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Monday, October 24, 2011

Preschool Story Time (Bats Theme), 10/24

What a disaster. This story time worked really well for a few weeks, so I thought the issue was resolved, but today was terrible! I don't even know what to attribute it to, except that the intended audience was preschoolers, and the audience that actually participated was mostly babies and toddlers. This meant that at the last minute, I had to alter my entire repertoire to suit the age group, and it looked like a mess. I also didn't have an extra book on hand to fit the theme (which is why I always insist that I don't do themes), so I ended up reading at least one book that was in no way appropriate for the age group. In any case, in the interest of someone maybe finding it useful, here is my bat story time. I'll include what I intended to do, and then some notes on what I actually did.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

Book: Bats at the Library by Brian Lies (2008)
I don't know how anyone could have no reaction to this book, but that's what I got. Blank faces.

Rhyme: One Little Ghost

Book: Hello, Bumblebee Bat! by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (2007)
I would definitely use this book again. It got the most attention of any of the three I read today.

Song: Flap, Flap, Flap Little Bats
(I looked at the group and realized most of them couldn't even stand up yet. So I reverted to a toddler story time favorite and did Shake My Sillies Out instead. No one - neither child, nor adult - did the motions with me.)

Song: Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws
(There was no way babies were doing this one, either, so we did Hands Are For Clapping.)

Book: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993)
It was really masochistic for me to read this, knowing what the outcome would be. Most people in the room didn't even notice that I was reading, and I had to compete with conversations, crying babies, and at least one mom who was reading a different book to her child. But I kept reading, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster for the one little boy in the front row who seemed engrossed, and to prove the point that the age limits exist for a reason. By the end, most of the nannies with babies seemed to get the idea, but it was a total waste of a story time session, and I never want to have another one like it ever again.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

With the correct age group, I have no doubt this would have been a great story time. In fact, I'm now considering revamping my story time schedule to eliminate this session altogether and instead shift to a preschool/school-age story time on Thursdays, similar to the Halloween one I did last week.
Find more bat story times on these other sites:

A full description of this, and all my weekly story time programs can be found here.
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2 comments:

  1. alavareSeptember 3, 2012 at 1:40 AM

    Ugh, I hate when story time goes astray and I'm the only one standing up doing the dance/song/activity. Seriously, it's not supposed to be a one-gal-show!

    For what it's worth, Flap, Flap, Flap Little Bats is very cute. I'll try it with my bunch and let you know how it goes. I hate that so many bat rhymes feature Halloween or spookiness. They are really gentle creatures! :) Thanks for the ideas.

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  2. AnonymousApril 29, 2015 at 9:37 AM

    I'm a children's librarian of 14 years and I suggest the following:
    Bats at the Library is a wonderful book to read to a very small group of preschoolers. You need to have only a few kids because the illustrations are very dark and the kids in the second row wouldn't be able to see the pictures and therefor, lose interest. Before you play a song, you need to tell the parents -"Your children look to you to show them how to do things and how to have fun. So, if you don't do the motions with me, your child won't either and then they won't be having any fun."

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