Preschool Story Time, 8/22/12 (at another branch)

 I also filled in for preschool story time yesterday! I originally planned a creativity theme, but then ended up making up much of it as I went along.

First, since the school group that came showed up 15 minutes before the start of story time, I had a room full of silly, laughing kids. I decided to channel some of their energy into singing and moving around, so we did that for a few minutes before starting. Then, once it was actually time, we got underway.

Opening Song: Hello how are you? 

Book: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (1955)

Flannel Board Song: Harold's Other Crayons (see my Flannel Friday post tomorrow for details)

Book: Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (1995)
As we counted the instruments, I asked the kids to show me the number of fingers for duo, trio, etc.

Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up

 

Book: Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia

At this point in story time, just before I started to read, the school group got up and started leaving. To keep things somewhat under control, we sang goodbye to the kids as they left, then had everyone who was not with the school and wanted to stay move closer to me so they could hear the  rest of the books.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Book: How Can You Dance?  by Rick Walton, illustrated by Ana Lopez-Escriva (2001)
This was a surprising hit. The kids loved talking about the different animals and their movements. I think it was so successful because I really relaxed with and didn't have to compete with chatty adults to get through the story. I'm brainstorming ways to kind of train the nannies back at my own branch on how to listen to a story.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Baby Time (Transportation Theme), 8/22/12 (at another branch)

I filled in at another branch yesterday morning and had lots of fun with this transportation-themed story time. 

Opening Song: Hello, how are you? 

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers 

Book: What Do Wheels Do All Day? by April Jones Prince, illustrated by Giles Laroche (2006)

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon 

Book: Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia (2008)


Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up 

Song: Head and Shoulders, Baby 

Book: My Car by Byron Barton (2001)

Song: Drive, Drive, Drive Your Car 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Seven Snazzy Aunties
Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Book: School Bus by Donald Crews (1984)

Song: There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' in my Heart 


Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Baby/Toddler Story Time (Tree Theme), 8/21/12

Opening Song: Hello, how are you? 

Book: Hello, Goodbye by David Lloyd, illustrated by Louise Voce (1998)
I did a lot of different things with my voice, depending on how the different characters in this book spoke, and got the adults to do it with me. I wish I could keep their attention beyond just one story, because this was really great!

Rhyme: Two Little Robins (based on Two Little Blackbirds)

Book: Little Robin Redbreast by Shari Halpern (1994)

Song: Where is Big Cat?

Song: The Trees are Growing High

Song: Ooki Na Kuri No Ki No Shita De (Under the Big Chestnut Tree) by Elizabeth Mitchell
I only sang the English this time.

Book: The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri (2007)
Song: Brown Squirrel
I use to do this with a stick puppet, but I did it as an action rhyme and it was much better.

Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up

Book: The Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert (2004)

Song: Four Red Cherries

Song: Sunny Day

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Baby/Toddler Lap Time, 8/17/12

I can't find my notes from this story time, so this isn't everything, but here is what I remember:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: This is Baseball by Margaret Blackston, pictures by John O'Brien (1997)

Song: Baseball Player

Book: Let's Count Goats by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jan Thomas

Song: One, Two, I Love You

Book: Fire! Fire! said Mrs. McGuire  by Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Richard Egielski

Flannel Board Song (with ukulele): Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?
I was so impressed by the child who suggested "builder" as the name for our construction worker. So much easier to sing! 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Preschool Story Time (Silly Theme), 8/17/12

Opening Song (with ukulele): Hello, how are you?

Song (with ukulele): I’m in the Mood for Singing
We sang about singing, dancing, and reading. 

Book: Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by David Slonim (2008)

Flannel Board: Silly Sally by Audrey Wood (1999)
We only have a board book of this one at my branch, so I blew up some of the illustrations on the copy machine and told it as a flannel board instead. They liked it.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Book: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer (1999)
Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers

Rhyme: Wiggle Your Fingers and Toes

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big 

Book: Wiggle by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Scott Menchin (2005)

Song: Head and Shoulders, Baby

Song: The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort, illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Song: Five Little Monkeys

Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Circle Time, 8/14/12

The theme of my last Circle Time for  the summer was Nature Detectives.

Opening Song (with ukulele): Hello, how are you?

Book: How To Be a Nature Detective by Millicent Ellis Selsam (1996)
I wasn't sure how a non-fiction title like this would go over with the kids, but they were surprisingly mesmerized.  They loved learning the characteristics of  the different animals' footprints, and as the follow-up activity showed, they could even apply what they had learned!

Flannel Board: Guess Whose Tracks
I printed out some Microsoft Clip Art showing different animal tracks and asked the kids to name the animal. The last one was a human footprint, which got a laugh. 

Book: Around the Pond - Who's Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George (1996)
More guessing in this book. They did well - when they didn't get the specific animal, they did know generally that it was a bird, or a frog, or whatever. 

Book: We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
This book we acted out. I used a music stand to hold the book so my arms could be free to move. We didn't really have a specific set of movements; we just did whatever seemed to fit the action in the story.

Song: Move Like the Animals
I started us off with one verse, to the tune of Skip To My Lou ("Chomp like an alligator just like so...") and let the  kids choose the rest. My favorite suggestion - "Jump! Like a chipmunk!"

Book: Actual Size by Steve Jenkins (2004)
This book was not the hit I expected. They were just not that impressed.

Song (with ukulele): Oh, Little Flower
I used the music stand and Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow to point out some different types of flowers. We sang about tulips, cornflowers, and other flowers - one for each color. 

Book: Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
For this one, whenever we heard the word "spiral" we made a swirling motion in the air with one finger. They did a pretty good job, even if this book was the weakest of the entire session.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

After the goodbye song, we turned on the bubble machine and popped bubbles for  the last time. Based on the success of this program, we'll be offering a preschool story time with a similar format starting in September.