Preschool Story Time (Bats Theme), 10/24

What a disaster. This story time worked really well for a few weeks, so I thought the issue was resolved, but today was terrible! I don't even know what to attribute it to, except that the intended audience was preschoolers, and the audience that actually participated was mostly babies and toddlers. This meant that at the last minute, I had to alter my entire repertoire to suit the age group, and it looked like a mess. I also didn't have an extra book on hand to fit the theme (which is why I always insist that I don't do themes), so I ended up reading at least one book that was in no way appropriate for the age group. In any case, in the interest of someone maybe finding it useful, here is my bat story time. I'll include what I intended to do, and then some notes on what I actually did.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

Book: Bats at the Library by Brian Lies (2008)
I don't know how anyone could have no reaction to this book, but that's what I got. Blank faces.

Rhyme: One Little Ghost

Book: Hello, Bumblebee Bat! by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (2007)
I would definitely use this book again. It got the most attention of any of the three I read today.

Song: Flap, Flap, Flap Little Bats
(I looked at the group and realized most of them couldn't even stand up yet. So I reverted to a toddler story time favorite and did Shake My Sillies Out instead. No one - neither child, nor adult - did the motions with me.)

Song: Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws
(There was no way babies were doing this one, either, so we did Hands Are For Clapping.)

Book: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993)
It was really masochistic for me to read this, knowing what the outcome would be. Most people in the room didn't even notice that I was reading, and I had to compete with conversations, crying babies, and at least one mom who was reading a different book to her child. But I kept reading, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster for the one little boy in the front row who seemed engrossed, and to prove the point that the age limits exist for a reason. By the end, most of the nannies with babies seemed to get the idea, but it was a total waste of a story time session, and I never want to have another one like it ever again.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

With the correct age group, I have no doubt this would have been a great story time. In fact, I'm now considering revamping my story time schedule to eliminate this session altogether and instead shift to a preschool/school-age story time on Thursdays, similar to the Halloween one I did last week.

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Find more bat story times on these other sites:

• Perry Public Library
• YouthLiterature.com
• Esther Story Times
• Enterprise Library Story Time

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

(Somewhat) Flannel Friday: Popsicle Stick Puppets

One of the things I like to include in my story times for babies and toddlers is simple singing with puppets. But there are only so many puppets a library can have, and I'm pretty picky about the songs I choose. So, how do I vary my repertoire? I make my own simple stick puppets.

Pictured here are two puppets I have use regularly at story times this Fall, and one I have yet to use. Each one consists of a popsicle stick with a little patch or two of Velcro stuck onto it. Then I can fasten pretty much any flannel board item I've made to the front of the stick for an instant puppet!

Here is a quick description of how I use each of the puppets pictured, as well as the words to their corresponding songs:

Brown Squirrel

When we sing Brown Squirrel, I hold up the squirrel puppet and when it comes to "swoosh your bushy tail," I move him back and forth like he's actually swishing his tail. I also point to the acorn when we sing "hold a nut between your toes."

Brown squirrel, brown squirrel
Swoosh your bushy tail
Brown squirrel, brown squirrel
Swoosh your bushy tail
Wrinkle up your funny nose
Hold a nut between your toes
Brown squirrel, brown squirrel
Swoosh your bushy tail!

I'm a Little Apple

I haven't done this song in a story time yet, but it's a great example of a song I would never sing at story time unless I had a prop. It's impossible to act out, and there are no real motions to it, but add a puppet and suddenly I feel free to sing these kinds of songs, without feeling like I'm performing on stage. The puppet makes the song less about me, and more about the interactive experience.

I'm a little apple, short and round,
I make a munchy, crunchy sound,
If you bite into me you will see -

I'm delicious as can be!

[Source]

Mr. Pumpkin
I really want to rewrite the lyrics to this song, but this works for now. For this one, I just hold up the puppet and sway it back and forth. At baby lap time, I make sure to move it slowly around the circle so everyone gets a chance to see it.

Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin
Round and fat, round and fat
I’m gonna eat you! I’m gonna eat you!
Just like that. Just like that.
 [Source]

I've put Velcro on five popsicle sticks, so I always have a few on hand to mix and match. They're great for when I need just one more quick song and don't have time to pull together anything elaborate, and they'll work for any flannel set I have on hand, as long as the pieces have Velcro on them. I plan on making a penguin, a snowman, and a Santa Claus in the near future to use during the holidays and the Winter months.

This week's Flannel Friday host is Mollie.  See previous round-ups here at So Tomorrow, and check out the Flannel Friday Pinterest boards here.

Halloween Story & Craft, 10/20

Today was the first time I have ever done a school-age story time at this branch, and the first time I tried one on a Thursday afternoon. I was so blown away by how well it went! Here's the format I used for the story time, followed by the craft.

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Part I: Story Time

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
The advertised age range for this program was Kindergarten through 3rd Grade, but some kids were as young as 2, and many of my regular preschoolers were in attendance, so I did the hello song as a means of getting the ball rolling. Most of the older kids - who were mainly kindergarteners and first graders - seemed to actually enjoy it.

Book 1: Haunted House, Haunted Mouse by Judy Cox, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler (2011)
This is one of those books for kids who want to be scared, but also want to know everything is okay in the end. My favorite scene is the one where Mouse is inside the candy bag and nibbles a hole, through which we can see the street and the trick-or-treaters. 

Book 2: Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann (2011)
I initially thought of this book as creepy, but my audience thought it was sweet, and they loved the skeletons.


Rhyme: One Little Ghost

Song: Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws
There were a few five year olds who really loved this and had the biggest grins on their faces.

Book 3: The House That Drac Built by Judy Sierra (1998)
There are some pretty gruesome pictures in this one, and I felt a little bit guilty because some of the kids were so young, but I also think sometimes people need to learn the hard way that the age limits on these programs exist for a reason. I had no complaints, but I was pretty aware of how scary the zombie illustration was, and it did worry me slightly.

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Part II: Paper Bag Haunted House Craft

I first saw this craft idea during the summer between my junior and senior years in college when I worked at Mohonk Mountain House. We used the paper bags to make any old buildings back then, but I thought it was a perfect idea for a haunted house. So that's what we made today. 

Supplies:

Paper lunch bags  
There were 60 in a package, and I bought them from the dollar store.
It doesn't get much better than that.

Halloween foam stickers

I bought a bunch of cute spider, ghost, and other spooky creature stickers at a craft store. They filled an entire basket, and only about 25 kids participated in the craft, so there should have been enough, but some parents got a bit greedy, and I had to go around begging for extras for a little girl who didn't get any. Next time, if there is anything extra like that, I'll let the kids start their project first and then see to the even distribution of the special stickers myself.

Markers & Crayons

I always include both now, ever since a little boy started crying one day and announced, "Mommy said no markers!"

The instructions are simple. Color the bag, then open it up, stand it on whichever end you like, and add some stickers. Easy peasy. (I prefer to stand the bag up with the bottom of the bag at the top, so it's like a roof.)

Two more Halloween story times to come next week - stay tuned!

Gettin' Crafty Post #4: Stickers

For an introduction to this new series of Gettin' Crafty posts, visit Post #1.

This post is about several different crafts I have done this Fall involving stickers. 

1. Sticker Collages

This craft was born out of a rainy day and  the need for a simple last-minute craft.

Supplies:

Black construction paper

Stickers

I used leftover summer reading stickers from Catch the Reading Bug and Make a Splash, because I wanted to get rid of them.

Self-stick foam shapes

 These were also leftovers, from my pencil toppers craft.

My example was an abstract design using mostly foam shapes, with a few stickers added on to show the kids their options. Most of the kids got the idea, and were really creative with their own designs.

2. Apple Make-A-Face Sticker Scene

I purchased this craft from Oriental Trading to use in September, which is when I focused on apples in story time.

Each package includes 12 kits, which consist of the following:

• 2 sheets of stickers with noses, eyes, mouths, and leaves
• 1 activity booklet, consisting of six apples all linked together like paper dolls

What I imagined the kids doing was keeping the booklets intact and making their own string of apples. What happened was that the parents ripped all the apples apart and insisted that each child only make one. There were some left intact after the first time we did this craft, so I put them out again on a different day, and  the same thing happened. The up side was that many more kids could participate, but it was a shame, too, because they were so much cuter in a little string of apples!

3. Design Your Own! Firefighter Sticker Scenes 

 

This one came from Oriental Trading as well, and it was really popular among the preschool crowd. The set of 12 includes the paper backgrounds and the stickers, but there are way more stickers than can comfortably fit in one scene, so if you have some extra paper hanging around, kids can still participate even after the sheets are gone. 

The only problem I ran into was that some of the stickers ripped really easily when I peeled them from the paper, and I am still (two weeks later) finding little arms, legs, and firehats hanging around in various corners of the children's room. 

I purchased a second similar set, the Sweet “Bake Shop” Make-A-Sticker Scenes which I plan to use around the holidays.

Next time: Beaded Bracelets.