Story Time in the Park (MOMS Club), 9/11/14

Story Time in the Park (MOMS Club), 9/11/14 

Since leaving my job at the public library last September, I have been on an extra-long story time hiatus. Before today, my last story time was this one, from September 27, 2013. To say that I was missing it would be a definite understatement! Luckily, my moms club loves story time and was very receptive when I asked if they would like me to perform one for them. 

We met at a local park this morning at 10:00. There were seven kids total - 3 boys, ages 3, 2, and 1 and four girls, ages 13 months, 9 months (that was Little Miss Muffet!), 8 months, and almost five months. This ended up being a perfect age range, and the other 5 moms in attendance were model story time participants. 

Here is what I shared with them:

Hello Song: Say Hello To Your Toes

I decided against using my old stand-by hello song, Hello, How Are You? It has always struck me as clunky, and I always had a hard time getting people to participate when I played the ukulele. Since the uke was sort of my security blanket for this session, I wanted to lead with it to get everyone to pay attention. It was a huge hit - we said hello to our toes, knees, tummy, nose, and all of our friends.

Song with Stick Puppets: When Cows Get Up in the Morning

I made quick and easy stick puppets using clip art from My Cute Graphics and some cardstock so we could sing this song. The oldest two kids were able to name all of the animals and tell me what those animals said, and every mom was singing along by the last verse. 

Book: Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel

Everyone was puzzled, as I usually am, by the suggestion that a rabbit makes a sound like "pr-pr-pr," but we just went with it. The kids were enthralled by the pictures and many of them made the animal sounds with me. We own this book, so I have read it a million times, which also helps with my performance. 

Song: Moon Moon Moon

The final illustration in Hello, Day is a big full moon in a dark blue sky, so I like to pair it with this song. We only sang through it once because people seemed sort of puzzled by it, but the two-year-old boy picked up on the motions right away and stuck right with it to the end.

Book: Monkey See, Look at Me! by Lorena Siminovich

This book is a new favorite that we discovered at one of our local public libraries, and because the monkey in the story looks almost exactly like Miss Muffet's beloved stuffed monkey, it has become a household favorite. A couple of moms commented on how captivated their kids were by the illustrations, and the two older boys were able to make some of the animals' motions with me. 

Rhyme: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

This rhyme is always a favorite with every audience, and this group was no exception. I opted to chant rather than sing as I normally would, just to give us some variety. 

Rhyme: This is Big Big Big 

I love sharing this rhyme with people who haven't heard it before. We did this one twice, and though only one child did the motions, all the grown-ups did. "Fast, fast, fast" was everyone's favorite part. 

Book: Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker 

This was the first book Miss Muffet ever smiled at, which is why we own it. Everyone recognized One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and got a nice laugh out of the additions made by Keith Baker.

Ukulele Medleys:

• Itsy Bitsy Spider / It's Raining It's Pouring / Rain Rain Go Away
• ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / Baa Baa Black Sheep

These songs were all familiar, so everyone happily sang along. Moms were especially pleased to have the alphabet song included.

Goodbye Song: Open Shut Them (Goodbye Version)

Doing story time for  moms I know is way easier than doing story time for a room full of strangers. This was a great experience, and I hope to have more to share with you soon!

20 Literacy Activities for Little Leaguers

September is National Little League Month. Celebrate with the following literacy activities, collected from my story time archives and educational blogs around the web.

• Sing and act out "Baseball Player" - sung to the tune of Are You Sleeping? - from Seasons of  Joy. (I have used this one a lot in story time.)
• Bat, catch, throw, and run with "This is the Way You Bat the Ball", sung to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.
• Learn some new hand motions for Take Me Out to the Ballgame, courtesy of Bright Hub Education.
• Play Spelling Baseball.
• Practice writing color and number words with printable baseball-themed count and color books from A Teaching Mommy.
• Read aloud The Littlest Leaguer by Syd Hoff - or another title from my list of baseball books.
• Read "Casey at the Bat."
• Play Make Take and Teach's Vowel Team Baseball Game.
• Act out Who's on First?
• Challenge your kids to match homophones with this ball and glove set available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
• Present a nine-inning story time like this one from Steal My Ideas.
• Create a sensory ball basket like the ones featured at The Good Long Road and Living Montessori Now.
• Play flannel board baseball following these instructions from Itsy Bitsy Mom.
• Play "You're Out", a game from A Day in First Grade which focuses on sorting "ow" and "ou" words.
• Play the Baseball Sight Word Game from Freebielicious.
• Practice alphabetizing with these sets of caps, gloves, and balls available from KidSparkz.com.
• Color a baseball alphabet.
• Turn a bat and ball into the letter B as suggested by MPM Ideas.
• Sing Baseball Song by Joe Stover.
• Make a can/has/is chart about your child's favorite player as described by Little Warriors.

Story Time Starter: Monkeys

Little Miss Muffet loves monkeys, so we read a lot of monkey books at our house. Bring a little monkey business into your own lives with these recommended monkey books, songs, and rhymes for story time.

 

Miss Katie's Recommended Books 

• Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
  A little girl and her monkey act like the different animals they go to see. Even if you don't have the book on hand, you can tell this story using flannel board pieces or simple movements for the kids to imitate. For an interactive experience, ask the kids to call out animals for "monkey and me" to visit.
• Where's My Mom? by Julia Donaldson
  A monkey can't seem to find his mom, and the butterfly trying to help him has trouble following the clues that will eventually lead the monkey home. This book is laugh-out-loud funny for adults and kids, and though it's a bit long, it tends to keep the audience interested right up to the end.
• Monkey See, Look At Me by Lorena Siminovich
  A monkey fancies himself to be an elephant, rabbit, bird, etc. simply because he can do their movements, but each time, his animal friends set him straight and remind him what a silly monkey he is. This is a bright and colorful book with a repetitive structure and a perfect preschool sense of humor. 

 

Other Possible Books 

• Monkey Do! by Allan Ahlberg
• Ten Naughty Little Monkeys by Suzanne Williams
• Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
• Two Little Monkeys by Mem Fox
• Curious George by H.A. Rey
• Monkey Colors by Darrin Lunde

Rhymes

• Monkeys on the Bed
  When monkeys jump on the bed, they bump their heads and the doctor must be called. This can also be sung to several different tunes.
• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
  When they're not jumping on the bed, the pesky monkeys are teasing Mr. Alligator - until he goes snap! and gobbles them up. Recommended for preschool and kindergarten.
• Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat
  In this version of the classic nursery rhyme, the pussy cat goes to the zoo where she meets a monkey.
• Monkey, Monkey
  In this action rhyme, monkey turns around, dances on his toes, and more until finally it's time for  a nap.

 

Songs 

• I'm a Little Monkey
  This song is best sung with two monkey hand or stick puppets. In a pinch, hands can also double as monkeys.
• Say Hello to the Animals
  Start with the monkey verse, then sing hello to other animals who live in the zoo or jungle.
• Underneath the Monkey Tree
  Play monkey see, monkey do with this song, where kids follow your lead and do silly monkey movements. For added fun, pretend your parachute is a monkey tree and have the kids run underneath to act out their motions.
• What Can a Monkey See from a Tree?
  In this song, name things and creatures that monkeys can see from the treetops. 

Fall Rhymes for Preschoolers (with Printable Booklets)

 

 Help your preschoolers celebrate Fall with the following three rhymes, written by me. I have created a printable booklet to accompany each rhyme, all of which are free to download and yours to share!

 Click to download Signs of Fall. 

On their branches, apples hang.
In their patches, pumpkins sleep.
Under oak trees, acorns drop.
From the treetops, red leaves leap.
We like to see these signs of Fall,

our favorite season of them all!

---

Click to download Down Around the Corner.

Down around the corner
By the big oak tree
Sat three little acorns
looking so yummy!
Along came a squirrel
with a big bushy tail.

She took one acorn
And ran off down the trail.

(Repeat with  two and one acorns)

---

Click to download Four Little Pumpkins Round.

Four little pumpkins round
Sat on the cold, cold ground
Out there in my big pumpkin patch
Emma came walking by
Picked one to bake a pie
Then there were three little pumpkins round.

Three little pumpkins round
Sat on the cold, cold ground
Out there in my big pumpkin patch
Tommy came riding by

Picked one to bake a pie 
Then there were two little pumpkins round.

Two little pumpkins round
Sat on the cold, cold ground
Out there in my big pumpkin patch
Lily came skipping by
Picked one to bake a pie 
Then there was one little pumpkin round

One little pumpkin round
Sat on the cold, cold ground
Out there in my big pumpkin patch
Jeffrey came skating by

Picked it to bake a pie 
Then there were no more pumpkins round.
The End. 

(*Note: This rhyme can also be sung to the tune of Five Green and Speckled Frogs.)