You Don't Scare Me! Storytime

I am cautious at this time of year.  I have heard too many stories of children, for example, not being scared of the dark...until they hear a story about a child being afraid of the dark.  Same goes for monsters (including my own daughter).  I also try to steer clear of "Halloween".  I had the unfortunate opportunity of a family leaving a Halloween storytime...and I never saw them in the library again.   So this time of year I focus on autumn, leaves, pumpkins, apples, scarecrows, etc.  This storytime has a bit of "fright" without being scary and without mentioning Halloween.

Books

Snip, Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman; illustrated by Nick Maland

The Little Old Lady who was not Afraid of Anything  by Linda Williams; illustrated by Megan Lloyd

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays

Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
5 little monkeys swinging in the tree
Teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can't catch me!"
Along come Mr. Alligator...quiet as can be and
SNAP! That monkey right out of the tree!

(Continue counting down to 1)

Scarecrow, Scarecrow
Scarecrow, Scarecrow turn around
Scarecrow, Scarecrow touch the ground.
Scarecrow, Scarecrow reach up high
Scarecrow, Scarecrow touch the sky!
Scarecrow, Scarecrow bend down low
Scarecrow, Scarecrow touch your toe
Scarecrow, Scarecrow jump up now
Scarecrow, Scarecrow take a bow!

Dingle Dangle Scarecrow

I'm a dingle, dangle scarecrow
With a great big floppy hat
I can shake my hands like this
And I can shake my feet like that!

Play and Learn

Scarecrow

Autumn Coloring Sheet

Leaf Sort 

Scissor Practice--Leaf cutting from ThisReadingMama

Blocks

Autumn Outreach Storytimes

I have been in my new job for four months now...and I am in full swing!  I had three outreach storytimes in October.  One was at a home daycare; another at an ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program in the state of Washington); and the last at an early learning center.  I selected a variety of books and songs to share about fall.  Since I don't know the children I took along lots of books so I could choose ones that best fit the group.

Books
I shared three or four of the following books at each location

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall; illustrated by Shari Halpern

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

The Little Old Lady who was not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams; illustrated by Megan Lloyd

When Autumn Falls by Kelli Nidey; illustrated by Susan Swan

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep by Maureen Wright; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays

We did two or three of the following songs together

Five Little Pumpkins

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate

The 1^st one said, Oh, my! It’s getting late!

 The 2^nd one said “There’s a chill in the air”

The 3^rd one said, “But we don’t care!”

The 4^th one said, “We’re ready for some fun!”

The 5^th one said, “Let’s run, run, run!”

Then wooooo went the wind and out went the lights

And the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Autumn Leaves

(tune: Did you ever see a lassie?)

Autumn leaves are hanging, are hanging, are hanging

Autumn leaves are hanging , hanging today.

Autumn leaves turn colors, turn colors, turn colors

Autumn leaves turn colors, turn colors today.

Autumn leaves are falling, are falling, are falling

Autumn leaves are falling, are falling today.

Autumn leaves are dancing, are dancing, are dancing

Autumn leaves are dancing, dancing today.

Autumn leaves are raked up, are raked up, are raked up

Autumn leaves are raked up, raked up today.

Autumn leaves get jumped in, jumped in, jumped in

Autumn leaves get jumped in, jumped in today!

Scarecrow, Scarecrow

Scarecrow, scarecrow turn around

Scarecrow, scarecrow touch the ground

Scarecrow, scarecrow reach up high

Scarecrow, scarecrow touch the sky

Scarecrow, scarecrow bend down low

Scarecrow, scarecrow touch your toe.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Thomas the Tank Engine

Our regional PBS station brought Thomas the Tank Engine to the downtown mall today.  The library sent two children's librarians to represent the library and provide activities for the children to do while they waited in line.  I was one of the ones to attend.

We set up two areas near Thomas.  A "shape train" craft and our wooden train sets (as well as a table with library promotional materials).  As the craft was my idea I got to man that station.  Rachel had pulled in all the train sets from the branch libraries, so she supervised the train play.

I arrived about 9:30 AM to set up...it was a little tricky because we couldn't be in front of any store or block walk ways etc.  So we ended up having two completely separate areas.

The event started at 11 AM but by 10:10 (when we had finished setting up) the line was forming.  By 10:30 we were fully engaged with children and families.

Here are some pictures from the event

They had almost 800 people go through the line to see Thomas...however, because there was such a huge turn out they closed the line at 12:30 so that all that were in line could make it through before Thomas had to leave at 3.  We found many families just visiting our stations because either the line was too long or the line had been closed.

It was a a delightfully chaotic event!  Hooray for Thomas!

Baby Storytime--October 24

Baby Storytime on Friday, October 24, 2014

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces

Bubbles

Hands Are Clapping
(Tune: London Bridges)
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap

Clap, clap, clap

Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping!

Toes are tapping… Tap, tap, tap
Eyes are hiding… peekaboo!

Puppet

Little Bear in the tree

Sitting, oh, so still.

Won’t you come out?

Yes, he will!

He looks to the left

He looks to the right

He looks straight ahead

Then pops out of sight!

This puppet is from Folkmanis Puppets

Hello Song

(Tune: Good Night Ladies)

Hello ____, hello ____.

Hello ____, we’re glad you’re here today!

I have each parent/caregiver introduce themselves and their baby.  Then we sing hello to the baby.  A baby's name is one of the first things a baby recognizes.  

Trot, Trot

Trot, trot to Boston. Trot, trot to Lynn.
         (bounce baby)
Watch out little baby, you might fall in!
         (lower baby between your knees)

Trot, trot to Denver. Trot, trot to Dover.
          (bounce baby)
Watch out little baby, you might fall over!
          (tip baby to one side)

Roly-Poly

Roly-poly, roly-poly (circle arms around each other—repeat each time you sing the phrase)

Out, out, out (move hands away from each other)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

In, in, in (bring hands together)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your nose

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your toes.

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Up to the sky (pull baby up to standing)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Fly, fly, fly (life baby up in the air)

Toast

I’m toast in the toaster

I’m getting very hot (bounce)

Tick tock, tick tock (side to side)

Up I pop!

Where Are Baby's Fingers
Where, oh where are Baby's fingers?
Where, or where are Baby's toes?
Where is Baby's belly button?
'Round and 'round it goes!

Where, oh where are Baby's ears?
Where, oh where is Baby's nose?
Where is Baby's belly button?
'Round and 'round it goes!

Books
Read Aloud Book:  Smile  by Roberta Grobel Intrater

Shared Reading:  A variety of Babybug "Magazines"
I absolutely love Babybug!!  I was first introduced to them in 1996 when my first daughter was small.  We would always pick up an issue or two of Babybug when we visited our local library for "Book Babies" Storytime.  Each issue has a "Kim and Carrots" story, nursery rhymes, concepts, and (new to me) a "non-fiction" section with real photographs.  A wonderful collection in each issue.  Visit here for more information or to subscribe!

Play and Learn Activities
In addition to our regular baby toys we also pulled out the parachute today!  Here is the little rhyme we did with it.

Popcorn!
You put the oil the pot and you let it get hot
You put the popcorn in and you start to grin
You go sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, POP!

Pumpkin Storytime

It's been a while since I did a pumpkin storytime because I am usually doing a letter of the week--I'd be about at F right now.  So I was excited to an autumn storytime featuring pumpkins!

Books

Pumpkin Cat by Anne Mortimer

Trouble Pumpkin by Jan Thomas

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays

5 Little Pumpkins
5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The 1st one said, "Oh, my! It's getting late!"
The 2nd one said, "There's a chill in the air!"
The 3rd one said, "But we don't care!"
The 4th one said, "We're ready for some fun!"
The 5th one said, "Let's run, run, run!"
Then WHOOSH! went the wind
And OUT went the lights
And the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

On Our Way to the Pumpkin Patch
(sung to: Here we go 'round the Mulberry Bush)

Here we go marching down the road, down the road, down the road
Here we go marching down the road on the way to the pumpkin patch!

Additional verses:
Here we go running...
Here we go tiptoeing...
Here we go jumping...
Here we go stomping...

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
Peter, Peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife, but couldn't keep her
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

Play and Learn

Pumpkin Playdough (Recipe) with 5 Little Pumpkins playmats (from Preschool Spot)

The Pumpkin Playdough was so soft and smelled yummy!!

Pumpkin Seed Counting

Giant matching game (from Oriental Trading)

Pre-writing follow the line (From 3Dinosaurs)

Blocks

Baby Storytime--October 17

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces

Bubbles

Hands Are Clapping
(Tune: London Bridges)
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap

Clap, clap, clap

Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping!

Additional verses:

Toes are tapping… Tap, tap, tap
Eyes are hiding… peekaboo!

Puppet

Little Bear in the tree

Sitting, oh, so still.

Won’t you come out?

Yes, he will!

He looks to the left

He looks to the right

He looks straight ahead

Then pops out of sight!

This puppet is from Folkmanis Puppets

Hello Song

(Tune: Good Night Ladies)

Hello ____, hello ____.

Hello ____, we’re glad you’re here today!

I usually have each parent/caregiver introduce themselves and their baby.  Then we sing hello to the baby.  However, we had such a big group we sang to three babies in each verse.  The last verse had just one baby's name...so we sang hello everyone!  

Trot, Trot

Trot, trot to Boston. Trot, trot to Lynn.
         (bounce baby)
Watch out little baby, you might fall in!
         (lower baby between your knees)

Trot, trot to Denver. Trot, trot to Dover.
          (bounce baby)
Watch out little baby, you might fall over!
          (tip baby to one side)

Roly-Poly

Roly-poly, roly-poly (circle arms around each other—repeat each time you sing the phrase)

Out, out, out (move hands away from each other)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

In, in, in (bring hands together)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your nose

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your toes.

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Up to the sky (pull baby up to standing)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Fly, fly, fly (life baby up in the air)

Toast

I’m toast in the toaster

I’m getting very hot (bounce)

Tick tock, tick tock (side to side)

Up I pop!

Pat-a-Cake
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can!
     (clap hands)
Roll it and pat it and mark it with a "B"
And put it in the oven for baby and me!

Tickle the clouds (spoken)

Tickle the clouds
and tickle your toes
Clap your hands
and tickle your nose
Reach down low
And reach up high
Story time’s over —
Wave bye-bye!

Books
Read Aloud Book:
More and More by Emma Dodd

Shared Reading:  A variety of board books by Annie Kubler

Play and Learn Activities

Shakers, stacking cups, discovery bottles, puzzles

Baby Storytime--October 10

I haven't been able to do my Baby Storytime for several weeks because of meetings, so I was very excited to back with them today!

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces
Bubbles

Hands Are Clapping
(Tune: London Bridges)
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap

Clap, clap, clap

Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping!

Toes are tapping… Tap, tap, tap
Eyes are hiding… peekaboo!

Puppet

Little Bear in the tree

Sitting, oh, so still.

Won’t you come out?

Yes, he will!

He looks to the left

He looks to the right

He looks straight ahead

Then pops out of sight!

This puppet is from Folkmanis Puppets

Hello Song

(Tune: Good Night Ladies)

Hello ____, hello ____.

Hello ____, we’re glad you’re here today!

I have each parent/caregiver introduce themselves and their baby.  Then we sing hello to the baby.  A baby's name is one of the first things a baby recognizes.  

Trot, Trot

Trot, trot to Boston. Trot, trot to Lynn.
         (bounce baby)
Watch out little baby, you might fall in!
         (lower baby between your knees)

Trot, trot to Denver. Trot, trot to Dover.
          (bounce baby)
Watch out little baby, you might fall over!
          (tip baby to one side)

Roly-Poly

Roly-poly, roly-poly (circle arms around each other—repeat each time you sing the phrase)

Out, out, out (move hands away from each other)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

In, in, in (bring hands together)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your nose

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your toes.

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Up to the sky (pull baby up to standing)

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Fly, fly, fly (life baby up in the air)

Toast

I’m toast in the toaster

I’m getting very hot (bounce)

Tick tock, tick tock (side to side)

Up I pop!

Pat-a-Cake
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can!
     (clap hands)
Roll it and pat it and mark it with a "B"
And put it in the oven for baby and me!

Tickle the clouds (spoken)

Tickle the clouds
and tickle your toes
Clap your hands
and tickle your nose
Reach down low
And reach up high
Story time’s over —
Wave bye-bye!

Books
Read Aloud Book:  Love that Baby by Susan Milord

Shared Reading:  A variety of board books by Annie Kubler

Play and Learn Activities

Here are two activities I put together that the babies loved!

Pull scarves out of an empty Kleenex box

Discovery Bottles--small objects in plastic water bottles for babies to shake and look at.  I like the SoBe LifeWater bottles because they are sturdier than regular water bottles, have large opening and caps, and they have a cool texture!