Outreach Storytimes--Gingerbread

I was able to visit two childcare center this month and present a Gingerbread/Cookie Storytime!

Books

The Gingerbread Boy

by Paul Galdone

Depending on the age of the group I  skipped the threshers or the threshers and mowers so the book wasn't too long.

And one of the following:

Ginger Bear

by Mini Grey

Mr. Cookie Baker

by Monica Wellington

Flannel/Songs/Rhymes

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were five yummy cookies with frosting on top

Along comes a _____________ (animal puppet) with a dollar to pay

He/she buys the _______________ (color) and takes it away.

Gingerbread Man Song 

(tune: The Muffin Man)

Oh, do you know the Gingerbread Man,
The Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man?
Oh, do you know the Gingerbread Man,
Who ran and ran and ran?

He said, "Catch me if you can,
If you can, if you can."
He said, "Catch me if you can,"
Then ran and ran and ran.

I can run like the Gingerbread Man.
The Gingerbread Man, the Gingerbread Man.
I can run like the Gingerbread Man,
Now catch me if you can.

Baby Storytime--Christmas

Yesterday the meeting I was assigned to go to was cancelled because of the weather...so I got to do one more baby storytime this year!  Hooray!  It was a small crowd because of the weather, but still so much fun!

Since I didn't know I would be doing storytime until the morning of I didn't have books collected for "Shared Reading" so we read two books aloud.

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands
Good Morning to You
Little Bear
Jingle Bells
Roly-Poly
Mix and Stir
Pop Goes the Weasel
Pat-a-cake
Pease Porridge Hot
Acka Backa Soda Cracker
Tickle the Clouds

Read Aloud Books

Where is Baby's Christmas Present

by Karen Katz

The Snowman Shuffle

by Christianne C. Jones

Illustrated by Emma Randall

Play and Learn
Several babies had fun crawling through the tunnel!  The look of pride and excitement on their faces (and their parents' faces) is priceless!!

One little boy in particular  loves when I bring out the little buckets so he can carry them around, fill them up, empty them, and fill them up again!

One of my oldest (19 months) was very helpful getting the toys out and putting things away!  He remembers the little kitchenette where the toys are kept before play and learn and went straight back there when I announced we'd play.  After we cleaned up I usually just put the toys on the table to sanitize, but my little guy "knew" they went back into the kitchenette so we put them in there!

I absolutely love working with my babies and their parents!

Make Books Come Alive!

An internal blog post

With the Christmas season upon us I pulled out my Christmas picture book stash.  Among the books is “The Polar Express”.  This book always reminds me of my children’s lit class back in college (this was long before the movie!).   My professor stressed creating experiences for children when we share books with them because many children have not, nor may not ever have the opportunity to experience things in books.  So when we read “The Polar Express” we set our classroom chairs up to look like a train, we drank hot chocolate, and we held and listened to Santa’s bell.

The book becomes much more meaningful when the children have a multi-sensory experience in connection with the book.  What experiences can we simulate in storytime that capture the essence of the book(s) we are reading? 

Think the 5 Senses—hearing, tasting, seeing, touching, and smelling. 

• Bring ice for the children to touch during a penguin storyitme
• Play theme-related music for the children to listen to (think “Hoe-Down” during a horse or cowboy theme)
• Bring ginger and other spices for the children to smell when you read “The Gingerbread Man”
• Create a cutout or outline of a life size T-Rex footprint and let the children compare their feet size to that of a dinosaur.
• Of course, tasting may not be feasible at library storytimes, but you can offer recipes that can be made at home with parents.

Look at your books/theme ideas you have for storytime and think about experiences the children may not be familiar with.  Brainstorm ways you can bring those experiences into storytime through seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting.

December Book Club

Here are the books we book talked to each other!  I love having others to talk to about the books  I love reading!

The Rest of Us Just Live Here

by Patrick Ness

Circus Mirandus

by Cassie Beasley

Finding Gossamyr

by David A. Rodriguez

Ink and Bone

by Rachel Caine

Out of the Easy

by Ruta Sepetys

The three books I shared:

The Doldrums

by Nicholas Gannon

I really enjoyed this book, until the end when I realized this is the first book in a new series.  I hate when I read a book and I don't know it's in a series!  I don't know if I like it enough to re-read it when the 2nd one comes it.

Masterminds

by Gordon Korman

Another book that I found out at the end is the first of a new series!  However, this one was action packed with a bit of mystery so I will definitely be reading (or listening to) the next one in the series.

Crenshaw

by Katherine Applegate

I got through this quick book in one evening.  Insight into the emotional struggles a young boy faces when his family becomes homeless for a second time.

Back to the Basics for Babies

With Christmas just around the corner I've been thinking about the babies in my Baby Storytime and wondered what they might be getting for Christmas.  There are so many "educational" toys being produced and marketed to parents.  Many light up and make sounds.  But are these the best toys for babies?

Maybe to select the best toys  for babies we need to go "Back to the Basics".  And many of these basics start with the letter B (which I thought was cute!)  And the great thing is that these B "toys" are very inexpensive (or free), can keep the child occupied for long periods of time, and babies learn so much from playing with and exploring these "toys".

Back to the Basics for Babies

(all items are from Lakeshore Learning unless noted)

Board Books

Balls

Blocks

Bath/water Toys

**some items in this set are a choking hazard, however, many are suitable for babies

Buckets

Store of Knowledge

Bags

Made of cloth. Bags are similar to the bucket babies can put things in and then take things out!

Boxes

Similar to buckets and bags babies love to put things into a box and then take things out again!

Bubbles

We use Gymboree Bubbles at storytime

Most of these "B" toys can be found at discount stores, such as Wal-mart. They do not need to come from expensive, educational stores.

It's a Wrap--Baby Storytime

December 11  This is my last baby storytime of the year (because of meetings and holidays) so I planned a special Play and Learn for the babies!  It was very fun!

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces

Read Aloud Book

Counting Christmas

Karen Katz

Shared Reading

A variety of board books by Karen Katz including:

Counting Kisses

How Does Baby Feel?

Play and Learn

Wrapping Paper and Boxes!

I got four boxes from our recycling and taped them back together and bought two Dollar Store rolls of wrapping paper.  It was so much fun to watch the babies pull out the paper, crumple it up, tear it, etc. and to climb into the boxes.

After 5 minutes or so I brought out our "regular" toys, but many babies continued playing with the paper and boxes.

Spots and Dots Storytime

I did this storytime for toddlers and all ages storytime in November.

Hernietta got into the fun!

Books

Abigail

by Catherine Rayner

Lots of Dots

by Craig Frazier

Animal Spots and Stripes

Britta Teakentrup

Songs/Rhymes/Flannel Board

I'm a Little Monster

(from Storytime ABC's)
Pass out a variety of color felt dots to all the children. 

Place the monster on the board (without any spots)

Use this rhyme to call children up to put their dots on the monster

I'm a little monster friendly and bright.

I won't give anyone a fright.

I love polka dots but I have none.

So step right up and give me red ones.

I'm a little monster friendly and bright.

I won't give anyone a fright.

I love polka dots but I only have some.

So step right up and give me orange ones.

I'm a little monster friendly and bright.

I won't give anyone a fright.

I love polka dots and I have lots.

Thank you for my colorful spots.

Are You Sleeping?
(This is one of my new "go-to" songs!)
We used animals that have spots and dots!

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Little ladybug? Little ladybug?
[snore]
Wake up little ladybug!
Wake up little ladybug!
Fly, fly, fly! Fly, fly, fly!

Giraffe--stretch
Frog--jump
Cheetah--run

Little Ladybug
Ladybug has 1 back spot
1 black spot, 1 black spot
Ladybug has 1 black spot
Pretty Ladybug!

Continue adding dots until you reach 4 or 6.

Play and Learn

Dot Collage

Dotters

Crazy Straw Circles

Pom-pom cookie colors

Blocks