Big and Little Preschool Storytime

Books

The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark

by Ken Geist; illustrated by Julia Gorton

Tiny Little Fly

by Michael Rosen; illustrated by Kevin Waldron

Song

Bluegrass Jamboree
by Hap Palmer

Itsy Bitsy Spider
Big, Giant Spider

Opposites
(with scarves)
Tune: Mary had a Little Lamb

This is fast and this is slow
This is fast,
This is slow
This is fast and this is slow
Sing along with me.

Front--Back
High--Low
On--Off
Fast--Slow (to end)

Play and Learn

Playdough
Straws and Connectors
Beanbags
Mr. Potato Head
Ladybug Alphabet Puzzle
Nuts and Bolts

Big and Small--Baby STEM Storytimes

Books

I am Small

by Emma Dodd

Wee Little Chick

by Lauren Thompson; illustrated by John Butler

Are You My Mommy?

by Mary Murphy

Little Bitty Friends

by Elizabeth McPike; illustrated by Patrice Barton

Songs/Rhymes/Bounces

You Ought to See My Baby
Baby-O!

We'll Say Hello
(tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

We say hello to ________
We say hello to ________
We say hello to ________
We're glad you're here today?

Little Bear
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 he *POPS* out of sight!

When Cows Get Up in the Morning
When cows get up in the morning they always say, "Good Day!"
When cows get up in the morning they always say, "Good Day!"
"Moo, moo, moo!" that's how they say good day
"Moo, moo, moo!" that's how they say good day!

Puppets--pig, frog, bunny, dog, cat

Roly Poly
Roly-poly, roly-poly
Big, big, big!
Roly-poly, roly-poly
Small, small, small!
Roly-poly, roly-poly
Touch your toes!
Roly-poly, roly-poly
Touch your nose!
Roly-poly, roly-poly
Up to the sky!
Roly-poly, roly-poly
Fly! Fly! Fly!

The Noble Duke of York
Baby-O!

Me, Complete!

I have 10 little fingers and 10 little toes

Two little arms and one little nose

One little mouth and two little ears

Two little eyes for smiles and tears

One little head and two little feet

One little chin;  that's ME, complete! 

Itsy, Bitsy Spider

I'm a Little Teapot

One Bright Scarf
One bright scarf waiting for the wind to blow
Wiggle it high
Wiggle it low
Shake it fast
Shake it slow
Hide it behind your back!
Where'd it go?!

Flannel

A small_________, a big ___________, the biggest ___________ I see!
Now help me count them. 1, 2, 3!

*Circle  *Star

Play and Learn

A few "special" activities

A small ring, a big ring, the biggest ring I see
Now help me count them, 1, 2, 3!
(largest ring was a hoola hoop)

A small ball, a big ball, the biggest ball I see
Now help me count them, 1, 2, 3!

Balls, ramps, and big blue blocks

Another time we did the parachute!

Snow

I really enjoyed doing this storytime with toddlers and an outreach visit!

Books

A Kitten Tale

by Eric Rohmann

In the Snow

by Sharon Phillips Denslow; illustrated by Nancy Tafuri

Oh!

by Kevin Henkes; illustrated by Laura Dronzek

Songs

Snow

Snow is falling all around

On the housetop, on the ground

Snow is falling on my nose

On my head and hands and toes!

Chubby Little Snowman

(First we "build a snowman"--making sure we gave him a carrot nose!)

A chubby little snowman

Had a carrot for his nose.

Along came a bunny 

And what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny

Was looking for his lunch.

He ate the snowman's carrot nose!

Nibble, nibble, CRUNCH!

Snowflakes, Snowflakes

use die cut snowflakes

Snowflakes, snowflakes turn around
Snowflakes, snowflakes drifting down.
Snowflakes, snowflakes on my nose
Snowflakes, snowflakes on my toes!
Snowflakes, snowflakes in the air
Snowflakes, snowflakes everywhere!
Snowflakes, snowflakes dance around
Snowflakes, snowflakes falling down.

One Little Snowflake

One little, two little, three little snowflakes

Four little, five little, six little snowflakes

Seven little, eight little, nine little snowflakes

Ten little snowflakes falling down!

Play and Learn

White chalk and crayons with black and dark blue paper

New magnetic mix and match animals (wild and farm animals)

Winter and Snow

I have had a lot of fun this week with our theme of Winter and Snow!  I did a preschool storytime on Tuesday and an outreach storytime today using these books--some of my favorites!!

Books

Don't Wake Up the Bear!

by Marjorie Dennis Murray; illustrated by Patricia Wittmann

Froggy Gets Dressed

by Jonathan London; illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

Songs

Snowflake, Snowflake
use die cut snowflakes

Snowflakes, snowflakes turn around
Snowflakes, snowflakes drifting down.
Snowflakes, snowflakes on my nose
Snowflakes, snowflakes on my toes!
Snowflakes, snowflakes in the air
Snowflakes, snowflakes everywhere!
Snowflakes, snowflakes dance around
Snowflakes, snowflakes falling down.


(I had a huge group at my in-house storytime and I wasn't sure if I had enough snowflakes, so we did Jim Gill's Silly Dance Contest instead)

On my outreach visit I also added Are You Sleeping?

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping
Little bear?  Little bear?
<snore>
Wake up little bear! Wake up little bear!
Growl, growl, growl!
Growl, growl, growl!

Other animals included: fox (run) and horse (gallop)

Play and Learn

White chalk and crayons on dark paper

Snipping Station

An internal blog post

Many children are entering school without scissor skills.  Some parents are hesitant to allow their children to use scissors in fear of what they may cut up and other parents just don’t think about teaching scissor skills.  But scissors skills are important in and of themselves, but developing these fine motor skills also aids in greater skills in writing.

A fun way to introduce and encourage scissor skills is to create a snipping station.  This is super easy to set up and children love to spend time there.  The last time I set up a snipping station there were children who choose to spend all their play time at the station!

In a shallow tub or box put in a variety of items for children to cut.  Examples include: scrap paper, construction paper, cardstock, straws, yarn, ribbon, craft foam, crepe paper, tissue paper, junk mail, envelopes, store circulars, newspaper, scraps of fabric, etc.  Provide 6-8 pairs of child scissors (this is a great opportunity to encourage waiting your turn and sharing).  Encourage the children to snip—short cuts on the edge on the items—and to keep the cut pieces in the bin.

The children are not “making” anything and they are also not asked to “cut on the line”—this is just an open-ended activity to practice using scissors. Though it is a perfect opportunity to gently help a child hold the scissors in the correct position and to encourage them to keep the scissors in a “thumbs up” position.

Bedtime Storytime for Toddlers

Books

Where to Sleep

by Kandy Radzinski

Little Sleepyhead

by Elizabeth McPike, illustrated by Patrice Barton

Sweet Dreams

by Pat Mora, illustrated by Maribel Suarez

Songs

Dance Your Fingers

Dance your fingers up
Dance your fingers down
Dance your fingers side to side
Then dance them all around.
Dance them on your shoulders
Dance them on your head
Dance them on your knees
Then put them straight to bed.

Are You Sleeping?

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Little dog? Little dog?
<snore>
Wake up little dog! Wake up little dog!
Woof, woof, woof! Woof, woof, woof!

Other animals included:  Cat, bird, forg

Flannel

Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue come blow your horn
The sheep's in the meadow
The cow's in the corn
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack, fast asleep!

The toddlers loved "finding" Little Boy Blue!  They each needed a turn.

Play and Learn

Snipping Station
Scissors and a variety of things to cut--paper, curling ribbon, craft foam, straws, crepe paper, yarn
The toddlers were enthralled with this activity, many using scissors for the first time.  I took time to help children hold the scissors correctly.  They were so proud of themselves every time they cut!  The spent the majority of the time at this station.

Blocks
Balls

Time for Bed!

Books

How Do You Go to Sleep?

by Kate McMullan; illustrated by Sydney Hanson

Bear Can't Sleep

by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman

Song

Are You Sleeping?

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping

Little bear? Little bear?

<snore>

Wake up little bear! Wake up little bear!

Grrrrr, grrrr, grrrr! Grrr, grrr, grrr!

Variety of other animals including: frog, bird, cheetah, dog, cat

Flannel

Five in the Bed

There were 5 in the bed and the little one said, "Roll over!  Roll over!"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

Play and Learn

Ramps, cars and balls

Blocks

Puzzles

Soup Storytime

Books

Fox Tale Soup

by Tony Bonning; illustrated by Sally Hobson

Bear and Chicken

by Jannie Ho

Songs

The Soup is Boiling Up
(tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

The soup is boiling up
The soup is boiling up
Stir slow, around we go
The soup is boiling up

1st we'll add the water
1st we'll add the water
Stir slow, around we go
The soup is boiling up.

Then we'll add the carrot
...
Last we'll add the onion

Silly Soup
(tune: Pop Goes the Weasel)

I'm going to make some silly soup
I'm making soup that's silly
I'm going to cook it in the fridege
To make it nice and chilly!

I'm going to make some silly soup
I'm making soup that's silly
In goes a clock, dirty socks, and some blocks
To make a soup that's silly!

Additional verse:
van, pan, can
dice, mice, ice
cheese, bees, sneeze
pie, fly, french fry


Play and Learn

Play food items to make soup
Pom-poms
Blocks
Scissor practice--snipping to make "ingredients" for soup

Outreach
At my outreach visits I read Soup Day instead of Fox Tale Soup and also read Soup for One.

Soup Day

by Melissa Iwai

Soup for One

by Ethan Long