After School Read-Aloud & Craft: Monsters Theme, 4/12/12

After the success of Wednesday's all-ages Jazz program, I decided to revert to the old afternoon story time format - songs and stories first, then a craft. I'm still not sure which format is better, but this program seemed pretty successful.

The Read-Alouds (and Songs and Rhymes):
All About Monsters

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book:  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)
This is one of my all-time favorite books to read aloud. 

Rhyme: Dinosaur Stomp
I intended to change this action rhyme to suit the monster theme, but somewhere along the line started saying "dinosaur" instead of "monster" and just went with it.

Book: The Patterson Puppies and the Midnight Monster Party by Leslie Patricelli (2010)

Song: One Little Monster

Book: There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer (1987)

The Craft: Monster Faces 

I. Supplies

• Paper Plates
• Glue
• Glue stick
• Crayons
• Markers
• Pipe Cleaners
• Feathers
• Sticker eyes
• Cupcake wrappers

II. Prep
My coworker came up with this project, so she did all the prep. This really only included making the example and setting out the craft supplies. I added the feathers and eyes to the pile of supplies at the last minute, when the kids seemed  confused as to what to glue on their plates.

III. Process
Eight kids came to this program, ranging in age from around 2.5 to 7, and each of them took a different approach to making a monster face. The smaller kids enjoyed coloring more than gluing, while the older ones experimented with multiple eyes and mouths. Some used feathers for hair; others, pipe cleaners. It was a great all-ages craft, and one I'll definitely revisit around Halloween!

The Display: More Monstrous Books 

• Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley
• The Monster Returns by Peter McCarty
• There's a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer 
• What's Under the Bed? by Joe Fenton
• Don't Climb Out of the Window Tonight by Richard McGilvray
• Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall
• Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson
• If You're a Monster and You Know It by Ed and Rebecca Emberley
• Sipping spiders through a straw : campfire songs for monsters by Kelly DiPucchio

Preschool Story Time (Monster Theme), 10/17

Today's theme was MONSTERS.

I am really proud of this particular story time. It is the first session ever in the entire history of me doing story time that I purposely did all of my own singing. The music selections for today included only one recorded song, which we used for shaking our shaker eggs. Otherwise, it was just me engaging with the kids. Some things needed tweaking, as I'll point out below, and a little girl did announce fifteen minutes in that she was ready for me to be done, but I still felt a strong sense of success when it was over, and got a group hug from the kids who sat in the front row.


Here is my monster repertoire:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you? 

Song: If You're a Monster and You Know It
There are a billion versions of this out there, including the book by Rebecca and Ed Emberley, for which there is a recording. I sort of pulled my favorite motions from each version I found, and put my own together.

 

Book: Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane, illustrated by Jane Manning (2011) 
This book is based on Over in the Meadow, and counts various spooky creatures. The zombie page grossed me out, but overall, the book was gentle enough not to scare small kids.

Rhyme: If I Were a Monster
(Thanks to Mary for pointing me here for this rhyme.)


My group was with me right up until the last line, then they looked at me like I was from space. I think the rhyme actually works well without that line, anyway, and would probably leave it out next time.

Book: There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca, Adrian, and Ed Emberley (2009)
This book is a new twist on the old song, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. I thought it was a lot of fun, and one or two kids seemed really engrossed, but I still had the sense that it wasn't as great a choice as I initially expected.


Song: Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws
This is the song I performed in my interview for the job I have now, but today was my first time doing it with kids. (I wound up leaving my old job just before Halloween last year and didn't have the chance.) And I have to say - this was the hit of the session. The kids begged me to do it faster and faster, and I did my best.'


Song: Les Zombies et les Loups-Garous
This was a last-minute addition and a good idea in theory only. I loved the idea of including this song - the title of which is French for "the zombies and the werewolves" - but the kids hated the shaker eggs. I have  tried to use shaker eggs twice with this group now, and they're just not a very enthusiastic bunch. And I hate dancing and looking stupid anyway, so it's a win-win I think. Still, I was proud of myself for connecting this song to this theme. 

Book:  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)
No monster story time could ever be complete without this book. I got a chill at the wonderful ending yet again when I was reviewing it this afternoon. The kids seemed bored, but I don't care. It's the best. 

Song: One Little Monster
I revamped my usual One Little Finger song to suit my monster theme, and this was another good one.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

---

Other books I considered reading for this story time include:

• Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley
• Adopt a Glurb by Elise Gravel
• If You're a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca and Ed Emberley
• Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall

Find more monster story times on these other blogs:

• Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime
• A Bad Case of Books
• Storytime Katie
• Movement and Music Storytime

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