Boo! It's Halloween!

I changed books the day before this storytime because I just wasn't satisfied with what I had pulled, and the books that I had requested weeks ago were not turned in in time for me to use them. Everything went well though, and the kids had the most fun with our last book. I'm now conducting preschool and toddler storytimes instead of family storytime and here is what we read today:

We sang the rhymes “Five Little Pumpkins,” “Monster, Monster,” “Flutter, Flutter Little Bat,” and “Pumpkin, Pumpkin” while dancing with scarves. I used the flannel boards Skeleton Dress Up and Halloween Farmer in the Dell. Storytime ended with a Halloween sensory tub and a toilet paper tube monster craft.

Jump, Jump - Frogs!

My library system has four locations, and this week I moved from a small branch to the main library! Very exciting for me! Now instead of conducting one family storytime, I have toddler and preschool storytimes. It is a bit different, a little rowdier, but I love the excitement shown when we sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, even though I know they have probably heard it a hundred times. This week the theme was "frogs" and I used several books that the previous librarian had already pulled, since our switch was so sudden and she had already planned that part of the storytime. Here is what we read:

I used a "Five Green and Speckled Frogs" flannel board that was pre-made by another librarian many moons ago. I made a flannel board that spelled out GREEN, and used this rhyme from Preschool Education:

Green added 9-16-99 Original Author Unknown
Sung to: "B-I-N-G-O"
There is a color we all know
Can you guess what it is?
G-R-E-E-N
G-R-E-E-N
G-R-E-E-N
Green is what that spells.
The grass and leaves outside
Are green as green as they can be.
G-R-E-E-N
G-R-E-E-N
G-R-E-E-N
Green is what that spells.

I made a song cube very similar to this and they loved it! It is a great early literacy tool and the fun was getting to throw it into the corner of the room. I don't think I'll ever lack volunteers for that task! 

At the end we made a frog in a pond craft, inspired by this image: http://nikarella.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/photo6.jpg 
I made numbered lily pads using this pattern and lined them up near the exit so kids could jump on the lily pads on their way out of the storytime room. It was a fun morning!

All Mixed Up!

This week's storytime was all about mixed-up, silly stories. We used a Mixed-Up Chameleon flannel board that my library already had made and ended with a mixed-up chameleon coloring craft. I put out different hats for them to dress up with and act silly. We read:

Collage Art

I kicked off a new monthly art series at my library on Saturday! We started with magazine collage art. It was very easy to prep and extremely easy to execute. I cut thin strips from donated magazines and made die cut shapes of animals on manilla paper. The kids glued (using glue sticks) the strips of paper to the die cuts, then flipped the die cuts over and cut along the outline of the shape. I then let them pick out any color of construction paper they would like and they glued their collage animal to it. I let them do as many as they could finish in an hour. I loved teaching them about how to collage and the other types of materials they can use. Everyone had a good time and they helped me clean up at the end (added bonus!)

I read this book to start so that everyone knew what making a collage means.

Then I had instruction sheets on the board with picture examples in case anyone needed help remembering the steps. Here is what my finished project looked like:

Days of the Week

And we're back! Fall storytime season started this week and I'm looking forward to the themes to come. Here is what we did for a "Days of the Week" storytime:

I used the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" flannel board and we sang the song "7 Days in a Week" song using American Sign Language. It is amazing how quickly kids pick up sign language! The kids made a hungry caterpillar craft from here (the 2nd and 4th ones on the page put together): http://welcomebabyuc.blogspot.com/2013/04/playgroup-very-hungry-caterpillar.html
We ended with a week color match sensory and educational activity. The idea came from here: http://b-inspiredmama.com/2013/08/learning-the-days-of-the-week/

Sensory Items This Summer

This summer I decided to add a sensory/play element to my storytimes. Here is what we have done so far. I have my last summer storytime next week and we will be playing with a magnetic fishing game.

Independence Day

I had a very small storytime group this week, and most of them were older children (6-10). We read one more book than normal and learned a bit about American symbols. We finished with a Water Fireworks experiment and a glitter fireworks craft. Glitter fireworks were made by putting a large glob of glue on the paper and using a q-tip to "pull" the glue out to make firework shapes. I then had them bring their sheets to me and I put glitter on it.

Inspiration for this flannel board came from Mel's Desk.

Aargh! Pirates!

Lots of pirate "Aarghs!" and common phrases filled this storytime. We even went on a treasure hunt at the end! We read 3 books, practiced colors with the flannel board "Pirate Patches, " played a game similar to memory with "Treasure Matching," and decorated a die cut pirate ship. A co-worker colored the example,
so I can't take credit for her awesome cat!

Beach Day

It wouldn't be summer without the beach! Here is what happened in storytime last week:

Great for bilingual storytime as well!

We also used the flannel boards "Five Little Seashells" and "Five Little Sandcastles."
The flannel board pieces for There Was an Old Lady came from here: http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/OldLadyShell-FeltBoard.htm.

We made a beach book using a template from The Mailbox as our craft. I created two sand and seashell sensory boxes for kids to play with at the end. They enjoyed seeing the different kinds of shells and would hold them up to their ears to hear the ocean.

Summer Reading Club Bulletin Board

Make a Splash: Read!

Ocean Friends

First summer storytime! Always an interesting mix of regular patrons and lots of people there for the very first time. Our library's summer reading program theme is "Make a Splash: READ!" So, all of this summer's storytimes will be based on this theme. First up: Ocean Friends. I'm trying very hard to incorporate sensory and play items after learning all about it at ALA this spring. Here is what we read:

The flannel board story "The Hat" and flannel board rhyme "Five Little Ocean Friends" were used.

We also made a moved along with egg shakers, made a jellyfish craft and played with an ocean sensory item. The sensory idea came from this blog: http://homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com/2012/11/o-is-for-ocean-and-octopus.html