Family Story Time, 5/9

Opening Song: I'm in the Mood by Raffi (from Rise and Shine)

I don't know what I was thinking. This song is long and unwieldy and a terrible opener! This group has a really broad age range - I had babies, and I had first graders today - and this song was not what we needed to set the tone. Sadly, I think the whole thing just unraveled from there. I honestly don't know what to do with a group like this, but I need to figure it out, because it's really growing!


Song: The Wheels on the Bus 

Book: Being Friends by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Joy Allen (2002)

I may have read this book to guilt some little girls into being nicer to another girl in the front row, who is at least two years younger than they are, and whom they were berating for no reason I could understand. It's also a really positive story about friendship between opposites.


Song: Monkeys on the Bed

Book: Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (2006)

The bright colors in this book really captivate toddlers and preschoolers, and I saw a lot of fingers pointing at the book as I read.

Book: The Red Lemon by Bob Staake (2006)

My cleverness in pairing these two books was appreciated by exactly no one. I'm going to try it again with the fours and fives over the summer. But this is the story of how a rejected red lemon became the starting point for a red lemon revolution on a little island. I thought it was sweet, but I really couldn't read how the kids liked it.


Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes


Song: Turn Around

Thank God for Hap Palmer. I rely on this song in situations of great chaos and stress, and it works like a charm every time!

Song with Flannel Board: The Farmer in the Dell (from Best of Children's Favorites: Pooh's Top 40)

The only version I had of this was sung by Disney's Goofy in a key my voice can't reach, so that was fun. My kizclub.com felt board pieces are cute, but alas, this song did not go over well. I'll do it a cappella next time (tomorrow, most likely.)

Book: Snail Trail by Ruth Brown (2000)

I did not need to read another book, but I panicked when I had a room full of blank faces looking at me, so I grabbed the first available thing. This is actually not a great read-aloud - it moves at a snail's pace and not much happens. Nice illustrations, though!


Goodbye Song: Skinnamarink

Baby Lap Time, 5/6

I have stopped doing themes altogether, I hope. Instead, I'm kind of dividing the story time into three little segments in my mind. Today, the first segment was about mice and counting, the second about mothers and Mother's Day, and the third, nature and animals. This isn't something I announced to the audience or anything, but it really helps me structure the session if I can pair each book with a song and/or rhyme.

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me
This is my official opening song for baby laptime now. It feels good to have a regular starting point!

Book: One Gray Mouse by Katherine Burton and Kim Fernandes (1995)
This book doesn't have much in the way of plot, and it's not even an especially useful counting book, but it has an interesting illustration style - the images are made with modeling compound, which give them a 3-D look, and the colors are bright and engaging for baby's eyes. There is also a lot of cute silliness in this book, especially on the page where pink pigs try on yellow wigs.


Flannel Board Song: Hickory, Dickory Dock (found here)
The flannel board component wound up being just for show, and I forgot to take it down, so it also became a distraction for the babies who could walk/crawl! Whoops!

Hickory, dickory dock (clap hands to the beat)

The mouse went up the clock. (run fingers up arm)

The clock struck one! (clap once)

The mouse ran down. (run fingers back down arm)

Hickory dickory dock. (clap hands to the beat)

Hickory, dickory dock (clap hands to the beat)

The mouse went up the clock. (run fingers up arm)

The clock struck two! (clap twice)

The mouse said, "Boo!" (cup hands around mouth)
Hickory dickory dock. (clap hands to the beat)

Hickory, dickory dock (clap hands to the beat)

The mouse went up the clock. (run fingers up arm)

The clock struck three! (clap three times)

The mouse said, "Weeee!" (run fingers down arm)

Hickory dickory dock. (clap hands to the beat)

Song: One, Two I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)
We had a lot of new faces this morning, so we did this song twice. I always do it twice when we have new folks because it's a story time staple, and a song that can be learned very easily after just a listen or two.

 Book: What Mommies Do Best/What Daddies Do Best by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (1998)

We only read the mom side of this book, but I felt ridiculous reading it to babies. Their mothers don't help them ride bikes, or teach them to bake, and they won't for years! Still, I wanted a book about mothers, and this is what I came up with. I'll probably use the flip side of the book again next month for Father's Day. (And kudos to this book for showing Mom and Dad in the exact same roles - no gender bias here!)


Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Flowers (Mother's Day edition)
I originally got this rhyme from Mel's Desk, but have since butchered it so many times, it's become its own unique creation. The last verse is one I wrote to suit my Mother's Day purposes.

Five little flowers

Growing in the sun

I came along 

and I picked one!

Four little flowers

Growing in the sun

I came along 

and I picked one!

Three little flowers

Growing in the sun

I came along 

and I picked one!

Two little flowers

Growing in the sun

I came along 

and I picked one!

One little flower

Growing in the sun

I came along 

and I picked one!

Five little flowers

make a nice bouquet.

I'll give it to my mother

because it's Mother's Day!

Song: Monkeys on the Bed
Our version of this song features an extra verse at the end where Mommy jumps on the bed, and the child has to call the doctor. I would normally not do this with babies, but it fit with Mother's Day, so I made an exception.

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Book: In the Tall, Tall, Grass by Denise Fleming (1995)
Denise Fleming books can sometimes be on the longer side, but this one is perfect for babies. The illustrations are large and colorful, and the different onomatopoetic rhyming words are a lot of fun to say. The babies were big fans of  the frogs, in particular.

Rhyme: Hop Your Bunny

Hop your bunny up (hold up two fingers and lift hand)

Hop your bunny down (bring two fingers down toward floor)

Hop your bunny to the side (bring fingers out to the right)

Hop him all around! (move fingers around in a circle)

Hop him on your shoulder,

hop him on your head, 

hop him on your tummy,

and then put him to bed! (hide bunny behind you)

(Repeat with two bunnies)

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (a cappella sing-along with hand motions)

Twinkle twinkle little star (open and close hands to mimic twinkling)

How I wonder what you are (point to temple)

Up above the world so high (point to ceiling)

Like a diamond in the sky (make a diamond with thumbs and index fingers)

Twinkle twinkle little star (open and close hands to mimic twinkling)

How I wonder what you are (point to temple)

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella sing-along with hand motions)

Song: The Wheels on the Bus
This version is so long, but it was the only one I had. I need to track down a shorter 90-second version or something.


Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Flannel Friday: Five Little Birds

Here is my second Flannel Friday contribution! (Please excuse my terrible photography - I only had my phone, and I was in a rush.)

I found this rhyme at preschoolrainbow.org, and used the following clip art to make the flannelboard pieces: bird, door, tree, sun.

Five little birds

flying around my door

The blue one flew away,

and then there were four.

Four little birds

sitting in a tree.

The yellow one flew away,

and then there were three.

Three little birds

didn't know what to do.

The red one flew away,

and then there were two.

Two little birds

sitting in the sun.

The brown one flew away,

and then there was one.

One little bird

sitting all alone.

She flew away,

and then there were none.

But later on that very same day...

Five little birds came back to play!

Visit Mel's Desk for more Flannel Friday fun!

6 Kids' Books About Moms

• Mommy Hugs
  (Board Book)
  by Karen Katz
  A colorful picture book (also available as a board book) that counts all the different types of hugs mommies give throughout the day.  
• Runaway Bunny (Picture Book)
  by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd
  A young rabbit talks about ways he might try to run from his mother, but she assures him that she will always find a way to be near him. 
• Little Bear
  (Easy Reader)
  by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
  In four different episodes, Little Bear's mother shows her love for her son by clothing him when he's cold, baking him a birthday cake, sharing in his imaginings about space, and putting him to bed. 
• Ramona and her Mother
  (Middle Grade)
  by Beverly Cleary
  Ramona worries that some of her behavior makes her unlovable and fears that her mother, who has recently gone back to work, doesn't like her as much as her sister Beezus.  
• The Wedding Planner's Daughter
  (Middle Grade)
  by Coleen Murtagh Paratore
  Willa Havisham wants her mother, Stella, who is a wedding planner, to fall in love and settle down, but her efforts don't go exactly as planned. 
• We Help Mommy
  (Picture Book)
  by Jean Cushman, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
  Two children help their mother with various household tasks. This was my sister's favorite book when she was little, and I can still recite the first lines: We help Mommy every day. We help her in the morning as soon as we get up. We take off our pajamas.