Pajama Story Time, 12/12/12

Pajama Story Time had great attendance when it was still light out after 5:00. This time of year, I think a lot of families have gone into hibernation mode, as we have been seeing very small groups. Last night's group was the smallest every - just one two-year-old and her Mom. But we still had fun.

The theme was "B is for Bedtime" and we read and sang about lots of things beginning with the letter B.

Book: Book! by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Maggie Smith

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Book: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Book: Little Tug by Stephen Savage
This is a perfect bedtime story and a perfectly sweet toddler book.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Book: Wolf Won't Bite by Emily Gravett
Not a hit. I think the little girl was just done with story time by this point, though.

Song with Puppets: Goodnight
We sang goodnight to a bear, a bumblebee, and a butterfly.

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

WinterFest Story Time #3, 12/8/12

The third and final WinterFest story time took place in the afternoon, and it was a small preschool group. 

Book: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr 

Song: Moon Moon Moon

Book: The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor
The kids loved this one in particular. They liked imagining what it would be like inside a snow globe.

Song: Skate on the Frozen Pond
This is a perfect song for getting the wiggles out of fidgety preschool boys.

Book: Jingle Bells by Maryann Kovalski 

Song: Hat, Coat, Pants and Shoes

Book: The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

WinterFest Story Time #2, 12/8/12

This second WinterFest story time took place at 11:30, and it was the most popularly attended session of the day, with about a dozen kids. The crowd ranged in age from babies to early elementary school, so it was a bit tricky to keep everyone's interest, but we did our best. One challenge that made it especially hard was that one little boy - probably a kindergartener - decided he would say no to every question I asked and immediately say the opposite of anything I had to say. By keeping the tone light, I managed to get him to stop being so silly, and that the end he came up and chatted with me about books, so it wound up being a nice experience.

Flannel Board: Little Snowball, Little Snowball Are You Under the ____ Mitten?
I have never done any variation of this flannel board before, but I know so many of my Flannel Friday colleagues love it. Now I see why. It took them four guesses to find the snowball - and the child who finally found it was so proud!

Flannel Board Song: One Red Mitten
This was a dud with this group. The older kids lost interest quickly, and not even the adults were responsive.

Book: The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
The older kids complained about the repetition in this book, but they helped me out anyway, repeating "a red cap with a gold snap" each time through. 

Rhyme: Frozen is the Lake
This is my winterized rewrite of Blue is the Lake.

Book: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr
This was a hit with the older boys. A lot of  the little kids left the  room at this point and came back later for the singing.

Song: Moon Moon Moon

Book: Jingle Bells by Maryann Kovalski
The kids loved singing this - it was very cute. 

Book: Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

WinterFest Story Time #1, 12/8/12

On Saturday, December 8, my library branch participated in our neighborhood WinterFest. As part of  the festivities, I performed three story times at three different points throughout the day. Since all three were completely different, I'll make three separate posts.

This first session was at 10:00 a.m., and only three kids attended  - a little girl in Pre-K, her toddler sister, and another toddler boy.

Book: Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara
The pre-K girl told me, "Jack Frost is real. I know because when we go in the car, the window has frost."

Book: White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
This book is probably too long for a toddler audience, but since there were only three kids, I was able to keep them engaged pretty easily by moving to where they wanted  to be in the room and giving them lots of chances to talk to me about the pictures. The toddler boy came running up to the book at one point to tell me he saw a truck.

Flannel Board Song: One Red Mitten
Since the pre-K girl knew her colors, she was my unofficial helper for this song. The little ones just liked seeing the mittens.

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Snowmen
For this I used a set of paper snowmen I made more than two years ago and have never used with kids. All three of the kids gathered closely around the flannel board and helped me take the snowmen off one by one as they each melted.

Book: Jingle Bells by Maryann Kovalski
We were too wiggly to make it to the end of  this book. They were so excited by the flannel board that we just did another colorful song with it.

Flannel Board Song: Mary Wore Her Red Scarf
The kids loved helping me put the pieces on the flannel board. This story time has inspired me to rethink some of my toddler lap time activities so that every child has a hands-on opportunity.

Song: These Are My Glasses

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

Drop-In Story Time, 12/4/12

For this story time, our meeting room was still closed, so I did another set of back-to-back sessions. Considering the crowded conditions in the room, everyone was very attentive and cooperative. The  theme was feet.

Book: Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert, illustrated by Erik Brooks
This was a new book, and a huge hit. The adults were as into as the kids, and we had one little preschooler who played along and guessed with me, while the babies and toddlers stared on.

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig and Marc Brown
I was surprised at the lack of response to this book. Farmyard Beat seems to be the better story time book by this author/illustrator pair.
 
Song: Where is Big Toe?
I always have good luck with this one, and it was a nice alternative to having to stand up again in our  tiny confined space.

Book: Whose Toes are Those? by Jabari Asim, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
They always love it when I turn the book around for the last page of this story. Applause all around!

Song: Sing a Happy Song
 
Letter of the Day: Letter P 

• Song with stick puppet: The Polar Bear Lives in Alaska 
• Song with flannel board: All the Pigs (we also sang about Puppies, Peacocks, and Polar Bears)  
• Song with flannel board: The Three Pigs Song (This song was a total dud, and I skipped it during the second session.) 
• Rhyme: One Potato, Two Potato
  I wrote a new ending to this well-known rhyme, which we counted off on our fingers. 
  One potato, two potato, three potato, four.
  Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more!
  Eight potato, nine potato, ten potato, then...
  Count those potatoes all over again!
  
  The second time through, the last line is:
  Clap your hands, 'cause that's the end!    

Song: The Wheels on the Bus 
 
Song: Monkeys on the Bed
 
Song: If You're Happy and You Know It
 
Song: Rum Sum Sum (I skipped this one in session 2 because my voice was totally shot.)

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

Preschool Story Time (at another branch), 11/29/12

This was my second session in a row at the branch where I filled in, but these kids were in preschool. We started out the same way as the baby/toddler group, but then we read some longer and more involved stories.

Song with Puppet: Hello, Mrs. Chicken, how are you?

Book: Chicken Big by Keith Graves
This book was the hit of the story time, especially with the boys. The sense of humor would work just as well for early elementary school as for preschool.

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: Chicken Little by Rebecca and Ed Emberley

I did something between these two books, but never took note of what it was! I'm sure it was either an action rhyme or Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.

Book: Bob by Tracey Campbell Pearson

Song: I Had a Little Rooster
I have never sung this song at story time, and it didn't go over all that well. The only plus was that the kids helped me decide which animals to sing about it. I'd like to try it again with the ukulele and a lot more practice. 

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

Baby/Toddler Story Time (at another branch), 11/29/12

I was asked to fill in for a children's librarian at another branch during the week after Thanksgiving. I'm always excited to visit other libraries, so this was a great opportunity. I had two groups - babies and toddlers first, followed by preschoolers. For both groups, I did a chicken theme. Here's the repertoire I presented for the baby/toddler group.

Song with Puppet: Hello, Mrs. Chicken, How Are You?

Book: First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Rhyme: Five Eggs and Five Eggs 

Book: Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker

Song: Los Pollitos 
This was my first time ever singing this song a cappella, and I flubbed the last line of the Spanish lyrics. Thankfully, the teachers in attendance were very forgiving. 

Book: Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jeff Mack

Song: Over in the Barnyard 

Book: Minerva Louise and the Red Truck by Janet Stoeke

Song with puppets: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Letter of the Day: Letter C
Since I was "on the road" and didn't know whether I'd have a flannel board, I decided to play with the letter C. I showed all the kids that they always have the letter C with them, and they can always make the C shape with their hands. Some of  the older toddlers tried to do it with me, and the adults did it for the babies.

• Chickadee
• This is the Way we Clap our Hands (This song is to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush." We sang "this is the way we clap our hands," followed by "this is the way we clap up high" and "this is the way we clap down low.")
• Drive, Drive, Drive the Car 

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It 


I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.