this setting. I saw a librarian do this as a prop story… I might try that next time instead.)
*Flannel: Here is an Animal (Animal Feelings)
Read Aloud #5: Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr
(“Dancing” Song: “Dancing Scarf Blues” from Carole Peterson: Dancing Feet)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*Here is an Animal (Animal Feelings) (with corresponding flannel pieces and kids mimicking the emotions)
Here is a mouse who’s happy
Here is a bear who sighs
Here is a turkey who’s sleepy
Here is a lion who cries
Here is a rabbit who’s angry
Here is a horse who’s sad
Here is a beaver who’s noisy
And here is an elephant who’s glad

Spring Flowers

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HOORAY! It’s FINALLY Spring!!!!!!

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: and then it’s spring by Julie Fogliano OR Sunflower by Miela Ford
*Flannel: Little Mouse
Read-aloud #2: What Does Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park
**Flannel: Here is a Spring Flower
Read Aloud #3: Fran’s Flower by Lisa Bruce
***Flannel: Three Little Tulips
****Fingerplay: Flowers for Mom
Fingerplay: Beehive
Read-aloud #4: My Garden by Kevin Henkes
Flannel: The Enormous Turnip
Read-aloud #5: It’s Spring! by Else Holmelund Minarik
(“Dancing” Song: “The Wiggle Song” from Carole Peterson: Sticky Bubble Gum and Other Tasty Tunes)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*Little Mouse
Little Mouse, Little Mouse, Are you in the [insert color] house?
(Underneath different colored flannel houses, I place different flannel animals. Using a cat puppet, we go in search of the mouse flannel…)

**Here is a Spring Flower (using flannels of flowers with emotional faces)
Here is a spring flower who’s happy
Here is a spring flower who sighs
Here is a spring flower who’s sleepy
Here is a spring flower who cries
Here is a spring flower who’s angry
Here is a spring flower who’s sad
Here is a spring flower who’s noisy
And here is a spring flower who’s glad!

***Three Little Tulips (using 3 tulip flannels; the red one has a longer stem)
Three little tulips I once grew,
A white one, a pink one, a red one too.
One little tulip grew, grew, grew.
It grew taller than the other two,
The other two, the other two.
It grew taller than the other two!
[Credit: Arlea Kittredge]

****Flowers for Mom
I’ll pick some flowers for my Mom.
To make a nice bouquet (pick flowers)
I’ll give her a smile (smile)
And say, Happy Mother’s Day

SPLASH!

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A splashy storytime (to go along with our rainy weather we’ve been having in Chicago…)

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1 (Story Cards): Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley
Action Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
Read-aloud #2 (Big Book): Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks
Action Song: If You’re Wearing Red Today
Fingerplay: Ten Little Fingers
Read Aloud #3: Split! Splat! by Amy Gibson
Fingerplay: Rain is Falling Down
Read-aloud #4: Big Red Tub by or The Great Dog Wash by Shellie Braeuner
Flannel: Five Elephants in the Bathtub
Read-aloud #5 (Big Book): King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood
(“Dancing” Song: “Coconut Soap” from Frank Leto’s Time for Music)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

April Funny!

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Silly Librarian’s Silly Stories storytime! (That’s a lot of “S”s!)

OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black
*Song (with actions): “Hi, My Name is Joe”
Read-aloud #2 (Big Book): Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
Song: Silly Hat Song
Read-aloud #3: A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan
Song: Little Bunny Foo Foo (with finger puppets) (Here’s me doing a snippet of the song!)
Read-aloud #4: Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie by Mary Ellen Jordan
Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Read-aloud #5: Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems
(“Dancing” Song: “Shake My Sillies Out” from Raffi’s More Singable Songs)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

ADDITIONAL BOOKS (used with a slightly older group): Catalina Magdelena… by Tedd Arnold, Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds
(I also did the flannel/song BINGO with this group)

*Hi, My Name is Joe
(I learned this from Sharon, Lois and Bram when I was a kid.)
(Have kids join you in movements. For my younger kids, I sang “hand/foot” and “other hand/foot” instead of “left” and “right”.)

Hi. My name is Joe and I work in a button factory..
I got a wife and a dog and a family.
One day, my boss comes up to me. He says,
“Hi Joe, are you busy?”
I say “No”
He says,
“Okay, turn the button with your right hand.””
(make the motion with your right hand)

You repeat this with…
…turn the button with your left hand.
…turn the button with your right foot.
…turn the button with your left foot.
…turn the button with your head.

And then the next time he says…
”Joe, are you busy?”
You shout – “YES!”

Egg-cellent!

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OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: The Most Wonderful Egg in the World by Helme Heine OR Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker OR Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (I cut out most of the fingerplays and flannels for the older group that I read Green Eggs and Ham to…)
*Fingerplay: Ten Fluffy Chicks
Read-aloud #2: Roly-Poly Egg by Kali Stileman OR Whose Chick are You? by Nancy Tafuri
Song (with motions and giant prop egg and bird): The Green Grass Grew All Around
Fingerplay: Blackbirds
(Fingerplay: Where is Thumbkin?)
Read-aloud #3: Eggs 1-2-3 by Janet Halfman OR That’s Mine! by Michel Van Zeveren
Flannel: Whose Baby am I? by John Butler (Template)
Flannel: This Little Chick
Fingerplay: Open, Shut Them
(Fingerplay: If You’re Wearing Red Today)
Read-aloud #4: The Easter Bunny’s Assistant by Jan Thomas
(“Dancing” Song (with shakers!): “I Know a Chicken” from Laurie Berkner’s Whaddaya Think of That?)

CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

*Ten Fluffy Chicks
Five eggs (hold up 5 fingers)
And five eggs (hold up 5 more fingers)
That makes ten
Sitting on top is the mother hen (lock fingers, knuckles up)
Crack, crack, crack, what do I see? (wiggle fingers apart)
Ten baby chicks as yellow as can be (hold up 10 fingers)