ABCs: L is for Library Drop-In Story Time, 5/17/13

 ABCs: L is for Library Drop-In Story Time, 5/17/13

Book: Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
This was a big hit - to the point that a nanny came up and snatched it before story time was over so she could check it out. Since books don't often get checked out after my story times, this was exciting - even if it was also rude.

Song: Llamas on the Bed
Just like monkeys on the bed - but with llamas! I don't do a lot of piggybacking with this song, because it works so well on its own, but I think it's fun to change things up every once in a while to match a book. The kids responded very well to the change, and sang along - some of them very loudly and with great enthusiasm!

Book: I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric Kimmel
Ordinarily I look to use this book with Pre-K kids to practice retelling a story - which we do with the song that follows. It's just short enough, though, that this mixed age group could appreciate it, too.

Song: I'm Going Down to the Library
Lark, lamb, lion, lizard and leopard all went to the library! Everyone sang along - it was amazing!

Letter of the Day: L 

• Rhyme: Blue is the Lake
• Rhyme with Puppet:  Ladybug, Ladybug
  This rhyme works really well when you ask the kids to make ladybug legs with their fingers and land  their ladybugs on their own arms, heads, knees, etc.
• Flannel Board Song: Mary Had Some Little Lambs
  Mary had a white lamb, a red lamb, a blue lamb, a green lamb, and a black lamb.One little boy in the front row loved this song and sang it at the top of his lungs!

Songs with ukulele: ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / Baa Baa Black Sheep

Song with ukulele: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Song: Mr. Sun 
Mr. Sun is now a required presence at story time - all the kids give him high fives at the end! 

Song: Hands Up High

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.

Flannel Friday: Evolution of a Flannel Board: Vincent's Vests

Adding a letter of the day to my large drop-in story times was something I did to make life easier. Sometimes, though, the activities I do for a certain letter the first time around just don't satisfy me, and I'm left looking for new ideas. That's what happened with the letter V. What follows is the road I took from inspiration to finished product, as I created a flannel board called "Vincent's Vests."

First, I thought I'd just throw together a simple song based on Daddy's Ties. Instead of Daddy, we'd sing about Vincent, and instead of ties, Vincent would wear vests. That concept looked like this:

But would the kids be able to tell where a vest is actually worn? Would they be creeped out by Vincent's lack of arms? What was the point of having sleeves if no one could  tell where the arms went?

I decided to add some arms.

This was an improvement, but still not quite enough. Now it looked like he was wearing a vest with nothing underneath it, which is not really how we wear vests. To make things a little more realistic, I created a tee shirt for Vincent to wear under his  vest.

Better? Definitely. But still...

What if Vincent had a full outfit? Then I could always add to it later on, and with a few different faces and some arms with different skin tones, I'd basically have a full set of flannel board paper dolls. I decided to give it  a shot.

I was all set to go into story time with this version. Just one final problem. Vincent didn't have a neck! In Publisher, I quickly drew a little rectangle, then I printed it out and colored it to match Vincent's face and arms. I stuck it on the flannel board behind Vincent's head and under his tee shirt.

Finally, Vincent was finished!

When I took him to story time, this is how he looked:

And then we sang... 

Vincent wore his yellow vest, yellow vest, yellow vest

Vincent wore his yellow vest all day long. 

 Vincent wore his green vest, green vest, green vest

Vincent wore his green vest all day long.  

  Vincent wore his red vest, red vest, red vest

Vincent wore his red vest all day long. 

  Vincent wore his blue vest, blue vest, blue vest

Vincent wore his blue vest all day long.  

  Vincent wore his brown vest, brown vest, brown vest

Vincent wore his brown vest all day long. 

The kids were totally fascinated by this flannel board. I think they liked the fact that Vincent was so big that we had to turn the flannel board on its side to play with him. 

Want to make your own version of Vincent's Vests? Here are links to the images I used for his various pieces: 

• Face
• Vest
• Tee Shirt
• Arms 
• Shoes 
• Pants

Some of them - especially the pants - need to be resized in Publisher or Word to make them look as they do in my photos. The pants needed to be widened, then cut very short. The shoes are also a bit large and need to be shrunk down.

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Storytime Katie.

ABCs: B is for Baby Lap Time, 5/16/13

 ABCs: B is for Baby Lap Time, 5/16/13

Book: Old Bear by Kevin Henkes
This is a bit much for a baby audience. I think I'd only use it with toddlers in the future.

Rhyme: Two Little Blackbirds
At least two babies tried to hold up their fingers and do this with me, and that was a surprise, since one was brand new to story time, and this hasn't been a regular rhyme for us lately.
 
Song: Bumpin’ Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon

Song: Tony Chestnut

Rhyme: One Two

Book: Where is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz
I was surprised this didn't go over better. The parents didn't even seem interested.

Song: All the Little Babies
It's a good thing we do this song every week because I had a coughing fit and lost my singing ability in the middle of it. Thankfully, the moms knew all the words and kept on without me. After two more spoken rhymes, I was okay  to sing again. the

Flannel Board Rhyme: Hippety Hop Hippety Hay
I like this simple rhyme - we tap our knees on the "hippety-hop" part and clap when all the bunnies are gone.

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Song: Buzzing Buzzing Bumblebee
The babies were even into puppets this morning! Weird day. 

Song: Flutter Flutter Butterfly

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Song: ABCs


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.

ABCs: S is for Story Time Drop-In Story Time, 5/14/13

 ABCs: S is for Story Time Drop-In Story Time, 5/14/13

Book: The Big Sneeze by Ruth Brown
This is a simple story about the ripple effect of one farmer's big sneeze. This book was checked out at the end of story time.

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Book: Senses at the Seashore by Shelley Rotner
I really liked this book, and the kids were really drawn to the photographs. This book was also checked out at the end of the session.

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Pretty Sandcastles
The adults didn't get this. I don't know why, as I thought the surprise ending was cute, but there was this moment of awkward silence at the end where I could see them all thinking, "huh?"

Book: Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
I was able to borrow a big book version of this book from another branch, and I used the easel to hold it up while I turned the pages. Unfortunately, the adults decided that, since the book was large, and I wasn't holding it, it was fine to pretend like nothing was happening at the front of the room. The kids were really into it, but their grown-ups made it hard for the kids to hear what I was saying.

Letter of the Day: S

• Song with Puppet: Brown Squirrel
  We did this song with a puppet first, then danced to it the second time.
• Song with Foam Stars: Stars Shining Bright
• Flannel Board Song: Five Astronauts Went Up in Space
• Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

Songs with ukulele: ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/ Baa Baa Black Sheep

Song: Hands Up High

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

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.