PJ Storytime: Winter Theme

PJ Storytime is an event I host annually at the library. Children wear their pajamas and bring stuffed animals, pillows and blankets to listen to stories, sing songs and play.

Half the room before I began

This year, I planned a winter themed extravaganza.

Robert Sabuda is an amazing pop-up book master. The Christmas Alphabet is a beautiful rendering all in white. It is an excellent choice for a large group because it becomes interactive with the children trying to guess what's behind each letter.

Lift-the-flap books also work well as a participatory book experience. What could be baking in the oven or wrapped under the tree? Maisy is a recognizable character for library patrons.

I opted for a simple flannel activity with movement this year. Add a couple of fingerplays, the "Winter Pokey" and some singing with rhythm instruments and you have a complete storytime. Then, it's time for crafts and games!

The penguin toss game is a favorite with all ages. The toddlers love to go right up to the penguin and feed him.

Ice fishing with laminated fish covered in paperclips and fishing poles with strong magnets attached to the end. The packing peanuts are the ice.

Let it snow with a parachute and white cotton balls and loofahs.

I found some nutcracker soldier ornaments at Hobby Lobby. The black outlines and details are made from a fuzzy, velvety texture. You just color them with markers.

The paper plate snowman lacing, which I found on Pinterest, proved too difficult for most of the crowd. The Christmas magnets I found at the Dollar Tree last minute were just right, though.

I also invited the big man for a visit. I have him come during the last half hour of the evening when the games are still going strong. Then, if children are frightened or too old to visit with Santa, they have a pleasant alternative. Another fantastic PJ Storytime!

Sharing with TGIF and For the Kid's Friday.

Leaves Storytime

Opening

Fall Leaves Fall! is a great introduction to the facts of changing leaves. The story follows two brothers playing with their dog in the falling leaves.

"One Little Leaf" from alplchildrens.wordpress.com
One little leaf, (count on fingers)
Two little leaves,
Three little leaves today.
Four little leaves,
Five little leaves,
Blow them all away! (blow fingers and flutter them)

"Little Mouse and the Big Leaf" flannel story by Miss Courtney

"Leaves are Falling" sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques" from A Box Full of Tales by Kathy MacMillan.
Leaves are falling, leaves are falling,
On the ground, on the ground.
Rake them in a pile, rake them in a pile,
Jump right in! Jump right in!

I love books to be sung. They make the book inviting and encourage children and parents to sing along. The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley can be sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus." It is a nice book to grab attention toward the end of a program.

Matching Activity: Flannel Leaves

Musical Instruments Activity: Egg Shakers
"Shake Together" from Mother Goose on the Loose by Betsy Diamant-Cohen.
We shake our shakers together,
Shake our shakers together,
Shake our shakers together, because it's fun to do.

"Leaves are Falling" sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells" adapted by Miss Courtney.
Leaves are falling, leaves are falling,
One fell on my nose.
Leaves are falling, leaves are falling,

Some fell on my toes.
Leaves are falling, leaves are falling,
One fell on my head.
Leaves are falling, leaves are falling,
Yellow, orange and red.

Parade Song: "Take a Hike" from Celebrate Seasons by Sara Jordan.

Lull-a-bye: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Closing Routine

Craft: Fingerpaint leaves. Children cut out tree trunks from brown construction paper. Use yellow, red, orange and green fingerpaints to decorate tree. Add stickers for flair.

Leaf lacing. Cut out a leaf shape of green construction paper and paste to cardboard piece. Punch large holes around the edge. Give each child a long piece of yarn to lace through the holes.

Fall Storytime

I'm finally sharing my 2- and 3-year-old storytimes! As the storytime sessions have ended until next year, I have a few weeks to catch up with posting. I present to you Fall...

Storytime Opening

People in Fall by Martha Rustad has simple text accompanied by photographs of children. It includes activities people do in the Fall because of the changing weather. It is an excellent series to use with toddlers as it shows items and actions they may be familiar with while also describing new things and vocabulary.

"The Floppy Scarecrow" action rhyme from preschooleducation.com.

The floppy, floppy scarecrow

Guards his fields all day.

He waves his floppy, floppy hands

To scare the crows away!

Additional verses: arms, toes, head, legs

Image from Storytime Secrets

"Five Brown Acorns" sung to the tune of "10 Green Bottles" from A Box Full of Tales by Kathy MacMillan.

Five brown acorns hanging on the tree,

Five brown acorns hanging on the tree,

And if one brown acorn should fall down to me,

There'll be four brown acorns hanging on the tree.

Repeat: 4, 3, 2, 1

"The Pumpkin Song" from A Box Full of Tales by Kathy MacMillan.

I had a little pumpkin,

I put it down just so, (squat)

And then I waved my magic wand

And it began to grow...and grow... (raise up)

And grow... and grow... and grow! (stretch arms overhead)

Additional verses: giant pumpkin and as quick as you can blink/shrink

Tiny pumpkin and put it down just so/grow/stop

Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson follows Mouse through all of his first Fall activities. The Mouse series is another great option for toddlers. The illustrations are colorful and the text large. Mouse is an recognizable character with whom they can relate.

Squirrel and Nut matching game. I put up different color squirrels on the flannel board and hand out several color of nuts to each child. When I put up the color that matches the one they have, they can bring it up to the board and receive applause.

Musical Instruments/Scarves Activity: Scarves

"Wave Together" from Mother Goose on the Loose by Betsy Diamant-Cohen.

We wave our scarves together,

Wave our scarves together,

Wave our scarves together because it's fun to do.

"Owl in a Tree" sung to the tune of "Skip to My Lou" and I've lost the source for this one as I've used it for so many years. 

Owl in a tree says hoo, hoo, hoo.

Owl in a tree says hoo, hoo, hoo.

Owl in a tree says hoo, hoo, hoo.

Owl in a tree says peek-a-boo. (hold scarf in front of face)

"I'm a Little Scarecrow" sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" by Miss Courtney.

I'm a little scarecrow stuffed with hay.

Here I stand in the field all day.

When I see the crows, I like to say,

"All you crows, go away!"

Parade Song: "I Love the Mountains" from Music Time for All Four Seasons by Robin Dupuis. 

"Away, Away" from Mother Goose on the Loose

Away, away, put our scarves away today.

Repeat until all scarves are collected.

Lull-a-bye: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

Closing Routine

Cinnamon-scented Acorn Craft. 

Pre-cut acorn shapes from brown construction paper. Mix brown tempera paint with cinnamon until it smells strongly. The acorns smell of cinnamon even after weeks of being dry! Mmmm, smells like Fall.

Five Lollipops

Five Lollipops

Sung to the tune of "Five Little Ducks"

Five lollipops for me to lick,

I choose red and lick, lick, lick!

I lick slow,

And I lick quick,

Soon all that's left is just a stick. ICK!

Repeat with other colors

I instruct the children to hold up five fingers and sing along with me for this song.

When the lollipop is gone, I hide it inside my box and hold up a craft stick. If I have a fresh stick, I actually lick it and say, ICK! It always draws a big laugh.

I believe I saw this performed with real lollipops at a conference presentation by Susan Dailey.

Sharing with the Kids Co-Op.

Storytime: Endings for 2- & 3-year-olds

I just posted about the opening routine for 2s and 3s. I also use the same closing routine each week.

1. Name Tag Removal

After singing a lull-a-bye, I ask the children to bring up their name tags and I exchange them with a handout. I used to have tags that accompanied the theme and would make new ones every five weeks. Lately, I've laminated happy faces and use a Sharpie so I can erase them and re-use them each session.

2. Fingertaster

Miss Fiona

What is a fingertaster? According to to Nichols, a fingertaster is a puppet who is very shy and has no teeth. She loves to lick fingers. The first time I introduce Miss Fiona, I let her peek out and hide until the children are very quiet. I tell them she's shy, "Do you know what that means? Do you feel shy sometimes?" Then, I ask a parent to have their finger tasted. The tastes can have something to do with the theme or just be silly. After everyone has a turn, it's time for Fiona to go back in her house and take a nap. Before she leaves, she gives each child a kiss on the hand.

Good-Bye Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Storytime: Openings for 2- & 3-year-olds

Last year, I shared my opening songs for all my storytimes. I'd like to start sharing my entire storytime for 2s and 3s each week. It makes more sense to talk about the opening separately as it stays the same.

I fell into my job as a children's librarian, so I didn't have much training in that aspect of librarianship. In all honesty, I was pretty clueless when it came to storytime. I had never attended one and didn't have any children at the time. As I worked at a small branch library, I didn't have the fortune of learning from veterans, either. My professional shelf of manuals was a life-saver, though I didn't know it at the time.

After I read one manual, several years into my career, I devoured them all and even asked for the library to order more. Storytimes for two-year-olds by Judy Nichols changed the way I planned storytime.

Opening

1. Come with me! entering the story space and getting settled

I use a train whistle to alert parents and children it is time to enter the storytime room.

This doesn't look like the one I use, I just love ladybugs!

I hold the door open and welcome everyone, by name to practice for our song, and ask them to have a seat on the big puzzle we use as mat. After everyone is in, I make my way to the front and shake my tambourine while singing "Hello, Everybody".

2. Look at me! refocusing toddler's attention on you

After singing, I introduce myself and say we are going to have fun, tell stories, sing songs and play games. "But the first thing we do, so you can be super good listeners today is pass out the listening dust." I use a homemade wand with ribbons to sprinkle it in their hands. The ribbon tickles.

3. Do with me! a participation activity done with you

"The More We Get Together" is a classic song I didn't use for the longest time because I thought it was a cliche. That's just silly! It's so popular because it's a fantastic song that screams childhood. The children pat their legs with me for the first verse, then we sing all their names and finally do a super fast verse that ends in giggles. I didn't realize it at the time, but the other libraries in town use a version of the song, too. One branch uses a Caribbean version and the other a hip-hop one.

4. Watch me do! directing children's attention elsewhere yet still under your control

I use a simple flannel board activity to introduce the theme for the day. So for community helpers, I'd put up a letter flannel and ask them what it is. Then, I'd put up the mailman piece and ask what a person is called who delivers the mail. Then, I'd put up the word.

And that routine is the one I use each week. Please read Judy Nichols' book for more ideas and explanations of each  one as well as thematic books and ideas. 

Read & Learn Fireflies

Glow in the Dark Firefly prop

"Firefly Fly" sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice" by Miss Meredith.

Fly, fly, fly,

Fireflies fly.

Fly over here.

Fly over there.

They fly up high, and they fly down low.

Around and around and around they go.

They fly fast, and they fly slow.

Fireflies fly.

The theme of the week was fireflies and crickets, but I love fireflies too much to split the attention. I read Ten Flashing Fireflies by Philemon Sturges and The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle. We sang "Firefly Fly" with the light on a couple of times flying around the firefly props.

Glow in the Dark Firefly prop

Then, I slowly turned out the lights, so the children could see each firefly magically light up.


 "Little Firefly" sung to the tune of "This Little Light of Mine" adapted by Miss Courtney.

See a little firefly,

Flying in the midnight sky.

See a little firefly

Flying in the midnight sky.

See a little firefly

Flying in the midnight sky.

With a light, oh so bright, oh so bright.

For the craft, we made the band-aid firefly. We used stickers for the glow part.

Read & Learn Outer Space

Memory Box- Moon Sand

For our first week of storytime, we went into outer space. I've added a  new element to our storytime to replace our matching game. I always have more children coming in the summer and different people each week, which makes it difficult to do the same routine I do during the school year. I made moon sand for our Memory Box, original idea from Abby the Librarian. I hid a star under the sand and had the children guess.

We read some outer space books like Goodnight Moon 1, 2, 3 by Margaret Wise Brown and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. I found out my summer group loves counting by the enthusiast shouts for rhymes and the counting book.

"Ten Little Spaceships"

by Robin Currie

from 1, 000 Fingerplays & Action Rhymes

One little, two little, three little spaceships,

Four little, five little, six little spaceships,

Seven little, eight little, nine little spaceships,

Ten little spaceships go.

Countdown? Ready?

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0

BLAST OFF!

We pretended to be comets, then spaceships with rainbow streamers. Their favorite rhyme of the week was  the one I shared, "Ten Little Spaceships".

Last, we made name rockets with squares and triangles. We embellished with glow-in-the-dark glitter glue and star stampers.

TFT: Participation in Baby Storytimes

Question: How many children attend storytime? What is the ideal number for letting children come to the flannel board? --Miss Tara of Storytime with Miss Tara and Friends

Miss Tara posed these questions in relation to my baby storytimes. I'm sharing a few pictures of past storytimes, but I don't have any photos of BABY storytimes. It is just too hard to snap pictures as I'm leading. I use the curriculum Mother Goose on the Loose by Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen.

I first heard of MGOL at a presentation at ILF about six years ago when I was first learning to be a children's librarian. It was the first professional meeting I attended! Wow, what a way to begin. MGOL is more than storytime. It combines music, movement and art with traditional storytime elements like picture books, flannel boards and knee bounces.

Babies and toddlers under 2 along with caregivers (1 lap, 1 child) are the intended participants. However, I've had older siblings attend (with a lovey for their lap) who also enjoyed the program. As I don't require registration for MGOL, I have anywhere from five to 20 babies and toddlers (plus 5-20 adults).

Sorry for fuzzy picture, fluorescent lighting...

At the beginning of each MGOL meeting, I lay out the rules. "I don't expect your little ones to sit perfectly still or be perfectly quiet. They can roam around the room and babble. They are paying more attention than you think. The only rule I have is, if your little one comes to the flannel board and tries to pull things off or get materials out of my cubby or box, please pick them up and put them back on your lap."

Voila! The expectations are presented and the parents take care of behavior. Phew. Humpty Dumpty is the last rhyme I present before the closing song. I say, "Now it's your turn to come to the board. You get to pull Humpty off the board, then we'll clap for you. Everyone gets ONE turn." Again, parents are in charge of enforcing the one turn.

Even when I have 20 babies and toddlers, not EVERYONE is going to want a turn. Some children are shy, especially if it's their first visit to the library. Sometimes, it takes 5-6 visits to participate, which is fine. I never make a child take a turn. I know they will do it when they are ready.

If you have even bigger numbers for your youngest audience, I would use the candlestick participation activity. Each baby still gets one turn, but the line will move faster. You place a candlestick in the middle of the room and ask each child to jump over it. Say the rhyme:

Jack be nimble

Jack be quick

Jack jump over the candlestick.

This post is part of my Thanks for Your Thoughts series. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment. You may get featured on Thursday!

Flannel Friday: 5 Little Froggies

"Five Little Froggies" sung to the tune of "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree" traditional song adapted by Miss Courtney.

Five little froggies sitting in a tree,

Teasing Baby Alligator, “Can’t catch me!”

Along comes Baby Alligator quiet as can be,

And, “BOO,” scares that froggie right out of the tree.

Repeat: 4,3,2,1, and there were no more frogs to tease that sweet alligator

I used some non-fiction frog books we have in our collection as inspiration for these red-eyed tree frogs. I used fabric markers for the little details. 

Animal print flannel rocks! I really want to add a diaper to this little guy, since I call him "baby alligator." He doesn't have any teeth, so I guess that works.

While I'm singing and using the flannel pieces for this story, I encourage the children to act out the story as well. We hold up fingers on one hand and use the other hand to make an alligator mouth. We cover our eyes and say, BOO!


To view the rest of this week's round-up, visit Rain Makes Applesauce. The focus of the week was the Summer Reading Club theme, Dream Big READ. Fun fact-- Alligators are nocturnal!

Flannel Friday: Colorful Caterpillar

The colorful caterpillar is made primarily of foam with hook strips on the back. The head is laminated. I inherited a wealth of flannel board materials upon embarking on my adventure as a children's librarian. Many of them have the words, but some of them do not. Since I love stories and caterpillars, I created a tale to go with this guy...

The Colorful Caterpillar by Miss Courtney

One day a caterpillar was resting in his tree. He was looking at all the beautiful flowers in the garden. He wished he had beautiful colors, too. But he was only green. He ate green leaves every day.

"How can I be many colors like the flowers?" he thought.

He had an idea. Maybe if he ate something other than green leaves, he would become different colors too.

So he crawled and creeped until he came to an orange tree. He ate a whole orange, and the next day part of his body had turned orange.

"This is great! What other foods can I eat?" he asked.

He found blueberries and turned blue. Then, he found a grapes and turned purple. Last, he found fresh strawberries and turned red.

The caterpillar was so happy. He kept eating and eating, until he was very long and very colorful. Then, he was finally as beautiful as all the flowers in the garden.

The End.

Check out the rest of this week's flannels at Notes from the Story Room.

One World, Many Stories: Africa

It happened, again! The Summer Reading Club is a force of its own. One that demands all of my attention and focus. Now, I'm going to play catch up and finish posting the activities we did this summer.

There are spiders in Africa?!

One of the most famous characters from African folklore is Anansi the spider. Even though I was pretty sure I would have some frightened children on my hands, I still told stories about this trickster.

2s & 3s

Although many children start developing a fear of bugs, especially spiders, at this age, they will always sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." After I read Anansi and the Magic Stick by Eric Kimmel, we sang this classic tune. Next, I told the story of The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle with beautiful watercolor laminated figures made by Jo Kay. The children chanted with me, "She was too busy making her web." After sitting for so long, the little ones were ready with some wiggles and giggles. I taught them Criss-Cross Applesauce and partnered them with their caregiver.

Criss-Cross Applesauce

Criss-cross applesauce (parent traces an X on child's back)
Spiders crawling up your back (parent climbs fingers up and down child's back)
Cool breeze (parent blows on child's neck)
Tight squeeze (parent gives child a hug)
Now you've got the shivers! (parent tickles child)

Once all the wiggles and giggles were out, we read The Not So Itsy-Bitsy Spider by Dawn Bentley. I loved this book, but the children were anxious for the next activity. I can't tell if they are always looking forward to the musical instrument/scarf time, or I'm making poor choices in books.

We matched flannel spiders in different colors for the matching game. I used the Ellison die-cut to make 5 different colors of spiders for the children to put on the board. Some of them were even scared to touch the flannel spiders, which I hadn't anticipated. Instead of musical instruments this week, we used the color scarves. I'm always surprised by how much the children enjoy playing with these. We sang our "Wave Our Scarves" together song, which is adapted each week for the activity. Then, we sang "The Spider in the Web" adapted by Miss Angela.

The Spider in the Web
(tune of Farmer in the Dell)

The spider in the web,
The spider in the web,
Spin, spin, oh watch it spin,
The spider in the web.

The spider gets a fly,
The spider gets a fly,
Spin, spin, oh watch it spin,
The spider gets a fly.

The spider gets a _____ (insect name)
The spider gets a ______,
Spin, spin, oh watch it spin,
The spider gets a ____.

Continue naming other insects.

We spun our scarves in circles, then used them to catch the insects flying around (imaginary of course). Last, we listened to Raffi's "Spider on the Foor" and put the scarves on our body parts as he named them. The craft was my favorite part, which doesn't happen very often. We used school glue to draw a spider web on black construction paper. Then, we twisted 4 black pipe cleaners together to form a spider and stuck him on the web. It was very simple and fun with little mess.

Anansi the Spider Story Box Prepared by Angela Garrett, Main Library

4 to 8-year-old Story Time

We learned the word a-HAL-an. This is how they say "hello" in Egypt. I told another frog story. After we were all done for the summer, I was kicking myself for not finding frog stories from all over the world. I really do LOVE frogs!

I told the draw and tell story "Who Saved the Animals" from World Folktales by Jerry Mallett. It was a riddle, but the picture became the animal who was the answer. The older children enjoyed this method of telling. The other story I told was my version of The Leopard's Drum. I made headbands out of leftover bulletin board border by laminating them and sticking Velcro on the ends. Then, I had laminated clipart animals to tape on for the characters. The best part of the story was when I had the "leopard" climb into the "drum." I need a full-time photographer for my programs. Something funny always happens!

For our game, we played "Mummy Wrap" by getting into pairs and wrapping one child with a roll of toilet paper. The first team with one child completely wrapped was the winner. They had a great time with this activity, especially un-wrapping the mummy. The craft was also lots of fun. I found some jungle animal foam stampers. We used paintbrushes to paint the stamper, then stamped paper.



You can't seperate best friends. Alexis and Grace, both age 4, demanded to be wrapped together.

One World Many Stories

We started off the Summer Reading Club with a Bon Voyage Party on Monday, June 6. I don't know if we have official numbers yet, but we were busy the entire 2 hours and had to run people off with sticks at the end.

We had a scavenger hunt where children had to find animals, who were staff wearing animal stickers on their shirts. We had crafts where the children made Eyes of God, Cherry Blossom Trees, and Carnival Masks. The games included a Chopstick Relay Race, Cup Stacking/Card Stacking, Feed the Penguin Toss and Pin the Nose on the Sphinx. Add hot dogs, nachos and slushies to the mix and you have quite a party!

The first week is coming to a close today. We'll add our Thursday Programs next week with performers from the cultures we are studying this summer.

Storytimes and Fun

I started the summer storytimes this week with babies & toddlers, 2s & 3s and 4 to 8-year-olds. The babies & toddlers program was easy to integrate our theme for SRC. I use the Mother Goose on the Loose set-up by Betsy Diamant-Cohen. The legend of Mother Goose started in France in the 1700s, so most of the rhymes and songs I do each week will fall under the category of "Europe." I also found some wonderful multi-cultural versions of Mother Goose in our collection.







For the 2s & 3s we chose a variety of themes: Transportation, Anansi Spider, Families Around the World, Folk Tales, Lullabies, Oceans, Penguins and Music. This past week, we talked about Transportation. I used my normal bag of tricks, but added a couple of extra things. I've added some foreign language to our opening song by teaching different ways to say Hello. The first week we learned "Bonjour" for Europe. We made a sailboat out of shapes.

I went to a Storytelling workshop a couple of weeks ago because I want to incorporate more oral storytelling in my programs. So, for the 4 to 8-year-olds this year, I am telling stories rather than reading from books. The first week, I told the story of The Frog Prince from Germany and The Giant Turnip from Russia. I had volunteers for the turnip story, which would have worked better with older children. All the volunteers were the younger children of the group, and they didn't want to touch each other for the "pulling" part. I had expected the older children to volunteer and the younger ones to watch. It was pretty funny anyway with the little ones adding their own pizazz.

For the craft we made our own frog with a flicking tongue. We painted two paper plates, one red and the other one green. Glued those together, so the colors were facing out. We cut frog legs out of green paper and stuck those in between the two plates and folded the plate in half. We made eyes by glueing cotton balls to the top and cut out small black circles for the pupils. To make the tongue, cut a small slit in the middle of the fold and push a party blower through the hole. Blow to make the tongue go in and out!



Next week we go to AFRICA!