Hats

Who knew that doing a hat theme would be so timely in Arizona!?  The A/C just can't handle our excessive heat streak and temps are just awful everywhere - even indoors.  Our "hats" (paper plates) made wonderful fans during storytime.

 

 Books:

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.  See my flannel here 

The kids put their hats (paper plates) on their heads and acted out the monkeys' part.  So fun!

Don't Worry Douglas by David Melling.  Douglas is so thrilled with his new wool hat he can't help but bounce around and do cartwheels!  When his hat turns into a "long strand of spaghetti" his friends try to help him out.

 Meet Douglas

 My co-presenter wrapped yarn around me and the furniture so the kids could see Douglas' hat unravel.

 Silly Little Goose by Nancy Tafuri.  Goose looks everywhere to find a place to make a nest and finally finds a warm, cozy, quiet hat to lay her eggs in.

 Music:
 "B-Banana / Monkey See Monkey Do" by Carole Peterson.  Listen to song here

YouTube Video: "I Got a Hat" by the Learning Station
I projected this video on the wall and the kids danced using their own hats (paper plates) to follow the directions.

"I got a hat.
It's a baseball hat.
Put in on my head and give it a tap.
Then I spin around a clap. 
Then I spin around my hat." (place hat on floor and circle around it).

Game: Whose Hat?

 

Flannel: Teddy Wore His

Teddy wore his yellow shirt, yellow shirt, yellow shirt (pat arms)
Teddy wore his yellow shirt all day long
...pants (pat legs)
....shoes (pat feet)
....hat (pat head)

Flannel Friday: Caps for Sale

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina has been in print for over 50 yeras and was a storytime favorite of  mine when I was a kid going to library programs.

Even though it's an older book, it's super interactive and so clever.  (NOTE:  I just read the reviews on Amazon and a few people complained that the publisher cut some text and refrains so it's shorter than the book I remember from my childhood.  No complaints here though!)

This flannel works best with a helper to arrange the pieces while you read the book.

Caps for Sale:

A peddler (cap salesman) walks up and down the streets trying to sell the many caps he keeps stacked on his head.  He decides to take a nap against a tree one afternoon.

At this point, I would turn the flannel board around and have the storytime helper arrange the pieces for the next scene.

When he wakes up, his caps are gone.  He looks to his left, he looks to his right, he looks in back of himself, he looks behind the tree, and finally he looks up and what do you think he sees?

Every time he asks for the caps back, the monkeys mimic him - first he shakes his finger, then he shakes both hands, then he stamps his foot, then he stamps both feet, and finally he get so angry that he throws his own hat on the ground and the monkeys throw down their caps too.  

This whole part is really interactive with the kids.

This flannel is one of the sets I remade while on maternity leave.  Bigger and better!  My almost 3-year-old has been having a blast with personal storytimes: