Tag: spring

Hoppy Bunny

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Twice a month, I visit ESL families to do an hour long program with them. Sometimes, we do storytimes with a craft, sometimes we do writing workshops, sometimes we do mini-lessons, etc. Here is my Bunnies Outreach Family Literacy Visit from last week. (FYI: I will be doing a slightly different bunny storytime again at Rakow Branch library in Elgin on Wednesday, April 16 at 10:30 a.m.)

I also let them know and am now letting YOU know about our upcoming Día de los Niños event at the Dundee Library Tuesday, April 29, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. We’ll have stories, music, puppets, crafts, and prizes! A fun bilingual event for the whole family 🙂

PROGRAM
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler
Flannel: The Wind and the Clothes (from Waiting for Spring Stories by Bethany Roberts)
Book: Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
Rhyme: Bunny with Ears So Funny
Book: Hurry Up and Slow Down, L. Marlow
Song: Little Bunny Foo Foo (with finger puppets)(See a sample of me performing here.)
Book: Conejito by Margaret Read MacDonald (A colleague and I will be doing a puppet show of this funny folktale at our Día de los Niños event!)

CRAFT
Bunny Foo Foo Finger Puppets
(I also handed out a lyric sheet to help teach them the song and so they could practice at home.)

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

Ahhh…. SPRING!

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Hello, friends! Yes, I am still alive and hoppin’. I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged because I haven’t found a new library job and storytime home yet… but I have been considering looking into at least volunteering my storytelling (anyone interested?), and I have been working on writing some of my own stories. So, life is good… and SPRING is full of possibilities 🙂

Here’s another “oldie-but-goodie” from my Burbank days….

Spring Preschool Storytime with Jennifer: March 20, 2007

OPENING:
Puppet Act: Bunny puppets
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
Song (with bird-in-egg prop): “Green Grass Grows All Around”
Read-aloud #2: Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck by Lisa Westberg Peters
Flannel song: Five Little Ducks Went Out to Play
Fingerplay: Here’s a Bunny
Read-aloud #3: Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
Song (with homemade finger puppets): Little Bunny Foo Foo
Storytelling Activity/ Flannelboard: The Enormous Turnip

MOVIE:
The Picnic

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

CRAFT OR HANDOUT:
Bunny Foo Foo handout

Here’s a Bunny:
Here’s a bunny with ears so funny, (make curved bunny ears with two fingers of one hand)
And here is his hole in the ground. (make an open fist with the other hand)
When a noise he hears,
He pricks up his ears (raise bunny-ear fingers straight and tall)
And jumps in his hole in the ground. (tuck bunny-ear fingers into the fist)

**Note: Cold Little Duck was probably too simple for this age group
Suggestion: Who’s Garden Is It? By Mary Ann Hoberman

Spring Gardening

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Stories Shared:
In My Garden by Ward Schumaker
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Enormous Turnip (Told with these patterns)

Rhymes (Can be found on Toddler Rhymes sheet.):
Flutter, Flutter Butterfly
Round and Round the Garden
The Beehive
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Hands Up High
Blackbirds

Music:
Laurie Berkner: Whaddaya Think of That? (I Know a Chicken)
*Awesome song to use with shakers!

Bunny Pajama Time

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More bunny fun at this month’s pajama storytime! It was a hit… 105 people! WOW.

PROGRAM
Entrance Music: Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of The Beatles
Opening Song: Let Everyone Clap Hands with Me (Pete Seeger)
Book: A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan
Song: Laurie Berkner: Buzz Buzz (Pig on Her Head)
Book: Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! By Candace Fleming
Song: Little Bunny Foo Foo (Lyrics and Music here)
Fingerplay: Here’s a Bunny
Oral Story (using puppets and masks): “El Conejito” from Shake-It-Up Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald
Rhyme: Fun with Hands

AFTER PROGRAM VIDEO:
Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: The Tortoise and the Hare (~10 min)

“Here’s a Bunny”
Here’s a bunny with ears so funny,
(Make curved bunny ears with two fingers of one hand.)
And here is his hole in the ground.
(Make an open fist with the other hand.)
When a noise he hears,
He pricks up his ears
(Raise bunny-ear fingers straight and tall.)
And jumps in his hole in the ground.
(Tuck bunny-ear fingers into the fist.)

“Fun With Hands”
Suit actions to words.
Tune: “Row, Row, Row your boat”.
Roll, roll, roll your hands,
As slowly as can be.
Roll, roll, roll your hands,
Do it now with me.
Roll, roll, roll your hands,
As fast, as fast can be.
Roll, roll, roll your hands,
Do it now with me.
Clap, clap, clap your hands…
Shake, shake, shake your hands…
Stamp, stamp, stamp your feet…

Bunnies

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It’s Spring! We had a lot of fun making pop-up bunny puppets to go along with our Bunny storytime theme. We also distributed a new rhyme sheet. We’re taking a short, one-week break to re-energize…so, no storytime next week. I look forward to seeing all of my friends again on April 4!

Nursery Rhyme of the Week:
Tired Bunnies
“Come my bunnies, it’s time for bed.”
That’s what Mother Bunny said.
“But first I’ll count you just to see
If you have all come back to me.
Bunny 1, Bunny 2, Bunny 3, oh dear!
Bunny 4, Bunny 5, yes, you’re all here!
You’re the sweetest things alive.
My bunnies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”

Stories Shared:
Five Little Bunnies Hopping on a Hill by Steve Metzger
A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan
Little Rabbit’s Snacktime by Alan Baker

Rhymes (Can be found on Toddler Tales Rhymes sheet. Extra copies available at the Library.):
If You’re Happy and You Know It
I’m a Little Teapot

Bonus Rhyme:
Here’s a bunny with ears so funny,
(Make curved bunny ears with two fingers of one hand.)
And here is his hole in the ground.
(Make an open fist with the other hand.)
When a noise he hears,
He pricks up his ears
(Raise bunny-ear fingers straight and tall.)
And jumps in his hole in the ground.
(Tuck bunny-ear fingers into the fist.)

Bonus Song:
“Little Bunny Foo Foo”
Lyrics and melody can be found here

Music:
Raffi’s Box of Sunshine
Laurie Berkner: Buzz Buzz (Pig on Her Head)
Carole Peterson: Sticky Bubble Gum and Other Tasty Tunes (Hokey Pokey)