Woodland Animals Storytime

The week before Thanksgiving I did a woodland animal storytime with my all ages group.  We had a small group because of all the storm related issues.  But we had a fun time, especially on the scavenger hunt.

Books

One Brown Bunny

by Marion Dane Bauer; illustrated by Ivan Bates

Bear Says Thanks

by Karma Wilson; illustrated by Jane Chapman

Songs/Rhymes/Flannel Board

Five Red Foxes
Out in the wood under the sun,
Up ran a red fox and that made one.

One red fox under a sky so blue
Up ran another and then there were two.

Two red foxes sitting by a tree
Up ran another and then there were three.

Three red foxes trotting by the shore,
Up ran another and then there were four.

Four red foxes watching a beehive
Up ran another and then there were five.

The Beanbag Song
(Totline Magazine, July/August 1999, p. 24)
Sung to: If you're happy and you know it

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair
Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair
Put your beanbag on your hair and leave it right up there.
Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair.

Additional verses

Ground--step and step around
Toe--lift it high and lift it low
Hand--toss it up and watch it land

Play and Learn

Scavenger Hunt
I placed pictures of different forest animals around the children's area.  Each child had a paper with all of the forest animal pictures.  We walked around the children's area and when we found an animal they crossed it off their paper.  They had so much fun!

Beanbags

Animal Magnets

Train

Yum! Yum! Let's Eat! Outreach Storytime

Outreach Storytime for November

Books

For younger children

Who's Hungry?

by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt

Crunch Munch

Jonathan London; illustrated by Michael Rex

Mmm...Let's Eat!

by Libby Koponen; illustrated by Betsy Thompson

One Little Spoonful

by Aliki

For older children (three of the following)

Hungry Roscoe

by David J. Plant

Badger's Fancy Meal

by Keiko Kasza

Harry Hungry!

by Steven Salerno

All for Pie, Pie for All

by David Martin; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev

Bear Says Thanks

by Karma Wilson; illustrated by Jane Chapman

Songs/Rhymes

First, the songs that didn't really go over very well...

Picking the Fruit
(some toddlers were really good at waiting their turn, but others just wanted to take all the fruit down--of course it was harder when the teacher wasn't helping!)

Picking the [fruit] and putting it in the basket
Picking the [fruit] and putting it in the basket
Picking the [fruit] and putting it in the basket
Yummy fruit to eat!

I Like to Eat!
(I had two children choose a food clip art, then we'd sing...  It wasn't bad, but not great)

I like to eat, eat, eat
______________ on my ________________
I like to eat, eat, eat
______________ on my ________________

When I was assigned one more outreach visit for the month I decided to try a few different songs.

Jelly on My Head

(touch parts on the body)

Jelly on my head, jelly on my toes
Jelly on my shirt, jelly on my nose
Jelly on my belly, jelly’s the best food
And when I’m in a jelly mood

I just can’t get enough
Of that yummy, yummy stuff!

Nursery Rhymes

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

(children choose a food clipart and then we'd sing about another food man)

Pease Porridge Hot

Pat-a-cake

We also sang a random song or two...

Wheels on the Bus

If You're Happy and You Know It

Five Little Monkeys

Autumn Storytime

I used the Autumn theme for my all ages storytime October 29th.

Books

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin

by Mary Serfozo; illustrated by Valeria Petrone

Mouse's First Fall

by Lauren Thompson; illustrated by Bucket Erdogan

The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything

by Linda Williams; illustrated by Megan Lloyd

One of the reasons I love this book--the two year olds as well as the five year olds enjoyed the book with its simple actions and repetition!

Flannel/Songs

Fall Riddles
(adapted from Totline--The original riddle wording was confusing for some of the kids using first person such as "I grow on trees..." so I reworded them.)

Beneath your feet you hear them crunch

Then they get raked up into a bunch.

What are they?  LEAVES

This drops off trees and there it lies

Til someone baked it into pies

What is it? APPLE

This stands in the field and scares a bird,

But it doesn’t say a single word.

What is it? SCARECROW

It’s cold in autumn, if it blows

It swirl the leaves to make a show.

What is it? WIND

Of all the flowers this one’s queen

When yellow petals and seeds between.

What is it? SUNFLOWER

It’s big and orange and quite a catch

When you pick it from the patch

What is it? PUMPKIN

Autumn Leaves
(tune: Have you ever seen a lassie?)

Autumn leaves are hanging,
are hanging, are hanging
Autumn leaves are hanging
Are hanging today.

Autumn leaves turn colors

Turn colors, turn colors

Autumn leaves turn colors

Turn colors today.

Autumn leaves go dancing

Go dancing, go dancing

Autumn leaves go dancing

Go dancing today.

Autumn leaves get raked up

Get raked up, get raked up

Autumn leaves get raked up

Get raked up today.

Autumn leaves are jumped in

Jumped in, jumped in

Autumn leaves are jumped in

Jumped in today!

Scarecrow, Scarecrow
(Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear)

Turn around

Touch the ground

Reach up high

Touch the sky

Dance on your toes
touch your nose

Bend down low

Touch your toe

Jump up now
Take a bow

Stomp your feet

Take a seat

Supercharged/Parent Tip
Children love movement.  That is one of the primary ways they learn.  Books such as, The Little Old Lady who was not Afraid of Anything lends itself nicely to repetitive actions that children love to do and it also helps them remember and retell the story!

Play and Learn

Fall Sensory Table
popcorn kernels, black beads, pumpkin seeds, raffia, silk leaves

Tissue Paper Leaves

Blocks

Large Wooden Beads

Scissor Practice with autumn leaves prints

A Moving Child is a Learning Child

An internal blog post

Recently I heard about the book A Moving Child is a Learning Child by Gill Connell and Cheryl McCarthy.  The library now owns a copy.  I highly encourage you to take a look at it!

Something I found interesting was a short section about storytime.  Although some may consider storytime a passive activity it really is not because, as the book states, “even when young children seem still and quiet, their whole minds and whole bodies are actively engaged.”  Further, “storytime stimulates new ideas, reinforces positive values, and fosters communication skills.”

There are two parts of movement in storytime to consider:

1.  Our own movements—including facial expressions, gestures, and body language.  The authors encourage us to “Throw [our]selves into the story emotionally and physically”.
2. The movement of the children—books and songs with movements; stretches; and various movements (both large and small motor movements) during our play and learn times.

Take a few minutes think about the amount of movement you and the children are engaged in during storytime.  Remember that children learn best through movement.

Book Club

Our 2nd juvenile/teen book club for library staff!  More awesome books to read and to share with our young members!

Rebel Belle

by Rachel Hawkins

The Impossibly True Story of Tricky Vic: The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower

by Greg Pizzoli

HiLo: Boy Who Crashed to Earth

by Judd Winick

I am Princess X

by Cherie Priest

Books I shared

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club

by Phillip Hoose

An incredible true story of a group of young men who began sabotaging the German forces when their country allowed German occupation.

Confessions of an Imaginary Friend

by Michelle Cuevas

What happens to an imaginary friend when your human "lets you go"?

A Night Divided

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Gerite's father and brother are visiting West Berlin when the Berlin Wall went up over night.  How and when will Gertie's family be reunited?

Baby Storytime--Photos

Today we featured books with photographs instead of illustrations.

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces

Clap Your Hands
Good Morning to You
Little Bear
When Cows Get Up in the Morning
Baby Hokey Pokey
3 Little Monkeys
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Pease Porridge Hot
Acka Backa Soda Cracker

Read Aloud

Look at the Baby

by Kelly Johnson

Shared Reading

A variety of board books featuring photographs including:

Red Truck, Yellow Bus: A Book of Colors

Global Babies

Supercharged
As you read or look at books such as Look at the Baby, take time to point to your own and baby's body parts.  Encourage your baby to point to the body parts as well and to repeat the name after you.

Parent Tip
Babies love to look at photographs!  You can put together a simple photo album for your baby using a inexpensive photo album and pictures you have printed off.  You can even create and purchase a board book with pictures of family at such places Pint Size Productions 

Play and Learn

We started our play and learn time with the parachute!

Outreach Storytimes for October--Autumn Days

I have seven outreach visits scheduled this month!  I'm so glad I was able to share one of my favorite books with them!

Books

Leaf Trouble

by Jnathan Emmett; illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

Penguin and Pumpkin

by Salina Yoon

The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything

by Linda Williams; illustrated by Megan Lloyd

(my favorite autumn book!)

For younger groups:

Mouse's First Fall

Lauren Thompson; illustrated by Buket Erdogan

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin

by Mary Serfozo; illustrated by Valeria Petrone

The Busy Little Squirrel

by Nancy Tafuri

Other books I used only a time or two

I Know It's Autumn

by Eileen Spinelli

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!

by Lucille Colandro; illustrated by Jared Lee

Flannel Board/Song/Movement

Fall Riddles
(adapted from Totline--The original riddle wording was confusing for some of the kids using first person such as "I grow on trees..." so I reworded them.)

Beneath your feet you hear them crunch

Then they get raked up into a bunch.

What are they?  LEAVES

This drops off trees and there it lies

Til someone baked it into pies

What is it? APPLE

This stands in the field and scares a bird,

But it doesn’t say a single word.

What is it? SCARECROW

It’s cold in autumn, if it blows

It swirl the leaves to make a show.

What is it? WIND

Of all the flowers this one’s queen

When yellow petals and seeds between.

What is it? SUNFLOWER

It’s big and orange and quite a catch

When you pick it from the patch

What is it? PUMPKIN

Autumn Leaves
(tune: Have you ever seen a lassie?)

Autumn leaves are hanging,
are hanging, are hanging
Autumn leaves are hanging
are hanging today.

Autumn leaves turn colors

Turn colors, turn colors

Autumn leaves turn colors

Turn colors today.

Autumn leaves go dancing

Go dancing, go dancing

Autumn leaves go dancing

Go dancing today.

Autumn leaves get raked up

Get raked up, get raked up

Autumn leaves get raked up

Get raked up today.

Autumn leaves are jumped in

Jumped in, jumped in

Autumn leaves are jumped in

Jumped in today!

Scarecrow, Scarecrow
(Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear)

Turn around

Touch the ground

Reach up high

Touch the sky

Dance on your toes
touch your nose

Bend down low

Touch your toe

Jump up now
Take a bow

Stomp your feet

Take a seat