Saturday Family Story Time, 7/30

When I get kids to actually show up for Saturday story time, it's always a lesson in improvisation. Today, I planned for mostly toddlers and had only one toddler, along with three babies, and four preschoolers. Go figure.

Thankfully, I took a big pile of books in there with me, and had some choices so that I could adjust as  the crowd grew. And it was really nice. I love my big groups and actually feel most comfortable with those, but it's also nice to be able to get to know the kids a little bit in the small groups. Before today, I thought I'd cancel monthly Saturday story times, but now I'm wondering if it's worth having one now and then, even during the school year...

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers (twice)

Book: Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham (1970)
Everyone loves Mr. Gumpy. This book does go on, with Mr. Gumpy's various restrictions about how the animals and children are to behave in the boat, but it's a lot of fun building up to the moment when they all do exactly that which they were asked to avoid doing, and splash! into the water they go! Even babies like this book.

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella; sung twice)

Book: My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall (2009)
I usually remember to read this book around Valentine's Day, but it seemed like a good one for an all-ages group as well. The older kids laughed over the silly rhymes and enjoyed dissecting the images to see how the hearts fit together. The babies were drawn to the bright colors, and the moms oohed and aahed. I'll definitely want to remember this book for future family story times!

Song: ABCD Medley
I think my days with this song are numbered. Time to find a replacement for the Fall! 

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)


Song: Old MacDonald (a cappella with puppets)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (sung twice a cappella, with puppet)

Book: The Queen's Feet  by Sarah Ellis, illustrated by Dusan Petricic (2006)
I learned of this book just this morning, but quickly fell in love! Queen Daisy's feet have a mind of their own, and they get her into all kinds of trouble in situations where she's supposed to be on her best royal behavior! This story has the same sense of humor as Princess Hyacinth, which is my favorite read-aloud for school-age kids, but it's less wordy and worked for everyone in my audience, except one little baby, whose attention span made it only 7/8 of the way through. (These babies were amazingly attentive, I've never seen anything like it!)


Song: The Wheels on the Bus 

Song: Chickadee
It warmed my little heart when a three-year-old announced after the first verse - "This is my favorite song!"

Song: Skinnamarink

Baby Lap Time, 7/29

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers (twice)

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella; sung twice)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella; with sunshine puppet)

Book: In My Tree by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich (2009)
I love the owl finger puppet in this book, who peeks out of the center of each page while the scenery changes around him.  I'll have to remember this book for Fall, since it does have at least one scene with Fall leaves.

Song: Did You Ever See? (Flying Animals Edition)

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Baby Faces by Margaret Miller (1998)
This was the perfect book for this group! I loved sharing the pictures of each baby's face and enjoyed the way the babies stared intently into the eyes of each one. The favorite by far was "boo-hoo!"

Flannel Board Song: How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Rhyme: I Went to Visit the Farm One Day

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Tales for Twos and Threes, 7/29

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?


Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

 

Book: Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen (1982)
This was the perfect choice for this age group. Just enough text, and just enough invitations to interact with me. And the message that sometimes it's the smallest ones that make the biggest differences was delivered in a unique and amusing way. This was also surprisingly a good one for introducing the parts of a boat, such as the bow. 

Song: One Little Finger

Book: A Mighty Fine Time Machine by Suzanne Bloom (2009)
I debated and debated about whether to do this book, and it would have worked well if the audience had been just a bit older. I had a lot of toddlers and babies, and not so many twos and threes. But the few older kids who got engaged with this book really loved it and said so.  

Song: Shake My Sillies Out  

Song: Head and Shoulders 

Song: Clap Along With Me 

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (a cappella with puppets) 

Song: Turn Around 

Song: Wheels on the Bus


Song: ABCD Medley 

Song: Skinnamarink

Tales for Fours and Fives, 7/28

Before this morning, I hadn't done a story time in eight days. And I have to say, getting up in front of the room today, I felt sort of rusty. But some of my regulars were very excited to see me back, and gave me a nice warm welcome, which helped me ease back into the swing of things.

I didn't have much of a plan for today, since attendance for this group can be kind of unpredictable, but I made sure to choose books that would appeal to fours and fives, even though the crowd had mostly younger kids. We'll be discontinuing this story time at the end of August and possibly replacing it with a preschool or toddler story time, so creating a routine at this point seems kind of pointless, but I still like to adhere to whatever I've advertised.

Here's what we read and sang:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Actual Size by Steve Jenkins (2004)
I read this book in a very conversational tone, mainly addressing anything I said to the actual four year olds in the room, two very outspoken boys who have been coming to my story times since we opened. I loved hearing their observations, and enjoyed reassuring one little boy that no, I don't most of these animals would eat him if given the chance!

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

 Book: Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2000)
I wanted to read Dooby Dooby Moo, but chickened out at the last minute and went with this title, which I know much better. It wound up being a great success. The kids laughed out loud at my exaggerated "moooos" and joined in with me on the last few.

Song: ABCD Medley


Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Book: When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small (2007)
This book won The E.B. White Readaloud award, but I found it very difficult to read aloud. The kids in my target age group were mesmerized by the story, but the adults and smaller kids seemed restless and no amount of inflection or excitement in my voice really changed that. Do other people read this a certain way? I'd love to know if I'm missing some tricks!

Song: Turn Around

Song: Skinnamarink

It's nice to be back, and it was especially good to be able to slowly get back into the routine with a small group. Looking forward to Baby Lap Time tomorrow!