Things That Go!

March 25, 2014

Things That Go!

Books:

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round by Annie Kubler
Night Light by Nicholas Blechman
The Grumpy Dump Truck by Brie Spangler
All Aboard to Work - Choo-Choo! by Carol Roth

Songs:

Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 3: Put Your Little Foot - Wee Sing Folk N' Fun

 Song 4: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby
 
 Song 5: She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain - Kimbo

 Song 6: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 7:Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 8: If You're Happy and You Know It - Kimbo

Felt/Magnet Board:

 

This week we did an adaptation of Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Bill Martin, Jr.) but called Blue Car, Blue Car using colorful vehicles in place of colorful animals. The premise is the same:

"Blue Car, Blue Car

What do you see?

 I see a Yellow School Bus

looking at me...

Yellow School Bus, Yellow School Bus

What do you see?

I see a Purple Plane

looking at me... 

Purple Plane, Purple Plane,

What do you see?

I see an Orange Tractor

looking at me...

Orange Tractor, Orange Tractor

What do you see?

I see a Green Taxi 

looking at me...

Green Taxi, Green Taxi

What do you see?

I see a Brown Train 

looking at me...

Brown Train, Brown Train

What do you see?

I see a Pink Bicycle 

looking at me!

Pink Bicyle, Pink Bicycle
What do you see?
I see a Red Boat
looking at me!"

I just ended it there with a big THE END and clapping, but you could follow the book and ask the boat what he sees - the children or the teacher, etc.

If you have smaller kids like we do, you could simply ask them to identify the color or the vehicle rather than what color and what vehicle - half our kids would should one and the other half would shout the other, but it worked out in the end.

Craft:

This week we decorated our own foam airplanes. This kids liked this craft and the parents LOVED this craft. All the pieces were cut out thanks to the easy craft kits we were able to get. They were easy and very quick to assemble and came with stickers to decorate so NO GLUE REQUIRED! More than one parent told us this was THE PERFECT CRAFT! The fact that they fit in with our them is a super bonus!

Things that Grow!

March 18, 2014

Things that Grow!

A storytime about things that grow up, grow down, grow bigger, grow smaller, you name it!

Books:

Pouch! by David Ezra Stein
Thirsty Thursday by Phyllis Root
Big or Little? by Kathy Stinson
Tree Ring Circus by Adam Rex

Songs:
Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 3: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 4: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 5: Peanut Butter and Jelly - Limbo

 Song 6: If You're Happy and You Know It - Kimbo

 Song 7: Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

Felt / Magnet Board:

No, we didn't get to the magnet board - things were a little chaotic and it was more or less glanced over at the time. BUT - that doesn't mean we can't highlight it here! I present to you:

Five Little Seeds!!
 Five little seeds,
Five little seeds.
Three will make flowers,
And two will make weeds.

Under the leaves,
And under the snow,
Five little seeds are
Waiting to grow.

Out comes the sun,
Down comes a shower.
And up come the three,
Pretty pink flowers.

Out comes the sun,
That every plant needs,
And up come two,
Funny old weeds.

Craft:

We made a Spiral Vine Craft - from Oriental Trading. It's basically made from a green paper plate cut into a spiral and then sticky-backed foam leaves and flowers were used to decorate it. The sticky foam means no glue!! The kids really enjoyed making this one and the parents appreciated how easy it was.

Things that are GREEN!

March 11, 2014

Things that are GREEN!

A storytime devoted to green things. Since St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner and, to be honest, we don't know of very many simple St. Patrick's Day books, we tend to go for a green theme to keep the spirit and get around the long leprechaun books.

Books:

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman
Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

If you can use a BIG BOOK, use a BIG BOOK! We have a BIG BOOK of Where's the Green Sheep? and it was a wild success!

Snip Snap! is an exciting tale of an alligator who get's into an apartment. The kids definitely responded well to this one and it's a big recommend.

Good Luck Bear is a sweet story with a four-leaf-clover tie in for our St. Patrick's sort-of theme.

Songs:
 Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 3: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 4: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 5: If You're Happy and You Know It - Kimbo

 Song 6: Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

Magnet/Felt Board:

This week we did a felt board version of Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley. I traced the pieces from the book onto a regular piece of paper and used that as a template for the felt pieces. This was team effort as well - I handled the felt pieces while Ms. V read the book aloud. Lots of fun! I actually lost one of the sharp pointy white teeth when I made them go away from the board - oopsy!

Craft:

This week we made a hand print shamrock craft! My hand prints were too big to fit onto a sample craft so I did a bunch of finger prints. The kit came with finger paint (eep!) but we used a large green stamp pad for the kids to use instead. They turned out SO adorable but we were too frazzled with green smudged faces and lines for soap and water that we completely forgot to take a picture of the true finished projects.

Hibernating

February 25, 2014

Hibernating

A storytime devoted to those who sleep all winter long which just so happens to be bears for the most part.

Books:

Where's My Teddy? by Jez Alborough
Go to Sleep, Groundhog! by Judy Cox
Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright

Songs:
Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 3: Peanut Butter and Jelly - Kimbo

 Song 4: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 5: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 8: If You're Happy and You Know It - Kimbo

 Song 9: Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

Magnet/Felt Board:
This week we did The Very Hungry Bear, which is adapted from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The basic story is the same but we use a bear instead of a caterpillar and bear food rather than caterpillar food!

The basic story is the a bear comes out of his cave and is very hungry!
On Monday, he ate one hive of honey. But he was still hungry!
On Tuesday, he ate through two fields of plants and flowers. But he was still hungry!
On Wednesdayt, he ate through three bushels of berries. But he was still hungry!
On Thursday, he ate through four big piles of nuts. But he was still hungry!
On Friday, he ate through five big juicy insects. But he was still hungry!
On Saturday, he ate through six fish he caught from the river. But he was still hungry!
On Sunday, he happened upon a picnic and he ate up all the food there!
That night he had a stomach ache! So, he dug up some ginger root and ate right through it. After that, he felt much better!
After all that eating, he wasn't a hungry bear anymore but he sure was sleepy! So, he crawled back in his cave and took a very long nap!
I have a copy of the complete story I made up here. I used basic Microsoft clipart to make up to images.


Craft:

  

Honestly, this was a bit of a stomach bug-ish week so when storytime came around it was a "what can we have ready in 15 minutes?" sort of days. Luckily, the www.dltk-kids.com website is always up and running and this little bear is adorable. Yes - we did a very similar craft not too long ago for our hunting theme but...as I said... 15minutes!! And this kids certainly didn't mind.

Hungry

Februrary 18, 2014

Hungry!

A storytime devoted to a favorite activity of ours: eating!

Books: 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle


If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile by Won-Lyd Paye

The Gingerbread Man

The kids really enjoyed every book this week! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a staple, of course, so everyone was familiar with it and already loves it. We have a BIG BOOK version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie which really help keep the waning attention towards the end of storytime. Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile is an amazing retelling of an African folktale - Mrs. Chicken convinces the Hungry Crocodile that they are sisters to avoid becoming dinner. We told the Ginerbread Man with printed stick puppets to convey the story.


Songs:

Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids








 Song 3: Peanut Butter and Jelly - Kimbo

 Song 4: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 5: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 8: If You're Happy and You Know It - Kimbo

 Song 9: Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

Felt / Magnet Board:

This week we did What Apple is the Worm In? We hid the worm in the last apple on the board (of course) and pulled away each apple one by one to see if that's the apple the worm in hiding in.Before we pulled each apple we had the kids tell us which color the apple was - Red? Orange? Yellow? Lots of fun and very easy.

Craft:

This week we did a simple, printable fruit basket to go along with our Hungry theme. We found it at first-school a website devoted to activities for preschoolers. They have lots of other crafts that are printable and adorable.

Hearts and Hugs

February 11, 2014

Hearts and Hugs!

A storytime for Valentine's Day devoted to showing love with friends and family on a very special day!

Books:

Happy Valentine's Day, Curious George! by Margaret Rey
How Do You Hug a Porcupine? by Lauren Isop
The Perfect Hug by Joanna Walsh and Jodi Abbot
No Kisses, Please! by Hans Wilhelm

Songs:

Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 3: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 4: Walking, Walking - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 5: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 6: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 7: The Frost Song

 Song 8: If You're Happy and You Know It - Kimbo

 Song 9: Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids
 
Felt/Magnet Board:

 

This is possibly the cutest magnet/felt board ever! We came in this morning and realized we had NO Valentine's Day magnet board prepared so I quicjkly put this together (in record time) and am in love with it. I got the idea from a felt board the fabulous Storytime Katie. We simple printed out clipart that corresponded with the different animals and stuck them in makeshift envelopes with magnets on the back.

Six Little Valentines

Six little Valentines were sent to my house,

The first one said, “I love you, From Mouse.”
Five little Valentines in my mailbox,
The second one said, “Be mine, Love Fox.”
Four little Valentines full of love,
The third one said, “You are sweet, From Dove.”
Three little Valentines just for me,
The fourth one said, “Be my honey, Love Bee.”
Two little Valentine’s mailed with care,
The fifth one said, “Here’s a hug, From Bear.”
The last little Valentine, from my friend Jay,
This one said, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Craft:

This is a lamb heart craft we did today that we found at First-School. It's easy to print out and easy to assemble!

Hunt

February 4, 2014

We skipped a week due to an unprecedented ice storm that hit our area, basically shutting down EVERYTHING including the library! We were scheduled to do "Woods" in the week we missed and were all prepared (with books and everything!) but sadly it was not to be. Needless to say, Hunt was a bit of a scramble but we got through it (somehow!).

Anyhoo, we present: Hunt... a storytime about hunting for things :-)

Books: 

Hunting the Daddyosaurus by Teresa Bateman
A-Hunting We Will Go! by Steven Kellogg
We're Going on a Book Hunt by Pat Miller

We had to skip a few with We're Going on a Book Hunt - it's the story of a trip to the library and how to select a book, but we don't have shelf placement cards (which are a really good idea, however!) in our library so we passed over that section. The other books were very successful, especially A-Hunting We Will Go as the tune is pretty familiar to everyone.

Songs:
Opening Song: Where is Thumbkin? - Kimbo

 Song 2: Skinny-Marinky-Dinky-Dink - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

 Song 3: The Frost Song




  Song 4: Dance Your Fingers / Clap Along With Me - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 5: Shake your Sillies Out - Raffi

 Song 6: Walking, Walking - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 7 (Theme Song Pick): A-Hunting We Will Go - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids


 Song 8: Walking, Walking - Wee Sing for Baby

 Song 9: Wheels on the Bus - 100 Singalong Songs for Kids

Felt/Magnet Board:
This week we did We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen for our magnet board section of storytime.

 We did a combination read-aloud-from-book and display-magnet-board-pictures-and-act-it-out for this week. As the story was read outloud, we showed printed pictures of the various obstacles (tall, wavy grass; thick, oozy mud; etc.) with physical hand motions ("Can't go OVER it. Can't go UNDER it. We have to go THROUGH it). It worked very well - the kids paid very close attention and even joined in with the motions. In case you didn't catch it - kizclub.com has great printables for many stories.

Craft:

We made a bear craft this week. We printed the templates from dltk-kids.com which is ALWAYS a major help when we need it the most. We have a ton of those inner cardboard tubes from toilet paper in our store room and always take the opportunity to use them when we can.

How Did It Go?
Honestly - it wasn't that bad. The kids are restless with the cold and ice (we're not used to that down here). We doubled up our songs between each book/activity and it really helped the kids refocus their attentions.

How Many Did You Have?
We had 51 this week :-)