After School Read-Aloud & Craft: Transportation Theme, 3/8/12

This was the first After School Story Time of the Spring schedule, and the first one I actually heavily advertised on the list-serv and website. Unfortunately, because I did advertise it, the program attracted babies and toddlers, and older kids therefore wouldn't come in the room. No matter what we tell people, it seems like they are determined to attend every program we offer, no matter the level of appropriateness for their kids. The only way I've been able to combat this so far is to require registration for programs where age is truly an important factor, and even then, some of them will refuse to follow the age limits. I'm considering how to handle this over the summer, when I want to at least try to offer a school-age program that truly appeals to school age kids. Hopefully, I will make my decisions about that soon. In the meantime, this is the program I presented, with some modifications to suit the audience.

The Craft: Paper Steering Wheels & Pretend Drivers Licenses 

The idea for the steering wheels came from the Sprout website.

I. Supplies

• Paper plates
• Construction paper
• Paper cutter
• Stapler 
• Crayons
• Stickers
• Play Drivers License printable from kidscanhavefun.com

 II. Prep 
 Because I didn't know what age group to expect, I cut the middles out of all the paper plates and fastened construction paper strips to them ahead of time. (I cut two inch strips along the short side of each piece of construction paper. Then I cut some of them in half to make the shorter pieces.) The idea was for the kids to then decorate their steering wheels and draw their own picture on the fake license.

III. Process
Despite the fact that I told the adults that after school story time is different, and we color while we read, not one of them would allow the kids to color before or during the stories. In fact, only one child actually colored his at all. The others took steering wheels with them, but only because I handed them out for one of the stories. (See below.)

The Read-Alouds: Books About Transportation

While these were not necessarily the books I wanted to read for this program, they were very well-received by the kids. So while this was not a successful after school program, it was a pretty successful story time for the age group. 

Book 1: Duck on a Bike by David Shannon (2002)

I'd never read this before, but it's really funny - and similar to Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack Moo. I love the close-ups of each of the farm animals' faces, and  their reactions to the silly duck riding his bike. Two of the little boys knew the names of all the animals in Spanish, but not English, so they told me the Spanish names - which thankfully I recognized from six years of Spanish classes - and then we made the animal sounds together. I plan to use this book again with some of my preschool and Pre-K classes later this month. 

Book 2: Mitchell's License by Hallie Durand, illustrated by Tony Fucile (2011)

The kids were not old enough to get the humor of this book on their own, but with some extra explanation from me, and some laughter from their caregivers, they got really into it. They loved the silliness of honking the horn, so we all hammed it up and honked our own noses, and they all loved the idea of cookies as gasoline, even if I don't think they quite understood it. I love this book for a slightly older audience, but it worked okay for this group, too. 

Book 3:  My Truck is Stuck by Kevin Lewis, illustrated by Daniel Kirk (2002)

I'm not crazy about this book, but it had a lot of good rhyme and onomatopoeia which works well with very little ones I also had to point out the subtle joke in the illustrations - the gophers or whatever they are stealing the bones from out of the stuck truck - but the kids loved it anyway. 

Song: The Wheels on the Bus 

I promised myself there would be no singing at these after school programs, because that only encourages the caregivers to bring younger kids. But these kids were so little, and it wasn't their fault their nannies don't pay attention to age limits, so I did one song. I could have gone without it, maybe, but the kids really do love that song.

Book 4: In the Driver's Seat by Max Haynes (1997)

For this book, I handed out the steering wheels so the kids could pretend to drive a car along with the story. The concept was a good one, but I don't think it worked well with this book, since there was actually very little steering. If I do this activity again, I'd probably make up my own set of directions for  them to "drive" to, instead of trying to adhere to a book. I also had one caregiver refuse to let the kids take a steering wheel, which made no sense to me at all.

The Book Display: More Transportation Titles 

• Sail Away by Donald Crews 
• I'm a Truck Driver by Jonathan London
• Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham
• Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina, illustrated by Claudio Munoz
• Ride, Fly Guy, Ride! by Tedd Arnold
• I Love Trucks! by Philemon Sturges
• Smash! Crash! by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Shannon and Loren Long
• Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka
• Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman
• Window Music by Anastasia Suen

Flannel Friday: Seven Snazzy Aunties

Today's flannel board comes from a book called Stories and Fun for the Very Young: 25 Candlewick Favorites, which was published in 1998. The rhyme, which appears on pages 38 and 39 is entitled "Snazzy Aunties", and it's written and illustrated by one of my favorite story time authors Nick Sharratt.

The rhyme begins: 

When my / seven snazzy / aunties came / for the day,

 and then describes what each of the aunties wore for their special visit. 

I enlarged the illustrations on the copy machine, to make the following:

Auntie Sue (who wore blue)
Auntie Dots (who wore spots)
Auntie Etta (wearing a sweater)

 

Auntie Tracey (wearing something lacy)
Auntie Stella (with her umbrella)
Auntie Pat (with her flowery hat)

And Auntie Madge, who 

had a cap and a badge... because she was driving the bus.

And this, of course, is a perfect lead-in to the Wheels on the Bus. 

I've always based the flannel boards that I use on the seasons of the year, but that has become really boring in recent months and has often limited my repertoire to ten different versions of "five little whatever" rhymes. But I've realized there are many other possibilities, and that often breaking that "five little whatever" mold makes for a more successful story time. I plan to use this at my Baby/Toddler programs next week. 

Stories and Fun for the Very Young has also inspired two more flannel board sets - watch for future Flannel Friday posts about those. If you don't have access to this book, and would like the text for the Snazzy Aunties rhyme I mentioned, email me and I'll gladly send it along.

Linda at Notes from the Story Room is our host for this week's Flannel Friday! I can't wait for the round-up!

7 Novels About Growing Up for Girls

	Only Girls Allowed by Debra Moffitt Three girls are tapped by the mysterious Pink Locker Society to help other girls understand the PBBs (periods, bras, and boys.)
	Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume Margaret questions God and waits for her period in this famous book about puberty. Newer editions have been updated to reflect the changes in feminine hygiene products since the book's first publication.
	Lovingly, Alice  by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor This entire series deals with important adolescent issues for girls, but this book in particular focuses on all the curious discussions fifth grade girls have about their bodies.
	Love and Other Four-Letter Words by Carolyn Mackler Sammie deals with her parents' divorce, and changes in her friendships as her feelings and body begin to mature.
	Twelve by Lauren Myracle Winnie starts middle school wondering if she will be able to keep her friends, manage stress, and survive shopping for her first bra.
	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashare Four best girlfriends, separated for the summer, share one pair of jeans, which somehow manages to fit each of them perfectly.
	Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison British teen Georgia Nicolson writes a diary about the angst and indignities of teenage life.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 3/6/12

Before story time started this morning, a mom told me that her daughter refers to me as "I'm a Little Teapot" at home, as though that is my name. If I ever needed a new story time persona, I could probably do worse than being called Miss Teapot. (Or Miss Pot, as my coworkers suggested.)

In any case, here is this week's a cappella baby/toddler story time.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Sleepy Kittens by Jill and Martin Leman (1994)
I don't know what was wrong with this book, but neither group loved it. I don't think it was the book's fault, though. A group more willing to pay attention might have gotten more out of it. 

Rhyme: Two Little Kittens

Rhyme: Clap, Slap, Tap, Lap 
I accidentally skipped this rhyme during my second session. Oops!

Book: Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek (2007)
The surprise pop-up at the end of this book gets the best reaction every time. Every adult who is otherwise not paying attention, suddenly jumps to life, and they all want the kids to see the butterfly. And of course, we always follow it up with a butterfly song using a puppet.

Song with Puppet: Flutter, Flutter Butterfly
The last time I sang this song, it was summertime, so the lyrics reflected that. Today, though, we sang "bright blue sky" instead of "summer sky." 

Song: Head and Shoulders

Song: Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands
I think this is a bigger hit than I expected. And it's a good example of why not using a recording is working so well for me. I can banter a little bit between verses without feeling rushed, and with older kids, I'll be able to ask them to choose the motions they want to do. 

• clap, clap, clap your hands
• stomp, stomp, stomp your feet
• flap, flap, flap your arms 
• jump, jump, jump around
• turn, turn, turn around

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

• wheels... round and round
• door... open and shut 
• wipers... swish swish swish
• horn... beep beep beep
• driver... move on back
• people... bumpity bump
• babies... waa waa waa
• grown-ups... shh shh shh 
• wheels... round and round (very fast)

Flannel Board Song: All the Pigs Say Oink, Oink, Oink 
I changed the words to eliminate "little" because it was too many syllables for the Mary Had a Little Lamb tune. Everybody picked it up super-quick, and I think it was a lot more enjoyable to sing than the sometimes long, drawn-out renditions of Old MacDonald we have done in the past.

Rhyme: Wiggle Your Fingers and Toes 
I highly recommend Welcome, Baby! Baby Rhymes for Baby Times by Stephanie Calmenson, which is where I got this excellent rhyme. I was amazed when I looked up and saw several little toddlers doing the motions the very first time through. That is magic! 

Song: Put Your Finger in the Air 

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
The most rewarding moment of the day was when I looked in the back of the room and saw one of my former baby lap time kids - now almost two years old - making a spider with his fingers. 

Song: You Are My Sunshine
The first time through, I sang with the puppet. The second time I had everybody make a sun over their head and sing along with me. I was excited to see one adult also signing along with the song during the first session.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This