Four and Roars – Preschool

Opening Song	Welcome by Carole Peterson
Calendar	The kids helped identify the Date, Day, Month, Season, and Weather
Introduction Concept	Which Big Cats Roar? I showed the kids pictures of the big cats that roar. I then played a sound clip from youtube with each big cat’s roar. Lion, Tiger, Jaguar, Leopard Cheetahs are example of a big cat that does not roar. I used the video “All Big Cat Sounds” by Meow Meow TV.
ASL	Four Lion
Rhyming Match with National Holidays	Rhyming Activity: I showed an image of the number four. Then I showed the kids four more pictures and had them identify each one. Then the kids had to identify which two pictures rhymed with four. The other two pictures corresponded with a national holiday. Door Floor Unicorn Submarine
Book	Roar, Roar, Growl, Growl: Sounds From the Jungle by Jennifer Shand
Finger Rhyme	Where Is Big Cat (Tune: Where is Thumbkin) Before starting I introduced the kids to Big Cat (my thumbs) and Little Cat (my pinkies). The cats give a little meow and the kids show me their Big Cat and Little Cat. Where is big cat, where is big cat (hide thumbs) Here I am, here I am (bring thumbs out) How are you today cat (wiggle one thumb) Very well I thank you (wiggle other thumb) Roar, Roar, Roar (put thumbs behind back) Roar, Roar, Roar Where is little cat…meow, meow, meow. Source: Adapted from Adventures of a Bookworm
Book	Roar: A Book of Animal Sounds by Katerina Kerouli
Rhyme	A Lion is Big A Lion is big (arms wide open) And very strong. (show muscles) It has a tail (show tail) That’s very long (shake tail). A Lion can roar In a great big way.(roar) I feel like a lion today! (roar again!) Source: Adapted from Totally for Twos by The Mailbox.
Math Activity	Big Cats Missing Addend Have the kids figure out how many big cats they need to equal the number of cats on the strip. Source: Robin Reifel
Habitat Activity	Where do Big Cats Live? We talked about each big cat and then the kids had to match the big cat to where they live. Source: Salaam Mummy
Dance Song	Lion Lessons by Pinkfong
Cool Down	We melt all the way down to floor until we are laying down. We sing the Alphabet and count up to 5 and Down from 5.
Goodbye Song	Skidamarink by Old Town School of Folk Songs

Storytime Craft: The number 4 representing the 4 big cats that roar. The spotted 4 represents the jaguar and leopard.

Four and Roars – Toddler

Opening Song	Hello Hello! by Super Simple Songs
Calendar	Kids helped identify the month, weather and season.
Introduction to Concept	Identify the Big Cat pictures that roar. Leopards Jaguars Lions Tigers Cheetahs (purr)
ASL	Number 4
Book	I Can Roar by Frank Asch
Weekly Rhyme	This is Big, Big, Big This is big, big, big. This is small, small, small. This is tall, tall, tall. This is short, short, short. This is fast, fast, fast. This is slow, slow, slow. This is yes, yes, yes. This is no, no. no. Sing two times. Second time add in ASL for yes and no. Source: Mel’s Desk
Weekly Rhyme	Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands Clap, clap, clap your hands Clap your hands with me Clap your hands, let me see Clap your hands with me Beep, beep, beep your nose Touch, touch, touch your shoulders Tap, tap, tap your knees Shake, shake, shake your feet Source: Found this on another librarian’s site years ago.
Guessing Activity	Does it Roar? I mixed the big cat pictures in with other animals that do not roar. I would pull out each animal and ask the kids if it roars. If the animal does not roar then kids made the sound appropriate for that animal.
Rhyme	Spots, Spots Spots, spots, spots, spots, (tap spots around your body) spots, spots, spots, spots (tap spots) A leopard has lots of spots (tap spots) What a lot of spots he got A tiger’s stripes are always nice (make stripes down your body) But a leopard has lots of spots (resume tapping spots on body) Spots, spots, spots, spots, Spots, spots, spots, spots Source: Jbrary
Nursery Dance song	Soft Kitty Soft kitty, Warm kitty, Little ball of fur! Happy kitty, Sleepy kitty, Purr, purr, purr! Make a “kitty” with your fist and put it against your chest. Pet the kitty while you sing the song.
Dance Song	The Lion by Pinkfong
Cool Down	Melt all the way down to floor until you are laying down. Sin the Alphabet and count up and down from 5.
Goodbye Song	Skidamarink (Ipod)

Storytime Craft:

I wanted to work on the recognizing the letter 4 but incorporating elements of the roaring big cats. Each number 4 represents a roaring big cat. The spotted 4 is technically representing two big cats (leopard and jaguar) because they have similar spots.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!