Snow Storytime

Storytime for 1 to 3 year olds:

• Opening - Skinnamarink (from Car Songs: Songs to Sing Anywhere by Dennis Buck at Kimbo), Sticky Sticky Bubblegum
• Book #1 – Downhill Fun: A Counting Book About Winter by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Tedd Ouren
• Activity – Snowflakes (action rhyme, I'm not sure where I picked up this rhyme)

Snowflakes falling down, down, down.
(hands flutter down)
Gently covering all the town
(move arms back and forth)
Swirling, twirling, down they come.
(swirl hands around, turn in a circle)
One landed on my tongue.
(point to tongue)

• Bridge - Open Shut Them (fingerplay)

Open, shut them
(open and close hands)
Open, shut them
Give a little clap (clap)
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Put them in your lap
(put hands in lap)

Creep them, creep them
Under your chin
(creep fingers up chest)
Open your mouth, but don't put them in
(do as words say)

Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open shut them
Open shut them
Put them in your lap

• Flannelboard/Math Activity - 5 Little Snowmen (counting backwards rhyme, not sure where I found this one)

Five little snowmen all made of snow.
Five little snowmen all in a row.
Out came the sun and shone all day.
And on little snowman melted away.

Four little snowmen...
Three little snowmen...

Two little snowmen made a good plan.
Into my kitchen they both ran.
Hopped in my freezer where the temperature's right.
And they come out to play on very cold nights.

• Fingerplay - Itsy-Bitsy Snowflake (I first found this fingerplay in Mailbox Preschool magazine, Dec./Jan. 2007-8, page 26)

The itsy-bitsy snowflake fell down from the sky.
(flutter hands down)
It landed on my nose
(point to nose)
And it bounced upon my eye
(point to eye)
It slid down to my chin
(point to chin)
And it landed on my tongue.
(point to tongue)
Then it melted all away
Now my snowflake song is done!

• Book #2 - Cleo In the Snow by Caroline Mockford
• Activity – The Snowman (action rhyme, not sure where I found this one)

Roll him and roll him until he is big.
(rolling motion)
Roll him and roll him until he is fat as a pig.
(hold out arms in wide circle)
He has two eyes
(fingers circle eyes)
And a hat on his head
(put hands together on head)
He'll stand there all night,
While we go to bed
(place head on hands, close eyes)

• Closing - Popcorn Calling Me (scarf song found in Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner)
• Craft – On a dark blue paper, paint with a q-tip using white paint to make a snow scene

Bats - Family Storytime

This is for an all ages, whole family storytime:

• Opening - Look Up, Look Down (sign language song from Pick Me Up!: Fun Songs for Learning Signs)
• Book #1 - Bats At the Library by Brian Lies
• Book #2 - Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (alternative book: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon)
• Activity - Can You Growl Like a Tiger? (action rhyme)

(act out the motions described)
Can you growl like a tiger?
Can you hop like a frog?
Can you climb like a monkey?
Can you bark like a dog?
Can you slither like a snake?
Can you fly like a bat?
Can you howl like a wolf?
Can you stre-tt-ccchhh like a cat?
Can you sit like a kid at storytime?

• Flannelboard - Five Little Bats on a Dark Night (counting backward rhyme that I first found on Estherstorytimes website)
• Book #3 - Hello, Bumblebee Bat by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (alternative book: Batty Riddles by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg, pictures by Nicole Rubel)
• Activity - Sun, Moon, and Stars (fingerplay I found in Mailbox Magazine Preschool Oct/Nov 2007, page 5)
• Closing - Dance around with paper plate moons to the song "Mister Moon" from Where Is Thumbkin? by Kimbo
• Family Math Activity - Make fun designs using foam pattern blocks
  

Creatures of the Night Storytime

Storytime for 1 to 3 year olds:

• Opening - Skinnamarink (from Car Songs: Songs to Sing Anywhere by Dennis Buck at Kimbo), Sticky Sticky Bubblegum
• Book #1 – Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson
• Activity – The Owl (action rhyme)

There's a wide eyed owl
(thumbs and forefingers around eyes)
With a pointed nose,
(forefinger makes a V at end of nose)
Two pointed ears,
(forefingers extended up from head for ears)
And claws for toes.
(fingers and arms bent in front of chest)
When he sits up high in the tree,
(point up to top of tree)
And he looks at you,
(point at a child in the group)
He flaps his wings,
(fold arms into arm pits and flap)
And he says, "Whoo, Whoo."

• Bridge - Open Shut Them (fingerplay)

Open, shut them
(open and close hands)
Open, shut them
Give a little clap (clap)
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Put them in your lap
(put hands in lap)

Creep them, creep them
Under your chin
(creep fingers up chest)
Open your mouth, but don't put them in
(do as words say)

Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open shut them
Open shut them
Put them in your lap

• Flannelboard/Math Activity - Five Little Bats on a Dark Night (counting backward rhyme that I first found on Estherstorytimes website)
• Fingerplay - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (traditional)
• Book #2 -I Walk At Night by Lois Duncan, paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Faucher
• Activity – Soft Kitty (song)

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur.
Lazy kitty, pretty kitty, purr, purr, purr.
(pretend there is a cat in your lap that you are petting)

• Closing - Popcorn Calling Me (scarf song found in Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner)
• Craft – Put out black and brown crayons or pens to color bat finger puppets

Food Storytime

Storytime for 1 to 3 year olds:

• Opening - Skinnamarink (from Car Songs: Songs to Sing Anywhere by Dennis Buck at Kimbo), Sticky Sticky Bubblegum
• Book #1 – Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (BIG BOOK)
• Activity – Alligator Pie (poem by Dennis Lee, first published in a book of poetry by the same name in 1974)
• Bridge - Open Shut Them (fingerplay)

Open, shut them
(open and close hands)
Open, shut them
Give a little clap (clap)
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Put them in your lap
(put hands in lap)

Creep them, creep them
Under your chin
(creep fingers up chest)
Open your mouth, but don't put them in
(do as words say)

Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open shut them
Open shut them
Put them in your lap

• Flannelboard/Math Activity - 4 Little Apples (counting backwards rhyme I found in the book Ready-To-Go Storytimes: Fingerplays, Scripts, Patterns, Music and More by Gail Benton and Trisha Waichulaitis)
• Fingerplay - Pat-a-Cake (traditional)
• Book #2 -Maisy Bakes a Cake by Lucy Cousins (pop-up)
• Activity – I'm a Little Teapot (action rhyme found in This Little Piggy & Other Rhymes to Sing & Play by Jane Yolen and Will Hillenbrand)
• Closing - Popcorn Calling Me (scarf song found in Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner)
• Craft – coloring sheet

Silly Day

The following is a program I did for a large multi-age group of children. There were about 60 kids ranging in age from first through fifth grade.

Read: Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Helene Desputeaux

Act Out: Using volunteers and a minimal amount of props, act out the story of the "12 Sillies" (below)

Craft: Create pictures using fingerprints (supplies needed are non-toxic ink pads, paper, color pens, and wipes)

The 12 Sillies
(props needed: 12 paint brushes, 12 pieces of paper, ink pad, dog stuffed animal)

Once upon a time there were twelve sillies. One day the twelve sillies set off to find a great place to paint. They walked through town and out of town. They walked up a hill and down a hill. Until they came to a beautiful spot by the river and decided this was the perfect spot to do some painting. They sat all day by the river and painted and mixed their paints and painted some more.

When night came, the twelve sillies started to go home. "Wait! We need to make sure we are all here!" said one of the sillies.

"That's a good idea," they all agreed.

So one of the sillies, the tallest one, said, "Stand in a line, and I will count." They all lined up, and he counted them, "One, two, three..." all the way up to eleven. (But when he got to the end of the line, he forgot to count himself!)

"ELEVEN!!!! Oh no!! One of us is missing!" They all started crying, for one of their friends was lost.

"Wait! Maybe you didn't count right. Let me try it." Said the shortest of the sillies.

So they all lined up, and he counted again, "One, two, three..." all the way to eleven.

"ELEVEN!!!! Oh no!! One of us is really missing!" They all started crying even harder.

After a time, along came a man/woman walking a dog. When he/she saw them, he/she asked what all the crying was about.

"There were twelve of us who came here to paint. When it came time to go home, we counted to make sure everyone was here, but someone is missing!" And they all started crying again.

The man/woman quietly counted to him/her self and figured out what had happened. "What will you give me if I find your missing friend?

"Oh, we will give you all of our wonderful paintings!! Please find our friend."

"Very well then, line up again." So they did. "Now, as I count each of you, stick your thumb in this paint can (ink pad). Then put you thumbprint on this paper. Then we can count how many thumbprints, to be sure."

So he/she counted, "One, two, three..." All the way to twelve, for of course, they really were all there. The twelve sillies were so grateful to find their lost friend that they gladly gave him/her all the paintings, and everyone went home happy.