First, since the school group that came showed up 15 minutes before the start of story time, I had a room full of silly, laughing kids. I decided to channel some of their energy into singing and moving around, so we did that for a few minutes before starting. Then, once it was actually time, we got underway.
Opening Song: Hello how are you?
Book: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (1955)
Flannel Board Song: Harold's Other Crayons (see my Flannel Friday post tomorrow for details)
As we counted the instruments, I asked the kids to show me the number of fingers for duo, trio, etc.
Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up
At this point in story time, just before I started to read, the school group got up and started leaving. To keep things somewhat under control, we sang goodbye to the kids as they left, then had everyone who was not with the school and wanted to stay move closer to me so they could hear the rest of the books.
Song: If You're Happy and You Know It
This was a surprising hit. The kids loved talking about the different animals and their movements. I think it was so successful because I really relaxed with and didn't have to compete with chatty adults to get through the story. I'm brainstorming ways to kind of train the nannies back at my own branch on how to listen to a story.
Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This
