Pajama Story Time, 12/12/12

Pajama Story Time had great attendance when it was still light out after 5:00. This time of year, I think a lot of families have gone into hibernation mode, as we have been seeing very small groups. Last night's group was the smallest every - just one two-year-old and her Mom. But we still had fun.

The theme was "B is for Bedtime" and we read and sang about lots of things beginning with the letter B.

Book: Book! by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Maggie Smith

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Book: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Book: Little Tug by Stephen Savage
This is a perfect bedtime story and a perfectly sweet toddler book.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Book: Wolf Won't Bite by Emily Gravett
Not a hit. I think the little girl was just done with story time by this point, though.

Song with Puppets: Goodnight
We sang goodnight to a bear, a bumblebee, and a butterfly.

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

WinterFest Story Time #3, 12/8/12

The third and final WinterFest story time took place in the afternoon, and it was a small preschool group. 

Book: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr 

Song: Moon Moon Moon

Book: The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor
The kids loved this one in particular. They liked imagining what it would be like inside a snow globe.

Song: Skate on the Frozen Pond
This is a perfect song for getting the wiggles out of fidgety preschool boys.

Book: Jingle Bells by Maryann Kovalski 

Song: Hat, Coat, Pants and Shoes

Book: The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

WinterFest Story Time #2, 12/8/12

This second WinterFest story time took place at 11:30, and it was the most popularly attended session of the day, with about a dozen kids. The crowd ranged in age from babies to early elementary school, so it was a bit tricky to keep everyone's interest, but we did our best. One challenge that made it especially hard was that one little boy - probably a kindergartener - decided he would say no to every question I asked and immediately say the opposite of anything I had to say. By keeping the tone light, I managed to get him to stop being so silly, and that the end he came up and chatted with me about books, so it wound up being a nice experience.

Flannel Board: Little Snowball, Little Snowball Are You Under the ____ Mitten?
I have never done any variation of this flannel board before, but I know so many of my Flannel Friday colleagues love it. Now I see why. It took them four guesses to find the snowball - and the child who finally found it was so proud!

Flannel Board Song: One Red Mitten
This was a dud with this group. The older kids lost interest quickly, and not even the adults were responsive.

Book: The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
The older kids complained about the repetition in this book, but they helped me out anyway, repeating "a red cap with a gold snap" each time through. 

Rhyme: Frozen is the Lake
This is my winterized rewrite of Blue is the Lake.

Book: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr
This was a hit with the older boys. A lot of  the little kids left the  room at this point and came back later for the singing.

Song: Moon Moon Moon

Book: Jingle Bells by Maryann Kovalski
The kids loved singing this - it was very cute. 

Book: Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

WinterFest Story Time #1, 12/8/12

On Saturday, December 8, my library branch participated in our neighborhood WinterFest. As part of  the festivities, I performed three story times at three different points throughout the day. Since all three were completely different, I'll make three separate posts.

This first session was at 10:00 a.m., and only three kids attended  - a little girl in Pre-K, her toddler sister, and another toddler boy.

Book: Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara
The pre-K girl told me, "Jack Frost is real. I know because when we go in the car, the window has frost."

Book: White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
This book is probably too long for a toddler audience, but since there were only three kids, I was able to keep them engaged pretty easily by moving to where they wanted  to be in the room and giving them lots of chances to talk to me about the pictures. The toddler boy came running up to the book at one point to tell me he saw a truck.

Flannel Board Song: One Red Mitten
Since the pre-K girl knew her colors, she was my unofficial helper for this song. The little ones just liked seeing the mittens.

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Snowmen
For this I used a set of paper snowmen I made more than two years ago and have never used with kids. All three of the kids gathered closely around the flannel board and helped me take the snowmen off one by one as they each melted.

Book: Jingle Bells by Maryann Kovalski
We were too wiggly to make it to the end of  this book. They were so excited by the flannel board that we just did another colorful song with it.

Flannel Board Song: Mary Wore Her Red Scarf
The kids loved helping me put the pieces on the flannel board. This story time has inspired me to rethink some of my toddler lap time activities so that every child has a hands-on opportunity.

Song: These Are My Glasses

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.