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

Sleepy Toddler Storytime

Ironically, I’ve been having trouble sleeping this week… the week “Sleepy Stories” is my theme! One more week of this storytime session!

*Opening: The More We Get Together
*Rhyme: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
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!)
*Rhyme: Where is Thumbkin?
*Rhyme: Tommy Thumb
Book: Everyone is Yawning by Anita Bijsterbosch
*Rhyme (with finger puppets): Ten in the Bed
*Rhyme: Round and Round the Garden
Puppet Story: The Napping House from the book by Audrey Wood (See librarian Steven Englefried’s YouTube demonstration.)
“Dancing” Song (with shaker eggs): “I Can Shake My Shaker Egg” from Mr. Eric & Mr. Michael Rockin’ Red
*Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This

Craft: Tuck-Me-In Teddy (Found this craft on this website–scroll to the bottom)

*Rhymes can be found on the August/September 2018 Toddler Rhyme Sheet

Sloths Hang Out in the Rainforest

It’s World Rainforest Week… and October 19 is Sloth International Day… so I found it appropriate to do a Sloth/Rainforest Storytime. Plus I had sloth socks and a sloth puppet that I wanted to show off! 😉

As the kids gathered for storytime, I showed them fun pictures of real sloths from A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke while my sloth puppet just hung around on my arm, snoozing. Later, I also showed them my cool rain stick!

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

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1 (Big Book): Step Inside the Rain Forest by Meish Goldish
Fingerplay: Rain Is Falling Down
Action Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Read-aloud #2 (Nonfiction): The Sloth: World’s Slowest Mammal by Joy Paige
Song/Fingerplay: Hands Up High
Song/Fingerplay: Blackbirds (Only I changed it to “Two little parrots…” for our rainforest theme)
Read-aloud #3: “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle
Flannel: 5 Little Sloths (Thank you, Storytiming blog for an awesome idea!)
Action Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (We sang the sloths a lullaby)
Read-aloud #3: The Very Sleepy Sloth by Andrew Murray
Flannel: Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Dancing Song: “B-Banana/Monkey See, Monkey Do” from Carole Peterson’s Stinky Cake

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

ADDITIONAL BOOKS: Had my group been slightly older, I would have liked to have shared Sparky! by Jenny Offhill. Another fun “general” rainforest book is Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree by Jan Peck.

*Rain Is Falling Down
Rain is falling down,
(Raise hands up high and flutter fingers down)
Splash!
(Slap floor with gusto)
Rain is falling down,
(Raise hands up high and flutter fingers down)
Splash!
(Slap the floor)
Pitter patter, pitter patter,
(Quietly. Flutter fingers delicately.)
Rain is falling down,
(Flutter fingers down.)
Splash!
(Slap floor with gusto)

Sleepy Storytime

I was so sleepy yesterday, I almost wore my pajamas to storytime! It would have been appropriate since it was a bedtime-themed storytime 😉

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

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1 (Story Cards): A Sleepy Story by Elisabeth Burrowes OR Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Song/Fingerplay: Tommy Thumb
Read-aloud #2: Tiger Can’t Sleep by S.J. Fore
Song/Fingerplay: Fun with Hands
Read-aloud #3: Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems
Song/Fingerplay (with finger puppets): Ten in the Bed
Read-aloud #4: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen OR Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox
(Action Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
(Action Song: Hands Up High)
(Action Song: Where is Thumbkin?)

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

Good Night, Sleep Tight!

Yaaawn…I think that after storytime, I might go take a nap!

Nursery Rhyme of the Week:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Stories Shared:
Spot Says Goodnight by Eric Hill
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems
Goodnight, Me by Andrew Daddo
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Rhymes (Can be found on Toddler Storytime Rhymes Sheet.):
My Eyes Can See
Ten in the Bed
Tommy Thumb
Tony Chestnut

Bonus Flannel Song:
Aiken Drum
There was a man lived in the moon,
lived in the moon, lived in the moon,
There was a man lived in the moon,
and his name was Aiken Drum.
And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle,
He played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.
And his eyes were made of gum drops…
And his nose was a banana…
And his mouth was a watermelon…
And is hair was made of green beans…
(Templates can be found in the book 52 Programs for Preschoolers: The Librarian’s Year-Round Planner by Diane Briggs.)

Music:
Rockabye Baby!: Lullaby Renditions of the Beatles
Rockabye Baby!: Lullaby Renditions of the Rolling Stones
Me and My Bean Bag (Take that Bean Bag)