Shapes! Preschool Math Mash-Up

Our last Math Mash-up Storytime for preschool!  One of our storytime staff was out sick so I did two days in a row.  Since I had one repeat family I swapped out one book.

Books

Walter's Wonderful Web

by Tim Hopgood

Shapes, Reshape!

by Silvia Borando

Triangle

by Mark Barnett and Jon Klassen

Graph Question
What shape would you like to eat?

Triangle--slice of pizza, slice of watermelon, piece of pie, corn chips
Circle--cookie, crackers, pancakes, donuts, orange slice
Rectangle--chocolate bar, graham cracker, ice cream sandwich, fish sticks
Square--waffle, soda cracker, sandwich, square cereal

Play and Learn

Make a picture collage using shapes

Baby Storytime--Shapes

Our last Math Mash-up storytime; this one focusing on shapes!  After I had gathered all the books I decided to do it for two weeks in a row.

Read Aloud Books

Blocks

by Irene Dickson

Baby Party

by Rebecca O'Connell; illustrated by Susie Poole

Flannel

5 Little Cookies

Down around the corner, in the bakery shop
There were 5 yummy cookies with frosting on top
Along comes a ________ (animal puppet) with a dollar to day
He/She busy the _________ (color) one and takes it away!

Shapes

A small ___________
A big ____________
And the biggest ____________ I see.
Now help me count them
One, two, three!

(shapes used: circle, heart, and star)

Baking Storytime

It's that time of year!!!  Pull out the mixing bowls, rolling pins, and oven mitts and do some BAKING!!

Books

Baking Day at Grandma's

by Anika Denise; illustrated by Christopher Denise

Cookie Count: A Tasty Pop-Up

by Robert Sabuda

Flannel

5 Little Cookies

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 busy the ____________ (color) one and takes it away.


Magnet Board Activity

Cookie Thief

Cookie, cookie soft and sweet
Who wants to eat my tasty treat?

Play and Learn

Since we had done playdough a few weeks prior I challenged the children do some pretend baking--I put out bowls, mixing spoons, measuring cups, measuring spoons, rolling pins, spatulas, cookie sheets, muffin tins, and pie dish and told them to BAKE.  It took a little bit for the kids to warm up to the idea, but most seemed to enjoy the activity and I got to taste some yummy baking!

Letter B Storytime

I used to do "Letter of the Week" storytimes all the time, so I decided to revisit it this week.

Books

Did you the B from my __ook?

by Beck and Matt Stanton

Bug Bear

by Patricia Hegarty; illustrated by Carmen Saldana

Bird, Balloon, Bear

by Il Sung Na

Song

The Beanbag Song
tune:  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 the beanbag on your your hair, on your hair.

Additional verses:
Toe--left it high and lift it low
Ground--step and step around
Hand--toss it up and watch it land

Play and Learn

Bubbles
Wooden Beads
Beanbags and buckets
Blocks
Button sorting
Make bead bracelets with pony beads and pipe cleaner
Pop bubble wrap

Food Storytime

A great theme to do in lieu of Thanksgiving!

Books

Before We Eat: From Farm to Table

by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Mary Azarian

Woodpecker Wants a Waffle

by Steve Breen

A great book to Supercharge!  Just like Woodpecker and waffle both start with "w"--all the animals tell Woodpecker they don't eat human food that starts with the small letter as they do (Moose don't munch on muffins)

Song

Popcorn Parachute
(tune: Are you sleeping?)

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels
In the pot, in the pot
Shake 'em, shake 'em, shake 'em
Shake 'em, shake 'em, shake 'em
'Til they POP! Pop, pop, pop!

We used large white, yellow, and orange pom-poms for popcorn

Play and Learn

Playdough and cookie cutters

Felt Pizzas

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes Baby Storytimes

I did four weeks of body parts for baby storytime October/November.  It was very fun!

Read Aloud Books

Baby Love

by Angela Di Terlizzi; illustrated by Brooke Boynton Hughes

Ten Little Toes, Two Small Feet

by Kristy Dempsey; illustrated by Jane Massey

I Love You, Nose! I Love You, Toes!

by Linda Davick

(skipped nose, chest, belly, back, scratches)

All of Baby Nose to Toes

Victoria Adler; illustrated by Hiroe Nakata

Special Songs

Cheek, Chin

Cheek, chin
Cheek, chin
Cheek, chin, NOSE!

Cheek, chin
Cheek, chin
Cheek, chin, TOES!

Cheek, chin
Cheek, chin
Up baby GOES!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub
Rub-a-dub-dub, one child in the tub,
Tell me what you see.
One foot with toes, a hand, a nose
As clean as they can be!

Rub-a-dub-dub, one child in the tub,
Tell me what you see.
Two ears, a cheek
So clean they squeak
A chin, a tummy, a knee.

Rub-a-dub-dub, one child in the tub,
Tell me what you see.
Legs and arms, so clean and warm
Do they have a hug for me?


Shared Reading Books

Tickle my ears

Ten little fingers

Belly button book

Eyes, nose, fingers and toes

Where is baby’s belly button?

Whose Knees are these?

Ears, eyes, nose

Knees and Toes

Ten Tiny Toes

Hop a little, jump a little

Head shoulders knees and toes

Itsy bitsy spider

Where is baby’s yummy tummy?

Winter is Coming

I almost waited too long to do this storytime theme.  We'd already had one snow fall, but the snow melted so I did this theme the next week! 

Books

Baby Bear Counts One

by Ashley Wolff

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep

by Maureen Wright; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

Special Song

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Turn around

Touch the ground

Dance on your toes

Touch your nose

Reach up high

Touch the sky

Bend down low

Touch your toe

Stand up now

Take a bow

Stomp your feet

Take your seat.

Play and Learn

Popcorn kernel sensory bin—with silk leaves; measuring cups, funnels, etc.

Dress-Up Storytime

A nice alternative to "Halloween" theme

Books

Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen

by Lisa Campbell Ernst

D is for Dress-up: The ABC's of What We Wear

by Maria Carluccio

Super Rawr!

by Todd H. Doodler

Graph Question

What would you like to dress up as?

Superhero, royalty, animal, someone you could grow up to be (doctor, firefighter, etc.)

Song

Old Shoes, New Shoes

Old shoes, new shoes,
Now we’re wearing _____________ shoes.
One, two, three, four.
Now, I stomp them on the floor.

pirate, elephant, firefighter, dance (twirl), superhero (fly them off the floor)

Play and Learn

Make a mask out of a paper plate

Slightly Spooky Storytime Celebration

I like that I was able to do a holiday storytime because it was scheduled specifically on a different day and well advertised as a "Halloween Storytime".

Books

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

by Linda William, illustrated by Megan Lloyd

We're Off to Find the Witch's House

by Mr. Krieb; illustrated by R. W. Alley

Flannel/Song

This is the House that is Haunted

This is the house that is haunted ...

This is the moon that shines on the house that is haunted.

These are the bats that fly past the moon that shines ...

This is the ghost that startles the bats that fly past the moon ...

These are the trees that sway in the breeze that flutters the ghost who startles the bats ...

This is the cat that sits by the trees that sway in the breeze ...

This is the pumpkin that glows in the dark that warms the cat who sits by the trees ...

Witch’s Brew

(tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

The brew is boiling up

The brew is boiling up

Simmer and stew

This nasty goo

The brew is boiling up

Add ingredients to the cauldron!

Bat Poop--Cocoa Puffs 

Fish Guts--Goldfish crackers

Cat Claws--Candy Corn

Ghost Boogers--Mini-Marshmallows

Dragon's Blood--M&Ms

Fried Flies--Chocolate Chips

Activities

Scavenger Hunt
Eat Witch's Brew
Masking Tape Mummies
Roll a Jack O' Lantern
Bean Bag Toss
Create a Monster

Crazy Themed Storytime (plus Math Mash-Up)

Two fun CRAZY Math Mash-ups (Big and Small/More and Less) for Preschool!

Books

Say Zoop!

by Herve Tullet

(I wish the title would have been a literal translation from the original French title:  The Book That Makes Sounds)  I skipped 13 double page spreads when I read it aloud at storytime.

This is a Ball

by Beck and Matt Stanton

My second group of preschoolers were a bit younger so I read The Nonsense Show instead of This is a Ball.

The Nonsense Show

by Eric Carle

Songs

Crazy Traffic Light

Shake Your Sillies Out

Play and Learn

Playdough—make big and small/more and less

Puppets—line up big to small

Crazy Scissors collage

Outdoor Math Activity--that I didn't do

Big and Small Math Mash-up {Baby Storytime}

Baby Storytime:  Big and Small Math Mash-up

Books

Mouse is Small

by Mary Murphy

Now I Am Big

by Stephen Krensky; illustrated by Sara Gillingham

Flannel Board

A small ___________
A big ____________
And the biggest ____________ I see.
Now help me count them
One, two, three!

Special Song

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Big, big, big

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Small, small, small

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your nose

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Touch your toes

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Up to the sky

Roly-poly, roly-poly

Fly, fly, fly!

Touch a Fire Truck Storytime

A huge turnout for our Touch a Fire Truck Storytime!!  I knew our small library would draw a big crowd so I put out tarps on the lawn so we had an outdoor storytime!  Thankfully the weather was really nice.  We ended up with over 90 people at the program! (Our usual storytimes pull in about 30)  I think everyone had a good time.

Books

Fire Engine Man

Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha

Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake

Eileen Christelow

Song

When I'm a Fire Fighter!

(tune: Here we go 'round the Mulberry Bush)

Set the stage...we are fire fighters, asleep at the fire station

This is the way the alarm sounds

The alarm sounds

The alarm sounds

This is the way the alarm sounds

When I'm a fire fighter!

This is the way I jump out of bed

...I slide down the pole

...I put on my gear

...I drive the truck

...the siren sounds

...spray my hose

We walked next door to the fire station.  The firemen had pulled out the engine.  We gathered around and watched the fireman put on (and explain) his gear.  The kids got to get their picture taken with the fireman.  The kids also got to go inside the fire truck.

I had some outdoor activities back at the library for any kids who wanted to go back and play.

We will definitely be doing this storytime again next fall!!

1, 2, 3 Count with Me!

Our first Math Mash-up of the school year.  Counting and Cardinality  (see Learning Pathway in Numeracy)  It was not one of my favorite storytimes....my next Math Mash-up I will be 'mathemitizing' regular books instead of focusing directly on the math concept.  I think they make a much better storytime.

Dog Loves Counting

by Louise Yates

Bear Counts

by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

I commented to parents that this is a great book to read one-on-one as there are many other things to count on each double page spread.

Pirate Storytime

Two Pirate storytimes with two different sets of books.  I liked all of them, but my second group needed shorter books.

Books

Pirate Treasure Hunt!

by Jan Peck; illustrated by Adrian Tans

Peg Leg Peke

by Brie Spangler

I Love My Pirate Papa

by Laura Leuck; illustrated by Kyle M. Stone

Bubble Bath Pirates!

by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Song

When I was one I sucked my thumb

The day I went to sea

I jumped aboard a pirate ship

And the captain said to me:

We go this way (lean to left)

And that way (lean to right)

And forwards (step forwards)

And backwards (step backwards)

Across the deep blue sea! (spin in a circle)

Play and Learn

Dig for gold coins in the sand

Go on a treasure hunt around the room finding pirate related pictures

I found this cute song after storytime...I'll put it here to remind me for next time!

The Busy Pirates

(Start verse from a crouching position)

The pirates stand up

The pirates sit down

The pirates are running

All around town.

But where is their Captain?

Look carefully

He's snoring loudly

Beneath a tree.

Balloon Storytime

After attending a workshop at Starting Strong entitled "More Than a Mess!" I just had to try painting with balloons!  This was a super fun, successful storytime!

Books

A Balloon for Isabel

by Deborah Underwood; illustrated by Laura Rankin

Don't Wake UP the Tiger

by Britta Teckentrup

Graph Question
What is your favorite color balloon?
Blue (4), Yellow (3), Red (5), Green (3)

Song

If You're Happy and You Know It
with additional verse about blowing up a balloon--then having it POP!

Flannel Board

Balloons
(tune: Pop Goes the Weasel)

__________(name/animal) had a ___________ (color) balloon
He/she blew and blew and blew
His/her mother said "You'd better stop!"
Oops! Too late he/she popped it!

Play and Learn

Paint with Balloons!

I love the differences between these two children

and how they interacted with the balloons and paint!

Up Houses with do-a-dot

Play with balloons

Fun and Learning with Balloons!

• Count how many times your child can hit the balloon and keep it up in the air
• Count how many times you and your child can hit the balloon back and forth to each other
• Balance a balloon on a cup; toss the balloon in the air and try to catch it on the cup
• Walk on the different lines while tapping the balloon to keep it in the air