Fall 2014–Toddlers

Opening Song

If You Want to Hear a Story
Tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

A basket of leaves!

Books

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson
The Busy Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

Rhyme

Autumn Leaves
Tune: London Bridge

Autumn Leaves are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
Autumn Leaves are falling down,
Red, yellow, orange, and brown.
Source: Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillan and Christine Kirker

Action Rhymes

Grey Squirrel

Grey squirrel, grey squirrel
Shake your bushy tail!
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel
Shake your bushy tail!
Wrinkle up your funny nose
Hold a nut between your toes
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel
Shake your bushy tail!
Source:Kidz Sparkz

Pumpkin, Pumpkin

Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Once you were a seed so small (pinch fingers together)
Now you are a great big ball (make a big circle overhead)
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Source:SurLaLune Storytime

The leaves are falling down today

The leaves are falling down today, hurrah, hurrah!
(flutter hands downward).
The leaves are falling down today, hurrah, hurrah!
The leave are falling to the ground,
(touch the ground).
Where I can Jump and play around. (jump).
Oh, the leaves are falling down, to the ground, where I can…
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
source: Artsy Toddler Storytimes by Carol Garnett Hopkins

Flannel Board

Little Acorn, Little Acorn

Little acorn, little acorn where are you hiding?
Are you hiding behind the _______ squirrel.

Source: I did my own version of the little mouse flannel board.

Take Home Craft

Dance Song

The Twist by Chubby Checker

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

Alright, I learned a valuable lesson with this storytime. DO NOT throw leaves at the beginning of the storytime, as two-year-olds will think that the leaves are way cooler than anything you planned.

I opened my storytime with the rhyme “Autumn Leaves” and threw my pile of leaves the second time I sung it. This of course led the kids to wanting to play in it. I made my second rookie mistake by thinking that I could read the book while the leaves where still on the floor. After the first book I had all the kids help me clean up my leaves. This actually went really well. Almost all of my kids wanted to help me clean up the leaves.

The books were more meh. The leaves completely overshadowed my storytime. I did have one little girl who was attentively listening and I had her help me tap for Tap the Magic Tree. Busy Squirrel crashed and burned. I stopped half-way through and said that the busy squirrel was busy because he was trying to find his acorn. This is where I was able to redeem my storytime.

The kids became completely quiet for the Little Acorn flannel board. We did the rhyme twice through since the kids really liked it. I then said that it wasn’t fair that only one squirrel had the acorn and gave each squirrel their own acorn. I received a few aaahhhhs from the parents when all the squirrels had their acorns.

Waddlers–Fall

Opening Song

“Let’s All Clap”

Let’s all clap cause _____ is here,
____ is here, _____ is here
Let’s all clap cause _____ is here.
____ is here today!
(insert child’s name)

Rhymes

Little Leaves

Little leaves fall gently down.
Gently down, gently down.
Whirling, whirling, round and round,
Down, down, down.
Source: Babies in the Library! by Jane Marino

Baby Corn

I went to the picnic and what did I see?
A little ear of corn smiling at me!
I slathered it with butter(rub hands over baby’s tummy)
And rubbed my tum, (rub own tummy)
Sprinkled it with salt and pepper on, (mime sprinkling salt and pepper on baby)
Then yum, yum, yum! (pretend to eat baby’s tummy)
Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Book

My Pumpkin by Victoria Karr

Sensory Time

Where’s the scarf. I placed several scarfs in the cardboard tubes. Parents/guardians then would pull the scarf through the tubes.

Source: Gymboree Baby Play

Fun Rhyme With Fact

Pumpkin Bounce

Here’s a little pumpkin bouncing on the vine (bounce baby gently)
Roll it left (sway to one side)
And roll it right (sway to the other side).
And bounce it down the line. (bounce)

Repeat with larger movements
Here’s a medium pumpkin bouncing on the vine….
Here’s a great big pumpkin bouncing on a vine….

Fact:Having your voice and movements reflect the different sizes in the rhyme helps babies begin to understand different concepts.

Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Book Bounding

Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz

This is essentially my closing of storytime. I read the story and the parents/guardians give their babies the designated number of kisses.

Playtime

Observations

This was fun session even if the weather was crappy. The bounce rhymes went really well. However, the real winner was the cardboard tubes. The parents/guardians played with them for a good solid fives minutes and some even started to improvise their games with the scarfs. Don’t expect to get the tubes back, as many babies ended up putting them in their mouths.

Walkers–October 2014

Opening Song

Hello Song
Tune: London Bridge

Hi, hello and how are you?
How are you? How are you?
Hi, hello and how are you?
How are you today?

Action Rhymes

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands
Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Clap, clap, clap your hands.
Clap them now with me.
Clap your hands, let me see.
Clap them now with me.

Additional Verses:
Tap,tap, tap your knees.
Shake, shake, shake your feet.
Touch, touch, touch your shoulders.

Patty-Cake
Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker’s man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it, and pat it, and mark it with a “B,”
And put it in the oven for baby and men!

Doing the Chocolate Shake
Tune: Hokey Pokey

You squat right down (squat)
Up you stand (stand up)
Stamp your feet (stamp feet)
Shake your hands (shake hands)
Wiggle all over (wiggle)
And mix it real well (roll hands)
Doing the Chocolate Shake! (clap hands)
Yum! (reach up high)

Book

Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

Flannel Board

Five little cookies, with frosting galore.
Mother ate the pink one, then there were four.

Four little cookies, two and two, you see,
Father ate the green one, then there were three.

Three little cookies, but before I knew,
Sister ate the blue one, then there were two.

Two little cookies, oh, what fun!
Brother ate the orange orange one, then there was one.

One little cookie, watch me run!
I ate the red one, then there none!

Song

The Muffin Man Dance with Carole Peterson

Activity Cd

Shake Your Sillies Out by The Wiggles

Closing Rhyme

This is big, big, big (hold arms out to the side)
This is small, small, small. (cup hands together)
This is short, short, short. (hold hands with palms facing together)
This is tall, tall, tall. (Reach one hand above head)
This is fast, fast, fast. (circle fists quickly)
This is slow, slow, slow. (circle fists slowly)
This is yes, yes, yes. (nods head)
This is no, no, no. (shake head).

Closing Song

Good-bye Song
Tune: London Bridge

Good-bye, good-bye,
We’ll see you soon,
See you soon, see you soon.
Good-bye, good-bye
We’ll see you soon,
On another day.
How are you today?

Observations

I substituted for my co-worker for her walkers’ program, as she got hitched this past weekend. She gave me a full program of different songs and activities, and I just picked which things I wanted to do.

The flannel board was my favorite part. As I read each line, I acted like I was eating the cookie.

Bubbles

Opening Song

“Let’s All Clap”

Let’s all clap cause _____ is here,
____ is here, _____ is here
Let’s all clap cause _____ is here.
____ is here today!
(insert child’s name)

Traditional Rhyme

“Acka backa”

Acka backa soda cracker, acka back boo!
Aacka backa soda cracker, I love you (Hug Child)
Aacka backa soda cracker, acka back boo!
Aacka backa soda cracker, up goes you!
Aacka backa soda cracker, acka back boo!
Ackka backa soda cracker, I love you! (hug child)

Book

Bubbles, Bubbles by Kathi Appelt

Flannel Board

“Bubbles in My Bath”

One little bubble floating in my bath
One little bubble floating in my bath.
And if one more bubble should come to play like that .
There’ll be two more bubble floating my bath.

Two little bubbles..
Three little bubbles…
Four little bubbles…
Five little bubbles…

And then …the bubbles pop! (clap five times, removing a bubble each time)
No more bubbles!
Source: Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Sensory Time

Parents blew bubbles for their babies.

Fun Rhyme With Fact

“Bubbles”

Bubbles falling all around
Bubbles falling to the ground.
On your head, on your ear,
On your tummy, on your rear.
Bubbles falling on your toes.
Bubbles falling on your nose!

Fact: Singing songs and rhymes about body parts help children to start identifying their own body parts.

Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Book Bounding

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

This is essentially my closing of storytime. I read the story and the parents/guardians give their babies the designated number of kisses.

Playtime

Observations

Unfortunately, I was unable to do this storytime. I came down with bronchitis and my co-worker took over this session for me.

She did mention that the flannel did not work the best in this setting. I thought it was worth a try. However, she is willing to give it a try in the walkers program to see if it gets a better response.

Zoo–Toddler

Opening Song

If You Want to Hear a Story
Tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

I put several different animals into these two boxes. I then pulled each animal out of the box and we talked about what noises they made.

Books

Peek-A-Zoo by Marie Torres Cimarusti
Zoo Animals by Pop and Play

Action Rhymes

Let’s Hear You Roar Like a Lion

Let’s hear you roar like a lion!
Let’s see you jump like a frog.
Let’s see you snap your jaws like a crocodile.
Let’s hear you woof like a dog.
Pretend you’re an elephant with a big, long trunk.
Pretend you’re a monkey; let’s see you jump, jump, jump.
And now you’re a mouse. Just let me see
How very, very quiet you can be.
Source:So Tomorrow

Elephant

An elephant goes like this and that,
He’s terribly big,
And he’s terribly fat,
And he has no toes,
But goodness gracious, what a nose!
Source:Storytime Source Page

The Elephant Hokey Pokey

You put your elephant ears in.
You put your elephant ears out.
You put your elephant ears in,
And you shake them all about.
You do the elephant pokey,
and you stomp yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

…elephant trunk…
…elephant foot…
…whole self…
source:Falling Flannelboards

I Know a Giraffe

I know a giraffe
With a neck that’s so high
She stretches and stretches it
Up to the sky (stretch head high or raise arms above head)
She lives on the plains
With her family, too
But you might see her
When you visit the zoo.(Point to others)
Source: Preschool Education

Flannel Board

Five Elephants in a Bathtub

One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock, (Clap twice)
Splash, Splash, (Slap knees twice)
Come on in! (Motion with both hands to come in.)
Two elephants elephants in the bathtub… etc.
(Until…)
Five elephants elephants in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, Knock,
Splash, Splash,
They all fell in!
Source: Storytime Katie

Take Home Craft

Source: First Palette

Closing Dance Song

See Ya Later Alligator by Laura Doherty

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

I do not believe you can go wrong with a zoo storytime. The kids really enjoyed themselves, and I even had two of them try to break into my preschool storytime! One had to be carried out by his mother because he refused to leave.

This is also a great storytime to introduce younger children to new animals. I had one mom tell me that her daughter wanted books about bears and pandas after we talked a little bit about each one.

The books were very age-appropriate for this session. We all guessed the animals in Peek-a-Zoo and the kids demanded to count the teeth and bugs in Zoo Animals.

The flannel board was very fun. By the second elephant, the parents were helping me sing the tune. They were all surprised when I knocked down the elephants.

My only advice for this storytime is to have water! I got very thirsty and had trouble saying some of the action rhymes by the end.

Zoo–Preschool

Opening Song

If You Want to Hear a Story
Tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

I put several different animals into these two boxes. I then pulled each animal out of the box and we talked about what noises they made.

Books

The Giraffe who Cock-A-Doodle-Doo’d by Keith Faulkner
The Underpants Zoo by Brian Sendelbach

Action Rhymes

Let’s Hear You Roar Like a Lion

Animals at the Zoo
Tune: “The Wheels on the School Bus”

The lions at the zoo go roar, roar, roar.
Roar, roar, roar.
Roar, roar, roar.
The lions at the zoo go roar, roar, roar.
All day long!

The snakes…go hiss, hiss, hiss.
The hyenas…go ha, ha, ha.
The monkeys…go eee, eee, eee.
The birds…go tweet, tweet, tweet.
Source:King County Library System

Zoo Animals
Tune: “If you are happy and you know it”

If you want to be a monkey, jump up high!
If you want to be a monkey, jump up high!
If you want to be a monkey, if you want to be a monkey,
If you want to be a monkey, jump up high!

Parrot – flap your wings
Elephant – wing your trunk
Lion – roar out loud
Giraffe – stand up tall
source:Once Upon a (Story) Time

The Elephant Hokey Pokey

…elephant trunk…
…elephant foot…
…whole self…
source:Falling Flannelboards

The Monkeys in the Zoo

The monkeys in the zoo turn round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round.
The monkeys in the zoo turn round and round,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo all touch their toes,
touch their toes,
touch their toes.
The monkeys in the zoo all touch their toes,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo all rub their tummies,
Rub their tummies,
Rub their tummies.
The monkeys in the zoo all rub their tummies,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo all pat their heads,
Pat their heads,
Pat their heads.
The monkeys in the zoo all pat their heads,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo jump up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down.
The monkeys in the zoo jump up and down,
Just like I do.

The monkeys in the zoo swing through the trees,
Through the trees,
Through the trees.
The monkeys in the zoo swing through the trees,
Just like I do.
source:Storytime Hooligans

Flannel Board

Five Elephants in a Bathtub

Take Home Craft

Source: First Palette

Closing Dance Song

See Ya Later Alligator by Laura Doherty

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

This storytime was so much fun! I kicked off the storytime by putting on my zoo hat and opening each box. The kids and I then discussed each animal I pulled out.

The books get an A+ for this storytime. The Giraffe who Cock-A-Doodle-Doo’d had the kids making the appropriate noises for each animal. I even had a little girl who stood up and turned my page because she wanted to know what was going to happen next. The Underpants Zoo had the kids laughing.

I definitely went heavy on the action rhymes. How could I not? And the kids loved them. We were all sweaty and out of breath by the end. I did change my closing song, but I thought “See you later Alligator” was a better fit for this storytime.

The funniest part happened after storytime. I knew that I would be moving around quite a bit, so I made sure to bring in my water. I kept joking that this elephant was thirsty as I guzzled down water. During a playtime a mother gently tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out a little boy. The little boy (a sibling of a preschooler) was wearing my zoo hat and drinking my water!

Dancing

Opening Song

“Let’s All Clap”

Let’s all clap cause _____ is here,
____ is here, _____ is here
Let’s all clap cause _____ is here.
____ is here today!
(insert child’s name)

Traditional Rhyme

“If You’re Bouncy”

If you’re bouncy and you know it, give a bounce.
If you’re bouncy and you know it, give a bounce.
If your bouncy and you know it, give a bounce, then your bounce will surely show it,
If you’re bouncy and you know it, give a bounce.

If you’re wiggly…
If you’re cuddly…

Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Bounces, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy MacMillan & Christine Kirker

Book

Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont

Sensory Time

Parents/Guardians danced with their baby to the “Baby” from the cd, Jazz Pour Le Bebes.

Fun Rhyme With Fact

“Clapping”

Clapping Little,
Clapping Big,
Clap in a circle, rig-a-jig, jig
Clap with a smile,
Clap with a frown,
Clapping up and down.
Clap all night,
Clap all day,
Clap for my baby,
Hip-hip-hooray!

Fact: Clapping rhymes stimulate the nerves of the palms. This will eventually help develop muscles that will later be used for writing.

Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Book Bounding

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

This is essentially my closing of storytime. I read the story and the parents/guardians give their babies the designated number of kisses.

Playtime

Observations

This was a really fun baby storytime. All the parents/guardians enjoyed the “If you’re bouncy rhyme.” We ended up repeating it several times.

The book was actually a hit with the babies. The babies actually all stopped and listened to me read the story. I think all the adults (myself included) were surprised, since the book is a tad bit longer.

The dancing was so much fun. I mentioned that parents/guardians should stop every few moments to allow their babies to mentally process the movements and keep them stimulated. Constant swaying and movement will actually make their baby tune out to their surroundings.

Wacky Wednesday–Water Fireworks & Color Changing Milk

I did my first ever Wacky Wednesday on September 17, 2014. This is going to be a trial and error program, as my community has several different grade schools that are released at different times. I did do a Facebook post and it reached over 100 people, but I have a feeling that my 4:00pm time might be stopping my crowd. Regardless, I did still have some kids show up.

My theme for this month was experiments. I picked color changing milk and water fireworks as our experiments.

Water Fireworks

I found this experiment in Martha Stewart’s Favorite Crafts For Kids. However, you can find the instructions all over the web. Here is a link to one example.

The kids really liked this craft, and we ended up recreating the experiment several different times. I even had a child ask me if she could take the ingredients home. Grandma told her granddaughter that she could do it at home with her own ingredients, and by golly, they did. The little girl came back on Monday and told me all about it.

Pictures from our original run.

Pictures from the second round.

Color Changing Milk

I’ve been itching to try this experiment and finally got the chance to do it this month. I found my instructions from the Steve Spangler Science website.

This was fun for the kids but not as exciting as the water fireworks. They thought it was cool how the milk responded when the q-tip had dish soap on it. However, they all soon started swirling their milk with their q-tips.

Rainbows–Preschool

Opening Song

If You Want to Hear a Story
Tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

Scarves

Books

Duckies’ Rainbow by Frances Berry
Maisy’s Rainbow Dream by Lucy Cousins

Action Rhymes

Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue
Tune: “Head and Shoulders”

Red, yellow, green, and blue,
Green and blue.
Red, yellow, green, and blue,
Green and blue.
Orange, purple, brown, and black.
Red, yellow, green, and blue,
Green and blue.

Let’s Make a Rainbow!

Let’s wave our scarves high!
Let’s wave our scarves low!
Let’s wave our scarves fast!
Let’s wave our scarves slow!
Now let’s crumple up our scarves.
One, Two, Three! (Throw scarves into the air and watch the rainbow of colors fall to the ground.)
Source:Library Village

Rainbow Dancers

Rainbow dancers let’s get ready
Hold your scarves nice and steady.
You’ll hear the colors of the rainbow.
Listen for your time to go.

Shake red…
Shake orange…
Shake yellow…
Shake green…
Shake blue…
Shake purple…

Red scarves turn around,
Orange scarves up and down.
Yellow scarves reach up high,
Green scarves fly, fly, fly.
Blue scarves tickle your nose,
Purple scarves touch your toes.

Everybody dance around,
Swirl your scarves up and down.

Shake purple…
Shake blue…
Shake green…
Shake yellow…
Shake orange…
Shake red…

Rainbow dancers dance around,
Scarves swirl up and down.
Our colorful dance is at an end.
Thank you, thank you, all my friends.
Source:Storytime Abc’s

Flannel Board

Rainbow Stew

Take an apple, put it in the pot
Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot.
Take it out. What will it be?
The prettiest red you ever did see.

Take an orange…
Take a banana…
Take a pear…
Take some blueberries…
Take some grapes…
Source: Storytime ABC’s

Take Home Craft

Source: Library Village

Scarf Dancing Song

The Color Game by Jim GIll

Closing Dance Song

Silly Dance Contest by Jim Gill

Closing Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

My preschoolers were WAY MORE into this theme than the toddlers. I opened with rainbow stew and the kids even started saying the rhyme with me.

Duckie’s Rainbow was decent with this crowd, but Maisy’s Rainbow Dream was a hit. I would read a page and ask the kids different questions depending on the color. By the end of the book, I had kids practically running to me to point out the answer to my question.

The scarves were awesome. We had fun making our own rainbows with the action rhymes and it was a hoot to see the kids trying to figure out what color Jim was going to ask for next in The Color Game.

Rainbows–Toddler

Opening Song

If You Want to Hear a Story
Tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story,
If you want to hear a story, clap your hands!

Props

Scarves

Books

Duckies’ Rainbow by Frances Berry
Color Dance by Ann Jonas

Action Rhymes

Colors

Blue is the lake, (point to the floor)
Yellow is the sun (point to the sky)
Silver are the stars,
When the day is done (wiggle fingers in the air)
Red is the apple, (make circle with hands)
Green is the tree (raise arms over head like branches)
Brown is a chocolate chip cookie (rub tummy)
for you and me!
Source:Harris County Public Library

Let’s All Twirl
Tune: “The Mulberry Bush”

Let’s all twirl with our scarves today,
Scarves today, scarves today,
Let’s all whirl our scarves today,
All around the room.
Source:Harris County Public Library

Let’s Make a Rainbow!

Flannel Board

Rainbow Stew

Take an apple, put it in the pot
Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot.
Take it out. What will it be?
The prettiest red you ever did see.

Take an orange…
Take a banana…
Take a pear…
Take some blueberries…
Take some grapes…
Source: Storytime ABC’s

Scarf Song

Rainbow of Colors by The Wiggles

Take Home Craft

Source: Library Village

Closing Dance Song

Silly Dance Contest by Jim Gill

Closing Song

“We Wave Goodbye Like This”
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Observations

This theme was a bit harder for my toddlers to get excited about.

I started my storytime with the rainbow stew flannel board. The kids liked telling me what kind of fruit I was about to put in the pot.

As for my stories, they were kind of meh about Duckie’s Rainbow and Color Dance was a complete flop. I quickly ended the story and transitioned to scarves. This is where the storytime took off. We did action rhymes with the scarves and the kids LOVED when we got to throw them up in the air. I also added an extra dance song about rainbows so that the kids could keep dancing with the scarves.