Little Ducks - Family Storytime

A Saturday morning storytime for ages 0-6 years old.  

Opening #2: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs forWiggleworms by Old Town School of Folk Music

Opening #2: Roly Poly Oh So Fast (hand rolling body part chant adapted by Carol Hopkins)

Roly poly, roly poly, oh so fast!
Roly poly, roly poly, oh so slowly.
Roly poly, roly poly, up.
Roly poly, roly poly, down.
Roly poly, roly poly, hands on your head.
Roly poly, roly poly, hand on your feet.

(Repeat with other body parts)

Roly poly, roly poly, hands in your lap.

 

 

Literacy flannelboard: Ducky Duck Colors (flannelboard color rhyme written by Carol Hopkins)

Directions: Make a set of geese in different colors. Hand these geese out to the children, one per child. Say the rhyme, naming one color each time. The children come up and place their goose on the board when you say the color of their goose.

 Ducky, ducky, duckling,
Please come play with me.
Ducky, ducky, {red} duck,
Join the flock and me.

 

 
 

Book #1: Come Along, Daisy by Jane Simmons

***Parent literacy tip: Exploring emotions through stories and books is a safe way to process potentially fearful situations and feelings.  With a trusted adult they feel safe reading these stories while developing critical thinking skills needed to navigate unknown situations. 

Stand-up activity: Little Duck, Little Duck (action rhyme adapted from the jump rope rhyme "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around")

Little duck, little duck waddle around.
Little duck, little duck touch the ground.
Little duck, little duck wings go flap.
Little duck, little duck beak goes "Quack! Quack!"
Little duck, little duck jump into the river.
Little duck, little duck give a little shiver.
Little duck, little duck find your feet.
Little duck, little duck find your seat.

Sit-down activity: Little Ducklings (action chant adapted by Carol Hopkins)

Ten little duckling line up in a row

(stand up straight)

Quack, quack, quack

(clap three times)

And away they go.

They walk behind their mother waddling to and fro

(waddle walk)

Quack, quack, quack

(clap three times)

And away they go.

Down to the big pond, happy as can be

(make large circle with both arms)

Quack, quack, quack

(clap three times)

And away they go.

They jump in the water to bob up and down

(bend knees a couple of times to bob)

Quack, quack, quack

(clap three times)

And away they go.

They swim all around, and swim right out of sight

(make swimming motions)

Quack, quack, quack

(clap three times)

And away they went.

(wave good-bye)

 

Transition: Come 'A' Look And See (fingerplay song I first picked up at a workshop conducted by Jane Cobb but can also be found on the music CD The Baby Record by Bob McGrath)

Come a' look a' see,
Here's my mama, 
(point to thumb)
Come a' look a' see,
Here's my papa, 
(point to index finger)
Come a' look a' see,
My brother tall, 
(point to tall finger)
Sister, baby, 
(point to ring, then baby finger) 
I love them all. 
(Kiss the fingertips of your finger family) 

 

Book #2: Five Little Ducks by Denise Fleming 

Closing music with scarves: “Popcorn Calling Me” action song from Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner

Art activity: Color with dot markets and then cut out duck feet that can be taped around the ankle.  

 

 

 

 

Summer Camp Storytime Week 3

I held a storytime session at the local summer day camp for 5- and 6-year-olds.  

Opening Song:

When Animals Get Up in the Morning (adaptation of a traditional song)

When pigs get up in the morning,
They always say “Good Day!”
When pigs get up in the morning,
They always say “Good Day!”
They say, "Oink!, Oink!, Oink!, Oink!,"
that is what they say.
They say, "Oink!, Oink!, Oink!, Oink!,"
that is what they say.

(Repeat with other animals that I randomly pull out of a cloth bag.)

 

  

Books:

Bear Went Over the Mountain by Jane Cabrera

Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey

Don’t Blink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by David Roberts

 

 

Craft activity: 

A color and cut sheet for “Bear Went Over the Mountain”.  (This ended up being the perfect craft activity.  Their attention span was fading and the children really needed the scissor practice.) 

Substitute Storytime - Preschool Storytime

When my coworker wasn’t feeling well, I stepped up to do her preschool storytime for her. 

Opening #1: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs forWiggleworms by Old Town School of Folk Music

Opening #2: When Animals Get Up in the Morning (adaptation of a traditional song)

When pigs get up in the morning,
They always say “Good Day!”
When pigs get up in the morning,
They always say “Good Day!”
They say, "Oink! Oink! Oink! Oink!"
that is what they say.
They say, "Oink! Oink! Oink! Oink!"
that is what they say.

(Repeat with other animals I pulled out of a cloth bag.)

 

Literacy activity: Ice Cream Colors (color rhyme flannelboard found at Step By Step blog at https://www.stepbystepcc.com/foods/icecream.html)

We have ice cream, the best in town,
Let us begin with chocolate brown.

Now, let us scoop us some bubble-gum pink,
It is sweet and yummy, the best, some think.

Here is ice cream minty and green,
It is the creamiest I have ever seen.

Yellow ice cream is lemony and tart,
We like its taste from the very start.

Scoops of blueberry would make my day,
Look at all this ice cream, hip, hip hurray!

Red ice cream is a strawberry delight,
All these scoops are a heavenly sight.

Vanilla white is a popular flavor,
It tastes very good to an ice-cream craver.

Purple ice cream really gives me a kick,
Good and yummy till the very last lick.

Ice cream, ice cream, what a cool sensation,
We love ice cream in any combination!

 

  

Book #1: Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey

Stand-up activity: “I’m a Little Teapot” action song from This Little Piggy by Adam Stemple, et al

I'm a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my spout
When I get all steamed up
Hear me shout
"Tip me over and pour me out!"

I'm a clever teapot,
Yes, it's true
Here let me show you
What I can do
I can change my handle
And my spout
Just tip me over and pour me out!

 

Sit-down activity: Alligator Pie (an action rhyme I found many years ago that I have seen on many websites)

Alligator, alligator, alligator pie, 
(Open and close arms like the jaws of an alligator)

If I don't get some, I think I'm gonna cry.
(Rub eyes like you are crying)

You can take away the grass,
(Point to the ground)

You can take away the sky,
(Point to the sky above)

But don't take away my alligator pie!
(Open and close arms like an alligator)

 

Book #2: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean

Book #3: Bark, George! by Jules Feiffer

Closing music with scarves: “Popcorn Calling Me” action song from Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner

Optional activity: Playing with blocks and dinosaurs

Flowers Are Plants: A Story and STEAM Event

This program was intended to introduce STEAM concepts to preschoolers ages 3-6 years old.  

Intro song #1:  Hello Friends (sign language action song for the words hello, friends, and time)

Hello friends,
Hello friends,
Hello friends,
It's time to say hello.

 

Intro song #2: If You Are Ready for Stories... (my adaptation of a Rob Reid storytime rhyme)

If you are ready for stories...
...Count to three.
...Stretch your wings.
...Touch your toes.
...Touch your nose.
...Bark like a dog.
...Snore like a log.
...Sit like a kid at storytime.

 

 

Book: If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson

Demonstration:

“Flower Song” flannelboard (a song to the tune of "The Farmer In the Dell" about the parts of a flower that I found at https://everythingpreschool.com/themes/flowers/songs.htm)

 

STEAM questions and concepts:  What are the parts of a flower?  What does a flower need to grow? 

 

Stations: 

 

Station #1- Planting radishes

Encourage children to fill a peet pot with potting soil and then plant radish seeds inside it.  Children can also use the craft sticks and color pens to create garden labels for the pot. 

 

 

Station #2 – Stamping flowers process art

Encourage child to use the precut straws to stamp flower designs on the paper with colorful paint.    

 

 

Station #3 – Parts of a plant

Encourage children to look at the live plant with and without the magnifying glasses and microscopes. 

 

Station #4 – Take home seed experiment

Encourage children to take home one peet pellet greenhouse starter kit and one cup of seeds to experiment with growing plants from seeds. 

  

Reflection: 

The children were very engaged during all of the stations.  One grandmother liked the art activity so much she told me she was going to use it during her next Sunday School teaching day.  

Summer Camp Storytime Week 2

I held a another storytime session at the local summer day camp for 5 and 6 year olds.  

Opening Song:

When Animals Get Up in the Morning (adaptation of a traditional song)

When pigs get up in the morning,
They always say “Good Day!”
When pigs get up in the morning,
They always say “Good Day!”
They say, "Oink!, Oink!, Oink!, Oink!,"
that is what they say.
They say, "Oink!, Oink!, Oink!, Oink!,"
that is what they say.

(Repeat with other animals that I randomly pull out of a cloth bag.)

 

  

Books:

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert (big book edition)

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems

What! Cried Granny: An Almost Bedtime Story by Kate Lum, illustrated by Adrian Johnson

 

Craft activity: 

Use cut straws to stamp flowers on paper.  (Although a good number of the campers decided to fingerpaint instead.) 

 

Extra activity:

Planting radish seeds into peet pots.  (Because I had a ton of these pots and radish seeds left over. And the camp theme was a STEM theme this week.)