Afternoon Storytime: New(ish) books

Thursday afternoon storytime is one that I'm a little more loose about planning.  I kind of like that flying by the seat of your pants kind of ease that not planning until an hour before gives me.  I am so lucky to have the ability to do it both ways - super planned storytime and not planned at all.

Today, instead of having a theme, I just grabbed books that I knew I liked to read.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Birthday.  Before I knew what was happening, the Branch Manager had told everyone waiting for storytime and as soon as I stepped in the storytime room - they sang "Happy Birthday" to me.  Honestly...there aren't many better feelings than being sung "Happy Birthday" by your storytime group.  I'd highly recommend it.

Hello!
We sang our hello song first.  I always use the same hello song, it's my own version of the Dragon Tales Hello Song found here.

We read:

Tap Tap Boom Boom  by Elizabeth Bluemle
     While this story takes place in a large city with a subway, it's still a good story to read even if you're in a small city with no public transportation because the themes are universal.  Running to get out of the rain - strangers make friends because they're all stuck in the same place.  A woman sees that a young boy is going up into the rain without an umbrella and she gives him hers.  There are so many great things to discuss when you read this book.  Considering we just had about 2 straight days of rain - and here in Colorado that makes us a little gloomy - I thought it would be fun to read this book and celebrate that the rain had finally stopped - just like in the book.  It went over well.


Peep and Ducky by David Martin
     I read this book in storytime because in the middle, Peep and Ducky need to go potty - and they go in side-by-side pottys.   Yeah, I do it for the laugh.  I do like the friendship in this book.  And as a storytime group we get to talk about friendship and playing in the park together.


The Things I Can Do by Jeff Mack
      Since this was the first time I've done this book, I didn't really see it's potential until after I did it.  This would be great do do in a craft storytime - making our own collage books about things we can do.  In this storytime we enjoyed reading the book and talking about all the things he could do - and all the things it looked like he needed more practice doing.

Song time!

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
  I find this provides great movement for the kids.  This time, we did it once, then did backwards, then faster backwards and then super fast backwards.  For super fast we get our bodies ready by shaking all our different parts, like this:
         Let's get our hands ready!
         Let's get our heads ready!
         Let's get our shoulders ready!
         Let's get our knees ready!
         Let's get our toes ready!
         Let's get our ... EVERYTHING ready!  (hilarity ensues for a moment.)
Once I figured out how to do the Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose part backwards, I've kept the backwards variation in for variety.

Back to reading:


Cat Napped! by Leeza Hernandez
     This book had unintended consequences.  At the end, one of the children was really upset, thinking that the cat never got back to his person.  We had to talk about how his person did find him and take him home.  And then there was concern because the cat had really hurt his leg - and we talked about why it isn't a good idea to jump out of a moving car.  All in all - while I did enjoy reading this book to myself, I think I won't be doing it in storytime again.  It was a bit traumatic for everyone involved.  (Do read the book, it is cute)


Matilda's Cat by Emily Gravett
       I think that the parents might have enjoyed this book even more than the children.  Matilda's cat really doesn't like to do anything that Matilda likes to do.  The children appreciated that in the end, even though the cat didn't seem to like anything at all, the cat really liked Matilda.  One boy was so excited that the cat liked Matilda that he jumped up and said, "The cat likes Matilda!"  He also said it a little later in storytime after we sang the "Lady With the Alligator Purse."

Song - "The Lady With the Alligator Purse"

It's been a while since I've done this song.  Partly because my storytime props were in such disarray that if I couldn't see it or didn't have it on my mind, I wasn't using it.  I made these props over a year ago by using the printable Lady With the Alligator Purse on the Arkansas Department of Human Services website; printable here.  It's large and barely fits on my lap-sized magnet board - but it does, so I use it.  To make it, I printed out the characters, colored them in with colored pencils, cut them out and put them together and then laminated them.  I used our small laminator that does 8 1/2 by 11 paper by overlapping laminating pouches on the bigger pieces.  You could also laminate all the pieces after you color them but before you put them together.

Because the pieces are so big and the magnet board is so small, the song becomes a bit of a production and the children laugh and point at things that fall off the board, and really ends up being a lot of fun.  So much fun, in fact, that they asked me to do it again.  Which I did.

One More Book


Shhh! by Valerie Gorbachev
     Lately, I've been trying to keep books that have "shhh" in them in my back pocket.  Parents and caregivers have been getting a little loud, and rather than embarrassing everyone, I've found that pulling out a book that says "shhh" is quite effective.  I've tried stopping storytime, I've tried saying something, I've tried starting storytime by asking them to be quiet.  Those make me feel icky.  This way works well for me.
     I didn't need to use it in that way today.  I just wanted to do one more book.  And this one is so cute, and a nice way to end storytime on a quiet note.

Goodbye!
I don't remember where I found my closing song. 

To the tune of "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain"
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends (goodbye!)
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends (goodbye!)
Now it's time to say goodbye
Wave a hand and wink an eye
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends (goodbye!)

I didn't have any handouts today.

However, a few of the mothers asked me about the sensory bottles I've recently placed in the Children's Area.  They wanted to know how I made them, and I happily told them all about the calm down jar, the oil and water jars, the hide and seek jar and the feather jar.  All but the feather jar, I got from Pinterest.  The feather jar, I just made that one up because I felt like I needed more jars and all I had were used water bottles and feathers.  I'm planning on making smaller ones with things from specific colors soon.

Storytime: Dogs

Hello!
We sang our hello song first.  I always use the same hello song, it's my own version of the Dragon Tales Hello Song found here.

We read: 

Dogs by Emily Gravett
    I love Emily Gravett.  Any chance I can get, I read her books in storytime.  This was absolutely perfect for Dog storytime.  I love that it has opposites in it, and the kids love all the funny pictures of dogs.  I always point out at the end who the narrator was who loves dogs.


I Want a Pet!  by Cathy Morrison
   What a cute book.  As we read it, I asked the children what each animal was, and if they thought it would make a good pet.  Considering the child in the book goes to the zoo to pick out a pet, there really aren't any appropriate animals.  Sadly, Meerkat Manor is no longer popular, so the kids don't immediately know what the meerkats are anymore.


Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
       Right now, I'm doing my regular storytime twice a week, once on Tuesdays and once on Wednesdays in another location.  I was hesitant to do this book the second time because of one little girl on Tuesday.  She found the book to be boring.  She also seemed rather annoyed that we were talking about colors and counting.  Her attitude toward the book soured all the other kids on Tuesday morning.  Happily, I went ahead with it anyway and it was the hit on Wednesday.  That just reminded me that each audience is going to be different.

Song time!

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
  I find this provides great movement for the kids.  This time, we did it once, then did it faster and then did super fast.  They love that - especially for super fast we get our bodies ready by shaking all our different parts, like this:
         Let's get our hands ready!
         Let's get our heads ready!
         Let's get our shoulders ready!
         Let's get our knees ready!
         Let's get our toes ready!
         Let's get our ... EVERYTHING ready!  (hilarity ensues for a moment.)

How Much Is That Doggy In the Window?
  On Tuesday morning, the most perfect thing happened right when I was ready to do a song with the group...a woman tied her dog up to the tree outside the story room windows!  So, we sang "How Much Is That Doggy In the Window?" to the dog.  I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect storytime moment.
B-I-N-G-O
Then, well, this was all about dogs, so we sang B-I-N-G-O.
      I've been noticing lately that more and more children are just sitting watching instead of participating.  While I do tend to make a spectacle of myself, I also hope that the children will jump on in and sing and dance with me.

More reading!



Boot & Shoe by Marla Frazee
    This is really the main reason I wanted to do a dog storytime.  I <3 this book.  The first time I read it, I didn't realize that Boot and Shoe were dogs until late in the book, and the kids also mistake them for cats.  We usually spend a few moments talking about how dogs don't all look the same - just like people.  And then we get into the wonderfulness of this book.


Shoe Dog  by Megan McDonald
     If you don't read this book as if you are an audiobook narrator, it doesn't quite work.  I've tried it many different ways - the best is over the top acting.  And then - well, the kids go crazy.

Flannel Board

I made my own puppies in about 20 minutes.  I didn't put as much effort into it as normal because I didn't have much time, so I just have the puppies.  The black one gets lost on my flannel board...but the kids don't mind.

The rhyme for the flannel is:

Five little puppy dogs, in a kennel door,
One didn't like the crowd, then there were four.
Four little puppy dogs running around the tree.
Mother calls one puppy home, Then there were three.
Three little puppy dogs playing with a shoe,
Foxy ran to chase a cat, then there were two.
Two little puppy dogs, having so much fun,
Rover went to find a bone.
Then there was one.
One little puppy dog sitting in the sun.
He went to the kennel, then there were none!
    from Canton Public Library


One more book!


One Pup's Up by Marsha Wilson Chall
    A fun book to read - it's a counting book that goes to ten and then back to none.  I worry that I do tell the kids what "piddle" is, as one of the lines is "8 pups piddle in a puddle."  I'm always surprised at how many of them don't know what it is.  I really hope the parents don't mind....

Goodbye

Storytime must end.  And this was no exception.  We sang our Goodbye Song.  Most of the kids said thank you! Two polite audiences.

Dog storytime was a hit.

Craft Story Club: Fish Suncatchers with CDs

This week in Craft Story Club, we made fish suncatchers with old cds.  Luckily for us, the librarian in charge of the adult collection recently weeded in the Audiobook section - which gave Craft Story Club a boon of no  longer usable cds.

I found a great tutorial on the Oklahoma Health Care Authority's website.  They call it CD Fish activity page and you can download it here.

To start Craft Story Club, we always read books about what we're going to build.  Today, we read:


The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist
    This book is always a hit.  The kids love the different take on the three little pigs and I did ask them if this story was reminding them of anything - a few of them called out, "The Three Little Pigs!"  One girl yelled out, "The three little pigs and the big bad shark!"  We all had a great time talking about sharks versus wolves and saying one thing but meaning another.



Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet by Kelly DiPucchio
    Another hit.  The children loved the idea of a pet wanting a pet.  The end was a little scary for a few of them until the big reveal and then not only were they relieved, but they were also laughing.  (I don't want to ruin the ending for those of you who haven't read it.)  This always goes well in any storytime.

And we finished our reading portion with:

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
    Oh, how I do not like this book.  I really don't.  But it does so well in storytime, so I read it.  And I read it with as much enthusiasm as the ones I love...so the kids never know I can't stand it.  What I can't stand is that in order for the other fish to like him, he has to give away everything that makes him unique.  But I did it because it ties so well into the craft - we were going to make fish that sparkled like the Rainbow Fish.  This book was another hit, and by this time, the kids were so wound up and ready to craft.

Before Craft Story Club, I had some of my Summer Reading Volunteers cut out and trace the different pattern pieces from the tutorial onto different construction paper.  (I use the fadeless construction paper, it's a little more expensive, but also a lot better quality and the colors won't go away as quickly.)

I set up the room with 2 cds and a length of yarn at each chair, and scissors, pattern pieces, glue and wiggly eyes on every table.  We started by cutting out our pattern pieces and gluing them to the printed side of one cd.  Then we glued our string on the top fin and glued another top fin on it.

The only problem with this craft is not everyone was proficient with the scissors, so we had some frustration.  Once we got to the glue, everyone was having a good time again.

I had the idea to draw on the CDs with normal Prang markers.  Unfortunately, this didn't really work and ended up getting marker ink mostly on the kids.  This is one craft where you actually need to use Sharpies.

Since the markers weren't working well, I pulled out some feathers, and some of the kids glued feathers onto their CD fish - they really loved this.  One girl was putting glue on the CD and dropping the feathers onto the glue.

Here are some of our finished projects:

This was definitely one I'd do again.

Interactive Bulletin Boards: Shapes

There's a great Bulletin Board in the Children's Section of the library I work in.  It's right over a couch and the children have been fiddling with it for years.  So a few months ago, I thought - why fight them?  We're on our 3rd Interactive Bulletin Board and each one has been extremely popular.

I'm not the greatest photographer - so this is the best I was able to do.  I know you can't read the title, it's, "Shape Your Imagination."  Believe me, it looks way cooler in person

This is quite possibly the easiest bulletin board I've ever done.  I cut out shapes that I printed using Word.  (Because I don't trust myself to be able to draw a straight lined square or round circle.)  And then went to town on the felt.  What you see in the picture isn't even half of them.  One little girl was having a marvelous time this afternoon organizing them into piles of shapes.  Hey, whatever floats your boat.  And, hey, that's good for early literacy, too!

To make the board, I went to my store of felt and found the biggest piece I had.  I was so excited - it was huge!!  And then...I put it up against my board.  It was short.  :(  So, I did the only thing I could think of - I made up the difference with another green.  My OCD is going crazy because of the difference - but the thing I've been hearing from the parents is they like the "offset different color."  So, let's go with that...yeah...um...that was intentional.

Since I put it up on Tuesday (a mere 2 days ago), the shapes have gone all over the room, have been in many different designs and one 2 year old yelled "Shapes!" so loud that her mother was quite embarrassed. Me?  I was thrilled that she was so happy to find shapes.

I'm looking forward to watching what the children do with this.

Trains and Trucks

This was an afternoon storytime with about 20 attendees.

Since afternoon storytimes are so much smaller, I tend to be a little more loose - choosing what I'm going to do about an hour before we do it.  Today, since I decided to wear my new train earrings - I thought that trains and trucks would be fun.

Hello!
We sang our hello song and then jumped into the books.  I always use the same hello song, it's my own version of the Dragon Tales Hello Song found here: http://youtu.be/CpTLdI3Jpn4


Train  by Elisha Cooper
         This one was a bit long for the group, even though we started with it.  They held in there until the end, though.  I spiced it up by asking them questions.  We even pretended to be a server in the dining car, bumping up and down and holding our pretend plates.  That was a hit.



Train Trip  by Deanna Caswell
    This one was definitely a better book for the group.  It has rhyming, and not many words on the page.


Giant Pop-out Vehicles (no author but published by Chronicle Books in 2007)
   Honestly, I've never had a bad time in storytime doing Giant Pop-Out anything.  I love that it's a guessing game in a book - and they loved it too.  The kids were all yelling out the answers, there was so much participation!

Stand up and stretch!
   Usually, I do Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes at stretch time.  Today, though I thought it would be fun if we pretended to be trains and trucks.  I loved when one of the kids yelled out that we should be Motorcycles and we all revved our motors.

Fingerplay
This fingerplay was a little too young for most of the audience - but they did it anyway.

"I'm a Windshield Wiper"
I'm a windshield wiper (bend arm at elbow and hold fingers up)
This is how I go (swing arm back and forth)
Back and forth, back and forth (continue motion)
in the rain and snow.

We then talked about how windshield wipers on our cars go alternately, so we did that, too.



A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa by Jonathan London
    Even though my version was falling apart (note to self: try not to do storytimes with books that are falling apart), this went really well.  We talked about big and small and then we got off on a tangent about "what if a truck had eighteen thousand wheels?" "what if it had ten hundred?"  Sadly, I didn't think to get us to infinity, but that was pretty good.


Down By the Station  by Jennifer Riggs Vetter
   Always a hit - especially if the parents can read the words to sing along with you as well (or have checked out the book so often that they now have it memorized.)

Goodbye!
I don't remember where I found my closing song.

To the tune of "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain"
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends (goodbye!)
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends (goodbye!)
Now it's time to say goodbye
Wave a hand and wink an eye
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends (goodbye!)

I offered them a hand out with connect the dots  trains on one side, trucks on the other.