Fun with Nursery Rhymes Preschool Story Time, 9/20/13

Fun with Nursery Rhymes Preschool Story Time, 9/20/13

I originally wanted to do fairy tales as my theme for this story time, because it's one of my favorite  themes, and my story time opportunities are winding down. But I realized that a lot of fairy tales are way too long for read-alouds, and that a lot of the read-aloud-friendly ones were checked out and couldn't get here in time from other branches. So... I opted to focus on fun retellings of nursery rhymes instead, figuring the kids would be more familiar with the originals and would "get" the jokes. For the most part, this was true, and it would have been an even better theme to use with a slightly older (Pre-K/K) group. 

Poem: Little Boy Blue, Please Cover Your Nose
I found this poem months ago, and I never had a chance  to use it. I probably wouldn't have thrown it in here, either, ordinarily, but since this was my second-to-last preschool story time, I decided to go for it. (The kids didn't get it at all.)

Book: Mary Had a Little Lamp by Jack Lechner
I thought this was funny, but the parents clearly didn't get the humor and gave me funny looks. The kids seemed a little bit into it with some prompting, but overall, it was not the strong opener I had hoped for. 

Book: Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman
We sang this book, and made motions for each tool, which the kids absolutely loved! 

Song: The Seals on the Bus (from the book by Lenny Hort)
I put some clipart images on the iPad for this song (because we apparently don't have our copy of the book anymore), and had the kids call out the animal names and help me make their sounds. It was a huge hit, and everyone in the  room - four kids, and three adults - sang along! 

Book: There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberley
This book was well-received, even though the youngest preschooler in the group (age 3) got restless and began roaming as I was reading.

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider 
We sang this song just as a warm-up to the last book. The kids were surprisingly into it.

Book: The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks Out by Troy Cummings
This book didn't feel long to me until I was halfway through reading it to the kids. Then I realized it really should have been the first book in the session.  It wasn't a total flop, but it was a bit long for a last book.

Coloring Page: Spider
The kids were very creative with their spiders - lots of rainbow legs and two-toned bodies!

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.