All-Ages: Squirrels

Arizona is cooling off in the evenings and mornings so it's as good a time as any to talk about squirrels getting ready for winter.


Animal Song with Puppets:  "My Squirrel" Listen here

Letter of the Day: Ss
Mr. Mrs. Bear:  Mr. Bear was busy this week so his gal pal Mrs. Bear came to sing hello.  She is promoting our 8th Annual Caroling in the Library program.  This year Anna and Elsa will be joining us for the storytime portion of the event. Our calendar

Check out my blog post about this event a couple of years ago..

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 Barrett George: After having fun digging up acorns, a little dog helps hide them again when he finds out a squirrel was saving them for winter.

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

Sammy Squirrel is sad and cold (look at his pink little nose) now that all the leaves fell off his tree.

 Yay!  Sammy found a new warm tree right as it started snowing.

 Here are Sammy's first getting ready to hibernate / stay warm for the winter.

Music and pom poms: "Gray Squirrel" by the Learning Station.  There are many versions of this song, but I love this one because it encourages the whole family to participate!  Listen / watch here.

Activity: Acorn Hunt
The kids found acorns around the library and put them in Squirrel's burrow.  I think next year I will let each kid take one acorn on the way out and give it to squirrel.  The hunt went fine, but I think it would better with a smaller group (40+ kids attended both sessions).

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.

 

 

 

This idea is from http://busycraftingmommy.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/animals-in-fall-storytime/

Wiggle Worms: Busy Squirrels

90 degrees in Phoenix today!  Uck.  At least we got to pretend to be busy little autumn squirrels in the toddler storytime today!

Animal Song with Puppets:  "My Squirrel"*

I switched out our usual animals songs with a song about my favorite squirrel.

I have a favorite squirrel and he loves to jump
I have a favorite squirrel and he loves to jump
Jump, squirrel
Jump, squirrel
Jump from tree to tree

...eat....
...jump...
...rest...
...jump...

* Message me if you want to know the CD title.  I'm sure I can look it up.

Book: 
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri.  Squirrel is very busy getting ready for winter!

I can not ephasize how much I love Nancy Tafuri's books for storytimes and one-on-one reading.  The pictures are large and bold, the text is simple and appealing, and most pages contain little critters and bugs for you and your toddler to find together.


Letter of the Day:  Cc for corn (the squirrel finds some corn in our book)

Movement / Music:  "Grey Squirrel"
There are lots of versions, but I use the one one by The Learning Station (listen here) because it includes mama squirrels, daddy squirrels, etc.  I always pause the song before the next verse and invite the different parental squirrels to stand up and participate.

I hand out these Oriental Trading pom poms for this songs so we can really swish our bushy tails.

Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, swish your bushy tail
Gray squirrel, grey squirrel, swish your bushy tail
Hold a nut between your toes
Wrinkle up your little nose
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, swish your bushy tail

Flannel / Prop Rhyme:  "The Soup is Boiling Up"

We made soup again this week (using corn, of course!)

The soup is boiling up (bubble fingers)
The soup is boiling up (bubble fingers)
Stir it slow - around we go (stir)
The soup is boiling up! (bubble fingers and POP UP!)

Pre-K Squirrels Getting Ready For Winter

I've been busy as a squirrel getting ready for winter (haha) and haven't been blogging.  This particular program worked well the MORNING AFTER HALLOWEEN because it was a smaller group and the acorn activity would have been crazy with a bigger group.

Theme: Squirrels getting ready for winter
Kids: 21
Siblings: 4
Adults: 16

 Books:

Nuts to You! by Lois Ehlert (I like this book but not my first choice).  A rascally squirrel has an indoor adventure.

 

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

 

Memory Box:  Pumpkin from The Busy Little Squirrel

Music / Movement:

Music: "Gray Squirrel, Gray Squirrel".  There are many versions but I used the one that has gray squirrel, mommy squirrel, and daddy squirrel all shake their bushy tails.  I had enough pom poms for adults to move too and a few moms and dads did stand up.  Their kids LOVED watching them dance (so did I).  So funny! 

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

 

 

 

Letter of the Day:  Ss for squirrel

 

I presented different animals and we categorized them as words that start with Ss and that don't:

Oh, yeah...that's a Snowy Owl

Flannel:

Sammy Squirrel comes from a flannel book.  Eesh I can't remember which one...

Sammy Squirrel contemplates how to stay warm during the winter when he can't find a tree with leaves on it.  He thinks about various friends who hibernate but none of those homes work for him.  Finally he sees something green in the distance...pull slowly out of folder....what is it?  A tree for Sammy!!

 

 

Activity:  The kids searched the library for acorns to put in the squirrel's tree hole.  Despite my clarity on only finding 2 or 3 each, some kids went nuts (haha) so I helped the more reserved kids find the acorns that the others didn't find (like in our potted plants).  I cut 76 acorns so there were plenty to find.

Borrowed straight from:  http://busycraftingmommy.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/animals-in-fall-storytime/

 

 

 



Busy Squirrels - Pre-K

Today we read about about busy little squirrels getting ready for winter. 

Flannel Story:  Our first story was about Sammy Squirrel which I told using some flannel pieces.  When he finally found a warm tree to spend the winter in, we clapped quietly for him (he did just fall asleep, afterall).

Flannel Rhume:  Five autumn leaves hanging from a tree / I wonder if they'll fall for me / The wind comes blowing (woooooosh) round and round / And one little leaf comes fluttering down

Book: Nuts to You! by Lois Ehlert. How do you get a wandering squirrel out of your house?  With nuts, of course!

Book: Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri.  This squirrel is so busy, he has no time to lay in the sun, hop, or play with the other animals.  He is busy gathering food to store in his nest for winter.

Ss:  Let's sing about the letter S, the letter S, the letter S / Let's sing about the letter S / S says "sssss".  BIG S, little s, What begins with S?
I hope you went home and found lots of things that begin with the letter S!

We ended storytime with a very Sticky song about bubble gum.  You can sing this song at home and find all kinds of way to stick to your kiddos.  Have fun!