Storytime with Miss Tara and Friends: Pr-K: Squirrels Getting Ready for Winter

Pre-K                      Evening Family Storytime
39 kids                     18 kids
5 siblings                 19 adults
32 adults                  37 total
76 total

It is that time of year when I know squirrels are getting ready for winter. We don't see too many in AZ, but I grew up watching and loving squirrels in NY.

Books:

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri. Squirrel is too busy getting ready for winter to play with the other animals!

That Pup! by Lindsay George. After having fun digging up acorns, a little dog helps squirrel out by burying them again.

I placed paper acorns on the flannel board as the dog found them. When the squirrel and dog hid them again we counted backwards as I took them off the board.

Frisky Brisky Hippity Hop by Susan Lurie. Photographs and rhyming text follow lively squirrels through the trees.

Acorns Everywhere by Kevin Sherry. An energetic squirrel hoards acorns but forgets where he hid them after being distracted by a berry-gathering bear.

Flannel Story: "Sammy Squirrel" by Liz and Dick Wilmes

Sammy Squirrel is sad because his favorite tree dropped all its leaves and now he's cold (look at that poor pink nose!)

He thinks about all his friends and their winter homes, but he just can't seem to find a cave or empty log and digging in the dirt and mud just aren't working for him!

Look what Sammy found just as it started snowing! The kids love when I slowly pull the pine tree out from behind the board because it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's about 2 1/2 feet tall.

Letter of the Day / Memory Box:

Our letter of the day was Cc for corn - which happened to be our memory box item. The ear of corn was in The Busy Little Squirrel.

Movement:

"Furry, Furry Squirrel" by Jack Prelutsky: The kids acted this poem out as the puppet also hopped, ran up the tree, turned around, and scurried down.

Music / Movement: "Grey Squirrel"

I use the version by The Learning Station because it invites mama squirrels and daddy squirrels to participate. I love my evening Family Storytime group because all 19 adults were up dancing with pompoms with their kids!

We use the pompoms to swish like squirrel tails:

Acorn Hunt: The kids searched the library for acorns to put n the squirrel's tree hole. I have learned that no matter how many acorns you put out there (120) and how many times you tell the kids to only find THREE each... they will go nuts and collect them all... leaving some of the more reserved or younger kids acorn-less. I just grab the acorns they've already collected and re-hide them numerous times during the activity.