Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Transportation

Trains, planes, and automobiles...our theme this week is Transportation! 





Books:

Toddler Books:
Freight Train - Donald Crews
Yellow Copter - Kerston Hamilton
The Bus is for Us - Michael Rosen
Little Blue Truck - Alice Schertle
Along a Long Road - Frank Viva

Preschool Books:
Yellow Copter - Kerston Hamilton
20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street - Mark Lee
The Bus is for Us - Michael Rosen
Little Blue Truck - Alice Schertle
Down By the Station - Jennifer Riggs Vetter
Along a Long Road - Frank Viva

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon,
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon,
If you want to take a trip, climb aboard your rocket ship,
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon,
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...BLAST OFF!!!
Source: Jbrary
*This is a storytime favorite for all ages so we have to do it several times!

Traffic Light (with sign language)
STOP says the red light, GO says the green,
Now just WAIT says the yellow in between.
That's what they say and that's what they mean,
We all must obey them, even the queen!
Source: Jbrary
*I also used sign language for "say", "mean", and "queen" but only taught the three in red to the storytime kids. 

The Wheels on the Bus
The wheels on the bus go round and round, (roll arms)
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.

Other verses:
The doors on the bus go open and shut (open and shut hands)
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish (swish arms side to side)
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep (make beeping motion with hands)
The people on the bus go up and down (get older kids to go up and down; for younger storytime kids have parents lift babies)
Source: Traditional
*This traditional song is SUPER easy to make extra/different verses for (and also change slightly to make it appropriate for babies or a baby storytime). 

Duck Behind the Truck
Little Duck, Little Duck,
Are you behind the red truck?
Source: One of my fabulous LA's made this particular hiding game but hiding games are a fun way for older kids to interact at storytime. 

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Big and Little

This week we were overachievers and learned not one, but TWO, letters: "B" for Big and "L" for Little.


Books:

Toddler Books:
Big Bug - Henry Cole
Is It Big Or Is It Little? - Claudia Rueda
Big Bug, Little Bug - Paul Stickland

Preschool Books:
Big Bug - Henry Cole
You Are (Not) Small - Anna Kang
Tiny Little Fly - Michael Rosen

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Big, Bigger, Biggest Flannel:
A little _____, a bigger ____, a great big _____ I see.
Now help me count them, 1, 2, 3.
Source: Storytime Katie
*One of my lovely LA's made a laminated flannel of three different animals in 3 sizes: Owls, Elephants, and Zebras

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down by Raffi

Little Mouse Hiding Game
Little mouse, little mouse, are you behind the red house.
Source: Traditional
*We have 6 different colored houses to hide our mouse behind.


Friday, September 18, 2015

Weather

This week our theme was Weather. I had to make some slight adjustments to my original plan because of my broken foot, but otherwise everything went according to plan!


Books:

Toddler Books:
The Big Storm: A Very Soggy Counting Book - Nancy Tafuri
Blue on Blue - Dianne White
Blue Sky - Audrey Wood

Preschool Books:
It Looked Like Spilt Milk - Charles Shaw
The Big Storm: A Very Soggy Counting Book - Nancy Tafuri
Blue on Blue - Dianne White
Blue Sky - Audrey Wood

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

We're Stomping in the Rain (Tune: "Farmer in the Dell"):
We're stomping in the rain,
We're stomping in the rain,
We can't go yet, we must get wet!
We're stomping in the rain.
Other verses: Clapping, Spinning, Wiggling, etc.

Umbrella Hiding Game:
We have a flannel with 10 umbrellas and 10 raindrops. I didn't think that the toddlers would sit through the entirety of the song (the Weather version to the tune of "10 Little Indians") and so I decided to use 6 or so of the umbrellas and hide a raindrop under them. I used the rhyme we use a lot at my library but with different themes:

Raindrop, raindrop, come out to play.
What colored umbrella are you hiding behind today?

Song: Itsy, Bitsy Spider by Hap Palmer

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Farm

It's only in the second week of my storytime session and I have hit a pretty major road bump. It's nothing that will keep me from doing storytime, of course, but I found out at the end of last week that I have a stress fracture in my foot. 

It will certainly make doing storytime a bit more challenging than usual and I have had to modify many of my storytime plans for the next few weeks to accommodate for the injury. Let's cross our fingers that it heals quickly because it's near impossible to keep up with the energy level of Toddlers while I'm hobbling around the library!

This week, our storytime is about the Farm! 




Books:

Toddler Books:
Moo, Baa, La La La - Sandra Boynton
Peek-a-Moo! - Marie Cimarusti
Barnyard Banter - Denise Fleming
I Spy on the Farm - Edward Gibbs

Preschool Books:
I Spy on the Farm - Edward Gibbs
Cock-a-Doodle-Moo! - Bernard Most
E-I-E-I-O: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm - Judy Sierra
Who Said Moo? - Harriet Ziefert

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Five Dirty/Clean Pigs (double-sided flannel):
Five little pigs rolled in the mud, (roll hands)
Squishy, squashy felt so good, (squish "mud" with fingers)
The farmer came and took one piggy out, (turn pig over to "clean" side)
"Oink, oink, oink," that piggy did shout. 
Count down to zero dirty pigs and five clean pigs

No more piggies rolled in the mud,
They felt so nice and clean and good,
The farmer turned his back and then,
Those piggies rolled in the mud again! (turn piggies over to dirty side)

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep:
Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full.
One for the master, and one for the dame,
One for the little boy who lives down the lane.
Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full.
Source: Traditional
*We repeated with a different colored sheep (blue/red/green/etc).

BINGO
There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-O.
B-I-N-G-O, 
B-I-N-G-O, 
B-I-N-G-O,
And Bingo was his name-O. 

take the letter "B" away
There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-O.
*CLAP*-I-N-G-O, 
*CLAP*-I-N-G-O, 
*CLAP*-I-N-G-O,
And Bingo was his name-O. 

take the letter "I" away
There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-O.
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-N-G-O, 
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-N-G-O, 
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-N-G-O, 
And Bingo was his name-O. 

take the letter "N" away
There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-O.
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-G-O, 
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-G-O, 
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-G-O, 
And Bingo was his name-O. 

take the letter "G" away
There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-O.
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-O, 
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-O, 
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-O, 
And Bingo was his name-O. 

take the letter "O" away
There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-O.
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*,
*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*-*CLAP*,
And Bingo was his name-O. 
Source: Traditional

Barn Hiding Game Flannel
Little chick, little chick, come out to play!
What colored barn are you hiding behind today?
OR
Little chick, little chick, come out to play!
Are you hiding behind the blue barn today?
Source: One of my lovely Library Assistants came up with the idea for this flannel and the rhyme. We have different colored barns and we play the hiding game by hiding a little yellow chick behind one of the barns at storytime.


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Rhymes

Last week was our first week back to storytimes for our Fall 2015 session!!! It is so great to see all the familiar faces of my storytime regulars - they really make my job as a librarian a true joy. 

Our theme for this week is Rhymes. We focused on books that had rhyming and lots of nursery rhymes for our activities.





Books:

Toddler Books:
Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure - Derek Anderson
Big Fat Hen - Keith Baker
Across the Stream - Mirra Ginsburg

Preschool Books:
Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure - Derek Anderson
Counting Crows - Kathi Appelt
Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner - Gareth Edwards
Stick and Stone - Beth Ferry
Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo and Flo! - Laurel Molk

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Two Little Blackbirds - recorded song
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill,
One named Jack and the other named Jill,
Fly away Jack, Fly away Jill,
Come back Jack, Come back Jill.
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill,
One named Jack and the other named Jill.
Source: Traditional

Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck one *CLAP*, the mouse ran down,
Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck two *CLAP* *CLAP*, the mouse said "BOO",
Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck three *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*, the mouse said "WEEEE",
Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck four *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*, the mouse said, "No more!"
Hickory dickory dock.
Source: Jbrary


Little Mouse, Little Mouse Rhyme
Little mouse, little mouse are you behind the red house? 
Repeat with other colors
Source: This is considered a traditional rhyme in my library but I learned the rhyme from fellow librarians.