Imagination Preschool Story Time, 7/25/13

 Imagination Preschool Story Time, 7/25/13

This was one of the all-time best preschool story times.  There about 9 kids, two of whom were older siblings of preschoolers, and one of whom was a rising first grader. We got so into the three books we did read that we didn't read some of the others I had pulled out, but the kids had a blast.

Book: Dream Friends by You Byun
I have been looking forward to sharing this book, and this group was the perfect audience. They loved the illustrations, which is my favorite part of the story, and they thought the dream friend looked like a polar bear or a cat. I was worried the story itself would be too strange for  them, but they got right into it, and clapped loudly at the end.

Flannel Board Story: Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty
I am so glad I thought to adapt this to the flannel board. It worked so, so well, and I learned that I am actually really good at telling stories if I practice them right before I perform. I didn't memorize the text word for word, but I made sure to hit the important points, and after story time, we looked at the book and some of the kids were able to tell me the story based on what we had done on the flannel board. I think this is my most successful flannel board of all time.

Book: Pretend You’re A Cat by Jean Marzollo and Jerry Pinkney
I hesitated about this one, but since most of the group was four or five years old, they were eager to act out animal movements, and really good at it as well. I asked them to tell me which animal was on each page, then they moved like that animal while I read the text. When it was time to change animals, I let them know they had to look at the book to find out what to do next which kept them engaged in the fun, but also kept the action from getting too chaotic. 

Book: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
I was surprised by how much they truly loved this book. They picked up on the "not a box" gimmick right away and kept calling out, "But it's not a box, Miss Katie!" They got a kick out of what the rabbit turned his box into, and they were eager to get on with the business of imagining their own boxes.

Coloring Page: "It's Not a Box!" (page 4 in the HarperCollins Not a Box Event Kit)
This was the perfect activity for this group. They got really into it, and each child who spoke to me was eager to tell me a long narrative explaining the story of his or her rabbit's boxes. It was one of the best coloring activities we have ever done.

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.