Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Groggle’s Monster Valentine by Diana Murray, illustrated by Bats Langley
Book (with swallowing old women prop and laminated visuals): I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose by Lucille Colandro, illustrated by Jared D. Lee
Book: Here Comes Valentine Cat by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Claudia Rueda
Dancing Song: “There’s a Little Wheel A-Turnin’ in My Heart” from Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
Sleepy Preschool Visits
My Sleepy Toddler Storytimes went so well last year, I basically repeated it (with some modifications) for my preschool visits this month. My outreach visits average about 15-20 minutes. I visit classrooms every other month. It’s a lot of fun!
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Noisy Night by Mac Barnett OR Tiger Can’t Sleep by S.J. Fore
Rhyme (with finger puppets): Ten in the Bed
Book: Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas (Jan Thomas has a song to go with this book on her website!)
Puppet Story: The Napping House from the book by Audrey Wood (See librarian Steven Englefried’s YouTube demonstration.)
“Dancing” Song: “There’s a Little Wheel A-Turnin’ in My Heart” from Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This
Movin’ and Groovin’ Sequel
“Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”
“The Super Silly Tango” from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Yummy Yellow
“The Freeze!” from Carole Peterson’s Dancing Feet
“Very, Very Tall” from Old Town School of Folk Music’s Wiggleworms Love You
“There’s a Little Wheel A-Turnin’ in My Heart” from Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs
“Jumping and Counting” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
“Take That Beanbag” from Me and My Bean Bag
“Five Little Monkeys” from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Bouncy Blue
“Walking, Walking” from Old Town School of Folk Music’s Songs for Wiggleworms
“Shake My Sillies Out” from The Raffi Singable Songs Collection
“Jingle Bells and Stop” from Carole Stephen’s Season Sings!
“Jingle Bells” from Raffi’s Christmas Album
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” from Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
BAM! POW! COOKIES! First/Second Grade Visits
‘Tis the season for baking cookies!
Book: The Ninjabread Man by C.J. Leigh
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from Baking Class by Deanna F. Cook (the cookie section), A World of Cookies for Santa by M.E. Furman, and You Wouldn’t Want to be a Ninja Warrior! by John Malam
Storytell: The Ghost with One Black Eye (I learned this “boo baby” story from storyteller Priscilla Howe)
Festive, Frosty Fun Preschool Visits
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Song: Silly Hat Song
Book: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here.) (I also used Heather Forest’s musical refrain from her version on her Tales Around the Hearth cd.)
Book (Sung): Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, version illustrated by Richard Cowdrey
Song: If You’re Wearing Red Today
Dancing Song (with bells): “Jingle Bells” from Raffi’s Christmas Album
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
Baby Dance Party Sequel
“Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
“You Ought To See My Baby” from MaryLee’s Baby-O!
We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop
(Suit actions to words)
We wiggle and wiggle and stop
We wiggle and wiggle and stop
We wiggle and wiggle and wiggle and wiggle
and wiggle and wiggle and stop
We clap..
We bounce…
(Other suggestions: wave, shake, tickle, stomp, roll, etc.)
“Peek-a-Boo” from Georgiana Stewart’s Baby Face
“The Freeze!” from Carole Peterson’s Dancing Feet
“It’s a Small World” from Georgiana Stewart’s Baby Face
“Baby Hop” from Kimbo Educational’s Diaper Gym
“Jingle Bells and Stop” from Carole Stephen’s Season Sings!
“Jingle Bells” from Raffi’s Christmas Album
“Run Baby Run” from Caspar Babypants’ More Please!
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” from Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Movin’& Groovin’ Toddlers
WAHOO! Another dance party! This time with ages 2-4 🙂 This time, I remembered to take photos…. BUT, unfortunately, none of them turned out 🙁 I need to work on my photography skills!
As a reminder, the next round of storytimes starts up next week!
“Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
“The Bean Bag” (with bean bags) from Hap Palmer’s Can a Jumbo Jet Sing the Alphabet?
“The Goldfish” (used our bean bags as pillow rocks) from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band
“Baby Shark” from Pinkfong
“Very, Very Tall” from Old Town School of Folk Music’s Wiggleworms Love You
“Dancing Scarf Blues” (with scarves) from Carole Peterson’s Dancing Feet
“Dance, Freeze, Melt” (kept our scarves out for this one) from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Rockin’ Red
“Finger in the Air” from Miss Carole’s Baloney!
“I Know a Chicken” (with shakers) from Laurie Berkner’s Whaddaya Think of That?
“Shake with You” (with shakers) from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Bouncy Blue
“Monster Mash” (with bubbles) from Halloween Jams Kids Dance Party
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” (freestyle/exit music) from Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
We Are Monsters, ROAR! Preschool Visits
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
Puppet Story: Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley (Puppet available here.)
*Fingerplay: Scary Eyes
Book: Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
Action Song: Hands Up High
Book: If You’re a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley
Novelty Book: What’s in the Witch’s Kitchen? by Nick Sharratt
Dancing Song: We Are Monsters from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Bouncy Blue
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This
*Scary Eyes
See my big and scary eyes? (Form circles around eyes with fingers.)
Get ready for a big surprise. (Cover face with hands.)
Boo! (Uncover face peek-a-boo style.)
Creepy Cryptids First/Second Grade Visits
It’s that spooky time of year again! I prefer to do more of a “monster”-type theme than straight-up Halloween.
Book: The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot! by Scott Magoon
Nonfiction Book Bites: read snippets from Monsters: Myth or Fact? by Thea Feldman, The Legend of Bigfoot by Thomas Kingsley Troupe, and What Makes a Monster? by Jess Keating
Storytell: Now I’ve Gotcha (I learned this “boo baby” story from storyteller Priscilla Howe)
Schools visited: Heritage
Baby Dance Party!
I’ve always wanted to do a dance party at the library… and today was my lucky day! I got to do a dance party with adorable babies! AND… I’ll get to do ANOTHER dance party with 2-4 year-olds later this month (Friday, October 19)!!! I used a lot of music I’ve never used before, too. So much FUN (but admittedly, a bit exhausting). I wish that I would have taken some photos.
“Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
After our opening song, we warmed up with some action rhymes/songs. Demonstrations can be found on the Jbrary YouTube Channel. (You can click each rhyme title for a direct link to the demo.)
Tick Tock
Tick tock, tick tock.
(Shift weight of child from knee to knee)
I’m a little cuckoo clock
Tick tock, tick tock.
Now it’s striking one o’clock.
“Cuckoo!!”
(Lift child into air)
(Repeat with two and three o’clock, lifting two and three times)
We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop
(Suit actions to words)
We wiggle and wiggle and stop
We wiggle and wiggle and stop
We wiggle and wiggle and wiggle and wiggle
and wiggle and wiggle and stop
We clap..
We bounce…
(Other suggestions: wave, shake, tickle, stomp, roll, etc.)
A Hippopotamus Got on a City Bus
(Lap Bounce)
A hip, a hip, a hippopotamus
Got on, got on, got on a city bus
And all, and all, and all the people said,
“You’re squishing us!” (Hug baby)
A cow, a cow, a cow got on the bus
And all, and all, and all the people said,
“Mooooove over!” (Lean to the side)
A sheep, a sheep, a sheep got on the bus
and all, and all, and all the people said,
“Baaaack up!” (Lean back)
Then, we got into the main section with our super fun baby dance playlist. There were movement songs, and we also busted out the scarves and shakers. And we ended with bubbles!
“Wheels on the Bus” from Cedarmont Kids Singers’ 100 Sing-Along-Songs for Kids, Vol. 1
“Baby Hop” from Kimbo Educational’s Diaper Gym
“Baby’s Hokey Pokey” from Georgiana Stewart’s/Kimbo Educational’s Baby Face
“Peek-a-Boo” (with scarves) from Georgiana Stewart’s/Kimbo Educational’s Baby Face
“Blow the Wind” (with scarves) from Carole Stephen’s Season Sings!
“Hip Hop Body Rock” (with shakers) from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Rockin’ Red
“Monster Mash” (with shakers) from Halloween Jams Kids Dance Party
“Run Baby Run” from Caspar Babypants’ More Please!
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” (with bubbles) from Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack