Thursday, March 28, 2019

Spring! Preschool Storytime


Books
Wake Up, It's Spring!
by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Move Over, Rover!
by Karen Beaumont; illustrated by Jane Dyer

Songs

Hello Springtime!
tune: Goodnight Ladies

Hello springtime!
Hello springtime!
Hello springtime!
We're glad you're here today!

Green grass
Blue sky
Flowers
Bunnies
Bluebirds
Butterflies
Rain
Sun
Rainbow

A Spring Poem to try

Good-bye, Hello!
Good-bye snow
Good-bye sled
Good-by winter
Spring's ahead!

Hello sun
Hello spring
Good-by winter
Hello Spring!

Friday, March 22, 2019

Simple Flannels for Babies

I have been on the lookout for simple flannel board rhymes to do with babies.  I posted about my first successful one in October 2017.  I make very simple, one-cut felt pieces, so I don’t have to worry about small pieces falling off and creating a choking hazard.  Here are a few more I’ve found that I have loved doing with the little ones.
Colors
(You can sing this to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Orange and yellow, green and blue
These are colors just for you
Orange as a flower, green as a tree
Yellow as the sun and blue as the sea.
Orange and yellow, green and blue
These are colors just for you.


Over in the Meadow
Over in the meadow in the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother turtle and her little one
“Dig”, said the mother. “I dig”, said the one
So they dug all day in the sand in the sun.
Over in the meadow where the stream runs blue
Lived an old mother fish and her little fishies two
“Swim”, said the mother. “We swim”, said the two
So they swam all day where the stream runs blue
Over in the mead in an old hollow tree
Lived an old mother bird and her little birdies three
“Sing”, said the mother.  “We sing”, said the three
So they sang all day in the old hollow tree.



Five Little Babies
Adapted from Yakaberry.com
Five little babies were playing one day
One saw a ball, and he crawled away
Four little babies were playing one day
One saw a rattle, and she crawled away
Three little babies were playing one day
One saw a blanket, and he crawled away
Two little babies were playing one day
One saw a teddy, and she crawled away
One little baby was playing one day
He saw his friends, and he crawled away.


One Two Three
One little two little three little puppies
One little two little three little puppies
One little two little three little puppies
Bark like this all day.  Ruff! Ruff!


Can substitute kitties or just about any other animal!

Friday, March 8, 2019

Peek-a-Boo! Baby Storytime

Read Aloud Books


Peekaboo Morning
by Rachel Isadora

Peek-a-Pet!
by Marie Torres Cinarusti; illustrated by Stephanie Peterson

Giant Pop-out Pets
Book Design by: Wendy Lui

Song/Rhymes/Bounces

You Ought to See My Baby
Baby-O!

Hello!
Hello _________
Hello _________
Hello _________
We're glad you're here today!

Little Bear

Peek-a Moo
with puppets and scarves
tune: The Wheels on the Bus

The cow in the barn goes peek-a-moo
Peek-a-moo, peek-a-moo
The cow in the barn goes peek-a-moo
All day long.

The pig in the pen goes peek-a-oink
The sheep in the meadow goes peek-a-baa
The dog in the yard goes peek-a-woof
The duck in the pond goes peek-a-quack

Where is Big Toe?
tune: Where is Thumpkin?

Where is big toe? Where is big toe?
Here I am! Here I am!
Wiggle, wiggle big toe
Wiggle, wiggle big toe
My big toe! My big toe!

Where is tummy?...
Tickle, tickle tummy...

Where are two hands?...
Happy, clappy two hands...

Here We Go Uppity Up!
Baby-O!

Humpty Dumpty

Peek-a-Boo
with scarves
Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!
I see you! I see you!
I see your little nose
I see your tiny toes
Peek-a boo! I see you!

Shared Reading
A variety of picture books with lift-the-flaps

Flannel

Colors For You
Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle


Orange and yellow, green and blue, these are the colors just for you
Orange as a flower, green as a tree
Yellow as the sun, and blue as the sea
Orange and yellow, green and blue, these are the colors just for you.



Wednesday, March 6, 2019

More on Math

A few weeks ago I was able to attend the Gift of Childhood Conference.  Douglas Clements was the keynote speaker and I also attended one of his workshops.  He is a researcher of early childhood math education from the University of Denver. 

Dr. Clements spoke about the immense importance of providing better math opportunities for young children.  We can continue to add math concepts into our storytimes to strengthen children’s understanding.  In fact, recent research showed that counting predicted arithmetic success in Kindergarten, which in turn predicts later school achievement in all areas.

Here are a few other tidbits I learned that I’d like to pass along:

  • Subitizing (knowing how many without having to count)  When children are subitizing larger numbers (6 and above) we can ask how they know because usually kids will “see” at least one number and then they add the other number they “see”.  For example 8—the child could see 5 and 3 or maybe they see 4 and 4.  Children may know that 4 and 4 is eight.  If children know the number don’t make them count; this discourages subitizing, the very thing we are trying to teach.  However, when children are subitzing 1-5 we do NOT want to ask “how many”.  We want them to be able to look and just know; thus not being able to tell us “how” they know with numbers one through five.   
  • Placing items to count horizontally is best when children are first starting to count.  Using just one color or one type of item is also best.
  • Count as you add items to the flannel board.  Put one monkey on board, count one, put next monkey on say two and so forth.  This helps children hear and see the number.  After counting be sure to ask, How Many? to help children with cardinatility—understanding the last number they say is “how many”.
  • Don’t just count to ten, go on to eleven or twelve! Try a movement activity, such as jumping, and count the number of times a child can jump—hearing numbers past what they can recite helps children gain a greater understanding of numbers. 
  • Try a flannel board such as “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” but have 2 or 3 fall off at once. Dr. Clements believes that we often don’t challenge children enough in regards to math.
  • Use math language more in every day situations.  We can help children see numbers by talking about numbers.  Instead of saying “Pick up the blocks” you can say, “Pick up the three blocks”.  

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Hide and Seek Storytime

Books
Where is Bear?
by Leslea Newman; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev

Everybunny Count!
by Ellie Sandall

Have You Seen Elephant?
by David Barrow

I love that the kids "voted" that the best place to hide while playing hide-and-seek is behind the curtains!  (other choices--closet, bed, or couch)

Guess Who? Storytimes

Preschool
Who Has This Tail?
by Laura Hulbert; illustrated by Erik Brooks

Guess Whose Shadow?
by Stephen R. Swinburne

Guess Again!
by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Adam Rex

Toddler
Guess What I See?
by Liesbet Slegers

Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails
by Nany Tafuri

Giant Pop-out Pets
Book Design by Wendy Lui

Magnet Activity

Little Mouse, Little Mouse
Come out and play!
What color house are you today?