Nighty-Night : Bedtime Books

50+ year old Meg

Storytime may happen in the morning right after we've all gotten out of bed, but that's no reason to NOT celebrate the closing of the day! All our stories today were about bedtime, going to sleep, and what happens at night. I wore my flannel jammies (which was a bit of a mistake in early August ...), fuzzy slippers and brought my oldest, dearest teddy to storytime.


Here are the books we shared today :

I whipped out my old Monkey Mitt with the pom-pom monkeys and got out a toy telephone and we
all chanted the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" rhyme ... some things never grow old, do they?



A fun song to sing (or game to play) is "Five in the Bed" -- we shared this today as a flannel :

Don't forget to include the last line where the littlest bear hogs the big feather bed all to himself, complete with a big feather pillow -- good night!



 Finally, we ended with a very sweet bedtime story courtesy of Amy Hest. "Kiss Goodnight" tells the story of Sam who is waiting and waiting for that one special something to conclude a proper bedtime. Can you guess what it is? Yes, a giant goodnight kiss (AGAIN!). We shared this story with the fabulous prop set from Book Props. Unfortunately, this prop is no longer available, but with a little effort could be made into a fabulous feltboard prop!

Our early literacy tip today was "Write Together!" -- to that end, I handed out an activity sheet designed for the earliest letter writers to use in working on control of their marker, pencil or crayon. Simply trace the dotted red lines as you tell Sam's story and list each of the things he needs (plus a kiss!) before going to sleep.

For at-home use only.

 

Beautiful Butterflies

Caterpillars, moths, cocoons, butterflies and chrysalises -- today we celebrated the wonder that is the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly or moth.

Here are the books we shared :

I took the tried and ever so true song/fingerplay "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and tweaked it for today's theme :
The itsy bitsy caterpillar
Crawled upon a leaf
She munched on some milkweed
Just like it was roast beef (yum!)
Curled into a chrysalis ... (snore)
And when her time was through ...
Unfurled her wings
And into the sky she flew!
Your caterpillar is your wiggly index finger.
A leaf can be the palm of one hand.
Tuck your finger into a fist for the chrysalis.
To make the butterfly, hook your thumbs together and wiggle your fingers for the butterfly wings.

Our flannel story for today also involved chrysalises (we do love our Monarch butterflies in Minnesota).

This idea was purposefully stolen from the awesome Miss Mary Liberry who provided not only the artistic inspiration but the text for the rhyme as well :

Five little caterpillars and not one more,
One made a chrysallis (see??) and now there are four.

Four little caterpillars sitting on a tree
One made a chrysallis and now there are three ...

... big job to do ... now there are two
... basking in the sun ... now there's just one
... knew his work was almost done ... now there are none

BUT ...

One chrysallis opened up underneath the sun
Now there's a beautiful butterfly and that makes one!

... with the morning dew ... that makes two
... shade of the tree ... that makes three
... spreading her wings galore ... now there are four
... feeling so alive ... at last there are five


We concluded our Butterfly Storytime with a group re-telling of the familiar "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. I used a large caterpillar puppet (old Folkmanis stock) and the monarch butterfly puppet as well as flannel pieces for all the food Mr. Caterpillar ate.



Our handout for today was to encourage the "Play Together" aspect of ECRR2.
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar BINGO" game is something everyone can enjoy, so I sent home a sheet with BINGO cards as well as the images for drawing pieces to play the game. This BINGO game comes courtesy of articulation360 :



For at home use only -- please do not distribute outside of your home

It's (finally) SUMMER!

After what seemed like the coldest, longest winter in Minnesota, we were finally able to celebrate SUMMER at storytime today!

Here were our book selections for the day :

 

In preparation for outdoor summer eating, our fingerplay for today was "Five Little Hot Dogs" ... with a bit of a twist at the end :

 

Five little hot dots

Frying in the pan

(five fingers of R hand rest in palm of L hand)

The pan got hot (pssss!)

And one went ... BAM!

(clap hands together)

 

Four little hot dogs ...

Three little hot dogs ...

Two little hot dogs ...

 

One little hot dog

Frying in the pan

The pan got hot

And one went .....

"Please put me in a bun, put ketchup and mustard on me,

and EAT ME UP! yummm ..."

 

The story "Red Chalk" by Iris van der Heide was shared courtesy of Book Props, Inc.

I find this book to be a bit jarring, so I took some liberties with the text to soften the message. The toys go round the circle, trading hands, but at the very end, all the kids come together to play a game of hopscotch -- something they can all share.

Here is a link to the Book Props page : http://www.bookprops.com/www.bookprops.com/Prop_for_The_Red_Chalk.html

Summer means ice cream ... and ice cream means this flannel song!

"Ice Cream Man"

Ice cream man,

Do you know?

I love chocolate ice cream so,

Find some, find some if you can!

Thank you, ice cream man!

 

I especially love putting the cherry on the top of the ice cream cone at the end.

 

If you would like to create this song at home, here is the handout we had at storytime today!

Cut out the pieces, color them in any flavor you like and SING TOGETHER to create your very own topsy-turvy ice cream cone!

Please use only for at-home, personal use

 

 

 

 

Tremendous Trains

All aboard?
Whooo-hoooooooo!!!!!!
It's time for a TRAIN storytime!

Storytime was introduced today with a demo of a wooden train whistle. The train whistle I have is from Lionel and can be purchased here for the low, low price of $3.99. If you have a true train afficionado in your household, you may want to consider this for the next birthday gift.

Then we climbed aboard and shared these stories :

This chant is something I've known since I was about five years old -- we used it when I was a child to count off for who was "it" in tag. Can also be used as a nice train chant and tied in great with the text of "I'm Fast!" which involved, what else? a race to Chicago!

Engine, engine, number nine
Going down Chicago line,
If the train should leave its track,
Do you want your money back?
Yes ... (nod head)
No ... (shake head)
Maybe so ... ("so-so" hand sign)

For our flannel today, I used the pieces from my longer "Freight Train" flannel to accompany this text (thanks to Storytime Katie for the fab idea!) :

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
Here comes a train on the railroad track!
Clickety-clunn, clickety-clunn,
Here comes the engine -- that's number ONE!
Clickety-clew, clickety-clew,
Here comes the coal car -- that's number TWO!
Clickety-clee, clickety-clee,
Here comes the box car -- that's number THREE!
Clickety-clore, clickety-clore,
Here comes the tank car -- that's number FOUR!
Clickety-clive, clickety-clive,
Here comes the cattle car -- that's number FIVE!
Clickety-clicks, clickety-clicks,
Here comes the caboose -- that's number SIX!
Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, there GOES the train on the railroad track ...
Chooo - chooooo .... goodbye!

My handout today was intended to help with "Read Together!" at home.
Courtesy of Making Learning Fun, this is a cool activity to take home and work on together.
Simply color in each train image, cut on the long edge, tape the ends together, and fold accordian style to form a book.
(this image is intended for at-home use only)

Bunny, Bunny, RABBIT!

Since Easter is a taboo subject at our county library system, I decided to host a rabbit/bunny themed storytime for this week before Easter.

We read ...

 

 



I know rabbits are considered pests in the garden and they reproduce like bananas, but I just can't resist them ... those little bunny faces chewing furiously while occasionally rubbing their eyes with their paws ... WHO can deny that face anything?

 

 

Here is a cute bunny photo :

... and another one :

 

 

I rest my case.

 

OK, back to storytime!

I shared a very silly rhyme which included a subtle commentary on rabbits, er, reproduction prowness. I sang it to the tune of "Frere Jacques" :

Gail and Sue had two little rabbits

(put two index fingers up, on top of head)

Two little rabbits,

Two little rabbits,

Gail and Sue had two little rabbits

Bing and Bong

(dip each finger down on the name)

Gail and Sue had four little rabbits

(show two fingers of L and R hand)

Two little rabbits ...

Ding and Dong

Six little rabbits ...

Ping and Pong

Eight little rabbits ...

Sing and Song

Ten little rabbits ...

Gail and Sue had ten little rabbits ...

That's TOO MANY RABBITS!

 

Our friend Peter Rabbit made an appearance with this silly song from my co-worker Anna over at Future Librarian Superhero :







 

The words were put up individually on the flannel board. After singing the song through once (to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") I replaced the red words with question marks ... I let the kids help me figure out which words were missing as we sang the song. I then replaced the red words, but not in the proper location (which was tricky ... I ended up with "Little Fly Rabbit had a Nose upon his Peter" ... this elicited giggles from the parents, but the kids were blissfully unaware of my off-color word placement).

 

 

To end our storytime, I "performed" the all-too familiar song "Little Bunny Foo Foo" using the rabbit puppet and mice finger puppets from Folkmanis, and a fancy tiara and wand.

Remember ... the moral of the story is : "HARE today, GOON tomorrow!"

(yuk yuk yuk).

 

This was our handout today, to encourage playing the "Little Bunny Foo Foo" game at home. Please print for at-home use only.

 



Do You Know Your ABCs and 123s?

Counting and Letters!
Storytime today focused on the alphabet and numbers.

Here are the books that we shared :

 

For the Lois Ehlert book, we played an "I Spy" game.
I put a bunch of flannel fruits and veggies up and we tried to figure out what might be on each page of the book. You can do this at home too -- read the book, and try to find things you might have in your cupboard or fridge that match the letters and pictures on the page. Try to find other foods that might fit in with each letter as well!

Do you know the A-B-C song?
Do you know the backwards A-B-C song?
Try this out!

Our last story today was Splash by Ann Jonas

 

I had a great prop courtesy of Book Props (unfortunately, this title is no longer in stock) that was a great way to practice counting while telling a silly story.

 

Here is the handout I had available to accompany the book -- this is for at-home use only. Please duplicate only as needed.



 Happy counting and reading!

 

 

 

Dinosaurs BIG, Dinosaurs small

Who doesn't like a giant lizard?
Today was all about that big extinct beast, the dinosaur.

Here are the books we shared :





















I love this silly take on "Baby Bumblebee" -- such a fun little number.

I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur,
Won't my mommy fall right through the floor?
I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur ...
Ouch! He bit me!

I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur,
Feeding him will make my mommy poor,
I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur ...
Hey, where did all the dog food go?

I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur,
My mommy says, "Don't bring home anymore!!"
I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur ...
Um, Mom? Where are you going with all your suitcases?

These dinosaur flannel pieces (courtesy of Piper Loves the Library) are absolute perfection for any storytime, for children of all ages :

One little dino went out to play
On a bright and sunny day,
She had such ENORMOUS fun
That she called for another dinosaur to come
"oh ... DI-NO-SAUR!!!!"
tromp, tromp, tromp
Two little dinos went out to play ...







For those of you who were unable to receive an activity sheet today, here is a copy of what I handed out -- please only use at home for personal use.